Another Tool in the Toolbox

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei slouched against the side of her boarding ramp, looking like she was bored out of her mind.

In reality, though, she was a tad irked. Oh, she remembered that night. She'd drank way more liquor than she was used to -- thanks to her lifestyle, she'd developed the habit of making drinks last. The Nautolan had then proceeded to (drunkenly) demand that Joran, the human ranked #1 on her "Most Annoying" list, to teach her how to fight.

Honestly, it wasn't the fact that she'd asked him (she decided its be a good way to learn how to get back at him for beating her) as it was the fact that she did it drunk. And that was a rough blow to Nei's pride.

So, here she was, waiting outside her ship for Joran. While she had her armour on for the moment, Nei had grudgingly decided that it would probably be better if she changed into something else once the human arrived; it would leave her more vulnerable, true, but the Nautolan couldn't afford to get her armour dirty with blood just yet. She was running low on cleaning supplies and hadn't yet made the trip to the market.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

“This yours then?” he asked the Nautolan girl leaning up against the boarding ramp of a nondescript freighter. He’d come as requested, here to teach her the ancient art of fisticuffs. A few days ago smuggler Nei Laa, after many, many drinks had asked Joran to teach her to fight. He thought of telling her to fuck off, but in the end he agreed.

She stood in her armor per usual, Joran was dressed in something more simple. Black cargo pants, black cargo boots and a white tank top. Appropriate attire for training.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei did the Nautolan equivalent of an eye roll. "No, it just be some random ship that I decided to use. Si'hklesi foh." She eyes Joran briefly, noting his lack of armour -- again. She briefly considered making a scathing comment about his stupid trust in folks to not shoot him, but thought better of it -- he had, after all, beaten her to a pulp, she who wore armour like a second skin.

So, instead, the Nautolan waited until he was closer before moving up the boarding ramp. Without bothering to see if he was following, she grunted, "She be called Lucky Star."

The cargo hold was fairly spacious for the type of ship, though the distinct lack of crates assisted with the emptiness. Everything was varying shades of grey, and the only type of decoration on anything was a thick blue stripe that ran horizontally around, on the wall. Bar the stripe, everything screamed functionality.

Nei paused briefly in the centre of the hold, turning slightly. "Don't expect a tour. Unless I say otherwise, stay here. I need to change." With that, she made her way towards one of the doorways.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

“You got it captain.” he watched her leave the hold to go change and propped himself against a wall. He took his flask from out of one of the pockets on his pants and took a healthy swallow. The contents of the flask burned all the way down and woke him up just slightly.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei re-entered the room dressed in her only pair of clothes suitable for a workout, aside from her armour. Of course, the outfit was all black, and she had no shoes on. The get up was also a way to mess with Joran's head, as she still found the human to be a tad moronic. But, as stated before, he was also more skilled than her, which was why she had sucked up her pride and kept her request.

It felt strange, not wearing armour. As with the dress she'd worn at the last party, Nei felt vulnerable, unprotected. But, being in her home territory took some of the edge off, leaving her discomfort minimal. As she padded back into the cargo hold, Nei paused and put her hands on her hips. "Start teaching me," she said bluntly.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

“Fuuuck me.” he said softly, under his breath only for his own ears when he Nei walked back into the cargo hold with that outfit on. She was, just, wow! Joran, had always thought her to be cute, but out of her armor, in those skin tight clothes, she was, simply put, amazing.

He let the sight of her out of her armor distract him for only a moment before regaining his purpose. He been asked to teach her to fight, a task he was more than familiar with.

“Before, I teach you, I need to learn more about you. “ he looked her up and down, thinking of the things he might want to learn from her, and none of them had to do with fighting. Quickly he banished the thought before going on. “Tell me, Love, what is your greatest strength? If you were put to it, living or dying, hand to hand combat, what would you rely on to insure your survival?”

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

Nei did the equivalent of an eyebrow raise at the pheromones coming off of the human. They were a type she'd not encountered before, but they were strong enough that she could definitely pick them up. She didn't even want to think about what they'd be like underwater.

Redirecting her brain, the Nautolan considered Joran's question. Drawing back her lips in a smarmy smile, she quipped, "Aside from my teeth?" There had been many people in the past whom she'd chomped down on in the midst of a fight, and it was highly unlikely that this human -- who'd been one of them -- would have forgotten. She retained her smile for a heartbeat longer, before becoming serious. "Honestly, I usually try to...ah..." Oh, kark. Nei gestured with her hands in an attempt to describe what she was trying to get at without Joran taking it the wrong way. Though, he usually takes everything the wrong way. Bah!

Giving up on tiptoeing, she went ahead and put it bluntly. "I be flexible, so usually I try to squirm out of a bad situation. Or kick. Kicking be good, too."

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

Joran tried to not picture her flexibility in that outfit. Tried, and failed.

“Fair enough. One last question. You and me, we already fought before, if we were going to fight again. How would you beat me?”

He was curious to know if she had learned anything or developed a new strategy.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

"Shoot you, duh."

Nei knew perfectly well what Joran was actually referring to -- if they fought in the same way as last time, with no weapons. Truth be told, though, the Nautolan hadn't actually given a thought to how she would defeat the human if it came to a brawl like last time. Not that she'd admit as such. The last thing she needed was yet more fodder for the si'hklesi foh to use for teasing her. It was difficult as it was to get him to use her first name instead of "Love."

Besides, if she had to choose a new strategy, the most she could think up was maybe biting his throat and letting that be that. Of course, the Nautolan instantly dismissed that one. Too savage, even for me, she decided.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

“Aye, that would work.” he said smiling.

“Well, the first the thing you would want to do, is the opposite of what we did last time. Can’t let me get a hold of you, if you do, I’m going to use my strength and pop your head off, or worse.”

“but if worse comes to worse and I do, get a hold of you, there are somethings I could teach you, that should help you out. Lets talk about vulnerable areas. Here, here, here, here and here.” every time he said ‘here’ he pointed to a different part of his body. Eyes, throat, liver, crotch, knees.

“A finger or a punch to the eye can be very useful, same with the throat, a good strong strike to the throat should put some one down. Now here,” he pointed to his liver again. “That’s a tricky one because it isn’t always going to work, but you hit the liver hard enough and it will shut your body down. I think this one is self explanatory.” he said referring to the groin shot. “Knees to, you said, your good a kicking? Kick there, almost like a stomp and you got a good chance of tearing the whole knee apart.”

"Questions?"

 

[Nei Laa]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Nei listened closely as Joran began a basic rundown of the vulnerable areas. Some of it wasn’t new to her, though. The groin, eyes, and throat, for instance – those were some of the few places she tried to get at first when in a fight. Well, sometimes. When she was thinking. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The knees were sort-of new. When Nei kicked at them, it was more to kick the feet out from under her opponents. Knowing that she could shatter it completely with the right strength intrigued her, and she filed it away for later use. Same with the liver. Humans use that for alcohol, right? The Nautolan couldn’t recall, nor did she really care. She just wanted to learn to fight better. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]At Joran’s request for questions, Nei’s tresses twitched in a way that other Nautolans would interpret as equal to a wicked grin of sorts, though her own face remained haughtily composed. “Yeah, one. Will you be volunteering for me to break your knee?”[/SIZE]


[SIZE=10.5pt][member="Joran Del-Finn"][/SIZE]

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

“Your more than welcome to try, Love.” said Joran flippantly. “Is there anything specific, you invited me here for?”

((Jesus Christ, I'm sorry for the wait and the underwhelming post. I'll do better. promise))

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

((haha don't worry about it))

[SIZE=12pt]Nei scowled when Joran didn’t really react to her comment. How rude, she sniffed. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Cracking her fingers, the Nautolan shrugged. She hadn’t really thought that far. “Teach me how you fight,” she said flatly. Really, there wasn’t much to it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Or was there? In case the si’hklesi foh got something or other mixed up in translation, she decided to elaborate, pacing as she did. “Teach me how to fight. Rather, how you fight.” Nei shrugged a shoulder. “I know some stuff, but I still get my backside handed to me. Especially by Force Users.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The Nautolan stretched her left arm up so that her ribs were defined under her skin. With her right hand, she rubbed a finger across one rib before tapping it gently. The rib in question appeared to have a slight misshape to it as compared to the others, and the skin around it was a lighter color than skin elsewhere. “This rib? It has been broken twenty times or so. Twenty. I not be able to afford that kind of treatment for very long. Right now? I be lucky I not get in any scrapes. Bad enough the rib have a bump from so much bacta.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Her arms dropped down and were placed on her hips. The look she gave Joran was almost one of defiance. “I not want any more ribs broken. That be good enough for you?”[/SIZE]

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

[member="Nei Laa"]

Joran’s eyes followed her as she paced talking about her ribs and how she preferred them unbroken. So she wanted to fight like him? To be skilled enough to face a forcer and live? Joran wasn’t even sure that was something he could do. Though to be fair, it was something he had done. He had been on the winning end against Jedi and Sith alike, though that was more about tools than it was punches and kicks.

Learning to fight was more than being taught, techniques. It was more than understanding footwork and positions, a lot of it was experience and Joran had almost as much experience as Nei had years breathing.

“What did you want, eh? A quick demo? A blow-for-blow description you can map out and memorize? It's not about the moves, love.”

 

[Nei Laa]

[SIZE=12pt]Nei stalked up to the human until she was almost nose-to-nose with Joran. Actually, it was more like nose-to-chest, since he was nearly a foot taller than her. Even with her on her tiptoes. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Not letting the height difference deflate her, the Nautolan jabbed a finger at him. “Si’hklesi foh, you not be listening? I know it not be about just the moves. It be practice. And I want you to help me practice. Duh!” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Letting out a huff, she continued, “You beat me. I know you – and I know how to contact you. Therefore, you be—you be—“ As someone who’d previously prided herself on not needing anyone, this particular admission was difficult to make. “You be best bet to get better. Moron. You not be listening to anything I say?!” There, that wasn’t so bad. A bit harsh, but not bad. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Generally, Nei was a grumpy person. It was like the synonym for her name. But she was never as riled up as she was around this human. Just…Something about him made her so aggravated – it could have been his arrogance, or the fact that he beat her in a fight. Heck, it could have even been the fact that not all that long ago, he’d pointed a gun at her, and then just as soon dismissed her. Honestly, it was insulting. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]In any case, the Nautolan awaited a reply, her jaw squared in defiance. To what? Who knew. Maybe his aforementioned arrogance?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][member="Joran Del-Finn"][/SIZE]