[oom] training ground

[nerves_of_ice]

He'd made a promise, and he intends to deliver. He just also intends to make sure it's not the sort of thing that draws an audience - especially not any of the kids.

It takes a little while to find a clearing further out but within reasonable distance of the hut, then a little bit longer to set it up with a waterproof chest and some basic equipment. But eventually it's ready, or good enough as.

Once the goats are taken care of for the morning, he takes up position under the usual shade tree to scratch out a few notes in his latest journal and to wait for Sharon to drop by. If she's got time this afternoon, if she's not busy with Shuri or Ayo, well, then they'll see.

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[from_the_outside]

She takes a scalding gulp of her coffee, then sets the mug down and heads over toward her tote, stripping her shirt off along the way. Once dressed in light, comfortable workout gear, she ties her hair up into a ponytail and retrieves her coffee to finish it before heading outside to blink in the sun.

"Okay, let's go."

[nerves_of_ice]

He sets his empty mug at the back of the hut to wash later and tips his head toward the woods. “This way.”

Bucky absently checks the angle of the sun as they walk. “Plenty of time. I figured it’d be best to have somewhere the kids weren’t likely to run across us.”

[from_the_outside]

"Probably a good idea."

She walks easily at his side, stretching her shoulders and back as they go. "They might think it's a new game."

[nerves_of_ice]

“They might. And it’s not like I haven’t…” He trails off there for a few seconds before saying, “But I don’t think it would be a good idea. The tribes have their own training for those who want to fight. It’s not something I’d…interfere with.”

He ducks through into a small trail, holding the brush out of the way for her.

[from_the_outside]

"Haven't what? Worked with kids before?"

She knows he has: at the Y, certainly, before everything. And – well, whether the girls in the Black Widow program could be rightfully called kids is a question too complicated for her to muddle through just now.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Yeah.” He sounds thoughtful about it. “Although it was different then. Both ways. But still. That’s not how these kids see me, not really, and I … it’s okay that they don’t. Come through here.”

He pulls a stand of bushes at the side of the trail open for her, revealing the short distance to the neat little clearing beyond. It’s obvious that he’d spent some time getting rid of brush and branches and checking the ground underfoot to make sure it was ready.

[from_the_outside]

"I get it." These kids see him as a playmate, not a teacher. She loves that about them, and about him, too.

She ducks through the brush and studies the clearing. "This'll work."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Figured it’d do to start with, anyway. There’s some basic equipment in the chest over there. Wraps, padding, that kind of thing. No weapons - yet, anyway.”

He looks over at her. “Ready?”

[from_the_outside]

"Uh-huh."

Always. Even when she's rusty. Sharon Carter has never had a day when she couldn't go from relaxed to time to throw down in 0.01 seconds.

She bounces a little on the balls of her feet, and tries to keep from feeling too giddy about it all. He still has some reservations. She's got to remember that. "You?"

[nerves_of_ice]

She’s trying to hide her excitement, but it’s so completely obvious that he can’t help but feel a wash of fondness as he looks at her. They should have done this long ago. He should have done this long ago.

“Yes,” he promises. “Come on. Stretches first. You’re going to need to be as limber as possible in just a few minutes.”

[from_the_outside]

She nods and moves into a flow of warm-up stretches, unself-conscious as she works her back and shoulders, loosens her neck, coaxes her tight hamstrings and calves into relaxing.

Her blood is beating bright through her, and she can't quell her excitement, no matter how much she tries to remember he's doing this mostly just so she doesn't get her ass killed on some mission down the line. "Better," she says, rolling her shoulders.

Not perfect until she's warmed up, but it'll do.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sparring first," he says. "Let me get a look at your technique in a little different way this time."

It's very, very wry, but his gaze is steady and serious. "Then I've got a few ideas. So when you're ready... come on."

[from_the_outside]

She's gone up against Bucky exactly twice: once with everything she had and none of it anywhere near good enough, and once where he'd seemingly wanted to teleport out of the ring rather than spar with her.

So maybe it shouldn't surprise her that when she steps into range and tells herself to throw a strike, her body doesn't quite listen to her the way it usually does.

In fact, she hesitates. It's such an alien experience that she blinks at herself, bewildered, like someone who had reached to open a door and has instead found that the knob came off in their hand. It's enough of a stutter that, if it were a real fight, she'd already have lost.

[nerves_of_ice]

She looks surprised, which makes both of them, because the last thing he was expecting was for her to freeze. Bucky stares at her, startled.

"... do you want to defend first?" he asks.

[from_the_outside]

"No, I – "

She doesn't have any idea how to end that sentence. Lifting her hand, she frowns at it, like maybe the fault lies somewhere in her skeleton or nerves or muscles. "Weird."

[nerves_of_ice]

He's not sure of the why, or not exactly, but he's pretty sure of the reason. It's because it's him, somehow. Is she worried about him? Is she scared of him, deep down at the level of self-preservation? Something in between?

Bucky takes a careful step closer and holds both hands out to her. "Got an idea," he says. "Give me your hands, baby. Dance with me."

[from_the_outside]

She puts her hands in his with no sign of the hesitation of earlier and steps closer as her mouth quirks, wryly amused.

"That seems like the opposite of what we're supposed to be doing."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Well, it's a different kind of dance," he tells her, with a wry smile. Bucky closes his fingers around hers and holds on, then starts to guide her hands in his through the pattern of a kata - with no force to any of the feigned blows, only the controlled, practiced movement of blows and blocks.

He's watching like a hawk for any resistance, for any sign that she wants to pull away.

[from_the_outside]

Her brow furrows, but once she realizes what he's up to, she relaxes, shoulders all the way down through her hips and knees, lets him guide her through the motions. Together, they sketch a pattern of strikes and blocks, but none of it gets anywhere near either of them, and there's no force behind it.

[nerves_of_ice]

The relaxation's a good sign, he feels. Slowly, steadily, he begins to pick up the pace, and as he does he loosens his grip on her fingers but doesn't let go.

[from_the_outside]

The motions become more fluid, more organic, but he doesn't quite let her go, which she appreciates. She uses the time to ground herself in her body, in her hips and core; in her breath. Slowly, her shoulders begin to loosen.

[nerves_of_ice]

"There it is," he murmurs, as she relaxes into herself. "There you are, Sharon. I'm ready when you are. We've got all the time we need."

[from_the_outside]

"Are you sure?"

She knows, she knows: he offered. But Bucky offers a lot of things that aren't necessarily what's best for him, if he thinks it'll help someone else. "A hundred percent?"

No tension reappears as she murmurs her questions; she just meets his gaze with her own, full of steady trust and just a hint of concern. "You... want to do this?"

What a loaded question. But it's important. "Not just because it's something I asked for?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'm sure." Quiet, but absolutely certain. "I've been thinking about it since. Even before I started getting this place ready. I was pretty sure you weren't going to bring it up again, either, so I had time to be sure."

There's no evasion in his glance, equally steady on hers. "You don't have to. If you're scared of me, or for any other reason, you don't, I swear. We can find another way to make sure you're at the top of your game. But if you do... I'm here."

[from_the_outside]

Of course she wasn't going to bring it up again. Of course he knew she wouldn't. "I'm not scared of you."

She can say that with absolute certainty. She has a healthy respect for his abilities and she never wants to take a hit like the one she took in Berlin from him ever again, but she could no more be scared of Bucky than of her own parents. "There's no one I trust more."

She breathes deep, nods. "I do. I want to."

One more breath, and a smile tugs onto her lips. "Let's do it. Me and you."