hiding

Momma never raised a quitter

It had been almost three weeks since Alexia had been on board the Moby. As much as she hated to admit it, the crew was really growing on her. There were so many crew members she still had difficulty remembering all their names. Marco had begun training her with some of the basics of fighting, and already she was getting her ass kicked. Just like now.

Alexia gritted her teeth, posed for his next attack. She was drenched in sweat, every muscle in her body was screaming at her. This had gone on for the last two hours, and not once had she managed to land a blow on him. Marco rushed forward, his right hand in the form of a fist, that she imagined was aimed for her gut. She imagined wrong, as always, when instead his right foot swung up from the side, barely making contact with the side of her head, causing her to fall onto the deck, a string of cuss words coming out her mouth.

"Again!" Alexia demanded, pulling herself back up.

"That's enough yoi." Marco stuck his hands in his pockets, refusing to continue.

"Come on, I can take it." Alexia growled.

"It's not a matter of if you can, it's a matter of should you." Marco growled back, "Don't be stupid yoi."

"Stupid? Maybe you're the one who's stupid!" Alexia hissed, "I'm telling you I can continue, so let's do this."

"And I'm telling you that's enough!" Marco snapped.

"God why are you going easy on me?!" Alexia snapped back, "Don't you believe in me? Am I not good enough? I've handled a hell of a lot more than you could ever know, and you think I can't handle this?"

Alexia stormed away, leaving Marco furious. She knew supper would be any moment, but she couldn't find a reason to care. She was pissed with herself. Yes, Marco was holding back, being too easy on her, but she shouldn't have taken it out on him. She knew he was only trying to help. She ran a hand through her hair, suddenly aware of how drenched in sweat she was.

Making sure no one was in the bathroom, Alexia quickly showered, enjoying the feeling of being clean. She had discovered that one of the perks of being taken away from her shelter back on the island, was the fact she could feel clean every night.

She skipped supper, like she had been doing for the last two weeks every night, making her way into the training room. She preferred it at this time, since no one was bound to come in and see her. She spent most of her nights here as well, finding a way to train until morning. Dark circles were forming underneath her eyes, she looked exhausted in more way than one. Marco had only asked her once, where she had been in the evenings, as she had taken over his bed, a routine they had strangely adjusted to. She had shot at him a snarky around and left it at that. Marco was already so critical of her training; she didn't need his opinions of her secret sessions. She took her stance and attempted to lay waste to the training dummy that felt her wrath every evening.

Marco grabbed his plate and sat next to Haruta still silently fuming. Alexia was constantly pushing his patience. She never listened, and that attitude just fueled the flame. She didn't know when to stop, always pushing herself over the limits, if she wasn't careful, it could get her killed. He became vaguely aware of the eyes on him as he looked up.

"What yoi?" Marco asked annoyed.

"No Alexia again?" Haruta pouted slightly.

"You know she never comes for supper."

"But why?" Thatch pushed, "For someone who starved a lot, you'd figure she would be here every meal. Does she not like my food?" Thatch began to frown at the thought.

"She loves your food." Jozu spoke up next to Haruta. All of them hummed in agreement. That was one of the main things she did talk about when she wasn't snapping at Marco, "She just happens to have found something else she finds more critical of her time."

"You know where she's been hiding at supper?" Izo asked, slightly dumbfounded.

"Is this perhaps the same place she stays all night as well?" Marco raised an eyebrow.

"Wait she's not staying with you?" Izo looked frustrated, "That would explain why she's getting those dreaded bags under her eyes and looking like crap."

"I thought maybe it was just Marco keeping her up at night." Thatch hinted, laughing under his breath. Haruta burst out laughing. Marco shot his fist into Thatch's chin, knocking him onto the floor.

"Only in your dreams Thatch, don't you have something other to do besides living in your perverted mind?" Marco grumbled.

"Never when it comes to you, my dear brother." Thatch laughed, rubbing his sore chin.

"As a matter of fact, I do know where she is." Jozu spoke up, bringing them back on topic, "She's basically up till dawn there, she sleeps about maybe three hours a day with naps. I wouldn't have said anything if she hasn't been ruining her health, it's not safe anymore."

"Where?" Marco wanted him to just get to the point.

"She's in the training room." Marco took a deep breath to calm himself and excused himself from the table.

Making his way to the training room, Marco attempted to go through all the ways in his head to talk to her. He had gotten no where in the last week trying to talk to him. She could be nice to Thatch and Izo, but she was so damned snippy with him. He felt he was at the end of his rope and knew if this continued, any sliver of patience he had left would be lost. He could usually remain cool in almost any situation, but when it came to her, he could barely control his emotions.