Learning to bump

[not_yet_screaming]

Lydia swallowed checking her makeup just round the corner from the Argents. Allison wasn't a rival, of course. Not that she couldn't handle rivals. But you should always look either your best or your worst when asking for a favour - and Lydia very much needed one. Like most things she'd prefer to not have her facade slip, but it was either Allison or people she didn't know and couldn't investigate properly.

She'd barely slept the past couple of nights since that night in the school, instead wondering how she could fit in and thrive in this new world. It wouldn't be much harder than for a gawky math-geek to become Queen Bee after all. It was just the consequences of a mistake that might be a lot more severe. Fortunately she was Lydia Martin and did not make mistakes. But if she wasn't sleeping she could at least put the time to good use; most recently downloading the MIT guide to lockpicking and starting to teach herself. She was never again going to be stopped by a locked door at school, and she was working on getting some hairpins that worked as a torque wrench and picks (having realised that using ordinary hairpins was pure Holywood).

Still, this was more important. She checked her makeup one last time, as if she was going on a date. But she wasn't. She was Lydia Martin, and there were just too many downsides to dating a girl, at least while she was still at school (at College might be a different story). No bags under her eyes; makeup was useful that way.. Hair loose, lips pink. Nail polish only a semi-translucent pink. More innocent than she normally looked but she was going to ask Allison to teach her. A nice flaring skirt; after the incident in school she'd taken all the pencil skirts out of her wardrobe. Nothing she couldn't run in if she tried - and the differences were subtle.

Everything in place she drove up to Allison's house to knock on the door, noting with relief that Chris Argent's car wasn't there. He was creepy. A breath before she stepped out of the car and walked up the drive, heels barely clicking, to ring the bell. She was Lydia Martin. She didn't get nervous - especially not when seeing one of her best friends.

Comments

[not_yet_screaming]

"No problem." Lydia smiled liking that look on Allison's face - a look she'd never had from Jackson and would have paid a lot of money to have from her parents. "It was fun. And for copying it, your phone has a camera?" She shrugged. "Just tell me what's in it please?" With that she gently closed the safe, wiped the remains of the blusher off with the remover pad - then any residue from that off with her t-shirt. A quick check showed the numbers were still slightly greasy and all the makeup was gone. Pad into the paper she'd caught the remains of the blush with, and she folded the paper. "You've a little evidence to get rid of." She handed Allison the piece of paper that contained almost all the remaining evidence other than the blusher and brush.

And standing she smiled. "And now it's your show. Don't give me too many bruises please?" She really wasn't sure what Allison had in mind to teach her to defend herself, and although she needed it she was sure that it was going to occasionally hurt.

OOC: Wasn't the code for the safe 1749 or something?

[bowsandarrows]

"I might be asking you for help figuring out what it says," Allison said. She knew French, but if there were other languages, or words she couldn't read - and from the looks of it, the book was old enough that it was possible - then she'd be turning to Lydia to help decipher the thing.

She took the paper, blusher, and brush from Lydia and carried it into her bathroom, dumping the remover pad and ripping the paper into small pieces, to avoid obvious notice. That done, she turned to Lydia, frowning at her in concentration.

"Maybe we should work on falling." Allison led the way to the living room, and pushed the coffee table out of the way, along with the couch. "And before you say anything, knowing how to fall will help, both with training, and in fights." As she spoke, she laid out a yoga mat. "Trying falling on that, facing forward. I can push you if you need it."

[not_yet_screaming]

"A good place to start." Lydia nodded having done a little research herself. "But isn't falling falling?" She almost threw herself forwards rather than falling, before sticking out her left arm before she hit the ground then using her right hand to push herself back up. It was far from ideal but at least meant that she wouldn't be in much danger of spraining her wrist. "Like that?"

[bowsandarrows]

"Falling isn't just falling. You're off to a good start, but you're likely to hurt yourself." Allison moved behind Lydia so she could adjust Lydia's stance and maneuver her arms. "You want to be careful to not put too much of the impact on your hands or elbows, and keep your legs straight. To make it easier to get up, and avoid hurting your hands, turn into the fall."

Allison stepped back, frowning in concentration. "Let me demonstrate for you. I want you to push me." She situated herself so she'd land on the mat, and relaxed to make it easier for Lydia to push her forward. "And don't give me a light shove. Put your strength into it."


[ ooc: I AM TERRIBLE AT WRITING ACTION SCENES. And I'm the last person who knows how to fall. xD This is going off what I've read online, sorry? ]

[not_yet_screaming]

Lydia let Allison adjust her and nodded, before smiling at the offer and walking round behind Allison and placing her right hand on the back of Allison's neck. "You're too tall. I won't get leverage." She slid her hand down to the small of Allison's back - but it was a decoy. The actual push was with her left hand right between the bottom of Allison's shoulder blades, and with the full force of her hips and legs behind the push. She knew how to bowl and more about Lacrosse possibly even than Jackson, so she knew how to get more force than anyone would expect behind her push.

OOC: If you want I can send you some advice on action scenes (I've done plenty of beta-reading for them and it's such a common hole in peoples' ability to write).

Also what almost nothing ever bothers to explain (mostly because people don't know - I found out the hard way by getting my reflexes all jumbled between the two) is that there are two entirely different ways of learning to fall which I'll call the Parkour way and the Judo way.

In Parkour the assumption is that you'll be falling having tripped or at worst been pushed or thrown away (Aikido uses the same type of rolls); the goal is to almost make a circle with your body, back curved, arms rounded, and head inside the arc of your arms, and legs tucked in. This keeps the momentum going as much as possible and with luck turns any downward momentum into forward momentum so you end up on your feet and running.

In Judo the assumption is that you're going to have an over-muscled oaf who's just thrown you going down with you to convert the throw into a pin. And at best they'll try to throw you down as hard as possible and you won't have forward momentum if they know what they are doing. This means the goal is to prevent yourself either being hurt or having the wind knocked out of you so you can fight back while landing. If they don't and you can roll to your feet it's a bonus. So you want to fall as broadly as possible across large meaty parts of your body like your shoulder or your forearm, pushing into the ground to minimise the shock and spreading it somewhere it won't knock the wind out of you.

I think Allison's basically gone for the Judo approach? Harder on the body, worse nine times out of ten, but when you need the Judo roll the Aikido approach is almost worse than useless. And having a werewolf throw you down and come down with you is a worst possible scenario.

And I'm rambling again. (Also relaxed is physically faster, stronger, and much harder to push or move than tense).

[bowsandarrows]

It all happened quickly enough that Allison didn't have much of a chance to think about Lydia's hands on her or the way her fingers slid down, unexpectedly teasing.

The push was surprisingly forceful, and it really did force Allison forward, causing her to go tumbling down toward the mat. She broke the fall with her forearms, and rolled back to her feet, popping up in a quick move.

"Think you can mimic that?"

OOC: yeah, the Judo roll is more what Allison's going for - minimize the shock and avoid getting winded. It's possible that werewolves might throw people (that's somewhat more common in the show, I think) and possibly won't know what they're doing in, so it's entirely likely that they'd end up with forward momentum, but she wants to focus on what to do in close combat, hand-to-hand situations Lydia won't be able to just run from. I tried looking up falling, but there was lots of confusing information - the different approaches getting mixed up - but now that I have terms for them, I can go hunt down youtube videos.

And I would so appreciate advice on action scenes!

Also - I have the bowling opening bookmarked, but I try to avoid tagging anything that might veer into the intensely romantic or sexual at work. Just didn't want you to think I was avoiding it! (And it needs me thinking a bit better.)

[not_yet_screaming]

Lydia nodded; that didn't look too hard. "I'll give it a go." Throwing herself forward at the mat, she did do one thing right; getting her forearms in front of her - but the closest thing she had to a roll was an ungainly sprawl over to her side.

With a frown she picked herself up, shook her head, and threw herself down again - this time attempting to use her legs to kick over into the roll Allison had managed - and simply ending in an undignified heap on her shoulder, head tucked in.

It wasn't actually a bad effort for a first try however silly it looked. "What am I doing wrong?" She frowned slightly.

OOC: I'm not expecting the bowling to get intensely romantic or sexual quite yet! First Lydia needs telling off until she understands why she's done something wrong.

[bowsandarrows]

"That's actually good for a first try," Allison reassured her. "If anything happens, that will keep your neck and wrists protected, and you can scramble up to get away."

She knew Lydia wanted more than than good, but it was a good start. Allison moved behind Lydia, hands on her shoulders, adjusting her posture. "Try from a crouch, and just roll forward. Don't worry too much about getting back up from it right away."

OOC: that's true, she does!

[not_yet_screaming]

Lydia smiled, letting Allison adjust her posture. "This feels like the sort of thing I should practice twenty times every morning until I get it right without thinking?" It could take the place of one of the other parts of her excercise routine.

The rolling from a crouch after being adjusted by Allison was a lot better, and she even managed to roll over and end up on one knee, putting a hand down to steady herself with fingertips on the ground. "Do I use this like starting blocks?" A small smirk - because no she didn't. But it was one way to use being on one knee.

[bowsandarrows]

"That would be a good idea," Allison agreed. "I'll test you on it in a week?" She knew Lydia would have no problem learning it and perfecting it; the drive Lydia displayed was one of the things Allison admired about the other girl.

She rolled her eyes at Lydia's next comment, though she knew it was mostly a joke. "No, you don't. Like to see you try, though." Allison reached down, holding out her hand to help Lydia up. "Since I'm sure you read up on self-defense, is there something specific you want to learn? Otherwise we'll start on throwing punches."

[not_yet_screaming]

"Sure." Lydia smiled taking Allison's hand then frowned and stepped forwards right into Allison's personal space, craning her neck to look up at the taller girl. She wanted to make the point fairly thoroughly - that in bare feet Allison was almost a whole head taller than she was - and Allison was tall but not exceptionally so heself. "But Allison. I'm five foot three. I'm less than half Jackson's weight. And with testosterone I'm never going to have his proportional upper body strength." Unless she started taking steroids or the like of course - which was incredibly unlikely.

"And that ... thing ..." She swallowed. "Is as much bigger than Jackson than he is than me. Punching takes mass and time and is playing a game it's good at and I suck at." She was definitely not paying attention to Allison's body heat at this distance as she looked up. "If I'm not hitting something that big with a weapon, there's only a little point. Which means what I need more is either some sort of weapon, or to learn to escape being grabbed." The way she tasted her lips was entirely unconscious.

[bowsandarrows]

All very valid points. Lydia was small and petite, lacked the strength that would actually disable someone with a punch, especially something like the creature that attacked them, and Allison nodded in agreement to the points Lydia made. "You'll still want to know the basics of a punch," Allison pointed out. "If it can distract something, then do it, and if you're in a position to punch it in the nose or throat, you can at least distract someone long enough to wiggle away."

Possibly make them more angry, but the point was to escape and put distance between them, then Lydia would have a chance to do something.

"I'm sure you know the weakest points on the body," Allison mentioned. "If you are grabbed, connect a fist or a foot with one of those spots." Bringing down a heel on the instep or hitting the back of the knee would be painful, another distraction. "If you can, do both - step on them, hit them in the stomach with an elbow."

Allison moved behind Lydia, focusing on the task at hand rather than the distracting way Lydia licked her lips, and stepped into her personal space. "We can try it out, if you'd like."

[not_yet_screaming]

With Allison close behind her, Lydia briefly closed her eyes to not focus on the distractions. Or even Allison's proximity. Then she smiled wickedly and gently pushed back with her elbow, placing one heel on Allison's foot, and gently pressing her head back against Allison's jaw and nose. "Something like that you mean? Only much harder?"

And pressing back like that was pressing her back into Allison's breasts. Which shouldn't be as distracting as it was. "But I've never tried to hit anyone? How should I do it?"

[bowsandarrows]

"Much harder, but yes." Allison smiled at the back of Lydia's head, pleased at the two methods. "That will work even if you have a clip in your hair. And if you want to really do some damage, bring your foot up after stomping."

Allison reached around, trailing her hands down Lydia's arms, until she reached her hands. She spent a moment curling her fingers, tucking her thumb around the first two fingers and straightening Lydia's hand. "Keep your wrist and forearm aligned, strike with the first two knuckles. Aim for the throat, the nose, or just above the teeth."

After that, she straightened out Lydia's fingers, making her palm flat. "Or go for a palm strike. Hit here," and she drew her thumb along the heel of Lydia's palm, "and again, aim for the nose."

[not_yet_screaming]

"I've even ordered some new hairclips." Lydia smiled and enjoyed the feel of Allison's hands caressing down her arms, pressing back slightly. "And bring my foot up? Why?"

Lydia twisted slightly, mirroring the pattern the taller girl had put her right hand into with her left before trying to throw a fake heel strike with her dominant hand. The arm position was right, exactly as Allison had indicated, but she was far too tense and the strike started from her shoulder not from her hips, meaning that there wouldn't be much real force behind it.

[bowsandarrows]

"Up and back, I should clarify. With a heel, you can dig into the inside of the thigh. Not just the groin, just somewhere on the inside the thigh. It will distract whoever, or whatever, you hit."

Allison stepped back finally, watching Lydia attempt the heel strike. "Move from your hips," she instructed, and placed her hands on Lydia's shoulder, drawing them back in an attempt to help her loosen up a little. "You're starting with your shoulders, it won't have any impact. Relax and move with the strike."

Stepping away from her friend, Allison moved to stand next to her and demonstrated a heel strike, then pivoted so she was facing Lydia and demonstrated another, moving slowly, her hand stopping inches from Lydia's face.

Thought this would be more interesting

[not_yet_screaming]

Sweat had plastered Lydia's shirt to her body - but she wasn't going to stop until Allison suggested it. Not that she was other than exhausted, but it was just her body. She wasn't going to show weakness over that. Her wrists were currently in Allison's hands, Allison asking her if she remembered how to break out of that. It was easy - press into the hands then move your hand hard, pitting your bicep or tricep against someone's thumb.

But Allison wasn't yet used to dealing with Lydia - any advantage and anything to move the fight to a battle of wits. Her hands were being held by Allison at waist height, so instead of breaking out she pressed forward to tickle the taller girl at the waist. Yes, her wrists were both grabbed - but she was relying on surprise, and knew that she could break the grab. Also that she wasn't ticklish if Lydia retaliated - or at least Jackson had never been able to tickle her, and didn't realise Allison might be a different story.

This is definitely more interesting!

[bowsandarrows]

Of everything Allison had been expecting, Lydia tickling her wasn't one of them. It was a good diversion and method of escape, although Allison would later have to point out that it probably wasn't too good of an idea to try it out on a complete stranger. Besides not knowing if the person was ticklish - and it could be disastrous if they weren't ticklish, putting Lydia in closer range and aggravating the person - there was always the danger of flailing limbs or extreme displeasure.

For the moment, though, Allison couldn't do much more than laugh helplessly as Lydia tickled her waist. She dropped her hold on Lydia's hands and went for Lydia's rib cage, trying to tickle her friend in return, all while attempting to wiggle away, though Lydia's questing fingers proved to be a fierce adversary.

[not_yet_screaming]

Lydia was well aware of the disadvantages of her approach. Including once having been elbowed by a flailing Jackson (one of the very few times he'd been genuinely apologetic). You used the right tool for the right job - and here and now this approach worked.

She was surprised when she started to giggle at Allison's counter-attack. She didn't realise she was ticklish, and although she'd heard it was psychological, she'd never found that out first hand. But there were two ways to go - pressing forward and redoubling her assault or getting away and having an Allison who might want revenge behind her. And she was under no illusions how anything approaching a "fair" wrestling match would go between them. And she was also trying to back Allison into a corner - or at least onto the couch she hoped Allison had forgotten about. Taking away her ability to escape until she surrendered or turned the tables.

[bowsandarrows]

"Lydia! Stop tickling-" Allison was barely able to gasp out her words, giggling through them. Workout clothes provided little resistance to Lydia's fingers and well-manicured nails.

The house was filled with the giggles of the two girls and Allison found little way to escape. If she wanted to keep tickling Lydia in revenge, she couldn't move too far away, and so intent on tickling Lydia in return that she didn't even notice the couch behind her, until it was too late.

She tumbled onto it with a loud "oof," and attempted to scramble back, though there was nowhere to go. Now trapped, Allison did the only thing she could think of, attempt to pull Lydia down with her.

[not_yet_screaming]

Lydia grinned as Allison asked her to stop. "I win?" She wasn't sure, however, whether she could have stopped Allison dragging her down on top of her - although she could have renewed the assault.

But when she fell she caught herself with her arm (some of the training had stuck), and had she left it much later her head would have smashed into Allison's. Instead their faces were inches apart, her whole body on top of Allison's as they were both gasping for breath, and ther mouths inches apart. Her right hand was on Allison's waist - but she had stopped tickling for now, and if Allison didn't seize the initiative tension was going to hang in the air.

[bowsandarrows]

Allison didn't expect Lydia to topple over, if she were being honest, but once she did, Allison wasn't sure exactly what to do. Their faces were inches apart and Lydia was a warm weight on top of Allison, comforting and familiar in ways that weren't meant to be familiar, not with her best friend. For a long moment, Allison looked at Lydia's lips and even started to lean forward to close those meager few inches.

The backfire of a car down the street startled her and she changed her tactic, rolling them off the couch and landing on one of the mats she'd put out. "I win!"

[not_yet_screaming]

Falling and having someone heavier than you landing on top of you is never easy, and Lydia hit the mat hard, taking a couple of seconds to get her breath back while underneath Allison. But while Allison was claiming to have won, Lydia was recovering - and resumed the tickling assault. And replaying Allison's gaze in her mind, realising what it meant and that she was disappointed Allison didn't.

Of course the tickling this time was under very different circumstances with Allison already on top. It wouldn't be hard to pin Lydia's arms - either with Allison's, using the leverage she had, or even straddle Lydia and pin her arms under Allison's legs.

[bowsandarrows]

Lydia was wily, Allison knew, and she just proved the truth in Allison's thoughts by quickly bouncing back and resuming the attack. But Allison wasn't going to give up that easily, even if she was laughing helplessly and could barely focus.

"Say 'uncle,'" Allison gasped through her laughter, wiggling up to her knees and crawling forward, finally trapping Lydia's arms and stopping the torture.

[not_yet_screaming]

Lydia wriggled and squirmed, trying to escape. But against Allison she had little chance in a wrestling match at the best of times. "Or what?" The wriggle this time was emphasising the fact Lydia was trapped. "You've got me at your mercy. How do you want to take advantage?" One raised eyebrow and a wicked smirk was inviting Allison to do things other than tickle her.