Brawlin' and Sparrin'

The gym of Beacon Academy was rather empty: most students either were settling in, or socializing with their friends. But, at this point, a particular individual occupied the far corner. Beating on a punching bag that hung from the ceiling, swaying from side to side with each swift hit, a young man seemed to be in the zone.

His spiked hair swayed and bounced with each strike, some of the front and sides sticking to his face with sweat. In his ears were two black earbuds, music audible and producing a "leaking" effect, of sorts. His stance was that of one who was proficient in mixed martial arts, using his combat-glove clad hands to deliver menacing and swift punches, hooks, and straights, with his leg occasionally being thrusted forward to deliver a kick, occasionally jumping and twisting his body for a roundhouse, the only thing protecting his bare skin from the bag being black karate pants.

He smirks to himself, letting out quick breaths as he delivers more strikes with his fists. Quick one-two's, followed either by a spinning elbow, or an uppercut. He does a quick back step after delivering a quick straight, and rushes forward again, giving a roar as he leaps into the air and spins, connecting his kick to the beg with enough force to completely remove it from its hinges, sending it flying into a nearby wall. Panting lightly, and still bouncing on his heels in his fighting stance, he lets out a quick chuckle and stands upright, running a hand through his hair, being mindful to not ruin its shape. He lets one of his earbuds fall loose, and rests his hands on his hips, looking to the ceiling as he catches his breath. Once he feels he's caught his breath, he walks over to the bench where most of his belongings were, digging through a red duffel bag, and removing a water bottle. Looking back at the fallen bag, and up at its hinges, he cannot help but chuckle again. "...Guess I kinda overdid it." He chuckles to himself, resting against a practice dummy.

"You guess?" asks a teasing voice followed by footsteps coming into the gym. A young woman with hair falling behind her in a flame-like pattern walks in, a lopsided smile on her face. "Come on, we both know you definitely overdid it there," she says.

(Hope that's in character. Not used to writing Yang. At all.)

( You'll get the hang of it I had to with Blake xD )

Hearing the sound of a voice behind him, Nix turns around to look at the blonde beauty standing before him. He chuckles, and crosses his arms. "What can I say? I don't pull my punches." He says with a smirk, taking another drink of his water. "You in here to train as well? Feel free. Rather open gym, anyway." He says, going to grab a spare punching bag and hanging it back up, patting it when he's sure it's in place.

She watches him heft the bag and put in place, lopsided smile still there. "All right," she says, moving to another bag set up nearby. She goes through a quick series of stretches before diving in to attack the equipment, and asks, "So, what's your name?"

"Phoenix Akairo." He replies, sitting down and watching as she hits the bag. "Friend's call me Nix, though." He adds, wiping his face with a towel. He then stands after a moment, throwing an occasional pulled punch at his bag. "What about you?" He asks.

"Yang Xiao Long," She answers, pausing just briefly enough to give her reply. "Just Yang will be fine," she adds before going back into her assault. Pulling no punches, her strikes easily starting lifting the bag with each hit.

Nix's eyes widen a fraction of an inch when he sees her pounding relentlessly on the punching bag. He leans against his, observing keenly. "Damn. You sure know what you're doing." He compliments with a slight chuckle. "Safe to assume hand to hand is your choice of combat, as well?" He then asks with a slight smirk.

"Oh, yeah," Yang says, voice enthusiastic while she continues working at the bag. "That's not all, though," she adds, a teasing tone coming back into her voice.

Nix blinks once when she talks, before snickering again. "Really?" He chuckles playfully, delivering one final kick to the bag, before resting against it. "Think I can see you in action some time?" He asks, before delivering more blows to the bag. "How're ya likin' Beacon so far?" He asks, spinning to deliver a mean roundhouse again.

"I can't really say much about a place I've only been to for a day, can I?" Yang asks rhetorically, still not letting up against the bag. "Who knows, though, maybe you'll be able to catch me at initiation," she says with a quick shrug in between punches.

"Alright, point taken." He says with another smirk, watching as she goes to town on the bag. "I'm lookin' forward to it," He then adds. He jumps on a nearby pull-up bar, only doing a few pullups, before idly hanging to look at her again. "I'd hate to be on the bad end of one of your hits." He commentss with a slight chuckle.

"Says the guy who kicked the bag off its hinges," Yang replies, now sporting a full grin in favor of the lopsided smile. She turns to face Phoenix, taking a short break from the bag. "Got a nice view up there?" she asks, putting her hands on her hips and cocking them to the side.

"Bags can't hit back." He retorts with a smirk, still hanging onto the bar. he then gives a trickster's grin, before replying. "I'm enjoying it."

"Oh, really now?" Yang leans forward slightly, her grin turning into a confident and daring smirk. "What is it you're looking at you like?" she asks, feigning innocence.

Nix chuckles, having enough respect to not push his luck, and maintains eye contact with Yang, his deep blue eyes connecting with her lilac ones. "A fellow fighter. Friend in the making." He shoots back with a chuckle, dropping from the bar and stretching them a bit, before crossing his arms.

Yang smiles warmly at Nix's words. "Smart answer," she says, taking her hands off her hips and crossing her arms instead. "I can agree to the second part of that, too." Yang steps over to Phoenix and sticks out a hand, a wide grin now on her features.

Nix glances down at her hands, and goes back to maintaining eyesight. He smiles a bit and nods his head, unfolding his arms and firmly gripping her hand with his, giving it a shake. "Glad to see we're on the same page here."

Yang returns his grip just as firmly, answering his words with, "Me too, Nix. Good meeting you."

"Likewise." Nix retracts his hand, placing it on his hip as he walks back towards the dummies, deciding to move to a mu ren zhuang, striking the wooden "arms", first starting slow, before speeding up. "Well...Outa curiosity...When's the last...Time you got...To spar?" He asks between breaths, still working on the wooden dummy.

"You know, if you want to spar, you can just ask," Yang says, rolling her neck and shoulders briefly. "I'm always ready for a good fight. Makes life a little more interesting, don't you think?" she asks, her lopsided smile in place once more.

Nix chuckles, finishing with a final strike on the dummy, wincing a bit as he hears wood splinter a bit from one of the "arms." "While I very much agree..." He trails off, wiping his hands off on his shirt and turning to face her. "Might have to take a rain check on that one, sweetheart. Wouldnt wanna get my ass kicked on the first round. I'm still kinda beat from my work out." He then says, working a kink in his shoulder by slightly rolling it. "Though, if you are that ready, I can always give it my all now." He then says, snapping his fingers together a bit; one of the many, silly "rituals" of sorts he would perform before a fight, or using his Aura to give him the boost back to 100%.

Yang gives a shrug, still maintaining her grin. "I can wait 'til you're at your best. Wouldn't exactly be a good fight if you're worn out before, would it?" She asks rhetorically, full of confidence. "We've got initiation tomorrow morning, anyway. I wouldn't want to tire you out too much for it," Yang adds with a light chuckle.

"Oh, so she's got jokes, as well." Nix teases with a grin of his own, throwing his hoodie on and fixing the hood to make sure it wasn't inside out. "I bet you're full of surprises, eh?"

Yang gives another shrug and a sweet smile in response to Nix's teasing, saying, "I try. With a light chuckle, she adds, "Hope you can keep up for the long haul, though."

(I am so ashamed of that pun...)

( ...What pun? >.> Sorry. Finals still have me brain dead x_x )

"Oh, believe you me, I can keep up. I didn't get this far by quitting whenever things seemed tough, regardless of the ass kickings I got." He says with a slight chuckle, crossing his arms and hefting up the small red duffel bag he had. "Fancy joining me in a walk around campus? I kinda wanna get a feel of this place's layout. Unless you're just gonna hang back and train a bit more. Wither way, offer still stands."

(The pun on Yang's name...)

"You know, that sounds like a nice idea," Yang answers, walking towards the exit. "Might as well get to know the place a bit if we're gonna be here for the next four years, right?"

( OH LONG HAUL I GET IT *kneeslap* )

"Probably a good idea, unless you're keen on gettin' lost every day." Nix quips, a tricksters grin on his face as he opens the door for the girl.

"Thank you," Yang says as she walks through the doorway. "And I like to think of it as taking the scenic route, myself," she quips back, her lopsided smile on in full force.

"Oh, so that's what they call it. I thought it was just, y'know. Being lost." He shoots back, a wry grin on his face again. Looking back over at Yang, his eyes were seemingly drawn to her blazing yellow hair, as if he'd seen it before.

"Hey, it's always nice to find a cool place you weren't looking for instead of the one you were looking for. Better, in my opinion," Yang says, looking around the hallways instead of noticing that Phoenix was looking at her hair.