Val almost forgot to send the text she was supposed to before going to the Lookout. She walked passed Bulma on her way out, which made her remember to send the text without the two of them even exchanging a word.
She flew up to the Lookout, landing and seeing Piccolo was not there yet. She was sitting with the simple creatures Kami had created with her bracelets off when she heard someone with a different gait from Kami, Mr. Popo, or Piccolo. She looked up as the creatures hopped around her playfully. Tien was there, looking down at her and the creatures.
"Hello," she said up to him, ignoring one of the creatures snuggling her in her lap.
"Hey," he said, nodding his head down at her. He looked at the creatures prancing around her. One actually went over to him, pawing at his feet curiously. "This is how you train with Kami?"
She nodded up at him. "It's safer to train with this simple creatures than to train with others whom I could harm," she explained. "I needed to learn how to bless or curse others without hurting anyone. It only works once on someone or something, though," She looked down at the creature in her lap. "Here, watch," she preempted. She looked down at the creature, placing two hands it. "Jump as high as you can," she told it.
The creature got off of her lap and began jumping until it could not jump any higher. She felt a slight pull on her energy and then a release as it jumped at its peak height. Then it flopped on the ground tiredly.
She picked up the creature again, ordering, "jump as high as you can."
She sat the creature down and nothing happened. It look up at her curiously, pawing at her hand. She looked up at him, wondering how he would react. He was looking down at her, hands raised up a bit by his hips. "How did you do that?" he asked, seeming off guard.
He sounded like he was scared at her. "My mother could do so much more, no warming up of her hands required. It got passed her Anthromorphic-ness from her Aviarian priestess mother. She had to wear gloves all the time to keep her from accidentally harming anyone. It got passed down to me as well, but took some time laying dormant in me before it manifested," she explained. She held up the bracelets. "These help me keep from harming anyone, even if my hands heat up. I can release the energy without hurting anyone." She reached down and picked up another creature. "Teleport to the moon," she told it.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Watch," she instructed. The creature was hopping on the ground, pulling on her energy. It gave up and plopped on the ground tiredly. "I can't make the impossible happen," she explained. She slipped on the bracelets and picked up another creature. "Jump three times," she ordered. The creature looked up at her, hanging in the air in her hands. It cocked its head at her, not sure what to make of her order. She sat it down on the ground and it did nothing. "See, nothing," she said, smiling in relief. She held up the bracelets, flaming up a bit of energy for show.
He hummed, asking, "can you use whatever that is on yourself?"
She looked down at her hands wonderingly. "No, I... I don't know..." she wondered at the thought of how she could bless herself and if she would ever even risk the idea. "I don't know if I would want to try," she reasoned honestly.
He leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "So this is the training you do at the Lookout," he commented. "Not much fighting unless you tell these cuddly little things to fight you."
She stood up, drawing herself to her full height. "No, I fight, too," she explained. "It's just Piccolo isn't here yet. Likely he's with Gohan or something. He took on training me to fight when the Dragon Clan left," she explained. "He is sometimes late though." She shrugged.
"Do you plan to wait for him?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Well, sparring with Kami is an option as well," she responded. "That I've done as well."
"If you keep those bracelets on, you have another option today," he hinted.
She blinked up at him. "Who?" she asked.
"You're cute," he said with a short laugh. "Like a witch from space or something."
She looked up at him and suddenly her eyes went wide. "Oh, you," she responded. She looked him over, suddenly nervous. He was taller and stockier than she was, not like Piccolo. "Oh, okay," she agreed, nodding. Her lips were slightly upturned at the idea, even if her nerves were floundering around in her stomach. "Not around these creatures," she preempted before walking around him and out to the main outside part of the Lookout.
He followed her out there, with her sensing him staring at her back. She ditched her phone by a tree for safe keeping, with him doing the same. She looked up at him, trying to assess him as she stepped out in the middle of the tiles, readying herself for a fight. He was taller than her, which made her smile. She knew how to fight someone like that.
"What are you two doing?" a voice cut through her concentration.
She looked up and saw Kami and Mr. Popo standing nearby. "Sparring," she called over to explain. "Piccolo isn't here, so Tien volunteered to do it."
Kami looked back and forth between the two of them and then nodded succinctly. "Very well."
She felt a rush of giddiness go through her, in time with a jolt of nerves. She turned and face Tien, readying herself for the spar.
She charged at him, thinking he would not have expected that, just like others she had fought before him. She launched herself at him, aiming a swift kick to his chest. She caught him off guard, making him stumble back. He looked at her, surprised first, intrigued second. He stepped back and sunk down in a fighter's stance, giving her a challenging look. She looked over at him, surging forward again.
He did not get caught off guard so easily the second time she charged at him. He caught her leg, shoving it down before her kick could land. She stumbled back and looked at him. He was taller, she could use it to her advantage, should use that to her advantage. She sunk low, aiming for his waist. He blocked her, seemingly with ease. He punched her across the jaw, making her stumble back on her own now. She felt her temper flare at that, but her hands stay cool. She fought him, trying to meet him punch for punch. She kept aiming low, but kept being unsuccessful. He knocked her down, leading to his own kick to her chest, knocking her down hard on her back.
She gnashed her teeth in annoyance, looking up at him. She rolled up onto the balls of her feet, trying to think of a way to defeat him, or at the very least, not go down like some weakling. She had not been when sparring with Yamcha beyond those few times, so she knew she was not as weak as she was coming off as. She brushed a few stray and sweaty hairs out of her face.
"Pause this fight," she heard a voice call over. She felt a thrill of unexpected excitement at the sound of it.
She raised her hands up chest height to show she wanted to pause it as well. Piccolo was standing next to Kami now. He nodded his head over and up at her. She looked over at Tien and raised her hands up again. "Just a second," she said, moving her hands to indicate she wanted to keep fighting with him right afterwards.
She jogged away from him, standing before Piccolo, looking up at him expectantly. He turned away walking away from the others. She looked back at Tien and shrugged before chasing after Piccolo.
They went to a more private part of the Lookout. "What's he doing here?" he asked neutrally.
"I invited him. He said he wanted to see me train," she explained honestly. "And to fight even, but I can't..." she stopped, not wanting to gripe about how much of a struggle sparring with him had been.
"How did you meet him?" he asked. His voice was so neutral she was not expecting that. She told herself that his approval did not matter either way.
"Baseball game with him and Bulma and Chiaotzu and Krillin," she answered. "I didn't really understand the rules. He tried to explain it, but it mostly went over my head."
"So you've seen Chiaotzu then," he commented.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I would not willingly want to be so small. He's smaller than I was before I grew."
"So if you're going to fight someone like Tien, you need to fight tall," he suggested.
"What?" she asked. She gestured down to herself. "I've already grown. Anthromorphs only get one growth spurt and we're done."
"You're used to be the smaller opponent all your life, trained to fight that way. Yet he's been training with someone smaller than you ever were for years. If you want to win, you can't use your usual tricks to win," he advised. "Fight tall."
She looked up at him and shook her head. "I don't know how to do that," she responded, shaking her head.
He walked away, not saying anything else. She huffed, following after him and back to the others. She saw Tien waiting there, looking a bit impatient. She stood up taller, as tall as she could muster, racking her brain for how exactly she could fight tall against someone who was so used to fighting someone shorter than she was. She tried not to huff at it. She sunk into a fighting stance, awkward as she tried to keep her back long in the midst of it. He gave her an unsure look.
She charged towards him, still thinking how in the world she could fight tall. He gave his head a tilt and charge towards her. She thought about the creatures, jumping and prancing around the two of them earlier. At the last second, she jumped. She caught him across the jaw with a punch, making him stagger back. She backed up after this to keep her distance. She swooped under his next strike, trying to stay out of his reach. She jumped back, trying to keep her distance, even as he went after her.
She kept jumping, kept trying to be tall and agile, even as it was unnatural for her to fight that way after years of being taught to fight low and stay low. It felt difficult to find balance and keep her balance doing this unfamiliar fighting style. She saw an opening to get low and stay low though, taking it without even thinking about it. She ducked under his arm, came around his back, and dug her elbow into his side. She heard him gnash his teeth. She tried to jump back and away from him, but he was too fast. He spun around and caught her by the neck, striking her down.
She landed hard, feeling her teeth rattle in her jaw. She groaned, dizzily trying to pull herself up. She felt her face grow hot at the realization that that one careless, stupid move cost her the fight.
She heard him swear under his breath and then pull her up. "I didn't think I struck you that hard, are you okay?" he rushed out.
She side stepped away from him. She brought her hand to her forehead and shook her head. "Yeah, I'll be fine," she breathed out, blinking a few times. She felt dazed, but fine otherwise. "I think we should do a rematch later though," she grumbled.
"You... want a rematch?" he asked her, sounding surprised.
"Yeah," she said, sounding determined, albeit wounded that he won.
She crossed her arms over her chest, a bit mad at herself for going for a low strike. She thought about something Vegeta had told her before the Dragon Clan left. That she needed to stay on this planet because there were others here stronger than she was. She hated that Tien reminded her just how right he was.
"I should get going," she ruled, trying to keep her frustration at bay. She stomped over to her phone, pocketing it. She flew off the Lookout, deciding to head back home.
After a few minutes of flying, she sensed someone come after her. "Hey, wait up," she heard a voice call after her.
She turned around and saw Tien flying after her. She swore under her breath at the sight of him following her. "What do you want?" she said, trying not to bitter. She reminded herself that she would need to train harder with Piccolo now to match his level. She needed to channel the annoyance of the loss into becoming better rather than wallowing over it.
"You didn't let anyone check you over before you just took off," he said.
"I'm fine," she countered. "I've had worse," she dismissed.
"Just come on," he said, nodding toward the ground.
He landed first with her following reluctantly after. He had already won their fight because she was dumb enough to go low. She hoped he was not about to gloat over it.
He stepped closer to her, hand on her jaw line. He turned her head, looking over the side of her neck where he had struck her. "No bruising," he commented, sounding relieved but surprised.
"I have thick skin, so I don't bruise easily," she explained before he read that as yet another sign of weakness.
"Well, that's good I guess," he commented, not letting her jaw go.
She stood up taller, wondering what he was doing exactly by not letting her go. He bent down and kissed her much to her surprise. She gasped, not expecting him to do that. She pulled away from him, jumping back.
"You jump like one of your little pet creatures," he commented, sounding a bit smarted. "Didn't mean to catch you off guard."
She put her hand on her lips, blinking in confusion. "I... um..." she hummed out.
"Not interested, I get it," he clicked his teeth. "Worth a shot," he mumbled to himself.
"No, I..." she muttered, not sure how to explain any of it.
She surged forward towards him. This time not with the intention to strike him. She kissed him, closing her eyes and trying not to think, only feel. She brought her hands to his shoulders with her on her tip toes. His hands held her under her jaw, a few fingers sinking into her hair, pulling on it a little bit. She felt unsure how to get him to stop without pulling away, which she did not want to do.