I Took Rose Hathaway's Place

Fighting

I smiled, and ran to him. "So, where is the changing room?"

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Dimitri pointed to a hallway, with a door to the right.

Quickly, I ran in. Throwing my clothes on the bench in the room, I changed. Studying myself in the mirror, I pulled my hair into a bun, with a few wisps of hair falling out to frame my face.

Dimitri looked at me, glanced away, then did a double take.

Acting as if I didn't notice, I looked at him. "So, what do I do first?"

Shaking off the feeling, and going into strict guardian mode, he spoke. "Let's go to the track. I need to know your speed."

Silently nodding, I followed Dimitri to the track. 

"4 laps, 10:00 minute goal." he said.

Quickly, I began running. Dimitri nodded to himself each time I ran by. I finished the mile in 5:02.

"Wow. Did you go to the gym before you moved?" Dimitri was appalled.

 "Yeah. Mixed martial arts. There was a book series I read that kinda got me to learn Russian, and the fighting, and a lot of other things." I looked at my shoes.

"Let's go. Test your fighting skills." I began jogging ahead of Dimitri to the gym, and I heard him catch up to me.

Stopping just inside the door, I looked at Dimitri, who stepped in front of me. Then, almost as expected, Dimitri swung at me, which I dodged, and used a counter attack, surprisingly landing a hit on his side.

Dimitri stared into my eyes. In the background, I heard a few people cheer for me.

Breaking our intimate eye contact, I spoke. "Got any moves to show me?"

Once again, Dimitri shook off the feeling, somehow only visible to me. 

He nodded, leading me farther into the gym. 

"First, you need to learn how to use offensive maneuvers against people -Strigoi- taller than you. You must learn how to subdue them." Dimitri showed me a ducking, swiping, then jumping back move, which I learned quickly. We practiced other moves, for another hour.

 "Do I get an A-plus for being prepared beforehand?" I joked.

A smile played at Dimitri's lips. "Nope. And I will have to help you learn some self control."

I smiled outright. "Yeah... I tend to punch... before I realize who I punch. As for my mouth, that is a whole other thing..." I realized I had put in a subconscious double meaning, and blushed. Oops.