Percussion Therapy (IC)

[Quinn]

He looked at her, a somewhat concerned look on his face as she seemed to wear down in front of him. Zeke carefully pulled off the gloves and put them down, shifting rather uncomfortably on his feet for a moment as he kept looking at her...then tentatively, he stepped forward and gave her a quick hug.

There wasn't really rhyme or reason to it - it was just a hug. Could be taken as friendly or romantic, in either context; but to Ezekiel Irons' mind, it looked like Carrie needed a hug. And so he gave her one. That lopsided smile reappeared on his face.

"Hey, s'what folks like you and I are around here for, y'know? The heroes save the world, but it's up to us to take back them streets from the pushers and the gangers. Give the people some breathing room to make their communities clean again."

It was rote, and it was fairly cliche stuff like you'd have heard in the old Freedom League cartoons, but he believed it. And it showed.

[Aoiroo]

Carrie smiled and then snickered, and then outright laughed in his grasp,

"Oh my god,"

She laughed a bit before it was reduced just to was giggling,

"You are such a giantic cheeseball."

Carrie wasn't used to cliche, at least not when other more linerally traditional heroes were around. She was used to modern thinking on the approach, or at least modern reactions. Not that she really talked to other people about this sort of thing. Her friends, they weren't really used to this, or her really as she actually was. She doubted if they ever saw her fight they wouldn't believe it. But it was nice being honest, even if she got a cheesy little comforting in the process. She settled down on the laughing to find she was still being hugged, she just pushed back a little but not enough to break it completely,

"Clean up the streets, I'm at my most profitable a tailor, you're a jazz player, how the heck would that work?"

Her tone was jabbing just a little joking, she knew how it could work, how it did work. But it wasn't exactly the same.

[Quinn]

"That's MISTER Cheeseball to you, missy." He said, muffling chuckles and plastering a faux-stern look on his face. The jazz-player loosened his grip for her and blocked her jabbing tone with a silver tongue, skillfully ripotseing and delivering a quite cheery retort. 'twas a rare thing that could spoil Zeke's mood when he was feeling up; something Carrie likely knew quite well by know.

"Oh, you know - simply being awesome should scare off any bad guys who try muscling in on our neighbourhoods. And who knows, maybe we'll both suffer some spontaneous industrial accident or attain miraculous martial arts enlightenment and take up the cape and cowl?"

The smile turned a tad wry at that; though perhaps not for the reasons expected.

"Though I think simply helping your local neighbourhood watch, getting folks out of disaster zones when you're nearby, and live pretty straight and honest'd do enough." Grin.

[Aoiroo]

Carrie just started laughing again, why because the image of what would be called a neighborhood watch in the Fens was absolutely absurd. It was almost completely mafia with only one or two cops on the mafia payroll, and one or two pimps and well know drug lords trying to keep the are. It helped with the fact that being awesome in the slums made you a target for a bullet to the head and a mugger raiding your corpse. It took her a few seconds before she ran her hand through her hair and took a step back getting a water bottle from her bag and taking a swig to help her hoarse laughed out throat. She looked at Zeke, and said rather wryly,

"You're rediculously optimistic for a guy who works the club circuit, you know that. I'm only in tech and I see people do heroine in broad daylight before going on stage, or snort cocaine in the bathrooms and don't bother to clean up the remaining dust."

Given she usually reports both immediately,

"I'd say you were an old soul, but the further back you go, the more openly people did most currently outlawed recreational drugs."

She adjusted her headbands and stretched a little bit,

"Right, so what now, a quick spar, maybe a mock match, or something. It's been a while honestly."

Since I wasn't actually aiming to hurt someone.

[Quinn]

Zeke grinned again, letting her go with an easy shrug and stepping back to lean upon those nice taut ropes. Great for resting, those. And the odd super-speed Irish whip. Though he got to use those so very rarely. Dang overly squishy other students.

"News flash, hon; born and raised in Freedom City. You gotta be an optimist to live here, part of the citizenship package." If anything, the grin got wider. "And yeah, I know. Standing rule, though - no drugs at my shows. Fact that I can put my fist through a drug-user's table and the stuff he's snorting with a smile on my face helps discourage that anywho. And besides, I know a lot of club owners trying to clean up their act. Still pretty bleak, yeah; but it's improvin' every day."

A quick push off the ropes, and he cracked his neck from side to side.

"As for right now...quick spar, maybe? First to five touches wins?"

[Aoiroo]

"Well what counts as a touch, I assume nothing below the belt, are heads safe, arms shoulders, back hits. Has been a long time since I've actually sparred with anyone I got to say."

She absently pushed on her elbow stretching just a bit as she looked at him,

"Then there's grappling and throws, does a pin count as a touch?"

It had been a long time, she knew she'd probably remember this if she had gotten any proper instruction since college, but then lots of other stuff muddling her brain. Lots of terrible things, and lots of useful things, she really hoped the useful would make her start to forget the terrible, though it seemed rather unlikely as fear tends to leave a pretty deep imprint.

[Quinn]

Zeke tapped his chin thoughtfully, bouncing against the ropes for the hell of it as he did so. His voice went up and down amusingly to boot with each connection.

"Yeah, nothing below the belt - that's just plain cheatin'. I can take a few knocks to the dome, but I'm down with heads being safe; arms and legs can be used for blocking, shoulders are legit hits, and yeah - backs too. Not fond of sucker punches, but I gotta admit - they work."

He didn't sigh or anything, but just shrugged rather awkwardly. With his abilities, he never really had to rely on sucker punches or cheap shots; well, besides the fact that he could move faster than the human eye could see and punch numerous times before the first one even registered. But punching a guy in the back of the head or something like that just wasn't...well...right. Even if it did work real well in a pinch, backed by his strength.

Argh. Moving on. He plastered a smirk on his face at her talk of pins, and winked mischeviously.

"Hey, if you think you can throw me down, go right ahead. I won't complain. But turnabout is fair play, remember that."

[Aoiroo]

Carrie smiled as she walked forward and looked at him. She kept the smile as she grabbed his right hand with her left, and snaked under it putting herself behind her. She hooked one of her feet into his and pushed her shoulder against his back. There was a right smack as the larger of the two of them had his face smacked to the mat, and the end result of this all was Carrie sitting on Zekes back gripping both of his hands with one of her while she used the other hand to readjust her headband,

"You're not as heavy as you look, or at least I hope you aren't otherwise I think I might of hurt you."

She couldn't help but tease, maybe she would regret it later, but he had outright challenged her pin him, and she just loved a challenge that didn't involve life threatening stakes or a count of how many bullets she'd take before she got to the door.

[Quinn]

"Ow."

Zeke's voice was rather muffled by the mats - although his unseen expression was a mixture of chagrin and true mirthfulness. His back and shoulders shook slightly from a reverberation in his chest, and after listening for a moment, Carrie could tell the musician-cum-martial artist was actually laughing into the canvas. After a bit, he managed to lift his head up, planting his chin into said canvas; voice bobbing somewhat from the mirth still lingering in his tone.

"Okay, okay, I asked for that. So very asked for that."

He shook a bit, almost idly trying to break the hold, and laughed again. Ye gods, talk about leverage. Even if he did pump up the adrenaline, she had him in just the right spot that even mighty strength that would lift mountain would do all of jack squat. She'd said Olympic level earlier - if anything, that was understating it. He was impressed. Seriously impressed.

"Kinda comfy down here, though. And I think I like the idea of you on top." ...yeah, maybe that tease was a bit too blatant. "Think imma take a nap, though. Unless you got other things you want to do besides turn my spine into a pretzel."

He tried to turn his head and grin at her. It didn't quite work out. Though, on the plus side, his neck muscles got a good workout there trying.

[Aoiroo]

Carrie kind of blushed just a little, but didn't let him see that as she stepped up and released his hand. She let him get up on his own to give him what little dignity she didn't just pin out of him as she stretched with her back towards him,

"You need to keep your guard up more, it helps when things eventually go to hell, and it always happens in this town. Getting a coffee, someone robs the store, go shopping, someone tries to proposition you with drugs, take a bath, someones thrown mutagens in the cities water supply. That was not a fun week."

She was being half playful at the weirdness that was her life, cause she had to find some way to laugh about it. Least Freedom City weirdness was usually tame and managable somehow.

[Quinn]

"You're telling me. One moment I'm out for the morning run, next thing I know my feet are off the ground and I'm running on air. Granted, that was fun as all hell for a while, but the side effects were decidedly not so."

And he'd come very close to...ugh, he didn't like to think about it. Learning how to fly before he floated up into the wide blue yonder was one of the most harrowing moments of his life, despite the highly entertaining tumbling and spinning he got to do before finding the cure. And even then, he'd come within an ace of that ending badly; very badly. Not that he was going to mention that particular fact...

Zeke shrugged and clambered to his feet, stretching again - wow; she really did do a number on his spine there.

"Price of admission, hon - would we be livin' here otherwise?" He grinned, perhaps she couldn't see it...and took advantage of her distracted state to launch a tackle of his own!

[Aoiroo]

The tackle did catch her off guard if even for a second. He got her in the back and pushed her into a decent hold with one of her arms locked.

"My parents moved me here,"

She relaxed, she didn't move much in her grip, didn't even show much resistance, though she did start to move one of her wrists up,

"I was born in raised in Athens, Georgia, it was a bit slummish, not that I really noticed in elementary school, much less super crime, much more petty things."

She felt bare skin under her free near his chest, it was pretty warm,

"I spent maybe high school here, then college, though it was a pretty interesting high school experience. I learned a lot about superhero politics with the side classes, and also,"

She dug the dull tips of her short fingernails into his skin messaging it in a familiar way she used on two other much smaller would be grabbers who liked to try and pin her,

"That even in college, lots of people are still rather ticklish."

[Quinn]

Hey, what was her hand doing th-...

Oh, that cheating little... "Aheh...eheheh...heh...ahehehaehehaeaheheheheheehehehehehehehax! Ha-ha-hax! HAAAX!" The fingers playing cross the middle of his torso made him erupt into uncontrollable chuckles; good grief, don't tell him he was actually ticklish! Most valiantly he held on, maintaining the hold as best he could with mighty (unaugmented) muscles that were truly the stuff of modern legends. Were it any other subversive attack by a cunning and nefarious foe, Zeke likely would have kept them down kissing canvas for a goodly length of time.

However, this was Carrie. And she knew what she was doing. And Zeke, unfortunately, discovered much to his detriment...that he was very ticklish.

He promptly tumbled off her, rolling away and clutching at his sides - nearly hiccuping from the gales of laughter she'd pushed out of him. "N-no...psshthehehehahae...n-no, no fair...I call shehehehehahanenanigans on that one! S-so many shenanigans!"

[Aoiroo]

She joined into the laughter just watching him roll around. It took a little bit of time for her to stop because her throat was getting sore from it, but she looked at him,

"You grabbed someone you've got four inches of height, and twenty pounds of muscle on from behind and call it no fair when they get the upper hand."

She put a finger on her nose,

"Well tough, there is no fair in a fight, just what you can and cannot get away with, especially if your the smaller combatant. Just be glad I didn't do what I normally did when someone grabs me from behind, cause I kick like a mule and have excellant aim."

Even as she said this she bend down with her knees and extended her hand to his to help him up.

[Quinn]

"You'd have hurt your foot." He retorted rather impishly; taking her hand and pulling himself up. Zeke gave a mischevious look, breathing somewhat heavily after the gales of laughter had settled down. Yeah - good mood and warm fuzzies all around.

"And come on, Car - you sound like Sifu." Grin. Cue old-man-voice. "You want talk fair? You want cotton candy and ferris wheel? Pssht, fair only apply to ladies and boardwalks." Yeah, Master Li had impressed him that exact same lesson over and over again. Usually punctuated with whacks to the head via a stout wooden cane. Or tonfa. Or staff. Depended on what the sifu felt like at the time. Granted, it didn't do much...but it huuuuurt...

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Still, there's can and cannot get away with, and then there's just dirty pool." Snerk. "Of course you realize, this means war."

[Aoiroo]

"No, it means dinner. You make it through a battle, let alone a war, such is the crippling disadvantage to being an only child."

She smirked at him as she turned her back and stretched her arms over her head.

"But go ahead, come at me, there's always room for improvement."

Teasing wasn't something she often did, it was not cohesive with her rather stealthy style of fighting. Which was exactly what made this fun, harmless fun which was the best kind.