he is dressed simply, without adornment. his hair is done up in a bun, strands curled in faint, lazy twists where they've escaped the tie — it seems he put it up while it was wet. he's got a sword slung over one shoulder, and a thigh pouch full of kunai. he'd seemed perfectly contented to head past gwen at first, but now that he's been addressed the lion's share of his attention is on her. ）
Yes.
（ it's a perfectly normal hour for a shinobi, thank u. ）
（ she's certainly strong, but he doesn't see her as being so far beyond the best of the shinobi in his world. she may be stronger than he is by a deft margin, but he's faster — the margins by which they outpace each other are likely very closely equivalent in each of their respective strengths. if they ever had to fight one another, no holds barred, he cannot say easily which of them would win. however — much would hinge upon whether or not tsukuyomi would work on her and the symbiote as it does on a jinchūriki, or if venom would be immune.
(he thinks, he should perhaps take the time to determine whether it is or not.
but there is another part that does not wish to know.) ）
Yeah, there are. One time, Captain America punched me in the face. 〈 it was awesome. 〉
My Cap, not—〈 vague hand gestures out the door. 〉And we became friends after that. Nothing like surviving together the attack of the seven-foot-tall killer lizards to bond.
〈 gwen crosses her fingers to demonstrate—they tight. (she can feel sam's judgment from here.) 〉
But she's Captain fucking America, she has her own shit to deal with. Pretty much every other case, I'm trying to avoid becoming a spider-shaped splatter on the asphalt. And when I meet up with Spider-People from other universes, it's usually because something's gunning to kill us. Again.
So, you know, a lot more do or die. 〈 and a truly excessive amount of do or get eaten because the universe hates spiders, specifically. 〉
he accepts all of this with a nod, and then reaches out to take the weight from her. if he finds it heavy, he makes no indication of it — simply puts it back where it belongs because he is a frankly fastidious gymrat. ）
Kung fu.〈 if you loosen your definition of the word 'practice', zoom out on it, and preferably unfocus your vision.
gwen lets herself fall backward to land lightly on the balls of her feet. her clothing shifts as she moves, venom responding to her intent: from a loosely fitted green dress to a more form-fitting pair of shorts and t-shirt. her ballet slippers too deform like a liquid and stretch up her ankle to form high-tops.
her phone and earbuds she leaves safely up on the web. itachi breaks either, she breaks him. 〉
facing itachi's clone, she stretches her neck. spider-sense is quiet as she expected it to be. if itachi wants to observe her, the opening salvo will be hers. firing a web at him, she dives in.
a few things quickly become obvious. first, gwen uses the environment to fight. floor and ceiling both are natural terrain. anything not nailed down, no matter how far from her, are rarely beyond the reach of a web-line. and her aim, first demonstrated back in that fair in taeum, is excellent.
second, she does not flag. running, jumping, flipping, all the while cracking jokes. defending herself with heavy objects, holding them like they weigh no more than a stick. she fires web-bullets or whole, complex webs with hardly a second's difference in their creation. she moves with an unnatural grace that allows her to balance on the thin bars on a machine as easily as she does on solid ground and maneuver through obstacles with remarkable agility.
third, gwen fighting cuts a different figure from gwen-and-venom. even without the need to not destroy their surroundings lest they upset viveca, she holds back. in strength, in viciousness, in ruthlessness. even against a clone, she doesn't aim to kill.
fourth, and perhaps new to him, her responses are a little too fast to be normal. like she is reacting to what is going to happen. like she can see it before it happens—or like she has some sort of warning.
when the clone finally poofs, gwen loudly goes, 〉 Aww. I was having fun.
〈 there is no noticeable change to her breathing rate to register her previous exertion. she might as well have been sitting on the floor, chatting. 〉
（ by contrast, the clone transfers its exhaustion back to him the moment it disappears. he's too disciplined to let it show, but that monstrous amount of stamina she possesses is not entirely unlike kisame.
it's clear, however, that she is relying on innate grace and strength more than any amount of technique (which offends him on a visceral level) so after a moment he shakes his head, unfolds his arms. gestures. ）
Was any of that meant to be 'kung fu'?
（ yeah, he's calling you out on that whole 'martial art' thing. he did not identify any particular pattern to her movement with the sharingan — worrisome in and of itself. ）
〈 drily, 〉 That recommendation is about two years late.
〈 been there, done that, got the alien lab-grown goo to prove it. 〉
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go to ninja school. My teachers taught me English and math. 〈 heck, she only got a superhero mentor in the last couple of years, and jess is from 616 and has her own problems. 〉 Most days, I’m figuring this shit out on my own.
（ his mouth is an unhappy line — which really could demonstrate any number of emotions for him, but in this case indicates faint annoyance at her world's utter lack of preparedness and foresight. where the child soldiers @, earth-65??? how do you?? expect people to fight crime?? without fifteen years' combat experience by the time they're twenty??? ）
〈 she did go to prison for vigilantism, buddy. all the big charges against her, including manslaughter, were dropped with foggy’s change of heart but. she did still go to prison. 〉
（ he's been working with finn on his swordfighting skills, after all. there is a part of him that very much enjoys teaching. perhaps it's a little like a legacy. ）
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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he is dressed simply, without adornment. his hair is done up in a bun, strands curled in faint, lazy twists where they've escaped the tie — it seems he put it up while it was wet. he's got a sword slung over one shoulder, and a thigh pouch full of kunai. he'd seemed perfectly contented to head past gwen at first, but now that he's been addressed the lion's share of his attention is on her. ）
Yes.
（ it's a perfectly normal hour for a shinobi, thank u. ）
I take that to mean you haven't slept?
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（ he. barely sleeps. it's a whole thing. he's not gonna judge, ayy. ）
Would you like to spar?
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（ explain yourself. ）
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I don't know. It's not something anyone's ever asked me. Or that I've ever done, now that I think about it.
〈 that feeling when you learn she does not practice. fighting anyway. (though mj also has opinions about gwen's commitment to band practice.) 〉
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（ she's certainly strong, but he doesn't see her as being so far beyond the best of the shinobi in his world. she may be stronger than he is by a deft margin, but he's faster — the margins by which they outpace each other are likely very closely equivalent in each of their respective strengths. if they ever had to fight one another, no holds barred, he cannot say easily which of them would win. however — much would hinge upon whether or not tsukuyomi would work on her and the symbiote as it does on a jinchūriki, or if venom would be immune.
(he thinks, he should perhaps take the time to determine whether it is or not.
but there is another part that does not wish to know.) ）
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My Cap, not—〈 vague hand gestures out the door. 〉And we became friends after that. Nothing like surviving together the attack of the seven-foot-tall killer lizards to bond.
〈 gwen crosses her fingers to demonstrate—they tight. (she can feel sam's judgment from here.) 〉
But she's Captain fucking America, she has her own shit to deal with. Pretty much every other case, I'm trying to avoid becoming a spider-shaped splatter on the asphalt. And when I meet up with Spider-People from other universes, it's usually because something's gunning to kill us. Again.
So, you know, a lot more do or die. 〈 and a truly excessive amount of do or get eaten because the universe hates spiders, specifically. 〉
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he accepts all of this with a nod, and then reaches out to take the weight from her. if he finds it heavy, he makes no indication of it — simply puts it back where it belongs because he is a frankly fastidious gymrat. ）
Do you practice a martial art?
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gwen lets herself fall backward to land lightly on the balls of her feet. her clothing shifts as she moves, venom responding to her intent: from a loosely fitted green dress to a more form-fitting pair of shorts and t-shirt. her ballet slippers too deform like a liquid and stretch up her ankle to form high-tops.
her phone and earbuds she leaves safely up on the web. itachi breaks either, she breaks him. 〉
So, what are the rules?
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I wish to observe your technique first.
（ so, he summons a shadow clone, and steps back to observe. dark eyes shift to red marred by black tomoe, and he crosses his arms. ）
Attack it as you would normally. You do not need to hold back, and it does not feel pain.
（ his own natural abilities are somewhat restricted aboard the station, and he imagines it's the same for her. ）
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So we're clear, I am always holding back. Really don't want to kill or maim anyone.
〈 well. 〉 Anyone else.
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（ one corner of his mouth quirks up, not quite a smirk. ）
If you require a limitation, I suggest trying not to put any holes in the station. I imagine Viveca-san would frown on that.
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facing itachi's clone, she stretches her neck. spider-sense is quiet as she expected it to be. if itachi wants to observe her, the opening salvo will be hers. firing a web at him, she dives in.
a few things quickly become obvious. first, gwen uses the environment to fight. floor and ceiling both are natural terrain. anything not nailed down, no matter how far from her, are rarely beyond the reach of a web-line. and her aim, first demonstrated back in that fair in taeum, is excellent.
second, she does not flag. running, jumping, flipping, all the while cracking jokes. defending herself with heavy objects, holding them like they weigh no more than a stick. she fires web-bullets or whole, complex webs with hardly a second's difference in their creation. she moves with an unnatural grace that allows her to balance on the thin bars on a machine as easily as she does on solid ground and maneuver through obstacles with remarkable agility.
third, gwen fighting cuts a different figure from gwen-and-venom. even without the need to not destroy their surroundings lest they upset viveca, she holds back. in strength, in viciousness, in ruthlessness. even against a clone, she doesn't aim to kill.
fourth, and perhaps new to him, her responses are a little too fast to be normal. like she is reacting to what is going to happen. like she can see it before it happens—or like she has some sort of warning.
when the clone finally poofs, gwen loudly goes, 〉 Aww. I was having fun.
〈 there is no noticeable change to her breathing rate to register her previous exertion. she might as well have been sitting on the floor, chatting. 〉
no subject
it's clear, however, that she is relying on innate grace and strength more than any amount of technique (which offends him on a visceral level) so after a moment he shakes his head, unfolds his arms. gestures. ）
Was any of that meant to be 'kung fu'?
（ yeah, he's calling you out on that whole 'martial art' thing. he did not identify any particular pattern to her movement with the sharingan — worrisome in and of itself. ）
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Yeah. There was this, 〈 she demonstrates a pose, 〉 and this, and this one too.
〈 here comes the punchline: 〉
I copied them from kung fu movies.
1/2
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（ someone get this girl a taijutsu master.
(pan camera, crowd laughter)
(guess that's him)
he sort of. sighs. rubs a hand across his eyes, and then — ）
You can't always rely on having your abilities. You need technique.
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〈 been there, done that, got the alien lab-grown goo to prove it. 〉
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go to ninja school. My teachers taught me English and math. 〈 heck, she only got a superhero mentor in the last couple of years, and jess is from 616 and has her own problems. 〉 Most days, I’m figuring this shit out on my own.
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Do you wish to learn?
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Are—you offering?
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（ he's been working with finn on his swordfighting skills, after all. there is a part of him that very much enjoys teaching. perhaps it's a little like a legacy. ）
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〈 there is a pause. 〉
Can I call you “sensei”?
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（ #americans. 😒
(okay, he's mostly teasing here. mostly.) ）
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〈 if you think she won’t practice the shit out of that pronunciation… 〉
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