16970/Fire Burns Paper

Fire Burns Paper
Date of Scene:	20 January 2024
Location:	Grant's Apartment - Grant's Gym
Synopsis:	Clara asked Ted to teach her how to fight. She got more than she bargained for.
Cast of Characters:	Clara Jennings, Ted Grant

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Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara had a simple request. At least simple in premise. Like a child, she asked to learn to fight. To be stronger and better able to stand up for herself. This is, of course, not something she ran past anyone else first. She just says it to Daddy Ted, having no clue what she is asking for.

    But she says it and then the next morning comes, and she rises early as always, not knowing just what she has gotten herself into. Across town, in a very well-appointed apartment, her Governess is painstakingly doing her work. In this case, she is trying to reassemble the damaged remants of an ancient scroll. To her, Clara's only sign of making this move will be the blip that indicates that Clara has activated her training monitor. It is a kind of bracelet made to keep track of her work.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant acted oddly. He asked her to repeat her request. He nodded, told her they'd give it a try in the morning. Then went to bed. Now this morning he comes upon her fresh out of bed and says, "Gym. Now. No. Wear what you have on now." He folds his arms and looks down on her. He wears his classic uniform. No armor, cowl back.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    That finds Clara wearing her nightgown. Not what she would expect to fight in, but she does make sure her bracelet is ready. Safety and all that kind of thing. She follows Ted nervously. "Um, good morning, Daddy Teddy," she tries nervously. He seems, well, scary.

    She wishes she had socks on. The floor feels cold. She feels cold. "Do you normally train people in their nightclothes?" She cannot quite make a joke. She does not really make jokes very often, and Ted seems different.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant takes Clara by her shoulder and says, "I Wildcat. Not Daddy. You want to fight? You fight in whatever you got on. I held off a half dozen armed raiders in a bath towel when they tried to break into out HQ. Call me Daddy or Teddy, you'll get a working over."

Still grasping her shoulder he leads her down to the sparring ring. The gym is indeed cold and empty. Ted vaults into the ring, landing almost like he's made of quicksilver and motions for her to come join him, with a fist.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara nods thoughtfully. Wildcat. Not Daddy. She is nervous, but that is nothing new. She moves into the ring hesitantly. She has to remind herself that she asked for this. It is just a lot scarier now that it is happening.

    She is not sure what to make of that motion. Nor how Ted is acting. How Wildcat is acting. "So how do..." She trails off. He seems rather ready for a fight, and she was just hoping for some breakfast first.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant says, "The Conservatory brought you up to be scared of yourself. Scared of your feelings. Scared to be noticed. Scared to go all out! Stop turning into a child. We?re in the ring. We?re in the FIGHT. There?s no paper. I?m not your daddy. I mean to fuck you up. Try ta give a damn if you live or die and not just do as told. Go!"

Ted charges in fists flying fats enough to split the air.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara flinches from each statement. She is scared, she supposes. Anxiety is part of her life. It has been for as long as she can remember. But her memory is broken up by his harsh words, and in a panic she has to roll away.

    She is fast, but he has her off balance. And he is much stronger, his arms, especially, are going to prove far quicker than she is used to. She also is not sure what this is. He said go all out, but... she has no choice. She reaches out for paper and the pages of a notepad race in her direction.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant clotheslines Clara, across the stomach as he rushes past. He hooks her ankle and throws her doubled over flat on her back.

"I thought you wanted to fight, not let paper do it for you." He watches that notepad and hopes he left her unable to concentrate. He'd hate to knock her out. "By the way kitten, yer dead." He beeps her nose.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    "Paper is part of how I fight," she replies feebly. But since he is being so cavelier about it, she will try something else. She gets back on her feet and examines her options. She can move through hundreds of them in the blink of an eye. Ted is bigger, stronger, and at least in some ways, faster. She makes an attempt to go flank and move in, staying low and ready to bounce back out of range. If she can. She is well trained, but she is up against a champion.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant squats and spins to perform another leg sweep. Clara goes down on one knee and he unceremonious grabs the back of her night gown and throws it over her head. He hauls her up and propels her away with a knee in the back. "Paper is how you avoid fighting. You wanted to learn to fight, not do murder origami. Fight!"

Clara Jennings has posed:
    It is rather frustrating. Infuriating, really. She is told to fight, but really, what does that mean? She does not vocalize anything, but she leaps forward. And she will keep doing so, again and again. She clearly has a lot of tactics, but his strikes hurt, even if he is obviously not hitting as hard as he can.

    "You said not to hold back," she says. And she is starting to sound upset. Perhaps even angry.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant says, "I'm giving you a fight. What do you do if it rains? If the other side has a flamethrower? Then you're a singed wet kitten!" He clips her ear to make her angrier and meets he next attack throwing her to the mat. This time he does a drop on her, though he misdirects part of the force, landing on one hand. It is enough to pin her and drive the breath from her. No cracked ribs.

"If you just use paper, you're a coward. When you get in over your head, you'll kill all right with your paper goblins. Let's make you strong to avoid this. Yes?" He nose beeps her and rolls to his feet, barely winded.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    With each failure, she gets more upset. She feels more stress. Clara cannot find a way to possibly mak progress like this. It makes her pulse erratic, her blood pressure sky rockets, and cortisol (among other things) are notable in her blood. The bracelet monitors all of these things and relays it all.

    In a lovely room in London, a 40-something man in a neat suit is just reviewing reports at his desk when an alarm goes off. This elicits no immediate reaction, until a moment later it chirps more insistently. And then again. With a few clicks, Clara's vitals are displayed overseas. There is a moment of hesitation, and rather then send a message to Ms. Bell, the man reaches straight for the phone.

    "Get me Ms. Bell immediately!"

    In Gotham, however, Clara only feels growing desperation and confusion. She does not understand what she is to learn or how. Clearly Ted wants her to grow from this, but so far she can only find herself outmatched. She does not like being angry. Every time she feels more angry she feels more afraid, as well. But she does not stop, altering her tactics, trying to find ways to get past him, until she gets, well, too angry and breaks off a feint to the right, charging right at him. Not a wise move, by any means, but definitely surprising as strategies go when facinging someone so much bigger and stronger.

Ted Grant has posed:
It works. Ted could tell the book of exercises and moves Clara was taught by. He could have written the book. It made anticipating her moves very easy for him. This was UNSCRIPTED. She improvised. It caught him off guard.

But not completely. He falls backward as she crashes into him and lands on the mat, landing with Clara sprawled on him in her nightgown. "Stop." One hand grasps the back of her head, gently. "Stop. That's enough for today. I will teach you to fight. You passed the test."

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara is trembling in the end. That... was a lot more stress than she was ready for. She is not exactly scared, it is more like, utterly overwhelmed. She rolls off onto her back, gasping for air. The shaking is not so different from her night terrors, but she does not cry. She does not calm down yet, either, though. Her mind is strangely blank.

    Meanwhile, a heated discussion is taking place between the governess and the director. This will come to bear later, no doubt, but for now, a strained relationship has just broken and a power struggle has just been set in motion in London.

    Clara's bracelet vibrates then, she is startled. "I... I do not feel very well," she admits softly.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant has stretched his arm to pillow Clara's head as she rolls off. He suddenly realizes she is dripping with sweat and shaking. He leans close to say, "You thought for yourself, without a script. You improvised. You held your ground, and didn't give up. You did it for yourself. And you were fighting me. Of course you feel like shit." He carefully scoops her up and heads for the stairs.

"What the hell is that buzzing?"

Clara Jennings has posed:
    "I.. I did that, I suppose." She sighs softly and shakes her head. "I just need.. a moment.." Before she is scooped up, she does have to, well, get sick on the floor. Not that there is much of it. Not that dry heaves are anything less than horrible in the end!

    When she is at last picked up, she notes the buzzing. "Not sure. It never did that before. This is a monitor. To make sure I am okay. I suppose physically we went too far." She sighs softly and fiddles with it, until she is able to take it off entirely. A few more distressed buzzes follow, and then silence. "I suspect my governess will be here soon," she says softly.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant escorts her to the toilet, goes to procure a large bottle of water for her. "Ya wanna just lean into it and relax." He rubs her back a little and hands her the water when she's ready for it. "You did all right. If I wasn't scared of starting you up again, I'd slap you on your back." He puts a tee shirt in reach for her.

"Also waiting till I put you down to ralph was a smart move."

Clara Jennings has posed:
    "I would like to say it was intentional, but I think it was more a matter of luck," explains Clara. "And yes, please.. no slapping. I do not know what might come up." She will finish dealing with her.. incapacitation and move on to drink some water. Which tastes... well, frankly horrible at first, thanks to the sick-up, but then like heaven once the acid burn is all done.

    "Next time I... I do not know. I hope that it is not quite the same." She is still shaking a fair amount. Stress. "I guess the rules are no rules, though. I think I can work with that. And I need to be ready."

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant nods. "You got slapped around enough. You wanted experience fighting. You got some. I... hang on." It's his turn to buzz, till he grabs his cell phone amd checks. "Megan... let me get this and we'll get breakfast if you're up for it. Yel-low? Mmmmmyeah I did that thing you said was probably not something to do. It worked out pretty good. Oh a broken nose, some missing tee... I'm joking! I... I haven't been called that since World War Two. Clara, you get cleaned up... I need to talk to the governess in private." He gets up and leaves, holding the phone, which is almost trembling gingerly.