Lillian hit the ground, hard, and rolled onto her side. She let out a cough and reached up to wipe her lip. Every single time she got past that ten second mark it was like the difficulty spiked like crazy. She pressed her hands against the floor and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She was grateful for the slight give that it had. Every time she hit the ground it absorbed just enough of the shock to make sure she wasn’t seriously injured. Above her, Sonya stood with her arms crossed in that same shirt, slacks, and suspenders combo.

Sonya crossed her arms and looked down at her, “Twelve seconds, you’re improving bit by bit. It’s almost a shame I have to go to Europe next week,” Sonya said with a small smile, reaching down to her, “Need some help?”

Lillian shook her head and pushed herself to her feet. A knee buckled a little and she put her hand on it to stabilize it. “N-no, I’m fine,” She grunted, fixing her face in a determined frown.

Her teacher tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Aren’t you tough?” She said with an admiring smile before taking a quick step back, resting her hands behind her back and swaying a little, “Going to be a top hero in no time at all.”

“Maybe,” Lillian grunted and looked at her hands, the golden flames appeared on her fingertips before retracting, “If only I can get a handle on it. Miss Black Lotus says I have a long way to go, but she’s been a big help,” Lillian said, glancing up a bit hesitant at Sonya. She wasn’t blind, there was something going on between Black Lotus and Sonya and it wasn’t a happy thing. “She’s done a lot for me.”

Sonya pursed her lips, “Has she? Well,” Sonya reached up and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, “Keep listening to her. If anyone can help you, she can,” Sonya said before glancing up and past Lillian, her expression changed from one of mild disinterest to curiosity and then amusement. She raised an eyebrow, “That’s interesting.”

“What is?” Lillian asked, glancing over her shoulder. There was nothing there but the open entrance to the dojo. She frowned, confused, damn I missed it. She scratched her short hair and looked back at Sonya who was fixing her with a stare. She was really, really close, nearly nose to nose. Lillian shifted back a bit, C-cologne? She blinked and staggered back onto her butt. “Huh? What was that about?”

Sonya quirked a lip at her from above, “Oh, just making a social observation,” Sonya said with a chuckle and walked past her, “Hit the showers, Landrey!”

Lillian scrambled back to her feet and watched the woman sashay out, hand raised in goodbye. She rounded the corner around the entrance to the dojo and disappeared. Lillian stared at the spot she’d just been and frowned, scratching her head, “What the heck was that all about?” Lillian mumbled with a sigh, rubbing her arms and checking for any marks. “No fresh bruises at least,” She muttered before taking the woman’s advice and making her way towards the common building.

Under the showerhead she rest her forehead against the wall, Twelve seconds, still nowhere near a passing grade. I know I’m only a few weeks in but still, I feel like I’ve hit a wall, She sighed and shut off the shower, drying herself off and getting dressed. She scratched her head again, Maybe I should try a different approach? Direct blows don’t seem to do much now that I’m past ten seconds. Maybe I can ask Black Lotus to teach me some feints. She smiled, Yeah that’s a good idea!

Freshly determined and blessedly clean she stepped out of the shower and rounded the corner just in time for a soft hand to land on her shoulder. She glanced back and saw pink eyes staring at her with slightly unhinged mirth, “Uh… Hi Miss Chernovna?” She babbled as the woman got closer and grinned at her.

“Hi to you too!” Sonya laughed and wrapped her arm around Lillians, “Walk with me,” She ordered and started to lead Lillian towards the common area, “So I was thinking,” Sonya said, tapping her lips, “We should talk a little about the design of your hero outfit, it’s never too early, I think. You like orange, right?” She said playfully.

Why is this happening? Lillian groaned inwardly as the woman dragged her along. “Uh, I mean sure, I guess,” She rubbed her neck, “I like orange a lot but it doesn’t have to be the whole thing. Should we be talking about this out in the open, I thought we were supposed to be keeping it on the down low, covering it up for now,” It was true, Sonya was a bit of a flirt and an eccentric but she was definitely off today. What was her game?

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Sonya glanced in one direction and smiled impishly, even going as far as to shoot a wink. Lillian started to turn in that direction when Sonya placed a finger on her abs and she looked down with surprise, “Now Lillian, I would never cover all this up! That would be a terrible business decision! I have a designer that I’m rather close to who would be ecstatic to have you as a subject. I’m planning on meeting up with her in Europe actually, I can bring her a few of your suggestions.”

Lillian stared down at the hand and then up at Sonya, “I have a question.”

Sonya tilted her head and smiled innocently, “I’m here to listen!”

Lillian’s face went a little deadpan, “Why are you flirting with me?”

Sonya gasped and put a hand over her heart, “Lillian, I never! I am an instructor!” She snorted and grinned before patting Lillian’s arm, “I’m just messing with you, you are so cute, honestly it’s a shame you haven’t found a belle yet, seems to be a fad these days at the camp,” Sonya said looking a little sad for a moment, glancing off to the right again and grinning. “You know, if someone doesn’t bite soon, I might have to take even more drastic action,” She tilted her head forward and looked straight into Lillian’s eyes, “You’re smart but…” She leaned up and put her lips to Lillian’s ear, “Perhaps you could try to be a bit more decisive?” She whispered and pulled away with a slightly manic laugh.

Lillian blinked twice, staring at the mischievous woman as she took another playful step back. As she did, a blur moved between them and a hand grabbed onto her wrist. Sonya barked out another laugh and kept laughing as Lillian was pulled down the hall and towards one of the side rooms. She hadn’t even realized she was being tugged along until she glanced down and saw a black hoodie in front of her. She glanced over her shoulder at the crazy woman who gave her a wink and a thumbs up before turning away again with a laugh.

That crazy…

She was pulled into the side room and the door slammed shut behind her. She looked down into a pair of white eyes that looked into hers with frustration. There were little tears there. Bits of black and white television-snow hair poked out from beneath Snow’s hood and she was gripping her long baggy sweater tightly enough that her shorts could actually be seen for once. Lillian felt her shoulders slump a little bit, “Y-you- I-” She hesitated as the girl looked up at her even more intently, “We-” She cleared her throat. She wanted to just pick Snow up and hug her, she knew what Snow wanted her to say right now. It was just embarrassing.

Snow frowned at her, she didn’t pull out her phone.

Lillian let out a breath and forced herself to relax, letting an easy smile cross her face. “We’ve been pretty inseparable since we met, huh?” Lillian said, trying to figure out what to do with her hands and just letting them rest at her side helplessly.

Snow’s hard face relaxed a little and her frown quirked a little bit towards a smile, just a little.

“You-” She cleared her throat and flushed, “Me-” She swallowed and stumbled a bit. “Dang it this is hard,” She scratched her head. “I’m just better when-”

Snow threw her head back with a noiseless groan and whipped out her phone. She reached up and grabbed Lillian by the sleeve and tugged. Lillian crouched down a little while Snow tapped furiously on it for a moment with one hand. She shot Lillian a petulant look before shoving the screen in her face.

Lillian relaxed, “I can do that,” She said and looked up into Snow’s pale eyes, “If that’s alright with you.”

Snow’s face fell, then went through a whole litany of emotions as her hand trembled against Lillian’s jacket. She pulled herself forward and rest her head against Lillian’s chest, giving it one little punch for good measure.

“Yeah I deserved that, sorry,” Lillian said and wrapped her arms around Snow’s trembling shoulders. She rest her chin on Snow’s head as a message appeared to her right.

“Yep.”

“Hey now, not dense, just didn’t know how to-”

Snow pulled back and grabbed her by her face. Her hands were delicate, soft, a little small, but the young woman didn’t hide that she’d grown a little stronger through her conditioning training. She turned Lillian’s head towards hers and gave her a gentle kiss before pulling back with the biggest smile Lillian had ever seen.

Lillian stared at her for a heartbeat before wrapping an arm around Snow’s waist. The smaller woman blinked and Lillian gave her a hard look.

“Come here.”