Nikki sighed as she continued walking down the forested path she had found, the air was cold and wet from last night's rain shower. Adjusting the pack on her shoulders she could feel the band of her bra strap digging into her shoulders, how her chest suddenly felt tight and wondered if maybe what she was about to do really was as good idea as when she first came up with it. Tucking a piece of stray hair, her dark grey blue eyes scanned the surrounding forest she was in, the air was filled with the scent of wet earth, another side effect of wet dirt and moss. While entering a small clearing she felt it rather than heard it, a pair of large arms grabbed her in a tight grip to their chest, then from the amount of force the two went tumbling to the ground. Nikki and the mystery man rolled for a little bit on the ground, loose debris flying in the air before tumbling back to the ground, without seeing who her attacker was she twisted her body and grabbed the man's throat, pulling her right fist back as far as she could. Just as she was going to throw a right hook the man's voice filled the clearing,
"STOP! Nikki it's me!" grey blue eyes flashed dangerously as she met the eyes of her attacker, only to gasp and scramble to her feet awkwardly, trying not to believe who it was that attacked her,
"Monroe? What the hell is wrong with you?" Nikki yelled, trying to catch her breath, and slow the pounding of her heartbeat.
"Hey, you said you wanted to get more in touch with your inner Grimm, if you want to live then you need to be prepared wherever you are, now, let's get on with the rest of your lesson" the tamed Blutbad stood and dusted himself off, when he stood to his full height for the second time in the past week Nikki noticed how strangely appealing Monroe looked in his usual flannel, matching with his beard and curly and slightly wild hair it fit him. Feeling eyes on her Nikki shook her head and looked up to see his giant dark brown eyes staring into her own, feeling her heart skip a beat she coughed a few times awkwardly, then slid the pack off her shoulders and began unzipping it.
"O-Okay, so, here's a few things I brought, I also brought an aid kit just in case, you never know" that last part awkwardly, hearing footsteps she looked up to see Monroe walking towards her and the pack, he crouched down and
looked through it while Nikki just stood and hung back a little as he fawned over the different weapons she brought with her. Nikki waited patiently for her friend to finish up, as he was busy looking over the different 'Cool and exciting new toys to play with' she decided to pull her hair back in a ponytail. Putting it in a simple high ponytail Nikki looked over to see Monroe pulling out a crossbow, he turned and stared, there was a small but awkward silence as the two stared back at each other, after another minute of the small staring contest Nickie broke it.
"So, what's first?" she asked, Monroe jumped and shook his head before walking over and handing her the crossbow,
"Target practice" was all he said before pointing to a small target sheet with a horribly drawn Hexenbiest on it,
"There's your target, let's see what you got first" nodding she pulled the weapon up to her eye vision, taking a deep breath she aimed it as best she could and fired. The sound of an arrow hitting bark rang through the silence as Nikki lowered the crossbow, the two looked to the target sheet to see she hit it straight on the mark, right between the eyes,
"Whoa, damn Nikki, you got skills" all she did was nod slowly as the hit sunk in. The two practiced with the different weapons, and by the end of the hour Nikki was all tired out from all the training she did the only coherent thought she could fully process was that she wanted to soak in the tub and then take a nap. While packing up Monroe secretly watched the Grimm. He knew she had a boyfriend and that she loved him a lot, but still...there are times when he can't help himself. Like when she was walking down the forested path, he just stood and watched her while she walked, unable to understand how he was able to find such a friend as Nikki. There are times when he wonders, does she feel it too? The strange connection he feels, Monroe shook his head, a soft wind shifted, and blew her scent towards him, it hit him like a sucker punch, if he weren't so intent on protecting her from creatures like himself he would throw himself at her and see what would happen from there.
"Hey Monroe, you ready?" he jumped again to see the object of his affections standing in front of him, her blue eyes held concern in them, he looked down at her and gave her a little smile,
"Yeah, I'm good, let's go before someone thinks you've disappeared" nodding the two turned and started walking back through the same trail that Nikki had originally used walking there. Peeking out of the corner of his eyes he sighed quietly, wondering if a Blutbad and a Grimm would ever have any chance together. Feeling soft skin rubbing gently against his hand he looked down to see Nikki's small hand lightly bump against his, a soft smile showed itself on his bearded face, maybe they do have a small chance after all.
