Phys Ed, Thursday, Per 2

[arboreal_priestess]

With Liam gone to outer space for a bit, it was up to Verity to run class. And she had made the executive decision that she was not dealing with the Danger Shop today, nope. She handwavily sent out an email telling the class to meet her at the front gate of the school when they arrived she was waiting with a portal.

"Look, we're all tired of not getting to do any of the things we wanted to for class," she declared. "So, today, we're going go-kart racing. I've called three times to make sure the course is open and that there have been no signs of mechanical difficulties, so assuming this portal doesn't crap out on us--" and she was giving it the steeliest glare she could, yes, "--we should be able to go actual go-karting today."

Verity herded everyone through and, sure enough, they ended up in a go-kart park, with plenty of cars to choose from and helmets to go with them. "Some ground rules before we begin," she said. "Safety gear will be worn the entire time you're on the track. There will be no attempts to hit each other or make anyone crash, either into other people or the wall. Drive fast, but safely. No throwing anything onto the track. And just because I haven't forbidden something specifically doesn't mean you won't get in trouble for doing it if it's dangerous or dumb."

She didn't think she'd have a problem with these students, but it needed saying.

"This track here," she said, gesturing to the simple loop track their karts were on, "is to give you a chance to familiarize yourself with how go-karts work. Once you've made it around the track three times issue, you can head to any of these other tracks. Any questions?"

Read the Room: Practical Self-Defense, Thursday 11/21 (Period 1)

[brat_inslayage]

Today, the Danger Shop was set up to look like the salle -- but with a kind of industrial aesthetic to it. There were exposed wooden beams everywhere and some scaffolding up against one wall, as if the space was in the process of being renovated. (That part was unintentional. Kennedy might have gotten some of her apartment redecoration plans mixed in with everything while she was programming today's setting.)

A rack built into the lower portion of the scaffolding held a variety of sticks of various lengths and a few different diameters; Kennedy was standing in the center of the room holding a pair of eskrima sticks in her hands, and next to her was an extremely irritated-looking Beau, leaning on her staff and drumming her fingers against it like she just wanted to get all of this over with. Kennedy, for her part, looked entirely too amused, and maybe a little bit smug.

"So, stick fighting," she began once the class was assembled. "I'll spare you the whole lecture about different traditions and styles of stick fighting throughout history, but it's a versatile and useful skill, in no small part because it's pretty easy to improvise a weapon with whatever's on hand. One of my former trainees had an incident the other week, as a matter of fact, where she ended up using a plunger and a toilet brush to deal with a vampire because it was 3 AM at the coroner's office and the cleaning crew was about to start working when they ran off because someone had this whole brand new fangy condition she just couldn't wait to play with. Plus it's pretty flexible as far as working in really close quarters or at a little bit of range."

(Beau had not perked up a bit and looked interested when Kennedy mentioned the different traditions. She was just impatient to get this over with. Really.)

Kennedy twirled the sticks in her hands with a smile. "One of my friends, when I was a student here, was really into it. I kinda didn't see the appeal at first -- I'm really more of a swords and sharp-pointies kind of girl -- but the more time I spent training with her, the more I got to appreciate it. Plus eskrima, specifically, translates pretty well into unarmed combat techniques, so that's a bonus."

She spent a few minutes going over the basics of proper grip and the different defensive options you could take: being able to dodge, parry, block, or attempt to disarm or incapacitate. Then, she spent a few more minutes demonstrating several attacking techniques, slowly and then at full speed.

"Here's the useful if slightly unexpected: you're not actually at as much of a disadvantage as you might think, if you're up against someone with more reach than you."

Beau sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "Is this the part where you try to kick my ass again?"

"No," Kennedy replied smoothly, "it's the part where I succeed at it." She demonstrated ways to neutralize Beau's staff attacks long enough to get in close quarters, where the staff wasn't as effective, before she narrated Beau's demonstration of a few basic staff fighting moves.

And yes, in the brief sparring session that ensued, she absolutely did kick Beau's ass.

"So there's two things for class today," she finally said. "First off, I want each of you to think for a minute and name me two or three items you might find in a totally normal setting that you could use as fighting sticks. Second, pair off and practice what we just went over, got it? Cool. Good luck, and have fun."

Practical Life Skills, 3rd Period - Thursday

[magnusrushesin]

The usual tavern was done up with a movie screen on one of the walls. Because it was the tried and true tradition of movie day leading up to a random holiday.

"It's movie day! We picked a good one, though. So it'll be cool," Magnus said.

"It's all about sublimating attraction through fast cars." That was one way to describe it, Cara.

A very accurate way, honestly. "And family!"

"Because there's no family like the one you find doing crime and driving cars

Magnus already had some super cool sunglasses on. "Lets drive."

Or watch. Same difference.