Bella Donna Boudreaux is a cheerful assassin (petitmort) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-11-22 13:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, bella donna boudreaux, nicholas d. wolfwood |
Who: Belle and Wolfwood
Where: a gym
What: sparring
When: before the truth plot
Warnings/Rating: PG
Status complete
He’d gotten the cue from Shepard that she was starting to put together missions for them and their ragtag little team, so Wolfwood had figured he ought to step up his training. He’d slacked off a little while on leave, so he’d called Belle and asked if she wanted to meet him at the gym after work. Besides, sparring with her might be fun. It might wind up someplace even more enjoyable once they got home.
Belle was less than diligent about her training too. She’d known going in that she couldn’t be the best agent possible if she let things like friendships, relationships, and having a non-crazy job take up her time, but she’d enjoyed it too much to be bothered by it.
She was happy to practice with Nicholas. It seemed like an efficient way to combine the need to train and her desire to be in physical contact with him as much as possible. She was wearing casual workout clothes when she stepped into the gym, smiling brightly at Nicholas. “How was your day?”
Wolfwood lit up when she walked in, and went over to kiss her. “Hey. Not too bad, what about yours? How’s Winston?” Things had been busy lately, or so he’d heard. Not even busy, per se, just odd.
She kissed him back, hugging him tight. “Good. We’ve been busy. With a new CEO over the whole business there’s been non-stop meetin’s.” She set her bag down and moved out to the mats, pulling Nicholas along by the hand. “But Winston’s so proud of all his kids he can’t shut up, and it’s nice seein’ that. Hope you don’t mind waitin’ while I stretch a little.” Something told her Nicholas would be happy to enjoy the view.
“Not at all.” Wolfwood chuckled, enjoying that view in a deliberately lecherous way, to make her laugh. “And I’m glad Winston’s at least surrounded by family. I know he’s getting up there, but he’s still pretty sharp. I hope I’m that sharp at his age, God.” He considered it a genuine miracle that he’d made it twenty years in the army without a brain injury, but God only knew what kind of psychological shit was waiting for him somewhere down the line.
Belle couldn’t even imagine she’d live to Winston’s age. The thought bordered on ridiculous. Especially since she was now working for God only knew who. She stretched deliberately, giving Nicholas plenty of opportunity to ogle. “It’s so sweet, like watchin’ sharks snuggle.” Belle said with a snicker.
Wolfwood smirked. “You’re gorgeous, but it won’t make me go easy on you,” he kidded. “Actually, I’m fairly sure we’re pretty evenly matched.”
“You’ve got reach on me, but I’m pretty fast. Guess we’ll see who’s better, huh?” She got to her feet, smiling brightly at him. This was going to be fun. She didn’t care who won, just hanging around with him was amusing enough.
She put her hands at her side and gave Nicholas her widest, most brilliant smile. “Come at me, bro.”
Wolfwood laughed delightedly. He was going to enjoy this. He launched himself at her amiably, trying to put her on her ass before she even got a chance to react.
She laughed as well, moving backward to avoid him. She really did have to play defensive against him. He was strong enough to haul her around pretty easily, and her speed was worthless if he got her off her feet. She attempted to duck and double back, hoping he would react too slowly while she was in his reach.
He did, at first, and she got out of his line of vision. “Damn. You fight crafty,” he managed, grinning as he turned, trying to anticipate where she might come from, or if she was waiting for him to go on the offensive again.
She refrained from laughing and tried to take his knees out from behind. It was a risk because the motion was slow. She wasn’t going to risk punching so she had to kick him. Plus if he fell he might still pin her.
He managed to see it coming, so to speak; he’d acquired a fairly decent sixth sense, after so many years fighting. Wolfwood’s balance was still thrown off a bit, though, and he had to step forward hard to stay on his feet. He reached back, trying to grab for any part of her.
Belle did laugh when he grabbed her arm, and she struggled to keep her balance. “Oooh, that was good.” She said, before trying to twist away from him.
“You really are - ” He grunted, shifting his weight again. “Fast as hell.” Wolfwood moved with her as she twisted, trying to use his superior size to get her off her feet.
Belle couldn’t break his grip. His hand was enormous compared to her own, and he had a really good grip. “Hafta be if I’m ever gonna beat you.” She tried to get her legs tangled with his, to use his height and exertion against him. If she could bring him down he’d lose half his advantage.
She was damned good at just putting her body where it needed to be. Wolfwood cursed as he lost his balance, one knee going down to the mat, but he did his best to clamp his legs around one of hers and take her with him.
Belle tried to keep her balance, but he had the upper hand. She hit the mat, laughing after the impact. “Mmmm, guess you’ve swept me off my feet, cheri.” She let go of his hand and tried to disentangle her leg.
“Finally.” Wolfwood joked, doing his best to keep her pinned with his legs until he could get over on top of her. He’d always counted being pinned as the typical wrestler’s one-two-three count.
Belle waited until he started to shift to try to move for real. She’d spent a fair amount of time moving with him in more cooperative circumstances, so she had a pretty good idea where he’d put his feet. She put one of hers under his, hoping to kick up or out and knock him over. Worst case scenario it didn’t work and he stepped on her foot. He wasn’t so heavy that it would do anything but hurt for a little bit.
It worked. Ow. Wolfwood landed on one knee again, as she got just out of the count. She’d connected with the part of his upper leg just above his knee, and it had gone pins and needles. “Ow, give me a second. I yield on that one.” He laughed, walking off the sleeping sensation. “Didn’t know my leg had a funny bone.”
Belle snickered a little, then sat up. “Should be okay in a little bit.” She hopped to her feet, dusting her clothes off. “That was luck, I was hopin’ just t’ get you off balance.”
“It’s what I would have done.” Wolfwood nodded. “Doesn’t matter how big the opponent is if they can’t stand up, right?” He chuckled a little, still walking it off. “Just one more second, then I should be fine. Want to try from behind this time instead of straight on?” He’d used to be able to flip people over his shoulder, though he’d sort of forgotten how. Still, you needed to be able to defend yourself from all angles.
Belle couldn’t restrain the childish snicker at his suggestion. “Sure, sounds like fun.” She bounced on the balls of her feet until he’d finished getting sensation back in his leg. “So who’s doin’ what first?”
“Try to come at me from behind. Get an arm around my neck or something.” Wolfwood suggested. “It’s surprisingly common for guerrillas to attack from the back. Fucking cheaters.”
Belle nodded. “Alright.” She got around behind him and waited for a minute or so. If she attacked right away he’d be anticipating it. She had to lull him into a false sense of security. “I’m not sure I can even reach your neck without a step stool,” she teased.
“You’re not that small, honey.” Wolfwood could sort of sense that she wasn’t reacting right away; it would be any minute. Belle had a devious mind.
“Maybe not.” She stroked her fingers over his shoulders lightly. She was grinning widely. It was fun to play with people like this. She backed up very quietly, her soft shoes making almost no sound on the mat. She did her best to be quiet as she dashed toward him, ending with a jump that would (hopefully), send him forward because he was expecting her to pull backward.
“Jesus fuck me Christ!” Wolfwood definitely hadn’t planned on that, and he had to work hard not to land flat on his face. He grabbed up to hopefully pull on her arm, trying to redirect her weight over his head.
She tried to hook her legs around his waist as he struggled. If he went forward she’d be pinning him (as much as she could), so she didn’t mind following him down. It was hard to hang on to him, her natural inclination was to try to keep her balance as he staggered. She threw one arm out unconsciously to balance them both.
Smart lady. Now he had to use one arm to try and unhook her legs, and one to pull her weight up. Wolfwood tried to throw off her sense of balance by ducking forward and back suddenly; it might look a little silly, but it might be effective.
It was definitely harder to hold on to him like that. Especially after one well placed backward motion hit her in the nose. She let go, because practice wasn’t worth getting a broke nose over. “Ow, you win.”
Wolfwood immediately stopped when she said ow. “You all right? Sorry if I went a little too balls to the wall.”
“Nah, cheri. You’re fine.” She touched her nose gently. “No worse than I got you, I’m sure.” She smiled at him, to prove that she was okay.
“Good.” Wolfwood smiled. “I did not expect you to try and get on my back and push me forward, incidentally. That was great. Though it’d only work for someone as diminutive as you.” In other words, it’d be more a woman or child’s trick than a soldier’s. Not a bad thing, just something to remember.
“Yeah, but I sure as shit couldn’a pulled you backward in any kind of decent time.” She wrinkled her nose, then nodded. “You’ll still have to find someone big t’ practice against, and I’ll need to find someone short.” She stretched her neck a little and took a deep breath. “Ready t’ do that in reverse?”
“Mmmhmm.” Wolfwood cracked his neck. “Just say when.”
She chuckled and turned her back to him. “Take your time. I got aaaaaall day.” She put her hand on her hip, trying not to laugh. She was pretty sure he could just pick her up and run away with her tucked under one arm like a bag of rice. It was an amusing mental image.
He had the size advantage, yeah, but he was fairly sure she fought dirty. Wolfwood braced for elbows in uncomfortable places, and rushed in, trying to simply pick her up and plant her on her back.
Belle let him grab her and pull her upward. She flung an arm around his head, tightening her hold on it with her other hand. It occurred to her that if she had a knife she could kill him from this position, provided it was hidden in her sleeve. It wasn’t a welcome thought, so she tried to shove it away. Practice was one thing, but she didn’t want to think about hurting him, even in theory.
That move, he hadn’t expected, but it took him only a few seconds to move unpredictably. He simply let go of her and dropped, then came around the front. She would have been able to twist his neck had she been so inclined; the simple thing to do was get out of the hold. Wolfwood swept a leg, hoping to take hers out from under her.
Belle was off balance when he put her down, so she went down when he tried to trip her. She landed on her elbows and sprang up again, trying to get a shoulder into his stomach. If she knocked the wind out of him maybe she could pin him down.
She did knock the wind out of him; he couldn’t hide a sharp ‘whuff’ of air when her shoulder connected, but he just had too many pounds on her; Wolfwood grunted, but managed to stay on his feet. He was off balance, though, and he knew if she jumped at the right moment, he’d be down.
She took half a second to stabilize and then hit him with an uppercut. Either he’d dodge backward and knock himself over, or she’d connect and he’d fall over anyway. the lower center of gravity really was a blessing, sometimes.
Well, he hadn’t seen that coming. Wolfwood blinked, staggering a little before landing on one side. “Goddamn.” He shook his head a little to clear it, grinning. “How do you get so much power behind such a small projectile?”
Belle laughed and went to his side. “I’m little, I was raised by men. Didn’t get recruited for my good looks, I got recruited ‘cause I’m a mean little bitch.” She smiled softly at him. “If it makes you feel better my hand hurts like a sonuva bitch.”
“You are a mean little bitch.” Wolfwood laughed, taking her hand and kissing it before getting up. “In all honesty, I think I’d have done better if I saw it coming, like, if I knew, ‘she is going to hit me’, but you never do in the field, right?”
Belle giggled at the kiss, and gently kissed the underside of his jaw when he was upright. “Non. You never do.” Her expression faded to seriousness for a moment. It wasn’t just her real life experiences that had taught her to take whatever hits she could get. There were a lot of punches she wished she’d thrown in the dreams. “It’s all different in here, anyway. Sterile. Can’t get too worked up. Don’t have that adrenaline. I’d never hurt you, cheri, and we both know it.”
“I know.” Wolfwood shook his head. “I mean, I’m obviously glad you wouldn’t hurt me - I feel the same about you - but I think the only way to get actual mental practice is in the field. Still, the physical can’t hurt. You need that hand looked at? I’ve been called hard-headed.” He smiled a little.
She shook her head. “I’m fine, I promise. If it’s still hurting later I’ll get it checked out properly.” She took a deep breath, smiling up at him. “So you wanna keep goin’, or would you rather get dinner and avoid any potential injuries?”
“Let’s get dinner. It might actually be more beneficial to talk about contingency plans. What we do with like, the bills, or other mundane type stuff, if we’re both detailed.” He did like to plan. And he loved her, so knowing they’d both be covered pleased him.
“Oh yeah, that’s not gonna take care of itself, is it?” She chuckled a little, and went to grab her bag. “Sounds like a plan!” She took his hand, smiling up at him. “It was fun practicing with you.”
“I actually enjoyed myself, too. And you did help me, you know. I know what not to do now when I’m faced with somebody smaller than me.” Wolfwood grinned.
“Oh, I’m fully anticipatin’ getting my butt handed to me next time. I had to pull out all the dirty tricks.” She grinned at him, rushing forward when they got to the door so she could hold it for him.
“Least you’ve got ‘em.” Wolfwood chuckled. “Seriously, though, you helped. I’m grateful.” He headed through the door, slipping an arm around her as they headed for the parking lot.