[ PIN ]: sender pins the receiver to the ground and straddles them while training together. :3c
he’s not sure how she roped him into this. sparring was beneath him, but he ought not look a gift horse in the mouth. what better way to hone one’s skills than practicing on their fellow team mate? her words, not his. she’d shushed him before he had the chance to object and ushered him to the vacant training yard first chance she got.
in a flurry of fists and a flash of red, cloud’s back hits the floor. she had gotten the upper-hand, and briefly he thinks he had been foolish to underestimate her. in a daze, he doesn’t realise how hard he’d smacked his head upon impact until he opens his eyes and finds not one but two jessie’s floating above him. fortunately for him, the floor was a padded gym mat and not the cold hard concrete underneath. unfortunately for him, it doesn’t stop the searing flash of pain that sparks up from the top of his spine and fans out towards his temples. he groans in pain, his vision blotching and gloved fingers pushing through his hair to dig into his scalp. however, as soon as the pain gnaws at him and leaves him near catatonic, it vanishes as if it never existed in the first place. as always, he’s left disoriented.
the feeling leaves him like the rush of pins and needles, replaced with a sudden hyperawareness to that of jessie’s weight intimately sitting atop his lap; each leg straddled on either side of his hips. cloud gasps and jerks up, his own weight resting against his elbows in an attempt to escape his vulnerable position. “ h-hey! what the hell– ” but she’s close all of a sudden, so much so their noses brush and he blinks in surprise. it’s calculating, the stare she gives him… like she's assessing him. in such close proximity he’s made excruciatingly aware of the warmth of her breath on his lips with each exhale. the silence that sits between them is deafening, bar the loud and constant pounding of his heartbeat in his ears.
gotcha. that’s one for me, zero for you. better step up your game, merc.
she shoves at his chest, pushing him flat onto the mat. he finds himself exhaling in unknown relief, cheeks a dusty pink and eyes averting defensively.
“ i was pulling my punches. ”