Counters (Day 6 Night)

Mr. Lombard’s sheets were re-tucked. Cake was had with Yazmina -- twice! If there was ever a day she needed sugar today was it. In the beginning, she felt jilted, like Daisy when you didn’t feed her none from under the table and then called her a bad dog for begging. Like a typical teen, admitting you maybe possibly were wrong could be a hard pill to swallow. It stuck in your throat and felt like someone was poking you in the back, that kind of pill. Cake helped.

He said ‘disappointed’ - and that stung - much worse than Elle’s slap. And she didn’t get it. Why show her how to fight if you couldn’t use it to defend yourself? Night time was winding down, he wasn’t CTQ, she wasn’t sure where they stood with training. He didn't specifically say there was, or there wasn't, but then again, she'd spent the most of the day keeping busy to try for a little redemption. She’d miss it, her muscles would decidedly miss it less, but her heart was saying it didn’t want to get kicked to the floor. Stupid heart, it should just stick to ba thump ba thump ba thump. She started to go back to her own room, but stopped and turned. There was only one way to find out. Letting out the breath she was holding , she kicked at the hatch to his room.

“You're late.” Vas called up, his tone wasn’t angry or anything just factual. “Come one down so we can start.”

“Bàoqiàn, Crew Chief,” (Apologies) She said, keeping her tone even, as she stretched out her shoulders to warm up.

Vas stretched along like nothing was wrong. There wasn’t. This morning was done and over. With him resuming responsibilities a reprimand over his two Deckhand hissing and clawing at each other was buried under the workload. It would only be a problem if it kept happening so one incident was something easy to brush off. For the punk at least.

“Let work on counters today.” Vas said thoughtfully. If they had more room he would have done a game of tag. It sounded innocent enough but the tag played at the temple was not. It had it’s variation on the rules.

“Sure,” she replied, stretching one hamstring, then the other, secretly happy training was continuing. “What are counters?”

“Well you’re learning the basics, you're learning forms and counters and another set of forms. So when someone tries to hit you, how to divert the attack, and make them vulnerable for you to strike.” Vas explained. “I’ll show you … ready?”

Serena bit her tongue and nodded. “Set.” She replied, *succinctly*.

Vas nodded inticating for to strike. Serena moved in with a simple punch. Vas batted the strike to the side with his left hand and from seemingly nowhere his right came from the inside and found his fist inches from her face. “See … Counter …” He tapped her fisted hand now far from his face. “...Strike. We start slow with the first one. Ready? Well start slow, when you bat with your left hand aim for the wrist and move it out of the way while simultaniuly sticking on the inside of my punch with your right. Ready!”

“Set,” she replied, repeating his instructions in her head once before nodding. He slowly threw a punch, she brought up her left hand to deflect it then stepped in with her right.

He had Serena do it over and over again speeding up each time till he fell she had the idea firmly planted in her head. “Good.” He nodded. “We're going to play a speed game. Circular blocking … It goes like this ... “ Vas explained, showing her. It looked simple enough … puch fan, counter and he would return the move and it kept going into an endless loop. “... See? Easy to learn but hard to master.”

Serena nodded and focused on the exercise, it was repetitive, and she was good at repetitive, but at the same time, she wished the feeling in the pit of her stomach would just knock it off all ready. It wasn’t enough to throw her off, in fact, he hadn’t yet once complained her head was in the clouds or somewhere else. “I’ll get there,” she promised, more herself than him.

“Stay focused, it’s not a game to take lightly … I got popped in the face a lot starting out …” Vas admitted. To be fair his training partner was totally dick. Not that he was any better. Good luck getting vas to admit that though!

Sure enough they started up the maneuver. Slow at first, Vas was clearly starting off easy. “You're going to have to really hit the arm Serena. There is always someone bigger and stronger so make sure to use the right amount of force. Too much you’ll tire out, not enough you get popped …” He said, speeding up pushing her to go faster.

Serena grit her teeth. Hitting his arm did make her feel better, just like when he was CTQ and she was able to work out her frustrations with the job and Keller and the lieutenant. He wanted her to hit hard, she’d hit hard. She could maybe probably keep it up with no problem, but she did put in 100%, and any more she had.

Vas’s arm was getting harder and harder to push to the side and the smack of her hand to his wrist was making a loud slapping sound. It was about then her hand, which was starting to get red and feel numb, slipped missing Vas’s wrist. Instead of the inevitable punch expected Vas quickly flicked her forehead with an audible thunk. Smarting the space between her eyebrows.

“Èr bǎi wǔ!” she swore, rubbing the spot she was flicked, which stung like hell. (250-idiot)

Vas chuckled. “See? Not so easy now? Care to try again?” He offered.

Serena rubbed the spot one more time then clapped her hands together and fell into her stance. “Again.” She said with determination. This time she’d focus, she was ready.

Vas nodded and they started up again. She was starting to feel the difference, when Vas was being easier and he would suddenly put a bit more power behind his punch. It almost created a rhythm. Thunk, thunk, SLAP … Thunk, thunk, SLAP … again he pushed speeding up. He moved crisp and strong moving with ease. He seemed also to now randomly change the strength of his punch, constantly throwing her off! Until …. THWAP … another flick. Now the sensitive smart burned! “Better, well keep working on it.” Vas said in an approving tone. “How about we call it off early tonight. You could use a break. I can make tea for us.”

Serena rubbed the spot between her eyes, and agreed that knocking off early was a good idea. Her fists hurt. Her arms hurt, that gorram spot on her forehead hurt like hell, and he’d gotten off without taking a SINGLE hit. “Tea sounds good,” she agreed. The feeling in the pit of her stomach was subsiding, and she chuckled slightly to herself, happy things were back to ‘normal’.

“You did good for your first fo I mean … think about it this way.It could have been way worse.” Vas said in a way to chipper tone as he picked out which tea he wanted to make. Yes he kept a personal collection, don’t judge!

“It can ALWAYS be way worse, Crew Chief,” Serena reminded him, crossing her legs as she sat on the floor to stretch out. “Oh, that’s right, we can actually go to the crew table,” she chirped, standing back up.

“We can … but I kinda like this me and you time. I don’t mind so much.” Vas admitted. Tea was ready in no time and soon enough they were blowing the steam away on maulty dark tea with a vague tang of orange to it. “I hope you are not too mad at me.”

Serena couldn’t help but smile and feel happy at the ‘me and you’ time as she sank back to the floor. “For flicking me?” she replied, sitting up straighter and rubbing between her eyebrows. “Next time I’ll be faster. Pain is a good motivator.”

“Good, I know I’m going a bit easy on you … glad you're not mad about that. Just don’t think such … harshness is needed.” Vas said, pleased as peaches. “You are right, pain is a motivator. You learn pain can a friend and teacher and no matter how bad it hurts and you just wana curl up and die … pain will always remind you of one thing ...You know what that is?” Vas asked Serena.

“That you ain’t dead yet’, “ She replied, blowing on the tea to cool it down. “You feel pain, you know at least you’re still alive.”

“Hells yea.” Vas said approvingly. “Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to break a fall! It’ll be fun!”

“For the record, Crew Chief… I won’t be mad if you go easy on that one neither.” She said from behind her tea cup.

Vas laughed. “Don’t ask me to go easy, ask the floor! That's what you’ll be hitting.” He pointed out.

Serena groaned “Can’t we put down mats?”

“Well … we don’t have no mats … do we? In either case are there going to be mats in a real fight?” Vas asked, refilling their cups.

“No, Crew Chief,” she replied, her shoulders slumping. “Tomorrow is going to be awful.”

“Oh it won’t be that awful! When we get to me flipping you to the floor that will be awful.” He said in a scholarly tone.

Serena groaned and let her head hang back dramatically. “You know it’s bad when you think maybe I’ll break an elbow at work so that won’t happen.”

“Oh stoooop … I would still flip you with a broken elbow … that's how much I care!” Vas said with an innocent look. He was clearly teasing her now.

Serena smiled, then giggled despite her original cranky demeanor. “Can you care a little… less, Crew chief?” She asked, rubbing the small knot on her forehead.

“If I cared less I would have punched you not flicked you … but we can do the care less route if you want?” Vas said innocently enough.

“When you put it that way? I think you care just the right amount.” She relented, backpedaling as she took another sip of tea. “Just the right amount.”

Vas snickered into his tea. “Don’t worry you’ll get your chance to take some hits. Maybe in a pit fight!” He said cheerfully.

“Me against you in a pit fight, that ain’t gonna be much of a fight,” the teen admitted. “I didn’t even get in one shot on you today. Not one.”

“Me? No, no, no ,no … someone else. You know, get you some real fight experience under your belt. Not yet of course but at some point. Toss you in with another fish and see how you do!” He explained.

“What kinda fish?” Serena asked warily, had she had hackles, they’d have been bristling like Daisy when something spooks her. “Who?”

Vas blinked. “Uhhh … I … don’t know … You don't exactly get to PICK who you get to fight. It’s a back room pit fight not a core world boxing match.” He pointed out. “Beside it ain’t nothing to worry about yet. You still have lots of learning to drill in before we up your game.”

She giggled nervously. “Lots of drills. Did you do many of them? Pit fights?”

“Well … some … but I didn’t really need to. The temple was really competitive so there was never a shortage of fights. Pit Fighters have rules at least.” Vas said with a content sigh as he sipped his tea.

“I don’t suppose one of the rules is not-in-the-face?” She asked with a smile, to show she was kidding.

“That's adorable.” Vas chortaled overcome with the giggles.

“I wasn’t scared before,” Serena admitted. “But now?”

“Don’t worry your pigtails off … Lunar Veil has GREAT healthcare.” Vas assured her.

“You’re doing the opposite of making it better, Crew Chief. “

“Whaaaaaat? Oh come on! That's plenty reassuring! Like if you broke your arm you would get a few days off right? How great is that!” Vas said pointing to the sunny side of the issue.

Serena raised both eyebrows looking at him cautiously, shrinking back some at his words sank in. “You wouldn’t -- I mean, until….. I’m set… right?”

“I wouldn’t toss you in till I thought you were ready and prepared. Besides the point isn’t JUST to teach you to fight in a real world manner … but also to start learning to take a hit.” Vas explained. “It is something that is the hardest to teach, but something you will have to learn. So relax. There is STILL plenty for you to learn before we get there, not just training the body but the head as well. Mindset is as imported as technique.”

Serena scrunched up her face and nodded. Mindset hurt less, but would be harder to get in the habit of using. “At least I’ll know how to take a fall!”

“Once you learn it’ll hurt way less. Oh! I forgot to ask how has learning you letters been going?” Vas asked. He had been proud she was bettering herself like that. Book learning was going to be an important factor in her training and while he would have gotten to it at some point her learning from Lyen seemed like a nice thing for her to bond over with the Nun.

“I know ‘em,” she said with a nod. “What they look like big and small and how they sound. Some have more than one sound, so … I know ‘em.” She replied quickly and offered him a thumbs up. “Can I have some more of the tea please?”

“Excellent!” Vas said brightly pouring them another cup. “I'm proud of you. That's great accomplishment! Mean we can start your book learning ahead of time!”

“Book learning?” Serena asked in the same tone she used about pit fighting. They were equally torturous.

“Yup! Mindset remember!” He reminded sipping his tea. “Fighting ain’t always about you fists, it's using your head too. Strong is good, fast is better but smart? That's the best.”

“If you say so, Crew Chief. “ Serena replied, taking a sip of fresh tea. “What kinda books?”

“All kinds … History, Math, Literature, Biology, Botany, Psychology …” Vas made a face. “... Philosophy.” He wasn’t a fan. It was too opinionated of a topic for his tates but there was some value in it. He supposed.

“How’s that gonna help with fighting? ‘Less I hit someone with one.”

“Mindset! Not all battles are won with you fists. You can win a battle with just your words.” He pointed out. “Force your opponent to make mistakes by rattling them. Also … did you try to bite Leo? I hear one of the passengers mentioning it ...” He left out the part that they were giggling about it.

“I DID Bite Leo, but it didn’t even break skin,” she replied, kicking her foot at the memory.

“We’ll work on that too …” Vas chuckled. “ … can’t believe you tried to bite him.” He said stifling a laugh.

Serena’s ears grew red, “I’d have torn a chunk of his wrist if it weren’t for the captain, Wángbā he is,” she groused.

“Kinda wish you did. We’ll get you working on those biting skills soon enough. You’ll be ripping chunks outta people like a reaver in no time.” Who knew one bite would leave such an impression. Ha! Vas was just a regular comedian today!

“He… he’ll get his.” Serena promised. “He didn’t want me saying nothin’ on account of he was talking bout you to the passengers, and it just kinda happened. I didn’t want his hands on me, and now - specially now, maybe he’ll think twice. Are we really gonna learn biting?”

“Sure if you want, it’ll have to wait till we land though. In fact … this is a good moment to dip a toe into your book learning!” Vas perked. “Most folk think biting, throwing dirt in your opponents eyes and cheap shots is dishonorable. So the question for you to think about is … what is honor to you. You think about that for a spell and tomorrow we can talk about what you think!”

“All right.” She agreed, “I can put some thought in for tomorrow, when… we learn falling. Want me to take the dishes for you?”

“Sure. We can call it night. Gunna be a long day tomorrow since we gotta prep for the offload.” Vas said with a stretch. “Do all the counts … blah … blah …” Giving the captain drinking habit he was surprised they had any cargo LEFT!

“The mining equipment will be a tǐng de (bitch) to offload.” She admitted.

Vas groaned. “Don’t remind me … hopefully when this is done we get a break from all this mining equipment while we pass through the core.”

“We can always pick up something worse,” she snickered. “And we’ll get Wargrave off the ship. He gives me the creeps.”

“Too bad we can’t get rid of Leo as well.” Vas said into his cup almost petulantly. “I haven’t met the guy but I suppose if I did then we might not have a Wargrave to unload. Not whole at least.”

“”Wishful thinking,” she complained. “And I think the Lieutenant took care of it, he’s still breathin’ though. I know that.”

“She means well but she can be a big ‘ol softy sometimes.” Vas said. Ever since the skyplex she had been a bit more readable. She wasn’t as coldhearted and rigid as she appeared sometimes. She was capable of it! She liked rules and regulations, she liked order.

“Nǐ yǐwéi nǐ zài gēn shéi shuōhuà?” (Who are you talking to?) Serena giggled. “You forget I was the interim. I think the floor is gonna be softer than she was when I gave a report.”

“Oh stop she ain’t that bad once you know what she likes and how she wants things done. I know folk might complain this is a civilian ship and all but Riley runs it how she likes and that means we run it how she likes.” He pointed out. She wanted it runt tight with alliance military protocol … that's what he paid to do! No one had like it because unlike the alliance they could pop off anytime they wanted. “I don’t really mind, the order makes things predictable so it can in a way make things easier to run.”

“In any case… I’m really glad to have you back, Crew Chief. You were missed, not just on account of Riley.” She said, Stretching her muscles out one more time. “You’re really gonna make me climb up that ladder, then down my own ladder? “ She asked with a giggle. “I don’t think any of my muscles aren’t singing right now.”

“Why Serenah sayin’ in a man's bunk ovah night! I do declare, folk might get ideas!” Vas joked in his best hera styled accent as he fanned himself. He couldn’t help it, it was from Vid he saw not to long ago. Over the top browncoat propaganda! But funny none the less in it’s absurd drama!

“Don’t you make fun of Mistah Doctah Adluh,” she mock warned standing up sd dhe collected the tea pot and dishes.

Vas tipped over with the giggles. “I wasn’t making fun of Doc.” He laughed. “It’s from a movie!” Still her reaction struck him silly. “What? You think Doc is the ONLY person in the ’Verse to have that accent?”

Serena thought for a second. Mister Cortez had a similar kind of accent, but it didn’t dawn on her that it wasn’t some sort of secret language she and Mistah Doctah Adluh shared. “No… that would be… ridiculous.” She lamented.

“Nǐ shì yīgè jiǎozi tóu, dàn zhìshǎo chōngmǎnle réncí.(You are a dumpling head, but at least filled with kindness)” He hiccuped. “If I was going to make fun of Doc I would use the accent and make some sort of tooth fairy joke … “ He said thoughtfully. Now he was just poking fun at her.

“Bì zuǐ!” (shush), she countered with a giggle. “I stick up for you too Crew Chief. That’s one of the reasons I went and bit old Leo, he was showing you disrespect.”

“And that’s sweet of you. And just for that i’ll make sure the next time you bite Leo you’ll make him yelp!” Vas promised. “Crew looks out for Crew.”

“Always.” She agreed, taking the cups up the ladder with her to be washed. “Meeting in the morning ‘fore work to get some stretching and warm ups done?”

“Yup! Be there or … I got nothing just be there.” Vas chortaled and he worked to put the makeshift wobbly table he used away.