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Collab Post | Interactions: Vance & Fade @Elle Joyner | Location: R.I.E.F. HQ
Luna wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep. Perhaps it was an hour, maybe shorter than that. Whatever perception of time she had was fuzzy due to the amazing warmth cocooning her like a safety blanket…
Crap.
Vance.
This wasn't good. Luna felt...sparks. They were there, obviously, and she couldn't ignore those feelings anymore like some clueless doof. However, she never knew how to handle this brand of sentiments properly. She used to mull over the what-ifs, wondering what she would do if she ever found herself crushing on someone or falling in love. It was...terrifying, to be perfectly honest. This wasn't like hacking--no set process designed to work 98.749% of the time, no concrete pathway to follow while under a ghost cloaker, no backup USBs to inject into the system and wipe the memory boards clean. No do-overs. No room for errors…
Okay. Alright. She was wide awake now.
Slowly, Luna pretended to stretch groggily--as if she wasn't having a baby meltdown for five minutes--and sat up. She glanced over to Vance, eyes somewhat bleary. "Um...g-good, err," she paused to consider, "A-afternoon?"
His own eyes were already opened, and watching Luna for a moment, he chuckled softly at her brief, awkward greeting, giving her a nod. Where Luna was inclined to overthink, Vance had a philosophy to never put his brain to work on a problem longer than was necessary. Things would be what they were going to be, and he went with the flow to the best of his abilities. Luna certainly wasn't a problem - not the sort he minded working through, anyway - but she was new… and a little dangerous, and no doubt, it was going to take some effort, before they got it all sorted…
But in the meantime, he could be content watching her wake up, and enjoy just how pretty she was when she was still sleepy.
"Afternoon, Luna. How you feeling?"
"Honestly? B-better," she admitted while trying to push curls out of her eyes. She wasn't very successful though; her hair turned into a bit of a blinding monster after taking a nap but it usually managed to cooperate after some time. She left it be and pulled her knees to her chest, fingers curling in and out of the fabric of her jeans. "W-we...I hate to bring this u-up already, but I-I still need to come up with s-something. What's our next step? W-we've got Fade now, so maybe a f-few modifications to the plan is i-in order," she said.
Then she blinked in realization.
Pink rising to her cheeks, she rushed to tag on, "A-and how're you??" Dear Lord, that was rude. There she went rambling and nearly forgotten her manners in the process.
Grinning, Vance shook his head, "Pretty Girl, you're adorable. You know that, right? I'm good… Rested." Sitting up a little, he ran his fingers through his own hair, brushing it back, before rubbing his hands over his face, "We can't move until we know what their next plan is… It's been quiet… but I'm guessing we'll hear something soon. But I've been thinking, Luna. I… I don't wanna put you at risk, not anymore than I already have, but things are getting worse here. Escalating. If I'm gonna get you out, and get Adelaide…"
"Uhhh," she drawled intelligently as her eyes found the wall incredibly interesting. "Th-thank you? Um, y-you're…" Her mind blanked. Well, not exactly blanked, but it was more like watching a whiteboard turn black from a mass of thoughts. Too many to count. To pick from. In the end, she just coughed into her fist while mumbling, "Y-you. And that's, um, wow. Okay, m-moving on."
She desperately listened to the rest, more than happy to divert her attention to the more important task at hand. She nodded in agreeance, the gravity of recent events slowly weighing her down once more. "U-understood. If we're moving out s-soon, then I guess we can't m-make big changes to the p-plan. For now, I s-suppose Fade will stay as b-backup." She almost brought up the chip again, but a burning sensation spread through her lungs like wildfire and she shot down that train of thought. Not now. She couldn't handle that right now.
Luna blinked, curious as Vance trailed off. "So...w-what're you suggesting?" she asked.
"I'm thinking maybe… maybe we could use Fade." He started easily, and shifting, he pushed himself upright, careful not to jar her too much, "If we had a distraction…" Frowning, he shrugged, "I'm not a fan of throwing him under the bus, even if he'd do the same to us, if he were in our place, but it might be our best bet of getting out of here. I know where they have her… Ady. Issues always been the technical bits. I can't do it on my own… but with your help…"
Luna quickly caught onto his insinuation and nodded. "R-right. I could definitely w-wiggle my way into the system. Judging from the t-tech they had me using in their van, I-I could work my way around th-their security." A large part of that was due to...overwhelming similarity in design. A set of fail safes and codes that was drilled into her head since childhood, but she'd rather not reveal that.
The hacker's grip suddenly doubled, borderline trembling as nails pierced fabric and into her skin. "A-and I'll look into those...th-those chips. That w-woman with the tablet...s-safe to assume that she's in c-control of them and h-hacking into a device like that w-wouldn't be my first time," she said. "I-I don't like the idea of p-putting Fade in the crossfire either...t-trust me, I really don't…"
Frowning, Vance shifted and reached out, catching her hands, "Don't worry about that. Not right now, Luna. We'll figure it out, when we have to. For now, I don't want you anywhere near it. Last thing we need, and last thing I want is them putting one of those things in your head, alright? Don't need to give them a reason to." With one hand, he reached up to brush a thumb over her cheek, "I promised I'd take care of you, and I'd be a damn hypocrite if I went and put you in that kind of danger, just to get myself out of it."
Luna didn't fight his grasp and forced her nails to cease, focusing on her breathing. "Y-you're right," she started, "W-we will figure it when we n-need to." And that moment just so happened to be right now. Luna wouldn't dare push this thought to the back-burner but she could tell that Vance was set in putting her and Adelaide's safety before his. "You know, Vance...I-I just want you to understand that I'm putting myself into this f-for myself. So, i-if that means helping you, y-your sister, and e-every innocent mutant out there...that's technically a-all for myself."
She straightened up, fingers weaving through his. "G-got it? Yours and everyone else's h-happiness feeds into mine. I-it's just how I work and...I-I'm sorry, but that's not g-going to change."
Grinning, Vance eyed her, "So you're telling me you're selfishly motivated to safe my sorry ass? Hm." Shaking his head, he laughed, "Alright, darlin'. I won't argue with you. Just promise me you'll be careful, yeah?" Shifting back, he gave her a glance suddenly, "Speaking of… It wasn't exactly difficult, putting you in this position, Luna. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. They teach you how to defend yourself? At Rogue? Cause uh… the keyboard thing wasn't exactly top notch."
Luna nodded, grinning somewhat. "Yeup. I-I am indeed selfish, motivated, and am g-going to save you're not sorry...err, butt. And I p-promise. I'll be as safe as p-possible, Vance." However, when hen asked about her combative skills...her lips pursed, embarrassment clear on her features.
She pulled up her turtleneck to hide her blush from view, sinking down a bit as she mumbled, "U-um...no. They didn't really t-teach me much about that. M-mostly hacking and technology. L-let's please just f-forget my pitiful keyboard ploy."
Fighting a teasing smirk, he nodded, "I thought so. Listen… we're gonna need that pretty brain of yours, for sure. I can't do any of this without it, but the only way we can guarantee to get through this, is to make sure the rest of you is protected, too. I may not be able to have your back, and if that's the case, well… you gotta know how to handle it. I can show you, if… if you want." It took a lot of trust, he knew, but he had to hope that to some degree, at least, he'd earned that from her.
Luna peeked out of her turtle prison. That...He had a point. A really good one. Although she didn't regret the recent set of events that brought her to now, the entire thing could've been avoided if she knew how to defend herself. It was...a pathetic show of combat, she knew it was, and remember how easily she was subdued made her heart sink.
Useless.
At the end of the day, when she was forced onto the field again and not a single piece of technology in her hands...then what? What would she do? Let everyone down, just like that? Just envisioning it stirred nausea in her gut. Luna sighed lowly before giving Vance's hand a gentle squeeze. She locked eyes with him.
"Y-you're right, Vance. I...I hate violence. A lot. But I n-need to be prepared for the w-worst and if I want to h-help you…" A moment, then she nodded, as if confirming something to herself. "I do. Sh-show me, Vance. Teach me h-how to protect myself, please."
Smiling, Vance pushed himself up off the cot and gave a solid nod, before looking around the room, "Not exactly the best place to do this, but if we go to the gym, we're likely to draw attention. So it's gonna have to do." Shrugging his shoulders, he held out a hand to her, "Up you go. I need you to stand here… and knees bent, just slightly, I want you to put your hands up, near your ears… make a fist, but keep it loose, and don't tuck your thumbs, yeah?"
Luna accepted his hand and hauled herself up, standing in the middle of the room with him. She had to admit--following his instructors were...more in-depth than she anticipated and her movements stuttered a bit as she tried to catch up. However, she managed okay enough and took the pose hesitantly. It felt...odd. Foreign.
"L-like this?"
"Arms up a little higher, elbows out… here…" Stepping closer, he adjusted her arms, before he stepped back, holding his palms out towards her, "Now… I want you to hit my hand. Just… hard as you can. Give it your best shot."
Luna paled a little. Christ...just jumping in, huh? Regardless, she swallowed down her fear and nodded. "O-okay...okay...alright. I-I got this. Totally. Yep." Sucking in a sharp inhale and screwing her eyes shut, she threw a punch...nearly missing his hand due to not looking where she was going.
Her eyes snapped open.
"Wait...th-that was dumb, wasn't it?" she mumbled, already shrinking into herself as her anxiety bubbled to the surface.
Grinning, Vance shook his head, "It was great. If you were trying to kill a fly. A very small fly. In the dark." Moving closer again, he reached out, his hands brushing her arms, "Baby girl… I don't expect you to get this. Okay? That's why I'm teaching you. Fighting… it's not… it's not something you can just figure out a formula for, and piece together. It takes technique. But it's learnable… and you? You're the smartest person I know. Okay? So you can do this. Just gotta get out of your own way. Now… Arms up again. This time, eyes open, and when you punch, step forward with your foot, and swing your shoulder into it. The tension should come from here…" He pressed a hand to her shoulder, then with his other hand, gave her fist a squeeze, "And here. You don't need to be huge, or strong to get in a good hit, so long as you put some momentum and some power behind it. Try again."
Stepping back, he held his hands up a second time.
Luna hung onto his every word, each syllable helping to wash away more and more of the embarrassment. He was so...patient. Surprisingly so and it worked wonders to calm her nerves. She took up the position from before, stopping to recall the adjustments he showed her. "Okay...h-here I go."
She took a step forward--
Then stopped. Her eyes almost closed again from instinct. "S-sorry! Again."
She raised her fists again. Monitored her breathing. Relax. She needed to relax. No eyes closing. No more running from the violence in front of her. No more room for self-doubt. The muscles in her leg and upper torso tensed just before she swung back. Her fist and shoulder snapped forward to nail the center of Vance's palm--
Pack!
"Oh! O-ow, okay. Th-that stung a little." She keeled over, cradling her fist.
With a smile, Vance nodded, shaking out his palm, "Good girl. Thing no one ever tells you about fighting is, it hurts. It's not like what you see in the movies, where people rail on each other for hours, and never back down. Adrenaline, it's damn good for pain suppression, but it's not a guarantee. What you need is one good hit. Stun 'em, then after that, you do what you need to do… You fight dirty, Luna. Kick 'em in the crotch… go for the eyes… the stomach. The knees. You hit vulnerable spots, and you make them hurt. But that first punch is key. And keep your hands up. That's your block, your guard. By your ears, and you don't let them down. When you swing, with your fist, your other arm crosses your face. Simultaneous motions… Got it?"
"F-fight dirty? I...I guess that m-makes sense." It made perfect sense, but she couldn't help but wince at the thought. She supposed she could accept this though; she already agreed to doing unsavory things while undercover in R.I.E.F., so what was the point of worrying about a clean fight? She held up her arms in the supposed guard Vance was talking about, trying to get into the swing of the position and feel less awkward about it.
"G-guard by the ears...cross w-with one arm, punch with the o-other...step into it, t-tension at shoulder and fist...n-never close eyes…" She coached herself under her breath, eyes glazing over as the information rapidly settled into her brain like a sponge soaking up water. She knew that memorization wouldn't promise mastery, but it was a step closer to it.
The hacker lowered her arms, smiling softly at Vance. "Vance...y-you're one awesome teacher, y-you know that? You should be like...a-assistant combat coach at Rogue or s-something. You'd be great at it."
Laughing, Vance shook his head, "...I make it to Rogue, sweetheart, I'm not entirely convinced they're gonna wanna throw me on board. 'Least not right away. But thanks… I just want you safe. Now c'mon. Lemme see it again…" His hands rose, and he nodded to her.
Luna shrugged. "Don't worry, I've d-definitely thought about that. They're...going to be c-cautious about you, but I'll b-be there to vouch for you. They try anything a-and they'll have to go through m-me." She tried to puff herself up, but failed miserably. In the end, the action was similar to a kitten hissing. She nodded and fell into the stance again. "G-gotcha."
This punch had a similar result. She made audible contact and her knuckles throbbed from the force, but she did her best to ignore the feeling and continued swinging. Left, left, right, left, right, right, left...Christ. She was starting to realize that stamina wasn't her strongsuit either.
He smirked, eyeing her over with a shake of his head, "I'm sure they'll be well and truly intimidated, darlin'... Really." As she drove her fists forward, Vance nodded, "Good… very good. Keep going… There you go." Hands folding around hers, as her power and force wore down with her energy, he chuckled, "That's good, Luna. Take a break…"
Luna panted lightly, wiping the thin sheen of sweat from her forehead. "C-cool...great. A break s-sounds...sounds awesome. Um," she pointed behind him at her water bottle, which rested next to the cot. "M-mind if you, uh, hand me th-that while I wheeze like a dork o-over here?"
With a chuckle, he nodded and reached for the water bottle, "You've got good form, Luna. Just need to remember to put the power in the shoulder, and you'll do alright. Remember… all it takes it one good hit."
As he spoke, she crept forward. "Uh huh. Yep. F-form and all…that!"
She jumped onto this back, attempting to wrap her arms loosely around him. Hey, he did say that she needed to play dirty, right?
For a second or two, Vance was caught off guard, and if Luna wasn't the size of a dime, he might've actually been knocked over by the unexpected move, but as it was, he managed to steady himself, cocking his head to the side to look back at his as much as he could, "...Ma jolie papillon... Got me. Now what?"
Luna paused.
That...was a mighty fine question. "Um...ch-chokehold?"
Shaking his head, he reached up to take her arms, pulling her forward a touch, "...You need to actually be able to get your arms around my neck for that, Love. Gotta say, though… the ruthless surprise… well played."
"Right. Obviously. D-definitely knew that; was just uh..was just t-testing you," she defended weakly. However, a fraction of the doubt left her voice as he praised her surprise attack, and a pleased smile graced her features. "Thanks! C-combative genius like that just...c-comes to me. Out of nowhere."
However, just as she figured that was enough fooling around, she realized that she indeed off the ground. Oh dear. "So, uh, h-how do I get down? You're kinda t-tall." She shrugged sheepishly, her grip around him tightening ever so slightly without thinking.
Laughing again, Vance shrugged, "I could just leave you up there… But I guess I'm workin' on being the good guy, now. Swing your leg around my hip… easier to do this if you're not behind me."
"Ahhhh...s-swing around? Um," she glanced at the floor. Then back at Vance. At the floor again. "...Right. S-so I'll just…" She did as she was instructed, albeit shakily.
As she maneuvered around, Vance shifted, too, his hands sliding from hers around his neck, to her back, and carefully, he cupped her waist, to ease her down, smiling as he did so, "There you have it."
Luna blinked, surprised by how swiftly and efficiently she was let down. Huh...well then, that turned out far smoother than she expected. A small part of herself admitted that it felt nice to be held like that, no matter how brief it was. Regardless, she was incredibly aware of the arm around her waist and stepped away with an awkward laugh. "Th-thanks a million, Mr. Hercules. Think I'll take a r-real break now, so...um," she jabbed a dorky thumb in the direction of the cot, "Y-yeah."
God--why did she have to be so painfully shy? Especially around Vance? One moment, she felt comfortable enough around the man to jump onto his back and the next moment, she could barely handle being near him without her brain melting. This was too complex, even for her "brainiac" reputation.
Watching her, Vance shook his head, and his smile softened, before he reached for the bottle that had fallen when she'd jumped on him, holding it out to her. Sinking down on the edge of the cot as well, he shrugged his shoulders, "We can practice a bit more, later. But I'm confident you'll get the hang of it… You'll do brilliant, Luna. I don't doubt it… And--"
Whatever he was going to say, however, was truncated by a knock at the door and with a frown, he rose, moving to answer it. On the other side, Fade stood with an awkward expression on his face, "Um… We're supposed to meet down in the briefing room. Something big's going down…"
Luna shot up a beat after Vance and was somewhat surprised to see Fade on the other side of the door. But relieved. Any other member of R.I.E.F. and she'd be a mess of nerves. Releasing a breath she didn't even know she was holding, the hacker walked up next to Vance and asked Fade, "W-what do you mean by something b-big?"
"I'm not entirely sure…" Fade answered, with a shrug, "They just said to come get you and Vance. My guess is, it's got something to do with Leon's mission."
Vance frowned, and glancing back to Luna, shook his head, "He… he was supposed to be tryin' to infiltrate Rogue HQ."
Oxygen evacuated Luna's lungs.
"I...i-infiltrate...Rogue HQ?" Frantically, a hand flew up to Vance's arm while her eyes remained glued to Fade. "L-let's go then. Now."
Out of all the things she could've imagined happening to her home, this was the absolute worst.
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