[Private] Some Time Together (Yukiko/Lillie)

Lillie woke from her slumber slowly, a yawn escaping her lips as she sat up and looked around her quarters upon the Rising eagle with a groggy sort of movement of her head before then feeling her cybernetic arm with a small sigh and closing of her eyes as memories danced in her mind of the reason she had obtained the 'Enhancement' in the first place, along with the other various parts of her body that were no longer flesh in blood but instead mechanical in nature.

She paused, letting herself get lost in these memories for a short few moments before then shaking her head and opening her eyes once more in order to see while she got out of bed and dressed herself in her usual attire of her hairbands, goggles, blue and red hoodie, red skirt and striped stockings that ended in a pair of simple running shoes. She would then place on the belt she wore that contained her various small tools such as a hammer and wrench, before then flexing her cybernetic arm with a soft whirring sound as the machinery began to active further due to her movements, having been on a sort of 'sleep mode' while she herself had been sleeping in order to conserve power within the arm itself.

After dressing and preparing herself, Lillie then would exit her quarters to observe their ship's position in the sky and gaze down at the land below them over the railing for a few seconds until then returning herself to the center of the upper-deck where she waited for one of her crew-members that she had instructed to meet her there to arrive. The one in question that Lillie had personally requested come meet her in the morning of this day was a woman that she knew by the name of Yukiko Kirijo, a woman she herself had considered to be a prime choice for her crew and had selected herself among members of the lower ranks in the Revolutionary Army in order to serve alongside her and possibly one day even as a second or third in command to her Airship.

While waiting for the woman to arrive, Lillie crossed her arms idly over her chest and took a deep breath of the outside air around them while letting her eyes close again for another few moments as she smiled at the thought of how free it was in the skies compared to everything below them and how this Airship would be the first step along the way of freeing those oppressed by the World Government or the terror of certain Pirates: One day, everyone who had ever faced such tyranny would be free to live their lives without fear or worry and she would help bring that dream to life with the aide of her Crew.

The smile remained, even as Lillie opened her eyes and turned her attention towards the lower deck of the ship and began to observe her crew-members going about their tasks on the ship. She only hoped that her fellow crew-mates felt the same conviction that she did for bringing freedom to those who needed it and gathered the same happiness as well from doing so - though regardless, she was more than happy to have and bring them along for the adventure ahead.

A few minutes passed, it still being early in the morning enough that Lillie was not too concerned about the fact she had not seen the woman yet and simply believed that she had not woken yet or was busy tending to matters within the crew, it was hard to tell with a ship the size of theirs at times. Lillie leaned against the door to her quarters and let her arms fall to her sides, though occasionally lifting and gazing at her cybernetic one's mechanical parts and musing about how she would probably never truly get used to having it.

Whenever the woman arrived, if she did, Lillie would gaze towards her and speak softly to her with that same faint smile crept upon her lips while her eyes focused intently upon the recipient of her words although not so much so as to make her appear to be staring her down:

"Good Morning - I hope you slept well, because today we're going to do some training to get you prepared for the things we'll be facing out there. I know it's probably not the most fun thing to do, but you can never be too safe you know?" She would say, offering her true, human hand for the other woman to shake if she would choose to do so and awaiting her response patiently with her cybernetic arm rested upon her hip casually in the meantime.

( (Ship) The Rising Eagle
Cybernetic Arm )

Yukiko slept, sprawled out on a mat she called her bed. She was breathing heavily, seeming to snore even as she was lost in her slumber. Her rest would be interrupted by the loud chime of an alarm clock. The woman slowly opened her eyes, looking at the ringing instrument for a moment. She turned her body away from it, grabbing and pillow and placing it over here head in an attempt to drown out the obnoxious ringing. She continued laying there for a moment, trying desperately to ignore the clock and try to keep sleeping. Quickly though, she became annoyed and jolted up, reaching over with one quick motion to turn off the incessant buzzer. The red headed woman then just sat there, staring off into space with her head tilted down for a few moments. She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh as she stood up from the floor.

She began to dress herself, changing from a pair of simple pajamas to a sleeveless blouse, a blue skirt, and a pair of black boots. She looked at herself in a mirror she hung on the door of her quarters. Yukiko stood there, arms crossed under her breasts as she sized herself up. She looked like some teenager going out on a date. However, this was essentially the only thing she had that came close to appearing casual. Of course she'd be doing work today, that was a given. But she didn't figure a day like this would require anything different than the clothes she had right now.

Extending her hand and twisting the knob of the door, Yukiko exited her quarters and made her way to the deck of the ship. As the thin air of the sky hit her face on the open deck, the woman suddenly felt a wave of fatigue and nausea hit her. Her blood felt as though it ran cold under her skin. Her lower jaw began to grind in minute, left and right motions as the woman began to grit her teeth. She always got like this on this ship, and she hated it every time! One would think that living under these conditions for so long that a person would get used to it, but she's been this way day one with no feeling of improvement. Her breath became heavy, her pace slowing as she continued out to the deck, making her way to the upper area.

Her eyes wandered over, locking on to the woman she had planned on meeting on this morning, her commander. The two of them had arranged to meet at about this time of day. Yukiko approached Lillie and took a stiffened stance, straightening her posture and putting her hands behind her back as the other woman briefly explained the reason behind their meet up. Training with the commander, this would definitely be interesting, the red head thought to herself. "Yes ma'am." she replied simply, feeling green in the face as spoke. She peered down to see Lillie extend a hand out. Yukiko paused for a moment, quickly looking back up at Lillie's eyes for but a moment before looking back down at her hand. With clear hesitance, the red head brought her left hand to shake the other woman's.

Ref:

Lillie smiled and shook Yuki's hand with a gentle motion as she gave a soft, kind-hearted laugh as she spoke cheerfully towards her subordinate in response to her seemingly stiff movements and hesitant nature which she chalked up towards their respective positions:

"You don't have to be so formal around me, y'know." She said, gently moving her thumb of the hand she had used to shake the other woman's along her hand briefly before letting go and speaking again. "Call me Lillie, Half-Metal, I've heard it all and I don't mind people calling me whatever they want, we're all like a big family up here after-all." She would add calmly, her gaze moving over the other woman briefly as she seemed to be admiring her attire momentarily. "But if ya don't feel comfortable with it, you can do whatever ya want." She would clarify, wanting to make sure the other woman know she was not attempting to force anything upon her one way or the other and was simply trying to make her feel more at ease.

After this, and listening to whatever Yuki had to say in response, Lillie would begin moving down to the lower deck where she would gesture for the red-haired woman to follow whilst the other sailors quickly seemed to clear the way in preparation for the aforementioned training between the two that was said to be on today's agenda.

"Whenever you feel ready, I want ya to hit me as hard as you can and as fast as you can - Don't worry, I ain't a light-weight." Lillie would say once they arrived fully upon the lower deck with a smile, turning herself to face the other woman and unbuttoning the hoodie she wore in order to reveal the t-shirt beneath possibly as a way to show she was not wearing some sort of armor beneath the outer clothing she typically seemed to wear.

"I know it's a bit sudden, but I promise, it's part of your trainin'." She would add as a sort of vague clarification on the matter as she waited patiently for either the other woman to speak or to do as she was asked of while Lillie kept her arms at her sides for the moment and her eyes trained on Yuki.

"Uuh...". Yukiko was left in a state of confusion at her commander's request to be addressed by a more casual name. She almost couldn't comprehend it, that just sounded ridiculous to her. Who would even call their superior a name like "Half-Metal"?! That seemed more rude than anything else. "Y-yes..." The red head paused, her eyes darting to the side for a moment before locking back with those of the other woman's. "Lillie." She finally said. It didn't feel right though, it just felt weird. Someone in a position such as her own addressing her commander of all people by her first name.

The woman "relaxed" her body, in the sense that she simply forced herself into a more casual pose with her hands at her sides. With cautious steps, she began to follow Lillie down to the lower deck after being gestured to do so. Her head turned to look at the other crew members begin to clear the area and give plenty of breathing room to both of the woman. Yukiko raised an eyebrow curiously at this event before looking back to the other woman as she began to speak. Having heard Lillie's request, she gave her an even more confused look.

"You want me to...?" she asked, waiting the woman unbutton down to her shirt. She seemed to be serious. She didn't doubt how tough her commander was, but at the same time she didn't consider her own punches to be on the lesser end of the spectrum. She pursed her lips as Lillie gave a word of reassurance. It was orders over her own feelings at this point. With a small sigh escaping her lips, Yukiko took a boxing stance. Her feet spread to shoulder length from each other as she hunched over. Her fingers curled into fists and raised them to her face so that she could peer over her knuckles. Her body turned perpendicular to Lillie's, her left side facing towards the commander.

After a small pause and a deep breath, Yukiko drew her right arm back and turned her body. With that, her fist would come forward, putting her strength and the weight of her body behind it. The woman's aim would be for the top portion of Lillie's sternum if she were to not more or interrupt the red head.

Lillie would narrow her eyes and observe as Yukiko prepared herself and then attacked, the cyborg woman waiting until the last possible second she had to move her hand quickly in order to catch the woman's fist in her cybernetic hand and pulling her a bit closer to herself and giving a bright smile as she released the woman's hand:

"Had ya going there, didn't I? - I'm a lot faster than I look, huh?" She would say, before then adding. "First lesson's one that everyone needs to know and that's to not judge a book by it's cover and when in doubt, always assume your enemy's stronger, so you gotta be smarter." She would say in an attempt to impart some wisdom onto the other woman while also getting the opportunity to show off her own abilities a little bit.

Lillie left a pause between her advice and her next words, hand moving down slowly to her side as she continued to speak. "But let's do this for real, I want you to give me everything you've got and together - We'll get you ready for the fight out there." She continued in an attempt to be reassuring towards the other woman as she curled her own hands into fists and raised them up with that same bright smile beaming upon her lips.

"And I promise - I won't go easy on ya." She concluded with a small light-hearted laugh as she seemed to be waiting for Yukiko to make the first move while in the meantime idly hopping on the heels of her feet in a sort of boxers stance while occasionally a spark would run along the frame of her cybernetic arm as if to remind Lillie and everyone else around her that it was indeed not flesh and blood but metal and screws. A reminder of how she was now known - both derogatorily and affectionately as 'Half-Metal' and how it was both a cruel twist of fate and the best of gifts from the world at the same time.

Yukiko's eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise and locked on to her caught fist as her attack had been blocked. It wasn't the fact that it had been blocked, this was her commander after all. Even with how highly she held herself, she knew Lillie was leagues above that. No, what got to the red head was the speed at which the cyborg moved at to do so. She never saw someone react so quickly, let alone effectively at that speed. Her body jerked forward a bit as her fist was pulled on, her eyes locking with those of her commander's.

"Uh, yes Commander." Yukiko said in reply to the other woman's advice. She didn't quite understand. Was she trying to say not to underestimate her? But she wasn't, Yukiko knew Lillie was strong. She wouldn't be a commander otherwise. The red head went back to her original stance, hearing the cyborg say that now they were really going to fight. Despite full confidence that if Lillie wished to, she could probably paint the deck with her face, Yukiko couldn't help but feel like she shouldn't be sparing with her own commander. Something about it just felt inappropriate, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Yes ma'am." The woman answered sternly to her commander's lighthearted comment before waiting out the pause. For a second, there was silence. All that would fill the void was the whirring of the ship's engine, the spinning propellers, and the cold, thin air running past both revolutionaries. In a quick motion, Yukiko would come forward with a jab very similar to the haymaker she had given her commander the first time. Her left hand extended out, aiming to punch the woman in her upper sternum once more. Halfway through the motion, the red headed woman's body would begin to twist to her left. Her right arm arched into a hook, drawing back slightly before coming forward. She would be aiming a right hook to line up right with Lillie's left cheek.

Behind her lips, Yukiko's teeth clenched in an attempt to force herself through the hesitance to strike her superior in such a manner. Time felt as though it was slowing progressively as she had to remind herself more and more that Lillie indeed wasn't a wet paper bag. She wasn't going to fall apart even if she were to take both of her hit head on. If she did, she wouldn't be in the position she was in the first place.

Lillie watched as Yukiko's attack came towards her and allowed the first one to connect with her upper-chest with a soft grunt escaping her lips before she noticed the fist moving towards her cheek and due to her speed was able to swiftly turn and grab the woman's attacking arm by the wrist with her cybernetic hand and in one fluid motion would pull her slightly forwards before then pressing on the woman's upper-arm in an attempt to use the momentum to push her down or at least away before then moving backwards if all had succeeded and giving her a soft smile:

"You gotta use more than just brute force to win your battles, y'know." She quipped with another small laugh, it would seem that this whole exercise was possibly not just about the other woman outright beating her commander but about approaching situations that were above you with your mind and not just your body - After-all, not everything could be solved by beating the pulp out of it, or at least that was Lillie's point of view on the matter.

She would wait, then, for Yukiko to attack or move if she had not previously interrupted her movement or done so while she was speaking, eyes focused upon the other woman while a spark ran along her cybernetic arm in a slow fashion all along the mechanical limb as silence would likely once again take over in the absence of speech or action until such was broken by either of the two women.

Lillie hoped, honestly, that Yukiko would understand the point she was trying to make with this whole demonstration - She knew that she herself was quick, agile, likely more-so than the other woman as the cyborg had spent the better part of her early years and up until the present day fine tuning and slowly perfecting her own abilities bit by bit, augment by augment, where-as as far as she knew Yukiko was merely a ordinary human and had nothing that she herself found out of the ordinary save for her conviction and heart that she had shown to the Commander previously that had sparked the red-head being asked to join the crew of which she now served. Although she hoped, as well, that she herself was wrong and that there was more to Yukiko than pure conviction and determination, that there was yet to be seen abilities that lie beneath the surface waiting for a moment to reveal themselves - but that was all speculation, and all that she could do for now was test her on not only a physical level, but a mental and perhaps even spiritual one.