"Nothing below the waist, if you don't mind," Steve counters, adding his own rule. He supposes that little else is off limits, so he drops into an easy stance to wait for her to make the opening moves, but she's canny or cautious enough to have the same plan. When a few seconds pass without either of them moving, Steve decides to be the one to take the plunge.
He bolts forward with almost alarming speed, dropping low to try and sweep her legs out from under her.
Even though he warned her about his punches, he never planned on using the full force of his strength against her. He rarely does, against unenhanced humans, not wanting to injure them unnecessarily if he can avoid it. He knows that a punch or kick from him can easily send someone flying, can break bones, even without shield or hammer.
They've drawn an audience even before the fighting really starts. Éomer will yell at her men later, for abandoning their own training to watch her and their new companion test each others' mettle; right now, she has other things to focus on, things like not getting the tar beaten out of her by Steven as he darts towards her faster than a man his size should be able to manage.
In fact, everything about the way Steven fights is slightly too-fast to be believable, his reflexes quick enough that she has had to dodge and weave far more than she intended, his hits coming just a little faster than she can accommodate. Éomer has always been large and strong, and is used to fighting against men her own size, often with longer arms and stronger muscles. It means she has developed a certain fighting style that doesn't seem to fit well against Steven's. For all that he's bigger than she is, he fights almost like she's seen some of the Gondorian rangers fight: acting as if he were slim and small and using speed and agility as his primary weapon instead of brute force.
(He has that in spades, of course, as her stinging cheek can attest. She's probably going to get a black eye from that in the morning, and she only hopes that the answering fist she landed in his solar plexus has returned the favor.)
Apart from a few solid hits, most of the fight is spent avoiding each other or grappling. At one point, he manages to get her feet out from beneath her and flips her easily over his shoulder, forcing her to roll in a somewhat undignified manner to get back up to her feet to avoid being pinned. Her face hurts, her hands are scraped to hell and back, and she's a little out of breath, but she's grinning at him all the same, enjoying herself more than she had expected to.
The men hoot and cheer whenever Éomer lands a solid blow on Steve's person, and while they do hurt, it's never enough to wind him completely. (The solar plexus hit does nearly drops him for a second, though.) Maybe he is showing off a little, his fighting style a little more acrobatic now than usual, but he's not above giving someone a hard time for fun every now and then, especially when it's obvious she's enjoying their little brawl.
He hops back a yard or two, bouncing on the balls of his feet and shaking out his shoulders while she rolls back up to her feet. Sure, he could have pinned her, but then the fight would be over, and where's the fun in that?
"I could do this all day, you know," he calls out to her, "so whenever you start to get tired, all you have to do is say so." He grins back at her, his tone more than a little bit taunting. He expects she knows shit-talk when she hears it, considering the way her men react with laughs and cheers. Most of their shouts of encouragement are in their native language, but some of them speak enough Westron to call for her to wipe the floor with him, or for him to stop dancing around and fight properly.
Might as well give the people what they want, right?
Darting in, he throws a quick sequence of punches and jabs, coming at her with classic judo maneuvers that they've probably never seen before in Rohan.
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Date: 2019-05-16 12:24 pm (UTC)He bolts forward with almost alarming speed, dropping low to try and sweep her legs out from under her.
Even though he warned her about his punches, he never planned on using the full force of his strength against her. He rarely does, against unenhanced humans, not wanting to injure them unnecessarily if he can avoid it. He knows that a punch or kick from him can easily send someone flying, can break bones, even without shield or hammer.
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Date: 2019-05-17 12:34 am (UTC)In fact, everything about the way Steven fights is slightly too-fast to be believable, his reflexes quick enough that she has had to dodge and weave far more than she intended, his hits coming just a little faster than she can accommodate. Éomer has always been large and strong, and is used to fighting against men her own size, often with longer arms and stronger muscles. It means she has developed a certain fighting style that doesn't seem to fit well against Steven's. For all that he's bigger than she is, he fights almost like she's seen some of the Gondorian rangers fight: acting as if he were slim and small and using speed and agility as his primary weapon instead of brute force.
(He has that in spades, of course, as her stinging cheek can attest. She's probably going to get a black eye from that in the morning, and she only hopes that the answering fist she landed in his solar plexus has returned the favor.)
Apart from a few solid hits, most of the fight is spent avoiding each other or grappling. At one point, he manages to get her feet out from beneath her and flips her easily over his shoulder, forcing her to roll in a somewhat undignified manner to get back up to her feet to avoid being pinned. Her face hurts, her hands are scraped to hell and back, and she's a little out of breath, but she's grinning at him all the same, enjoying herself more than she had expected to.
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Date: 2019-05-20 09:40 pm (UTC)He hops back a yard or two, bouncing on the balls of his feet and shaking out his shoulders while she rolls back up to her feet. Sure, he could have pinned her, but then the fight would be over, and where's the fun in that?
"I could do this all day, you know," he calls out to her, "so whenever you start to get tired, all you have to do is say so." He grins back at her, his tone more than a little bit taunting. He expects she knows shit-talk when she hears it, considering the way her men react with laughs and cheers. Most of their shouts of encouragement are in their native language, but some of them speak enough Westron to call for her to wipe the floor with him, or for him to stop dancing around and fight properly.
Might as well give the people what they want, right?
Darting in, he throws a quick sequence of punches and jabs, coming at her with classic judo maneuvers that they've probably never seen before in Rohan.