I'm enjoying this show a lot more than I thought, and I completely love these two.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.
"Harder! Harder! Faster!" Came the shouts from Lorna Dane as she snapped her fingers, expecting everyone to keep up. Clarice Fong ignored the twinge in her wrist from where Lauren Strucker had managed to hit her pretty hard, and she spun her body around, her leg connecting with Esme Frosts waist—or maybe it was Sophie Frost. Or Phoebe Frost. It wasn't unusual for Clarice to get confused. "Yes!" Lorna shouted as she saw Clarice duck from whichever Frost girl it was who lashed back at her, and then drop to the floor and swing her leg out again so that she was unbalanced and falling to the ground.
Three times a week they were in the basement of the massive warehouse where the Mutant Underground had currently taken up residence. Lorna was usually the one in charge—although sometimes it was Marcos Diaz, his fighting style was a lot dirtier than Lorna's though—teaching them how to defend themselves if it came down to hand-to-hand combat. They were meant to limit their use of the powers, in case it came down to a situation where they couldn't use them, but there were also training sessions where they used their powers completely, learning to work with one another.
"Come on!" Lorna shouted, her attention shifting over to Lauren, who wasn't going quite as hard as everyone knew that she could because she was facing off against Wes Ramirez, her boyfriend. "Harder, Lauren—come on!"
"You would think with her being pregnant and all, she might let up a bit," the Frost sister commented under her breath, smiling at Clarice. Maybe she was trying to get some sort of laugh or response from Clarice, but the other girl had absolutely no interest in striking up some sort of friendship with her. She used the moment to her advantage, however, and lashed out with an open palm. The heel of her palm hit the Frost sister directly in the chest, knocking the breath out of her and sending her stumbling backwards a few steps. She let out a gasp and blinked a few times as she recovered her breath, and it looked as though she was about to fight back when Lorna clapped her hands.
"Alright, guys," Lorna called out. "You've all done great, let's wrap it up for today." Most people were relieved that the training session was over, but Clarice's skin was still buzzing with energy. They had been at it for nearly two hours and most people had managed to get their pent up energy out, but Clarice was nowhere near it.
She hadn't been too interested in these training sessions that Lorna insisted on holding the first couple of months that she had been with the Mutant Underground. It wasn't that she had anything against Lorna and absolutely nothing against fighting, but it was just that she had survived this long by herself already, she didn't feel as though she needed any further help. But after watching a couple of the training sessions, she decided that maybe she could use a little help. Her whole street fighting style—mainly including biting and scratching and then relying on her portals to get her some distance away—could only get her so far.
While she liked Lorna, and she definitely respected her for what she was doing, she preferred when it was Marcos who was taking their training sessions. His darker, more jaunty fighting style was more her rhythm.
Everyone filtered out from the basement slowly—except from Lauren and Wes, who left very quickly—and Clarice was left alone in the basement. She was wearing a tight pair of grey leggings, some fluro purple sports bra that she definitely wouldn't have picked if she had much a choice when it came to their clothing. Clarice bounced from side to side, one foot to another, keeping her blood pumping as she decided what she was going to do next. They had managed to set up a temporary type of gym in the corner of the basement, and there was a punching bag that Clarice wouldn't mind starting on. She was looking around for something to strap her hands with when she heard the steps creaking and she looked toward the door and saw John Proudstar.
"Thought you guys were finished up here," he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, they have," Clarice shrugged a shoulder as she glanced him over and then swung her eyes back to punching bag. She had been caught up in hiding or running away from radical groups and Sentinal Services for as long as she could remember, and she had never had time to put down roots, at least since she was fifteen and she had left her foster home. But since she was with the Mutant Underground—since they had saved her almost six months ago—she had hesitantly begun letting down the shields in her head and heart.
She really liked Caitlin Strucker and she liked helping her out when people got hurt and when they brought new mutants in. She also liked Lorna, even if Lorna was good friends with Sonia Simonson and Clarice didn't quite trust her. But the person that she felt safest around, that she felt as though she connected most with was John.
It wasn't as though they spent their evenings talking about their past and their problems, and that was exactly why she felt closest to him. She never felt alone when she was around him, but neither of them felt the need to fill the quiet with chatter. They definitely talked, and twice they had even talked about some deeper stuff that Clarice usually kept buttoned up about. And then there was this tension between them...This spark that was getting stronger and stronger every time they were together. One day, the spark was going to catch fire, and it was going to burn between them, but with everything they had both gone through—everything that they were still going through—Clarice was content to wait until they both felt as though they were ready.
It felt good, to have him, even if what they had wasn't fully defined yet.
With everything they were going through, the world that they lived it, it was nice to have someone that she felt connected to, that made her feel like she wasn't alone.
"You wanna have a go with an actual moving target?" John asked as he stopped by the training mats to take off his shoes, and then his socks. He noted the way that she was eyeing the punching bag and walked over to her, his bare feet moving over the slightly sticky blue training mats that were across about half the floor.
"Doesn't seem very fair, you being the military man that you are," Clarice pointed out with a raised eyebrow, her green eyes glinting at him.
"I'm sure you can hold your own," John said with a small smile as he moved until he was in front of her and settled into a loose stance in front of her. Clarice made a face at him and nodded, rolling her shoulders and then braced her legs apart in a similar position to John, opposite him. They looked at each for a moment before John made a faux movement forward, his left arm lifting momentarily before he struck out out with his right arm. Clarice had been ready for that and her arm came up and blocked him quickly. John grinned a little at that and let his arms fall back at his side.
Clarice was the one that attacked the next time, and once they got into the flow, neither of them stopped. John obviously wasn't putting all of his strength into his movements, or Clarice would have been flying across the room every time they came into contact, but he was still tapping at her arms and legs and collarbone hard enough to make her feel it. She didn't mind—she liked that he was touching her hard enough for a slight twinge. She liked that he knew she could handle it.
John didn't relent, exactly how Clarice liked it. He kept on going until they were both sweaty and panting, and Clarice's thighs were beginning to burn. John managed to catch her off guard, dodging underneath one of her bunches and then tackling her around the waist. It wasn't the most classiest of moves, and Clarice let out a squawk as they tumbled to the floor.
"Hey! Foul! That's not fair!" She cried out as she ended up on her back, John crouching over her with a grin on his face.
"Life's not fair," he pointed out with a smug grin. Clarice narrowed her eyes at him, even though she thought he looked gorgeous, his forehead damp and strands of hair falling forward, over his cheeks. Her competitive side won out though, and her leg came up, surprising John and sending him stumbling forward, nearly landing directly on top of her. She twisted his body to the side so that he landed on the mat next to her. Clarice wasn't really thinking about what position she was going to land in as she lunged at him, trapping her knees down firmly at his sides, pressing against his ribs, and then reached forward to grab his wrists, to stop him from fighting back.
John took in a few deep breaths, and the smile faded off his face as he looked up at Clarice. Clarice swallowed hard as she realized how they were position—with her stretched out over him, leaning in close to his face because of how she was reaching above his head to keep his wrists pinned. John's eyes darted down to her lips, and Clarice took in a deep breath through her nose before leaning forward, and letting their mouths come together.
Their breaths were still heavy as they kissed, their mouths a little sticky as they moved together. Clarice's fingers almost instantly loosened around his wrists and one of his hands moved to the side of her head. His fingers twisted through her hair before resting at the back of her head, cupping her head and holding it firmly in place as he kissed her. John lifted his head off the mat, pressing hard against her, and Clarice shivered as his other arm wound around her waist, his hand splaying out on her bare lower back. John's lips opened first, his tongue flicking out to touch her own lips, and when she opened her mouth, there was a small whimper from deep in her throat that made John tighten his grip in her hair.
John twisted their bodies, rolling them over so that it was Clarice underneath him, and the change in position sent sparks shooting through both of them. John's hard body almost completely covered Clarice's small one, and even though that would usually make her panic, it just made her feel safe. Clarice pushed up against John, one of her legs looping over his to pull his body even closer to hers. His tongue was exploring the inside of her mouth, tracing over the roof of her mouth and then sucking on her tongue before his teeth scraped gently over her lip. As they pulled apart, they were both breathing even heavier than they had been before, and John's gaze was slightly glazed as his nose bumped gently against hers as he pulled back.
Clarice took in a few deep breaths, giving him a small smile, before the leg that was twisted with his suddenly jerked and they were flipped over again, Clarice back on top with a triumphant smirk on her face.
"Hey!" John protested, although there was a grin on his face.
"Life's not fair," she sung out as she scrambled back to her feet. There were still tingles running through her veins from where they had been touching, but that just gave her even more energy. She bounced up and down, unable to stop herself from biting her lip as John got up, the sweatpants tightening over his ass as he straightened up and turned to face her.
"Alright then," John grinned back at her as he resumed his stance from earlier. He held his hands up in front of him and wiggled his fingers at her playfully. "Let's go."
Let me know what you think x