[Training] Growing Pains

If Remi had better self-awareness as a man, it was suggested, he might have better control over himself as a lion. That was the plan anyways. If he could be injured and not allow himself to shift that would be the first step in controlling this new aspect of himself, and would go along way in reassuring his mind that he could be around those he loved without being a potential risk. And he had Isla's sedatives of course, which he would give to Ronin before the training session began, just in case. Though with the arsenal that the captain had at his command, it would probably be easier to just knock Remi out as he had done before than messing about trying to get a needle into him. Leaning against the rag-tag wall that Ronin had tried to restore when they'd first arrived, Remi looked like a comical version of a thug trying to look tough. He wasn't of course (trying to look tough that was), but with a blade of grass between his lips, his arms crossed against his chest, and one foot errantly kicking at a stone, he did rather look like a poor representation of someone much more intimidating. REMI And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face

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It sounded strange, but Ronin had almost been waiting for this from Remi. It wasn't that surprising he supposed, considering that he was the former Captain of Training back in Northaven, so whipping soldiers into shape was kind of his thing. Except now it was trying to teach Edrei and Alistair and any number of his new bounty hunters how to use a variety of weapons and when not to stand in the way of a beast. Sparring with Remi, in comparison, seemed remarkably easy.

"Hey!" he called as he approached, a broad grin on his face. Ronin was dressed in loose clothing with his ever-more-patchy Storm Guard armour buckled over it - he wore his kinesis bracers but had left his new weapon at home. The glove he called Snakebite would not do here, not when he didn't want to cause any major injury to his friend.

"I didn't realise you could pull off brooding so well." He smirked at the other man, pausing just before him and motioning for Remi to come and walk with him. "How are you doing?"

Glancing over at Ronin, Remi smiled sunnily as he pushed off of the wall and towards his friend. His grin only broadened at the suggestion that he looked even remotely broody. Despite all that had happened to him, Remi somehow maintained a relatively amicable affect at all times. It came part and parcel with believing that he was really owed nothing in this life and deserved even less. "Thank you for noticing. I have been practicing." The alchemist said, trying to offer the former-captain a brooding smoulder, but instead looking like he was just squinting his eyes into the sun. "A little nervous." The alchemist said honestly. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he handed a vial and a needle to Ronin. "Isla assured me as long as this gets into my blood stream, it will be effective almost instantly. So don't both aiming." The playfulness fell out of Remi's gaze as he looked at his friend. "I know you didn't hesitate before, and I hope you wouldn't again." REMI And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face

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"You have been-- oh. Oh..." Ronin had to resist his smile breaking into laughter at Remi's attempt at brooding, the ex-captain clearing his throat instead and patting his friend on the shoulder. "Yes, you... er, you keep practicing, Remi." Chuckling to himself, he began to walk them out of the confines of the wall and towards the Ruins, where they could practice and spar and train in relative peace without bothering others.

Besides, as the alchemist withdrew the needle and vial and handed them across to him, Ronin could think of another reason for heading away from the Sanctuary. That reason had four paws and an occasionally terrible temper.

"I won't let you down," he assured his friend softly, nodding to him and putting the sedative carefully away. "I didn't hesitate because I didn't want you to feel terrible about doing anything you normally wouldn't dream of." He shrugged. "That's why I won't hesitate now. Still, shall we operate under the assumption that it won't come to that?"

With a sombre smile, Remi nodded appreciatively. What he valued most about Ronin (other than the fact that he was sure the man would keep his end of the deal), was that he always seemed to know when to ask questions, and when to refrain. It made speaking with him uncannily easy, and as the hunter breezed through a quick preamble of expectations, Remi nodded. "That is the plan." The alchemist agreed. Tossing his jacket onto the ground, Remi took up an absolutely absurd fighting posture: his legs bent slightly and arms in a ridiculous punching-pose in front of his face. He of course had no idea what he was doing. The only fights he'd been in had been thrust upon him, and the only training he'd done in Northaven had been as a bird. Somehow Remi had managed to avoid learning about fighting all together, and it clearly showed. "Uhh. Go?" Remi offered with a grin of anticipation as he stared at the oh-so brawny captain, trying desperately to keep thoughts of mauling his pretty face out of his mind. REMI And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face

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"And a mighty fine plan it is." Ronin smiled to his friend, not bothering to shed any of his armour given that he'd come ready to fight as he was. In fact he kind of missed his weighted training bracers, and considered that he might ask one of their talented smiths and leatherworkers to craft him some new ones. While Remi tossed away his jacket, Ronin (still thinking more about his training items than anything else) worked on limbering up, rolling his wrists and shaking out his hands before glancing to his friend...

And blinking at him in utter shock and awe. Uhh. Go?

Right. Yeah.

Whatever Remi might have been expecting, it probably wasn't for Ronin to stroll up to the other man as if he had all the time in the world, blue eyes flitting over the terrible posture and bad form. With a sigh, he arrived opposite Remi. One of the ex-captain's legs shot out in a sweep intending to take the other man's out from under him, whilst his hands seized Remi's wrists, conveniently placed in front of his face, shoving him back to aid him on the way down.

"Shall we try again?" He smiled at his friend.

Blinking, Remi did just watch as Ronin came his way. Perhaps he was coming to adjust his stance (or commend him on it?), or perhaps to - - Ronin's swiftness caught the alchemist unsurprisingly off-guard, and immediately Remi found that his legs were no longer under him. His arms flailed for balance which Ronin easily caught (to hold him up?), and proceeded to press against them shoving him backwards. Landing in a heap, Remi gasped for air as he looked up with a befuddled expression on his face. Slightly slack-jawed, Remi cracked a slight smile and shook his head with a laugh as he rocked forward onto his feet and back to standing. Dusting off his pants, he gave Ronin a crooked smile. "I see how it is." Although, as evidence by what was to come, he very clearly didn't. Rushing towards Ronin, Remi extended an arm to try and punch the captain directly in the chest. REMI And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face

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For a second Ronin was worried that he might have hurt or offended the alchemist, so when Remi cracked a smile the ex-captain relaxed. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, giving a quiet laugh, "it was just too easy." His friend didn't seem to need help getting to his feet so Ronin stepped back to let his friend regain his balance, clapping him on the shoulder and seeming pleased that there was no harm done.

He was about to speak - to explain how Remi might want to stand and how best to take advantage of his natural height and dexterity, but the other man seemed keen to jump the gun. "Oh," Ronin said as Remi rushed forward, the hunter chuckling and hopping back on sure feet as his opponent struck at him. His hand shot out to catch Remi's fist as he threw a punch, guiding it away from its intended mark and side-stepping in an attempt to make his friend over-balance.

"Remi, hang on...!" He grinned.

"Easy?" Remi chuckled with a wink. "I am not normally called so." Both Ianto and Loren could attest to that, and for once it felt good to laugh about it. As Ronin's fingers nimbly guided Remi's errant punch away, indeed the momentum carried him in an unexpected direction and his feet flailed beneath him to try and correct. Arms flailing, they temporarily gained a plethora of feathers to help compensate and with no small amount of awkwardness, Remi managed to remain upset. Spinning around as the feathers disappeared from his arms, he cocked a head at his friend with a wry smile. "Alright. So you're faster, stronger, and more handsome. Teach me oh great one." The alchemist mocked playfully with a placating folding of his hands. REMI And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face

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"Forgive me, should I lie and say you are coy?" Ronin flashed a grin back at him, more than happy to exchange banter with Remi as they sparred. The appearance of the feathers to keep the other man upright was a very nice touch, in fact, and the hunter nodded, impressed as they turned to face each other once more. "Now, now," he murmured with a smirk. "I'm only a little faster than you." With a good natured laugh, he stepped forward to begin their lesson in earnest.

The next half an hour or so would be spent trying to fix the travesty that Remi called a fighting stance, Ronin encouraging him to make practice strikes at him wherever possible - he was by no means the best there was, and it was as much for his own training as it was for Remi's. Throwing a proper punch and being able to stand in a way that made you ready for most things was a good beginning, though.

"Do you want to try again?" he asked after a while, referring to their attempt at sparring.

"Coy would be a lie, yes." The alchemist agreed with a crooked grin. He would have crossed his arms if he didn't think it a bad move strategically, so instead he just quirked a brow at his friend. "Is that what Vanya tells you? That you're fast?" Listening in earnest now, Remi tried to soak up as much of the information that Ronin was giving him as he could. But for a mind made for schematics and structure he was finding the improvisation which was required rather hard to pin down. Repeatedly he'd ask questions that were context dependent to which Ronin couldn't possibly give a definitive answer to. Finally, as the former captain suggested they try again, Remi all but groaned as he nodded. This was clearly something he would probably never be good at. Retreating a few steps, Remi lowered himself into a defensive stance as Ronin had showed him. His weight was evenly balanced and his hands were raised to about chest-height so that he could be in a good position to block whatever Ronin might throw his way. "Perhaps I will let you come to me this time, oh speedy-one." REMI And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face

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Ronin quirked an eyebrow right back at Remi, a suggestive grin spreading across his face. They had already established that there was nearly no limit within the level of their banter, so he felt no guilt about his response. "She does," he said, "but only when she's referring to how quickly I get her there. I usually can't hear much, what with my head buried between her thighs." He winked at his friend. Ahem. Right, though. Training. Yes.

Luckily for the alchemist, Ronin's patience and teaching methods had been honed in his time as a captain, and no matter how many questions the other man had or how difficult they might be to answer, he was always open to discussion. Maybe that meant they didn't cover off as much as he would have liked, true, but he was at least confident that what he did teach Remi would be understood.

"Oh it would be my pleasure." Ronin grinned to Remi as he watched him take his stance, nodding his approval that it was much better than before. Not one to disappoint, he complied with the alchemist's request and sprung forward on light feet, feinting to the left before striking at Remi with his right fist.

Remi could only chuckle and shake his head. For some reason he had absolutely no doubt that Ronin probably was quite skilled in bed (which of course caused a strange queasiness to shiver through his mind). "Glad to hear it, especially since women are usually so honest about such things." As in life Remi often did not immediately suspect deception, and so as all of Ronin's movements suggested that he was going left, the alchemist reacted accordingly. Wanting to try and mirror the movement Roinin had used against him earlier (grabbing at his arm to push it away), Remi began to move towards his right (Ronin's left). Given this, as Ronin's arm reached out to strike at his left shoulder, the alchemist was almost fully out of the way. Ronin's fist only grazed his shoulder as Remi tried to re calibrate mid-stride give the distance now between them. Reaching out with his own left arm, he tried to strike the former-captain on his left. REMI And common sense falls second place to the way it feels when you kiss my face

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The glancing blow had Ronin smiling, clearly impressed with the improvement (regardless of whether it had been intentional). The two men ended up doing a sort of dance around each other, stepping here and dodging there until Ronin was where Remi had started and vice versa.

Not to break the momentum, though, soon enough Ronin was on the defence from his opponent. He threw up his left arm to guard against the blow, trying to block and sweep Remi's strike aside with his forearm.

Wasting no time, Ronin would either dodge or take his lumps accordingly, and follow up with a sudden rush at the alchemist with his right shoulder. If he connected he hoped to knock the other man back, creating a little more distance between them.