Owner Pose
Sara Pezzini Another evening, another work out. It had been a hectic day for Sara, too many rookies learning that magic was real, and not enough patience on their part to learn how to deal with that information.

Heading to the Avenger Mansion to use their training facility, she wears a pair of blue shorts with the NYPD shield on them, a white tank top and beneath that a very supportive sports bra. Instead of heading for the punching bag, she decides to set her bag by some of the weights and start a strength training work out.
Felicia Hardy     Not long after Sara enters the gym, another woman enters, her white hair tied up into a tight but lazy bun, Felicia wears a black pair of work out pants. Tight shin length pants, and a shirt that is also a sports bra, but visible beneath that is yet another sports bra. She is barefoot but with a slip pad on top of both feet and around her lower shin, as well as similiar padding on her fists.

    The thief steps into the gym and has her blue eyes locked onto the punching bag, but spies Sara and reaches up to her earphone to take it out before talking to her new friend. "Hey, Sara... I bet you twenty bucks I can kick your butt." The thief says with a wiggle of her eyebrows as she gestures to the boxing ring.
Sara Pezzini Perhaps ten reps and Sara is sitting up to look at Felicia. She had heard someone enter, but until she spoke, had no idea who it was. Eyeing the white haired one, one brow raises to her hair line.

"Gambling is illegal," she states, sounding like she might be serious, but the grin on her face says other wise. "So make it $50, I have my eyes on a pair of shoes and your fifty would get me there."

Standing up from the bench press, she she opens her bag to get her hand and shin pads, much like those Felicia is wearing. "Also... hello Felicia, how you doing?" She then says with a chuckle, preparing herself to kick the woman's ass in the ring.
Felicia Hardy     Felicia moves towards the ring as soon as she sees Sara's grin and turning her head to look over her shoulder, "I said twenty cause you said you were a cop, I didn't know you had fifty dollars to your name." Felicia says with a smirk and a wink before climbing up the side and over the top rope.

    Bouncing on the ball of her foot to the other foot, Felicia keeps her hands up and does a quick triple jab in the air, testing herself and getting herself psyched up to fight the brown haired 'witchblade'. "I'm feeling awfully pent up and I need to get some energy out." Felicia says, half lying, but also half telling the truth.
Sara Pezzini Making sure everything is strapped on correctly, not that Sara normally uses the protection on her body, she velcros the hand guards in place then walks over to the ring.

"I've been saving up for /months/, so I have exactly sixty-seven dollars and twelve cents," she retorts with a snort, the grin still on her face. "My life savings, all to beat your ass."

Climbing up into the ring, she bounces a few times to check the state of the ring itself. No two are the same, even when they match the regulations. "So this an all out spar, or just boxing?" she asks after a couple more bounces and some jabs. "What has you pent up? Not enough action?" She of course was referring to combat, but that night not be obvious.
Felicia Hardy     "Months!?" Felicia repeats as she bends to stretch her back and legs, before standing up straight and eyeing Sara, with a near mirror grin on her own face. "Not sure how I feel leaving a friend with seventeen bucks, but you said fifty, not me. Don't forget it."

    As soon as Felicia stops talking, she snaps a foot out to try and connect with Sara's abdomen, a gut kick never feels good. The thief moving quick and with much more percision than her bubbly appearance would belie to most people. "Never enough action!" Felicia responds behind gritted teeth.
Sara Pezzini The one thing that academy training prepares a cop for is the surprise attack. Whether it's the guy around the corner with a gun, or the ganger who aims a punch for the face in an attempt to escape being handcuffed. Sara had been losing up, stretching, testing the ring, but the minute she got into that ring, she was prepared.

"I get a paycheck next wee..." the rest is cut off as she moves an arm to block the kick, while stepping back. Was she forewarned by Witchblade? Could he even do that, or was it just her training? The kick to the arm did hurt, but the only indication of that is her shaking it off as she jumps back.

"Alright then, it's going to be /that/ kind of fight," she proclaims, then had to remind Witchblade that sparring doesn't mean danger and to knock it off.

Not for a single minute did Sara believe Felicia wasn't dangerous, or skilled for that matter. She couldn't have gotten where she is without training, maintaining herself, but Sara wasn't exactly certain how much damage the woman might be used to in sparring. These were the sort of things she normally discussed, but that particular topic was long past when the kick came her way.

The thing about Sara's combat style wasn't obvious, she seemed hesitant or guarded, as if watching or waiting for the attacks rather than offering them. The truth is, she was. By letting Felicia reveal her moves first, she could search out the weakness and maybe exploit one.
Felicia Hardy     While Sara might be one to be on the defensive, Felicia doesn't mind being offensive, and yet, most of her fighting is meant to incapacitate in a blow, or a quick hold. This kind of spar tends to be just for fun, and not actually for the kind of training most others might think it is.

    Felicia's attacks don't seem to be very combo heavy, she'll do a follow up kick or punch, but for the most part it's a jab here, a hook there, a side kick or a round house. Felicia though doesn't take her eyes off Sara.

    Stepping forward, Felicia twists and brings the top of her foot to try and smash into the side of Sara's knee. The woman is using a lot of speed behind her kicks and puches, but not a whole lot of power.

    "Yeah it's that kind of fight. There aren't fair fights in the world, why fool yourself into thinking there should be?"
Sara Pezzini Sara starts laughing, even if she's still focused on Felicia, she's laughing. The idea of a fair fight and being told not to expect them... when at any minute Witchblade could decide he's not having this and armor her up. It was the one drawback to sparring, she couldn't always keep him from doing what he wanted. Talk about an unfair fight.

The kick aimed at her knee allows her a moment to dodge to the side and forward, aiming a fist toward the side that Felicia offers up. Her movements aren't as fast as Felicia's, but they are slightly faster than one might expect from a simple cop. No, it wasn't Witchblade, it was years of training and pushing herself.

"You should hear Witchblade in my head," she offers, before stepping back into Felicia's range and aiming a kick of her own at the side of a knee. "Fair fight... he really... wants to show you how unfair this fight could get."
Felicia Hardy     Felicia's knee is hit, causing the thief to buckle and drop to the matt, her knee hitting the ground first and yet she's rolling into it, her hand dropping to catch Sara by the foot and bring the woman down with her. Her training to complete arm bars and choke holds and any kind of method where pure strength isn't involved and to get her foe to be unconscious is Felicia's style, and on the ground like she is, she's dangerous.

    "I'm quite aware how bad things can get." Felicia remarks, she did date a Kryptonian. "If he's threatening me with a good time, tell him I'm much more into you."
Sara Pezzini With the punch and the kick, Sara didn't have time to move back out of reach and thus her foot is grabbed. Going down, her immediate reaction is to roll and make an attempt to pin Felicia down, rather than ending up on her back. It's not part of her usual moves, in fact it is pure instinct and street smarts to use her own body and legs to pin Felicia, and her hands to catch the woman's arms.

Because of this sudden change in tactics on her part, it takes her brain a minute to register just what Felicia had said. Most people would likely be phased, have a reaction, something... but because this is a fight, spar or not, Sara's mind is focused on the task at hand and not the fact that Felicia is possibly flirting.

"His idea of a good time is /way/ different than you might think," she responds while making her attempt to pin the woman. "You'll get to see at some point."
Felicia Hardy     Felicia is trained in grappling, trained in pins and holds, and how to use them. So, Sara acting on instinct is almost exactly what Felicia would want. The woman doesn't know how to properly counter, or prevent certain holds from being achieved, and so her climbing onto Felicia to pin her arms isn't as effective as the cop might expect.

    On her back, Felicia's body twists at the waist, and her legs slide out from under Sara, Felicia struggling with her arms so that her combatant's focus is on her hands while her legs quickly shift and end up with her leg at Sara's waist and one behind, hooking and squeezing Sara's belly and intestines. Squeezing like a constricting python.
Sara Pezzini Expected response in all honesty, and Sara was prepared. She hadn't quite expected the speed at which Felicia had twisted herself up and around her own body, but the effect was done. What this allowed was for Sara to use her knees to strike at Felicia's tail bone and butt.

The squeeze is unpleasant, in fact it was getting down right painful, but that doesn't stop her from fighting. "Gods damn it Witchblade, shut up!" she suddenly yells, and at the same moment the red stone on the bracelet flashes bright enough that Felicia might be able to notice it. "I lose all the time, I don't need your..."

Too late. Bracelet expands into tendrils, starting to wrap around her arm to form the gauntlet, but instead forms a bracer of sorts on her upper arm. It looks like the tendrils were about to do more, start reaching out toward Felicia, but Sara lets out a sharp, "I submit!" to stop Witchblade from doing anything more.
Felicia Hardy     Felicia's feet stop squeezing instantly and she drops her legs onto the matt, curiously looking up towards Sara with a raised eyebrow. "You... you okay?" Felicia asks, pulling her legs away from Sara as the tendrils stop and the bracer is suddenly on Sara's arm and she screams that the thief is beyond worried about.

    "Sara?"
Sara Pezzini Moving her right arm away from Felicia, Sara keeps her eyes closed for a moment. There is an inner struggle occurring and even without seeing her eyes, it's on Sara's face. It was rarer these days for her to not maintain control over Witchblade, but it still happened. He was a separate entity, he had a mind of his own.

"I'm fine," she finally says after what seems like hours, but really was just a couple minutes. "He's not." She starts scooting back a little then stands up, taking a slow deep breath and still holding her arm out from herself.

The red stone on the bracer swirls almost angrily, like pissed off smoke stuck in a bubble. The tendrils appear again, this time to complete the transformation from bracelet to bracer to gauntlet.

"Give him a minute," she then adds, opening her eyes to look over at Felicia. "He's throwing a bit of a temper tantrum, says you lied... which you didn't, but..." her eyes glass for a moment, then she shakes her head. "God, its like arguing with a petulant five year old. Felicia, would you please tell him that just because your faster than a human, it doesn't mean you lied by omission?"
Felicia Hardy     "I'm an Avenger..." Felicia says, looking up from her spot on the matt, and frowning towards the red stone more than anything else as she then switches her attention back to Sara. "I... didn't hide my file from the team." Felicia says with a frown as she stands back up to her feet and rubs at the back of her neck with a frown. "I didn't think I had to tell you all my abilities and strength and powers and all..." Felicia says with a frown still looking back away from the ring, not wanting to upset Sara or her jewelry again.
Sara Pezzini Another moment passes and Sara seems to visibly relax, even if she does roll her eyes a little. The swirling of the red stone seems to slow down a little, even if the gauntlet remains in place.

"I don't read the Avenger files," she says after another moment, even chuckles a little at that information. "How quickly the blame went back on to me, which is a good thing."

She extends her left hand toward Felicia, to offer her help as she moves to stand. "If you looked at my Avenger file, you'd see a lot of useless babble that most people wouldn't even remotely begin to understand," she sighs. "So I never once thought to look at anyone elses. What people can do, their abilities, that's... personal. I don't think it's something you learn from a file. I don't blame you, he doesn't blame you.. any more, he's fully on to blaming me, where it should be."

It was obvious she was well into self abuse over this whole thing. Unable to control him, his temper showing through, Felicia having to deal with it, at all, for any reason.

Starting to back up, toward the ropes at the edge of the ring she offers a quiet, "Sorry, you shouldn't have to deal with this."
Felicia Hardy     "I didn't look at anyone's info either, or even my own." Felicia says with a frown towards Sara, but more towards the witchblade, "Boo hoo, you don't know everything. That's partly why I said don't expect a fair fight." Felicia says, again to the blade-turned-gauntlet, "I don't know what you can do, but at this point, I can only do what I know I can do and make it up from there. I know I wont be the puzzle piece that fits in every gap, but I will fit the gaps I can." Felicia says, looking back to Sara and wanting to step closer but not wanting to be closer to the gauntlet.

    "Sara, I want to deal with it."
Sara Pezzini Sara pauses at the ropes before leaving the ring and glances back at Felicia, a brow lifted rather high on her head and an expression of confusion on her face.

"I don't doubt or question your abilities," she states first, giving her right hand a quick jerking shake, as if telling him to 'fuck off' with a motion of her hand. "You wouldn't be here if you couldn't take care of yourself and know your usefulness to the team, even if you are just learning how to work with a team."

Finally, with one more shake, the tendrils reappear to unwrap back and into the bracelet. The movement, the change, it's insanely fast. Blink and it would be missed.

"The thing is, in a fight, a real fight, this sort of thing doesn't happen much any more," she further explains. "It used to be a constant struggle in the beginning, now it's just... we flow together, we know how each other works. This..." she gestures at the ring. "... he still doesn't get fighting without intent, sparring, and when a little thing gets into his head, like realizing you aren't just a human, he can lose his shit faster than a pregnant woman who had her pickles and ice cream taken away."

Now that he was back into his stable form, she seems to relax a little in her body language. "Why would you want to deal with this?" She finally asks. "If you want to know what I'm capable of, it's not going to happen in this ring. Me, Sara, I'm just a cop with combat training, but it's never /just/ me any more."
Felicia Hardy     "Because you seem a lot like me, only, you had the more positive influences earlier on in life." Felicia says, admiting she sees a lot of herself in Sara, a better version of herself. Felicia takes a moment to catch her breat after the short spar and the sudden emotional explosion. "Plus, I'm trying to be friends with you, not go into a war with you." The thief admits with a sorrowful frown, leaning against the ropes herself and throwing a smirk towards Sara, "So... are we done fighting? Is your bracelet is done throwing a tantrum?"
Sara Pezzini Sara didn't know enough about Felicia to place any sort of familial connection, at least not yet, but to be told she reminds Felicia of herself was surprising. Canting her head, she had to think about that, and how they might be the same.

"You won't ever go to war with me," she states plainly. "There's no reason for you and I to be against each other, and there's no reason for Witchblade to be angry with you... except maybe one thing."

Stepping away from the ropes she starts walking back toward Felicia. "I realize that what you see is a bracelet, and a gauntlet, but he's more then that. Calling him 'my bracelet'... well, it's almost an insult. Could you please just call him W.B.? It would go a long way to unticking him off."

She stops just outside of arms reach, so that Felicia can choose at that point if she wants to be closer or not. "I think for now we're done fighting, sorry about that," she then says once she's closer. "Once he's more comfortable and less pissy, well... more comfortable, he's always pissed about something, we'll try again, alright?"
Felicia Hardy     "I'm sorry." Felicia says, turning back towards Sara, pausing long as she looks down towards the bracelet on the cop's wrist, the thief pulling in on herself, her arms hugging below her chest. "I'm sorry also, W-B." Felicia says, looking down to her own feet, and then back up towards Sara, "Yeah, we'll try again."

    Felicia turns back to the ropes, away from the cop and moves to climb down from the boxing ring. Feeling rather awkward and feeble at the moment.
Sara Pezzini Sara takes one step toward Felicia's departing back. "You don't need to be sorry," she offers, wanting to offer the woman a hug but she got the feeling that wouldn't fly right now. "None of this is your fault."

She takes another step, then finally walks over and lays her left hand on Felicia's shoulder. It might get shrugged off, it might get thrown off, but she couldn't just stand there and not /try/ to offer comfort.
Felicia Hardy     Felicia doesn't retreat, doesn't recoil, but doesn't return to Sara. She wants to put her hand on top of Sara's, to comfort her, but dang, the woman lashed out because something else 'borrowing' her body made her. That doesn't sit very well with Felicia, but she can't say so. Sara seems to think of the Witchblade as a partner or something. "It's fine." Felicia whispers, just loud enough to hear.

    Reaching up, she pats Sara's hand, but only, for a moment before she starts to tug at the velcro on the straps of her pads.
Sara Pezzini It was the reaction Sara expected, so she moves her hand and steps back.

"No, it's not fine. You're hurt, so it's definitely not fine," she offers quietly before just turning to walk back across the ring.

She considers saying something else, but really there's not much more to say, so she moves through the ropes and drops to the floor outside the ring. Once again, Witchblade is driving someone away, she should be used to it.
Felicia Hardy     Felicia stopped with her 'glove' pads, and was waiting for Sara to press further, to be that friend that might stick around through the bullshit moments and the struggles, but Felicia takes a sharp breath when she hears Sara on the floor on the other side. Throwing down her glove pads with a pathetic pat-pat on the matt.

    "You're supposed to stick around when things aren't fine. Not run away." Felicia says, looking back to Sara with a throbbing fist at her side.
Sara Pezzini "I've learned from experience that when it comes to something relating to Witchblade, it's better to back off and let some air be breathed," Sara replies, starting to unstrap the gloves.

"I wanted to hug you, you looked like you needed a hug," she then states, ripping at the velcro. "But I didn't think that would be a good idea, given the current problem. I can't take the bracelet off, I've tried, it cannot be removed... so to hug you, it's right there, thought that might not be wanted."

She finally turns to look back up toward Felicia. "Listen, the last person I called a friend was a emotional vault. She didn't like to be touched, she didn't like to be pressed, she didn't like to talk about her own feelings. Hell, I called her a sister once and she had a panic attack over it... so I don't know what I'm supposed to do other than apologize, acknowledge that it's an issue for you, and give you space... that's just... that's what she always wanted, space."
Felicia Hardy     Felicia frowns at Sara, "Hi. I'm Felicia. I'm not someone else." Felicia notes before frowning with a sigh and turning to pick up her pads off the matt and shaking her head. "That's fine. You do you." The thief seems to be willing to drop this at this point. Not wanting to cause more drama than there already is.

    Once off the ring, Felicia bends over and quickly undoes the pads from her feet and ankles, before she starts to walk quietly towards the changing rooms.
Sara Pezzini "Oh that was cold," Sara bites back. "I'm trying to figure out how to help you with Witchblade, to find a way to work with the problem and be a friend, and you tell me to do me? How the hell is that helpful?"

She tosses the gloves at her bag before walking around the ring so she can see Felicia better. "Give me an inch, I won't take a mile, Felicia... what are you so upset about? I thought it was over Witchblade losing his cool, and I get that it's not an easy thing to deal with, but you just said you /wanted/ to deal with it and now your turning into an ice cold bitch."

It was happening again, before it could actually be anything, her inability to make and keep friends due to Witchblade was happening one more time. Sure, it wasn't a long term thing, it had just started, but... it hurt, and she couldn't stop a couple of tears from forming.

"Fuck it," she finally says, walking back to pick up her bag. "I'm not perfect, and apparently I'm a shitty friend, and no your not someone else... but I don't know you, I don't know how to relate to you, I don't know how to fix this or help... and you just.. .throw that back at me. Fine. You do you, Felicia, I don't have time to be hurt."
Felicia Hardy     Felicia stops mid stride at Sara's words, the woman clenches a fist around the pad she's holding and holds that to her chest for a moment before looking up and taking a deep breath. "You want to help? You want to know me. Running away at the first sign of trouble isn't making it seem like I'm somene or something worth fighting for." Felicia says but continues, turning back to Sara, "If you want to be a friend, be a friend, but just giving me distance as soon as something's amiss, it makes me feel like ... lesser." Felicia explains, tears welling up in her eyes.
Sara Pezzini Sara was just heading for the door, she was ready to be done before she got hurt again, and it was hurting, which made the screaming of Witchblade in her head worse. He hated to see her upset, he hated her in pain, and he hated that he was the reason for it.

"I tried to approach you," she finally says, calmer but still edged with pain. "I tried to offer comfort and you just... shut down. Was I supposed to force comfort on you? I... I don't know what I was supposed to do, alright? I don't know how to handle this kind of emotional situation."

She's really like some alcohol about now. Physical pain she could take all day, all night, but emotional pain? It broke her, every time it happened a piece of her broke inside and she still had no idea how to glue the pieces back together.

"You aren't lesser, Felicia, I just have no idea how to prove that," she finally says, dropping the bag to the floor. "All I can do is offer a hug that I was certain would be turned down given your reaction to my hand on your shoulder."
Felicia Hardy "Stop thinking about it and just hug me damnit." Felicia says, standing in place and giving Sara a sorrwful expression and a needing pose.
Sara Pezzini Felicia hits on the other problem Sara has, over thinking... everything, and that is in part due to her job, and in part due to Witchblade.

Walking across the room she wraps her arms around Felicia and hug her close. Yes, Felicia needed it but Sara needed it more. It was rare for anyone to know her weakness, but this entire situation had spread her primary weakness right out all over the place... she was an emotional, clueless mess.
Felicia Hardy     Felicia hugs back after a moment before pressing her face into Sara's neck. After a moment, Felicia says, "If you're going to be my friend, include me in the decision making, and just do. Don't think so much."
Sara Pezzini Sara has no idea how to handle that, or what decision might need to be discussed, but she just nods and tries to understand.

"If you're going to be my friend, I need you to be patient while I try to figure this out," she says back. "I'm going to make mistakes, because I have no idea what I'm doing... not any more."
Felicia Hardy     "That's what I'm saying. Make mistakes, but don't think running away is going to resolve them." Felicia explains and hugs just a bit tighter. "And don't let anyone else really fool you either. No one knows what they're doing. Not really."
Sara Pezzini Now Sara just stares at Felicia, the expression on her face akin to if snakes had just sprouted from the woman's head and slithered off.

"/Make/ mistakes?" She repeats slowly. "Mistakes... end friendships, why would I want to make mistakes?" She was seriously confused by this suggestion.

"Running from mistakes don't solve problems... I... what mistake did I make?" And now she was /really/ confused. She still had no idea what had really upset Felicia, so she had no idea how to /not/ make that mistake again, and once again her head spins back around to mistakes being what ends friendships.

"Okay, I get that I over think things, and I get that no one knows what they're doing, not really, but... come on Felicia, I can't afford to make mistakes. Not in life, not in friendships... it's how people get hurt."
Felicia Hardy "I'm just saying, you're going to make mistakes. I'm going to make mistakes. That's part of life, that's part of friendships. Hurt and pain are a part of life." The thief says, still not relenting on the hug because she still needs and wants it. "It's just something we'll have to work on." She smirks weakly and then finally breaks the hug, if Sara will allow and start towards the changing rooms, again.
Sara Pezzini Sara hadn't intended to stop hugging until she was basically told it was time to stop hugging, which eventually Felicia did in fact reach that point.

"Okay... okay," she says twice, because she needs to remind herself that really, it is okay. She was aware mistakes happen in life, but the fear of making them haunted her more than the constant dreams of past wielders.

"Hurt and pain shouldn't be part of friendships," she offers, just to have it said. "It happens, just... have to let go of the past and how that hurt and pain always left me standing alone."

She does step back, and as Felicia turns to head toward the changing room, she moves to collect her bag. "Dinner tomorrow night?" She asks simply, "Watch some more of The Office?"
Felicia Hardy     "Deal. And you better bring that fifty too." Felicia adds before slipping through the door.