hadriel { ic inbox }

[nonscriptum]

This is Nate, you know what to do. I'll...probably get back to you.

Comments

[nonscriptum]

[Nate cobbled together something akin to a punching pad - with limited resources like theirs, he didn't exactly have a choice - and fishes it free now: canvas with a MacGyvered handle, fabric and leather in a general oval shape. He didn't want Lance throwing punches at his face or chest for practice.

Not at first, anyway.]

Experience, mostly? [He doesn't think that coaching from his older brother on how to take hits more effectively qualifies as a professional lesson.] After Sam got kicked out of Saint Francis I got picked on a lot more often. Had to learn really quickly what not to do.

[Time and again he would get written up, receive the usual chastisement from a livid Sister Catherine, overhear the concerned please for his well-being from Father Duffy. It wasn't so different from other prisoners or a warden with a big stick.]

Didn't really matter if it was street kids competing for an alley, or some overly-friendly inmates, or the cartel. Everyone hits the same. You learn which buttons to push and you get fast, or... [His note wrinkles at a brief memory and he stands, fitting the pad over one hand.] You bleed out in a gutter.

[lifetothefullest]

[Yeah, bleeding out a gutter--or a parking garage--isn't fun, and Lance almost makes a morbid comment about such, but decides not to. Instead, he files all that information away and raises his eyebrows, giving a small grin as he wanders a little closer.]

Did you ever break your hand?

[nonscriptum]

From making a fist the wrong way? No.

[He's lucky. Luckier than he knows, and lucky enough that it may be noticeable to others. The kind of scrapes that Nate walks away from with a quip and a smile would kill most men.

Nate remembers trying to clock a blockhead employed by Katherine Marlowe, though, and how ineffective boxing maneuvers were until he roped a safety line around the guy and pushed him out of a falling airplane. Treasure hunting needs hazard pay.]

From punching a guy with a jaw made of granite? Almost. Now show me your stance.