Fencing Matters and other Things

By: Escarlata

~o~o~o~o~

The Earth House facilities were far from luxurious; they had a warehouse full of scrap metal, which was what they used to make miraculous repairs to their only two MSs, the Aerial and the Demi. Everyone joked that Nika was capable of performing miracles on an MS with two toothpicks and a piece of gum. It also didn't hurt to mention that, while the other Houses had large gyms equipped with all kinds of exercise machines and high-quality equipment, the only two Earth House pilots had to settle for using pieces of spent metal welded together to simulate dumbbells so they could exercise. Of course, Suletta and Chuchu weren't complaining, Chuchu had grown up in a mine on Earth and was used to raw metal, while Suletta had grown up on Mercury, a planet so inhospitable that no one believed anyone could live there. The tough pilots of Earth House weren't delicate potted flowers, they were tough miners.

But if there was someone who was distinguished by her toughness despite her appearance as a huge teddy bear, it was Suletta Mercury. Chuchu gave up after a minute and a half of doing planks; it was the final part of the exercise routine.

"I'm done," Chuchu said with the little breath she had left in her body. She looked with funny annoyance at Suletta when she saw that she maintained the plank position for a while longer. "Suletta, you are a monster."

"I'm sorry," Suletta kept good control of her breathing, her body remaining firm as a rock even though her skin was soaked with sweat. A good shower after exercise would help a lot.

At least they had hot water in the Earth House facility.

"When you're done, let's hit the showers," Chuchu said as she wiped the sweat from her neck and face with a hand towel.

"You can go ahead, Chuchu-senpai, I want to train a little more," Suletta responded and with a quick glance she pointed to something she had already prepared: a fencing sword and several targets that simulated the soft parts of the human body.

"If I see you exercising any more, I'm going to faint. Go outside!"

"Yes ma'am!"

~o~

Miorine was leaving the last class of the day. Everyone could see the boredom on her face; the classes at Asticassia were not even a challenge. Those were the disadvantages of being a born genius; she had studied enough with private tutors before setting foot in Asticassia. Miorine was on her way to the greenhouse, she would do the task as quickly as possible and then she would dedicate the rest of the afternoon to her plants. If Suletta came at the usual time to help her, so much the better.

What Miorine didn't expect was to see Suletta outside the greenhouse practicing fencing. Miorine immediately felt her face turn red like the tomatoes in her greenhouse.

Her Groom had tied the practice targets to a tree and she practiced attacks with shapely movements and a concentration that could only be seen in her sea-like eyes when she was piloting Aerial. The icing on the cake was that Suletta wasn't wearing her Holder jacket, so her hard-worked body was visible because of the tight orange undershirt.

Suletta Mercury showing off the power of her sweat-soaked body was definitely not on Miorine Rembran's agenda, if she had one, of course. She couldn't resist swallowing hard and feeling her body heating up. Each thrust that Suletta delivered to the practice targets was accurate, firm and powerful, even from a distance Miorine could see how she worked every muscle in her Groom's body with each thrust into the solid tree.

Miorine had to fan herself with the sleeve of her own jacket before approaching Suletta.

"Not bad," Miorine said, maintaining her composure and trying to pretend that she wasn't taking advantage of her closeness to get a closer look at Suletta's strong body.

"Miorine-san, welcome! And thank you very much for your hard work today," was Suletta's exaggerated response, she even bowed slightly.

Miorine couldn't help but laugh with amusement. "What show did you hear that on?"

Suletta chuckled as she put her free hand on the back of her neck, she seemed happy.

"I'm sorry I interrupted you."

"No, I just finished! I just wanted to train a little more while you arrived. And also Chuchu-senpai told me that she didn't want to see me exercise anymore."

"You can't blame her, you're a stamina monster and anyone would be intimidated watching you train."

Miorine couldn't resist any more either, she took the towel that was hanging on one of the branches of the tree and made Suletta bend down a little so she could dry the sweat from her face and neck. Even Suletta's scent was appealing. Suletta certainly didn't stink! But there was something comfortable about her scent. Miorine didn't avoid feeling the heat emanating from Suletta's body thanks to being closer to her.

"Thank you," said a happy Suletta.

"You train hard so that your pilot skills don't get rusty, the least I can do is support you like this," Miorine replied with mock seriousness. "Your undershirt is soaked, you need to change your clothes and take a shower or you might catch a cold," Miorine warned in a strained voice. She did her best not to make it obvious that she wanted to hug Suletta and feel her warmth.

"Okay."

Suletta was too happy. Every time Miorine had those small details with her, the pilot felt her heart fill more and more with a pleasant feeling that she did not want to let go. It was a feeling she wanted to embrace.

"Can... Can I take a shower in your room?" She dared to ask.

Miorine didn't even think about it.

"My room is closer than Earth House. Come on, you really need a shower, you stinky girl," she said in a joking tone that made Suletta smile.

The pilot put on her Holder jacket and picked up her equipment. Miorine took the fencing sword, it was very light.

"It's surprising that even in space, it's customary for pilots to learn sword combat," Miorine commented.

"Mom taught me fencing, she explained that a pilot needs to synchronize mind and body instinctively, so a sport like this helps a lot," Suletta said with a smile.

The young couple talked the way to Miorine's room, where the pilot left her bag out of the way and she took off her jacket again to hang it by the door. Miorine's room was clean because Suletta had done her thing those days. And Miorine at least tried to take out the trash more often.

Miorine still had the fencing sword in her hands. Without thinking, she took the attack position and launched a clumsy thrust.

"Not like that, you can get hurt if you do it wrong," Suletta said in a soft voice as she settled behind Miorine. Her body pressed against Miorine's as she held her hand holding the sword, while her other hand held her waist to correct her position. "Relax your body; your position is very tense. Keep your back firm and your legs apart."

Miorine felt that she was choking on her own saliva, but taking advantage of the fact that Suletta wasn't looking at her face, she took a deep breath and nodded, trying to make her voice sound casual as usual. Her cheeks and ears felt hot. Suletta's body was so warm!

"Okay."

"Keep your arm firm and attack like this," said Suletta, who didn't deny the charge of having taken advantage of the moment to be close to her Bride. The poor thing felt like she was blushing, but she wasn't going to back down. She could feel her body and Miorine's body moving together as she told her how to attack. Miorine smelled so good!

"Sorry, I'm not prepared for this. My body can't adopt the position naturally like you," was Miorine's excuse to explain why her body trembled more than once and her legs felt clumsy. "You can tell from the time I tried to pilot Aerial and only managed to throw up in my helmet."

Suletta laughed. "You can't ride anything other than a scooter."

"Hey! Don't make fun of me, you Mercurian country bumpkin!"

Suletta ended up laughing harder and Miorine gave in and laughed too.

They both laughed without realizing that the joy of sharing those small moments together made their bodies move on their own. Suletta's arms ended up tied around Miorine's waist, while Miorine ended up leaning on Suletta's body while she held her strong arms around her waist.

By the time they realized the position they were in, there was no turning back.

"Go take a bath," Miorine ordered in a weak voice. "I have some instant ramen; we'll eat and then do our homework. I'll help you with anything you don't understand," the girl said as one of her hands caressed Suletta's strong arm even if it was over her undershirt.

Suletta swallowed and pressed Miorine against her body a little harder, gently, with a firmness that implied she didn't want to let her go yet. "You shouldn't eat so much cup ramen, it's unhealthy."

"I'm not going to go to the cafeteria for food," Miorine complained like a spoiled princess.

"Then I'll go and get more nutritious food for both of us."

"No!" It was Miorine's turn to hold Suletta's arms tighter. "Do you really think you can leave me after having me like this?"

Suletta felt dizzy and pressed her nose to Miorine's silver hair. "So what should I do?" The pilot asked in a deep voice.

Miorine got angry. "I don't know! You're my Groom, have some initiative!"

"Yes ma'am!" Suletta answered obediently and kissed Miorine's head. "Can we take a bath together? I'll wash your back."

That was more initiative than she imagined, Miorine growled, using all her strength she turned around and with both hands pulled Suletta's cheeks. "You sex-crazed Mercurian!"

"That hurts!" Suletta complained but didn't let go of Miorine's waist.

"That's what you get for proposing something like that!"

"So it's a no?"

Miorine became angrier. "I never said that, stupid!"

Suletta laughed softly. "So it's a yes?"

"Let's go before I regret it!"

A happy Suletta picked up Miorine with both arms, the latter screamed and grabbed onto Suletta's neck.

The fencing sword was left lying on the ground.

FIN