Need a Spotter?\\OPEN

As much as Miller preferred to stay away from places that would attract attention to himself, he still had to keep his body in the best physical shape as possible. Given that he was surrounded by a numerous about of people who could harm him severely even by accident, he couldn’t afford to let himself become weaker. What better place to go than the gym?

He entered the humongous room cautiously taking note of every person within the room. It wasn’t too crowded, but that didn’t make him feel any safer. He didn’t recognise any faces, though that was to be expected. He casually strolled through the room until he spotted some equipment he could use that no one was directly close to. He kept a straight face to hide his fear from everyone else, though all he could think about was how many people in the room could see through his guise.

He stopped at a pull-up bar and soon after he leapt in order to grasp his one hand on the bar. Displaying his amazing feat of strength he lifted himself such that his jaw line raised over the bar. The equipment began to make an odd creaking noise for every pull-up he did, echoing through the high ceiling room. Miller weight was probably the source of the problem due to the amount of metal plastered on his left arm. The pole that held him above the ground began to bend very slightly as well, it was difficult to notice by the normal human eye however.

When Bran came in here, she’d been thinking of improving her combat skills somewhat. She had had a major mood lift when she’d seen two kids practicing martial arts in one of the corners of the room. She might have been able to find some people to practice against. However, both lacked insulation. Short of shocking them both every time they made contact, she couldn't spar with them.


It could have been worse though. At least there were other structures here to train off, and Bran’s eyes flickered over to a boxing dummy which no-one seemed to be using. She didn't even bother getting boxing gloves- she’d endured far worse pain than the recoil of a boxing dummy before- as she swung her fist into it. She didn't put her full force in- she didn't want to break any bones- but it was enough to make a visible arc.


The punch bag swung, strictly regulated by the girl. Every time it approached her, she sent it off again, and although it hurt her fists, it was nothing compared to punishments at the research facility. Thinking about that made her a bit too angry; angry enough that her next punch to the bag started to make a hissing noise, and within three punches, her electricity had made a very noticeable impact on the state of the punch bag.

She stopped quickly. She’d rather not totally ruin equipment she might want to use later.


Having stopped, Bran now noticed that some small kid had been staring at her for the last few minutes, which really wasn't a bother, and a noise as rhythmic as her own training.


Looking around, she saw a guy hanging off of a pull-up bar. It was making a lot of noise, and she walked over. Honestly, she would have been tempted to try copying the guy if she didn't think she’d shock him and make him fall off before she had even supported her weight on the bar.


”I would say it’s good to see someone who needs to lose weight exercising, but by your strength, I doubt that’s why you’re doing it.”

After each pull-up he performed his overall structure weakened. His arm was at the point where it seemed as though his muscles were ready to tear apart, but he continued in an attempt to ignore the punishment his body felt. His face was changing from his usual paleness to a pinker complexion. His largely proportioned were squinting intensely from both his workout and the slight amount of light in the room. It wasn’t necessarily well lit, but it was enough to bother him.

Miller finally ceased when he heard what seemed like someone speaking to him, though not referencing his name. Which was unsurprising, he didn’t expect anyone to really recognise him. The person seemed instigative, as though she was accusing him for something. His teeth clanked once or twice nervously as he stared blankly at the person unsure of how to respond. “I need to, if I don’t I don’t stay strong” he answered blanking out in mid-sentence.

He then focused back on the bar he was lifting himself over and performed one more pull-up before his body dropped to the floor. He landed directly on his feet as though he had done it on purpose. His posture was weak and his breaths were deep. The left side of his body drooped due to the lack of strength he felt at the moment. His eyes shot directly back at the girl once more as he rolled his shoulders back.

“You know this place well? Which equipment provides the best workout for the upper body?” he questioned, his tone representing his lack of breath. Normally he would want to be too active in conversation, but he saw this opportunity to better benefit himself.

Bran already admired the larger man somewhat for his dedication to his training, but now closer the strain on him was apparent. She was probably a fraction of his weight, and she would have struggled to do that herself.


Bran noticed the few jitters that indicated the man's feelings towards her. Were those nerves? What reason did he have to be scared of her? Unless he had seen how she’d been frying the gym equipment, which she doubted.


”I know.” Her tone made it seem like that was something five-year-olds should know. ”But being able to lift your apparent weight seems impressive.” Bran was surprised he was able to talk that clearly at all after how hard he had been working and how heavy he clearly was.


Bran was tempted to offer the man support- it looked like he needed it- but figured he probably wouldn't appreciate an electric shock, so stopped herself. His eyes surprised her a little, but she didn't react.


”Well?” Bran had only been at the school for a few months. Saying she knew it well would certainly be an exaggeration. She had normally trained without machines anyway, and when she did it was a rare luxury to her. ”I…I never got much time in…gyms. I mostly trained in sparring and athletics anyway.” “Athletics” may have been a misleading wording. Saying how most of her training had really been spent, if overheard, might get some awkward questions and a very long prison sentence, at best. ”Weight or resistance machines, maybe.”

He lurched toward the woman slightly, still keeping a slight distance from her due to paranoia. With every new person he met came a new unpredictable ability. Whether or not she showed no violent intentions toward him, there was still a possibility that she could injure or harm him accidently depending on what she was able to do. His arm acted as an anchor, it stopped him from moving too quickly and colliding with the woman.

Miller’s eyes glanced at his blade shortly when the smaller student mentioned his weight. “Seems, but some can outmatch it ten-fold. I always need to be at my best… otherwise I’m easy pickings” he answered quickly in tone. His deep breathing calmed down fairly quickly, almost seeming beyond humanly possible. Though he still required an open mouth to breathe correctly.

Miller listened to the brunette’s words as his dark eyes searched the gym for his next work out machine. As much as the pull-up bar could offer, it caused him to tire too fast. His regular workout session were usually far more complex than anything the gym had to offer. “Neither do I… I usually go to a more advanced facility, but this place will do I suppose” he spoke blandly.

Miller was going to question where the equipment she mentioned would be, but she’d already stated that she didn’t know the place well. He analyzed her body for a moment, “how about a sparring match then? No abilities, just our fists, with padded gloves of course. I’ll keep my blade behind my back, your two hands against my one.” He searched the immediate radius around the two and noticed the amount of space. “There’s enough room around here for it.”

Bran barely noticed the unusual distance between them. With her abilities, keeping a distance from someone was normal, and it was nice to see someone else taking the step. She didn't see it as unusual- just maybe he had some other ability she couldn't see that might be risky.


Bran was about to say that thinking like that, and comparing himself to others, would just make him bitter when he continued. “Easy pickings”? For what, or rather whom? It was clear he felt threatened by something, but it didn't really make sense. Everyone here was surrounded by the entire populous of the school; it couldn't be too dangerous, right? Even with the kidnappings and deaths, it must be safer here.


Bran didn't even know what “usually” was for her. A testing facility for a home rather suggests normal has gone out the window, probably a long time ago. In fact, her training there had been quite a miss-match, between tons of different skills, so working out a “usually” would be extremely difficult.


Bran’s eyes lit up, literally, at the suggestion of sparring, and quickly dulled after a second’s thought. ”I’m all up for it, but I have electrokinesis. I don’t want to shock you. I’ll do my best not to; just bear that in mind.” She thought being able to spar two-handed against him with only one hand was a bit unfair, but if this guy was willing to spar with her, the fact she was going to be concentrating hard on not dazzling or shocking him might counter act that. His clearly higher body mass also meant she’d be likely to struggle- but at least this would be a challenge, unlike sparring most of the students in the hall.


Based on the guy’s left arm, she guessed it was probably better if she got the equipment. That was, assuming he was still okay sparring if she couldn't guarantee she would not shock him.

Miller smirked a little bit, unsure if her agreeing to a sparring match was good or bad. He’d never fought a true gifted in a somewhat fair one on one fashion. The thought of the woman accidentally shocking him only brought up bad memories though, memories that he quickly shoved back into the depths of his mind where they originated. “If you were wearing gloves of some sort won’t that negate you powers, since your skin wouldn’t touch mine? Or is that not how your power works?” Miller answered with more questions.

Miller still would fight the woman regardless of whether the glove theory might work or not, since in a real fight with a gifted person their abilities will always be a factor to watch for. Though, her answer would determine how diligent he should be about electric shocks. “If you know where the proper equipment is, then hurry and get it. I hardly want to waste workout time” he answered. He folded back his bladed arm and began pushing aside a few mats so that their arena was clear enough for a fair fight.

[ooc: you can time skip to after they’re prepared for the sparring, I don’t have much to add until then]

Bran hadn't thought many Gifted people before, and much of that had been when she was far smaller. She didn't think she was likely to win anyway, but almost any sparring, even if she lost, would still help get her back to her normal standards.


”It shouldn't shock you. I was just warning you in case. I normally wear gloves anyway, and that doesn't always work.” It really depended on the situation as to whether she’d accidentally shock someone. It was extremely unlikely in here, and she’d only shocked the punching bag because she’d been wearing no protection.


Bran nodded, performing an almost militaristic turn with her heels together, and jogged over to the stores. The gloves weren't exactly at the front, but she spotted them quickly and brought a couple of pairs out. She knew one of them would be going unused, but she disliked leaving an odd glove in case someone else wanted to spar and accidentally picked it out.


Bran quickly headed back to where the man was arranging mats and held up the gloves.

”I've got them.” She dropped the odd glove on the ground off the mats, and chucked the other at the man, hoping he could catch it himself. When she was ready, she stood near the edge of the mats, waiting for him to start.




(OoC: I was wondering if I should anyway)

Miller decided it would probably be for the best to expect a shock from his opponent than to not since the last thing he would want is to be shock while off-guard. He plotted a strategy for himself as he continued to clear the area, which was difficult to do given he knew nothing about the girl beside the fact that she could shock him on the off chance. He decided it would be best to play to his strengths and observe how his foe reacted.

His head peered up as he heard the other student’s return. She tossed him a glove, which he wasn’t prepared to catch initially, but after a slight fumble of his feet he was able to reach it before it hit the ground. He wedged the glove into his left armpit and fixed his stance so that he stood more properly. Shortly after he stuffed his hand into the glove and in a few moments he succeeded in equipping his hand. Luckily he had practice in such tasks before, otherwise he would’ve had no clue how to put it on.

Miller loosened his body once he was ready, rolling his shoulders once more and cracking a few kinks in his neck. He pasted his blade to his back, hopping that he wouldn’t accidently use it if he flinched. He locked his hand into fist formation and huffed as he took his stance.

“Alright then, let’s do it.” He figured that he should be the first to strike to test how well she would be to handle brute force. He took a few quick steps forward, in the formation of a bit of a broken jog. He charged up a low shot next to his waist and released, though he projected his movements so much that it would be an easy dodge. He was more so watching for his opponent’s reaction time so that he would have a reference point.

She really knew nothing about the man in front of her except that he wanted to keep fit, he seemed to have a blade instead of his left arm and that he was already extremely physically competent. She had missed any form of practice for ages, so guessed that she probably should just rely on her speed. Besides, if she ever managed a solid punch on this guy and managed to at all wind him, based on stature that would be some kind of miracle.


Bran wasn’t sure whether to be amused or impressed at how the man managed to put his glove on. She would have struggled to do that one-handed.


She nodded in response. ”Start whenever you like.”


Bran was a little surprised by the man’s move because of just how easy it was to dodge. She only needed to take a small side step to avoid it, and the way he moved looked extremely clumsy. Not that she could talk after her “break”.


Looking at this guy, Bran guessed he was pretty fit in reality, and that told her he was holding back or testing in some way. This guy would probably be quite hard to fight if he felt he needed to do that. She’d been looking for a challenge, so Bran was not going to complain in a hurry.


He looked like he packed a powerful punch- literally- so Bran knew she would have to dodge as many of his blows as she could.


Bran turned slightly and took a touch of a step forwards, just so her punches didn’t feel so far away, before aiming a swing at the man. Like him, she made the motion pretty apparent, so dodging would still be easy, but her step out again showed she was preparing for some real punches soon.

Miller figured that his initial attack was bit too slow and contrived after he attempted it. It was a bit difficult to derive any information from his punch considering that even a person with an extremely slow reaction time would have been able to step out of his way. Though he was able to notice a small alteration in the girl’s body language suggesting that she identified his action and in turn reacted. It was either that or he was just completely insane and deriving it from nothing which wasn’t out of the question.

His glowing black eyes peered at the woman, his body was still in a slight lunge formation from his earlier attack. Her retaliation wasn’t difficult to spot given that she performed a similar move to his own, giving him a feeling that she was doing it for the same reason; to study him. Miller leaned his gargantuan body though it wasn’t enough to avoid the strike altogether, so he intercepted the blow with his forearm.

Once the punch connected, Miller absorbed the hit and lashed his arm outward in a backhand slap motion using as much force as possible. He almost triggered the release of his left arm, which could be almost seen by the twitch of his shoulder. Luckily, he caught his arm’s motion before he could unleash it from his backside. He was so accustomed to training he almost used his ‘swing and stab’ technique.

It was a gamble on whether or not his lash would land, but he was a bit confident in his swing since he had fairly long arms and his opponent was not too far away from him and would still be recovering from her own swing.

Bran couldn't help but notice the way he was looking at her. Was he analyzing this as much as she was? The man seemed to realize that she too was testing him a little. That wasn't really a surprise.


Bran had been expecting him to be quite resilient towards any punches she could throw at him, and he failed to disappoint. Her eyes flickered more brightly as she started concentrating.


Bran saw the punch in a time at which normally she would have been able to easily dodge out the way. However, several months out of practice was not normal for Bran, and her reactions just weren't good enough, especially not given that she’d just swung and was a bit unprepared. She managed to move enough that she took the blow to her upper arm, near her shoulder, which was quite unpleasant during impact but she quickly recovered.


Bran noted how the man’s left shoulder had jerked during the attack. Maybe he had almost instinctively used that arm. It was possible he had nearly cut into his own back, and that was not a nice prospect.


She waited a second and then Bran moved a little to the left, trying to give minimal warning before her next swing. She aimed low, but her speed meant the blow was likely to be quite weak. It wasn't like any of her blows would have much impact though, and it wasn't like she wanted to hurt him, so maybe that was for the best.

His strike had landed. The ends of Miller’s mouth gave off a small twitch upwards as he watched his arm make contact with hers. Afterward he quickly retracted his fist, though not quick enough to respond to the woman’s next strike.

He fixed his footing since he was in such an awkward position to begin with. Planting his feet firmly into the ground and tensing his body for the woman’s next punch. While watching the female’s fist, he couldn’t help but to notice black ink on her forearm. It seemed too clean and plain to be a tattoo that she would have gotten under her own freewill, unless her interest was so plain and unimaginative. There was hardly enough time for him to read what it said properly, but from a swift look it appeared to be a random assortment of numbers and letters. His interest didn’t pique much further than a simple wonder since he was more so focused on the match between him and his foe.

Miller’s stiff abs caught the blow and gave little reaction to the force of it. Unlike the girl, Miller was not so out of practice. He blew slightly after the impact and released a small whistling sound. “You can hit harder than that can’t you?” he taunted in a serious tone as he quickly pulled back his fist. After a brief moment, his arm couldn’t bend any further back so he released the powerful punch in a direct motion toward the girl’s torso. This time he wasn’t delaying his swing or projecting his movements, only fast reflexes would save her, which Miller had a feeling she could perform.

Why had she waited so long to get back into practice? If she were in shape, she still wouldn’t be able to easily win but at least she could have dodged a blow like that. Anyway, she was more alert now as she got more into the old drills, and knew she would be unlikely to be such an easy target again.


Bran noted the man looking at the markings on her arm. She was so used to them she’d almost forgotten they were there, but she guessed it wasn’t unnatural for him to be curious. Tattoos at their age were rare enough, let alone tattoos which were so seemingly meaningless to an outsider. She barely needed to think before she had a cover story for if he asked about it, even if it were stupid.


”Naturally.”


She sensed that may have been a distraction technique so she waited a second for any possible blows before replying. Sure enough, a blow came pretty quickly and although the timing was difficult- he really was making an effort to be subtle- the tactic was obvious. Bran dodged out of the way as quickly as she could, so his fist just past her. She knew if that had hit it would have hurt a lot more than the previous strike, and she was just lucky she had seen that as an attempt to distract her.


If he was willing to do that, so was she.


”I’m sure you can hit more accurately too, so let’s both step up the game.” She barely paused before her next swing, only long enough to take a small step forward. She aimed at about the same height as him, and tried to put a bit more power in this time, although having a far smaller build than him it still would be nothing to his blows.

The force of his own swing was enough to pull Miller forward and considering he didn’t land his target he was more off balanced by it than he expected. Luckily he had a broad and solid stance otherwise he could have potentially fallen face first. His blunder however cost him more than just that as his recovery time was too slow to react to the woman’s next strike properly. Soon enough Miller received a blow straight to his chest. It was hardly enough force to wind him given his natural structure, but it was more impactful than her last hit.

“Heh” he spouted after hearing the woman’s reply. He was taught to generally think of his opponent as lesser than himself, but he felt some respect for a sparring partner that could keep up with conversation and still fight decently.

Miller quickly turned his stance so that he was directly facing his opponent once again. His hand crumbled into a fist faster than the blink of an eye as he positioned his arm in a similar fashion to a boxer. His large lunges at the woman were too ineffective due to her speed, so he figured it’d be better to tire her out with smaller hits and save the bigger blows for later.

Unlike his last few attacks, Miller didn’t charge his next motion. He whipped his fist at his target, aiming primarily for a body blow, but his action was so quick he couldn’t even predict where it was going to land.