Combat Dynamics

Posted on Wed Apr 10th, 2024 @ 12:50am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant JG Corvin Hartjin

Mission: In-Between (S1:E7-S1:E8)
Location: Security Training Suite
Timeline: Date 2371-09-24 at 1645
5465 words - 10.9 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

It wasn't often that Corvin sparred with training weapons, that wasn't how he'd learned to fight but then again the Klingons tended towards the idea that what didn't kill you made you stronger and if it killed you, then you weren't strong enough to survive. A brutal simplicity to it he supposed if rather circular logic. He'd replicated a training copy of his mek'leth blade since it was rare for him to ever be seen without it, especially on duty. Even now he had it tucked away in his training bag because of its sentimental importance and what it symbolized for him.

He was dressed in a tank top, a pair of work out pants, and gym shoes. Even if he was on a beach he wasn't without a pair of shoes since in the Spoonhead labor camps, he learned how important it was to have something on your feet since the heels gave more impact to a blow. The extensive network of ritualistic scars were visible over his body, paler than his tanned skin, disappearing under his shirt. He was meeting with Lyra for a sparring session given it had been a while since they'd really seen each other socially. He set his bag down and took a drink of water from his bottle as he waited.

Lyra stepped through the doors of the sparring arena with Simmons in step behind her. The two were speaking animatedly about something unknown, then Lyra nodded and Simmons immediately about faced and left without even glancing at Corvin. She however looked up at her second and gave him a smile.

"Corvin." She greeted and flipped her braided hair back over her shoulder. She was wearing a black racerback sports bra underneath a dark purple tank top with matching black yoga pants that had purple stripes down each leg. The outfit hugged her body and showed off her figure, but it was more for practicality than actually having a desire to show off.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you'd been avoiding me."

"Never trying to avoid you, just...was busy," He replied, his gaze moving over her body appreciatively before meeting her gaze; he honestly didn't have a great reason for not having seen her outside of the most necessary of Security briefings. He was also keenly aware of Andrei's dislike for him, and he cared even less for the other man, given what the pompous asshat's idiotic actions had led to happening with Lyra. His loyalty to Lyra kept him from speaking out, but he was trying to figure out how to square his loyalty to her and promising to protect a man he felt didn't deserve her.

"Minor things that didn't require your attention, contraband from our last shore leave, dealing with some sort of infestation from some cargo brought over by the Gladius crew, the incidentals, as it were." All are true, but ultimately, they are excuses regarding the heart of the matter.

"Which is why I shifted them off to you, but that still isn't any sort of excuse now is it?" She asked and walked closer to him, slowly starting to stretch even though she had already warmed up in her quarters. Her dark eyes moved over his handsome face slowly and she stopped in front of him while encroaching into his personal space just slightly.

"No." He stated without going further with it as he watched her stalking closer, holding his ground as he flexed his jaw, it wasn't what she would normally do to someone she was questioning but even a fraction of such an invasion was unsettling. "One reason why I wanted to make this training session so we could have some face to face time that wasn't dealing with work.

"You've never asked to train with me before. Even when I wasn't chief." Lyra noted and began to move around him, circling him as he stood there. "Why now?"

"I thought it might be a good opportunity, training can highlight weaknesses in our technique that could be exploited by an enemy and as the old saying goes, iron sharpens iron." He replied standing still while she circled him, used to being examined in such a way, though typically he'd had far less clothing on. The presence of the woman was similar though and it was familiar and he could deal with familiar.

“Mm…” Lyra chuckled and stopped in front of him, now close enough he could feel the warmth of her body. Standing taller than he was, she lowered her gaze to look down into his eyes. “We could have done that back then too.”

Corvin cleared his throat and met her gaze, he'd always had to look up at people, it had been worse in the Blood Pits, but with Lyra it wasn't a feeling of humiliation that washed through him but something else, something more intimate as he worked to find his words. "We could have," he admitted while his mind swam with different possibilities had he chosen to act in a different manner back then. "But we are here now and I want to make up for my absence now."

"We are, and we will do that." She could see the way he looked at her and knew the power she had over him. Perhaps if she commanded it, he might even slit his own throat. She lifted her hand and grabbed his chin, holding it gently between her thumb and forefinger.

She found herself significantly less inclined to be mindful of how physical she was with other men since she had found Andrei's secret little book and confirmed that he had been fucking his XO on the Lovarr... the same woman he had insisted on having a private meeting with which had violated one of their boundaries they had set in the beginning of their relationship. He'd seduced her before and kept her loyalty with promises that he might return to her bed if she was loyal enough, Lyra was sure, and she was also sure that if she had been a fly on the wall in that meeting, she would have witnessed things she would have deemed inappropriate. Why else would it have needed to be private? She doubted they would have had sex, but it was still disrespectful and skirting a dangerous line.

"After you tell me why, really."

He swallowed, shivering at her touch and the way she physically commanded his attention, but again he kept his tongue and focused instead on the coming training, though the fact that she had reached out to touch him was something new. He had noticed she'd been quite conscious of her physical interactions with other men around her after she had become involved with Andrei.

"I have been struggling in my loyalty," He finally admitted but didn't look away as he spoke, knowing that sounded like the beginning of a damning statement. "I'm struggling because I can serve and protect you, but I find myself struggling to extend that devotion to Andrei, he put your life in danger when you've been completely devoted to him, I swore that if you had died after we discovered the Numiri had taken you, I'd carve out his heart."

"You don't need to extend your devotion to Andrei, Corvin." Perhaps she had thought so once, but recent events had her thinking better of it. None of his pawns seemed to have any devotion to her or really any thought at all except perhaps as an obstacle to what they desired, so why should her own have any for him? She slid her thumb over the dimple in his chin thoughtfully. "You serve and protect him in your capacity as a security officer on this ship - that is our duty. However, you will never attempt to lift a hand to him without my explicit command. Do you understand?"

Which would be never. Probably. It wasn’t like Corvin would stand much of a chance either way.

"I understand my desire to kill him was when you were missing, but he will have nothing to fear from me unless you command it; my devotion is to you and always will be." He licked his lips as she caressed his chin and caught hold of the less-than-chaste thoughts he was experiencing about her as they stood so close. The warmth of her body was soothing in a way that was strange to him, it conjured up the memories of his time as a Klingon's plaything, it was confusing but familiar, he might never share this woman's bed but he would serve her as if he did.

"I've also been struggling because I didn't think it was my place to speak my feelings since you had chosen him."

"This is the last time we are going to speak about this." She let her hand drift from his face. Truthfully, she was annoyed that this was still at the forefront of his mind after they had addressed it previously, but she kept that feeling to herself. "Mistakes were made on both my side and Andrei's side. What happened is over and done and any lingering thoughts or cautions on the matter are mine alone."

"Yes, I'm sorry for having brought the matter up again." He nodded, swallowing as he felt lessened by the loss of her touch, even if it wasn't intimate it still had buoyed him in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time. "I won't speak of it again."

"Good." She looked down to the mek'leth in his hand as she finally stepped back from him. Many thought it was very strange he sported the Klingon weapon in his day to day and she knew it was the topic of more than a few jokes and snickering comments, but she didn't care as long as he could perform his job.

"Shall we then?" She indicated to the mat.

"Yeah," He nodded and moved towards the mat, giving his sparring blade a couple of test swings once he realized it was lighter than the real thing. A detail that he'd need to remember as he turned to face Lyra, his eyes moving over her once more before focusing and getting himself into the right head space for the fight to come.

Lyra moved to the mat herself, taking up position across from Corvin and rolling her neck. Generally, when a man and woman would square up like this the victory was very likely to go to the man, but with Lyra that victory wasn’t so certain. She had been trained extensively and had been wise enough to not reveal the breadth of that training to anyone at any point. She certainly wouldn’t start now.

She shifted her stance and raised her hands, her dark eyes watching him intently.

Focusing, Corvin shifted forward his strikes swift and precise as he launched into a combo of slashes aimed seemingly at random but meant to keep her off balance, the false blade moving towards her feet, up towards her torso before pivoting back down towards her thigh. While he had been raised up and trained in the Blood Pits, he showed a surprising amount of grace in his movements, certainly not what one would be accustomed to seeing when a Klingon fought. While powerful, they moved with all the grace of an enraged targ, using momentum, power and weight to overcome an opponent, batter and break them before delivering the killing blow.

For the Terran man, he wasn't built as powerfully as his Klingon captors had been, but he'd learned to from the best instructors they'd been able to find, having even brought in a Boreth bat'leth master to teach him how to properly fight with both weapon and body, teaching him to make himself a whole weapon, not just the instrument he held in his hand.

Lyra moved quickly, dodging each attack as it came with an impressive, practiced ease. She didn't retaliate against him, simply moved away and then gracefully shifted so as he struck down at her thigh, he spun around too far and she ended up behind him. Her strong hands whipped out, one grabbing his wrist and the other pushing into his elbow as the one on the wrist pulled back toward it, threatening to hyperextend or break the joint if he were to fight.

"Good." She said and let him go, backing off to reset again. Corvin didn't fight like most Terran men; the majority of Terran men believed they won on swinging dick status alone and attacked like brutes with little strategy behind their movements. It was a positive trait for her hound.

Corvin growled as she got the better of him, but he didn't resist her hold since he knew what she could do in that position, when she released him, moving his arm as he worked it a little, feeling it pop as he moved to square up against her. She was fast and she was stronger than she looked. She was fit but he'd encountered many Terran women who looked fit but didn't have any strength to them. Though they'd both taken a measure of each other as he shifted his stance, standing more loosely as he waited to see what she would do.

He wasn't waiting because he was afraid to attack her, but because he wanted to see how she would approach him, wanting to see if he could ferret out something more of her fighting style. To try and counter it or get a feel for how she fought.

“Now now, it isn’t polite to stare.” She teased. A sly, dangerous grin appeared on her beautiful face and she began to move toward him languidly. Despite her approach, she was clearly focused and once she was within reach, she moved as if she were going to try and strike him across the jaw with her fist, though her other hand remained low.

"Never said I was a polite sort of man." He smirked back, watching as she moved forward, his attention briefly drawn toward the obvious strike she was aiming at his jaw, though it did seem a little too telegraphed as he made a feint as if to lean in and take the hit while remaining aware of her other hand, instead shifting at the last minute to sweep her arm away, slipping around her and immediately resisting the urge to give her ass a playful swat with his training blade since he was certain that wouldn't be well received.

Instead of backing off as she had before, Lyra moved immediately with Corvin in a motion as graceful as if she were dancing with him. As he turned to slide around her, she widened and followed the motion so instead she ended up behind him. She pressed her body to his immediately and brought her lips down to his ear. "Boo."

This made Corvin jump; while he'd faced his fair share of opponents in the ring, it had been more about the spectacle, violence, and blood; dancing like this didn't ever make the crowds cheer unless someone had just driven a knife into someone's back, leaving bleeding like a stuck pig. He dropped low, sweeping with his leg towards her and making a counter motion with his training blade from the opposite direction so the only ways she could move was forward or back.

As soon as he dropped, Lyra was already moving to retreat. His training blade grazed against her thigh before she had fully pulled away and she smirked slightly. Now disengaged, she grounded herself again and watched him. "Did I scare you?"

"Startled. Never have someone been that fast and gotten behind me without a blade ending up there," he remarked honestly as he stood. The training blade had no edge, so it couldn't cut, but you'd definitely know if it hit you, though given that it was a graze, he doubted it would have felt like anything more than a forceful touch on her thigh. "For what it's worth, you'd have been a spectacle in the Pits,"

Before he'd even stopped speaking, he surged forward with the training blade leading the way as he threw it at her as a distraction, coming up swiftly after as he best to launch a series of furious blows. Not the random pummeling of a Terran male, but precise strikes that didn't telegraph his intent, watching her as he also made short sweeps at her ankles and calves to keep her off balance.

Lyra dodged the throw of the blade with ease, not falling for the distraction it was meant to give. As he advanced on her, she focused on dodging or deflecting each of his strikes and she managed to not lose her balance against his best attempts. He didn't know it of course, but he was playing directly into her own martial strengths by doing what he was doing. Eventually, when she saw an opening, her whole body shifted and she delivered an impressive, forceful kick to the center of his chest to knock him back and away from her. Immediately, she scooped up his blade and set it in her hand.

"What a thoughtful gift."

Corvin stumbled back, letting the momentum carry him back into a roll as he brought himself up onto his feet with a feral sort grin on his face as he looked over at Lyra. There was a certain sort of arousal there but mixed with an admiration. He stood up and squared off against her again. Aside from respectfully wanting to avoid any conflict with Andrei given how possessive the Commander was of what he saw as his, Corvin couldn't really think of a reason why he hadn't sparred with the woman before. She reminded him of a half-Klingon woman, not for her looks but how she fought, that had been a bloody fight in the ring though if what he was experiencing now was anything to go by, she would have mopped the floor with the other woman easily.

If they'd been in an arena, he'd have tossed a handful of sand in her face, might not have blinded her, but it would have allowed him to come at her and likely land a few solid hits. He did need to be a bit more cautious now that she had the training blade, it wasn't real but he had to treat it as if it were. Closing the distance was key as he moved forward swiftly, swaying and working to keep her weapon arm from coming fully into play and stay inside of it as he attempted to disarm her of the weapon.

As Corvin came at her with more aggression, Lyra couldn't help but grin slightly herself. It seemed he was figuring out she was more of a match for him than he probably originally anticipated and was becoming more invested in their little sparring match now. She clashed with him, dodging the aggressive strikes he was making and minimizing those she couldn't dodge as best she could. Perhaps she might need to visit sickbay after to take care of some of the bruising.

She found her opening finally, throwing off one of his strikes and using the momentum to carry herself around his undefended side so she was behind him. She brought the blade up to his throat, her body pressed against his, and she whispered into his ear.

"No, this is mine. You gave it to me and you can't have it back."

Corvin swallowed as he felt her body pressed tightly against his, feeling a surge of fear and arousal rushing through his body like a runaway stagecoach toward an oncoming cliff. Lyra was most certainly the kind of woman that he loved taking to bed. She dominant, knew how to fight, and knew just how to carry herself to command a room, the fact that she had the faux blade to his neck right at this moment just made everything that much more erotic to him, though the danger wasn't real, he couldn't tell his body that as he felt himself growing hard. "Doesn't mean I can't try to take it back...half the fun wrestling for it." He licked his lips and tried to keep his voice steady and not completely betray the arousal he was feeling.

Lyra chuckled and then shoved him forward and away from her, though instead of keeping the blade in hand, she tossed it to the side of the room. She took up a defensive stance on the mat again, obviously something taken from one of the martial arts styles of earth. "We're not wrestling, Corvin."

The Terran man caught himself before launching himself into a series of kicks, the first being a spinning high kick before taking up a Muay Thai stance as he continued his attacks, pressing her back, while he was being aggressive, he wasn't being reckless. She would certainly be feeling the blows in her body since even for his smaller frame he generated a great deal of force with his strikes. She would be able to see that he really was enjoying himself now that he'd let go and realized that she was worth an actual effort.

Lyra moved and met the blows where she could, taking them when she could not. Eventually, he was able to sweep her legs from under her and she landed back on the mat, but did so in the trained way of anyone schooled in martial arts so she didn’t hurt herself at all.

“Good.” She said, looking up at him. In a way she was glad to see him relax and open himself up to her in this way. It showed a trust on his part, but it also allowed her to see how he fought in case it ever became a relevant issue.

Once she was down, he stopped and couldn't help but give Lyra an appreciative once over, lingering on her thighs before he reached out a hand to help her up, a smile on his face from the praise. "Not everything about fighting I learned from the Klingons, the instructors on Terra honed me to be more than a pit fighter."

He stepped back once she was on her feet again as he stepped back to take up a fight stance once more.

“Well I should hope it wouldn’t be all you had learned. We can take from others, but we shouldn’t lose all that makes us Terran.” She reached up and ran her hands down her front to smooth her shirt. She didn’t need a breather, but she didn’t want to keep at this too much longer and in doing so reveal more than she needed to.

“What other styles do you know?”

"Russian Sambo and Eskrima since it fits with my background." Corvin offered up without hesitation to her since he was her man, his loyalty was without question and she would never have anything to truly fear from him. "I was specifically taught Muay Leert Rit, the form used in combat as opposed to sport." He continued while stretching his arms across his body.

"When I was a pit fighter I was taught qaStaHvIS puqlom by my owners along with a Bajoran pressure point style but I don't remember what it was called, it seemed too delicate and situational be to really be useful."

"Pressure point styles can be useful, but yes they are very situational and are better for maneuvering an already controlled opponent." Lyra offered while she watched him, her eyes moving over his body and the lingering erection he was still sporting.

"I don't know much about the other style you mentioned," she didn't even try to pronounce it even though she was perfectly capable. "What is its focus?"

"Striking Storm is an aggressive style that is similar to Terran Muay Thai in that it uses the whole body as a weapon, I don't pull it out because it's not something that you use in a sparring session since you aren't taught to pull your punches or make a lovetap." He explained while doing nothing to hide his erection from her sight, but he didn't draw attention to it either. "Its basically meant to attack so aggressively that you overwhelm your opponent, either leaving them incapacitated, severely injured, or dead...I used it one more than one occasion to kill a couple of Klingons in the arena and some spoonies once I was with the Fleet...a Cardassian's head right at their spoon ridge makes a very satisfying crunch."

"I'm sure it does." She smirked and shook her head while moving closer to him. "Show me something from it, won't you? I trust you not to be a stupid, mindless beast despite what the training might have commanded."

Corvin nodded as he let himself think back to his training for what had become muscle memory at this point for him as he circled around Lyra, using his foot to nudge her legs into a wider stance, having her bend her forward leg and place the weight on her toes before he moved his hands up her thighs and over her waists - taking an opportunity to feel her body while making sure that her posture was inline for what she needed in order make a proper strike.

His hands remained light on her torso, gently turning her as he stood close behind his Chief, she would be able to feel the hardness of his erecting pressing against her rear as he continued to manipulate her body. He spoke a moment later, mouth close to her ear, a deep husky whisper. "First your need to feel the tension in your muscles, how they are taut like coiled springs, this is the energy that you'll use to fuel your strikes."

He was certainly being cheeky today, but she was in a bit of a mood so she decided to allow it - to a point. Besides, she had asked to be shown and that is exactly what he was doing. Mostly. She wasn't even phased with his erection bumping up against her - she'd felt so many of those during sparring sessions that it barely even registered anymore.

"Alright. Now what?"

"So from this position, you can strike out with any part of your body," He continued while moving to move her arm into the correct position, bending her forearm back to rest against her bicep and raising it up as he moved away from her.

"But what you want to do, as you start to strike, you are going to step forward onto your forward foot and let all of that energy transfer into that arm so that whatever strike you make has the full force of your entire body behind it and with Striking Storm you are always moving forward, you never relent just like a storm lashing the landscape."

"Sounds recklessly aggressive." Lyra noted, maintaining the posture she had been put in with ease. "Though I suppose in the end I don't expect much else from Klingons."

It also wasn't really an art for women - she could tell immediately that she wouldn't be able to use it to its full potential, but there was nothing wrong with learning new techniques that she could potentially adapt to something more suited to her.

"I had to adapt to work with a human's physique,” Corvin smirked as he watched her practicing the motion. "It's very much focused on either having a greater amount of physical strength or being a Klingon, but learning the aggressive progression of attacks is useful to creating a style that works for you if you need to be more aggressively physical."

"Though the Klingon idea of defense is to keep on the offensive and your opponent will never get to attack."

"No wonder so many of them lie dead at Terran feet." She said as she lifted her brows and then finally broke the stance. "Well, let's see it then, show me what you can do. Call an opponent."

She stepped off the mat to give him room and grabbed her own water bottle. The sparring area was equipped with holoemitters that could provide appropriate opponents should none be available, but Lyra always encouraged training together when it was viable. As advanced as holograms were, they still lacked that human element.

Corvin nodded as he moved to take his place on the mat, pondering for a moment the best opponent to demonstrate on and decided that the parent species of the martial art would be best. "Computer activate Corvin Sparring Program K-1, standard engagement parameters." He ordered while moving to his side of the mat as a Klingon warrior appeared on the other side of the mat, motionless as the Terran man took a moment to stretch before taking up his fighting stance, arms at the ready.

"Computer, begin."

The Klingon came to life, snarling at Corvin and spewing several curses regarding his parentage, though before much else could be said, Corvin had cleared the space on the mat in a few steps. He began to hammer his off guard opponent, landing several blows that staggered the alien, leaving him reeling before he ever managed to fight back, pushing Corvin away. The Terran was swaying a bit before he rushed forward, deflecting a series of brutal blows that would most certainly be leaving a mark as it almost appeared to turn into a slugging match, though Corvin wisely was deflecting the blows he couldn't take and driving brutal strikes of his own into the weak points of his opponent.

Though resilient, even a Klingon had his limits and was staggering back from Corvin as they continued the demonstration for Lyra.

Lyra watched the display with keen interest, immediately noting that the program Corvin had chosen had begun with his opponent being off guard. He was currently winning, but she wondered if he would have been had he clashed with one of the creatures that had come out swinging instead. She studied each strike and parry, watched the way their feet moved, took in the twist and shift of their bodies. She was right, it was the style of a Klingon brute, but it was dangerous.

The hologram disappeared with a final strike from Corvin, maybe he should have chosen an opponent that would have fought back but he was more interested in giving a brief display of the footwork and in the chaos of a fight, details could be missed. He turned his attention to Lyra to see if she had anything to say or if there was anything else that she wanted to see demonstrated.

“Well done.” Lyra gave him a smile and nod of approval, but any other thoughts she had she kept to herself. “An interesting technique to be sure. I’m afraid our time together is almost over though.”

"Of course, though let me know if you'd like a more in-depth demonstration," He offered with a nod knowing she would tell him if she wanted one and the entire session had been enlightening for him, so he hoped they could continue to do so, Andrei being fucked about it. "I wouldn't recommend teaching it to the rest of the crew cause I'm an ass like that and I wouldn't want them hurting themselves if they aren't fully committed to their attacks."

“I wouldn’t worry about that part as much as they’d be stupid and inept and get themselves killed.” Lyra said bluntly and moved toward Corvin again. “I’m sure I’ll have you show off for me again sometime. Anything else before I go?”

He puffed a bit at assurance and even smirked at her comment about the rest of the crew trying to make use of the martial art he'd shown her, though he was certain that nothing would ever happen between them, he still liked the idea of being able to peacock for her. "No, nothing else, is there anything that I need to know for my own duties?"

"Not right now. Keep doing what you're doing, and don't slack off on your reports even if you think it isn't something worth reporting." She walked toward the door, but spared a glance back at him. "Bye for now, stay out of trouble."

"See you later Commander." He replied while letting his eyes drop to the almost hypnotic sway of her shapely rear, letting his gaze linger for a moment before letting out a deep breath as he gathered up his gear to head back to his quarters to clean up for duty.


END