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[witness_this]

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[Furiosa spends most mornings in the gym. Honestly, she'd prefer the Enclosure, but she needs to be moving long and often enough that she can't justify using more than her share of the precious time in the false environment. She works out quickly how to run on the treadmill, but most of the other machines remain a mystery to her. If the right person is using them, they may see her watching, or so may decide to approach.

Some mornings her prosthesis is on, and others it is off, tucked protectively and nearly underfoot, out of habit, though this doesn't seem like the kind of place where anyone is likely to get any ideas.

When she is done, she usually ends by slipping upstairs, showering quickly, and permitting herself what feels like the decadent luxury of putting her feet into the pool. It takes her until about the fifth time to get up the nerve to walk in to the water, to lower herself down in it until she feels it lap up around her neck, then to hold her breath and gingerly, cover her mouth and nose, and cautiously, gingerly slip under the surface and just let herself float, suspended.

She can be found in any of those places.

Still, a workout isn't the same thing as practice, really, and the conversation that has been going on here has weighed heavily on her, though she hasn't participated. So, finally, she takes a break one morning in the gym and turns on the feed.]

Video

[She has to clear her throat to start, and wipe the sweat off her face. She's sitting in the frame, bare feet apart, elbows rested on her knees, metal arm down at her side. Furiosa isn't comfortable, exactly, talking to a little plastic box that will take her words all over the ship, but this is important to her.]

My name is Imperator Furiosa. I'm human. No powers. I'm in the gym.

If you need, I've been teaching people a little about how to fight. If you don't need, but you're--

I could use the practice.

[Short, unceremonious, she disconnects.]

Comments

[witness_this]

No. You use the rotation- here, feel.

[Taking her gently by the elbow, showing her the angle she needs to move it up in a forwards strike, sideways, like she's cracking in against someone's jaw or throat.]

[gulosity]

[For a moment her eyes go unfocused as she feels the rotation, allows it to become natural to her. Furiosa is right: it does make sense once you get used to it. It's just that her body has never moved this way before.]

I get it. [She does it herself, slowly, once or twice.] That makes sense.

[witness_this]

All right. I'm going to get a glove on, and you're going to hit it, until you can do that in your sleep.

[And she goes to find something padded enough to spare her hand.]

[gulosity]

[Despite herself, Lourdes grins at that. When Furiosa steps away, she starts practicing again, familiarizing herself with the weight of her arm and the swing of her elbow.]

[witness_this]

All right.

[She says, when she returns, holding it out at what might the average height for a man's jaw.]

Hit me.

[gulosity]

[She gauges the distance for a fractional moment, a bit nervous and unsure of herself (though she'd never admit it), then does as she's told: elbow up in the correct stance, she hits out at the pad.]

[witness_this]

Good.

[Says Furiosa, grinning.]

Again. Feel your shoulder roll into it. You're hitting hard. Even without putting any muscle on, someone with your frame could break a jaw, if you land just right.

[gulosity]

[The praise hits her right in the heart, warms her up. She doesn't smile, just nods, her gaze narrowed to a point somewhere in the middle distance as she hits out again, again, again.]

[She imagines it's Michael. She imagines it's Memo. She imagines it's Dillon.]

[witness_this]

Good- but reset more between blows, feel your weight shift back, so you can hit just as hard-

[Encouraging her, still with grim satisfaction and pride.]

Keep your balance.

[gulosity]

[She steps back for a second, breathing a little heavily, and nods.]

Okay. [Balance is important. She thinks of Dillon again, briefly, and strikes out again, resets, strikes.]

[witness_this]

Other arm.

[She says, and then twists her wrist, switching the direction of the pad.]

[gulosity]

[In a relatively quick, smooth movement, she shifts to the other arm, moving when Furiosa moves - strikes out, resets, strikes again.]

[witness_this]

You're really getting it.

[Furiosa says, approvingly, only lowering the hand when she sees her starting to get tired.]

That's good, Lourdes.

[gulosity]

[Panting, she pushes her hair out of her eyes. There's a brightness in her expression that wasn't there before, coming from the praise.]

Yeah?

[witness_this]

Yeah.

Don't do it unless someone puts a hand on you, but if they put a hand on you, do it immediately, and hard.

Knees next.

[While she goes and finds a new pad- something long and thick that she can brace for Lourdes to kick into.]

[gulosity]

[Self-defense only. She nods vigorously and watches Furiosa go, as she bends slightly at the knees, testing her weight. She's not one hundred percent sure how this is going to translate from elbows to knees, but she trusts Furiosa to teach her right.]

[witness_this]

All right.

[And she shows her this next, separate blow- it's even easier. Just the motion you might expect to nail a man in the thigh, or between the legs.]

Hit the padding, here-

[As she braces it up against her leg, showing her where she should try to strike.]

[gulosity]

[This one she's seen people do in movies, and she nods, confident that she can mimic it. An aborted movement to test the range of her knee, and then she strikes up, just once, and looks to Furiosa for approval.]

[witness_this]

Close, but more in, less up.

[Lifting up to show her how to get more weight behind it. Furiosa can deaden a leg muscle with a knee thrown like that.]

Really pull your body into it. You'll never actually get the tip of your knee into someone's crotch, but you're going to be able to make them limp badly enough that they won't be able to follow you. And if you do catch them just so- well, more's the better.

[gulosity]

[She watches carefully, nods again.]

I got it. Can I try again?

[witness_this]

[She nods, and braces up again.

They're going to do this until she has bruises. Probably until they both do, even with the padding. Furiosa makes her keep switching knees this time, for the workout.]

[gulosity]

[Lourdes gets tired quickly, working one leg and then the other. She doesn't have much physical strength - she's never needed it before - and what she's doing is exhausting.]

[But by the time she's done, she feels accomplished in a way she's not used to. Drained physically, but content. She huffs, taking a step back, and looks up at Furiosa again.]

[witness_this]

[Furiosa rumbles a deep, easy sound of satisfaction.

Still, after all these years, there is nothing quite the same to her as watching a young girl start to learn her own strength. She radiates a commanding, maternal sort of approval.]

That's your start. Anyone gets in your face- elbow. They hold your arms pinned, knee. It won't work with every one, but you start a little bit at a time. You hit any body with either of those, they'll know you mean it.

[gulosity]

[She looks down at her hands. She hasn't been using them, really, but they feel stronger anyway. Her limbs ache and feel heavy, but she smiles anyway, looking up at Furiosa with something approaching gratitude.]

And I keep practicing until it's automatic. Right?

[witness_this]

There are hanging bags. You can hit those, when you can't find me. But you should find me for this often.