Like Rising From the Ground:
"Hit me!"
"No!"
"Hit me!"
"Not gonna happen."
"Just raise your fist and I'll walk into it."
"What the hell is going on?!" Derek asked incredulously from the doorway to the loft and I immediately relaxed my stance as I turned to face him with a smile. Liam sighed in relief as he instantly backed away from me and I rolled my eyes at him as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Your girlfriend is insane!" the freshman snapped angrily as he pointed in my direction and I scoffed in disbelief as I shook my head at him like he was being overdramatic.
"I'm not insane! Why does everyone say that?" I asked in a whine as I stamped my foot like a child and Derek rolled his light green eyes at me as he headed towards the kitchen. I perked up when I noticed he was carrying grocery bags in his arms and I took a few steps forward as I bit my lower lip eagerly, "Is that…?"
"Yes, I brought rocky road ice cream." My boyfriend interrupted me from inside the kitchen before I could ask for exactly that and I grinned happily at the thoughtfully gesture. "Now, why were you asking Liam to hit you?"
"I'm trying to teach him how to fight, but Scrappy is afraid of hurting me so he's only hitting me with half his strength." I informed him in annoyance as I turned my attention to the Beta standing next to me, my eyes narrowed at him as he shifted uncomfortably at the accusation.
"Why doesn't Derek have to spar?" Liam demanded with a scowl as he crossed his arms over his chest and I rolled my eyes at him as I wandered over to the side table. I grabbed my towel as I wiped the sweat from my forehead and I noticed Derek walk back into the main room with two bottles of water in his hands.
"Because we do spar. Everyday. And he can actually beat me. Whereas you can't even land a proper punch."
"Yes, I can."
"Not that I've seen. Or felt."
"I can!"
"Derek, come show him how to throw a proper punch." I instructed my boyfriend as I walked over to accept the plastic bottle of water and he raised an eyebrow at me as he handed Liam the other bottle. "Hit me in the face."
"Yeah, I'm not going to do that. Now that we're together, it's domestic abuse." Derek replied in a joking tone as he crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at me pointedly.
"Only if I press charges! Come on, Der, please!" I urged in annoyance as I walked towards him with a pout on my lips and he stood silently with a blank expression on his face as I grasped his biceps. "You can't tell me you've never wanted to punch me in the face. Now's your chance!"
"I'm not going to hit you."
"Come on!"
"No."
"Okay, a good boyfriend would be supportive of my endeavour to teach," I said coyly as I spun around so that he couldn't see the smug expression on my face and I twirled the half-empty water bottle around in my hand absently.
"I brought you ice-cream!" he protested in an offended tone as he followed me across the room and I winked in Liam's direction, the kid standing off to the side of the training area watching their interaction in amusement.
"And now you're denying me the opportunity to advance my mentoring abilities." I concluded as I turned back around to look at me with a small smirk on my lips, planting my hands on my hips and he shook his head at me with amusement in his light green eyes because he knew that I was only trying to rile him up.
"Soph, he's a teenage boy with anger issues. He knows how to throw a punch." Derek interjected knowingly with a quirked eyebrow as he took the half-empty plastic bottle from my hand and I scowled at him as he finished the water.
"Thank you!" Liam exclaimed in gratitude as he gestured towards the elder werewolf with his arm but then a frown pulled at his lips when the meaning behind the words sunk in, "Hey, wait a second - !"
"Well, what do you suggest?" I asked my boyfriend testily, completely ignoring the subject of our conversation as I snatched the bottle back out of his hand and he rolled his eyes at me but didn't say anything.
"Algebra II." Derek stated as he gave me a meaningful look, leaning forward slightly with one eyebrow raised and I pursed my lips in consideration as I remembered the boredom I used to face sitting through that class every day. I used to write my own algorithms at the back of the classroom as I tuned out the droning of the teacher, trying to find something to occupy my overactive mind but everything just came to me so easily that I felt like I was going insane with boredom.
"You think this is like Algebra II?"
"I know this is like Algebra II."
"What's Algebra II have to do with this?" Liam asked impatiently with an angry scowl twisted on his lips, not liking being left out of the conversation when it was so obviously about him. I saw him roll his eyes when we both ignored him but I noticed the small upturn of Derek's lips and I couldn't help smiling slightly back at him.
"Downstairs?" I asked my boyfriend as I tilted my head in question and he shrugged his shoulders, silently telling me that it was my decision. I grinned widely as I clapped my hands together excitedly, happy to be doing something that stimulated my mind and I strolled over to a silently brooding Liam as he glared at me for not including him. "Come on, Scrappy."
I grabbed his wrist tightly, ignoring his protests as I dragged him towards the loft's front door and I waved to Derek over my shoulder as we walked out into the corridor. Liam stopped fighting me as we headed downstairs to the basement storage area where I kept a mini arsenal in case of emergencies. I held open the door for him to pass through first and he gave me a look like he thought I was crazy but I just smiled back at him as I flipped the light switch on.
"Whoa!" Liam breathed out in awe as he looked around the room, taking stock of all the weapons on display and I smiled widely as I dropped my hold on his wrist.
"Welcome to The Armory." I said proudly as I walked into the middle of the room with my arms held out to my sides and he slowly wandered further into the room while his gaze flickered around.
"What – What is this place?"
"Chris gave me all of the Argent's weaponry to look after when he left for France. Derek let me turn the basement into a weapon storage, munitions store, whatever you want to call it. Every weapon you can think of, there's some version of it in here."
The scent of metal emanated around the room as I walked the Beta careful survey each case of weapons and I noticed that his gaze lingered on the locked glass cabinet containing a Armalite AR-50 sniper rifle. I knew it was kind of overwhelming walking into The Armory for the first time and being surrounding by the assault rifles, pistols, shotguns, machine guns, Chinese ring daggers, throwing stars, compound bows, longbows and so many other weapons.
"Is that a freaking broadsword?!" Liam asked incredulously in excitement as he turned towards me with wide eyes and I chuckled at his expression as I strolled towards where he was standing next to the glass case.
"Yep. Be careful with that. It can slice a grown werewolf in half with the right force behind the swing." I warned him honestly with a grimace on my lips as I crossed my arms over my chest and he cringed in disgust as he took a deliberate step back from the weapon. "So, let me walk you through the basics. This, obviously, is a broadsword. It is a pain in the ass to use in a fight. But if you know how to handle a sword, it should be easy to replace it with a branch, or a metal pipe, or a baseball bat."
I lectured him in a firm voice as I unlocked the case with the passcode lock and I carefully removed the sword from the hold with two hands. Liam watched me as I headed further into the room, moving towards the sparring mat in the middle of the room and I turned around to face the Beta as I demonstrated how to properly hold the sword, "Grip the sword with your dominant hand right below the guard and grab the pommel, the handle. With the left hand, grip the sword tightly with the pinky, ring, and middle finger, the others should have a semi-tight grip."
"Okay…" he breathed out under his breath with a concentrated expression as he accepted the sword I handed him and I expertly corrected his hand placement.
"That's good. Hold the sword so that the pommel is right above your bellybutton but don't rest it on the stomach, keep it a little ways out and point the tip somewhere between the sternum and throat of your opponent. Now if they charge full on they'll run into your weapon. When striking, stab at the sky, bringing your left hand up past your eye, then come down on them, using your right hand to guide the blade and using the left hand to set the force in to the blade."
"Like this?" he asked seriously as he attempted to do the right movements with serious expression and I grinned proudly as I crossed my arms over my chest while I watched him.
"Nice! You're a natural, kid."
"Hey, once I get this, can I learn how to shoot a gun?"
"I'm not sure I like that glint in your eye, but sure, what the hell?"