𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝙲𝙺𝙴𝙳 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙻𝚄𝙽𝙶𝚂, 𝙻𝚄𝙺𝙴 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙴𝚉𝙴𝚂, 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝙼𝙸𝚇𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙻𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝚂 𝚂𝙷𝙴 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝚄𝚂𝙴𝚂 𝙷𝙸𝙼, 𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝙵𝙵𝙴𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰 𝚂𝙸𝙻𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙸𝙽𝚅𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝚁𝚈 𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙰𝙶𝙰𝙸𝙽. “ holding back ? ” he allows himself to be pulled upright, his own smile bright as the sun above them as he rubs the back of his head, “ kor’, no offence, but i couldn’t be not holding back anymore if i tried. and trust me, i’m trying. ” ( 𝘩𝘦, 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘬𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. ) he’s no stranger to conflict, what he lacks in grace he more than makes up for in agility and power. luke’s compact and lighter on his feet than most would care to give him credit for. but he still finds that a certain clumsiness weighs him down, his confidence more than lacking. especially in terms of the power that hums in his veins.
inhaling, luke settles back into the fighting stance she’d taught him, elbows close to the body, feet apart. poised and prepared to pounce at the first sign of danger.
“ i’m not as quick as you are, ” a pause, a rare grin, “ yet. ready to go again ? ”
BABY WEIGHT, DICK HAD CALLED IT, gentle expression on his face as he’s watched many of the teenagers that come and go from under their care. she hadn’t understood what he meant, not really ━━━━━━━━ at seven, she was already a proficient fighter, having shrugged off all infantile clumsiness. but here, people are different and, remembering the way blood had tasted in her mouth that first time, kory cannot help but think of it as a good thing. watching luke fight, all that raw power within him, she knows he is a long way from attaining the kind of control he wants, but the fondness blooming within her tugs at her heartstrings.
own stance mirrors his, letting the corners of her mouth push into an easy grin, though this time, she does not go for the offensive. instead, watching attentively for his next move. “ stop focusing so much on what you are not, and focus instead on what you are, luke. know your strengths. ”
