(Untitled)

[teambatgirl]

Batgirl is on the shoreline. She should be at her post outside the entrance to Rapture, no, she should be down there in the underwater city helping them, Jason and Bruce both. But she's not because fuck Batman and Bruce Wayne and, you know what, add everyone on the ITF who's keeping her topside to her shit list too

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[recanting]

He hates being cooped up, because Alex is a boy who was made to run around, and there's very little more exhilarating than hearing the sound of his own heartbeat and the good ache in his side that comes from too much movement. Stopping just by the beach, he takes a breather, body half crouched with a football held against his hip. But playing football (or, soccer, as most of the people on the island seemed to refer to it as) is no fun alone. And his mind is elsewhere, racing as usual, when it's directed to the sound of punches and kicks. The smack of a punching bag and heavy breaths. He knows it pretty well, by now.

Alex approaches carefully, watching her for a second. Just one second, and it tells him that she knows what she's doing, and also makes him wonder if he should be approaching at all. But his curiosity, as always, gets the better of him. The same curiosity that makes him stick his nose in where it obviously doesn't belong, always.

"You're good. But I bet you already knew that."

[teambatgirl]

Stephanie finishes with one last punch to the bag then turns around to the voice. She offers a little half smile and a bit of a wave, which is as cheery as she can manage under the circumstances. No need to take it out on this guy, though, he wasn't the one who completely disregarded her to go fuck things up with another one of his failed birds.

"Not that good. But I'm always pleased to get positive reinforcement." She smooths her hair out of her face. Her cheeks are flushed, but her breathing is steadying. "Kicking a ball around? How's that on sand?"

[recanting]

"Terrible. But right now the point is to not let it touch the ground," playing hackey-sack with a football was one of the ways they used to practice precision and control, back at Brookland. Or at least, they'd tried. The results were sometimes less than stellar. But it was fun, and without a partner to play with it was one of the only viable options.

"How's the punching bag?"

Obviously, there's something more at work here than the smiles and waves belied, but it probably wasn't even his business, anyways. None of it was. Honestly, he should probably just go back to kicking his football around somewhere else.

[teambatgirl]

"Reassuringly solid as always." She taps it lightly with one of her fists in an absent gesture of affection, then turns to give the guy her full attention. Stephanie tries to, if not be cheerful, than at least seem more perky than surly. "I'm sure there are a few fields that would be good for playing on, I don't know if there are goals set up or not. Baseball's a thing here, not sure about soccer."

[recanting]

"I think I've seen them around," he leaves out the part where circumnavigating the island had been one of his first actions here, both as a way to scout any possible exits, and as intelligence-gathering that was pretty much habit for Alex by now. Straightening up, he drops the ball to the floor but hooks it in the curve of one foot, keeping it still for the moment. "Where did you learn to do...that?" he tilts his head towards the punching bag.

After all, he didn't know many girls who routinely boxed. And the body suit she was wearing set off some bells for him. Bart had told him about superheroes and he'd met a couple already, surprised to find how many of them were around his own age. Well, it takes one to know one, in this case.

[teambatgirl]

"I- you know- girl from Gotham has to be able to defend herself." She smiles and tries to look harmless for a moment, before deciding, you know what, forget that. Maybe she doesn't have the mask on, but it's definitely not work-out clothes, and she punches like she could break a guy's jaw. "It's a thing I do. A really intense extracurricular. I've had a couple different instructors. Why, are you into boxing, that sort of thing?"

[recanting]

"A little," which is the understatement of the year, but Alex has never really been forthcoming with information when he doesn't have to be. Truth is, he's had a lot of instructors. His uncle, people from SCORPIA to teach him how to assemble a gun in twenty seconds, blindfolded and a take a man out with one hand. But that's not the kind of thing normal boys talked about. "I'm probably not as good as you, though."

[teambatgirl]

"Me? No way, I'm small potatoes compared to a lot of the people here. Seriously, the ratio of super badasses per capita is just outrageous." Even beyond the people that were teaching the classes, she can tell there were some serious fighters here just from the way they moved. It's for the best, really, prevents something like Halloween from turning into a bloodbath. Plus, it's a goal to aspire to. "I'm just...getting out some aggression and hurt feelings on this poor bag here."

[recanting]

He could tell, too. So many of the island's residents moved in a certain way, and Alex had always been taught to observe that carefully more than anything. At the same time, he tried his best to cover up his own movements. No need to let everyone else know what he could do. The element of surprise had saved his life many, many times because people were inclined to underestimate a kid.

"I'm sure its feelings won't be hurt," Alex quips, trying his best in turn to be lighthearted. "Punching bags are surprisingly forgiving."

[teambatgirl]

"I know, that's what I like about them." She gives the bag an affectionate little shove. "Not as good as a live opponent to spar with, but on the plus side you come out with fewer bruises. Because if you're getting bruises from working a bag you've got to be doing something badly wrong."

[recanting]

"Just about," Alex agrees, although he can't deny never getting a couple of bruises from working a bag too long, or too hard. Sometimes, there were stresses that just needed to be brought out into the open. He pauses for a moment, before deciding to offer anyways. She was good, and his uncle would probably be scandalized if he knew how long Alex had gone without punching something. Training and skill would go to waste if they weren't practiced regularly. It was a spiel that he's heard many, many times. "If you wanted a live opponent, I could give it a shot. We used to do practice sparring at the dojo I went to."

[teambatgirl]

She raises an eyebrow at him but nods, a half-smile pulling at her mouth. "Sure." Stepping away from the bag to give themselves enough space, she shrugs and sets her feet. "If you don't mind working out my issues on you, I'm more than happy to."

[recanting]

"It's been a while," he nods, because it has been a while since something like this didn't mean anything. Mostly things like the fact that he'd die if he lost, amongst a whole host of other things. This reminds him more of bright fluorescent lights and wooden floors under his feet. Of encouraging words and kicks that broke blocks of wood. Before anything got serious, and he was just another kid taking karate lessons for the fun of it.

The sand under his bare feet is too hot, but he kicks his shoes off anyways and sets the ball down a little ways away. And then he nods.

"Ladies first, I guess."

[teambatgirl]

The sand shifting under her feet is still new, a variable in fights that she hasn't quite gotten used to. It's not worse than having your foot skitter out from under you after you step in a pool of wet blood, but it makes her feel like an amateur. That's okay though. You have to be an amateur before you can be a pro.

Watching him for a moment she moves in and kicks toward his center then follows it up with a punch. Take it as a warning shot, a chance to gauge him.

[recanting]

The kick and punch are half-force, or so Alex thinks based on what he saw her do to the bag. Probably her way of trying to test him, which is smart. He should be doing the same thing. He steps back from the kick with measured movements, nothing hurried or clumsy because she hasn't forced him into that situation yet, and brings his arm up for a block. The punch jars his upper arm, but blocking instead of moving away gives him the chance to respond with a sweeping kick to her legs. Kicks were stronger than punches, Alex had been told time and time again and he used them accordingly.

Even though he doesn't actually want to hit her. He wonders if she'd get mad if she knew. Either way, it looked like she was good enough to keep that from happening anyways.

[teambatgirl]

That's a solid move, Steph is all about tripping people up during a fight. When you're up against opponents who are twice your size, you've got to use your advantage. Sometimes that means using your speed against them and sometimes it means just getting them on the floor as quickly as possible.

Leaping up, the kick goes under her feet and while in the air she shoots out with a kick of her own, aiming at his center.