Sparring at dawn

[serinusniger]

Early this morning, Dinah can be found on the stretch of well-used field between the bunker and the pond, in full Black Canary costume, stretching out. She's joined just after sunrise by Mel, who leaves the girls in their baby chairs at the edge of an unmarked area and joins the older woman.

"You sure you want to do this?"

They both say this at once. Mel smirks widely then, and Dinah grins naturally. It's the blonde who bows first, but Mel follows soon after, coming back up into a stance learned from Iroh. Dinah's stance is her own - or rather, her mother's. One copied all those years ago but never taught. Like the habit of always letting her opponent get one hit in first so she can find out what they're made of.

It might have broken her jaw, except she knows how to roll with it, throwing her hands above her head as she flies back, turning it into a somersault and recovering. Even then, she could tell, from the look in Mel's eyes and the way in which she recovered - the young mother had pulled her punch. Dinah resolves not to let her land another one. A harder resolve than she's comfortable with, and it's not Mel's strength. Since she first pulled on her Mom's fishnets and wig, Dinah Lance has been fighting people who are stronger and hit harder than she does. But it's not that often she comes across someone who's this much faster as well.

Mel's next few punches, well executed but mostly powerful,hit thin air as Dinah weaves around them, counting on her superior eye to predict where they'll hit rather than her own speed. When the Black Canary strikes out, it's with perfect form and precision, mixing everything she learned from all her teachers.
Mom
    The JSA
        Sensei
            Batman
                Diana
                    Cassandra
                        Lady Shiva
                            Dinah's never once been short of teachers, and she's always been willing to learn more. And to teach. And that's what this is, really, learning from the superstrong thiefwho's been fighting to protect her family, and attempting to teach the young street fighter that strength and speed can get you nowhere if you don't have the skill.

Mel's not learning it well. Dinah knock her down, and she rolls right back up, launching herself at the woman. The Black Canary's a martial artist, but the thief's a street wrestler, and never worried about stance and technique as long as she can stay off her feet and keep the attacks going. On more than one occasion, she throws Dinah across the field, but Dinah's been there as well, rolling in the air to avoid losing herself.

The sparring goes on for nigh-on an hour, the upper hand switching regularly. Dinah begins to flag first, not having the same super stamina, but Mel's attacks also slow down as the sun rises, and as Mel begins to get sloppy, Dinah's technique stays perfect even through the sweat coursing down her face.

"You rely too much on your powers," she says, and after all this time it's the first thing either of them have said.

"What's 'too much'?" Mel manages. "I can't exactly help being strong."

But then someone can take you and cage you and reduce you to a piece of meat and you'll never sing again.

"But you can work on your technique," Dinah says. "you've worked with Cass, I can tell, but you've not learned from her. So someone can still do this, and this, and this."

OK, so talking provided a distraction that let Dinah move in to hit the right points. So it was a bit of a dirty trick, but it still sent Mel sprawling, grinning in defeat. She shrugs widely and takes Dinah's proffered hand to stand.

"...and I didn't even need to show you my power."

"This is you telling me I need to get back into training?"

"This is me offering to work with you."

After that's established, Dinah collapses against the bunker, gulping from a bottle of water. She's sort of hoping the display would encourage some of the other fighters to talk about training with her.

[OOC: See, I promised Weaves.Open for spectator threads, but if you wanna catch either of them afterwards, I'll pick them up when I'm back from work.]

Comments

[alwaysroomforhope]

There is a thorough round of applause from Steph, watching from beside the babies.

EEEE HER FAVOURITE HEROES EVER SPARRING! This is Steph's BIG GRIN face.

[firesifu.livejournal.com]

Zuko pauses, a little way away.

He's entirely familiar and comfortable with the idea of duels (in theory, at least) but it still curious about the fighters that don't Bend but are still... different. He'd known that Mel... well, that there was something about Mel that was different from normal people. Besides the hair. She's very athletic, but it's more than that, he realises, watching her fight. Firebenders are strong and fast, but not like that. They're more like - well, like Dinah. It's mostly technique.

So he approaches, once he sees other people watching, to see how it goes. Oh, and hey - there's those babies again, and they don't seem bothered.

He doesn't get too close, but gives Steph a polite and only slightly awkward nod when the fighters stop, and the girl bursts into applause.

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Oh, hi, Zuko."

"Daaaaada!"

One of these is shouted by Loo, and one said absently by Steph. Guess which?

Of course, she looks guilty after a moment, realising they haven't actually been introduced yet. Oops.

"Um ... I'm Steph!"

[firesifu.livejournal.com]

Zuko gives Loo a half-concerned, half-amused look. The small Fire Nation kids are pretty cute, he guesses, but having them confuse him with their father can't be healthy. Besides, it's weird.

(In that thought process, he doesn't pay as much attention to Steph's slipup as he maybe should have, and assumes she just heard it somewhere.)

"Hello," he says, bowing briefly. "Nice to meet you."

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Dadadadadada," Loo insists, waving her arms. Hana starts yelling at her sister from her chair, angrily. They're still not allowed to call this one Dad, like they're not allowed to call the other Unk'S'ka Unk'S'ka, and it's weird and confusing and makes them make squinchy angry faces, shout a bit, and then -- like they're doing now -- relapse into sulky, furious silence.

"Sorry," Steph says. "They're little. You were watching them too? I mean Mel and Dinah. They're good, aren't they?"

[firesifu.livejournal.com]

Wow, that siblingly friction is familiar.

"They... certainly are," Zuko says, intelligently. "And yes- I knew they could, but it's different from forms on my world. And Mel... she's fast. I mean, really fast. If Dinah's technique wasn't so much better I'd have been worried for her." Deaths of people who rescue Zuko are bad! "How does she do that?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Mel? It's just sort of her thing." This totally explains it, right?

Steph would be more eloquent, but she's kind of staring at Zuko in fascination. He's so young and so ... nice. Awkward-nice, but ... nice. The one in Eden only spoke to her twice in a year and spent most of his time scowling, or limping around setting fire to things (sometimes Sokkas!), or making Mel fret about him.

"Dinah's just trained for ever. She used to teach me, back on our world, but I'm nowhere near as good as she is. One day I will be." She says this last with determination, if not confidence.

[firesifu.livejournal.com]

Zuko had an epiphany - and apparently, this is what it did to him. No fear! There's plenty of crankiness just waiting to come to the surface if need be.

"It shows," he says, frowning slightly. "You can always tell, even when natural abilities are uneven. My sister-" he breaks off, and shrugs. "Will you be joining the practises they start, then?"

He is curious about people he might spar with!

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph nods happily, grinning up at him. "Hell yes. I promise not to kick your ass too hard, though."

[firesifu.livejournal.com]

Zuko frowns for a second longer, then gives her a sideways smile.

"Likewise," he says. Then, "Although I don't suppose you have much in the way of fire armor?"

Hand-to-hand or weaponry only, perhaps.

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Fire armour?" Steph echoes, and shakes her head. But she's grinning. Holy crap, that was an actual un-forced smile from Zuko!

... she thinks she might actually like this one.

"I just stay quick."

[firesifu.livejournal.com]

"That's always good," he says. "Though if we're just sparring, maybe I'll stick to only firebending at Uncle Iroh."

Who is here. And doesn't hate him. :D!

"What's your fighting style, by the way? There seem to be a lot I've never heard of..."

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Um," says Steph, whose style is a mishmash of everything she could learn from anyone ever plus a great roundhouse punch, and who never bothered to learn their names. "... with my hands and feet, mostly?"

[letyousaveme.livejournal.com]

There's a man without colour standing in the sunlight by the pond, watching. Quietly.

When the fight is over, he shifts slightly, considering. And what he's considering is seeking out Dinah to ask a question.

[serinusniger]

You don't live Dinah's life for more than a week if you can't tell when someone's watching you.

So after a second, she glances up and smiles at him. "Hi."

[letyousaveme.livejournal.com]

He doesn't (quite) smile back.

But it looks like he might, if given a good run-up.

"Hello."

Almost contemplatively, "Do you teach that?"

The slight nod to where she and Mel were fighting should clear up any confusion as to the referent of 'that'.

[serinusniger]

"Used to do it professionally."

Dinah Lance, judo instructor and florist. It seems like another life. And in a way, it was never the real her, even when she'd go for months without donning the wig and fishnets.

"Why? Are you interested?"

[letyousaveme.livejournal.com]

"Yes."

Well, that was easy.

[serinusniger]

Dinah's grin widens, and she stands up properly, proffering a hand clad in fingerless leather.

"I'm Dinah."

[letyousaveme.livejournal.com]

"Gray."

The handshake is accompanied by a slightly rueful smile.

"The name came long before the achromatism, for the record."

[serinusniger]

Dinah laughs.

"Things like that tend to follow names," she observes. "It does all the time on my world."

[letyousaveme.livejournal.com]

"Funny, it never happened to my father."

Dinah won't know how rare a genuine smile is from Gray, but trust the narration when it says very.

[serinusniger]

Gray has nothing on Batman. I'm just saying.

"And my mother didn't have my Canary Cry," Dinah says. "Didn't stop her calling herself the Black Canary."

[letyousaveme.livejournal.com]

"Ah." That's interesting.

"Somehow I don't think this is quite the same."

But the smile remains, inviting her to share the joke.

[serinusniger]

Dinah's still smiling! She smiles a lot when she's being nice.

"There are funnier examples, but I can't share them without violating people's secret identity."

But names and powers? Happen a lot.

"So what style did you want to learn?"