kiss with a fist
Feb. 1st, 2019 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paradoxicalrenegadegod this was ALMOST long enough to post to ao3. maybe someday it will be a whole thing, but not today.
femslash february day 1: sparks fly + tessa/ai + pacific rim au. (never ever say i'm not on my bullshit.)
Tessa tries to look stern as she stands over Ena and Jasmal, but judging by how Otto and Corra are snorting at her from their place on the bench she's not being very successful. "You need better focus," she tells them. "You'll only end up chasing the rabbit if you goof off like this. It's serious business, piloting a Jaeger."
Out of the corner of her eye she sees Otto balancing on the seat of the bench posing dramatically like they're on one of the Shatterdome's posters and she sighs, trying to hide a smile.
"We know it's serious," Ena says, and flops backwards onto the mat. "It's just hard when Jasmal won't stop making stupid faces when he's going for a hit."
"I do not make stupid faces!!" Jasmal objects. "This is just what my face looks like! And you don't hit hard enough, it feels more like a tickle than a blow!"
"Enough," Tessa sighs. "Trent, if you're going to vape then just go outside, okay."
Trent rolls his eyes but unfolds himself from his creaky folding chair to slouch out of the room. He passes Ai as he goes and Tessa's heart, despite all her trying, flutters a little.
"Go take a breather," she says, and leans a little on her staff as Ai approaches. "Hey there, stranger."
"Hi." Ai's fiddling with the wrappings around her hands. "You, uh, busy?"
"N-no." Tessa hears Seshmir snort from where he's tipped back in his chair. "No, I'm not -- what are you thinking?"
"I got PT later and I uh, was wonderin' if you might wanta spar a little before then?"
Tessa's heart leaps. They haven't really sparred since Ai's accident grounded her, and Tessa is not going to confirm or deny that she enjoys sparring with Ai even more than she enjoys sparring with her Jaeger partner. "Yeah-- yeah! You want to go with staffs or--,"
"Just like this?" Ai shows her bare hands. "See if ya can catch me?"
"You're on."
Tessa passes her staff off to Tseer, who bobs his head with a smug little glimmer in his eye. Corra is mumbling something into her key with a grin on her face, while Otto slides down from their perch to lean against her knee. They’re going to have an audience for this, Tessa knows, but she likes to think it’s because her friends like to watch her fight in general, rather than watch her very awkwardly flirt with the girl she has a crush on via having a fistfight.
Tessa really doesn’t have a reason for why she thinks this is an acceptable flirting tactic beyond “Ai’s really good at fighting and it’s the easiest way to spend time with her” and “I’m gay, shut up” so like. It’s fine.
Ai steps backwards a bit until she’s in the center of the ring, one eyebrow quirked up in a challenge. Tessa wants to kiss the smirk off her face and settles for charging at her instead.
The one thing about fighting Ai is that it is fucking hard to catch her. Her being a halfling doesn’t help matters, but she’s also generally just slippery. She's not fighting defensively; just every time Tessa is certain a blow is going to land Ai neatly twists out of the way. Their fighting styles don’t quite gel but that’s okay, because they don’t drift together unless absolutely necessary and it’s more fun if they’re not seamlessly moving together, if Tessa trips over a loose floorboard and Ai slips because she’s not quite regained full balance yet.
And, yes, maybe it ends in Tessa accidentally catching Ai underneath her because she falls over and ends up caging her in with her arms. But she still wins, and she pushes herself over Ai with a big grin on her face. “Hah.”
“Y’only won ‘cause I’m still not full strength,” Ai grumbles, but she’s also smiling, and there’s a glimpse of fondness in her eyes that vanishes the second someone makes a noise behind them only to be hurriedly shushed by everyone around them.
“Goddamnit, Trent,” whispers Corra, and Tessa sighs. Her chest still feels warm and there’s a little thrill up her spine as her bare hand brushes Ai’s shoulder, but she pushes herself into a sitting position and offers a hand to Ai to help her back up.
“Thanks,” Ai says. “I needed that.”
“Me too.” Tessa looks over at her friends, whose facial expressions all range from “vaguely embarrassed” to “actively making subtle yet obscene gestures,” and rolls her eyes. “We should do it again some time,” she says.
“I wouldn’t mind that at all.” Ai smiles tentatively, and that’s when the klaxons start blaring.
“Damn it,” Tessa grumbles, and scrambles to her feet, already missing the proximity of Ai’s body to hers. “Time to save the world again.”
femslash february day 1: sparks fly + tessa/ai + pacific rim au. (never ever say i'm not on my bullshit.)
Tessa tries to look stern as she stands over Ena and Jasmal, but judging by how Otto and Corra are snorting at her from their place on the bench she's not being very successful. "You need better focus," she tells them. "You'll only end up chasing the rabbit if you goof off like this. It's serious business, piloting a Jaeger."
Out of the corner of her eye she sees Otto balancing on the seat of the bench posing dramatically like they're on one of the Shatterdome's posters and she sighs, trying to hide a smile.
"We know it's serious," Ena says, and flops backwards onto the mat. "It's just hard when Jasmal won't stop making stupid faces when he's going for a hit."
"I do not make stupid faces!!" Jasmal objects. "This is just what my face looks like! And you don't hit hard enough, it feels more like a tickle than a blow!"
"Enough," Tessa sighs. "Trent, if you're going to vape then just go outside, okay."
Trent rolls his eyes but unfolds himself from his creaky folding chair to slouch out of the room. He passes Ai as he goes and Tessa's heart, despite all her trying, flutters a little.
"Go take a breather," she says, and leans a little on her staff as Ai approaches. "Hey there, stranger."
"Hi." Ai's fiddling with the wrappings around her hands. "You, uh, busy?"
"N-no." Tessa hears Seshmir snort from where he's tipped back in his chair. "No, I'm not -- what are you thinking?"
"I got PT later and I uh, was wonderin' if you might wanta spar a little before then?"
Tessa's heart leaps. They haven't really sparred since Ai's accident grounded her, and Tessa is not going to confirm or deny that she enjoys sparring with Ai even more than she enjoys sparring with her Jaeger partner. "Yeah-- yeah! You want to go with staffs or--,"
"Just like this?" Ai shows her bare hands. "See if ya can catch me?"
"You're on."
Tessa passes her staff off to Tseer, who bobs his head with a smug little glimmer in his eye. Corra is mumbling something into her key with a grin on her face, while Otto slides down from their perch to lean against her knee. They’re going to have an audience for this, Tessa knows, but she likes to think it’s because her friends like to watch her fight in general, rather than watch her very awkwardly flirt with the girl she has a crush on via having a fistfight.
Tessa really doesn’t have a reason for why she thinks this is an acceptable flirting tactic beyond “Ai’s really good at fighting and it’s the easiest way to spend time with her” and “I’m gay, shut up” so like. It’s fine.
Ai steps backwards a bit until she’s in the center of the ring, one eyebrow quirked up in a challenge. Tessa wants to kiss the smirk off her face and settles for charging at her instead.
The one thing about fighting Ai is that it is fucking hard to catch her. Her being a halfling doesn’t help matters, but she’s also generally just slippery. She's not fighting defensively; just every time Tessa is certain a blow is going to land Ai neatly twists out of the way. Their fighting styles don’t quite gel but that’s okay, because they don’t drift together unless absolutely necessary and it’s more fun if they’re not seamlessly moving together, if Tessa trips over a loose floorboard and Ai slips because she’s not quite regained full balance yet.
And, yes, maybe it ends in Tessa accidentally catching Ai underneath her because she falls over and ends up caging her in with her arms. But she still wins, and she pushes herself over Ai with a big grin on her face. “Hah.”
“Y’only won ‘cause I’m still not full strength,” Ai grumbles, but she’s also smiling, and there’s a glimpse of fondness in her eyes that vanishes the second someone makes a noise behind them only to be hurriedly shushed by everyone around them.
“Goddamnit, Trent,” whispers Corra, and Tessa sighs. Her chest still feels warm and there’s a little thrill up her spine as her bare hand brushes Ai’s shoulder, but she pushes herself into a sitting position and offers a hand to Ai to help her back up.
“Thanks,” Ai says. “I needed that.”
“Me too.” Tessa looks over at her friends, whose facial expressions all range from “vaguely embarrassed” to “actively making subtle yet obscene gestures,” and rolls her eyes. “We should do it again some time,” she says.
“I wouldn’t mind that at all.” Ai smiles tentatively, and that’s when the klaxons start blaring.
“Damn it,” Tessa grumbles, and scrambles to her feet, already missing the proximity of Ai’s body to hers. “Time to save the world again.”
