I'm not even proofreading, what is wrong with me? I'm just proud I'm writing long things again.


First step to showing you had a romantic interest was through flirting, right? That was what Terra was taught through the countless romantic comedies she had seen in her life: if you liked someone, you had to subtly show it through flawless, confident moves.

Terra knew she had no experience with flirting and if there was one thing Slade had taught her it was practice made perfect, so every day, after his required training, she made her own training for herself. Standing in front of her mirror, she would make herself recreate any flirting technique she remembered. Saying cute things, flipping her hair the right way, rolling her hips when she walked. She would create scenarios in her head where she could reach for his hand or his shoulder without it seeming awkward.

But after a week of trying and trying and trying, she realized that she couldn't say rehearsed lines without stumbling over the punchline. Her hair was too long and thick to control. She had no hips to roll. Whenever she thought she got the chance to touch him, she was too nervous. All she could imagine was his face slowly moving to her hand touching his and then to her face before asking what it was about.

She was supposed to be flirting. That was what her "training" was all about. But she recoiled whenever she had the chance and she would frown in the mirror every time she really noticed her gangly features and childish face. After a while, she just stopped trying and would just flop on her bed at night with a new kind of training.

You don't like him. You don't like him. You don't like him.

This, by far, had the worst results. No matter how times she tried to shake the emotions, her heart still raced at the sight of him.

In the first month Terra lived with Slade, her training was solely composed of him trying to get her to control the sheer strength in her powers. He would make her lift heavy boulders, create tornados, and disassemble masses of trees. However, as she failed to complete these actions without losing control, he discovered her real flaws and changed her training accordingly. Now she was doing activities that made her learn how to focus her attention. Long lessons about hand-to-hand combat and meditation had significant results on her control.

One evening, they both decided to eat dinner at the same time. They bumped into each other at the table. On days when this happened, if she was feeling particularly self-conscious, she would look down as she brought her plate to her bedroom. This night, however, she sat across from him.

"How are you this evening?" he asked gently while eating.

"Okay," she replied shortly, drumming her fingers against the table. He looked at her hand and she stopped quickly, hiding it under the table, "Sorry," she muttered.

He did not reply.

As he ate, she sat there, looking at her food, "Are you okay?" he finally asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered. He did not ask anything else.

Say something! she scolded herself.

"Slade," she said, too abruptly. He looked up and her cheeks went red.

Think of something to say, idiot! The second of silence was too long.

"Um, how are you this evening?"

Worth a shot. The hand that was just fidgeting now clenched in her lap.

It was another lengthy second before his face transformed into the tiny hint of a smile.

After two weeks of sole hand-to-hand combat and meditation, Slade commanded she create a tornado. She wanted to argue her way out of it, but she obeyed the request. To her surprise, she could keep control of it for a much longer period of time than she had ever before.

She couldn't help but keep a proud smile on her face as she looked at him with puzzlement, "…How did that happen?"

"When one approach wasn't working, we found another that was more effective. Sometimes the most obvious approach is the best one to use."


I think I have scared off all my readers by writing something Slerra. My writing is normally so innocent. ...oops