The dark morning had just begun to grey as the sun hovered just below the horizon. She could see her opponent clearly but the warm light that sunrise usually promised hadn't made its way to the courtyard. The young man was crouched and ready, his fists bound in swaths of cloth down to his wrists, his dark skin firm over slender muscles as he tensed, waiting for her attack. Tiny puffs of hot breath made little clouds in the morning chill. Having finally broken into a sweat from her morning workout, she could feel the cold permeating her skin and down to her bones. The only way to stay warm was to keep fighting.
"Ready?" She grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet, watching the young man before her. He smirked in response and she swung out at him, a right hook perfectly placed was expertly blocked. He kicked out at her leg and she lost her footing grabbing at his arm wrenching him towards the ground with her. She twisted as the fell to the ground, caught off guard he was already trying to scramble away from her but despite her still healing hands, her grip on him was like iron. She hooked a leg around him and twisted on top of him, her free hand swinging a wild uppercut into his abdomen. She felt his hands grip at her hair twisting her braid around his fist and pulling her head back, forcing her to let go of him. She rolled to the side landing on the ground beside him and he released her.
"Cheap fuckin shot Harris." A familiar voice broke the morning silence. She stared up at the sky which had begun to slowly fade from grey to a bluish lilac. She stayed where she was, her hand flopping to her abdomen feeling her diaphragm as her breathing slowed once more, but she could hear Harris scramble to his feet.
"No rules, no holds barred." Harris muttered his explanation. She sat up and leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees.
"Fighting fair gets you killed." She added in a light sing-song voice, finally raising her gaze to take in the sight of Negan in the fair light of the breaking dawn. His face was set in a mild frown, his focus set on Harris who spoke up once more.
"I should go help on kitchen duty." He said, she could tell he was trying to find some inoffensive route out of the courtyard and away from them.
"Fuck off Harris." Negan said flatly his focus turning to her as Harris scooped up his jacket and headed around the corner. No one spoke until the high pitched squeal of the heavy metal door silenced after a metallic thud. "Losing to Harris?" Negan approached her taking slow deliberate swinging steps "Let him get a bit close there didn't you?"
"Hand to hand combat is useful. I'm not useful if I'm not capable of beating the shit out of someone." She said coldly, moving to stand. The minute she began to rise she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder pressing her back down.
"And that entails a sweaty roll-around with a muscled up fuck boy?" he teased, a lilting grin spreading across his face. She looked up at him her gaze hard and defiant.
"If it did, it'd be none of your business." Her adrenaline was making her more bold than usual.
"Well, excuse the fuck out of me." He said taking a step back. "Everything is my goddamn business, especially if you're receiving such a poor education that fuckin Harris can dispatch you so easily." She stood, now that he had given her room to do so, and reached for her coat but found it had been kicked aside and lay at the edge of the court yard behind him.
"That was childish." She said turning to him, finally giving him her full attention. She refused to chase after her jacket, bearing the heavy chill that had begun to set in on her bare arms.
"When you're dealing with a child, you do childish things." He said a mirthless laugh in his voice. "And you are being a goddamn child." She flushed and turned on him.
"You want me to take on more formidable opponents?" she challenged, unable to stop her building aggravation at his tiny jabs. Normally she could ignore most of his poking and prodding but she was exhausted, freezing and he was bouncing on her last nerve. "I can show you what kind of child I am." She took several heavy steps towards him stopping just inches from his chest daring him to strike her to rise to her level of aggression, but she knew he wouldn't.
"Oh darlin, I am aware of how capable you can be." He smiled at her knowingly, and her gaze darted away for a moment, avoiding some dark memory "I think it's time for a little time out." Suddenly his voice was gentle, like it only was on rare occasions, in the deep of the night and in quiet morning moments. His reached out his arms, as if expecting her to simply embrace him. She couldn't decide if the gesture was genuine or mocking but either way she was annoyed. She shoved sharply at his chest to little effect. His hand shot out grabbing her wrist and pulling her roughly towards him, his other arm wrapped around her waist, his hand pressing into the small of her back "Well that was just fuckin rude." He growled in her ear. Her anger was ebbing as he held her close, her body betraying her as she felt his hot breath on her neck, but she refused to give in.
"I think you forgot." She said gently, her free hand limp at her side, refusing to react to him.
"Forgot what?" He murmured, his lips brushing against her neck.
"Your rules don't apply to me" She said simply, he straightened up and looked down at her, his face affixed in a small frown. She looked up at him and they watched each other for a moment then his face broke into a wide toothy grin.
"You are right." He laughed, releasing her and stepping back to snatch her coat off the ground. "You are a free agent aren't you?" He turned back to her the same wide grin on his face "You get to fuck around all you want. You gonna fuck Harris?" She shot him a withering glance and held out her hand waiting for him to hand her the coat. "No?" he asked pulling the coat just out of her grasp.
She stared at him hard, standing silently for a moment. He watched her in return, now genuinely curious about her response. Finally she stepped towards him and reached for the coat, snatching it out of his hand. "No." she said simply shrugging it on quickly, relieved to finally have some protection from the morning chill.
"No." he repeated, she wasn't looking at him but she could hear the smile in his voice, the satisfaction he felt with her answer "Well fuck me." He chuckled darkly with feigned disbelief.
"I'd rather not." She said zipping her jacket shut and looking up, he was closer than he had been a moment ago and he had leaned down to her height, his hands in his pockets.
"Well we both know that's not quite true." He grinned, "I think you want to." The rough whisper was warm as his lips formed the words close to hers. "I think you want to – really – really bad."
She leaned in reaching her hand up to cradle the side of his face her lips coming close to his ear before she murmured, "That doesn't keep me from saying no." She pressed her lips to his cheek then leaned back to look at him, her thumb brushing over his lower lip.
He hummed in response. "Well aren't you just a fuckin monster."
"I'm not the only one." She watched him through heavy lids, realizing how close she had gotten. She felt like a fine violin string being tightened beyond its strength, creaking over the bridge, threatening to snap.
A few eternally tense moments passed in silence. Instinct drove her towards snatching him by the front of his jacket and yanking him to her in a raw and violent tangle of limbs and uneven breaths. Instinct also told her to swing a lead pipe into his teeth for daring to grin at her like that. Logic won the day, however, managing to butt its nosey ass in and get her to back down.
"No" She said, her hand dropping from his face. The statement was solidly declarative, as though what might have happened next was some sort of agreed upon eventuality.
"No, what?" He asked his head tilting in faux curiosity.
"I need some sleep." Her voice was thick with restraint as she took a step back, turning to walk away. "Night shifts." She muttered. She knew he was smiling, could almost hear the low chuckle, but she refused to turn and look at him.
Grinning, and tongue in cheek, he watched her disappear through a heavy metal door at the side of the building. Goddamn she pissed him off but fuck if he didn't love it. The view of her retreat certainly helped. He turned to head towards the front of the compound; he had a particularly special run to go on today. He paused, looking back at the door she'd gone through, the main living quarters were in the other direction – that was the door he'd come out of, on his way from his room.
