Five foot and change, there's no better way to hash it out.

[fightthehurricane]

After the incident with his trainee, Raleigh had promised himself that he would put an end to the non-stop work weeks. So he did... instead finding himself at the gym on his off days just for ways to burn time and energy for free. There's a difference, though, between work and clearing his head.

He's done a bit of sparring already this evening, so he's taking time at the edge of the ring today, watching a couple of the regulars have a go at each other. He sees the door open out of the corner of his eye and looks over, recognizing Alex and giving her an upward nod of recognition as she heads closer, toward the equipment and the locker rooms.

"Alex," he greets her, turning his attention away from the ring but still sitting on the bench. He hasn't seen her since they first met, but he's good with faces and she left an impression. "How's it going?"

Comments

[fightthehurricane]

"Room isn't spinning anymore," he jokes with a nod, "I think I'm ready."

It's been a while since he's had a really good spar; he knows the styles of the other trainers too well and there aren't as many fight capable Darrow natives as Raleigh would've thought, given their sheer numbers. Alex is a wild card in the gym for him, and he remembers her stance and overall steadiness. He's expecting the same in the ring, and that makes for a challenge. He needs one, badly, and knows it. Too much energy to burn never leads to anything good.

He nods his chin over a spare mat, then looks back at Alex. "Are you up for it? I can wait while you warm up, if you are."

[babochka_x899]

"Oh, I'm up for it," she tells him and for a moment it feels like back during her recruit days, with Thom. Warming up was a luxury they didn't always get those days, depending on the trainer and how they weighed the balance between risk of injury and preparedness, but she'll take the opportunity when she's got it.

Not long, though, enough time to wrap her hands and get the blood moving is enough, and it gives them a few minutes to chat before they get to puzzling each other out on the mat.

"So, I didn't ask. Were you military, before?"

[fightthehurricane]

Raleigh isn't much for warming up. Yancy always told him he was going to hurt himself because of it, but he never has, and - by that logic - doesn't need to. He does jump around a bit, though, just to get his blood flowing, bouncing on the balls of his feet in controlled, easy motions while he watches Alex do her prepping.

He should've known to expect the question - hell, he'd asked Alex and expected it then - but it still catches him off guard. He hasn't talked to many people he's met in Darrow about where he came from, just because it all sounds so strange, so... well, alien. It used to be a badge of pride, and now he doesn't quite know what to do with it.

"Yeah, I was a pilot," he decides to answer simply, stretching his arms over his head and stepping back to give Alex room on the mat while he waits, hands already wrapped. "Kind of a weird mindset to get out of. Part of me wants to shake it and the other doesn't want to let it slip, you know?"

[babochka_x899]

It isn't long before Alex joins him on the mat. "I don't think you can ever really shake it," she tells him, thinking about Michael and Sean, some of the other Division trainers. "When you've been part of something bigger like that, when you have a mission, it becomes a part of you." Even she and Nikita hadn't really been able to leave, even when they got out.

"The skills on the other hand, use or lose it, right? So let's see how rusty you are."

[fightthehurricane]

For someone who isn't in the service, Alex gets the mindset of the life surprisingly well. He nods without comment, though, because stories can be traded later, and he's already warmed up and ready to go.

"Well, you know. Down but not out. I promise I won't go easy," he says with a light laugh and a smile, wrapped hands close to his face while he bounces back and forth on the balls of his feet. Alex seems like the type to appreciate not being sold short. "I'll let you call it. Two out of three?"

[babochka_x899]

A few of the guys she's sparred with here have tried going easy on Alex. They learned better. But it doesn't really surprise her Raleigh doesn't need that lesson. Another way he's like Thom.

Raleigh has both reach and mass on her, but so have a lot of the people she's fought - both in practice and in the field. She grins, bright and a little toothy, as she nods. "Two out of three."

The feint that comes after is as much information gathering as anything, her weight shifting as though she's going for a sweep when it's the knee strike that follows he actually needs to defend against.

[fightthehurricane]

The smile is a good sign and a bad one all at once. Raleigh could already tell that Alex knows how to handle herself, but smiles like that? Usually come with hard, fast hits that breed that kind of confidence. It's gotta be for the best, anyway - he needs someone to keep him on his toes, and he doesn't get that from his trainees. Not, at least, on a regular basis.

It's a good feint - he nearly misses it, actually, and he'll have to have time to berate himself for it later. He catches the motion in time to dart back, forearm lowering to block the motion. He's still caught off balance, despite the block, doing his best to lean his weight back in. He swings, blindly, head still down.

[babochka_x899]

Raleigh recovers better than most of the people she's sparred with at the gym, but Alex is used to sparring with Nikita and Michael, or Sean, and Raleigh's still an unknown. A blind swing's easy to avoid, and she spins out of the way, tapping him as his momentum carries him past her. "Watch it."

[fightthehurricane]

He's getting careless. He can do that when he's in the moment, especially when it comes to sparring, and Alex isn't the first person to tell him to keep himself in check. Mako gets in his head for a split second, and it's long enough for the tap to catch him off guard. He stumbles again, but swings around quickly to recover, moving in and trying for a quick jab to Alex's side, under her arm. "You're fast."

[babochka_x899]

The jab glances off her ribs as she moves with it, but contact's contact. "So are you." She goes low, this time following through for the sweep she hinted at when they started. "And you've got range and mass on me." Alex is used to fighting guys above her weight class, and her speed is one of the main ways she has to counter their advantages. Especially sparring, since she has to rein in her training that leans more toward quick neutralization.

[fightthehurricane]

The sweep catches Raleigh off guard this time and he hits the mat solidly on his back. actually having to take a moment before he can even think about sitting back up. He has one arm up defensively but he, admittedly, isn't as fast as he needs to be. He's all about close combat, quick takedowns, but he's still not used to fighting people who beat him in speed, if not size. Mako was always able to match him, and maybe in the months without a sparring partner who he wasn't training, he's gotten rusty.

Or maybe Alex is just good. He doesn't doubt that, either.

[babochka_x899]

Alex takes a step back when he goes down, gives Raleigh the moment he needs. This is just a friendly spar; no need to press the advantage the way she would in the field. Or, frankly, the way she would have been expected to as a recruit.

"You've been fighting too many newbies lately," she suggests, the grin on her face a clear sign she's having fun.