"Are you happy that you gave in?" Ella asked as she looked over at Deckard in his bed, a month after their initial moment together.
He pulled her into his arms with a smile across his face, "I was still scared that day but after we finally connected, I realized how foolish I've been to put it off all this time. How about you? Is this everything you hoped it would be while you pined for me for a year?"
"Wow, cocky much?" she replied, "But, if I'm being honest, I did pine and this is even better then I imagined it would be. I hate that we wasted time that we could have had but I know now I won't dare waste a second," she revealed.
Deckard smiled at her as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, "I pined too. Are you ready to train?" he asked as he began to move to get out of the bed.
"Yes even though I would much rather lay here with you for the entire day," she replied, "I know a few ways we could use the time," she smiled as she rolled on top of him, looking down into his eyes before leaning down and kissing him.
"I suppose we could use a warm up," he agreed, wrapping his arms around her to pull her closer.
Later that morning, Deckard began his journey down the stairs to train while Ella slid down her rope to join him.
She immediately took her usual defensive stance before she stopped and looked at him, "We need to change up our training routine somehow."
"What do you mean?" he asked, stopping in his tracks as he was readying to attack her.
"We've grown to comfortable with the same motions and that will make us ill prepared for a surprise attack or any attack," she replied, "We need to find a way to change up our tactics to stay fresh. I think we've grown too comfortable, especially now."
Deckard nodded, "That's not a bad idea. Follow me," he said as he walked past her to an area Ella had somehow not explored in her last year living in the building.
He led her into an old club area with a stage and booths where she imagined people once watched performances while they drank together, "How have I never walked into this room?" she asked, stunned.
Deckard shook his head, "You've tended to stay in the areas you know. Stay here and we'll kick our training up a notch," he said as he turned to leave.
"That doesn't make me nervous at all," she said to herself as she waited in the dark room, alone.
After a few minutes, lights began flashing from all around the room in colors and holograms came to life on the stage before her eyes. Ella became distracted instantly and let her guard down as she took in everything around her. While she was lost in her own thoughts, Deckard attacked from behind and got the jump on her sending her into one of the booths she'd been looking at when they first walked in.
Ella rolled over to get upright again and tried to get her bearings but she hadn't been in these kind of lights in over a year and she couldn't keep track of what was around her. The next thing she felt was Deckard grabbing her from behind, pulling her out of the booth and back onto the floor where she tried to regain control but he dropped her before she could.
Ella swung her feet out to take him off balance as she usually did but he was already gone and she was alone again. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second to get herself together and focus on sounds other then the music.
When she opened her eyes again, she heard a step coming from her left and she threw up her fist and felt it connect with Deckard's forearm, stopping his attack. Ella finally had a chance to gain the upper hand. She swung her leg up in a high kick and felt his shoulder make contact with her ankle before the lights flashed their way and she watched him get thrown into the same booth she'd just been in.
Ella moved from that spot and slid behind a pillar across the room, closing her eyes to listen for any sign of his approaching. She was listening but the song changed causing her to become distracted again and he attacked at the same moment, grabbing her from behind the pole with both arms, trapping her.
She raised her hand, "I was wrong," she announced as she pulled against his grasp, "Can we pause?"
Deckard let go and moved to stand before her, "What were you saying?" he asked, "It's so hard to hear over all the noise," his tone was condescending.
She rolled her eyes, "You are ready for anything which means I was halfway wrong but I am not ready for anything anymore. These lights and the music completely threw me. If there was someone here actually trying to kill me, I'd be dead."
"We'll train in here from now on and you'll be ready again," he replied as he reached out and grabbed her hand in his, "You'd be surprised how easy it is to get used to fighting in all the distraction once more. Wanna take a break until tomorrow?"
Ella nodded as she allowed him to pull her into his arms.