"Alright, we're doing something a little different today," Nina opened her eyes once Steve started talking. The though of changing things up twisted her stomach into a knot. What she needed was stability. Some sort of routine.
"Instead of strength training we're going to focus on hand to hand combat," Steve went on to talk about why it was important, but Nina wasn't very interested in listening. She should have expected this, but it hadn't had time to cross her mind yet.
"Olivia, you're with Thor. Katerina, you're with me. Nina, Buck is going to show you the ropes. Are we all good here?" No.
Nina's heart was in her throat. After her last encounter with Bucky, she wasn't exactly eager to jump into another one. It wasn't that she didn't like him. Or that she didn't want to like him. The problem was that he was extremely intimidating and she was almost positive he didn't like her. Regardless of her dread, she found herself on her feet again.
"Have you ever been in a fight before?" He asked her as they retreated to one corner of the gym.
"No," The closest Nina had ever come to a fist fight was probably dealing with Olivia for the last few days. She'd never even considered laying a hand on someone. Not because she was against it, but because she knew she would get her ass handed to her.
"Make a fist," She did, clenching her fingers tight and ignoring her nails cutting uncomfortably into her palm. Since she had never made a fist for a long period of time she had never realized how awkward it felt.
Once Bucky was satisfied with her fist making capabilities, they moved on to stance.
"Widen your stance. Keep your leading foot behind you," He tapped her right foot with his. "Bend your knees. You want your center of gravity low. It keeps you grounded when you're defending and ready to move when you're not," Nina did what he said, instinctively lifting her fists to cover her face. As previously mentioned, she liked fights, so she wasn't completely ignorant. She'd watched enough boxing to be mildly educated.
"Good," Bucky adjusted her arms slightly. "Keep your chin down," She didn't struggle too much with the stance. Most people didn't. The problem was going to be keeping it in a fight.
"Now, you're going to be smaller than most of your opponents. That's an advantage. You'll want to aim for the throat or the chest, right here," He tapped the center of his chest. "You'll want to stun them. Knock the wind out of them. Go for body shots before you got for the face," He led her over to a heavy bag next.
He didn't give her any instructions at first, just watched to see what her natural instinct would be. Nina bounced on the balls of her feet for a second, shaking her arms out before positioning them. Before she struck she clung to the only knowledge she had. Use your whole body.
It wasn't a bad attempt. Bucky was actually a little impressed. She didn't have much weight to put behind a punch, but she didn't hit like a girl. That was for sure.
Nina returned to her stance as Bucky came up behind her. His hand touched her hip, guiding it back to mirror his own. "Keep your hips at an angle. It'll give you more power behind your swing when you turn into it," A shiver ran up Nina's spine as his fingers slipped away.
She took a moment to recover as Bucky backed up to give her space. She shook her head, trying to physically rid herself of the thought of him. It didn't work very well since he was only a few feet away, studying her.
Nina took another swing at the bag, grunting with the effort and slamming her fist into the worn leather. She jumped back, dropping her stance abruptly and looking to Bucky, her eyes wide.
"Whoa," She breathed out, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth.
Bucky smile back. It actually touched his eyes this time.