A/N: Hey there true believers, yet another update. I'd like personally thank everyone who has read, faved, followed, and reviewed. At this time I would also like to take a moment to address something I've been seeing in some reviews. I see people asking about pairings, future events, and ideas for the future of this story. I love to see that, it tells me people are invested in what I'm writing but I'm letting everyone know right now I have no intention of reveling any future revelations about this this story. It would just ruin the point of ready the story and I hope you all understand. All that being said I hope you all enjoy this latest update and ad always be sure to let me know what you think. All reviews and constructive criticisms and critiques are welcome.

Yang had come to fetch Clark early the next morning. He had already been up for about a hour before the sound of pounding on his door caused him to stand and meander over. Slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder he swung the door open. There was Yang in baggy sweats with her hair tied back into high ponytail.

"Mornin' sunshine, you ready to get pounded into the mat?" she said with a smile as she planted a light punch on his arm.

"Sure thing, just don't hurt me too bad hehe," he said with a small chuckle as he closed the door behind him.

"No can do Smallville, if your gonna run with us you better be able to keep up or you'll get left in the dust."

"Okay, but can you at least go a little easy on me?"

Yang stopped for a moment and gave him an appraising look.

"Hmmmm...no," she said with a smirk after pretending to think about and Clark could only laugh.

As the pair exited the dormitory building and headed out onto the grounds Clark took in the familiar sight of the world before dawn. Just like the morning before the air was cool; perhaps a little chillier, not that I'd made a great deal of difference to Clark, he had never bothered by the cold, nor had the heat ever given him issue for that matter.

The fog that floated over the grass created a very calm and serene scene and the sky was just beginning to lighten as the sun approached the horizon. Clark silently wondered if Blake was up somewhere watching too as he turned to look at Yang and watched her stretch her arms over her head before taking a deep breath and letting out a long satisfied sigh.

"Ahhh, love that brisk morning air! Really wakes you up, don't you think Smallville?" she said with a real vigor I'm her voice.

"Yeah, you bet," he said without really knowing. He had never once had to problem getting up in the morning regardless of the time of year, whether the air was brisk or oppressive made very little difference to him. But he wasn't about to start an argument about the energizing properties of different types of morning air.

"Well, let's get moving, gotta get warmed up, don't want you pulling something," she said cheerily as she stretched her hamstrings and quads before jogging in place to get her blood pumping.

Clark copied the movements he had seen her do; not that he really needed to, but he went through the motions regardless knowing it would look off if he didn't.

"Alright let's roll out," she said eagerly as tworled her finger in a circle above her head in 'let's get moving' motion before setting off at brisk jog.

Clark followed suit and stuck close behind watching her golden mane bounce as she ran. Her heartbeat was as steady as a metronome as she pumped her legs and moved across the campus. Yang would look over her shoulder every once and awhile and smirk at him. After a few minutes at a steady pace she spun around and began to jog backwards kicking her knees high raising them nearly to chest level.

"Come on Smallville is that all you got? If you can't keep up we're gonna have some problems," she teased with a smirk and Clark couldn't help grinning goofily back.

He weighed his options in that split second exchange. He could just zip past her but that didn't seem to be appropriate given the information he had given her. Maybe he could just jump over her, that would be appropriate but was it needed? Did he really need to try and show off? She up early and trying to help him, despite her teasing, she had been rather kind to him...in her own strange way. Was there really need to do much of anything? In the end he just decided that; in fact, there wasn't and he opted to just spin himself around and matched her pace.

"I'm not here by accident, I do know how to run," he said with a toothy smile as he backpedaled right up next to her before bumping her lightly with his shoulder.

She laughed and bumped him back before turning forward again and continuing her run in a normal manner. Clark, for his part, just kept running backwards for a bit and pulled ahead of her before spinning to face frontwards again.

"Getting a little froggy huh Smallville?" she said cheekily as she caught up to him. He just turned and smiled down at her as he adjusted his glasses. "Well don't get too used to it, were almost to the gym and that ain't jogging, things are gonna get real for you real quick," she said through an almost savage grin.

After a steady jog of about fifteen minutes the duo arrived at their destination. Yang let out a long sigh as she put her hands behind her head to allow her ribs to open up so she could breath deeper and more easily. Each of her breaths sent a stream of misty vapor into the air that swirled and roiled before dissipating into the cool air. Clark could see the small beads of perspiration forming around her hairline and the slight dilation of her pupils. But the relatively slow and steady beat of her heart told him she wasn't anywhere near being actually winded, this breathing ritual was out of habit not necessity.

"Okay Smallville, go the the locker room and get those knuckles of yours and I'll meet you in the sparring arena, and get ready to get laid out," she said once she caught her breath her confidence ever presence.

"Sure thing," Clark said reverting to his slightly meeker state.

This was going to be an exercise in restraint the like of which he had never experienced before. Clark had never been drawn into a fist fight before. Granted this was a friendly sparring match to teach him proper technique but he was still going to have to hit her, and that was a whole other set of issues he knew he needed to get over while he was here. Not only did he have throw a punch hard enough to make it feel like it was real but he was also going to have to hit a girl. He knew this was an inevitable occurrence and he knew Yang was a tough and her aura would help protect her but hitting a lady was still gonna be a hang up for him.

But as they entered the facility this thought process fell away from the forefront of Clark's mind. Walking in they noticed that the whole building was virtually empty. There was an attendant standing near the entrance and maybe two other students that had decided to start their training early as well. All in all Clark was glad for the sparseness this morning, the less prying eyes the better.

Walking into the locker room Clark spent as little time in there as he could. The whole idea of a unisex locker room was an extremely improper concept in his mind. Everyone here was a young adult and they should be expected to act as such. But at the same time...everyone here was a young adult, and that meant hormones were still running wild and the idea of a shared locker room seemed like it was asking for trouble. He silently thanked God his parents didn't know about this particular aspect of Beacon. But there was nothing to be done about so he just had to get into the habit of moving in and out swiftly. So Clark just grabbed his Graviton Knuckles and went to the training arena.

He stood in the center of the arena with his arm swinging limply at his side as he looked around and took everything in. He could tell just by looking that this place was built to take a beating. There were superficial scorch marks and scratches all over the battle area but there was not real damage. This place had been through the ringer but hadn't really been harmed in any meaningful way. But it had never had anyone like him fighting in it. Then again it's not like he was ever going to cut loose here, that was something Ozpin was going to deal with their private lessons.

"Okay Smallville, arm up and let's get down to business," Yang called from across the room.

"Alright, just don't get too…" Clark began but cut himself off once he turned around and saw Yang.

He felt the heat rise up his neck, run across his cheeks before spreading to the tips of his ears. She was wearing what amounted to little more than a sports bra and a pair of extremely small and tight shorts.

There was never a doubt in Clark's mind that Yang was an extremely fit woman; not that he had given it a great deal of thought over the past twenty-four hours, but right now it had become abundantly clear to him just how well she took care of herself.

Clark had been raised not to stare but he found he couldn't stop himself. Her exposed midriff showed her abdominals flex and tighten as she began to stretch out and loosen up. The muscles of her arms and shoulders were astonishingly well developed and much larger than Clark would have thought, although not coming close to what he would consider unattractive or bulky. It was her legs that seemed to stand out more than anything else, especially once she started extending and stretching them. He could see the sinew and muscle of her quads and calves tense and relax as she set to her task of limbering up. But once she bent over to finish her routine and his eyes; completely against his will, began to wander, he felt something shift in him and it was not something he could say he expected.

He had seen plenty of attractive women in his time, and he was abundantly familiar with the...reactions that came with that. But what was happening now was entirely different. As he felt the heat rise from his core and into his face his eyes began to feel strange. They felt like they were heating up almost like he imagined burning would feel like, but there wasn't anything he would call painful when suddenly he knew what was happening; or thought he knew. He looked away as a focused beam of plasma shot from his eyes and struck the wall with a small sizzling pop before her shoved his hand over his eyes until the blast of heat stopped, leaving his eyes feeling gummy.

"Okay are you read...are you serious right now?!" Yang began as she stood straight and turned around before her tone shifted from cheery to irritated as she laid eyes on Clark covering his eyes with his face shining bright red.

"I'm sorry I just...it's just…can you put your sweatsuit back on?" he asked; nearly pleaded, almost desperately.

"No I will not! This is what I like to train in and you just need to get over it! This is ridiculous Kent, haven't you ever seen a girl before?" she almost shouted, her voice sounding distinctly aggravated and utterly flabbergasted.

"None like you," he said without thinking and he could swear he heard her heart skip at the statement.

"Ahem, well, you still need to get over this, I refuse to be ashamed of how I dress...and you can't fight with your eyes closed," she mumbled.

"...alright….okay, I'm sorry," he mumbled as he began to hesitantly remove his hand from his face. His eyes had never once done what they had just now, and he didn't have any idea how to control it. The last thing he wanted to do was inadvertently incinerate a classmate.

"Today Smallville," she said sounding very near to irritation.

Taking a deep breath Clark removed his hand fully from his face but kept his eyes closed. Then slowly he let one eye split open then the other. Once both eyes were fully open he very hesitantly let his gaze shift back to Yang.

She was standing there with one hand on her hip her cheeks slightly puffed out in irritation. But; while Clark could feel himself flush again, he didn't feel that same burning sensation in his eyes.

"We good? Can you be an adult this?" she said exasperated.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I just...well, I'm not used to," he started to stammer out but Yang's scowl switched to a cocksure grin.

"Well, don't sweat it too much, I mean, I get it, it just can't be helped sometimes,so I guess I can't blame you too much," she bragged a bit as she flexed her right bicep before shooting him a grin. "Speaking of sweat, do you want to change? This is sparring, you're not trying to cut weight, your gonna be sweating like crazy in that," she said gesturing to Clark's baggy and oversized training attire as she made an attempt to change the subject.

"I'll be fine."

"If you say so, but don't be asking for a break every five minutes if you start to overheat." she said as she lifted her duffle bag and tossed it off the arena floor. "Well, let's get down to business. First things first show me your fighting stance," she said her voice suddenly becoming very business like.

Clark; a little shocked by the tonal shift, obliged all the same and took the boxing stance he had seen his father take in some of his old high school photos. Or at the very least he did his best approximation of that. Jonathan Kent had never shown his son how to throw a proper punch being afraid; rightfully so, that if Clark ever managed to put his weight and full body behind a punch the effects could be devastating. Instead he just helped his son train himself to hold back, to be careful, to exercise caution.

"Okay so you're a southpaw, that's good to know," she said as she walked around him and examined him. "Not awful, but, not good either," she said very clinically.

"First things first, your feet are too close together you gotta broaden your stance," and Clark did as he was told and could hear Yang sigh in exasperation. "That's too broad, here," said and manually positioned his legs. "You have to angle your feet too, create a strong foundation, and angle your body, you want to create as small a target as possible," she gripped his shoulders and turning him slightly. "Hands up, near your face and elbows tight against your ribs, protect yourself," she said as she finished moving his body around and slapped his forearm and made him knock himself on the face. "Arms tight Smallville if your too loose they won't do you any good," she snickered before taking a step back looking him over.

"Am I good?" he asked a little nervously.

"Ehhh, good enough," she said making a 'so-so' motion with her hand. "You'll learn more as you go, especially after you start taking some hits," she said in a tone that nearly bordered on dismissive as she started to put on what looked like bracelets before giving her arms a flick and the golden bands transformed into the weapons he seen her use in the forest.

"Okay...uhh, let's do this,"Clark said with a clearly false sense of bravado as he slipped his knuckles over his hands. With a quick slamming of the dusters their mechanisms sprang to life for the first time since he had received. With mild surprise he watched as the metal spread up his forearms, past his elbows and biceps before stopping at his shoulder and connecting across the span of his upper back.

"Ooh, fancy, let's see how they stack up to Ember Celica," she grinned eagerly as she slammed her own fists together, and before Clark knew what was happening she had leapt at him and their session had begun.

Yang let loose a flurry of blows at Clark with a savage tenacity. Each strike came in a good deal faster than Clark would have expected from normal person and he was reminded once again that; although he unique in this world, he was not the only one who was exceptional.

Each punch hit with a level force that surprised Clark and even though he wouldn't say any of them hurt, the level of power behind each blow was quite substantial. He blocked most of her strikes but he did allow one to pass by his defense and hit his body and he crumpled over and acted as though the wind had been knocked out of him. But Yang immediately jumped back after her strike had landed with a look of mild shock plastered on her face.

"You weren't kidding about the "Man of Steel" thing huh?" she said said as she stretch her fingers.

"Oh geez, you're not hurt are you?" Clark said in a concerned voice as he ran over to her, only to realize too late she was smirking. He felt her fist drive itself into his jaw as he heard the small sizzle of dust igniting before a thunderous boom filled the arena and he was sent rocketing back into the reinforced wall.

"Piece of advice Smallville, never lower your guard," she told him cheekily as she walked over to him and offered him her hand as he shook the remnants of dust out of his hair.

"Thanks," he said as he reached up and took her hand only to feel himself being yanked up and pulled over her shoulder as she threw him back across the arena where he landed flat on his back.

"What did I just say?" she said as she looked down at on the floor, her voice equal parts exasperated and amused.

"Okay, okay, I get it, just help me up," he grumbled as he stretch his arm out.

"Alright ya big baby," she teased as she gripped his hand and realized too late what was happening.

Even from his position on his back Clark was still more than strong enough to overcome any leverage advantage Yang may of had and with a quick jerk he knocked off balance as he swiftly sat up and drove his fist into her stomach. For the first time Clark felt his Graviton Knuckles engage, telling him he was exerting too much force. He dialed his power back just as his fist met Yang's skin and the restraint mechanism switched off. Even with him pulling his punches the force of the blow was still enough to drive the wind out of her lungs and send her soaring across the room.

Unlike Clark however Yang was able to right herself midair and managed to land on her feet with a small grunt. Clark rose to his feet and saw her holding her stomach with one hand her face equal parts shocked and elated as an enormous grin spread across her face.

"So, the farm boy has a little fight in him huh? Good, I thought I might get bored," she grinned eagerly as she wiped a little spittle from her mouth before she began to shake out her limbs and hop from one foot to the other before falling back into her combat stance. Her entire demeanor had changed, she was excited now, she was eager, and almost shivering in anticipation.

"Well...come on then," Clark taunted; yes taunted, and beckoned with his hand for her to come at him and she was more than happy to oblige.

After knowing for certain his equipment would do exactly as Ozpin intended Clark was a lot less hesitant about hitting back. Granted he still wasn't happy about hitting a lady, but Yang wasn't holding back and he wasn't about to be a doormat.

He still allowed her to control the pace and flow of the match although he was by no means just laying down and taking a beating. But he noticed something strange as the fight dragged on. Every time he did land a punch on Yang she seemed to throw it back even harder. She had almost seemed to have stopped slipping and dodging his blows in favor of blocking his strikes even when he knew it would be better for her to avoid the attack all together.

His next strike fist found its mark and he could actually feel her aura react to the hit. It seemed to flex, surge then recoil as she wrapped her arm around his; pinning it to her side, and just began to unload haymaker after haymaker to his stomach before driving an elbow across the ridge of his brow knocking his glasses askew and following up with a powerful kick to his sternum to drive him back.

"Geez...you're like a piece of iron," she said with huffing breaths as she pulled air greedily into her lungs, but the smile never left her face.

Clark was; for his part, was still conveying like he was still on the losing end of a fight. He couldn't force himself to sweat or raise his heartbeat but he did hold his stomach as he grimaced in a reasonably convincing display of pain and quickened his own breathing.

"Well...I...have...to be...good at...something," Clark joked through the huffs of artificially heavy breaths.

"Hehe, that's true, ready for round two?" she nearly cooed with an almost feral glint of joy in her eye.

In response Clark simply put his hands up and grinned. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this to some degree. He had never been able to do anything like this before and he was having fun, he really was. Sure he had smashed steel doors, lifted cars, and run from one county to another in seconds but this was different. Much like his initiation he wasn't hiding here, not entirely, and it was liberating in a way he had never felt before.

The pair engaged again and began to trade blows once more only this time Yang actually seemed to be hitting even harder than before. Did she just get stronger as the fight went on? She hadn't seen fit to tell him her semblance the day previous and it seemed like she was showing it off now, even if he didn't know exactly what it was.

As this exchange was drawn out a few things became clear to Clark. First, Yang was an exceptionally skilled fighter, her skills were far beyond his own and if it weren't for his own personal power set she have certainly ground him into the mat like she had been threatening to do since she came to get him this morning. Second, she was definitely getting stronger the more they fought. At first her strikes had sounded like it would if she had hit anyone else, now each punch sounded like cannon fire when they landed. As he let his mind wander a bit he was brought back to reality by Yang's voice cutting through his thoughts.

"Keep your hands up," she grinned as she caught him under the chin with a brutal uppercut before planting her lead foot and unloading a storm of blows onto his abdomen before dropping low and sweeping his legs out from under him. He dropped to the ground and the back of his head bounced off the floor and he just managed to see Yang lunged forward and drive her fist down towards his face.

Clark was able to dodge just as her gauntlet clad hand crashed down right next to his ear. Reaching over, his fingers wrapped around her wrist and he pulled and rolled her over. He heard a small "whoa" escape her lips as she was rotated and there positions were reversed. Clark's knees slammed down on either side of her hips as he mounted her and raised his fist as she let a small gasp escape her lips.

"Mister Kent! Is this proper?!" she cried out in a mock tone of surprise but it was enough to give Clark pause as he realized exactly the position they were in. He felt is face turned red for what felt like the the millionth time in the past two days and realized gar too late that this was exactly what Yang was trying to do as she bucked her hips up in an explosive surge as she dislodged him and freed her legs. Pulling her knees up to her chest she managed to plant her feet squarely on Clark's chest and propelled him off of her with a double booted kick.

This time Clark managed to regain himself and landed on his feet and skidded back and felt the soles of his shoes wearing down. When he looked back Yang was already on her feet.

"You're too easy sometimes Smallville," she taunted through heavy gasps her breath staring to become ragged and raspy. Her entire body was covered in sheen of sweat and her hair was beginning to become undone from its tie and was now distinctly disheveled and beginning to fall in her face. Her heartbeat was in overdrive and cheeks had begun to flush from the exertion.

This was getting near the end of the match Clark thought. Yang wasn't about to back down and he knew there was no way she was ever going to beat him, not legitimately, and he needed to get this thing to end or she may actually end up hurting herself.

On the next exchange he was going to let this end he decided. The next good blow she landed he was going to drop. He had already let this go on a little longer than he probably should have anyway. So as they approached each other once more Clark purposely let his shoulders drop a little and allowed his footing to become sloppy.

But something was odd, something off when they came to blows this time. Yang seemed to be letting a lot more of his punches hit their mark and her own hits were considerably softer, and Clark began to berate himself for letting this go on for so long. But then he heard her heart start to race even faster, was she excited? A series a quick jabs landed square on Clark's nose and wound up and swung a huge sweeping blow than Yang ducked and her grin seemed to grow even broader and Clark realized what had been happening. She had been baiting him was the thought that flashed across his mind as she stooped low and drew both fists back.

"Boom," she said through an excited grin.

Shooting up; pushing off with both legs, she drove both her fists into Clark's stomach and the very air seemed to crack at the force of the impact as the sound of a meteor strike chorused through the room. Then he heard it, that familiar sizzling sound and scent of dust starting to reactant as both of Yang's gauntlets discharged an absolutely massive explosive blow. The entire arena was engulfed in bright yellow light as Clark was hurled back and slammed in the wall with loud metallic gonging sound.

"You good Smallville...or you wanna go another round?" Yang shouted into the cloud of dust between gasps as she put her hands on her hips in an attempt to open her lungs while still trying to look imposing.

"No, no, I'm good...you win," Clarked called out between hacking coughs.

"Well, nothing to be ashamed of. You put up one hell of a fight, and you hit like a truck...whew! Haven't had a brawl like that in a while," said cheerily.

"Glad you had fun, but think I cracked a rib," Clark joked as he stood up and began to walk back towards Yang as he dusted himself off and took his knuckle dusters off.

"Ehh, just drink some milk and it'll…" she started to say in a teasing voice but stop dead the moment Clark excited the dust cloud and she just stared at him. Clark noticed that here heart rate; which had been slowing, suddenly jumped back up.

"What? What's wrong?" Clark asked deeply concerned at the sudden and unexplained change in her pulse and he began to jog over to her.

"Good God Smallville! You look like one of those guys on the covers of those trashy romance novels they sell in grocery stores! I mean look at you!" she exclaimed pointing an almost accusing finger at him.

Clark was thoroughly confused for a moment but when he looked down, he saw what she was talking about. His sweatshirt; which he had been using to hide his own powerful build, had been reduced to cinders and taters by Yang's final blow, and he suddenly felt very self conscious. He made a very futile attempt to try and cover himself with his arms. This time when he blushed however, he was not alone as Yang very unabashedly stare at him.

"Can I help you with something?" Clark said sarcastically and much more snarkily that he normally spoke and that seemed to draw her back to reality. She gave him an appraising, almost predatory, look up and down and grinned.

"Maybe," she said in a slightly husky tone Clark absolutely did not like, and when he turned away in embarrassment she realized her answer may have been the wrong thing to say. "Hey, I was just kidding, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she said apologetically.

That seemed to help a bit, but he was still clearly extremely uncomfortable at the moment. Yang couldn't understand for the life of her what for. Clark was built like those statues of ancient heroes who were decedent from gods. His physique was, well, she would describe it as perfect. But she also knew not everyone saw things the same way, and just because he was fit did not mean he necessarily had a good self image. So she wasn't going the argue with his feelings on the matter. Instead she walked over to her duffle bag, reached in, and pulled out her sweater from that morning. She gave it a quick sniff and cringed a little, it did smell a little funky but beggars can't be choosers.

"Yo, Smallville catch," she called out and tossed it to him. He turned around just in time for it to hit him in the face and she couldn't suppress a giggle. "It's big on me but it should fit you, just barley."

With a grin of thanks he quickly slipped her sweater over his head. As he did this Yang couldn't help but marvel at how every motion he made; no matter how minute, seemed to make his muscles twitch and react. She thought it was a shame for him to cover them up but even after he pulled the shirt down his build was still abundantly apparent.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Clark said awkwardly.

"Eh, no sweat, speaking of which, sorry I didn't think I'd be sharing my clothes," she responded sounding almost embarrassed at the idea that Clark might smell her sweaty workout gear.

"It's not a problem, really, you didn't need to do anything at I really appreciate it," Clark said as he tugged at the bottom of the sweater that didn't quite reach his waist line.

"Yeah well I couldn't have you walking around getting all the attention," she teased as she reached into her bag and produced a bottle of water and tossed it to him as she walked over and took a seat on the bleachers before taking out another bottle, cracking the cap and slugging it down in one go before letting out a satisfied "Ahhhh."

"Come on, you're a beautiful girl, some farm boy ain't gonna outshine you," he joked back.

This made her blush, even if it was only just slightly. It wasn't the being complimented, she had heard compliments about her looks ever since she had started to develop. Sexy, hot, bombshell, sensual, even seductive and so on. But use of the word beautiful from anyone other than her family was virtually nonexistent, and honestly it made her feel strange, but not in a bad way.

"That very well may be, but, this school is about eighty percent chicks, you do the math," she said, her normal cocky and self assured tone returning.

"True, but you're pretty enough to where I don't think that would matter," Clark said back, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the mildly off color nature of his joke. He was not one to make such comments and he was honestly surprised with himself. It was something his parents would have given him a lightly disapproving look for. But he didn't think it was all that bad, partially because he thought in some way it was true, he could tell Yang would likely be chased after by both sees during her time here.

"Knock it off," she said through a chuckle punching him in the arm as he laughed and sipped his water causing him to accidentally spill water all down his front.

Again his choice of a word like "pretty" struck her and again she felt mildly embarrassed? Flustered? Flattered? She wasn't quite sure, but again she found she didn't really mind.

"So...how'd I do today?" Clark asked nervously deciding to change the subject and get down to brass tax.

"Well, I'll tell ya I was kinda surprised. You picked up what I told ya pretty quick, but you're still sloppy when you get tired. But I gotta say "Man of Steel" makes a helluva lot more sense,"she said shaking her hand a little theatrically.

"Hey, I did tell you, which is more than I can say you did for me," he teased as he bumped his shoulder into hers.

"Well, I gotta keep a little mystery," she laughed "But I'm sure you figured part of it out all things considered," she finished as she bumped him back.

"I think so, but I'll let you tell me for sure when you feel ready, I'm not really worried about it," he said in a clearly forced unconcerned tone but did finish with a tiny smirk.

"Is our local farm boy starting to put up a cool front? You gettin' a little big for your britches?" she teased back trying to pinch his cheek as she snickered.

"Quit it," he said said as he batted her hand away but his smile never left his face.

It was weird Clark thought. Yang had been calling him "farm boy" all morning but it just didn't seem to bother him the same way it had when Weiss had said it. He supposed that it was because Yang had very clearly been just being playful, Weiss...well, she just hadn't.

After that the pair sat in silence for a while drinking water, resting up and letting themselves settle. After letting herself cool down for a minute Yang began to wipe sweat from her brow before lifting her arm and sniffing her armpit in a very unladylike fashion and gave off a small "ugh" before looking up over at Clark and her eyebrow raised curiously.

"Do you not sweat or what?" she asked looking over at him a little confused.

"Oh, yeah, well, really good cardio, takes a lot to get me sweating," he answered in a tone he hoped didn't read as nervous. He had never once sweat a single bead and he really hope no one took too much notice.

"No kidding? Well, I'll have to start running with you, that's gotta be some crazy good cardio, we weren't even breathing hard until I knocked the wind out of ya," she finished in an almost awed voice. "But I guess that should be a given, a body like yours," she finished a a tone she intended to be complimentary but it only seemed to unsettle Clark.

"Yeah...well…I...yeah," he stammered and mumbled but never said anything.

"I'm sorry dude, but you're like...you do know you're like totally stacked right? I just don't get why you hide it."

"I just, well, I don't know. I've always been just another guy and I just...I don't know, I don't like to be the center of attention so I always just hid it," he told her lamely. It was partially true as hr really didn't like people looking at him.

"Well, you should never be ashamed of what you look like. You gotta own it, people are always gonna state but you can't let them control your life," she said in surprisingly sagely voice.

"Huh? I guess you're right," he said having a small epiphany. Back home he did have to hide everything, for the second time in the last hour he was reminded things were different here.

"Of course I am. Tell ya what, later, after I hit the sauna and we're all rested up we'll head into the city and get you some proper fitting clothes. Something to show off that figure of yours," she said in a slightly suggestive tone, but was clearly all in good humor.

"I'm not sure I like the way you said that," he told her and she just laughed.

"Okay, fair enough, but you gotta take a little pride in your appearance. To hide all...that, all your clothes have to be at least two sizes too big," she said gesturing at him.

"Yeah, I guess you're not wrong, but the fact of the matter is…" Clark began but trailed off, he did particularly like to discuss his family finances.

They weren't poor, but the simple fact of farm life was that a lot of money went back into farm and he just simply didn't have the money to spend on unnecessary clothing, nor did he really want to either to be honest. Yang seemed to be able to pick on this and changed tactics.

"Tell you what, let me treat you, I can't have my teammates walking around not looking their best."

"That's very kind of you but…"

"Hey now, this ain't charity." she interjected. "I just don't like owing anyone anything and see as how I left half your clothes in ashes on the floor, I figure I can afford to make you look a little better."

"Yang...I appreciate it, I really do but…"

"Great, we'll head out later," she interrupted cheerily as she stood up and pat him on the knee.

"But I...do I even have a choice ?" he called after her his tone defeated and lame as she sauntered off towards the showers.

"Nope," she answered popping the "P" before turning back to face him. "Don't worry we'll make you look sexy," called back in a cartoonishly brusqe voice while pointing finger guns at him and mouth 'Pew Pew'.

"You know you make me really uncomfortable sometimes!" he shouted after her.

"You love it!" she shouted back wearing an extremely toothy grin before spinning around and swaggering off, and Clark couldn't; despite his best efforts, couldn't keep himself from laughing.