AN: So, it's been a while, I know. Things have been kinda rough. College and parent stuff, along with getting sick, going on a vacation and many other things. But! In this chapter, something really special happens with Dia and Jim! Enjoy!
They next day was filled with more deck swabbing and cleaning of many, many dishes. The crew of the Legacy ate like an army and, as Jim found out, Arcadia was no exception. She would laugh and joke with the crew as though they were friends. In reality, Jim knew she didn't trust them even as far as she could throw them.
After Dia led Jim down to the brig she removed her jacket once again. She walked over to his confused self. Jim quirked an eyebrow as she circled him.
"As I said the other night, I'm going to show you some weak spots." She moved to face him. "First, a blow to the back of the neck. It can paralyze the opponent long enough for you to get the advantage, or it can also knock them unconscious. A blow to the head will do the same thing." She pointed to his earring, "Jewelry is a weakness, all you have to do is tug them and it can rip them out of the flesh, causing a nice wound. Slapping a hand over a person's ears can disorientate them, the percussion of the slap will blow out their ear drums. The throat is a weak spot, whether you hit it or cut it, you can kill them from blood loss or you can crush their vocal cords. Poking their eyes will hurt and disorientate, remember that dirty moves sometimes are the best way to win a battle. Wrists and fingers are delicate and can be broken easily. The sternum, when hit, will cause the opponent to become winded. On large enemies who seem like they are immune to pain the best place to strike are their kidneys. A hard enough blow will actually cause them pain for much longer than the fight lasts. On men, groin shots are particularly effective." Here she paused to grin at him as he winced, "After that, kneecaps are extremely effective for rendering the person against you useless. Just a blow from the side or the front will cause the knee to break and dislocate. Ankles are weak spots too, especially the backs of them. Lastly, the toes are sensitive, so I always suggest proper footwear, which you have." She said, motioning to his boots.
Jim stared at her as though she had grown a second head. "How did you learn all of that?"
She looked at him with an innocent face, "Here and there, I suppose. Some was taught to me by Captain Amelia."
He shook his head in disbelief. Dia drilled him on some of the weak spots before they moved on to the physical part of the training.
The training that ensued was even more brutal than the last. Dia didn't hold back on her speed, but she did pull her blows so they didn't damage the poor boy too badly. She would practically dance around him as he stumbled to keep up with her.
At one point she was watching with an amused glint in her eye as he hopped around on one foot, after he had stepped the wrong way and left an opening for her to step on his foot.
"Perhaps I should take it lighter on you?" Dia asked while smirking. She was pretending to examine her fingernails, just to annoy him.
He glared at her furiously as a blush flushed on his cheeks. "I can do this!" He shook out his leg before getting back into the position she had shown him yesterday. "Come on! Let's go again!"
Dia had to give him points for not giving up. She slipped into her own position. Before he knew it she flew at him with a fast right hook. Surprising both of them, Jim dodged it immediately. They looked to each other with shocked looks.
Jim's eyes flickered from side to side for a moment before he threw a kick at Dia. Arcadia's instincts took over and she caught his foot before it made contact.
She grinned at him, "Taking advantage of a distraction, you're learning fast!"
He gave her one of his own signature lopsided grins back, "Helps when you have a good teacher."
She spared him a fast grin before an idea popped into her head, "Jim, you should watch when the Captain trains me, I'm sure you'll be able to learn a lot from that fight."
He looked at her as though she was insane, "You fight with the Captain?"
Dia rolled her eyes before wiping her face with a towel she had brought along. "Yes, Jim. How else do you think she trains me?"
Jim blushed. He never really put two and two together.
They ended the practice early since Jim was needed in the morning to help with the cooking. As they walked out of the brig, Arcadia was hyper-aware that Jim walked closer to her, their arms brushing against each other. She was thankful the dark atmosphere covered her blush.
The next few days were mostly uneventful. Mostly filled with cleaning, fighting, bruising, and resting.
One day, Arcadia was watching with an amused smirk as Silver had Jim scrape off the small crustaceans that had suckered themselves onto the bottom of the ship. Jim struggled with almost every single shell. It didn't help that Arcadia had managed to put a nice fat bruise on his right bicep the previous night in training.
Jim's training was also progressing at a satisfactory rate. He was no legendary boxer, but at least he could hold his own now.
Arcadia herself was nearing the ending of her own training with the Captain. Jim had watched the two practice fighting and was awed. The two female fighters moved with such stunning grace and fluidity, the level of which Jim would never match. They were almost evenly matched for each other in the fights. Where the Captain contained more speed and flexibility, Dia made up for in strength. They would be a force to reckon with when they fought side by side.
Jim found himself in the galley with Silver, peeling potatoes with a knife, when Dia visited him again. He was leaning against the hull of the ship, one foot on the floor, the other propped against the barrel holding the peeled potatoes. He was working at a slow pace when Arcadia stepped lightly down the stairs. She had her hair down from its usual pony tail and was falling over her shoulders with the smallest of waves. Her purple eyes shone in the dim light, but what really caught Jim's attention was the fact that she held a scratch on her left temple that was still bleeding.
Jim felt himself smirking and blushing at her gorgeous figure and he never noticed the knowing look that passed over the two teens from Silver. Dia's boots clunked along on the ground as she came to a stop before them.
"So, exciting job you two have here." She began with a small smile, "Mind if I join in? Captain has finished training me for the day and I figured I may as well do something useful."
Jim grinned at her as he glanced to Silver to see what he would say.
"Well, now." Silver reached over and grabbed a knife from the counter, "Such an outstandin' woman wantin' ta be helpin' a lowly cook like myself. Help yourself lass, it'll make the job go faster, I'd imagine."
He handed the knife to Dia, grip first, and she gladly accepted it. She took a seat on the floor, near the pile of peels, and grabbed a whole potato before going to work.
Jim watched amazed as Arcadia moved the knife at a blurring speed, peeling the potato in a few seconds.
"You also use knives?" Jim asked as he peeled.
Dia looked up from her work to grin at him, "The Captain insisted I learn a weapon. I chose knives. Guns are easy, but a knife is so versatile. Not to mention you can find a knife in almost any place, if not, a shiv."
Jim frowned at her slightly, "Shiv?"
"Any object turned into a sharp knife-like weapon." She filled in.
"Quite the knowledge you have there, Miss Williams." Silver remarked, also watching her as his mechanical arm went at a slightly faster pace than her own. "Makes one wonder where ya learn such things."
Her purple eyes narrowed on the cyborg as she kept cutting, "Makes one wonder why a stranger would be so interested."
Silver's eyebrows raised, "Well, ain't we got a tongue." He let out a short chuckle, "Well, a stranger's curiosity will have to be abated then."
Her only response was, "Indeed it shall."
When Jim had finished peeling the potatoes, Dia was called off by the Captain again for more studying of navigational charts. Arcadia sat through the lessons with a clearly bored expression on her face. Amelia wasn't blind. She could see her apprentice didn't have her mind in the charts.
"How about a break and a nice cup of tea, shall we?" Amelia said early into the studying.
Dia nodded gratefully and moved to prepare the hot beverage. The water warmed swiftly and soon Dia was placing a tray filled with an assortment of objects between herself and the captain. Both grabbed a cup for themselves and Dia poured the tea for Amelia before serving herself.
"So tell me, my dear trainee, what is it that has your mind so occupied of late?" Amelia barely hid her smile as Dia barely managed to not spit her tea out.
The younger looked up at Amelia with a shocked look, "I beg your pardon, Captain?"
Amelia scoffed in an unladylike fashion, "You heard me perfectly well you young kit. Something has worked itself into your head and you refuse to let it go." She waited for Arcadia to respond.
Dia looked at Amelia with a flustered look, "Well...it's just that...I've gotten rather close to Jim..."
"AH!" Amelia exclaimed, "So it IS the boy!" Her catlike grin didn't escape Arcadia for a second, "It's about time you found yourself someone to grow attached to. I was surprised it didn't happen sooner, with all the fine young spacers we've had on our crews before. I honestly feared the thought of walking into a storage room while you and some young scrap were about to get into—"
She was cut off by Arcadia's blushing self exclaiming, "Captain! Do you mind sparing me the details?"
"I'm just saying—"
"Amelia!"
"Well it's taken you so dreadfully long—"
"Captain!"
"I was beginning to think—"
"Would you please—"
"That you swung the other way—"
"Captain Amelia! Would you stop that!"
Amelia was grinning like a mad woman at Dia's obviously flushed and flustered self. Dia's face felt like it was on fire, and she was fairly sure it was colored to match. She looked away from the feline and stared at the floor. 'Do I really like Jim that much?' With a shock to even herself she thought, 'Yes...yes I really do...'
"Well, why don't you take our young Master Hawkins on a ride in one of the skiffs? It will do you two well. And if Mr. Silver has other plans in mind tell him I gave you permission; if he argues tell him to come to me." Amelia finished her cup and moved to the main charts of their voyage, waving a hand at Dia, "You're dismissed, Arcadia."
Arcadia nodded to the captain, finished her tea, and swept out the door with a flourish of her red coat. She strode down to the galley with ease, fanning at her face in a vain attempt to cool it. When she reached the kitchen she found Jim sitting on one of the tables idly swinging his legs back and forth. He appeared to be as bored as could be.
Dia couldn't help the grin that spread across her face when she saw him. Ever since she had that realization in Amelia's quarters, she couldn't get the boy out of her mind. She was practically skipping her way down the rows of tables before she reached the one she held a secret affection for.
"Jim!" She called out from directly behind him.
He jumped off the table, startled, before turning to her with a small blush. "Oh! Dia! What's up?"
"The captain wishes for me to take you out on one of the skiffs! Off we go then!" She was almost to the door when Silver appeared from the pantry.
"An' just where are ya taking my cabin boy, Miss Williams?" The cyborg asked with a smile on his old face.
"Captain told me to take him on a skiff ride, get him used to it." Dia said, her voice marginally less happy than before.
Silver glanced at the eager boy to the excited girl before heaving out a sigh, "Ah, you two get out of here and have some fun. You've both worked hard enough." He called out to them a they raced up the stairs, "Don't stay out too long, ya hear?"
Dia glanced over her shoulder at the chef, 'Perhaps he's not as bad as I thought...'
They reached the skiff quickly and she showed Jim the levers to pull and had him help her lower it out of the gate.
With a grin to him she sped them off into the stars. Their ride was relatively short. She found meteors to guide them through, passed another pod of Orcus, and they even managed to find an asteroid to follow in the wake of. The asteroid carried behind it a sort of dust like substance full of shining lights and deep hues of blue, purple, and green. When Dia took them out of the cloud they were both laughing from the sheer joy of flying.
Dia took a deep breath. Nothing in the 'Verse could compare to the sensation of flying wherever she wanted. She felt free from everything when she was in a skiff. Free of responsibilities, free of stress, and free of tension. She let the breath out in a sort of sigh as she leaned back in the boat, enjoying the view.
Jim couldn't stop the grin on his face. He loved flying more than anything. When he looked to see what Dia was doing the breath caught in his throat. Her hair was loosely swaying, framing her smiling, serene face. There was space dust throughout her hair, making it glitter slightly in the light. He took this moment to take in her very likable features, from her smooth skin and soft looking hair to her stunning eyes and stunning body. But it wasn't only her looks that had his heart beating so rapidly. It was also how she treated him. As an equal when he needed it, with care and...Dare he even say it: love? His eyes softened as he looked at her as he found himself gravitating towards her.
Arcadia watched Jim with a blushing face to match his own as he moved closer to her. He was standing in the boat in front of her as he offered her a hand. She took it with a confused glance. He helped her to stand, but due to the small space of the skiff, they were chest to chest, almost pressing against each other.
"...Jim?" Dia said. It came out as barely even a whisper as he moved one of his hands to the side of her face. He touched her cheek gently. The rough and calloused skin was warm against her chilled face and she leaned into it without really realizing it. Her eyes slid halfway shut as she gazed at his face that held a look of pure adoration.
"Dia...I..." Jim didn't need to say anything else. Dia moved her own hand to his cheek, sliding it to the back of his neck and pulling his face to hers as both their eyes closed.
Their lips met in an explosion of fire and passion. Both of the teenagers were inexperienced, young, and innocent, but the moment between them was unadulterated love as they moved closer to one another. Their bodies pressed together and both followed whatever their minds told them to do. Running on pure instinct.
Jim took a risk, his tongue slid against her lips, making her gasp ever so slightly. She let him enter her mouth after a moment's hesitation. Their tongues slid together, massaging one another, passionately.
Jim's free hand moved to her back, pulling her ever closer to him. Dia let a moan slip into the kiss as her hand moved into his hair, tangling into its brown locks. Jim pulled back from her mouth and placed his own on her neck. He laid kisses down the length of her neck and made it to her collar bone before she let out a small noise from the back of her throat.
Dia's body felt as though it was on fire as she felt Jim's lips move along her collar bone. She clutched at his jacket with her once free hand before reality snapped in. Her purple eyes snapped open as she gently pulled Jim from her neck.
He raised his head to her own and laid his forehead on hers gently, looking into her eyes with is light blue gaze. They looked at each other with such love and affection that it almost scared them. Almost.
"Jim," Dia started, her breath slightly labored, "I just..." For the first time in a long while, she didn't know what to say.
"Well..." Jim started, a blush covering his cheeks, "That was..."
"Amazing?" Dia filled in with a wide grin. He nodded with a grin to match.
"So, Dia...will you..." He paused and stumbled over his words, "I mean, I want you to be...Would you be—"
Dia gathered the gist of what he was trying to say and her face shone brilliantly as she smiled, "Of course, Jim, I would love to be your girlfriend."