twelve
"a little bit of peace"
-

Within two days, Lusine is much better, though warned to take it easy.

She stands back before her class, illusions holding up, and overseeing her trainees doing drills.

Today, she assesses them each for weakness. Writes it down upon the clipboard as she walks back and forth, pausing to watch who fumbles with the weapons, who cracks under the pressure of defence, and who breathes hardest.

It's a new approach, but one she's willing to try whilst she gives her body the time to rest that it demands. It seems to hum in approval as she gives in to its wants. Knitting itself back together one stich at a time.

Lusine stops before Agent Mills, watching her conduct a routine of punches and kicks with her pair who holds the dummy upright.

"Good job," She praises, the corner of her mouth tilting into a smile she reserves only for those who genuinely please her with their signs of improvement. "Keep up the hard work."

Mills flashes a bright grin over her shoulder to the woman she'd formerly feared, her cheeks rosy.

"Don't stop now," Lusine tells her, a laugh contained in her throat, and the agent nods her head, turning back to the punching bag to continue.

It had taken a while, but most of the agents are finally coming around to her presence as their trainer. All it took was a time to get used to one another for the respect to be garnered both ways.

Though a few of them still don't like her, none of them would dare defy her. She'd been sure to prevent against that with her harsher punishments in the earlier training sessions.

It's almost like she's got her own little squadron again. Though there are no wars for thrones to be fought on this planet, it still settles comfortably inside of her to be a commander of sorts once again. This is who she was before it all went wrong, minus the blood-thirsty, disgusting side.

That side will never rear its head again.

She'd hacked it off at the root and burnt it to ash. Became someone new. A better version of herself that can never be lost, no matter the cost.

Lusine jots a few notes down against Ayla Mill's name. A few for improvement, but significantly more for praise of her progress. This young woman might just become a magnificent agent if she keeps up this progression.

By the time she's finished her rounds, the training session is over, and the agents are all cooling their muscles down. Stretching their muscles as they talk amongst themselves.

In direct contrast, Lusine is warming up her muscles. Though she's been warned to take her training steady, she can't wait to get herself back into the groove of things once again. For the whole two days she'd been cooped up in their apartment, she'd been itching to stretch her legs and work off some steam.

It had been a relief to her to wake up this morning and know this is where she could do exactly that.

Besides, that morning she'd realised that her magic reserves were replenishing much faster than they had been for weeks.

When Steve strides into the room, she beckons him over with a wave of her hand and a smile, which doesn't go unnoticed by the youthful trainees who turn to one another with a new topic of gossip to hush whispers about.

"Good too see you again, Captain," She greets when he reaches her side. "The rest of you are dismissed. I'll see you all tomorrow afternoon," She announces, wanting the agents to leave so that she may begin her own training session.

"Sorry I'm a little late," He apologises, rubbing the back of his neck. "I got a bit caught up."

"That's okay," Lusine says, letting her illusion fall the moment the last trainee exits the room. He doesn't even bat an eyelid at the transformation before him. "Are you ready to begin?"

The training brings her a release she knew would come as soon as her muscles begin to move. Though she pushes herself harder than Olea likely would've advised, the sweat at her brow and the burn in her limbs is welcomed.

Steve is more than happy to hold the punching bag in place when she summons her golden staff, the replica of her infamous spear, and begins to practice attacks. She delves into muscle memory and pulls them from their deep sleep, forcing her arms to move as they once did, albeit not as gracefully as before.

Unsurprisingly, she's a little rusty, but when she dismisses the weapon and it shimmers away in a glimmer of white light, she doesn't feel as tired as she'd expected to.

After convincing Steve she's strong and sturdy enough to hold the bag for him in return, she helps him train too. For the first time, she feels the true strength behind his punches as they thunder into the training bag, though she's convinced he's not going all out.

He's likely just as strong as she is with his enhanced strength from whatever serum he'd been given.

An eager glint fastens in her eyes. "Do you want to spar?" She asks, conceding a step at a particularly powerful punch.

He drops his fists, chest heaving and a beat of sweat running down the side of his face. "Sure," he agrees, "just give me a moment."

"Perfect." She grins, excited to begin.

Once Steve has had a drink and caught his breath, they begin.

He can see the anticipation burning like a wildfire in her eyes. Her fingers twitch at her sides and her mind is likely whirring with tactics behind those fiery-eyes, calculating even as she makes her move.

She takes two steps towards him and swings. He catches her fist and pushes her back. Nimbly, she stays on her feet and comes for him again, this time with a flurry of blows, matched with kicks, most of which he manages to deflect.

"Are you going to attack or are you just going to block like a wimp?" She questions lightly. "Come on, Captain, I can take more than a few hits."

He laughs, rolling his eyes at her, before he launches his own offensive. When he outpaces her, she quickly eats her words as her balance is knocked and she tumbles. Shaking her head, she pushes herself back up, crouching as she takes a moment to breathe and recalculate.

He lowers his fists and offers her a hand, ever the gentleman.

She smiles sweetly as she takes it and uses his good-nature to her advantage as she yanks with all her might and body-weight on his hand. She pulls him down successfully and capitalises on his surprise, pinning him in seconds with a triumphant grin on her flushed face.

"I always forget how dirty you fight," He complains, though there is a lightness to his tone.

She hovers over him, not quite ready to let him go. "Well, maybe you should take a leaf out of my book and then you won't end up pinned on the mats."

"You've gotten a lot stronger since the last time we sparred," He comments, sitting up as she slides off him.

"Do you think so?" Her head tilts with the question.

"Yeah, definitely," Steve replies. They both get to their feet and walk to the side of the room, both needing a drink after their spar.

"That means a lot," She says, already feeling herself fill with a little more hope that maybe it won't take as long to get back to herself as she anticipated it would. "I guess small progress is better than no progress. So, thank you."

She mops her brow with the towel, pondering for a moment. Though she doesn't feel strong, she knows this is more strength than she's had for a long time. Physically as well as mentally. Though there is still much healing to be done in both fields, she knows she's come a long way since the day she'd collapsed in the Asgardian hallway soaked in her own blood.

"It's getting late, but do you want to go for a walk through the park?" Steve asks, somewhat nervously as if he fears she will reject him, even though they both know what connection they have. "I've been meaning to show you around the neighbourhood more, but there's not been much time."

Her mouth tilts up into a gentle smile. "That would be lovely. Can we shower first though? I feel gross."

"Of course," He agrees, then he grins cheekily and remarks, "You definitely need one."

That gentle smile of hers extends with surprise at his prodding joke. "Is that so?" She steps forwards to close the gap between them.

Being much shorter than him, he has to look down to be able to maintain the pull of the eye contact between them as he says, "Absolutely."

"And," she lifts her hands to rest upon his broad chest, "will you be joining me?" Lusine asks, her voice purposefully honeyed, one brow cocked. His face flushes red as he's immediately thrown in the deep end. She steps back, dropping her hands to her sides, and making sure he sees her smile. "We should get going if we want to be able to walk through the park in the light."

He nods his head in agreement. "Yeah, let's get going."

They take the elevator down and walk back to Steve's apartment. Only a few words are said between them, though the air isn't awkward.

As soon as he closes the door behind them, she turns to him and blurts out, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Sometimes I go too far."

"It's okay," He responds, stepping towards her. She responds to his advance immediately as she lifts her arms to loop over his shoulders. "I'm the one who always freezes up."

She shakes her head. "That's fine," She tells him. One of her hands move to the nape of his neck, her thumb tenderly brushing along the cut of his jaw. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me."

"I'm not," he says, reaching out and planting his hands on her hips as if to prove it, "trust me." As if she isn't already convinced, he bows his head and presses a brief kiss onto her.

"I'm glad," She mutters, already angling for another kiss.

Her wish is granted. With her back against the wall, she's locked beneath his body as their lips reconnect. Her hands slide down to his chest and curl into his uniform.

With her face cupped between his large hands, she lets him take the lead. Not pushing, only letting him go as far as he wants. Following his pace and matching it when he kicks it up a gear.

Though she doesn't want to cut this short, she pulls back. "I need to shower if you want to go for a walk."

"Okay," He agrees, and it takes every inch of her self-control to slip away from him, trying to push the thought of his slightly-swollen lips from her mind to prevent herself from running right back into his arms.

Though even as the water running over her body cools her, the thought of him doesn't leave her.

She dresses quickly in a black, long-sleeve dress that does little for her figure and dries her wet hair to the best of her ability with the towel before braiding it back from her face.

When she emerges, she walks right into the living space and says, "Your turn!" as she passes by him, going straight to the fridge for a much-needed glass of wine while she waits.

She's lounging on the sofa when he emerges and quickly finishes her wine so they can depart.

In moments, they're walking down the stairs hand in hand.

When they notice Sharon coming up towards them, they steal a glance at one another but don't unlace their hands. Let her see what they mean to one another. Let her see the bond that has formed.

"Good evening," Lusine greets as they pass on the staircase.

"Hello," Sharon replies, neither of them missing the way she smirks at the sight of them as a couple, but she says nothing more and carries on her way.

When they step out onto the street and begin to stroll down the pavement, Lusine unlinks their hands and instead hooks her arm through his, preferring the intimacy of being closer to him.

A few passers by recognise them, one even going so far as to salute Steve, which she absolutely teases him for. He rolls his eyes at her but laughs along.

"You're telling me no one's ever saluted you before?" He questions, lifting a bow to her, his expression one of amusement.

Her cheeks are flushed with a rosy vibrance as she beams at him, shaking her head. "No. Most people bow to royalty, not salute them," She shoots back, her gaze dancing with mischief. "Play your cards right and you'll be royalty too."

He laughs loudly as cross the grass. Her shameless flirting never ceases to amuse him.

After one walking for a little while, they find somewhere to settle and they take a seat on the grassy bank leading down to the lake, which sparkles in the glow of the afternoon sun. As if it's sad to see the sun disappear for another night.

Lusine leans into Steve's side, his arm a comforting weight around her shoulders.

"I never knew Midgard could be so beautiful," She says softly as if she's scared being too loud will shatter the display of nature before them.

"I guess it is pretty nice," He agrees, his thumb absently rubbing her shoulder.

"I couldn't be more thankful to be welcomed here." Her head turns to him and he swears her eyes are prickling with tears, but he can't be sure because she blinks them away. "I'm recovering quicker here than I ever did when I was on Asgard and part of that is thanks to you, Steve. I really can't thank you enough."

"You really don't need to thank me. You deserve to be able to live in safety, especially after all you've been through." He squeezes her shoulder comfortingly, hoping she believes him.

But all she does it turn her vision back to the lake of molten bronze, a soft smile on her mouth and eyes that definitely brim with tears now. Gently, he leans across and presses a kiss onto her cheek, which only makes her smile wider.

"You deserve it, Lusine," he says, repeating himself, "more than anything."

Her hands reach up to cup his cheeks as her stare bores into him. She kisses him once, her lips moving slow over his in a pace he's unused to with her. Another short kiss and then she pulls away, her face hovering close to his.

"You're making it extremely difficult for me not to fall absolutely in love with you, Captain," She whispers, her hot breath tickling his lips as they curve into a smug smile.

"I'm glad we're on the same page," He replies shortly before stealing another kiss and admiring the evening sun's glow mingling with the pink blush highlighting her cheeks as she tucks herself under his arm once more to watch the sunset in heed of night.

-

2573 words
27.4.19

i love them with my whole heart