We could be Heroes

[Liam Quez]

Liam was surprised that the move actually worked, in all honesty he had seen it on wrastlemania a few nights ago and Ibaris just left a beautiful opening for it. Still, he kind of felt bad, but on the inside he was more excited than a Jawa finding a wonderful r2 unit. She seemed to be somewhat out of it as he sat on her for a few more minutes. Mostly just wondering if she was still alive under him, which became apparent when she started to squirm and poke at him. Liam admired the view for a few more minutes and then he climbed off and sat next to her as she caught her breath.

“Sorry about that Princess, but next time don’t do that. You let me use the momentum to catch you off guard. Though, if you could use the Force you probably would have demolished me.” A hand rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled softly, his attempts at trying to make light of the situation was hopefuly working. Concern filled his face as he leaned forward and looked at her. “You alright though? I didn’t want to hurt you or anything…” Realizing that he was showing that he cared he quickly reeled himself back and flexed as he stood up.

“I’m karking heavy because I’m all muscle baby. All. Solid. Muscle.” He flexed a little longer, showing off his biceps and the traps that had formed over the past few months. Finally, finishing the gun show he offered his hand to her. “Come on, let’s get back to it.” [member="Ibaris Varanin"]

 

[Ibaris Varanin]

She flicked a sidelong glance at him, having hauled herself into a sitting position to facilitate better breathing; not doing that again was the first thought that flickered across the surface of her psyche when he ploughed right into her, causing her current state of coughing, gulping in air, and rubbing and grasping at her chest. Her words came in between the progress of catching her breath.

"Next time don't do that?" she said, eyes flicking away, "I don't know what I'm doing, Liam."

She glanced to the side of herself that he didn't occupy when he leaned around, asking after her well-being.

"I'm fine," she gave with a speck of reluctance, "nothing's broken."

She heard him getting up from the deck, and her gaze furtively snuck over and up when he started to talk again, started to brag his muscles. Her eyes rolled away halfway with a smile that ceased into an amused line she wouldn't admit to, and back again to see the offered hand, which she took, letting him pull her up from the deck.

"You're going to have to give me some pointers throughout this," she insisted, "unless trial and error until I hit upon what works was your plan, in which case I'm going be spending a lot of time on my ass, and a lot of time healing that could be spent learning."

[member="Liam Quez"]

 

[Liam Quez]

[SIZE=10pt]Blinking, Liam scratched the back of his head. He had completely forgotten that her brain didn’t function like his. He was able to quickly assess the situation that had happened physically and change it. For her though, things were different. She didn’t know what to do in that situation, there was no learning without instruction. Pondering, he replayed the actions in his head. Standing, I continued muse over what she should have done with the attack. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“Alright. So when I came at you, my body shifted so I was in movement. You have to watch not just your opponent’s hands but their feet as well. Most people will kick before they punch. Mostly because kicking is stronger than striking. I used the kick to close the distance between us. You had some time to react.” He mimicked doing the kick again to show her that there was time. “What you could have done was block the kick and prepare to counter or block and counter if I decided to follow with something.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]That was the simple and upfront tank sort of answer, but there were other ways around the kick. They were advanced, but he wanted to make sure she knew her options. “Now look at how much space is around us.” He waited till she looked around and let that sink in. “We don’t have to function on a back and forth sort of space. You could have side stepped my kick, and countered by striking my back leg that was weak because I would have been off balance. With that you could have gotten a take down and then move to tackle my or something. Climb on top and just wail on my face.” Smiling, Liam nodded hoping that gave her some ideas. “Getting your opponent to the ground and having advantage over them – that’s what helps you win or get away if necessary.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Liam looked around again and continued to smile, “Wanna try again?” [member="Ibaris Varanin"][/SIZE]

 

[Ibaris Varanin]

Climb on top, huh?

She looked at him, but no, she wasn't going to let him think that she was reading between lines that likely weren't there.

Advantage?

She shook the thought from her head, a hand going over her face. No way was she going to voice any of that; her own thoughts in that vein made her a little uneasy. The hand slipped from her face, going to perch on her hip in a mirror of its counterpart, and a moment later her chin lifted, hazel eyes settling on the physique and face of her... friend? Yes, friend. A side of her mouth quirked in half-a-smile. He couldn't be anything less after what he did.

"Can't quit now," she agreed, that half-smile turning into a smirk, "or I'll never be able to beat you up."

She rolled her shoulders, feeling the motion travel down her back, then did a little shrug as she positioned her feet and brought up her fists.

"So let's go, farmboy."

[member="Liam Quez"]

 

[Liam Quez]

She was persistent and that was what attracted the Farmboy to the Space Princess. Grinning he prepared himself for her attack, his feet creating a good solid base to catch whatever she threw at him. “Aye, come on Princess show me what you got.” They continued to spar, Ibaris continuously hitting a brick wall in the Farm Boy, but she was well rewarded with a good dinner and undisturbed sleep.

<insert 80’s montage music>

Time passed and things moved day in and day out, though the one consistent thing was the training that the pair did continuously. It did take Liam teasing Ibaris from time to time for being lazy and choosing her alchemy over her fighting, but he usually paid for that. Truth was Liam enjoyed the training sessions. It was one of the few times that Ibaris paid full attention to him. There were no distractions and nothing broke the solid two hours they spent sparring and working out. It was a time that he didn’t want to end when it came down to it.

She was getting progressively better. At times she threatened to best him, but he usually found a weak point and ended up pinning her to the ground. Every pin, he had to struggle with the urge to kiss her again. The way her face wrinkled up in frustration was unbearable and how she would flail and threaten his life until he got off of her. It was worth the punches.

Today was going to be different. He felt it as they circled each other. He couldn’t get a solid read on her movements which meant that she was getting better at disguising her intentions. Cursing to himself he waited and then she struck. He read her wrong and soon found himself hitting the mat hard, grunting he felt her slender frame scramble and pin him to the ground. Blinking, he looked up at her and tried to find something to say, but his face read his surprise. “Uh…”


Now was probably the best time to think about something else. [member="Ibaris Varanin"]

 

[Ibaris Varanin]

Five, almost six years of sparring and the rare live, unplanned opponent had paid off, putting her here atop him with the memory of a suggestion Liam had given her on the day they started all this, that she do as she was doing now and wail on his face the day they reconciled after she had been nabbed at the age of fourteen. Since then, not only had she been learning to use the full potential of her physical faculties and attuning her body to that end, but she had been strengthening her precognitive battle-sense, a common tool amongst many combative force adepts, and nearly universal for all of her ilk. It would go well with what she had learned from Alen.

She hunkered down, draping her forearms across his chest, supporting the weight of her upper body on them, and she found his face, then the pair of orbs set in it, "what, nexu got your tongue?", and tried to not look as smug as she felt, but the gleam in her eyes failed to belie this, while obscuring what laid beneath: she didn't at all feel inclined to release him, and it had little to do with how accomplished she felt, and everything to do with how she felt outside of that. Six, almost seven years, and he was going nowhere.

"Or..." her face dropped closer to his, her eyes nearabouts the only thing he could see, "...do I?"

He was going nowhere because she wasn't going to let him, and her mouth took his then to be sure of it. Hands snaked out from under her chest to slip over his cheeks, when she began to feel him respond like she knew he would - he had been in this place, waiting for her long before she arrived. He was going nowhere because she never wanted him to, and neither did he.

This she knew.

[member="Liam Quez"]

 

[Liam Quez]

Nexu got your tongue? The thought of a nexu having his tongue somewhat scared Liam. If a Nexu had his tongue then he was probably devoured by said Nexu. THose things could get vicious! His mouth moved but nothing came out, she was close to him and he was suddenly more aware of it now. Eyes blinked rapidly as her face drew closer, what was going through the blonde’s head? He couldn’t have guessed in a million light years what happened next - he was caught by so much surprise that he even missed her comment about her having his tongue.

For the second time in his life he felt her lips against his, this time there was no threat of her melting his mind and he didn’t even have to ask for it. First thing that came to his mind as he laid there in shock was that she didn’t ask permission, which he would give her a hard time for eventually. Doing it now would just ruin the moment. Best keep your mouth shut - or not. His mind and body caught up with the moment and his stunned look relaxed and his eyes closed after making sure that it was her that was kissing him. The last thing he needed was her to turn into a nexu and this all be a horrible dream.

Hands hesitated for a moment as he wondered if putting them against her would startle her and make her stop what she was doing so wonderfully. This was a moment he had waited for, seven years? Poor guy had lost count after the first 30 days. Though Liam and counting was never something a person put into a sentence together. Mentally saying ‘to heck with it’, Liam place his hands on her waist, then slowly wrapped his arms around her enjoying this moment that he had waited so long for. It was extremely important that he thought about huttball and other not hot things like Ibaris being on top of him and kissing him. The last thing he needed as something to pop up and ruin the moment. [member="Ibaris Varanin"]

 

[Ibaris Varanin]

Though she would likely never admit it, not in a millions years, the probability that she had been thinking about doing this very thing ever since he'd stolen her first kiss that wasn't from Adas (not to mention a lot less sloppy) was high. Not constantly, but the frequency with which the thought popped up increased, manifesting in different contexts as the years wore on and becoming more bothersome at fixed points in time that she could accurately recount. When she was tempted to go through with it, in the face of all her misgivings:

• That time at Hylo's when she'd worn less clothing than she ever had in her entire life in front of other people, and he'd asked.
• In the brief life of the Covenant, when giving him a peck on the cheek, before they encountered Mira in her darkest of times.
• Countless moments in their years of training together.

And now? Now she had crossed the threshold of her hesitance, and given into the draw of the moment, primed from the struggle of the spar that put her atop the blonde farmboy. His reciprocation only increased what the endorphins started, such that arms around her felt right, and she stayed right where she was, doing exactly what she was doing, until she needed to come up for air.

There was something to be said for breathing through your ears, if you could.

A breath shuddered out of her, and she pulled back only as much as she could with his arms as they were, "sit up. Can we sit up?" She might have been a tad out of mind. "Let's sit up. Yeah."

[member="Liam Quez"]