Post by Sadie on Dec 24, 2009 22:54:29 GMT -5
This was supposed to be a fic about Tala and Masurao's training sessions. It turned into . . . something else entirely.
DON'T WORRY, JAS, SOME DAY I'LL WRITE A FIC ABOUT THEIR TRAINING SESSIONS. I PROMISE. ;;
For now, I hope you enjoy this! It's . . . random, yeah. But you'll recognize a bit of it. X3
Heehee, enjoy!
--
The cafeteria smelled like gravy and magic as various operatives filed in, shuffling over to their various tables to join their friends, or moving to the line that waited patiently for the food. On the east side of the large, white room, sector SUN had taken their usual tables and where filled with chattering, happy aliens.
"-and maybe if it's dark enough, we can see the starlight flies!" Etoile enthused to Nalo and Nebulos, speaking of the midnight picnic that they had planned for later that evening.
"-then she threw a shoe, but I dodged it-" Animatedly, Dengeki was sharing his earlier mishaps to his brother and Vibe, who were trying to remain interested.
"-hope they have jungaberry tarts," Finnick was mentioning to Milo-Lee, gazing over at the food hungrily.
Suddenly, a green streak flew into the room and screeched across the smooth floor, coming to halt between the tables. The girl looked flustered, alive, as she took a huge breath of air to satisfy her whining lungs.
"Tala?" Nebulos asked, slightly confused as to what could have harried the girl so much.
She flashed a smile in his direction and then addressed the group, hands wringing. "GUYS!" Her voice was laden with the excitement one might have after winning the lottery. Everyone felt sure that she had done something amazing.
So they were a little startled when she suddenly yanked up her shirt enough to show her stomach. "I have CHUB!"
A dropping pin could have been heard as their group fell silent to take in her words. Pairs of eyes ducked back and forth between her smooth yellow stomach and her ecstatic expression. Finally, Etoile voiced what they were all thinking, some more concernedly than others. "Uhm. . . what?"
Her orange-flame eyes seemed to dance. "After all these years of- . . . okay, well, I haven't really done that much, but look! I have chub!" With a green-ended finger, she poked at her stomach, and grinned when it bounced ever-so-slightly.
Most of her friends were a bit unsure of how to react, and some were even questioning her sanity. But Unagi was quick to respond, leaping to his feet and bounding over to the girl. To their surprise, he pulled up his own shirt and asked her, in all seriousness, "Is it bigger than mine?"
"I don't know, let's see!"
"No, it looks like mine is still bigger."
"Blast! I'll catch up to you someday!"
"Just eat a lot more, that should do it!"
"I will never understand her," Etoile remarked to Nalo and Nebulos in disbelief as he watched Tala and Unagi continue to compare their stomachs. Maybe in her world, this was a normal thing to do. But Etoile, and most of the others, had no idea what to make of her and her stomach "chub."
"I don't think we're meant to," Nebulos chirped happily, climbing up onto the table. "I think we're just meant to let Tala be Tala, no matter what occurs because of that."
Etoile laughed, offering an arm for Nebulos to climb onto, and Nebulos did so happily. "Sounds good. But if she starts planning world domination, I'm stopping her, no matter what you say. Let's go get some food."
His friends nodded eagerly, and they ambled away to join the line, followed by various other operatives. They left Tala in the middle of their tables, still inspecting her stomach with a sign of pleasure. No one bothered so say anything, simply because she probably wouldn't listen.
She finally dropped her shirt and ran a couple of hands over it to smooth it out, having finished her critical inspection of every inch of the surface of her abdomen. Satisfied, she turned to join her friends in the line, when a mocking voice stopped her.
"Awwh, look, it's a member of Sector SUN, doing something so very important."
Another voice joined the first, jaunting. "Tell us, did you find any bellybutton lint in there?"
Tala stiffened, a cold rage injecting into her bloodstream as she turned to meet the eyes that she knew so well, and hated so well. Pink, cat-like, with a teasing superiority that had Tala wanting to smash her face in for a second time. Instead, she greeted the girl with a chill in her voice in a vain attempt to be civil. "Mercedes."
The girl tossed her hair and smiled prettily, so prettily. It might have been perfect if she wasn't sporting a black eye, which Tala smugly recalled giving to her. Oh, how pleasing it was to see the purple swell of flesh around her eyes that looked almost painful. "Kid. Oh, and this is Divad, my boyfriend."
She purposefully emphasized the last word.
"G'day," Tala said politely, sweeping a little curtsy, while images danced in her mind that involved a fist in his gut, or lower. "It's nice to meet another one of Mercedes' toys, isn't it?"
The effect was instantaneous; both of their masks dropped, showing enraged, stiff expressions. Divad stepped forward, lifting an eyebrow at the girl, and Tala couldn't help but notice that he was more than a full head taller than her. No matter. "So you're the little sister of the deadbeat that Mercedes dated last."
"The one and only. But please, feel free to call me Tala. It's much less of a mouthful." Don't hurt him, Tala, don't. It's not worth it. It's not worth i-
"I would beat you up for what you did to my girlfriend," Divad continued, dropping his voice now to a dangerous whisper, "but I make it a practice to not hit girls, even ones that look like you."
A low blow, Tala, but ignore it. Self-control, self-control, gotta keep contro-
The effort of being civil was beginning to show in her clenched jaw, her tightly balled-up fists, and the narrow edges of her eyes. The ends of her limbs were shaking from the strain, but she wasn't going to hit him, she was going to keep herself in control.
"Just tell your brother that he doesn't know what he's missing."
"What, a pain in the-"
The boy struck her swiftly, subtly, leaving a small mark on her jawline. By the time Tala had gotten over the initial shock and startling flash of pain, her blood had begun to boil hot beneath her skin, threatening to spill over. Every piece of dignity that she had was calling for his ultimate defeat.
Masurao will have to forgive me for this.
As he turned to leave, she wound back her fist and hurled it forward, making sure to strike his jaw precisely where he had hit hers. The boy staggered back, looking surprised, when he realized what had transpired. In a moment he was upon her again, and a full-blown fight had begun.
Too in the moment, too rushed. Tala couldn't remember what Masurao had taught her. All she could feel was blind rage, wanting to pound the jerk into the ground. She was barely avoiding his fists, unable to throw in any punches of her own so that she could gain the upper hand.
Quickly, she threw up a shield, and Divad looked startled when his fist reflected off the glowing green surface. The look disappeared, replaced by a cold smirk. "You think I didn't know about your powers, kid? I also know how to counteract them."
He struck at her shield, and again, and again, each time more fiercely than before. But he had saved his biggest force for last, and when his fist hit the green bubble, it burst into nothingness, and Tala went flying backwards, sliding across the floor until she hit one of the chairs.
Her lungs tried to take in the air that they had lost, but the pain in her ribs made it horrific, and Tala knew she had lost.
A blur flashed in front of her, and Tala tried to focus weary lenses on the scene, only able to capture the idea that another fight was going on. Quick movements, punches thrown, and a speed that she couldn't imagine rivaling. The fight was over in minutes, and then the new figure was stooped over her.
"Kid?"
Wait, that sounded familiar.
"Kid, say something."
"Nn. . . s-something."
A noise that could have been a laugh, but wasn't. "Of course. You get in a fight, get thrown around, suffer a bad beating, and yet you still cling to your sense of humor. Why am I not surprised?"
Suddenly, she was being hoisted up, and fur began to tickle her nose. Fur that she recognized.
"Mmm. . . Masurao?"
His voice was stern, but in a kind way that she wasn't used to hearing. "Next time, you've got to aim your hits a little higher. You did well, considering he was a lot taller than you. Angle your impact upward a little more and it will do a lot more damage. Good defense technique, but it's too bad that he knew how to stop it."
"Are you angry with me?" The soft whisper came after a little while of silence.
"For getting into a fight just because you were angry?" No, Masurao, for deciding to wear blue today. But Tala refrained from saying that out loud. He wasn't one for sarcasm. "No. Training you to control your emotions is going to take some time. I'm aware of that. We'll just keep working on it."
"Where are we going?" Please, don't let it be th-
"The infirmary."
"Do I have to?" She couldn't stop just a tiny whine from bubbling out of her lips.
"Yes."
"Why? Bruises make me look tough. And that nurse keeps looking at me like I'm a delinquent."
"Aren't you one?"
She had no answer to that.
By the time they had reached the infirmary, Masurao had somehow managed to convince her that it was a good idea to see the nurse. As Tala had predicted, the nurse looked a little exasperated, but she left to go see if there was any ointment for Tala's light wounds.
"We'll start training again when you're feeling better, alright?" Masurao glanced over at her, seated close by where he could keep an eye on her and make sure that she didn't escape. "Next time that guy starts saying those things, you can take him out properly."
"You're encouraging me to fight?"
The bodyguard said nothing to that, closing his eyes and looking in another direction. Tala chuckled to herself; that was about as good as a "yes" when it came to Masurao.
But something was nagging at her.
"You fought him, didn't you? I thought I saw. . . I mean, why'd you beat him up? It was my fight, you didn't need to."
The boy's eyes shot over to her and scanned her bruised skin, snorting with derision at how battered she looked. His reply was startling, soft. "I'm the only one allowed to beat you up."
"Was that a joke?" Her lips cracked a grin.
"No."
"Beating me up in training sessions. . . does that even count as beating me up, if you're teaching me?" She couldn't help teasing him, just a little.
"Lay down and rest." Masurao's way of saying "Shut up," in Tala's imagination.
"Yes sir, teacher-commander-master, sir." She dropped her head against the wall and closed her eyes, letting the weight roll off of her entire body so that she could relax. ". . . hey, Masurao?"
"What?" He might have been expecting another joke, with the exasperated tone that his voice took.
"Thanks."
"For beating you up on a frequent basis?"
"Another joke. You're getting better. No, stupid, for helping me. I'm trying to be a good student, I promise." Her eyes remained closed, but her mouth was smiling.
His tone became gruff. Tala wondered why he was horrible at taking gratitude. "I. . .You're welcome, I suppose."
"You want me to stop talking, don't you?"
"If you can help it."
Snorting, Tala let herself lull off, dreaming of candies and sweets and Christmas and punching Divad in the nose, while the ever-strong bodyguard stayed close by to keep a watchful eye on the girl's soon-sleeping form.
DON'T WORRY, JAS, SOME DAY I'LL WRITE A FIC ABOUT THEIR TRAINING SESSIONS. I PROMISE. ;;
For now, I hope you enjoy this! It's . . . random, yeah. But you'll recognize a bit of it. X3
Heehee, enjoy!
--
The cafeteria smelled like gravy and magic as various operatives filed in, shuffling over to their various tables to join their friends, or moving to the line that waited patiently for the food. On the east side of the large, white room, sector SUN had taken their usual tables and where filled with chattering, happy aliens.
"-and maybe if it's dark enough, we can see the starlight flies!" Etoile enthused to Nalo and Nebulos, speaking of the midnight picnic that they had planned for later that evening.
"-then she threw a shoe, but I dodged it-" Animatedly, Dengeki was sharing his earlier mishaps to his brother and Vibe, who were trying to remain interested.
"-hope they have jungaberry tarts," Finnick was mentioning to Milo-Lee, gazing over at the food hungrily.
Suddenly, a green streak flew into the room and screeched across the smooth floor, coming to halt between the tables. The girl looked flustered, alive, as she took a huge breath of air to satisfy her whining lungs.
"Tala?" Nebulos asked, slightly confused as to what could have harried the girl so much.
She flashed a smile in his direction and then addressed the group, hands wringing. "GUYS!" Her voice was laden with the excitement one might have after winning the lottery. Everyone felt sure that she had done something amazing.
So they were a little startled when she suddenly yanked up her shirt enough to show her stomach. "I have CHUB!"
A dropping pin could have been heard as their group fell silent to take in her words. Pairs of eyes ducked back and forth between her smooth yellow stomach and her ecstatic expression. Finally, Etoile voiced what they were all thinking, some more concernedly than others. "Uhm. . . what?"
Her orange-flame eyes seemed to dance. "After all these years of- . . . okay, well, I haven't really done that much, but look! I have chub!" With a green-ended finger, she poked at her stomach, and grinned when it bounced ever-so-slightly.
Most of her friends were a bit unsure of how to react, and some were even questioning her sanity. But Unagi was quick to respond, leaping to his feet and bounding over to the girl. To their surprise, he pulled up his own shirt and asked her, in all seriousness, "Is it bigger than mine?"
"I don't know, let's see!"
"No, it looks like mine is still bigger."
"Blast! I'll catch up to you someday!"
"Just eat a lot more, that should do it!"
"I will never understand her," Etoile remarked to Nalo and Nebulos in disbelief as he watched Tala and Unagi continue to compare their stomachs. Maybe in her world, this was a normal thing to do. But Etoile, and most of the others, had no idea what to make of her and her stomach "chub."
"I don't think we're meant to," Nebulos chirped happily, climbing up onto the table. "I think we're just meant to let Tala be Tala, no matter what occurs because of that."
Etoile laughed, offering an arm for Nebulos to climb onto, and Nebulos did so happily. "Sounds good. But if she starts planning world domination, I'm stopping her, no matter what you say. Let's go get some food."
His friends nodded eagerly, and they ambled away to join the line, followed by various other operatives. They left Tala in the middle of their tables, still inspecting her stomach with a sign of pleasure. No one bothered so say anything, simply because she probably wouldn't listen.
She finally dropped her shirt and ran a couple of hands over it to smooth it out, having finished her critical inspection of every inch of the surface of her abdomen. Satisfied, she turned to join her friends in the line, when a mocking voice stopped her.
"Awwh, look, it's a member of Sector SUN, doing something so very important."
Another voice joined the first, jaunting. "Tell us, did you find any bellybutton lint in there?"
Tala stiffened, a cold rage injecting into her bloodstream as she turned to meet the eyes that she knew so well, and hated so well. Pink, cat-like, with a teasing superiority that had Tala wanting to smash her face in for a second time. Instead, she greeted the girl with a chill in her voice in a vain attempt to be civil. "Mercedes."
The girl tossed her hair and smiled prettily, so prettily. It might have been perfect if she wasn't sporting a black eye, which Tala smugly recalled giving to her. Oh, how pleasing it was to see the purple swell of flesh around her eyes that looked almost painful. "Kid. Oh, and this is Divad, my boyfriend."
She purposefully emphasized the last word.
"G'day," Tala said politely, sweeping a little curtsy, while images danced in her mind that involved a fist in his gut, or lower. "It's nice to meet another one of Mercedes' toys, isn't it?"
The effect was instantaneous; both of their masks dropped, showing enraged, stiff expressions. Divad stepped forward, lifting an eyebrow at the girl, and Tala couldn't help but notice that he was more than a full head taller than her. No matter. "So you're the little sister of the deadbeat that Mercedes dated last."
"The one and only. But please, feel free to call me Tala. It's much less of a mouthful." Don't hurt him, Tala, don't. It's not worth it. It's not worth i-
"I would beat you up for what you did to my girlfriend," Divad continued, dropping his voice now to a dangerous whisper, "but I make it a practice to not hit girls, even ones that look like you."
A low blow, Tala, but ignore it. Self-control, self-control, gotta keep contro-
The effort of being civil was beginning to show in her clenched jaw, her tightly balled-up fists, and the narrow edges of her eyes. The ends of her limbs were shaking from the strain, but she wasn't going to hit him, she was going to keep herself in control.
"Just tell your brother that he doesn't know what he's missing."
"What, a pain in the-"
The boy struck her swiftly, subtly, leaving a small mark on her jawline. By the time Tala had gotten over the initial shock and startling flash of pain, her blood had begun to boil hot beneath her skin, threatening to spill over. Every piece of dignity that she had was calling for his ultimate defeat.
Masurao will have to forgive me for this.
As he turned to leave, she wound back her fist and hurled it forward, making sure to strike his jaw precisely where he had hit hers. The boy staggered back, looking surprised, when he realized what had transpired. In a moment he was upon her again, and a full-blown fight had begun.
Too in the moment, too rushed. Tala couldn't remember what Masurao had taught her. All she could feel was blind rage, wanting to pound the jerk into the ground. She was barely avoiding his fists, unable to throw in any punches of her own so that she could gain the upper hand.
Quickly, she threw up a shield, and Divad looked startled when his fist reflected off the glowing green surface. The look disappeared, replaced by a cold smirk. "You think I didn't know about your powers, kid? I also know how to counteract them."
He struck at her shield, and again, and again, each time more fiercely than before. But he had saved his biggest force for last, and when his fist hit the green bubble, it burst into nothingness, and Tala went flying backwards, sliding across the floor until she hit one of the chairs.
Her lungs tried to take in the air that they had lost, but the pain in her ribs made it horrific, and Tala knew she had lost.
A blur flashed in front of her, and Tala tried to focus weary lenses on the scene, only able to capture the idea that another fight was going on. Quick movements, punches thrown, and a speed that she couldn't imagine rivaling. The fight was over in minutes, and then the new figure was stooped over her.
"Kid?"
Wait, that sounded familiar.
"Kid, say something."
"Nn. . . s-something."
A noise that could have been a laugh, but wasn't. "Of course. You get in a fight, get thrown around, suffer a bad beating, and yet you still cling to your sense of humor. Why am I not surprised?"
Suddenly, she was being hoisted up, and fur began to tickle her nose. Fur that she recognized.
"Mmm. . . Masurao?"
His voice was stern, but in a kind way that she wasn't used to hearing. "Next time, you've got to aim your hits a little higher. You did well, considering he was a lot taller than you. Angle your impact upward a little more and it will do a lot more damage. Good defense technique, but it's too bad that he knew how to stop it."
"Are you angry with me?" The soft whisper came after a little while of silence.
"For getting into a fight just because you were angry?" No, Masurao, for deciding to wear blue today. But Tala refrained from saying that out loud. He wasn't one for sarcasm. "No. Training you to control your emotions is going to take some time. I'm aware of that. We'll just keep working on it."
"Where are we going?" Please, don't let it be th-
"The infirmary."
"Do I have to?" She couldn't stop just a tiny whine from bubbling out of her lips.
"Yes."
"Why? Bruises make me look tough. And that nurse keeps looking at me like I'm a delinquent."
"Aren't you one?"
She had no answer to that.
By the time they had reached the infirmary, Masurao had somehow managed to convince her that it was a good idea to see the nurse. As Tala had predicted, the nurse looked a little exasperated, but she left to go see if there was any ointment for Tala's light wounds.
"We'll start training again when you're feeling better, alright?" Masurao glanced over at her, seated close by where he could keep an eye on her and make sure that she didn't escape. "Next time that guy starts saying those things, you can take him out properly."
"You're encouraging me to fight?"
The bodyguard said nothing to that, closing his eyes and looking in another direction. Tala chuckled to herself; that was about as good as a "yes" when it came to Masurao.
But something was nagging at her.
"You fought him, didn't you? I thought I saw. . . I mean, why'd you beat him up? It was my fight, you didn't need to."
The boy's eyes shot over to her and scanned her bruised skin, snorting with derision at how battered she looked. His reply was startling, soft. "I'm the only one allowed to beat you up."
"Was that a joke?" Her lips cracked a grin.
"No."
"Beating me up in training sessions. . . does that even count as beating me up, if you're teaching me?" She couldn't help teasing him, just a little.
"Lay down and rest." Masurao's way of saying "Shut up," in Tala's imagination.
"Yes sir, teacher-commander-master, sir." She dropped her head against the wall and closed her eyes, letting the weight roll off of her entire body so that she could relax. ". . . hey, Masurao?"
"What?" He might have been expecting another joke, with the exasperated tone that his voice took.
"Thanks."
"For beating you up on a frequent basis?"
"Another joke. You're getting better. No, stupid, for helping me. I'm trying to be a good student, I promise." Her eyes remained closed, but her mouth was smiling.
His tone became gruff. Tala wondered why he was horrible at taking gratitude. "I. . .You're welcome, I suppose."
"You want me to stop talking, don't you?"
"If you can help it."
Snorting, Tala let herself lull off, dreaming of candies and sweets and Christmas and punching Divad in the nose, while the ever-strong bodyguard stayed close by to keep a watchful eye on the girl's soon-sleeping form.