The Gloves are Off

Untitled Part 5

Training with Vik is... something else. Granted, you really do enjoy the training itself, but having him so close, seeing him in that tank top all smiling and light on his feet – in his element.

Shit makes you weak in the knees...

"You've got the reach," he compliments, "long arms and legs give you that advantage, but what about grappling? Close quarter stuff?"

You're not sure how to take it other than the guy lookin' out for ya, career like yours doesn't come without getting into a few scuffles and fights. It's fair for him to be curious, Jackie was too at first, until you kicked his ass in a sparring match before your first official gig together.

But with Vik... you might enjoy the proximity a little too much.

Still, it would be interesting, especially given what you know about his background – could show you a thing or two. In more ways than one... but it's dangerous territory letting your mind wonder too much.

You give yourself a mental shake and respond in with a chuckle and light-hearted jest, "why don't you ask Jackie how my hand-to-hand stacks up?"

"Oh?" He quirks a brow, tilting his head playfully, "soundin' a little cocky there, might need to see for myself."

"Against you? Probably won't measure up quite the same," you admit, earning a smirk from him as he motions for you to step forward, "but if you really want to, I'd be down for any pointers you might have."

"Oh, I'm sure I can teach you a thing or two, if you're willin' to learn."

Your mouth goes dry, grateful for the strenuous exercise hiding the blush growing along your cheeks, "long as I don't have to call you boss or sensei or some weird shit."

He lets out a short laugh, shaking his head and grinning broadly, "nah, think I'll stick with Vik."

You both square up, getting into starting position before he motions for you to try to take him down.

It starts off slow, as you'd expected, both feeling each other out – Vik getting the idea of your strengths and weaknesses before going into a full spar with you. Of course, having your hands all over him is certainly a perk...

"Good, good," he nods, untangling from you and helping you to stand on your feet again, "not bad at all, few things I noticed but I'll hold off til we cover a bit more to go over that. Now, I'm gonna come at you and see how you respond, got it?"

When things move to him seeing how you block or resituate from being grabbed, things get a bit more complicated...

But you still manage to stay civil, using this as a genuine learning opportunity to better your fight skills rather than allowing your hormonal ass inner self to ruin the moment.

"Great," he claps his hands together, rubbing them with a smirk plastered on his face, "wanna try again, little more serious this time?"

You quirk a brow, feeling your own lips tug slightly at the edges, "how serious we talkin', Vik?"

"Don't wanna hurt each other," he shrugs, "just see whatcha really got."

"Bring it on, doc," you ready yourself, getting in stance, "just keep in mind, you're the one stuck fixin' me up if things get too rough."

He chuckles and motions for you to move whenever you're ready.

His eyes seem so intense, studying you, waiting for the slightest change to react to.

He's not an easy one to read, definitely got a lot more experience than you, but you were faster and could use that to your advantage.

You fake him out once and move around behind him, tapping the back of his head playfully as you dart out of arm's reach.