Soft Serve Death

Val shoved her way off of Cassie and got to her hands and knees. She pressed her hand against her chest and let out a small cough. After a few seconds she stood up and turned around and faced Cassie. "Again." She said in a sharp tone, her face holding a deadly seriousness to it as she crouched and got into a fighting stance, though her mouth was still opened and she was still panting.

Cassie stood in front of Val and looked in each of her eyes while rubbing her temples with with her first two fingers. "Give it a second, I don't want you passing out for no reason. Also, when you're stuck in a hold, to signal the other person to stop just tap somewhere on them or where they can see. Like this." Cassie tapped three times on the top of Val's head with her fingers.

"Okay, again it is. Good! What did you learn? I'll give you a hint, get position first, then attack. Still, don't you want to learn more before we have another go? Or we can just drill takedowns and sprawls for a bit if you want." Cassie took her stance with her hands down and waited for Val's response.

Val continued to stare at Cassie coldly. She swiped at Cassie's hand when she was petted. "Nyet!" She yapped in her childlike voice. "We will be with the training until I am no longer with the having ability to move or you are no longer with the being able to end me." She clenched her teeth. Submission was not an option. She'd pass out every single time and keep going until she was able to be in control of the situation. Maybe Cassie didn't think Val was taking this too seriously but the tiny Finn was frustrated with herself and knew of no other way than this to deal with what she perceived as a horrible failure.

Closing her mouth, she huffed a breath through her flaring nostrils and crouched. She patiently circled Cassie as she looked for a place in which she could strike.

Cassie admired Val's determination to improve. It made her smile. Really, it reminded her of herself in the family gym, wearing out one training partner and moving to the next until the gym was empty.

While Val circled, Cassie stayed in one spot, standing in her half crouch and steadily resetting her feet to stay facing her little opponent. She really didn't know what she was planning on doing. It seemed like Val was extremely determined to get the better of Cassie, and she hoped that she wouldn't go overboard... Cassie loved a challenge, and she was sure that she was a better grappler. This was a challenge that she needed to win every time, for her family's honor and for jujitsu and for her own pride. But... if Val was going to do something... unsporting that would certainly sour the whole deal.

Wary of more strikes from Val, Cassie made sure to stay just outside of Val's relatively limited range. Cassie wasn't much taller, but she was proportionally lanky, and she'd employ her range to keep Val at bay.

When the moment was right, Cassie leapt forward, wrapping both hands behind Val's head and pinching her forearms together to secure her hold. She braced her feet on Val's hips and allowed herself to fall onto her back, bringing Val down on top of her. Immediately she wrapped her legs around Val's midsection and held Val's head tightly against her chest, keeping her posture down to make it difficult for her to strike or move or whatever Val was thinking of doing. Hopefully she could get inside before Val could throw more strikes, if that was her plan. And this would prove that being on top doesn't necessarily mean you're winning against a jujitsu girl.

Despite seeming hotheaded, Val was a very patient person by her nature. She was a sniper and could wait silent and still for hours if she had to. For all her insistence, she was clearly paying attention and she wanted to show Cassie whats he could do. And even more that she wasn't as incompetent as she was being made out to be. She had trainesd extensively with the spetsnaz and she could certainly fgfight hand to hand. The only reason she had lost to Lukretia was because that woman liked to fight dirty and even Valkoinen's hardened body still had certain sensitive spots. She would admit that her skill with a gun was the most superior combat attribute she possessed and her skill with a knef the second best, leaving her hand to hand skills with the bronxze medal. But they were by no means paltry.

So when Cassie dashed, Val was looking to pull back. She could avoid the dash and probably send out a swift kick to Cassie's head to put her down but she stopped. She couldn't do that. She wasn't trying to win in a fight. She was trying to prove that she could grasp this sort of inside, close quarters skirmishing. She held her ground, allowing Cassie to grab her head. and pull her down. When Val felt strain on her head , she lifted up her knee to try and block Cassie's attempt to get good footing on her midsection and hopefully be able to mount a counter attack. But her efforts were futile as Cassie's offenses slipped right past her and locked onto her midsection, pulling Val down into the ground so Cassie could do as she wished. Val gritted her teeth in the hold but there wasn't anything she could do now.

Cassie sensed Val's hesitation, but didn't quite know what to make of it. If she had to guess, she'd have said that Val was only having to stifle urges to knife her. That would account for the little pauses. Was she really hoping to beat Cassie at her own game? The thought was exciting. She'd rolled with Val long enough now to know what she had, but people could always surprise you, especially people as out of the ordinary as her new Finnish-Russian buddy.

Cassie kept one hand on the back of Val's head and the other arm she wrapped over Val's upper arm. She kept Val down as tightly as she could and kept her head up so there was no space between any part of her and Val that Val could use. She thought she'd wait to see what Val would do, if she was in fact trying to beat Cassie on her home turf, and let that dictate what she did.

"You're really determined." Cassie said brightly. "That's good, but don't let that spoil your temper. Keep a clear head. And enjoy it! You're learning new things and I've enjoyed meeting you and doing some sparring is always fun. There's a ton to be happy about, and positive energy is good for the mind and the body and that's good for your technique and everything." She couldn't help it. She was channeling some of her dad's usual lectures, translated into Cassie-ese. She couldn't keep the smile off her face.

Val remained silent and scowly in her position with Cassie bearing over top of her. She could fell the girl pressing against her and with her arm being held in place she didn't have many options. Her legs were spread and knees bent enough that she would be able to at least hold her own for now and she did have a free hand to use but Cassie's own legs were back far enough as well. A strike wouldn't do much for now so she conserved her strength and listened to Cassie. "I am not with the here to be with the having fun." She said in a serious, if not squeaky, tone.

"And I am with the having no temper." She also said. She didn't understand what these words were about. Positive energy, good times,. Sparring. It was nonsense. Was Cassie not taking this as seriously as Valkoinen was? That would be very frustrating. If she was the sort of person, Val would take Cassie down tot he shooting range after this and watch her struggle to hit the broad side of a barn while chastising her and hitting bulls eyes every time. She wasn't that sort though but it did feel as though that was what was happening. Val let out a sigh. She had to try something at least. This was a good situation to try and escape from., should she ever be in the position. The old suicide tooth wasn't something she brought with her on every occasion these days. Not that she was expecting to be captured for information. There was probably not a 'wanted poster' left of her anymore that said anything but Wanted: Dead on it. Val spread out her legs so that the hold wouldn't be changed for the moment. She didn't want Cassie to try and roll her onto her back again. While her arms were locked, she couldn't strike very well either and she didn't want things to end in a stale mate. Val jutted out the thumb in her hand that was by her side. It was in a good spot and wouldn't take much effort or force to hopefully score an attack. She'd try and jab her thumb upward into one of Cassie's floating ribs. With any luck, that would certainly loosen the girl's grip.

"Ow!"

Cassie winced and bent her body away from Val's thumb. Ow. That meant it was time to get moving and stop wasting time.

She let go of Val and pushed her shoulders away with both hands. At the same time she used her hips and her legs to push Val back so that she was almost in an upright kneeling position. She braced both of her feet on Val's hips and shoved, pushing herself back and Val away so she could scoot her legs under her and hop back to her feet. She already knew what she wanted to do next.

Val fell back and eased away from Cassie when she was shoved, regaining her balance and standing up. She wanted to get some distance from Cassie and eye the girl again with her scowly face. Suddenly she stopped and tilted her head, bringing her index finger up to her lips and tapping it. "I am thinking that this is not with the working out." She said in serious thought. "I should not be with the trying to escape from you even though I am marginally with the appreciating your efforts." She nodded. "I am with the being here to be with the learning offensive maneuvers not with the learning how to escape. Are you with the understanding. Escaping from grapple is not with the being necessary to keep job."

She then offered out a hand to Cassie. She didn't really understand why though. Maybe she was apologizing for giving the girl a thumb to her ribs. "Pleased to be helping me with offense." She said though still scowling.

Cassie smiled. "Good, that makes sense." She couldn't have been happer that Val seemed much more willing to learn from her than she was before. When Val extended her hand to Cassie, Cassie's smile broke like it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen and she couldn't help but hug her again.

"Right! Offense! There are plenty of things the apply when you're still on your feet, but if you're looking to take someone out of a fight the first step would be to put them on their back. Most people can't fight off their back, and if you can hold them down then you can do whatever you want. My wrestling isn't great, but there are still tons of ways to take someone down... from the top, why don't we start with that double-leg. When you get it, step to the outside to make sure you land in side control instead of ending up in my guard, because you don't want to be in my guard. Go ahead and shoot it!"

What fun. Cassie hoped everyone in Friction was this nice.