[closed] i can give you such a rush

[glampop]

WHO: Caesar glampop and trickstar
WHERE: a high profile gym in Heropa
WHEN: backdated to yesterday, Friday 12/12, evening
WHAT: Caesar and Joseph are going to remember how to fight.
WARNINGS: Violence? Men being little pissy babies slapping each other?

[Caesar explicitly doesn't call it cheating to make private use of the gym membership he was offered as a career perk. His talent manager never said he couldn't use it for his own gain, which meant, he thinks, it can be used for any purpose. In theory, he should be purely working on his cardio, getting some weight lifting in, making sure he stays in peak physical condition, so on and so forth. And it isn't as if he's neglected those duties, no, but, okay. To be on the level… schmoozing up the front desk for a guest pass was likely not what his work had wanted. Taking Joseph there was also outside of the realm of desired actions. Renting a racquetball room for the purpose of Ripple training, also, mayhaps, not great.

But it's a Friday evening and most gym attendees are doing something fun, like having a cheat day or seeing a movie and promising themselves they'll hit the treadmill tomorrow morning. This is as good a time as any to break a handful of rules for the greater good.

So, racquetball and racquet-racquets set aside, Caesar stands in simple attired, near the center of the room. He brought a backpack full of gear which currently rests at his feet.]

I want you to tell me what you remember of your training, Jojo.

[He crosses his arms over his chest. Pure confidence as his voice bounces off the thick walls and high ceiling.]

Comments

[glampop]

You didn't think I'd make it that easy, did you?

[As always, he didn't even hear what Joseph said. He speaks naturally, what he would have spoken with or without the apparent premonition. Another skip back. Moving the way Jojo would, all light on his feet. In the end, Caesar was usually the one learning rather than teaching.]

[trickstar]

[Right. Time to get to thinking. Head-on attacks won't do anything, obviously. There's little room to stay out of sight with... Sound echos off the walls too easily, too.

Well, he could cheat with his Stand, but he doesn't think Caesar would appreciate that much.

He wonders what would happen if Caesar just wound up ... cornered? Not very sneaky, but if it works...

So Joseph tries that. Simply starts stalking forward.]

[glampop]

[That's an option. Caesar would have to resort to more brutal tactics if every exit was blocked. Strategy isn't his strongpoint, either, so it's going to work if Joseph sticks with it.

Downside? Not gonna happen quickly.

Caesar's keeping toward the center. Using speed he's been working on during daily runs he's aware Joseph hasn't joined him for.]

Mm? Having trouble?

[trickstar]

You're faster than I remember.

[Not that that's trouble. Not that he's having a problem. It's a statement to distract, clearly. Joseph continues to simply walk forward, although he keeps his eyes on Caesar's face, rather than shifting his gaze to the bag. Confusing tactics here for Caesar, he's sure. It's intentional.]

I don't think I could move that quickly right now! I hate fighting at the end of a day, you know!

[glampop]

It comes with training!

[Lifts up his fist while he stays light on his feet. Caesar moves like a boxer, all bounce and vigor. Joseph's complaints only fuel the urge to impress and exceed; faster, faster. And yet always back in that firm line, being herded toward a wall.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9VdJA6BCww better one

[trickstar]

Come on, you'll be easy on me, right?

[Still just... walking forward. Oh, there's the wall, Caesar. Nowhere to run, except left, right, and well... up. Or straight forward, if you feel daring. Still he knows he's limited Caesar's options, and this is actually for a reason. Caesar might have kept up his training, but Caesar tends to not train his mind. Sure, he's smart, but he falls into predictable patterns. Even though being pushed to a wall doesn't narrow Caesars option to left or right, he has a feeling the other is going to wind up in either of those directions anyway.

This is as much an exercise for Caesar as it is for Joseph. They're both testing each other, even if Joseph's words are deceivingly unaggressive.]

w o w

[glampop]

Why should I be easy on you? Do you think the others would be?

[Loggins. Lisa Lisa. Messina. They all knew better than to give Jojo too much slack; the boy would hang himself with all that rope. The endless hours they spent training together saw the young man grow from a lazy slob of a beast into--

... He proved that he was capable of taking some things seriously. That his stupidity could, at times, become ingenuity. No, he shouldn't go easy.

Almost backed up into the wall, he bumps a shoulder blade into it. Starts off with a hard push to his right.]

[trickstar]

[And Joseph continues to stalk him, although cutting off his exit of escaping around him from the right. Caesar's only option is that corner, now. Joseph seems to be rather nonchalant about it. Like they're having this conversation over coffee, not like he's narrowing Caesar's escape to a single corner of a wide room during a training session.]

No, they wouldn't. Ahhhhhh, but they tortured me! I'm still kind of mad about all that, you know! I only forgave Loggins because he died!

[glampop]

It wasn't torture. It was the training you'd need to survive. And you did, didn't you?

[Any notes of desperation to that final line are stripped away by the annoyance that clouds Caesar's expression point-two seconds later. What the Hell? When did he end up nearly trapped? He could use his bubbles to form a shield of sorts, but this isn't even the real training. Only a beginning exercise. Damn it.]

[trickstar]

I did.

[He survives the whole thing, even. Somehow. Does Caesar know that? You know, neither of them have ever really spoken about that...

But now really isn't the time.

Now, he corners Caesar completely, and to prevent escape from above, places both hands on the perpendicular walls and laughs loudly.]

You totally let yourself get trapped like this, lil Caesar! You might have kept up the working out, but you don't think when you do things!

[And with that, he pokes at Caesar's forehead.]

Outsmarting your opponent is more important than physically beating them!

[glampop]

[Caesar only knows that Joseph survives long enough to sire heirs. That said, he has no idea who the mother might be, or when they are conceived. He assumes it's after the thirty-three days, which means Wham must be beat-- some way, somehow-- without him. Caesar's meditated on the limited information he's gathered, and he knows enough that he can sleep at night.

Joseph's got him cornered.

When did that happen? All of a sudden there are hands above him and enough mass to either side that he doesn't feel like putting the work into dodging. The only way to prolong this would be to instigate a real spare.

He flinches lightly when his forehead's poked. Ugh. This asshole.]

To truly survive, you'll need to do both.

[Squints and barely crosses his eyes, staring at the offending finger.]

[trickstar]

Yeah, yeah, that's true. But if you can do it without expending all your energy, then that's what you should focus on. So like... seventy percent outsmarting, and forty percent physical beatdown.

[Joseph, that's more than 100%.]

So, you give? C'mon, I wanna start real training, and you're just getting all red in the face at being caught like this.

[He assumes the red is like... anger...]

[glampop]

[Good thing neither of them are very good at math! Caesar puts on airs left and right, but at the end of the day he's barely afloat. He taught himself how to act refined, not the process of actually being so. There's some crucial differences that Joseph will never notice.]

Huh-- ho-! What do you mean!

[Jerks back! Is he flushing? Caesar didn't notice, but when he puts fingertips against his cheek it's warm. Oh. Well. Joseph is encroaching on his personal space.

...

He shoves the pack into his stomach.]

Take it, then.

[trickstar]

[TAKES THE BAG!! HAHA! VICTORY!! He's pretty proud of himself with that bag, holding it while he backs off from Caesar's personal space and returns to the center of the room.]

Ha! I think that was the easiest fight I've ever had with you! Were you really trying? You seemed like you started giving up about mid-way through...

[Like Caesar just ... lost his nerve somewhere along the way. It's weird. But whatever. A wins a win.]

[glampop]

Hnn. I don't want to distract from your training too much with games like that.

[Now it's a game. Now he was playing with him. Caesar turns away, arms crossing ever so firmly over his chest all over again. The pose he strikes-- ha-- is defensive and dismissive all at once. What a master of the craft.]

[trickstar]

...

[Well, now he can tell Caesar's lying. Come on man. He knows you better than that. But for now... he'll let it slide. He doesn't feel like picking an argument with Caesar right now, but don't think he's going to be forgetting this.]