Never Falter (Nolan/Olivia)

[Artemis]

Olivia, it seemed, had the potential to be a decent boxer; perhaps it was her size or practicing with a weapon like hers, but she was already light on her feet and quickly imitated his demonstration.

Her punching form needed work, of course, but that was the entire point of this lesson; basics to build a foundation on. He remembered all too well some of the bruises Brody had come home with whie he was still perfecting his form in playground spats during his own Career days.

"What else you got, Nolan?"

Nolan was about to launch into the form she would need to throw a proper punch when the instructor he'd filched his student from came storming towards the ring; so now he gave a crap.

"Revenue! We're not done here. You and I are still on the clock for another thirty minutes, or do you want me to drop you as a student?"

He raised an eyebrow at that; the training center was loosely structured at best, nor was it the instructors' business what forms of training their students decided to partake in, only to help facilitate them.

"No. But can I spar with Nolan, then get back to training with you? It shouldn't take long. I just want to try something new."

"Revenue, you are my student. Not his. Now, I advise you if you want to continue training with me, then you get your ass over here and quit fooling around. You can play pretty little boxer later. I mean it. NOW! You're lucky that I'm even training you."

The other eyebrow went up at that. It didn't matter to him that this was an adult talking to a child, the instructor's attitude (whatever the fuck his name was- Bryan, according to the name tape on his training shirt) was pissing him off something awful; 'pretty little boxer' was where he drew the line, Nolan had grown up around too many women to let that kind of condescension slide. Around them, the Careers in training exchanged looks, ready for this to settle quickly... or get good.

Though Nolan didn't take his eyes off of Bryan, he could see Olivia's face in his peripheral, looking decidedly embarrassed to have to leave so early.

"Sorry, Nolan... another time, I hope?"

"Hold that thought."

Nolan strode towards the edge of the ring, slipping out between the ropes and coming to stand in front of Bryan, just inside his personal space. The other instructor was at least 15 years his junior and a couple of inches shorter, enough that Nolan was looking down at him to glare him straight in the eye.

"Who exactly," He growled, prodding Bryan in the chest with a glove, "Do you think you are, that you're so important? You're an instructor and you're acting like a petulant child speaking that way to your student."

Bryan narrowed his eyes, silent for a moment looking for a response.

"She's my student, we weren't finished--"

"If your student wants to come back with you and finish your training, that's her business. Otherwise, find someone else to train, and watch how you speak to them."

bb7d00 - Nolan
ddf347 - Olivia
a3d0a6 - Douchecanoe Bryan

[*]

Her fingers mess with the tie on her glove, apparently both embarrassed yet angered at the fact that her previous instructor was making such a fuss. Even more so that the other career's attentions have been brought to her and the two instructors trying to train her. How lucky she was to have two, then suddenly to have none. "Sorry, Nolan... another time, I hope?" Not only was she ready to give in to the other trainer, who was the only one that would take her as a staff weilding student, but he was the only one that had been able to put up with her. It wasn't her in the first place, but more about the family relations as her brother had been suspended on several occasions. It wasn't a fair way to judge someone, but it is what it is. As such, Nolan's voice suddenly broke through the silence and made her look up to him as he defended her. "That's a first..." She mutters under her breath and both gloved hands rest at her sides. Her honey colored eyes stayed on Nolan the entire time. A bit fixated that he was trying to help her, but also that they had only just met and was giving the other instructor an attitude adjustment. "Who exactly do you think you are, that you're so important? You're an instructor and you're acting like a petulant child speaking that way to your student." A half grin appeared on her youthful face. Almost giving away this look of 'Oh, shit.. now you're in trouble' kind of appearance as she tried to keep from busting a full on grin. "She's my student, we weren't finished..." "If your student wants to come back with you and finish your training, that's her business. Otherwise, find someone else to train, and watch how you speak to them." The gloved hand goes to cover her mouth because her eyes were already shining with that type of 'Damn!' look. The instructor looked to Olivia. "Seems she's already made up her mind this time. Have fun training her. If she's anywhere near as tempered as her brother was, you'll be in way over your head, Old Man. This is your only warning." With that, one glance of pure hatred flashed toward Olivia, wiping that grin off her face. "See ya..." She mouthed and pretended to wave him off as she turned her attention back to Nolan. "Sure you want to keep training me?" Her question was purely innocent as she held her two gloved hands back up to a blocking position. She already started dancing from one leg to the other, bending at the knee. Holding one gloved hand straight out, she gestured in a friendly, that she was ready if he was. A smile appearing behind the gloves. "Next lesson? Other than telling off another instructor?"

[Artemis]

The look on Instructor Bryan's face would have been priceless if the context for it hadn't been so goddamned infuriating. Nolan had always been a firm believer that there was room for sportsmanship in a fight, and he'd spent many years trying to instill it in Brody; he was starting to see where his son had gotten his overdeveloped sense of competition from. The all-or-nothing attitude permeated this place like a bad smell, even from the instructors who meant well.

"Seems she's already made up her mind this time. Have fun training her. If she's anywhere near as tempered as her brother was, you'll be in way over your head, Old Man. This is your only warning."

Nolan narrowed his eyes at the nickname now being used so derisively, but Bryan turned to return to his station down on the training mat. Damn good thing Nolan was as firm a sportsman as he was; the back of his head made a tempting target. Behind him, Olivia waved at her retreating (former) instructor, eyes lit up with what he could only assume was amusement at seeing the aptly-named Sir Never-takes-a-break being called out on his crap attitude.

God it made him feel old to be dishing out discipline to a 20-something like he was a child.

"Sure you want to keep training me?" Olivia asked, looking very much like a child with the slightly oversized boxing gloves held up in front of her.

"Well of course," He replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I'm hardly so cruel to piss off your instructor and then leave you hanging."

Whatever Bryan had meant by Olivia's temperament being like her brother's... Frankly, Nolan couldn't give half a shit about who her brother was or what he was like; he'd be the judge of whether or not Olivia had the discipline to become a boxer to his standards. So far, he was impressed; she was tough, especially for someone her age and size. (Nolan knew better than to say 'for her gender'- there were 4 sisters and a mother of his back home that had raised him far better than that... To say nothing of the fact that his wife was more of a badass than anyone he knew, in her refined, military-esque ways.)

"Next lesson? Other than telling off another instructor?"

"Form." Nolan replied easily.

He put up his fists, demonstrating a proper defense.

"When you fight, you want to keep your hands high to be able to protect your head, particularly your face; your elbows should be in against your body to protect against blows to your torso." Nolan demonstrated, though he didn't throw any punches just yet.

"First, I want you to show me how you throw a punch." He said, putting down his defense and putting up the palms of his hands to serve as targets. "And we can work from there. Remember to keep your defense up."

bb7d00 - Nolan
ddf347 - Olivia
a3d0a6 - Asshole Bryan

[*]

As nimble as she could be, she began dancing on her feet the moment the other instructor turned around to leave. It wasn't that she was trying to be rude to someone who was training her, but his methods were clearly no liked by several and she wasn't the only one. Though, he was the only one that would train her after multiple times of asking, yet, she'd gotten Nolan without so much as repeating the words to get him to consider training her. A responce from the older gentleman is given with her question about still training her. "Well of course. I'm hardly so cruel to piss off your instructor and then leave you hanging." A bright smile appears with that phrase and inside, a bit of joy seems to seep through essence. A gentle nod comes from her as if to say 'thank you' without the verbal commands and tone. What comes out of her mouth next, is purely out of fun and seemed appropriate for the time being. Even more so, when she got Nolan to respond with nothing more than the very thing she asked for. "Form. When you fight, you want to keep your hand high to be able to protect your head, particularly your face; your elbows should be in against your body to protect against blows to your torso." Then comes the demonstration on how he's doing it. What she don't seem to get is how if everything is so close to the body, that you would have no momentum to throw a powerful punch. It's awkwardness is truely showing on her face though when he asks something of her that literally has her waning in her abilities to get the concept. "First, I want you to show me how you throw a punch. And we can work from there. Remember to keep your defense up." What? Her face has every shade of confusion plastered there. Her head tilting to the side as she tries to come up with a way to get the power through a punch enough to please him, but her elbow extends away from her midsection and draws backward before the punch is given. A complete mess and horrible aim has her arm twisting awkwardly when it's pushed outward and then brought back in. "I don't get how you throw without getting the momentum... you know? It feels weird. If your arms are so close to your body...?"

[Artemis]

Olivia looked terribly younger as she made a confused expression at him with his explanation of form.

"I don't get how you throw without getting the momentum... you know? It feels weird. If your arms are so close to your body...?"

"It will, at first."

He moved to stand with his side towards Olivia so she could see the motion.

"Your elbows stay in when you're defending or waiting," He explained, moving fluidly around on his feet, "If someone takes a swing at your ribs, they're going to be hitting your arms instead; when you attack," He demonstrated a punch in slow motion, twisting his body into the punch as his arm extended outward and back into the defensive position, "It will help you keep a proper punching form."

Nolan turned back to face her.

"Before you try and work on power, you first need to perfect your form. It's not just to make your punches more effective, but to keep you from getting hurt; throw a wrong punch, you could break your own hand, or wrist."

He moved to stand behind her, one hand on Olivia's shoulder and the other guiding her wrist.

"Like so." Nolan moved her wrist up and out in the proper punching form, gently turning her body with the hand on her shoulder in the way that, in a real fight, would allow her to throw her body weight and momentum into the strike. He pulled her wrist back in and turned her back into her original stance. "Show me a few of those, with each side. Don't wanna favor one arm over the other, either."

bb7d00 - Nolan
ddf347 - Olivia