[ jyn doesn't bother getting up from her spot on the couch, using the neural implant to open the door and allow catra to enter their frankly lavish digs. the large kitchen opens through the dining room to the equally spacious living room, clearly daisy and jyn are fucking loaded.
or know how to steal the right shit. ]
Why do you want to fight?
[ should she have asked that first? FUCKING PROBABLY. ]
[ Catra takes a few seconds to look the place over, before letting out a low, impressed whistle. It takes a lot to impress Catra, so coming from her, that one low whistle is a rare compliment indeed.
Finally, she leans on a nearby wall, arms crossed. ]
I need you to beat me up so we can figure out what my powers are already.
[ Despite her lax seeming posture, there's an intensity to her eyes that belies her seriousness. She's not joking. And it's curious, because it's not like she woke up here yesterday, either. Catra was in street fights in the lower levels of New Beijing. She was at the UNA raid. You would think that'd be plenty enough stress and opportunity for any powers to manifest.
But from the angry look on her face, that evidently isn't the case. ]
[ no purr. jyn is disappointed, unfolding languidly from the couch despite catra's decisive statement. this is a reasonable idea to jyn, it is how she told cassian to figure out his own power.
get mad, baby.
jyn's trigger was apparently anger because her own ability activated literally two minutes after she was shoved out of the van, all because some giant douchebag at oktoberfest accidentally ran into her and she wanted to punch him in the face. ]
Alright. Help me move the coffee table.
[ they can beat the shit out of each other in the living room -- jyn will close the blinds just in case someone can see really high -- but they could use the space. ]
[ It takes a lot more than just a favourable first impression to get a purr out of Catra, unfortunately. ]
Good. I knew I had you pegged right.
[ She pushes off the wall and steps closer to move the table. As she closes the distances and comes further into the light, it's clear that Catra doesn't look so crash hot. Oh, she's more well-fed and dressed better than she was when they last met, sure. But there are dark circles under her eyes, like she hasn't been sleeping.
She picks up the coffee table and moves it to the side without preamble, clearly at least a little stronger than her scrawny frame looks. ]
[ jyn was raised not to underestimate people. by the same token she was taught very early on to let people underestimate her because it will work to her benefit every time. she doesn't want for food anymore, not here, but a lifetime of poor nutrition kept her small and compact. she doesn't look like she can take down six storm troopers single-handedly.
and yet.
she won't be underestimating catra. especially because jyn has also met a cornered lothcat and it did not end well, desperate creatures have a tendency to lash out. ]
So how do you know you haven't used it yet? Whatever ability you got as a welcome to the neighborhood gift.
[ hers is very obvious, such is the nature of elemental abilities she supposes, but illya's and prompto's were far more subtle. her mouth slants to the side, thoughtful. ]
Most of them start out pretty weak. [ she holds out her hand and a dozen or so stationary raindrops form out of the air, hovering frozen above her palm like tiny glistening crystals, shooting rainbows around the room as the light hits, before they splash down into her hand. she wipes her damp palm on her trousers. catra has already seen the pressurized jet she can also manage so she doesn't recreate that in her living room. ]
They're triggered by emotions so what were you feeling?
[ jyn is glad no one is here to drag her because she understands that miasma of emotions completely. what she understands more is the inability to articulate it, emotions are hard, okay. ]
Got it. Don't aim for the face.
[ she promised cassian she would stop making stupid decisions that got her hurt. a black eye would be too obvious a reminder she is skirting the edge of that promise. ]
No claws, I don't want to do laundry.
[ other than that... ding ding ding let's fight. gotta trigger that blue somehow. ]
[ jyn doesn't fight to go easy on anyone, saw gerrera would walk out of the afterlife and kick her ass if she tried. doesn't matter if it is simply sparring, there is a reason one of saw's rules for sparring was: "cause no lasting damage".
jyn was the reason.
she doesn't wait for catra to square up, launching herself at the cat girl. let's get ready to rummmmmmmmbllllllllle ]
[ Ha! Now this is more like it! Catra grins at the frontal assault but sidesteps with ease, hitting back with testing force-- not lethal, not even bruising, though it'll smart, just enough to test the limits of Jyn's strength and reaction time. ]
[ jyn is unfortunately only human but she is, also unfortunately, a human who was trained as a child soldier from the tender age of eight, which means she is vicious and ruthless and will fight until her body literally gives out, a survival instinct that guides her with frightening surety. jyn erso is a blunt instrument, she is never going to be as graceful or as fast as chirrut, much less a cat woman.
catra sidesteps and hits her and jyn barrels through it, turning when she is out of range. ]
Come on, if you don't get the emotion out this way, you're not going to like option two.
[ jyn learned how to weaponize her emotions when she was a preteen, she learned how to weaponize the empathy bond one day two. she's got a lot of emotions in her diminutive frame. her knuckles crack as she curls her hands into fists again. ]
[ Catra just blinks, surprised, momentarily taken off-guard. ]
The what?
[ Somehow, despite all the information she was given upon waking, that one never came up. And it's not so surprising she hasn't discovered it on her own-- she's not exactly the touchy feely type. ]
[ that draws jyn up short, straightening up with a bemused expression. she's still tensed to fight but catra not knowing about the empathy bond seems more pressing. jyn had stumbled into it blindly and it was horrifying, even if it had been with cassian. ]
It's-- if you touch someone, you can feel what they're feeling.
... Huh. Is that why everyone here wears gloves? [ She looks down at her own hands, covered in biker gloves, fingers still cut off half-way so she can use her claws. ]
[ jyn's own hands are bare, both because she is inside and because the truncheons daisy made her have grips so she doesn't need gloves anymore for that. jyn absolutely HATES feeling other people's emotions but she simply doesn't touch people and people don't touch her because personal space is a thing. ]
That might be the weather, but the UNA sort of wants to throw us all in prison so there's a general avoidance of touching in public.
[ she gestures at her chest that flares blue again despite nothing visibly happening with her power. ]
We agree on that. The emotional overload might force your power out, if fighting doesn't do it.
[ it's an option at their disposal and jyn is good at it, she learned how to be very quickly. for the best, otherwise prompto might have died from the force of her and clarke's emotions combined. poor woolamander.
[ breathing hard, jyn wriggles the fingers of her right hand, fingers tingling from a hard blow catra had gotten against her bad shoulder. she is definitely the most agile person jyn has ever fought and trying to counter that has been more difficult than anticipated.
kriff, she knows better than to underestimate and yet! jyn played herself. ]
I am! [ her mouth slants into a frown as she rolls her shoulder back, stifling a wince. ] Water. Is it a fear or aversion?
[ alright, maybe there was a third option all along. ]
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[ She ends the message there. No "Thanks" or "Great" or the like from Catra.
It only takes twenty minutes for Catra to find the place, and she's knocking on the door impatiently. ]
Hey. It's me. Let me in.
[ There really isn't anyone else that distinctive voice could be mistaken for. ]
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or know how to steal the right shit. ]
Why do you want to fight?
[ should she have asked that first? FUCKING PROBABLY. ]
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Finally, she leans on a nearby wall, arms crossed. ]
I need you to beat me up so we can figure out what my powers are already.
[ Despite her lax seeming posture, there's an intensity to her eyes that belies her seriousness. She's not joking. And it's curious, because it's not like she woke up here yesterday, either. Catra was in street fights in the lower levels of New Beijing. She was at the UNA raid. You would think that'd be plenty enough stress and opportunity for any powers to manifest.
But from the angry look on her face, that evidently isn't the case. ]
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get mad, baby.
jyn's trigger was apparently anger because her own ability activated literally two minutes after she was shoved out of the van, all because some giant douchebag at oktoberfest accidentally ran into her and she wanted to punch him in the face. ]
Alright. Help me move the coffee table.
[ they can beat the shit out of each other in the living room -- jyn will close the blinds just in case someone can see really high -- but they could use the space. ]
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Good. I knew I had you pegged right.
[ She pushes off the wall and steps closer to move the table. As she closes the distances and comes further into the light, it's clear that Catra doesn't look so crash hot. Oh, she's more well-fed and dressed better than she was when they last met, sure. But there are dark circles under her eyes, like she hasn't been sleeping.
She picks up the coffee table and moves it to the side without preamble, clearly at least a little stronger than her scrawny frame looks. ]
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and yet.
she won't be underestimating catra. especially because jyn has also met a cornered lothcat and it did not end well, desperate creatures have a tendency to lash out. ]
So how do you know you haven't used it yet? Whatever ability you got as a welcome to the neighborhood gift.
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I saw the blue glowy thing. But nothing happened. Mine's broken or-- something.
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[ hers is very obvious, such is the nature of elemental abilities she supposes, but illya's and prompto's were far more subtle. her mouth slants to the side, thoughtful. ]
Most of them start out pretty weak. [ she holds out her hand and a dozen or so stationary raindrops form out of the air, hovering frozen above her palm like tiny glistening crystals, shooting rainbows around the room as the light hits, before they splash down into her hand. she wipes her damp palm on her trousers. catra has already seen the pressurized jet she can also manage so she doesn't recreate that in her living room. ]
They're triggered by emotions so what were you feeling?
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I don't know... anger? ... Excitement? Joy?
... It's hard to explain.
[ How do you explain in words that rush of adrenaline you get when you're a feral chaos gremlin who gets both angry and happy about fighting people. ]
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Got it. Don't aim for the face.
[ she promised cassian she would stop making stupid decisions that got her hurt. a black eye would be too obvious a reminder she is skirting the edge of that promise. ]
No claws, I don't want to do laundry.
[ other than that... ding ding ding let's fight. gotta trigger that blue somehow. ]
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... Sounds boring.
[ But... she actually somewhat respects Jyn, so after a beat she follows up with-- ]
Fine, I guess. But you better not go easy on me.
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[ jyn doesn't fight to go easy on anyone, saw gerrera would walk out of the afterlife and kick her ass if she tried. doesn't matter if it is simply sparring, there is a reason one of saw's rules for sparring was: "cause no lasting damage".
jyn was the reason.
she doesn't wait for catra to square up, launching herself at the cat girl. let's get ready to rummmmmmmmbllllllllle ]
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catra sidesteps and hits her and jyn barrels through it, turning when she is out of range. ]
Come on, if you don't get the emotion out this way, you're not going to like option two.
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Oh yeah? What's option two?
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[ jyn learned how to weaponize her emotions when she was a preteen, she learned how to weaponize the empathy bond one day two. she's got a lot of emotions in her diminutive frame. her knuckles crack as she curls her hands into fists again. ]
I'm very good at it.
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The what?
[ Somehow, despite all the information she was given upon waking, that one never came up. And it's not so surprising she hasn't discovered it on her own-- she's not exactly the touchy feely type. ]
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It's-- if you touch someone, you can feel what they're feeling.
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I thought it was just a fashion statement.
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That might be the weather, but the UNA sort of wants to throw us all in prison so there's a general avoidance of touching in public.
[ she gestures at her chest that flares blue again despite nothing visibly happening with her power. ]
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[ it's an option at their disposal and jyn is good at it, she learned how to be very quickly. for the best, otherwise prompto might have died from the force of her and clarke's emotions combined. poor woolamander.
but they can fight for now. ]
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[ Catra brings her hands up in front of her face though, and they go at it for a bit-- but Catra's chest doesn't glow.
She seems increasingly agitated the longer they go, before eventually she breaks away and backflips away to get some distance. ]
This isn't working! You're not trying hard enough! Are you even taking this seriously?!
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kriff, she knows better than to underestimate and yet! jyn played herself. ]
I am! [ her mouth slants into a frown as she rolls her shoulder back, stifling a wince. ] Water. Is it a fear or aversion?
[ alright, maybe there was a third option all along. ]
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Oh no you don't! Don't you dare!
[ She really is just like a cat. ]
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