Lost Preconceptions (for ZorzLeth)

[Crossedes]

Aha! Was that where this was going? Towards exclusives? Kimberly couldn't stop the other side of her mouth from lifting. Well aware of her looks and their effects, she half-expected flirtation and a proposition out of every conversation she had. She had her boundaries, but she didn't often hate the attention. She only wanted people to realize she was not having a hard time following along with their intentions. "Mmhmm, an exclusive. Do you want to make that a centerfold, too? Let me guess - my camera guy needs a long lens." she teased.

Whatever his intentions, he did try to give her some advice. Kimberly had no way of knowing the quality of that advice since her experience with punching bags amounted to staying in shape before college since it was all she could fit in her parents' tiny garage. Sounded logical to her ears, but he didn't give her a solution. "What should I be doing, then? Do I need to bop you in the head instead?" She grinned. "A lot of the trainers are spending more time on the 'prospects,' so I'm open to ideas."

[ZorzLeth]

“If you are in need of some up close action. I can provide for you later.” Jack responded with a bit of teasing, but with a subtle sign of flirting. As he said this, he leaned on the punching bag as well, as he chuckled a little bit from that line.

“I know that I have a thick skull, but let’s not beat it just yet.” Jack jokingly responded before he thought a little bit of the solution he could provide to Kimberly. Just then, he saw what he needed and went to retrieve it. The next thing that Kimberly knew, Jack brought her a mannequin clearly designed for hitting like it was an actual person.

Spoiler

“This is what we can use.” Jack suggested to Kimberly.

[Crossedes]

"Mmmmhmmm." Kimberly, smiling, drew out the same sound because she had assumed correctly. It was flattering to have people think her that attractive, and she would never outright shutter herself to anyone (or punch anyone) who wasn't being pushy. But no one could stop her from playing games if she wanted. "Was this the whole reason you stole my punching bag? That's an interesting way to get into someone's pants." And part of her game was that she liked to be blunt.

As he trotted away, Kimberly half-expected him to bring back some other person for her to hit. She watched him as he trotted off, still trying to get the full picture of the stranger, whether he proved to be a loner who was just genuinely trying to be helpful or a guy who found any angles to drop into a conversation with a pretty woman. Whatever the case, he was not bringing a person... but a mannequin.

She studied it as he sat it down. "He looks so thrilled to be here." She flicked it on the nose before feeling it up with her hands. It didn't feel like a giant bag of flour, which her fists would thank her for. A quick jab showed that it gave way. "Oho. This is better." She gleefully pounded it in the side with a kick. Just watching it bend against the impact boosted her confidence. "So much better."

[ZorzLeth]

"Though it seems like you're not opposed." Jack said jokingly, "But I assume you do prefer to the point. Must what makes you capable in your field of work. An attractive quality." After bringing back to the mannequin, Jack responded Kimberly's comment about it looking 'thrilled' by saying: "Must be thrilled to see you." He stepped back as he watched Kimberly nailed this mannequin with multiple strikes, and noting her eagerness at the results.

"This will work better at the start cause it will let you test your strikes, but also one something resembling another human." Jack mentioned, "It will eventually get old and run its course. Eventually, you'll need to go back to the punching bag. But until then, this is a great spot to get started. That and other workouts that help tone out the strength that you want to test."

As he examined Kimberly's strikes, he was looking at two things. The first was how she was throwing her punches. Secondly, he wanted to see where she was kicking exactly; of course taking the opportunity to view her form every chance he got.

[Crossedes]

"That's a choice of words," she returned, hoping that he picked up that she referred to "point." "But now you're just buttering me up. Maybe I'm bad at my job and that's why I'm taking up wrestling." While she was in no way serious, Kimberly gave him a challenging look. She loved bantering even in professional settings - in a way, it mirrored wrestling to her, except the maneuvers were verbal rather than physical. They could sting just as much sometimes.

While he spoke, explaining the process of improving her striking, Kimberly fell into more of a fighting stance and started pounding on the mannequin as readily as the punching bag. Since striking did not come naturally to her, she could not tell if she looked smooth, awkward, powerful, pathetic. She knew his eyes were on her, however, and hopefully gathering more information about her than whether she was the 36-24-36 measurements that men in The Commodores had written a song about.

After a good forty-five seconds of waylaying it, Kimberly sucked in a recovery breath and leaned back from it. Her hands and shins didn't hurt. Brilliant. If only he could find something to get the sweat out of her hair. She whipped a hand across her bangs to get them unstuck from her forehead and grinned at him. "How'd that look?"

[ZorzLeth]

"Or perhaps you are looking for something more exciting." Jack responded with a confident smirk as he observed Kimberly striking at the mannequin. While indeed he was eyeing her looks, he was observing the way she struck at the mannequin, especially for her stance and the way she struck.

After Kimberly asked how she did, Jack thought it through it gave a few extra tips. He began by saying, "First thing is to make sure you bend your knees. The power you generate is supported by your lower body and it helps keep you stable. Also, make sure to flip your wrist when you make the punch. It'll make the punch come off with a whipping motion and utilizes more power."

This were tips that Jack think could be useful for Kimberly, as he moved to another side of Kimberly, but was closer to her.

"Try those tips." Jack said.

[Crossedes]

Kimberly did not jump to tell him that he had hit the nail on the head. Yes, she wanted more excitement. It was not as if journalism was not exciting - she loved it - but journalism, maybe a job on commentary, was considered the ceiling for the Kimberlys of the world. People didn't expect the woman in the pencil skirt and heels to strip them off and dive into the action. They weren't supposed to unless they had dedicated their lives to it, sex-wrestled their way through the internet, or had a financial need. Kimberly liked to screw with "supposed to."

She listened to his advice after she finished. Again, Kimberly didn't know if he knew a single thing more than she did, but the mannequin had been a good idea and without him, she probably would have ended up spending hours looking back at old recordings or watching YouTube from the few wrestlers with channels. She might as well take it. Absorbing it all, she squared up with the mannequin again and blasted it another thirty or forty seconds, applying the advice.

"I don't have to pay you for this, do I?" she joked as she waylaid it with one more kick. She hadn't caught that he had whirled around to the other side of her and crept in closer, but she only regarded him with her hands on her hips once she rocked back. "You're going to make me paranoid about stinking. I've spent an hour in here."

[ZorzLeth]

"I thought was helping out of generosity." Jack joked in response to Kimberly's question about paying him, and then said (in response to her comment about 'stinking'), "Just checking to make sure you have the movements down for those strikes. Besides, you're not stinking." AS he continued to talk with her, he then mentioned, "So use this guy when imagining you are striking another person. Then, once this guy feels too easy, you should by that point build up a bit of strength to use on the punching bag."

He took a sip of water out of his own bottle as the two were conversing.

"Now, if I recall, you said you were good at submissions?" Jack asked Kimberly.

[Crossedes]

Kimberly didn't actually expect him to demand pay - though she had looked into some people who had tried to get pay for advice way after the fact - but she did think he wanted something out of this exchange. Most people wanted something, and in this case, she surmised that his flirting could clue her into the desires of his heart. Whatever his aim, he was being nothing but helpful. He even convinced her she hadn't started to stink. "Good. Maybe that can be my gimmick so I can get away from the reporter thing. 'Clean-smelling' Kimberly Kulp." A terrible idea, really.

Catching him taking a drink, she reached back to nab her own bottle for a few drops. "I don't know if I can claim to be 'good' at them yet, but they're definitely what I'm best at," she corrected. "I'm flexible, I have strong legs, I can make sense of bending and squeezing people... the concept works for the skills I already have. Especially since I can talk someone's ears off like a good journalist when they're stuck in a scissorhold. Win by annoyance."

[ZorzLeth]

Jack pondered on that idea and said, "Not quite. Maybe something with a bit more grit to it." He thought about it for a moment before continuing on with her comments about submissions.

"How about a bit of sparring session to put them to the test?" Jack suggested to Kimberly.