Practice Dummies

He sank down at the table between Meathead and Kel.

"Good morning." She said cheerily from beside him.

Had it been anyone else, he would have said, 'nothing good about it.' However, this was Kel, whom he loved. He could be polite. "'Morning." He still didn't sound happy, but at least he had given a civil reply.

"What's the matter?" She asked, concerned. He didn't sound good at all.

"Raoul decided that he needed some extra hand to hand combat practice last night." That explained it all.

She nodded sympathetically. "So, how'd you end up being his practice dummy?"

"When he said it, everyone ran from the room." That was understandable. People with half a brain knew it wasn't a good idea to practice with Lord Raoul like that. "I, of course, ran with them, but, well, ran into someone and fell. He caught me, damn him." He scowled.

"Oh, poor Dom. I know how you feel. It's awful. Have Neal heal your bruises." She ordered, her voice changing to that motherly tone she used often with them.

"I'll heal them after breakfast." Neal told them as he stuffed more toast in his mouth. Kel rolled her eyes.

"I've got nothing to do today. You boys want to practice?" Kel asked the two when they left the mess. Neal shook his head and left, mumbling something about going to see Yuki. Dom, however, agreed, wanting to spend more time with her, even if he was tired from the healing he had just had.

They grabbed some practice courts and moved into position. The fight was a good one, neither gaining a good lead. Finally, Dom's healing caught up with him, and he stumbled. Her sword was at his throat in an instant.

Clapping was heard from behind them. They turned around, surprised to see that they had acquired an audience. Alanna the Lioness stood there, along with her husband, Raoul and Buri, several members of the Own, Merric, Owen, and many others. Kel and Dom both blushed.

"Kel, I had a nice little practice with Dom yesterday, but I need another." Raoul told her with a grin.

A look of horror passed over her face. "Umm, I think that I need to, well, I need to... umm..."

"Weren't you telling me this morning that you weren't doing anything today, Kel?" Dom asked loudly, eyes dancing.

She shot him a glare and mumbled to him, "I'm going to kill you later. And trust me, it will be slow and painful."

She turned back to her old knight-master and gave him a smile. "I would be delighted to practice with you, sir, since I obviously have nothing else to do." She directed another hard look at the blue-eyed sergeant before stepping towards Raoul, resigned to her fate.

She collapsed on the ground. Raoul stood over her, smiling. "Thanks for the practice, Kel." He offered a hand to help her up, but she shook her head, not wanting to move at the moment. The position she was in happened to be very comfortable.

He laughed before walking towards the door with his wife and the rest of the party, leaving only Kel and Dom behind.

"I hope you realize that when I get up, I will kill you." She gave him a deceptively sweet smile.

He smiled back. "Of course, lady knight. I wouldn't expect anything else."

"Just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?" She grouched.

"Yep. Too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, I thought that you could use a little practice." He smiled again, making her scowl disappear. It was hard to be mad at him when he looked that good. It wasn't fair. He had to have good looks, intelligence, and wit, didn't he? Not to mention that amazing smile of his.

"I am going to murder you!" She screeched, though a smile stretched across her face.

"You have to get up first." He taunted and took a step back. She flipped, and was instantly on her feet. She may have been tired, but she wasn't so tired that she couldn't manage to get up, for Mithros' sake!

"I think you're insulting me." Kel speculated while tapping her mouth, as if thinking. What she was really doing was waiting for him to relax his guard.

He just laughed. Suddenly she was running towards him. He stepped out of the way, but she had anticipated the movement, and soon had him pinned to the floor.

She laughed from above him. He just smiled. "Thought I couldn't get up." She snorted. "Hah. Now, how would you like to die?"

"I don't know. Give me a few suggestions?" He tried to keep her talking.

"Hmm..."She thought for a second. "I could tell Lord Raoul that you wanted to learn to joust-the hard way. Or I could tie you up and let Neal recite poetry to you." A large smile spread across Kel's face. She liked the idea of that one.

As she sat thinking about it, Dom began to move underneath her. She didn't notice however, buried as deep as she was in her own thoughts.

Suddenly, her back was on the hard ground, and he was leaning down to look at her face, smiling.

Her mouth opened and closed several times in surprise. He began to chuckle. She reached up to punch him, but he placed his hands on her arms so she couldn't move them.

"Dom, you bastard, let go of me!" she screeched at him. He ignored the insult and continued to smile.

She yelled until her throat was raw. She was too tired to try and flip over again, however. Not only had she had a rather long practice with Dom, she had been bruised up by Lord Raoul.

When she tired of screaming, she began threats. But they didn't work very well when your strength was gone and someone was sitting on top of you, making it very difficult to move.

"Okay, Dom, could you, by chance, get off me?" She asked. He just shook his head and continued to smile.

"You-" She was cut off, however, by him capturing her lips with his own. (as I have been informed, this phrase has been overused. I apologize) A gasp escaped her lips.

He gracefully got off of her, smiling at the shocked look on her face, as much from the kiss as from the fact that he had finally moved.

He gave her a hand, but she just glared at him and got to her feet rather clumsily.

"I can't believe you did that, you...you..." She couldn't seem to think of a word, so continued, "I was pinned to the ground for half an hour!"

Her anger with him, however, was already forgotten. It had been since he smiled at her. Or, more to the point, when he had kissed her.

"You know you love me."

He turned away, but not soon enough to miss her blush. A grin crossed his face, and, not for the first time, he thought how beautiful she had looked, cheeks flushed with anger, her hands on her hips, her hair falling around her face, falling out of the tight bun it had been in.

Instead of making any further comments, he held out an arm. "Would my lady like to accompany me to lunch?"

"I am not your lady." She retorted, trying to appear mad, but he could see the humor in her eyes.

"Of course. Now, would the lady knight care to grace me with her presence for midday?"

She tapped her mouth, as if deep in thought. Finally, she answered, voice teasing, "I'm not sure if I want to dine with the man who has tortured me all day."

"Fine. Be like that. I didn't want to have lunch with you anyway." He said, trying to act hurt. He walked off in the opposite direction, and turned back, surprised, when he didn't hear her following.

There she was, practicing with her sword. He walked over to her. She didn't seem to notice. He poked her in the back. Instantly her sword was kissing his throat, and he was glad that it was wooden.

"Oh, hello sergeant. I could've sworn you'd gone to the mess."

"I didn't want to leave the beautiful lady knight by herself." He said smoothly.

She rolled her eyes before lowering her swords and walking off towards where the practice weapons were stored. She walked towards the exit, and Dom just stared after her.

She turned around and grinned. "Coming, sergeant?"

He began to walk towards Kel, whistling. When he reached her, he held out an arm. She slipped hers through his, and they started for the mess. "Just waiting for you to ask."

She once more rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"How was practice?"

She glared at her best friend. "Horrible. Dom tortured me."

"Hey, that's not fair! I did no such thing!" Dom sank down on the bench beside her.

"From what it I saw, I don't think you minded his form of 'torture' as you worded it." There was laughter in his eyes.

"What did you see, Meathead?" She asked mockingly.

He chose to ignore the name. He was having too much fun to bother with it. "Oh, just him holding you to the ground. I wonder...what were you two doing?"

She forced the blush down. "Talking, Neal. Or, threatening, in my case." She glared at the blue-eyed man beside her.

"Oh? From where I was, it didn't seem as if you were doing either of those activities."

Now she was blushing.

"Lay off, Meathead." Dom put an arm around Kel. She stiffened in surprise, but soon relaxed into his hold.

"Of course. Hey, Merric!" He waved to the red-head knight that was just leaving the lunch line.

"I saw the most interesting thing today." He began when the other man had sat down beside them. Without waiting for him to say anything, Neal continued. "I went out to watch Kel and Dom practice," He said mockingly. "And guess what I found? My charming cousin and best friend were-Hey! Watch who your kicking with those boots, Keladry! I don't appreciate being kicked!" He exclaimed, annoyed.

"Another word, Nealan, and you won't live to see your next meal," she growled at him.

He turned ashen and hurriedly stood up. "Of course. I think I'll go find Yuki. Not to tell her anything, of course, but..." They couldn't hear the rest of what he said, for he was already out the door.

This was going to be a one shot...hmm... I wonder what's gonna happen... by the way, 1,758 words!