Even living in a safe neighborhood and all, four girls living by themselves in a city felt a bit like a recipe for trouble. Max declared their home to be a gun-free zone, and not even Chloe was going to disobey her, not anymore, not when it came to that. But it was also agreed that they needed some way to protect themselves, at least in an emergency situation. So Kate found a wonderful Tai Chi class that doubled as a meditative practice she needed for her religion course, Max turned out to be pretty skilled at tossing people around like ragdolls in aikido, and Chloe joined Victoria each week at the university gym for a general self-defense course.
While the smaller girls liked their classes well enough, the other two seemed to take great joy in the chance to unwind. For Chloe, it was a newfound outlet for all that energy and rage that used to be otherwise directionless. For Victoria, it was an alternative to feeling like a twig who only ever talked a big game but couldn't back it up. She knew full well her money couldn't save her from anything, and now she was finally learning some skills and gaining some muscle tone – a trait that went well-appreciated by everyone, it seemed.
As it turned out, there were other reasons they liked taking the class together, as they were discovering.
Chloe arrived in the room shortly after Victoria did since she had a bit of a trek from work. She was in the midst of doing her stretches and she could feel Chloe eyeing her up and down. She should have been furious, and perhaps the old Victoria would have been. But she did it with such a cocky swagger and devil-may-care smile that it was hard to be properly mad at her. And it served as a silent reminder that she was sexy as hell. It wasn't as if Victoria hadn't stolen her own glances now and then. They were both beautiful, they both knew it, why not own it?
More people filtered into the room and finally their instructor, a TA from the chemistry department, showed up and got things rolling. Chloe stood up and gently pulled her hair back as much as she could, and Victoria felt herself staring again. Dammit, Chase, it's been like nine months and you're still this thirsty? How disgusting can you get. "Alright everyone, we're going to be practicing some throws and take-downs today."
The two looked at one another and couldn't help the small smiles on their faces, nor the slight blushing. Most everyone else would be pretty gentle with their partners, but Chloe and Victoria had a pretty good idea of one another's pain thresholds due to... extensive research. Toppling into the grass, being thrown against each other's cars, wrestling in bed after a big fight – needless to say, they were prepared.
There was a period of general instruction as the woman up front showed with a volunteer how to get an opponent off-balance or distracted with some of their previously-learned techniques. Leg sweeps and palm strikes and good old-fashioned punches, that kind of thing. Eventually they broke off into their pairings so that everyone else could give it a try as their instructor milled about and commented on their form.
"Do me first, do me first!" Again Victoria's head whirled for just a moment, trying to keep in the present, where sexy-time was not allowed. "Come on~ My feet have been dragging since 2:00, I need a pick-me-up." She laughed nervously and moved in close with a practiced soft-strike, still trying to get a handle on the moves and the placement of all her limbs. "Oh my god, Vicky, stop pussy-footing around and drop me already, I need my adrenaline fix."
Ahh, there it was, the slight tinge of frustration and anger that came from Chloe pushing her luck. With a growl, Victoria attempted a proper leg sweep. Practically speaking, it worked just fine, in that it sent Chloe tumbling back to the mat with a soft gasp. Unfortunately, without properly planting her own stance, she found herself falling along with her, landing on top of her girlfriend, blushing even more than before. "Sh-Shit, sorry."
To put a little cherry on this moment, she saw the TA out of the corner of her eye with an impish grin of amusement. "Not bad, Victoria. But until you've got a better grasp of your center of gravity, you might want to stick to pushing them off balance by hand." Tori stood up awkwardly, pulling Chloe with her, trying and failing to look appreciative for the advice.
"You okay?" she asked, looking toward her partner.
Chloe, naturally, had a huge grin that said she probably missed all the subtext of this entire exchange. "I'm great! I wasn't expecting you to fall on top of me, but neither will The Enemy, so I guess that works out." Finally, she seemed to note Victoria's slightly angled eyebrows. "Are... you okay? You didn't hurt anything?"
Just my pride. "No, I'm fine." Victoria was scowling now, and she knew it was murder on her face, but she was mad at herself for screwing up and ruining what she perceived as a kind of intimate moment. Even if none of that was actually true, it was how she felt currently. "Again." She took her pose, waiting for Chloe to take hers, so she could resume practicing.
Her second attempt, somehow, actually managed to be worse than the first. In trying to trip Chloe up or knock her over, she managed to make herself fall while her girlfriend remained rock solid where she stood. She was back on her feet in an instant, huffing and breathing heavily, ready for round three. This one was arguably the worst of all as she opted to avoid using her legs altogether, focusing instead on pushing and shoving with her upper body. This got her nowhere fast, and a slight shift from Chloe was all it took to send Victoria backwards on her ass. For a moment or two she lay there on her back, staring up at the ceiling and pouting slightly as Chloe giggled at her misfortune. But she eventually seemed to become aware that this was not her usual childish pouting, but more like the clouds on the horizon warning of a giant storm.
"Fuck, I'm sorry Tori. Here..." Chloe offered her a hand and that damn, charming smile, and finally Victoria relented and took it. The arm wound around her shoulders and Chloe waved to the instructor. "Gonna catch some air real quick." Outside the small room there was a series of benches and platforms next to the gym's lobby where Victoria was directed to sit. "This seems like it's not about being able to perform a take-down maneuver."
Slowly, she allowed herself to lean in against Chloe. "I'm not strong." Of course a sentence that vague could really only be met with confusion, and she knew she'd have to offer something a little more substantial. "I mean, I'm not, y'know... Strong. Max is braver than anyone I know. You're so headstrong and sure. And Kate is fighting battles against herself that I-" She had to stop herself here, knowing she'd been more than forgiven for her past actions. "But I'm just a spoiled rich kid with no spine. I thought maybe getting all buff would do the trick, but it just doesn't feel like me."
"Aw, princess, nobody says you have to be strong." It was a simple statement, but as always Chloe had a way of being a little bit too clever for her own good. "So you wouldn't win in a fight or a duel or whatever. Big deal. You'll always have us to look out for you. Besides, you're smart, wicked smart, scary smart. Sharp enough to cut a dude's throat. You're clever enough to avoid a fight before it begins!" Lips pressed against Victoria's cheek and she began to feel better. "You know what? You should be taking yoga. Get all limber so we can try some extra-cool stuff in bed."
Just as quickly Victoria was shoving Chloe and standing up from the little bench with a small smile. "Perv."
"You love it." Chloe was quick on the uptake and quicker on her feet, snatching Victoria's hand and pulling her toward the front door. "Come on, let's skip class. I have a new work-out regiment in mind, and it involves Ben & Jerry's and our couch."
As promised, the two headed back to the apartment in Chloe's truck and proceeded to sit down on the couch with ice cream, enjoying some silly show playing in the background. She could be persuasive when she really needed to be, and dedicated as hell, especially when it came to making someone stop being sad. So Chloe was alternating between bad puns, worse pick-up lines, and an unnecessary amount of flexing, showing off the few muscles she'd begun to develop. Victoria thought she might vomit all the ice cream if she kept laughing, and finally their relaxation calmed down.
Max and Kate walked through the front door with their usual chipper greetings. "We're gonna make some tea. You guys need anything?" Kate gave her girlfriends a knowing smile but otherwise left them alone. Victoria was adorably snuggled up to Chloe's arm, tracing her fingertip along the lines of her intricate sleeve tattoo.
"Nah, we're good, muffin. You and Maxine have fun." Victoria sighed pleasantly as Kate disappeared back into the kitchen with Max. "So you're, what, my tattooed knight, is that it? Coming to my rescue when I'm in peril? Fending off dragons and witches and all manner of spooky-scary creatures that want to destroy me?"
"Mmm, and princes too. You're not allowed to be used in some royal scheme to broker peace between nations. You're mine, I saw you first. Well, mine, and Max the bard's. And Kate the priestess'. But that's it!" There was more bright laughter, and any fears or worries Victoria had been feeling earlier that day were gone in a haze of terrible flirtation and delicious rocky road.
Victoria's fingertip made another loop around Chloe's tattoo as she purred with delight. "I know I've never really admitted it before, but... I fucking love your tattoos. It just adds to your whole hot rebel punk vibe thing, y'know?"
The girls on the couch were suddenly shocked out of their moment by the sound of a shattering mug in the kitchen, followed by a frightened cry from Kate. "Max!"