[Open]

[alphatar]

Characters: Korra, Finnick, Po, Bean, Dinah, Tony Stark (616), Amon, Sabriel, Jim Kirk, Damian, Toph, Lin, Jack Frost, Raimei, Enjolras, Kyle Rayner, Bruce Banner, Asbel, Aisha, Katniss, Iskierka, Richard, and OPEN (That means YOU.)
Date: Various dates throughout July when not conflicting with Korra’s time during the clueventure.
Location: Korra’s suite, Various locations
Situation: Fish, Training, Flying, and whatever else happens!
Warnings/Rating: Physical violence, PTSD, NPC death, blood, FEELS, maybe even some swearing.

(If you want a thread starter, let me know. If you want to jump in and post your own, go ahead! Actionspam and prose welcome and interchangeable~)






(Seriously. Let me know if you want a thread starter.)

Comments

[justlittle]

[Bean watches with keen eyes, then copies her movements almost exactly. His elbows aren't quite oriented right, but other than that it's near perfect. He appreciates her getting down on his level, the act seeming less patronizing and more equalizing when she does it.]

Like this?

[alphatar]

Yes! [Korra pushed his elbow a of millimeter or two inward and smiled.] There, perfect.

[Korra raised her fist to eye level and placed it just where Bean’s arm had been and she tapped her wrist.] Now when you punch up, shove my strike away here. The further up your arm slides against mine, the more it’s pushed away as long as you keep your elbow bent.

[Having dealt with a surly Toph, Korra knew better than to patronize anyone shorter than her and Bean wasn’t an exception, even with his age.]

[justlittle]

[Bean repeats the motion a few more times, keeping his elbows at the correct level. He's a fast learner, able to pick up on things in the first few tries.]

[alphatar]

[After the couple of times, Korra increased her speed to see if Bean could adjust and she wasn't disappointed.]

You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say you knew all this stuff and were just testing me.

[Said with her usual perky attitude.]

All right, now let's say you're stuck and have to fight up close. Really close. That's where you use fists and feet less and start using elbows and knees more. So do that block and stop my right with your right. Then step in and connect here with your elbow.

[She motioned to her sternum and waited for his acknowledgement before engaging with her right hand.]

[justlittle]

[Bean nods his acknowledgement, brushing the joke aside. He does as she says, stopping her advance with his right arm, then steps in and thrusts out at her with his elbow. He's not sure how much force to put behind it, as this is merely training, so he doesn't give it his all (not that his all would be that much).]

Like that?

[alphatar]

[Between Bean and Damian, Korra has gotten used to the dismissal of her small quips. If anything she saw it as a way to sharpen them. Cracking through their serious exterior had become a personal side mission of hers.]

Yep! Focus on that point after blocking. There's actually three steps if you want to go further.

Block. Elbow. Then whip your knuckles upwards from there to hit their throat. Remember to let your hand be completely loose while whipping it up and make the fist right before impact. There's more force that way. You could hit their face instead, but the throat would be better for you. That's a really sensitive spot and makes it harder for them to chase you. Running while having trouble breathing wouldn't be a smart move for them.

[Korra crossed her arms and gave Bean an appraising look before asking.]

How comfortable do you think you'd be with learning how to use a sword?

[She was sure learning unarmed combat and swordplay wouldn't be hard for him, but it was more whether he would want to have to carry one around.]

I ask because I have a friend who's teaching, so I just thought I'd offer you. I can pay for your classes if you want.

[justlittle]

[Bean practices whipping his knuckles up, but halts halfway when she asks about swordfighting lessons. He's surprised at the offer to pay, knowing that last time they talked about money, things were tight for Korra.]

You don't need to do that. I'm proficient with other weapons. [He's thinking of the blaster Rayner made for him, the one he left in his suite.]

[alphatar]

[Fishing's really changed her income since it pays by quota instead of hours. When the mention of other weapons comes up, Korra raised her eyebrows in surprise.]

You are?

[She didn't want to sounds as surprised as she did, but that was her honest reaction. It made sense after a moment's thought, he was after all incredibly gifted when it came to learning.]

Something you had to learn back home?

[justlittle]

Yes, in school. A type of weapon you're probably not familiar with, but it works all the same.

[alphatar]

It’s not an electrified glove, is it? [Asked jokingly and with a huff of a laugh. While it was weird to think of someone as young as Bean with a weapon, it wasn’t nearly as weird as some of the things she’s heard from other’s home worlds.]

Come on, I think we need a break. [Korra stood up and headed towards the stairs to the living area.] You can tell me about the weapons where you’re from and I can show you how to make dried meat. It’s actually really easy.

[justlittle]

Not a glove, no, more of a cuff. [He follows her to the stairs and continues,] It's a blaster, back at school it just fired light beams but the one I have here is a real weapon that fires energy blasts. Meant for me to defend myself.

[alphatar]

Whoa. [When Korra got to the refrigerator door, she stopped after opening it and leaned on it to look over at Bean.]

For emergencies I hope. So can it kill anyone, or does just kind of knock them out? [With any of the airbending kids, Korra would have just asked how dangerous it was, letting them tell her how much they knew about the possibility of death. Bean was a different case, Korra could speak to him practically as an adult.]

[justlittle]

To be honest, [And he sees no reason not to be honest with Korra,] I've only ever tried it against a brick wall. It took a good chunk out of the wall, though.

[alphatar]

[Chewing on that bit of information, Korra tossed Bean a water bottle and one the two of the dumplings from within the refrigerator before closing the door.]

Well, if all else fails, that’s the next best thing to use. Sounds a lot better than a sword. I’d offer to help teach you how to aim, but really, I’ve never really handled a weapon. [Survival knives didn’t count for her.]

Unless they taught you that back on your world? [At this point, Korra wasn’t sure there were any limits on what Bean had been instructed on.]

[justlittle]

We're not much good with a weapon we can't aim. [Meaning yes, he knows how. He's actually quite good with hand eye coordination, which he demonstrates as he catches the bottle in one hand and the dumpling in the other.]

[alphatar]

[Her eyebrows raised.] Guess so. What do they need the weapons for anyway? War? Because I’m going to be honest, teaching someone your age how to use that isn’t normal back home.

[justlittle]

The world was at war, yes. With an alien species known as the Formics, or the Buggers. Children were selected for a special school, to learn how to fight, how to command armies, so that we could win the war.

[He looks away.] We did win. Eventually, and at great cost.

[alphatar]

That’s- awful.

[Just thinking about using children to wage war in that fashion… Ikki was only seven and just picturing any of her master’s children being forced to-]

…I’m sorry no one was there to stand up for you.

[That is exactly what she would have done. Not only because it’s what the Avatar’s supposed to do, but because Korra had grown fond of Bean. Nothing like that is what she pictured his world was like.]

Don’t think you have to do that here. I can fight for you. It’s what I’ve been trained to do.

[justlittle]

To fight for small defenseless children? [Bean says it as a joke, but then he turns serious.]

I appreciate the offer, but then, doesn't that defeat the point of our lessons?

[alphatar]

[It wasn’t often Bean showed that side, but it never failed to make her grin.]

When I say protect everyone, I do mean everyone. [But she saw now how her words come across, she wasn’t specific.]

I mean fighting the spirit, or essence, that was hurting Asti before. Some of the others said it’ll come back some day. When it does, I’ll do your share. The self-defense lessons are so you can go around the city when you want, not when someone else has time to go with you.

[Or in case that gun ever got broken, stolen, or left at home. But that didn’t need to be said.]

[justlittle]

I never had any intention of fighting the essence head on. [He was always better suited to command, anyway. He would come up with the strategies, then Rayner or someone like him, someone who trusted Bean enough to listen to him, but was old enough to be listened to by others, would carry them out. This is why Bean was commissioning robots from Leo, to see if they would be any good fighting Malicant. He'd thought it through a lot.]

But you, you would?

[alphatar]

[A huge sigh of relief was let when she heard that. Just thinking about having the younger residents taking up arms had been worrisome to her.]

Heck yeah I would. I don’t think my spiritual side can help me in this, or ever really, but I’m definitely going to bend every single element at that monster’s face until it goes down.

[She drank from her water bottle.] If that thing wants to go after Asti again, it’s going to have to deal with one ticked off Avatar.

[justlittle]

Well. I hope there's some way I can help. Maybe not on the front lines, but somehow. [It's not in his nature to stand down when there's a war on.]

[alphatar]

You’re probably the smartest person I know, and I’m not just saying that. You’ll think of something. If you come across anything that you think I could help in, let me know. I’m just down the block.