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Entry tags:
- marvel (mcu): gamora,
- marvel (mcu): peter quill,
- original: shigeru miyata,
- voltron: shiro,
- ✖ dceu: diana of themyscira,
- ✖ ffxiv: x'rhun tia,
- ✖ legend of zelda (botw): link,
- ✖ marvel (616): angela,
- ✖ marvel (mcu): stephen strange,
- ✖ s-cry-ed: straight cougar,
- ✖ shadowhunter chronicles: izzy lightwoo,
- ✖ shadowhunter chronicles: max lightwood,
- ✖ star wars: obi-wan kenobi
video; @gamora
[ When the camera switches on, Gamora is in her apartment, Godslayer across her lap (diligently cleaned and freshly oiled), and she’s holding her communicator with her usual unreadable expression in place. ]
I want to expand my training opportunities. Those looking to spar or test their abilities – I want a challenge.
[ And with a slight lift of her brow— ]
Or let me know if you simply want others to practice with. Tell me how you prefer to fight, and we can work something out.
[ What a friendly and welcoming message.
… Except definitely the opposite of that.
Gamora is working on that “reaching out” thing, on trying to get a better idea of who and what surrounds her in the city, and she might as well use it as a chance to stretch her legs and potentially come up against a worthy opponent or two. ]
I want to expand my training opportunities. Those looking to spar or test their abilities – I want a challenge.
[ And with a slight lift of her brow— ]
Or let me know if you simply want others to practice with. Tell me how you prefer to fight, and we can work something out.
[ What a friendly and welcoming message.
… Except definitely the opposite of that.
Gamora is working on that “reaching out” thing, on trying to get a better idea of who and what surrounds her in the city, and she might as well use it as a chance to stretch her legs and potentially come up against a worthy opponent or two. ]
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Gamora, I spend most of my day wandering through an old city, running into things that would rather eat me than engage in hand-to-hand combat.
This is why I have guns.
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Maybe you need better training.
[ Not that she doesn't think Peter is capable – in fact, quite the opposite – but there's a difference between formal training and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants brawling. ]
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My training was fine.
[ well, actually, no, his training was not fine. His training consisted mostly of a grown-ass man coming at him, forcing him to literally roll with the punches. Things got a little better as he figured out how to use his speed and size to dodge and dart away, but training became a little more vicious, at that point. And when he grew older and started gaining some muscle, when he learned how to really throw a punch, that's when fights started getting dirty.
So, no. Maybe his training wasn't fine. Maybe his training wasn't structured. And he forgets that he admitted as much as the team sat around a campfire with his newly arrived father – that "training" was mostly a Ravager (usually Yondu) kicking the crap out of him until he was forced to learn to defend himself. But it's served him just fine, so far, and if he hasn't died yet, he's probably in a good spot. ]
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Well, he's still here, so that's something. ]
There is always room to learn more.
[ But she shrugs, crossing her arms over her chest. ]
It could be... fun.
[ ... "For who?" is probably the important question here, but. ]
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Fun for you, maybe.
Unless you let me use a bag of tricks, I’m pretty sure I know how those sparring sessions are gonna go.
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Then why don't you want to practice otherwise?
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Because I’m pretty sure I’m good as I am. Worked well enough so far, right?
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Yep.
(In her own, mild way, but definitely her version of disappointed.) ]
It worked until I incapacitated you.
[ But she shrugs dismissively. ]
If that's what you think is best.
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You didn’t “incapacitate me.”
[ And the echoed words drip with derision. ]
In fact, I’m pretty sure I won that fight.
[ Thanks in no small part to the repeated meddling of one Rocky and his partner, Bullwinkle, but still. ]
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[ She says it blandly, but with total conviction, too. ]
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[ And he turns on the couch, folding a leg onto the cushions to face her fully. ]
You and Drax, man. You guys are all like— [ And he pitches his voice low, into a sort of baritone range, smoothing out his inflection. ] — “A warrior faces his enemy, one on one, in a vacuum, only I’d never say that, because then I’d expect someone to whip out a Hoover while me and my foe try to climb in.”
[ ... an imitation of Drax, then. ]
But real fights aren’t one on one, with two folks beating the tar out of each other. It’s chaos, and it's thinking on your feet and using every advantage you’ve got – gadgets and weapons and random acts of Groot, included.
[ Peter shrugs, stretching an arm across the back of the couch. ]
Difference in philosophy, I guess.
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Perhaps. But that does not mean you won't find yourself unarmed against a singular opponent. And training with me wouldn't necessarily be about simple hand-to-hand combat. There are other skills to be honed that come from specialized practice, not including means of fighting you could learn that could be incorporated into your usual preferred style.
[ She shrugs right back at him. ]
Having more at your disposal isn't a matter of being an honorable warrior in single combat; it is about diversifying your abilities and consistently improving yourself.
You are most vulnerable when you become complacent.
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Why does it seem like you just want an excuse to kick my ass?
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[ So it might be enjoyable to toss Peter around a bit... but— ]
I do think this is important.
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Why?
[ Peter's still pretty sure he's gotten by just fine, so far. ]
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[ Her lips twist, some of that amusement receding. ]
We have battles ahead of us that will require more than "fine."
[ It's been a while since they discussed Thanos, but she hasn't forgotten that conversation. ]
I told you that we aren't ready now. You said you want to be.
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He actually winces at that, head bowing a little when he recalls the conversation. He chews it over for a few seconds, teeth catching on his lower lip, before he lets out a quiet sigh. ]
... Yeah. Okay.
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"Okay" as in you'll train with me?
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Yeah.
I mean, it's like you said. We're gonna have some shit to deal with— [ By which he definitely means Thanos and his children or his generals or whatever the hell he calls them. ] —and we need to be ready, so... Yeah.
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... Good.
[ She actually looks pleased by his agreement – and not in the "ha-ha, I win," way; she's almost relieved that Peter is willing to acknowledge the value in training for this.
... She'll also get to toss him around, but that's not the most important part. ]
We might as well use our time here wisely.
[ Since it feels like they have nothing but time in the Quarantine.
But in an effort to regain a brief flicker of the previous levity (and direct away from discussing Thanos), she adds, ]
I promise not to throw you too often.
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I feel like "too often" is definitely relative, here. Throwing me around at all already feels too often to me.
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[ See? Problem solved.
She straightens up a little, pausing for a moment, before adding: ]
... Thank you.
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What are you thanking me for? I haven’t done anything.
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For agreeing to do this with me.
[ She may be sparring with other people for enjoyment, but training with Peter has a very separate purpose. They have a greater evil to deal with, and they can't do that if they aren't ready to face it. ]
And for taking it seriously.
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His lips press together while he flounders for words, and he picks at a seam on his pants as he thinks. He knows fuck-all about Thanos; what he does know about him is all in the abstract, like knowing that T-Rexes were scary, back in the day, without ever having actually seen one in the flesh. He knows Nebula wants to kill Thanos, and so does Drax, and he knows that Gamora is afraid of him – which is practically inconceivable to Peter, considering he’s pretty sure Gamora is who the monsters in the closet and under the bed are afraid of.
So. Thanos is bad news. Peter may have confidence about his skills and his ability to improvise, but he’s not entirely sure how Gamora teaching him to take or throw a punch a little better will help them against the Mad Titan. If anything, he should be, like, studying strategy. Tactics. How to best wrangle feral cats. Because he figures if he has to be anything, he has to be the one helping to call the shots and keeping everyone in line.
Peter frowns at nothing for a second, thinking it over, before he looks back up to her. ]
So? When do you wanna do this?
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