☂️ All you sinners stand up

[hellogoodhigh]

WHO: The Hargreeves + Guests
WHERE: Various Cities
WHEN: Month of September
WHAT: Mass log of idiots to keep from flooding others. A log for all things Hargreeves, their Adventures, and those trying to befriend them.
WARNINGS: Obligatory CW for: drugs, alcohol, mentions of death and child abuse.

Comments

[justaddh2o]

Fucked up and perfect. Not a way she'd ever heard herself or her abilities described, but she kind of liked the ring it had to it. It sort of worked. Her cheeks went a little pink and she ducked her head away for a second before he moved again to repeat the motion for her to try on her feet. When she'd failed, he explained to her why she was failing, even going as far as to proactively placate a potential objection on her part. She knew she wasn't stronger in this position, even if she was stronger normally, so that made her smile a little.

She watched how he moved and when it was her turn, she tried to get out of it the same way. It took one failed try bumping into his wrist and one failed try getting out of the hold only to have stepped awkwardly and dropped onto the mat clumsily before she finally got it on the third try. Rikki was relieved when he had her keep working on the same move several more times until she'd gotten it down properly.

"Right, if I muck up everything else today, at least I've learned one thing, so I call that a success no matter what," she said with a grin when they took a quick break so that they could get drinks and, presumably, so Ben could decide how to proceed with the training. She wondered how long they were going to work each time they got together for it and found herself hoping it was plenty long, not because she wanted to be working the whole time, but because she genuinely loved spending time with Ben and she was excited for a new excuse to do so.

[the_horror]

Fucked up and perfect is better than a freak and a horror show, to Ben. But yes, Ben wasn't here to put her down or make her feel inferior. He knows how that feels when sparring with his brothers, or hell, with Allison too. He too can fight, but he's better with his powers really.

Still, he was glad she was picking it up fast. and she was doing well too. A few more times through it and she had it down good. breaking the thumbs hold, ducking down and dodging out and away. He was beaming as they took a quick break. He liked this time with her, really.

"Seriously, this is just the gate way move to more defensive things. if you move through it as fast as that? you'll be golden." He might ask Diego to spar with him a bit to get back into fighting spirits again, but the crime fighting at night had been going pretty well so far.

"For a first time, you're picking it up well." he said, digging into the gym bag he left there before and. Taking out a water bottle he held it... and a straw out to her before taking his own. he had noticed she used straws for drinks. We can try breaking a choke hold from behind, or maybe work on a defensive attack to get you away from danger?"

[justaddh2o]

Huffing a soft laugh, Rikki lifted her eyebrows dubiously. "The harder it gets, the slower I'll pick it up, Ben. Don't get too excited yet," she said, only half-joking. Then again, she was sort of surprising herself already, a little, if she was honest. A part of her hadn't actually thought she'd be any good at this or that she would even care. She'd originally taken him up on it not because she felt she needed it — until he'd mentioned sometimes their powers would be funny, it hadn't occurred to her that she might not have them to save herself — but because she liked having an excuse to spend more time with him. She had fun with him. She always had fun when she was with him.

She took the bottle of water carefully, lifting the bottom hem of her shirt to use it as a towel for some drops of condensation at the bottom before circling her fingers around it to take it from him. "Thanks, mate," she said, her tone warm and appreciative as her eyes shift to the straw he'd provided. Ben was really sweet, she found herself thinking as she sipped on it and he went on talking. He thought of things like that, things that wouldn't occur to her if the tables were turned.

"Which do you think would be more beneficial?" she asked, "or rather, if you think they'd be equally beneficial, then which one do you think would be the next in the natural progression?" He would know better than she would. She can't help noticing that this was a slightly different side of Ben than what she was used to seeing every Friday at the beach. This was more business-like and focused. It wasn't a bad thing, it was just different. It felt like getting to know him better and that couldn't be bad. "I'll defer to your judgement. You're the teacher. I'm just here to learn, yeah?" she asked, setting the bottle down when she'd finished sipping from it. "I'm ready when you are."

[the_horror]

"Naw. We'll escalate it slow enough that you wont notice it get's harder." he said with a smirk. He liked having this time with her. Liked spending time with her in general. And though he was being more professional and on track, he was enjoying himself.

He took a sip of his water and considered what she said. What would be more beneficial. "they both would be, really, but lets go with one more choke hold to cover that for now and see where that takes us."

He took another sip of water before standing, leaving the bottle on the floor. "This one is a little harder but once you see the weak point it becomes simple." He said and moved near her, giving her a smirk. He reached out to pull her closer, his right arm looping around her neck, pulling her close to his chest an holding her there a moment. From behind her ear he said softly. "Try to get free." And as she tried he's carefully lift her off her feet and drag backwards to add to the problem.

he had to try to ignore the part that just hit him. Outside of a few hand touches like helping someone to their feet, or sleeping back to back with Five when he was here, this is the most contact he's had with a human since being alive. And it was with Rikki...

[justaddh2o]

His confidence in her made Rikki feel a warmth that she hadn't felt since Cleo and Emma first took her in as their third and started treating her like she wasn't a superfluous addition to their pair. It was nice to feel like someone believed she could get better at something, whether that something was being around people, in the girls' case, or learning self-defense.

That confidence he had in her was why she was deferring to his judgment. He saw something in her that she didn't, yet, and she wanted to trust his gut. So when Ben suggested the chokehold, Rikki trusted that and nodded, waiting for him to approach.

The little smirk on his face as he approached surprised a little laugh out of Rikki as he positioned himself behind her, pulling her closer with an arm hooked around her neck. Reflexively, her hands went to his arm, curling fingers around his forearm and pausing when she heard his soft voice in her ear. Her eyes closed in a slow blink and she pushed away the attention she felt drifting toward the unexpected flutter in her stomach and the sudden closeness and the way she'd felt his words against her skin as much as she'd heard them.

"Right," she said, partially trying to draw her focus back to the task at hand. Obviously, she pulled on his arm. She kicked a foot out behind her, trying to catch his knee or leg to knock him off kilter, but she missed and he was able to lift her off her feet for it, dragging her backward. The impulse to use her powers flared up again — splash the water again, turn into a mermaid so you're too heavy to drag — and she grunted with the frustration that came with knowing she shouldn't indulge it if she wanted to learn.

Rikki thrashed against him, trying again to find his leg behind her to kick it out from under him, but she failed again. Maybe she went on a big longer than she ought to have, but she wanted to find the weak spot he'd mentioned on her own. A minute or so later, though, she'd tired herself out, slumping back against him with defeat and fatigue. "You win," she conceded, frowning. "Show me how."

[the_horror]

He tried to ignore the fact that this is the closest he's been to anyone outside of his family. Tried to ignore the fact that she smelled of sea salt and something sweet he couldn't pin point. That she was soft against his arm, pulled back against him. It's a first for him to be this close to anyone outside of family. It's training though and he h as to be serious.

As she struggled, he effortlessly held her back, for much longer then he should have. He wasn't seriously going to choke her though but... "Six seconds, remember. That's all it takes." And he let her to her feet as she called Uncle basically. Still holding his arm around her. he leaned in a bit (ignoring how damn soft she was) and reached with his other arm. patting his bicep. "You're fighting against this, and dropping with your full weight will sometimes help, as well kicking backwards into a groin, if you can find it, but the fastest way is to break my grip."

He wiggled his gripping hand. "I noticed you found the weak point but wasn't sure how to break from it. that's where your feet come in." He explained how she had to take a step forward with the one foot, and a side step in and back with the other. How it turned her into her attacker so her arms could push her free. And once again dropping the head out of the hold, pushing and running.

"That's where that first move come in handy here. Once you get turned you can duck and run again." he said, and tugged his arm around her neck once again, leaning in to speak softly. "Try it in slow motion again, like before. Step out, turn, duck and push." he encouraged.

Kirk had said she said he was cute. WHY that thought had to pop into his head NOW of all times was beyond him. Right now he had to be serious, right? Right.

[justaddh2o]

Rikki was having her own struggles, mainly that no one had been this close to her in over a year and, excluding hugs to her friends before they'd gone off to Uni, the last person who'd been this close had been Zane. The context had been vastly different, of course, but all the same, she couldn't help it floating into her mind, much to her chagrin. Zane was the last person she wanted to be thinking about just then.

Six seconds, he reminded her and she huffed softly, frustrated with herself. He let her go for much, much longer than an actual attacker would've had to before she passed out. She's got loads of work to do. It's a lot harder that she'd thought. When he leaned in again, Rikki's stomach fluttered again and her whole body seemed to blush, all going warm and pink, but she kept her focus where it needed to be: listening to his instruction on how to get out of the hold.

"Right, step out, turn, duck, and push, got it," she repeated. Her audible mental note was vague, but she felt semi-confident that she'd gotten it the first time.

She was wrong. Her first attempt only made his grip tighter because she moved in the wrong direction. "Oh, for Christ's sake," she muttered, frustrated with herself as she moved to reset. Rikki heaved a heavy sigh. She needed to rein in her impatience, lest Ben think she wanted to give up. Of course she didn't, but that didn't make the process less frustrating. She liked to be able to do things immediately. When the other girls, for example, had gotten their powers figured out a few days before Rikki had managed her own, she'd been irritated. This was no exception.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out in a huff, Rikki cleared her throat and nodded. "Right, I'm ready to try again." This time, she took it slower and, while she stumbled through it, she did manage to break free as instructed.