Title: Training.
Rating: PG
Setting/Spoilers: Sometime in Season 1 after The Flax
Summery: Aeryn helps John to become more useful in battle using Peacekeeper
fighting techniques.
Disclaimer: I only own the idea and the story. Henson own Farscape and the
characters.
Comments: UK English (with a tad US English probably) A tad shippy at the
very end.
It was early morning on Moya. John guessed it was probably between the forth and fifth arn. He had been awoken by Aeryn after asking her to train him the previous night. He was regretting it now.
"Move it!" Aeryn ordered, pulling the shimmering golden sheet of John, "I am not wasting my time if you are not prepared to put in the effort."
John groaned as his eyes adjusted to see Aeryn standing over him in what looked like a tracksuit with her long black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. "Yes Miss Drill Sergeant..." he muttered as he stumbled out of bed.
She looked at him and shook her head, "You want training; you will be trained to fight the way I was. Here put these on." She shoved some sort of black tracksuit into John's arms.
"Uh Aeryn...a little privacy perhaps?" John asked.
Aeryn glared at him, "There is nothing there that I haven't seen before. You are just wasting time that could be used on making you become more useful in battle."
Reluctantly John changed in front of Aeryn and he wondered whether her superior officers watched her. "I wouldn't put it past the Peacekeepers," he thought to himself. He glanced up momentarily and could have sworn that he had seen Aeryn glance at his... he shook that thought off. She would never look at what she considered a deficient species in that way would she? His thought was soon interrupted.
"I haven't got all day. It's my turn to make breakfast, and I have more important things to do than train you... I bet in a battle situation you wouldn't last ten microts even with training!" Aeryn snapped.
John was regretting this more every minute. Aeryn was reluctant to train him last night and it was only when D'argo suggested that he may become more useful with training that she agreed. Now he had the feeling he would become her personal punching bag. "At least Zhaan will be on hand to heal my wounds and fractures," John thought to himself, "if she doesn't kill me first."
He finished dressing in record time, so as not to piss Aeryn off any more than he already had this morning, and on the way to the Cargo Bay he walked in silence behind her. The Cargo Bay was cool, and John shivered, "Why did I leave my nice warm bed just to get beaten up in the cold?" he thought to himself.
"Face me," Aeryn said coldly.
John did as he was told and faced his opponent. He wasn't even sure he could hit a woman, but he would have to if he was going to survive this, and no doubt he'd miss anyway. "Don't we have to...uh...warm up first?" he asked.
"If you were in a battle situation do you think your enemy will give you time to warm up? You are more stupid than you look."
John forced a smile, "Well we are not in battle, and I don't want to pull anything." He could see Aeryn was getting more agitated. "Look, do you want training or not?"
"Sure," John replied.
"Okay. Show me what you've got"
"What?"
"HIT ME!" Aeryn growled. John hesitated for a second before swinging to punch her, but Aeryn caught his arm, twisted it around and tripped his leg so John ended up lying flat on his face. John groaned as Aeryn helped him up, "So, where did you go wrong?" she asked, obviously having enjoyed flooring John.
"Um...I'm not sure" John asked, shaking off the shock of the fall.
"You hesitated. In battle you do not hesitate to hit your enemy, or they will hit you first." She said, placing her hands on her hips in frustration . John frowned slightly, "Right. No hesitation," he said readying himself.
Aeryn sighed. He was picking this up more slowly than the dumbest recruit. "Okay, I'll hit you, and you have to block. Understand?"
"I think..." But he was cut short as Aeryn's jab smacked across his face. "See, no hesitation" she smiled.
John glared at Aeryn and then smacked her across the face. She shook off the punch, "Good. You're getting it." "Sorry." He said without thinking.
Aeryn shook her head, "You do not say sorry to your opponent. What kind of planet do you come from that says sorry to the enemy?"
"Well on my planet, it's wrong to hit women." John replied.
"Even the one that's training you?" Aeryn asked. "If you want to be trained then you are going to have to hit me so I can see where your technique needs improving. Okay, come here. If your opponent is too close to get a good jab in, show me what you would do." She moved so she was face to face with him, and John realized how attractive she really was.
"Um...well. I guess if it was a man I would well...knee him in his balls...uh mivonks," he stuttered, trying to control his thoughts.
"Good, but remember some creatures do not have them and females do not have them. Use the heel of your palm, and slam it into their chin or chest." She simulated it without hitting him. "You could also try elbowing them in the side just above the hip, tripping them up or pushing them back so you can hit or kick them. Look, after I finish teaching you, we will put all you learn into practice and you can spar with me."
"With you?" John asked, sounding slightly worried.
"Of course."
"So are you going to teach me a Pantak jab?"
"Not yet. You are not ready. Now concentrate. Stand there." She said moving him so he was standing a few paces in front of her. "Now I want you to kick me."
"Kick you? Right." He went to kick her but she moved and grabbed his leg, and pushed it back so he fell on his back again.
She shook her head, "You know, I never thought teaching someone to fight properly would be so hard. If you were a Peacekeeper, you'd be dead by now!"
John groaned, "Well the whole point of this was for you to teach me and not to kick the dren out of me!"
Aeryn held out her hand to help John up. "Now are you going to take this seriously?" she asked bitterly.
"I'm trying, but you make it impossible." He replied pulling himself up.
"I make it impossible?" Aeryn asked, shooting him a cold look. "You are the one who is making it impossible for me to teach you."
"Look, can we start again Aeryn? From the beginning?" John held out a hand as a sign of forgiveness.
"Alright," Aeryn replied, taking his hand. "Maybe we should try something else. Here. Use the punch bag. Pretend it's an enemy, and give it all you've got and I'll tell you where you need improving." She said, figuring that she was being a little too hard on the human. "Okay." John replied with a slight smile.
"Here put these on." She said giving him some small boxing gloves, or something similar to them.
For a moment John could have sworn that Aeryn was concerned, although he figured he was imagining it.
"Right. Imagine that this is... I don't know Crais perhaps? He has boarded Moya and is set on killing you. Neither of you have weapons."
"But I would have a weapon...I always have a weapon on me and I am sure Crais would also have a weapon..."
Aeryn gave a frustrated sigh, "Well what would you do if your chakkan oil cartridge ran out? You would need to know hand to hand combat to survive..."
"Fine...whatever you say," John nodded and punched 'Crais' with his right then left fist before side kicking the punch bag and then using the palm technique Aeryn had taught him. Aeryn gave John a surprised look, "You're not as bad as you make out. Your technique is good. Maybe we should move on to disarming?"
"Disarming? How the hell am I gonna disarm someone?"
She gave a smile and threw him her pulse pistol, "Aim it at me!"
"You are kidding..."
Aeryn shook her head, "Look, its not armed, aim it at me!"
John did as he was told. "Now this technique can also be used for getting information"
"You mean it hurts." John stated.
She smiled and nodded, and sprang forward and twisted his arm around behind his back and pushed it roughly causing John to drop the pulse pistol and swear with pain. "See. Effective," she said releasing his arm. "Yeah...a little too effective." He replied, rolling his shoulder forward to try and relieve the aching.
"Well? Demonstrate it to me then." Aeryn said, aiming the pistol at John. John scowled and grabbed Aeryn's arm and did the same technique shown but pushed with all his weight causing Aeryn to curse something in Sebacean that his translator microbes couldn't translate, "Good..." she groaned as John let go of her.
He gave a sly smile, "Yeah, thanks!"
"You can disarm by kicking the gun out of their hand, or slam their arm or hand against something hard. I won't demonstrate this as I am sure you can figure it out." Aeryn studied John,
"For a lesser species you are actually picking this up rather quickly that I first thought, unlike flying a transport pod. Perhaps we should work on some flooring techniques, seeing as your kicks seem to be alright?" she asked.
John shook his head and backed away, "Ohhh no. No. You are not coming near me."
"Come on John. What are you afraid of?" she said with a smile that John considered to be seductive in human terms.
John gave Aeryn a sideways look, "What do you think?"
"I promise I won't hurt you. Well I'll try not to hurt you. Now come on! You wanted training didn't you?"
"Well yeah, I did but you scare me...a little."
Aeryn smiled at this. "I scare you?"
"Yeah, you do," John replied.
Aeryn took a step forward and watched John flinch slightly, "Come on John," she said holding out her hand for him to take, "I really will do my best not to hurt you. Okay?"
John nodded, "Okay, I'm ready... this is gonna hurt isn't it?"
Aeryn shook her head, "Don't worry, now come here," John stepped forward. "Now usually John you can floor someone if you hit them hard enough, but if that is not the case, when you hit them or kick them, trip them up with a swipe of your leg and combine it with another punch at the same time. As they are still off balance from your first punch they should fall easily. If not then grab their arm like this...." She moved into John and took his arm in a lock and moved her shoulder into his chest, "And then trip their leg and push into their chest with your shoulder at the same time."
"What like this?" John said, and using the second technique, floored Aeryn by surprise. But he had misjudged his own balance and came down on top of her. Aeryn smiled up at John,
"Now this looks familiar..." she said with a smile. John didn't move, he was frozen to the spot staring into Aeryn's grey eyes and she was staring into his. They shared a gentle kiss, before Aeryn pushed him off, "John...I think we'd better go to the centre chamber... everyone will be up and it's my turn to make breakfast today..." "Your right..." he replied helping her up. "One thing though...that will never happen again. Right?" he said with a smile. Aeryn just smiled back and shook her head. "No...Never."
The End.
It was early morning on Moya. John guessed it was probably between the forth and fifth arn. He had been awoken by Aeryn after asking her to train him the previous night. He was regretting it now.
"Move it!" Aeryn ordered, pulling the shimmering golden sheet of John, "I am not wasting my time if you are not prepared to put in the effort."
John groaned as his eyes adjusted to see Aeryn standing over him in what looked like a tracksuit with her long black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. "Yes Miss Drill Sergeant..." he muttered as he stumbled out of bed.
She looked at him and shook her head, "You want training; you will be trained to fight the way I was. Here put these on." She shoved some sort of black tracksuit into John's arms.
"Uh Aeryn...a little privacy perhaps?" John asked.
Aeryn glared at him, "There is nothing there that I haven't seen before. You are just wasting time that could be used on making you become more useful in battle."
Reluctantly John changed in front of Aeryn and he wondered whether her superior officers watched her. "I wouldn't put it past the Peacekeepers," he thought to himself. He glanced up momentarily and could have sworn that he had seen Aeryn glance at his... he shook that thought off. She would never look at what she considered a deficient species in that way would she? His thought was soon interrupted.
"I haven't got all day. It's my turn to make breakfast, and I have more important things to do than train you... I bet in a battle situation you wouldn't last ten microts even with training!" Aeryn snapped.
John was regretting this more every minute. Aeryn was reluctant to train him last night and it was only when D'argo suggested that he may become more useful with training that she agreed. Now he had the feeling he would become her personal punching bag. "At least Zhaan will be on hand to heal my wounds and fractures," John thought to himself, "if she doesn't kill me first."
He finished dressing in record time, so as not to piss Aeryn off any more than he already had this morning, and on the way to the Cargo Bay he walked in silence behind her. The Cargo Bay was cool, and John shivered, "Why did I leave my nice warm bed just to get beaten up in the cold?" he thought to himself.
"Face me," Aeryn said coldly.
John did as he was told and faced his opponent. He wasn't even sure he could hit a woman, but he would have to if he was going to survive this, and no doubt he'd miss anyway. "Don't we have to...uh...warm up first?" he asked.
"If you were in a battle situation do you think your enemy will give you time to warm up? You are more stupid than you look."
John forced a smile, "Well we are not in battle, and I don't want to pull anything." He could see Aeryn was getting more agitated. "Look, do you want training or not?"
"Sure," John replied.
"Okay. Show me what you've got"
"What?"
"HIT ME!" Aeryn growled. John hesitated for a second before swinging to punch her, but Aeryn caught his arm, twisted it around and tripped his leg so John ended up lying flat on his face. John groaned as Aeryn helped him up, "So, where did you go wrong?" she asked, obviously having enjoyed flooring John.
"Um...I'm not sure" John asked, shaking off the shock of the fall.
"You hesitated. In battle you do not hesitate to hit your enemy, or they will hit you first." She said, placing her hands on her hips in frustration . John frowned slightly, "Right. No hesitation," he said readying himself.
Aeryn sighed. He was picking this up more slowly than the dumbest recruit. "Okay, I'll hit you, and you have to block. Understand?"
"I think..." But he was cut short as Aeryn's jab smacked across his face. "See, no hesitation" she smiled.
John glared at Aeryn and then smacked her across the face. She shook off the punch, "Good. You're getting it." "Sorry." He said without thinking.
Aeryn shook her head, "You do not say sorry to your opponent. What kind of planet do you come from that says sorry to the enemy?"
"Well on my planet, it's wrong to hit women." John replied.
"Even the one that's training you?" Aeryn asked. "If you want to be trained then you are going to have to hit me so I can see where your technique needs improving. Okay, come here. If your opponent is too close to get a good jab in, show me what you would do." She moved so she was face to face with him, and John realized how attractive she really was.
"Um...well. I guess if it was a man I would well...knee him in his balls...uh mivonks," he stuttered, trying to control his thoughts.
"Good, but remember some creatures do not have them and females do not have them. Use the heel of your palm, and slam it into their chin or chest." She simulated it without hitting him. "You could also try elbowing them in the side just above the hip, tripping them up or pushing them back so you can hit or kick them. Look, after I finish teaching you, we will put all you learn into practice and you can spar with me."
"With you?" John asked, sounding slightly worried.
"Of course."
"So are you going to teach me a Pantak jab?"
"Not yet. You are not ready. Now concentrate. Stand there." She said moving him so he was standing a few paces in front of her. "Now I want you to kick me."
"Kick you? Right." He went to kick her but she moved and grabbed his leg, and pushed it back so he fell on his back again.
She shook her head, "You know, I never thought teaching someone to fight properly would be so hard. If you were a Peacekeeper, you'd be dead by now!"
John groaned, "Well the whole point of this was for you to teach me and not to kick the dren out of me!"
Aeryn held out her hand to help John up. "Now are you going to take this seriously?" she asked bitterly.
"I'm trying, but you make it impossible." He replied pulling himself up.
"I make it impossible?" Aeryn asked, shooting him a cold look. "You are the one who is making it impossible for me to teach you."
"Look, can we start again Aeryn? From the beginning?" John held out a hand as a sign of forgiveness.
"Alright," Aeryn replied, taking his hand. "Maybe we should try something else. Here. Use the punch bag. Pretend it's an enemy, and give it all you've got and I'll tell you where you need improving." She said, figuring that she was being a little too hard on the human. "Okay." John replied with a slight smile.
"Here put these on." She said giving him some small boxing gloves, or something similar to them.
For a moment John could have sworn that Aeryn was concerned, although he figured he was imagining it.
"Right. Imagine that this is... I don't know Crais perhaps? He has boarded Moya and is set on killing you. Neither of you have weapons."
"But I would have a weapon...I always have a weapon on me and I am sure Crais would also have a weapon..."
Aeryn gave a frustrated sigh, "Well what would you do if your chakkan oil cartridge ran out? You would need to know hand to hand combat to survive..."
"Fine...whatever you say," John nodded and punched 'Crais' with his right then left fist before side kicking the punch bag and then using the palm technique Aeryn had taught him. Aeryn gave John a surprised look, "You're not as bad as you make out. Your technique is good. Maybe we should move on to disarming?"
"Disarming? How the hell am I gonna disarm someone?"
She gave a smile and threw him her pulse pistol, "Aim it at me!"
"You are kidding..."
Aeryn shook her head, "Look, its not armed, aim it at me!"
John did as he was told. "Now this technique can also be used for getting information"
"You mean it hurts." John stated.
She smiled and nodded, and sprang forward and twisted his arm around behind his back and pushed it roughly causing John to drop the pulse pistol and swear with pain. "See. Effective," she said releasing his arm. "Yeah...a little too effective." He replied, rolling his shoulder forward to try and relieve the aching.
"Well? Demonstrate it to me then." Aeryn said, aiming the pistol at John. John scowled and grabbed Aeryn's arm and did the same technique shown but pushed with all his weight causing Aeryn to curse something in Sebacean that his translator microbes couldn't translate, "Good..." she groaned as John let go of her.
He gave a sly smile, "Yeah, thanks!"
"You can disarm by kicking the gun out of their hand, or slam their arm or hand against something hard. I won't demonstrate this as I am sure you can figure it out." Aeryn studied John,
"For a lesser species you are actually picking this up rather quickly that I first thought, unlike flying a transport pod. Perhaps we should work on some flooring techniques, seeing as your kicks seem to be alright?" she asked.
John shook his head and backed away, "Ohhh no. No. You are not coming near me."
"Come on John. What are you afraid of?" she said with a smile that John considered to be seductive in human terms.
John gave Aeryn a sideways look, "What do you think?"
"I promise I won't hurt you. Well I'll try not to hurt you. Now come on! You wanted training didn't you?"
"Well yeah, I did but you scare me...a little."
Aeryn smiled at this. "I scare you?"
"Yeah, you do," John replied.
Aeryn took a step forward and watched John flinch slightly, "Come on John," she said holding out her hand for him to take, "I really will do my best not to hurt you. Okay?"
John nodded, "Okay, I'm ready... this is gonna hurt isn't it?"
Aeryn shook her head, "Don't worry, now come here," John stepped forward. "Now usually John you can floor someone if you hit them hard enough, but if that is not the case, when you hit them or kick them, trip them up with a swipe of your leg and combine it with another punch at the same time. As they are still off balance from your first punch they should fall easily. If not then grab their arm like this...." She moved into John and took his arm in a lock and moved her shoulder into his chest, "And then trip their leg and push into their chest with your shoulder at the same time."
"What like this?" John said, and using the second technique, floored Aeryn by surprise. But he had misjudged his own balance and came down on top of her. Aeryn smiled up at John,
"Now this looks familiar..." she said with a smile. John didn't move, he was frozen to the spot staring into Aeryn's grey eyes and she was staring into his. They shared a gentle kiss, before Aeryn pushed him off, "John...I think we'd better go to the centre chamber... everyone will be up and it's my turn to make breakfast today..." "Your right..." he replied helping her up. "One thing though...that will never happen again. Right?" he said with a smile. Aeryn just smiled back and shook her head. "No...Never."
The End.