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You wanna talk clearly or you wanna keep your teeth from cracking? You get to pick one.

[Gladio starts wrapping up his own hands while he talks.]

Besides, you can still talk, it's just, you know. Difficult.

[ Well, regardless of his plans here, he does intend on keeping his teeth. So, with a shrug, Noctis brushes off Gladio's smart remark and goes for the supplies set out for him. ]

Let's get this going, I guess.

[ He'll grab the mouth guard, but he'll accept the help of wrapping his hands up in the meantime. ]

How long've you been doing this anyway?

[Gladio finishes wrapping his own hands fairly quickly, used to doing it at this point. He reaches over to do Noctis' next, less used to doing it to someone else so his pace is slightly slower.]

Remember when we first met? I was a mess of a preteen, and my sister...

[His sister was a fair bit younger, and insistent on learning all she could about this strange, interesting new boy. Gladio got overprotective and started interjecting to try to humiliate the kid.]

Anyway, around that time I was getting in a lot of fights at school. Me and my stupid friends -- we don't talk anymore -- thought it might be edgy and cool to start a fight club. Only we had no clue what we were doing. More than one bone was fractured along the way, and that was on top of eventual suspension.

[He starts on Noctis' other hand.]

Anyway, I didn't get serious until a while later, not 'til after me 'n you stopped seeing each other so much. I got scared straight -- by my sister, for the record, so you have her to thank -- and instead of focusing on being a stupid kid I started focusing on boxing classes after school.

[When he finishes wrapping up Noctis' hands, Gladio claps a hand on his shoulder.]

Gave me something to do other than break into my friends' parents liquor cabinets. It really clears the head.

[ Noctis is about as lost as ever. Combat isn't a stranger to him, but that's purely out of the consequences of living in Recolle while Retrospec has such a heavy influence. Both times he'd been involved in fighting, it was a straight-up disaster. He weighs hardly nothing, he collapses for random and mysterious reasons. There's absolutely no muscle to his scrawny build, and yet he's agreeing to box with someone who's twice his size.

A free shot's a free shot, but Noctis can't help but be a little nervous in the face of this. In his silence, he simply watches Gladio wrap his hands up, switching the one that holds his mouth guard for the time being.

There have been moments where Noctis had wondered what happened to Gladio; realizing he continued to get himself into trouble for quite some time comes as no surprise. But the reason has him perking a brow. He jolts a little at the clap to his shoulder. ]

Scared straight? Your sister must've really had you in a corner then. What happened?

[Gladio glances at Noctis, then looks away, silent for a moment.]

Caught her sneaking some of the drugs she'd found in my room.

[Gladio glares at the floor as he pulls on his sparring gloves, remembering his anger from years ago.]

We had a huge fight over it, 'cause I started yelling at her. Not for taking my stuff, but for being stupid enough to use it. And something just kinda... clicked. How she was just watching me act like an idiot, and I made her think what I was doing was okay. Like I was any kinda role model.

[He pulls on the protective head gear. Remembering how he used to act is never pleasant. And it's not always easy to turn your back completely on self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, especially when starting before even hitting your teenage years.

But boxing helps.]

[ Noctis grabs his gear, mimicking Gladio's setup as gospel. He's the expert here. But he's silent as Gladio answers the question, and it's complete and total news to Noctis that Gladio had gotten into drugs and bad scenes. It doesn't come totally as a surprise, but it's still somewhat of a shock. He feels... Bad. In a way.

Strapping the headgear on isn't hard. Noctis refrains from the mouthpiece still. There's this softened look on his face, something of distant understanding but understanding nonetheless. He can only imagine what it's like to see your younger sibling copy off such a terrible habit.

Maybe he misjudged Gladio a bit more than he assumed before. ]

Guessing that means you're clean now.

[ Not a question. Noctis isn't exactly the best at these types of discussions. ]

Good thing. Being on any kind of narcotic legally blows. You're better off.

[ Lord knows his liver is absolutely charming under a scan. ]

So punching things helps. That's the lesson here.

Yeah. Basically, the best way to deal with shit is to punch other shit.

[He taps Noctis' shoulder with a gloved fist, then puts his mouth guard on. His next words come out muffled, but he's practiced at talking around these things.]

Alright. Follow my lead for your stance.

[He turns at a slight angle, holding his fists up and ready.]

Knees bent, at the ready. Dominant hand in back. Legs a bit wider than your shoulders.

[ Honestly, he feels kinda bad about his plans here. But only a little. Noctis hadn't really considered what Gladio has gone through growing up. That's... Rough, honestly.

But he's snapped out of it with the tap to his shoulder, putting his mouthpiece in and getting the gloves on. ]

Mmh-- Right.

[ Okay, talking with these things is definitely weird. Noctis follows instruction, getting in the position he's directed to go in. At least he's not lying about not knowing what he's doing. ]

Okay.

[Gladio demonstrates the punches against the air as he explains them.]

First punch thrown is usually the jab, with your left fist. Straight at your opponent, quick and disarming.

The right cross is the same thing, usually follows the jab, but with your right fist. It's stronger, hits harder.

Left hook is one of the deadliest punches, pivot your whole body as you throw this one. Good to aim for under the ribs, right at the liver.

Left uppercut is more powerful than the jab, but it leaves you open. Right uppercut is the same idea.

[And with the basic punches explained, Gladio returns to the basic stance, ready to guard or pivot.]

Now come at me with all you got.

[ Eh, he hasn't fully thought this through, has he? Noctis listens, but this is all kind of garbled to him, and he feels like his hearing is muffled with this headpiece on. But he... Thinks he gets it?

He can't really talk like this, so Noctis nods, which helps because at least it's hard to see how apprehensive he suddenly is. Maybe he'll get an open later but... Here goes nothing.

Noctis charges forward, throwing that first jab, going for the gut first. ]

[See, Gladio has years of boxing lessons and matches of experience to lean on. Noctis just basically got thrown to the wolves after a few types of punches got shown to him. But Gladio's not intent on actually fighting back, at least, because this is more about getting Noctis' feet wet than actually fighting him.

So Gladio does some fancy footwork off to the side, dodging the first exploratory punch with a pivot.]

Step jab could use some work. Keep to your stance. Nice idea going for the body first though, most people discredit the potential of a body shot. Try doing a few punches in succession, for a combination. You know the phrase "1-2 punch"? That's referring to a jab and right cross combination.

[He demonstrates the punches in succession against the air, jabbing and following up with the other arm.]

[ He's definitely out of shape, but he's not a stranger to fighting. Weirdly enough, fighting has seemed easy the few times he's tried sparring. Obviously through Retrospec somehow, because there's no way a scrawny thing like himself could manage lifting and swinging his engine blade. So at least he has that going for him.

Noctis misses the hit, but it's not a surprise. Gladio's got way more expertise here, and so Noctis makes sure to bounce back just in case. He keeps his fists up, brow furrowed beneath the headgear. ]

1-2... Got it.

[ Actually, he's pretty invested in this now. Gladio demonstrates, and Noctis mimics. Once he gets close enough, he takes a shot forward, the 1-2 punch to the face this time. ]

[Gladio blocks the blows to his face with his arms, taking the punches with a small grunt.]

--Pretty strong right you got. For a beginner. Try again. Use speed to make up for your scrawny arms.

[He smirks around the mouth guard.]

[ Noctis is clearly not used to talking with this moutpiece. Because every time he tries, he worries he'll drool and purses his lips to keep it in place. His brow, however, furrows at the "scrawny" remark. Because yeah, Noctis has made fun of himself before but when it comes out of someone else's mouth...

He takes another shot, this time at his side. Right beneath the rib. ]

[Gladio tries to pivot out of the way, but Noctis is apparently fired up enough that he's actually listening to him. Somehow, he knew that'd work. The punch is thrown with speed, and Gladio gets a liver shot on himself for his troubles.

He grunts, but doesn't falter.]

Not the strongest punch... but pretty good. More of that. Remember, combinations. Mix and match.

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