Give Him the Chair | Asuka + Jack | Furniture Car

Roadie 🪶Jack

While Jack had little motivation to leave this place—food? places to sit down? usually not on fire? pretty paradisiacal here—there was always sheer boredom to worry about. After a brief experiment to determine if the blahaj had blood (conclusion: negative), he found himself, well, wandering again. Unless he wanted to pick out a nice chair to put together, or just knock a bunch over, there wasn’t much for him to do here… At least not by himself.

Lighting up as he recalled there was actually another option at the moment, he started winding his way back to the path. Let’s see who’s around to mess with—oho!

He put a foot up on the nearest chair to stretch and wave.

“Heya, princess! Lose any more fights lately?”

Asuka Fukuda

Asuka had been trying to explore. Key word being trying, because what the hell was she even looking for? Furniture? An escape? Entertainment? …Probably not the last one, considering everything going on, but it just felt way too complicated and Asuka just didn’t want to bother. So what if it made her not a team player or something? It was still her time, right?

She was almost grateful - even if Jack was an unstylish jackass, he was one Asuka knew how to handle!

“No - I know people like to bond over shared experiences, or whatever, but you’re gonna have to find somebody else to do that with. Oh! How about… Arty?” That’s the right name, right? Asuka’s 90% sure it is. “She totally seems to be right for your level of skill!”

Even if Jack isn’t familiar enough with names to identify who that is, the little smirk and laugh escaping from Asuka probably tells him all he needs to know about that comment, Asuka cracking her knuckles slightly. No standing down now!

Roadie 🪶Jack

Asuka Fukuda

Asuka Fukuda “No - I know people like to bond over shared experiences, or whatever, but you’re gonna have to find somebody else to do that with. Oh! How about… Arty? She totally seems to be right for your level of skill!”

It did take an extra second for the joke to hit, but Jack cackled. He definitely had no idea which one Arty was, but the point came across regardless. Half these people didn’t look like they could throw a punch, anyway. He vaguely envisioned the fistfight in the previous car… Possibly more than half, actually.

“See, I dunno how much I can trust ya to judge skill, at least not in fightin’. In…” He scanned her. “…pinkness, maybe. That a skill?”

But the knuckle cracking was enough for him to clear away from the chair for more open ground.

“But maybe you can change my mind? I’m such a believer in second chances, an’ all.”

Asuka Fukuda

Roadie 🪶Jack “See, I dunno how much I can trust ya to judge skill, at least not in fightin’. In……pinkness, maybe. That a skill?”

Asuka just lets out a small laugh. She’s definitely heard better, and it’s so off the mark, but the fact he at least seems to be responding to her verbal jabs properly brings her joy. So long as he keeps up the energy when Asuka delivers her devastating physical jabs, what’s not to love!?

Rather than set herself up for another taunt, however, Asuka’s eyes dart over to the chair before she focuses back on Jack. Smart fighting is not just relying on your fists like some dumb brute, after all.

Roadie 🪶Jack “But maybe you can change my mind? I’m such a believer in second chances, an’ all.”

“You believe you owe me actually, you pathetic fucking bitch. Come and give me your best shot - I’ll even be nice and let you try to get a hit in, hm?”

It’s probably never getting better between the two of them ever.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Asuka Fukuda

Jack appreciated the laugh—sure, it was usually funnier when people got mad at insults, but nothing wrong with just having a good time, either. Especially when she didn’t seem the type to be all spoilsport about it, like “oohh you actually need to try to do better with your insults” or your punches or your sleep schedule or whatever. Jack sure wasn’t one to remember a lot of details, but he at least remembered he had a positive impression of this girl. Why would he worry about achieving anything higher than that?

Asuka Fukuda “You believe you owe me actually, you pathetic [freaking] [bench].

“Owe you? Oh, no, I don’t believe in debts. Least, not if I’m the one payin’.”

Asuka Fukuda Come and give me your best shot - I’ll even be nice and let you try to get a hit in, hm?”

“But I guess I can deliver ya something here. I’ll be sure to appreciate your charity.”

He stretched his arms one more time before stepping into better range. The aisle-thing now underfoot was on the slicker side compared to the carpeted areas, so there was that to keep in mind.

And that was all the thought he’d bother with before throwing the first punch. For reasons unknown, he didn’t even go for a feint this time, so the movement was pretty clearly broadcasted, and he sure wasn’t warmed up, either…

Yeah, this first shot was gonna whiff it big time.

Asuka Fukuda

There’s a certain thrill, despite the inherit fear that comes with fighting a murderer, when it comes to a fight. She’s not being judged for being “bitchy” or “annoying” or whatever thing people wanted to call her. Asuka was being treated like a fighter - respected for it, even, and it made her heart sing.

Sure, it took relatively low effort to calculate the punch coming her way, but that was just the beginning! Asuka lets out a confident little laugh, moving quickly as she darts to the side. Maybe she was wrong about being respected as a fighter here, considering how obvious that move was.

Roadie 🪶Jack “But I guess I can deliver ya something here. I’ll be sure to appreciate your charity.”

“Even when I was giving you an opening, you can’t take advantage of it? Here’s a clue: Brawn isn’t anything without the brain and beauty!” One of those is definitely unnecessary in this case. “I’m happy to give you a demo though!”

Asuka can’t help but let her eyes dart to the chair again despite her words. She wings up a quick little jab, figuring it’d be better to play with what she assumes will be an agility advantage, only to miss two things. One, she was distracted, and as such her punch was off. Two, she had just moved and hadn’t taken that into consideration, so her punch is extra off.

It’s not even much of a challenge to deflect the blow right here. Seems neither of them is really bringing their A-game, huh?

Roadie 🪶Jack

Asuka Fukuda “Even when I was giving you an opening, you can’t take advantage of it? Here’s a clue: Brawn isn’t anything without the brain and beauty!”

Jack sulked about a fraction of a second before she gave him something better to latch onto.

“Really, now? Here I’d think you’d be more worried ‘bout gettin’ your pretty little face smashed in.” Since it sure looked like he’d crossed that barrier a while back. “But I’ll try to spare it, huh?”

Once again oblivious to whatever else she may have been looking at—he’d probably do the same thing a couple times himself, depending on what tricks his eyes felt like playing today—he had little reason to suspect anything but his taunts was throwing her off. Or maybe just how crappy his first punch was, but if he didn’t think about that, then it didn’t happen. Nobody’d landed a hit yet, so he could pretty much start it fresh right here, right?

Deflecting her jab with little trouble, he slammed a fist into her midsection while there was one less arm in place to guard it. Apparently he’d managed to warm up already, ouch.

Asuka Fukuda

Before there’s a chance for any clever little retort to be made, Asuka feels the wind getting knocked out of her as the fist slams into her midsection. She lets out a noise that’s not quite a grunt - because she’s obviously way too dainty for that, thank you - but is most definitely being made out of pain.

Still, it’s not like that’s the first time Asuka’s had to deal with pain like that. She’s not going to let herself remain open for attack for too long!

Roadie 🪶Jack “Really, now? Here I’d think you’d be more worried ‘bout gettin’ your pretty little face smashed in. But I’ll try to spare it, huh?”

“I don’t think you know where your face is - maybe it’s time for an anatomy lesson, hm?” As if Asuka ever bothered paying attention to those in class.

But that doesn’t matter! What matters if that Asuka goes for the legs this time, sweeping for a kick.

“When you fall and feel pain up there, you’ll know that’s your face! I hope you like falling on it!” It’s not the best line, but the kick being better makes up for that.

Roadie 🪶Jack

With the weight that went into his punch, Jack wasn’t quite as ready to move his feet as usual, and the sweep took. The moment of nothing touching the ground and the floor tilting stretched out, though, and he easily twisted into a roll and sprang back to his feet a little farther away.

“Hmm, don’t think I felt any pain, actually!” Not that his legs weren’t stinging, but that wasn’t conducive to the point here. “ ’Fraid you’re not the best anatomy teacher. Maybe you need the lesson?”

“Anything in particular ya need schoolin’ in? You do seem a little confused ’bout faces…”

Asuka Fukuda

“Hmph. If that’s what you have to tell yourself, fine. Let’s say I suck at anatomy.” That wasn’t actually a lie, considering her grades, but Jack doesn’t need to know that. Fight anatomy is way different from stupid bio anatomy anyways.

“How’d you do in woodworking?” A cheeky grin follows, Asuka letting out a small laugh before she finally decides to book it to one of the chairs. Despite any hit she took earlier, she’s fully prepared for this, it seems, grabbing the chair with one hand.

Rather than try to rush in for a hit, however, she stares, a taunting expression awaiting Jack.

“Why don’t we find out, hm? C’mere! I promise - it’ll be a lot of fun for me, ’kay?”

Roadie 🪶Jack

(cw: implied hand/finger trauma)

Jack’s own grades were, uh… absent. As to how well he would’ve done if he’d paid attention to a high school anatomy class? The world would never know.

Asuka Fukuda “How’d you do in woodworking?”

It took him a second to register that was also supposed to be a class and not just an occupational choice. Either way, “surprisingly well” wasn’t that snappy an answer, so.

“Got all my fingers, don’t I?”

Oh crap a chair—He shifted his stance, prepared to move quickly, but she didn’t come forward just yet. Slowly he straightened back up, still watching her like a hawk. And then…

Asuka Fukuda “Why don’t we find out, hm? C’mere! I promise - it’ll be a lot of fun for me, ’kay?”

Just. Just asking him to, in the middle of a fight, stop and wander on over so she could hit him with a chair. Absolutely incredible. If any self-preservation sorts of thoughts cut in here, they were quickly shooed away by the sheer gall of it all. Besides, these chairs looked flimsy as all get-out. Probably’d hurt less than that leg sweep did, even.

So, cackling, he just waltzed on over, hands in his hoodie pocket for full effect (though he could still withdraw them in an instant if so desired).

“Well, who’m I to keep you from havin’ a good time?” Besides her opponent??

So he stood before her, clearly poised to dodge but not currently planning to.

Asuka Fukuda

The fact Jack was just walking up to her like that… Ugh! So much for the respect! Anybody who actually knew the kind of fighter Asuka was wouldn’t dare to get close to her! They know they’d be asking for it! It feels like being looked down on, having her skills ignored…

Roadie 🪶Jack “Well, who’m I to keep you from havin’ a good time?”

“This is why you’re going to lose.”

With a surprisingly amount of speed and strength, the chair is yanked from the floor and slammed into Jack with as much force as possible. Asuka may pride herself on being fashionable - because duh - but she also has quite the strength. Maybe if Jack were more aware of that, he’d have respected her, and they could have avoided this in the first place, huh!?

Oh well, Asuka thinks, she’s not the one suffering for their arrogance. That’s a different thread.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Asuka Fukuda Anybody who actually knew the kind of fighter Asuka was wouldn’t dare to get close to her! They know they’d be asking for it!

Oh, Jack definitely knew he was asking for it. That just didn’t register as a bad thing to him.

But that chair came crashing down with enough force to knock a normal man out. Whatever the heck Jack was, though, was very much still standing after impact. Before his knees could properly threaten to buckle, he launched into a low tackle, taking Asuka down with him. They landed hard, and (hopefully just) the joint in his shoulder popped. At least they were mostly in the carpeted area now, for all the little cushioning that provided.

Asuka Fukuda “This is why you’re going to lose.”

There had to be a good one-liner for that, but in his current state the best he could come up with was “Is it, now?”, and the most that actually left his mouth was just a wheeze of a laugh.

HahaHAhaha everything hurt, damn. This was fantastic.

Asuka Fukuda

For a few brief seconds, Asuka had a triumphant grin on her face, sure the chair crushing down would be enough to end the fight!

Roadie 🪶Jack Before his knees could properly threaten to buckle, he launched into a low tackle, taking Asuka down with him.

She could not have been more wrong, clearly. Asuka only has a brief few seconds to brace for impact before she collides with both Jack and the floor. It’s enough, thankfully, for most of the damage to be cushioned and for Asuka to merely be out of breath for a brief second.

In the matter of a few seconds, she’s struggling, more than happy to make sure Jack lets go so Asuka can finally finish this guy off! She’s going to win - that’s a fact! Especially since she’s pretty sure he’s more damage than her.

If she’s laughing just a little victoriously in advance, that’s fine.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Down but not out, it seemed—if Jack were the type to actually respect people, Asuka would’ve been earning some of that fast. He wouldn’t say they were evenly matched (of course he wouldn’t), but she had to be somewhere up there. She struggled out of the tackle-pile successfully, so he propped himself up to—

Well, his plan didn’t matter. Instead of supporting his weight, his arm just sent rapid shocks of pain around his shoulder. A breathless grunt-growl left him. Don’t tell him his shoulder was—When had she done that?

Either way, apparently he was staying down here for the next few moments, so he went for a kick instead. Considering it didn’t have his actual weight behind it, it wasn’t gonna hurt that much, but it was still a good little snap. At least enough to put a little damper on that laugh, he hoped.

Asuka Fukuda

The kick, despite Asuka mostly being fine from the tackle itself, was still enough to really make her hurt. She’s clearly been pushing herself a bit too far here, even though she wasn’t doing too badly. There is no real respect for Jack there - even though she thinks he is a good fighter.

There’s no time for feelings in a fight, after all! Rather than think things through, Asuka just goes to instantly throw another punch. No thought is given to her current form or how that might impact the hit, leading to a skewed hit. Sure, it lands, but Jack probably is more concerned with his arm right now.

Asuka isn’t ready to stop fighting yet anyways though. She is clearly winning. Let her have this. She needs it considering every other fight thread.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Even if it wasn’t Asuka’s most impressive, the punch still hit him with an “oof.” Yet more punishment on top of everything else. Probably, Jack should not have simply allowed the chair to happen, but what was the fun in dodging everything all the time, anyway? Got a little repetitive.

He was in no shape for an answering blow, but he still didn’t just lie down and surrender. If that even would’ve ended this fight. Not like they’d laid down any ground rules.

Huffing, he at least dragged himself up to a half-crouch with his functioning arm.

“But now… where’re we s’posed to… sit down when… we’re done?”

As if there weren’t still plenty of chairs around.

Asuka Fukuda

Roadie 🪶Jack “But now… where’re we s’posed to… sit down when… we’re done?”

“There are other chairs, dumbass! …You’ll probably will be content with the floor in a… second.” Admittedly, she’s been exerting slightly more energy than she’d like for this fight, but she’s definitely in better shape than Jack at the moment. This fight is hers to win!!!

So instead, with a vicious lunge, Asuka darts forward. Instead of punching however, she grabs the arm she knows is injured… and pulls.

She doesn’t do it for long, but the pull is still decently strong and meant to both drag Jack to the ground and shock him through the pain. If it gets worse? Well, that’s not her problem! There’s no hint of remorse, just pure determination in Asuka’s eyes.

She did warn you: You were going to be grateful for the ground existing right then.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Jack’s reflexes were nothing to be trifled with, but his instinct here was to just pull his arm out of the way. This did not work out so well when he couldn’t actually move that arm.

The ensuing pain was blinding, enough so he couldn’t even tell if he was tipping over or not. Despite it all, the closest he came to screaming was an odd wheeze-choke thing. You wouldn’t expect him to have the presence of mind to stifle anything, but maybe his pride just went that far…

He hung onto consciousness despite it all, but it was clearly time to call it quits. Pull back, play dead long enough to avoid further assault, the usual kinda thing. At least get his arm back into place before launching into some sneak attack.

His chest heaved as he finally figured out his face was in the carpet. That wouldn’t help his voice volume any, but he spoke anyway. “Sshure, floor’s not bad.”

…Maybe that sneak attack would be much later.