"Pool noodles, Wasabi?"
Honey Lemon grinned as she caught sight of her friend, hazel eyes crinkling and teeth catching her lower lip in a half-hearted attempt to hold in her amusement. Wasabi was waiting for her in the dojo he frequented, standing alone on the mats with a brightly-colored foam noodle in each hand; he blinked at the question and her expression, glancing at the pool noodles before looking back at her.
"Yes," he said, nodding. "Pool noodles. They'll make a good weapon analog until I figure out where you stand self defense-wise."
"Oh." She giggled at his nervous, earnest tone and nodded, kicking off vibrant yellow platform heels and stepping onto the mat. "Well, I can live with that! So, are we starting now?"
He frowned, looking her over.
"Do you want protective gear?"
"To protect me from the pool noodles?"
Wasabi made a low sound - half-whine, half-sigh - and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
"What am I supposed to be using? I can't use my laser hands. Plasma is not for people, Honey. Not unless it's blood plasma. And I don't use blood plasma. It's unsanitary and probably not really effective for the intended purpose."
"Hm." Honey clenched her jaw to stifle another giggle, nodding. "Well I can't say I'm really willing to argue with that! But what about those?"
She pointed to a rack of neatly ordered practice weapons. Wasabi followed her gaze a moment and then shook his head.
"Those are harder than they look. I could hurt you."
"During self-defense instruction, where I learn to not get hurt?"
Wasabi gave her a tired, almost pained look; Honey felt guilt bubble up under her amusement and stepped forward to pat his forearm with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry. The pool noodles are fine."
"Well... good." He nodded once, mollified, and shifted his weight slightly. "All right, go back to where you were. I'm gonna come at you at half... no, quarter speed and see how well you dodge."
"Should you be telling me what you're going to be doing? I mean in the field-"
"Yes."
His tone left no space for argument; Honey blinked but moved back to her starting position, sudden nervousness coiling in her chest as Wasabi took stance opposite her.
"Um, well, okay then. I mean you're the, uh, expert, and I'm the novice, haha, and since I've never done this before you're probably-"
"Incoming."
She froze at his unusually brusque tone, then squeaked in alarm and reflexively reached for her chem-purse as he rushed her. By the time she registered that it wasn't there and started to move, he'd already bowled her over.
"Honey?" He leaned over her, the briskness melting from his voice and his face soft and worried. "Oh damn, I'm sorry, are you okay? I..."
"Wow." She blinked up at him. "I really suck."
Wasabi's shoulders slumped slightly in relief, and he smiled at her giggle.
"No no, I mean - it's your first try, and I've been doing this for years..." He paused as she raised a brow, then offered her a hand up with a small grin. "Okay, yeah, that was pretty terrible. I don't remember you moving that slow when we were working."
Honey seized the offered hand and stood, shrugging.
"Well, you know - I can be reasonably sure you're not actually trying to kill me, hehe! Plus I guess I'm already used to my super-heroing gear - I was going to be a turtle." Wasabi's smile widened - she suspected he was imagining it more literally than she meant - and she bounced a bit on her toes. "So that's quarter-speed, huh."
"Mm. Glad I'm taking it easy now, aren't you?"
"Sure, if that's what you're calling it." She giggled again, stepping back. "Okay, let me try that again."
"All right. Just this time? Pretend you don't have your chemicals to shield with. Because you don't. And anyway that's not always going to be an option."
"Not always the space or time even if I've got 'em," she agreed. She shifted her weight back a little. "Premade mini-bombs just for the sake of deflection though... I mean still a good idea to learn regular defense and avoidance but-"
"Incoming."
She squeaked again, still less-than-prepared for the sight of Wasabi barreling toward her even at quarter-speed. This time she at least had the presence of mind to dive out of his way, tucking and rolling on landing and regaining her feet just in time to scramble away as he changed direction to chase her. A bit too slow - he caught her and thumped a pool noodle across her back, and she obligingly flopped to the mat.
"Ah, no! Slain again!"
"Yep - not underestimating the noodle now, are you?"
She rolled onto her back, reaching up to clasp his hand to rise.
"I admit it! The quarter-speed pool noodle is formidable!"
He almost dropped her as he laughed, but regained enough composure to successfully help her up.
"Good, let that be a lesson!" He stepped back slightly, head tilting. "So are you ready to face the Mighty Pool Noodle again?"
"Oooh, I'll beat that pool noodle yet!" She imitated Wasabi's stance this time, earning a quick grin before he moved forward.
"Incoming."
She fared a bit better this time; after an hour of practice she was avoiding Wasabi for several minutes at a time - more than long enough to construct a chemical shield when on-duty - and he called a break, the two of them sitting side-by-side against the wall.
"So," she said as she caught her breath. "Am I ready for half-speed pool noodle?"
"Hm." He glanced at her consideringly. "I don't know. The noodle's proven pretty dastardly today. But hey, couple more sessions and you should be." He turned his gaze to her discarded shoes and smiled. "Maybe we'll blame today on you not being used to running out of heels."
"Yeah. Not often I run out of heels in either sense!"
Wasabi laughed at that, nodding; Honey grinned and reached to lay a hand on his shoulder.
"And hey... thanks for agreeing to help me out."
"Not a problem." He got to his feet, offering her a hand up again. "We're doing this super hero thing, we might as well do it right."
She took the offered hand and bounced up, grinning at him as she retrieved her shoes.
"You bet! We'll be a solid science-ninja team in no time! Now come on - dinner on me."
He chuckled as he followed her, shaking his head.
"Science-ninja team... sounds like a Fred thing."
"Oooh, we should ask him. I mean, not everything in his comics is going to be a good idea - remember the rocket launcher purse? - but it'd be fun to hear anyway..."
"Fun, she says..."
They were both laughing as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, each carrying a pool noodle as they headed off down the street.