7. smile [double edged blake
Leanne smiled at Tori, who flushed brighter. Not only had she totally made a fool of herself in front of this good friend of Blake's, she'd made a fool of herself in front of a Thunder Ninja graduate, which made Leanne much more experienced and a hell of a lot better fighter than her. Tori felt a swell of gratitude that it was she who was teaching Blake how to use his Thunder Blade, ensuring that the Navy Ranger would be well armed and well kept when using it.
"I think it's kind of cool the way you came after me to help your friend," Tori's flush faded away, but she ducked her head shyly and smiled slightly. Only a few sentences after meeting the other ninja and she already liked her - it made it a lot harder to be jealous of 'some random girl' when the girl wasn't so random and was a well trained ninja. Her gaze rose to settle on Blake, whose smile sent her heartbeat to a screeching halt and sent any thoughts of asking Leanne for a couple pointers far from her mind.
"Yeah," he said slowly, his mouth forming the words as he smiled, his eyes bright. "Me too." Tori's flush came back with a vengeance. Blake had already admitted to liking her - at least, she was pretty sure he had - and then she'd taught him how to surf - a ninja should have more balance than that, but that didn't mean she objected to him hanging all over her as he struggled to stand on the board - so she should be used to the glances she got!
But she definitely wasn't.
His smile undid her in the worst ways possible. She felt sort of helpless, which was never good, and usually just smiled back uselessly, as if there was nothing else she could do in the face of his grin. She was sort of powerless when he beamed at her brightly and it wasn't fair in the slightest. In fact, if something or someone didn't say something or show up soon, she was probably doomed to make a fool of herself and do something like swoon or drool.
There was a bright flash of light. Tori flushed again and turned towards it, settling her body into a familiar fighting stance. She didn't think she'd ever say this again in her life, but - thank god for kelzacks.