[ wash has never been as much of a raw powerhouse as most of the other freelancers. carolina could overpower him easily without even trying, and south isn't far behind. what that means is that wash has had a lot of practice learning how to find other ways to keep up with these goddamn giants. maine especially was always ready to kick his ass for another spar, and wash had gotten his ass beat again and again and again until he got better at learning to leverage his own advantages. he's not that much faster than them -- it was always resourcefulness, adaptability. a level of caution and observation that the other freelancers simply didn't need to rely on as much as he did, a skill that he's only refined over the years, and gotten a boost to ever since epsilon fucked up his memory into a shattered but functionally perfect machine.
she has incredible momentum just powering at him like that, and he's forced to go with it for a while letting her dictate the pace. He keeps up with it -- she does land a shot or two, especially at first, when it's just raw power powering through into him. but he's not really trying to fight back, she might notice -- he's watching. relearning. observing. keeping up enough with her blows and taking shots where he gets the openings, but he's not trying to make them for himself, not yet. it's an uncanny skill he has, something she might notice, how over the course of the fight he seems to go from being a little behind to being able to read and preempt her movements with surprising accuracy. she definitely always was reliant on backup, but he notices, too, that that's not really the case here. she's on her own, now. they both are.
at some point, though, with the right opening, he seizes on it. not just taking a shot where he can take it, but taking that shot and pushing it into more, seizing that moment and sliding into any weakness or blind spot she might tend to have in an attempt to disrupt her momentum, bowl her off balance, throw her to the ground. ]
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she has incredible momentum just powering at him like that, and he's forced to go with it for a while letting her dictate the pace. He keeps up with it -- she does land a shot or two, especially at first, when it's just raw power powering through into him. but he's not really trying to fight back, she might notice -- he's watching. relearning. observing. keeping up enough with her blows and taking shots where he gets the openings, but he's not trying to make them for himself, not yet. it's an uncanny skill he has, something she might notice, how over the course of the fight he seems to go from being a little behind to being able to read and preempt her movements with surprising accuracy. she definitely always was reliant on backup, but he notices, too, that that's not really the case here. she's on her own, now. they both are.
at some point, though, with the right opening, he seizes on it. not just taking a shot where he can take it, but taking that shot and pushing it into more, seizing that moment and sliding into any weakness or blind spot she might tend to have in an attempt to disrupt her momentum, bowl her off balance, throw her to the ground. ]