((The events in the following scene take place after An Unlikely Beginning.))
Fighting for the best bed in the barracks was not as easy as it sounded. Though there were only ten of them, Liam had to get through the other nine before he could claim the best bed, and they were all formidable fighters, both male and female. He had purposely challenged the boys first, leaving the girls for Shaye, who it seemed was equally fit to the challenge. There was a bet at stake, after all, and the warmest bed in the dormitory. By the time he had worked his way through the first five, he was bruised and bloodied and tired, but determined to finish what he'd started, if only to prove that he could. Despite having only three to fight, Shaye was just as wearied as Liam. Girls were traditionally better trained before they reached recruitment level, and these girls were pretty determined to win their fights. A hank of her blonde hair was missing, torn out by a flailing hand, and the marks of nails were obvious against her arm and bare abdomen, but she'd won thus far. Wiping blood from a split lip, she turned to find Liam the victor of his fights, and burst out laughing. "Oh, bloody hell," she snickered, shaking her head. "No way am I being beaten by you twice in one day, ladyboy." He had a feeling it would end this way, with him having to fight her again, twice in one day, and he didn't want to fight her again anymore than she wanted to fight him. But a bet was a bet, and he had already decided who was going to win. "Have at me then, and we'll see who's the better man." He threw the barb at her purposely, hoping to raise her ire. If she was going to call him a lady, it seemed only fair for him to call her a man. He wiped a hand across his face to staunch the blood that was dribbling from his nose and planted his feet in readiness, as he stood atop the prized bed, looking down at her with a smug look on his face. Even as Shaye laughed indignantly at the jibe sent her way, a slightly outraged hiss went up from the other three girls in the barracks, the boys setting to chuckling as they nursed their own injuries. "Oh, you're so asking for it, O'Connor," Shaye laughed, rolling her shoulder briefly before launching herself over the prized bed in an obvious attempt to get him down onto his back and at a disadvantage. Upright, she didn't stand a chance against him ....not yet, anyway. He watched her carefully this time, reading her moves, knowing somehow that she was getting ready to pounce, but instead of ducking out of the way, he let her pounce him and knock him to his back, as if he was either too slow or too tired to react quickly enough to get out of her way. They both thumped down onto the bed, which groaned but stood the test of the impact, Shaye kneeling over Liam with a triumphant grin. It couldn't be more obvious that she'd thought she had won already, scrabbling to hold him down. Her slender fingers sought to wrap about his wrists, wanting to pin the older, bigger boy down on the bed and declare her victory from that vantage point. Oh, no, that was too easy. She was going to have to try harder than that. He used his height to his advantage, using his legs to give him leverage and his larger body to shove her off him, rolling to the side and to his feet, spinning around to face her. "What happened to your right hook" You fight like a girl!" he taunted her further. "You fight like a boy!" was her answering taunt, but he'd hit a nerve, obviously. Shaye was very aware of being the runt of the year's intake; very aware that if she failed too often, she'd be thrown back to her father and his vision of her lifetime to come. Narrowing her eyes as her temper began to fray, she scrambled back onto her feet, lowering her head to push herself into Liam's stomach, intending to wind him enough to get a good punch in, if she possibly could. He was expecting her to get angry. He'd been insulting her on purpose to make her angry, just as she'd been insulting him on the practice yard to do the same thing. There was a method to his madness, but she most likely wouldn't figure that out until it was too late. The head butt to his stomach was unexpected and produced the desire effect, his stomach already bruised and sore from their combat earlier, and he doubled over, exhaling sharply as the breath was knocked out of him. Knocked down onto her knees by his doubling over, she was up quickly. Shaye was a street brat; she knew all about fighting dirty, fighting to win. And Liam had tipped the balance - she was angry, and angry street brats were not merciful at all. With him bent double, her knee came up to aim a sharp jab between his legs, her fisted hand lowering almost in the same moment with vicious speed toward the vulnerable curve of his neck. If she paused a moment to think, she'd have noticed that he wasn't fighting back or so much as even defending himself, but whether it was because he was too tired or because he wasn't trying was for him to know and her not to find out. Fortunately, he had enough sense to cover his private parts with a hand before her knee came up to jab him, but it was the fist that finished the fight, sending him sprawling onto the floor in a daze. He didn't get up.
He had proven his own worth earlier in the day and now she had proven hers, in the process winning the bet and the best bed in the dorm. Shaye dropped to one knee beside him, breathless as she watched him. It wasn't the fact that he'd gone down that worried her; it was the fact that he hadn't gotten up again. "Sh*t," she muttered, glancing up at their companions, who were melting away to their own beds now it looked as though something serious might have happened. "Sh*t ....Liam. Liam, get up." Her hand prodded at his shoulder warily. "Seriously now, get up!" "I yield," he muttered groggily from the floor, curled in a ball, trying to catch his breath. "You win." His plan had worked perfectly, but he had paid for it with his own sweat and blood, and he knew that if she even so much as suspected he'd let her win, she'd never forgive him. He pried his eyes open, aching from head to toe, blood still dribbling from his nose. He sniffled to try and stop the bleeding and pushed himself up from the floor to sit beside her a minute and wait until his head stopped spinning. "Best bed in the dorm," he smiled at her as he wiped at his bloody nose with a hand. "You earned it." Unfortunately for him, that meant he had inherited the worst bed, the one closest the door and the drafts and the noise from outside. The bed nobody wanted. The bed he'd fought so hard to make sure she didn't end up in. The small girl who had beaten him so soundly was frowning as he settled beside her, clearly not happy that she seemed to have knocked him for six. What was upsetting her was the red mist that had clouded her judgement and made her fight unfairly against someone she knew was too honourable to return her viciousness in kind. Leaning back against the bed, her eyes were drawn to the only other unoccupied - beside the door, in the draft, right where the Sergeant could see if he passed by. The worst bed in the place. Shaye sighed, her mind made up. "Bet's off," she said suddenly, nudging Liam's shoulder lightly with her own. "You need the good bed better than me." He shook his head, frowning at her unexpected sacrifice for his sake. He hadn't expected this sudden turn of events. He thought she'd be happy with being declared victor. "Bet's a bet. You won it fair and square. You earned it, Shaye. I'll be fine." He drew a sleeve across his face to staunch the bleeding, which was starting to ease up now that he wasn't getting pummeled anymore.
Fighting for the best bed in the barracks was not as easy as it sounded. Though there were only ten of them, Liam had to get through the other nine before he could claim the best bed, and they were all formidable fighters, both male and female. He had purposely challenged the boys first, leaving the girls for Shaye, who it seemed was equally fit to the challenge. There was a bet at stake, after all, and the warmest bed in the dormitory. By the time he had worked his way through the first five, he was bruised and bloodied and tired, but determined to finish what he'd started, if only to prove that he could. Despite having only three to fight, Shaye was just as wearied as Liam. Girls were traditionally better trained before they reached recruitment level, and these girls were pretty determined to win their fights. A hank of her blonde hair was missing, torn out by a flailing hand, and the marks of nails were obvious against her arm and bare abdomen, but she'd won thus far. Wiping blood from a split lip, she turned to find Liam the victor of his fights, and burst out laughing. "Oh, bloody hell," she snickered, shaking her head. "No way am I being beaten by you twice in one day, ladyboy." He had a feeling it would end this way, with him having to fight her again, twice in one day, and he didn't want to fight her again anymore than she wanted to fight him. But a bet was a bet, and he had already decided who was going to win. "Have at me then, and we'll see who's the better man." He threw the barb at her purposely, hoping to raise her ire. If she was going to call him a lady, it seemed only fair for him to call her a man. He wiped a hand across his face to staunch the blood that was dribbling from his nose and planted his feet in readiness, as he stood atop the prized bed, looking down at her with a smug look on his face. Even as Shaye laughed indignantly at the jibe sent her way, a slightly outraged hiss went up from the other three girls in the barracks, the boys setting to chuckling as they nursed their own injuries. "Oh, you're so asking for it, O'Connor," Shaye laughed, rolling her shoulder briefly before launching herself over the prized bed in an obvious attempt to get him down onto his back and at a disadvantage. Upright, she didn't stand a chance against him ....not yet, anyway. He watched her carefully this time, reading her moves, knowing somehow that she was getting ready to pounce, but instead of ducking out of the way, he let her pounce him and knock him to his back, as if he was either too slow or too tired to react quickly enough to get out of her way. They both thumped down onto the bed, which groaned but stood the test of the impact, Shaye kneeling over Liam with a triumphant grin. It couldn't be more obvious that she'd thought she had won already, scrabbling to hold him down. Her slender fingers sought to wrap about his wrists, wanting to pin the older, bigger boy down on the bed and declare her victory from that vantage point. Oh, no, that was too easy. She was going to have to try harder than that. He used his height to his advantage, using his legs to give him leverage and his larger body to shove her off him, rolling to the side and to his feet, spinning around to face her. "What happened to your right hook" You fight like a girl!" he taunted her further. "You fight like a boy!" was her answering taunt, but he'd hit a nerve, obviously. Shaye was very aware of being the runt of the year's intake; very aware that if she failed too often, she'd be thrown back to her father and his vision of her lifetime to come. Narrowing her eyes as her temper began to fray, she scrambled back onto her feet, lowering her head to push herself into Liam's stomach, intending to wind him enough to get a good punch in, if she possibly could. He was expecting her to get angry. He'd been insulting her on purpose to make her angry, just as she'd been insulting him on the practice yard to do the same thing. There was a method to his madness, but she most likely wouldn't figure that out until it was too late. The head butt to his stomach was unexpected and produced the desire effect, his stomach already bruised and sore from their combat earlier, and he doubled over, exhaling sharply as the breath was knocked out of him. Knocked down onto her knees by his doubling over, she was up quickly. Shaye was a street brat; she knew all about fighting dirty, fighting to win. And Liam had tipped the balance - she was angry, and angry street brats were not merciful at all. With him bent double, her knee came up to aim a sharp jab between his legs, her fisted hand lowering almost in the same moment with vicious speed toward the vulnerable curve of his neck. If she paused a moment to think, she'd have noticed that he wasn't fighting back or so much as even defending himself, but whether it was because he was too tired or because he wasn't trying was for him to know and her not to find out. Fortunately, he had enough sense to cover his private parts with a hand before her knee came up to jab him, but it was the fist that finished the fight, sending him sprawling onto the floor in a daze. He didn't get up.
He had proven his own worth earlier in the day and now she had proven hers, in the process winning the bet and the best bed in the dorm. Shaye dropped to one knee beside him, breathless as she watched him. It wasn't the fact that he'd gone down that worried her; it was the fact that he hadn't gotten up again. "Sh*t," she muttered, glancing up at their companions, who were melting away to their own beds now it looked as though something serious might have happened. "Sh*t ....Liam. Liam, get up." Her hand prodded at his shoulder warily. "Seriously now, get up!" "I yield," he muttered groggily from the floor, curled in a ball, trying to catch his breath. "You win." His plan had worked perfectly, but he had paid for it with his own sweat and blood, and he knew that if she even so much as suspected he'd let her win, she'd never forgive him. He pried his eyes open, aching from head to toe, blood still dribbling from his nose. He sniffled to try and stop the bleeding and pushed himself up from the floor to sit beside her a minute and wait until his head stopped spinning. "Best bed in the dorm," he smiled at her as he wiped at his bloody nose with a hand. "You earned it." Unfortunately for him, that meant he had inherited the worst bed, the one closest the door and the drafts and the noise from outside. The bed nobody wanted. The bed he'd fought so hard to make sure she didn't end up in. The small girl who had beaten him so soundly was frowning as he settled beside her, clearly not happy that she seemed to have knocked him for six. What was upsetting her was the red mist that had clouded her judgement and made her fight unfairly against someone she knew was too honourable to return her viciousness in kind. Leaning back against the bed, her eyes were drawn to the only other unoccupied - beside the door, in the draft, right where the Sergeant could see if he passed by. The worst bed in the place. Shaye sighed, her mind made up. "Bet's off," she said suddenly, nudging Liam's shoulder lightly with her own. "You need the good bed better than me." He shook his head, frowning at her unexpected sacrifice for his sake. He hadn't expected this sudden turn of events. He thought she'd be happy with being declared victor. "Bet's a bet. You won it fair and square. You earned it, Shaye. I'll be fine." He drew a sleeve across his face to staunch the bleeding, which was starting to ease up now that he wasn't getting pummeled anymore.