Tess downed the last of her pancakes and stood up, leaving the cutlery she had used with the polystyrene packaging and headed back to her room. She stepped in with her bag and closed the door. The door swung back open, after being kicked in by Dante it didn’t seem to want to stay shut. She closed it again and placed the bag in its way. she knelt down and pulled out a couple of plastic bottles, and a tight fitting training outfit, which, though she would never admit it out loud, she knew gave her best friend confusing feelings about what he wanted out of their relationship, and thus he hit her slightly less painfully. Back when she just had a sweater and jogging bottoms he would treat her as if she was a punching bag with arms and legs but after swiping the lycra top and pants she had been aching significantly less. Of course this could just be, as Dante often said, good martial arts development, but the fact that Tess was still unable to block any of her friends hits made her think otherwise.
Dante stood outside under the cover of the trees. He stood in a tracksuit and trainers, waiting for Tess to come out and have her ass handed to her. he leaned back against a tree with his hands crossed across his chest and stared at his feet, trying not to think about anything that would depress him.
A moment passed and Tess stepped out, hair in a ponytail and slim body in tight fitting lycra and trainers. Dante hated that outfit. It made it hard enough for him to concentrate fighting his best friend without having her so exposed. He felt bad enough hitting her as it was, now though he saw the bruises forming as they happened... or at least thats the reason for being uncomfortable that he told himself.
Tess reached him and put her hands on her hips. “So what are you teaching me today, oh wise and noble sensei?” she asked, a hint of sarcasm seeping into not only her words but her lips as they curled up one side into a lopsided grin.
“Well.” Dante said, moving with such swiftness that only someone who had trained with him a hundred times before could have anticipated. He thrust a fist a millimeter past her face, she hadn’t moved, but as the air caught her cheek she flinched and stumbled sideways. A crack of lightning overhead signaled that the proceeding fight would most likely be taking place in the rain. “The importance of respecting someone who’s a better fighter than you.”
Her joking expression turned into a scowl, this was a new tactic, the last sessions he had shown her moves, made her practice them and then had her spar with him, he’d go easy on her because she was using primarily only the move she had just learnt, but now...
The Sun was blotted out, and the temperature had dropped, it was a good thing that the pair were about to train otherwise they would likely be frozen to death.
He turned his body to face hers. He moved his right foot back and sideways, pointing to his right to act as an anchor, his left foot stood in front of him pointing at her and he leant backwards a little, bending his knees, to keep his center of gravity. His left hand raised in front of the other in a strange half fist. His little and ring fingers curled just before forming a fist while his middle and fore fingers only curled at the tips.
“I’ve taught you everything you need to know to block each one of my attacks, even at full strength. You may not be able to attack back but this is about not getting hit, not about hitting me.” A hail stone bounced off of his hand and he felt signaled to go. Dante pushed forward, before Tess had the chance to get into her own most comfortable fighting position, balled his right fist and thrust it into her shoulder, knocking her back a step. “That said, if you see an opening to hurt me... do it.”
Tess frowned and nodded, stepping back from him and moving into a fighting pose. Her right foot moved back, but pointed at him, rather than sideways, and her left foot planted in front almost in a direct line, but not. Her hands came up in open palm positions, in front of her face, ready to block. Her stance would give her more speed if she knew how to move properly and allowed her to block and counter with ease. “Ok.” she said, accidentally giving Dante an opening, which he took. Dante’s fist flew at her face, narrowly missing as she moved her head sideways and pushed the fist with her left hand, to pass over her right shoulder. |
