AN: Sea of Stars looking reeeeeeal good...
At last (Theresia/Emily)
Neither could pinpoint when things had changed between them for the better.
There had been no eye-opening revelations or weighty occasions of catharsis; not so thinly veiled contempt had given way to grudging detentes which in turn had given way to cordial acknowledgement that had given way to teasing smirks that had given way to cheers and laughter, everything flowing together like the tide from one moment to the next, walls and barriers cracking and crumbling with nary a notice from the pair involved.
Where one ended and the other began was simply never a question they thought to ask.
Accompanied (Shirley)
Like many weapons, she'd been forged in fire. Given how quickly she'd taken to the crucible of the battlefield, one might have even said she'd been born for it.
A natural, her father had proudly proclaimed, watching on as her prowess for combat flourished and thrived, leaving a throng of utter devastation in her wake. She reveled in the scent of acrid smoke, the accompaniment of cries and screams music to her ears; lullabies of the most soothing kind.
Bloody Shirley, they called her, the name never failing to draw a smile from her lips.
She'd earned it, after all.
Safeword (Alisa, Machias, sequel to Hand to Hand)
"You thought she was joking? Really? I'm sorry, was that your first time meeting Angelica?"
"Of course I thought she was joking!" Machias borderline hissed from his prone position on the mat, though Alisa took no offense; between his pride and his shoulder joint, he'd taken quite a beating today. "What sort of instructor hinges their students' welfare on arbitrary words they were apparently supposed to come up with beforehand?!"
Alisa snickered. "I have a feeling Instructor Sara might try and get away with that if she could."
"... Ugh. The truly depressing thing about all this? You're not wrong."