I don't need a hug
Tonks was still upset about everything with the Greengrass case. From how it had been assigned to handled to how it had been taken away from her. It galled her that the Minister had been able to step in so quickly, before all of the paperwork had even been filed. There hadn't been a fight, even. Quick, expedient.
She wasn't sleeping again. And when she did, she was having dreams she didn't quite remember. Tonks had stuck to her normal routine of swimming outside of Katie's cottage before work, then training with Romy, work, and then heading to the training room to work until she was exhausted. She couldn't get her mind to stop working, but eventually her body got the best of her and she would drop into sleep.
She had already been in the room for an hour before someone else headed in.
Bishop rolled his shoulders and neck as he made his way into the training room. He'd awakened with a stiff back, the price of getting close to forty and having spent more than half his life in a very physical job. Not that he regretted it at all, he loved his work. It took precedence over most everything else in his life. He made up for it in his limited free time, though. Hard play to counteract the stress of hard work. It worked for him.
Looking up, he realized he wasn't alone this morning and he smiled wolfishly at the woman he recognized from the Auror unit. "Good morning, then. I expected to have the place to myself at this hour. It's Auror Tonks, isn't it?"
Tonks nodded in his direction. "Morning. Not many people are up at this unholy hour." She discreetly looked him over. Tall, built, scruffy. "I don't think we've formally met, Rascaile, isn't it?" She said in between breaths as she held herself against the wall, thighs parallel to the floor. She then stood up and bent over to stretch the stiffness out of her legs. The waves had been choppy this morning.
Walking over to where Tonks was stretching and positioning himself in such a way that he was able to admire her form, he watched a moment before answering her question. "That's right. Bishop Rascaile." He pulled his leg up behind him, stretching one hamstring and then the other. "Are you always here in the mornings, or was there a special need to work off some energy today?"
"I'm around, generally," Tonks answered. "I'm mostly just irritated at how a case was taken away from me for no good reason. But can't argue too much with the muckity mucks. They get testy." She grinned to take the sting out of her words, even though she was still really peeved. "It's quieter in the mornings, and I don't have to worry about firsties trying to out lift me."
A low chuckle rumbled from Bishop's chest. "The novelty of showing them up has worn off for you, eh? I only have the really cocky lads try to best me, generally. Might have to do with being a bit of a giant." Going back over her comment on her case, he frowned. There had been a number of odd happenings since the new administration had come in. Taking a case from the Auror who'd put in the ground work on it just didn't make sense, not if you wanted a conviction. He filed the thought away to be dealt with later. "You're no cocky firstie, but if you're looking to do a bit of sparring, I'd be glad to indulge you."
She chuckled at his giant comment. Then refrained from making an inappropriate one. It was early after all. "Well, I can be cocky, but it depends on what day of the week it is," was Tonks' reply. "I'll take you up on your offer. I have a feeling I won't need to hold back on account of your ego." She stripped off her t-shirt and shoes, standing in her socks, pants and sports bra. Her hair was natural again today, and in a bun on the top of her head. "Rules?"
"You don't kick me in the groin and I won't grope you gratuitously. Fair enough?" He thought he was being more than generous, considering the amount of cleavage her sports bra left open for viewing. On the upside, he did only promise not to grope 'gratuitously'. "You feel free to grope all you like, though, love."
Tonks threw her head back and laughed. Oh, she liked him already. "Kicking you in the bollocks would be cheating." She mumbled, "Though any groping would be the most I've gotten in a year." She hoped her voice was low enough he didn't hear. She rolled her neck, tested her bad shoulder, and stood ready. She winked, and made come hither motion with her hand.
Arching a brow at her gesture, he teased, "Like to be chased, do you?" before starting towards her. Feinting to the left, he darted right at the last moment, swiping his foot under one leg to knock her off balance.
Tonks let her knee buckle, and fell flat on her back, then used a hand to shoot out and grab an ankle. "No, it's not that," she replied. "It's simply that I like to have the upper hand." She quickly moved to get back to her feet, backing away slowly. Her hands were up, and she bounced on the balls of her feet, ready for his next move. She hadn't ever seen or heard of his fighting style, so she was more testing to see what he did.
Bishop went directly for her, hoping to use the advantage of height and reach to get a grip on her waist. She wasn't having it, though, and positioned herself so that her lower half was just out of his range. Planting his right foot, he brought his left knee up into Tonk's stomach, restraining himself enough that she'd not truly be injured by the move.
Tonks oofed as Bishop's knee hit her stomach, but she used her head to butt him in the chest, and then twisted so her elbow hit him in the side, right in the ribs. She knew her elbows were nice and pointy. She ducked under his arm, he really was tall, shoved her foot squarely in his lower back. Hard enough to make the point.
"My center of balance is still lower than yours. You'll have to try again."
A deep chuckle filled the air as Bishop felt the impact of her blows. She was a fiesty one, not that he was surprised. One didn't go into law enforcement if he or she wasn't a bit of a scrapper. "If you insist, darlin'." He went after her again, but this time when Tonks moved to head butt him, Bishop snaked an arm under her shoulder. With a push of his legs and twist of his hip, he tossed her aside. "Better, then?"
"Much," Tonks grunted. She got to her feet again, circling, and thinking. He outweighed her by a good couple stone at least. And out reached her by a good fifteen centimetres. She was quicker. She ran towards him and ducked as his hand shot out to grab her shoulder again. She punched his side where she'd hit with her elbow and landed a few solid ones to his stomach before flitting backwards again.
Tonks pushed her hair off of her face; it was sticking and getting in her eyes. Her face was split with a huge smile. "This is fun."
"Bloody harpy," he muttered without rancor as he stretched out his side. Lips twitching a bit as they squared off again, "Like foreplay for the S&M crowd, or so I've heard."
As they circled one another, Bishop made a grab for her, stretching farther forward than he'd intended . Tonks dodged at the last moment and he lost his balance, tumbling to the mat with a grunt. "Looks like I'm a bit rusty."
Tonks offered her hand with a smirk. "Oh, like you don't enjoy a good scrape as much as the next bloke. The view is at least nice, yeah?"
"I won't argue that," he said with a wink. Taking her hand, Bishop smirked and took advantage of her lowered defenses. With a sharp yank, he pulled her down on top of him, rolling them both and pinning her to the mat. "Well now, the view's nice from this angle, too."
Tonks laughed. "Defeat!" She had worked some of her anger off and was more likely not to kill the next person she saw. She'd also had to work for once, and that was a nice change.
"You going to let me up anytime soon?"
Bishop made a show of considering the question, and finally relented. "I suppose I'll have to. Eventually someone else will walk in and I don't want anyone to think you were taking advantage of me. I've heard you Auror types at the water cooler. You lot are worse than the secretary pool," he said, tossing Tonks a wink as he helped her to her feet.
He was pleased he'd come in early this morning. Tonks was challenging and quick-witted, not to mention quite attractive. All in all, there were far worse ways to start your day than doing a bit of roughhousing with the likes of her.
"I'm sure no one takes advantage of you unless you let them," Tonks chuckled. Wasn't he a charmer. "Let me know if you'd like to spar again; I like the attention." She gathered her clothing and headed to the locker rooms to shower. Looking over her shoulder, she called, "Have a good day, Rascaile."
SUMMARY: Tonks and Bishop spar in the MLE training room.
She wasn't sleeping again. And when she did, she was having dreams she didn't quite remember. Tonks had stuck to her normal routine of swimming outside of Katie's cottage before work, then training with Romy, work, and then heading to the training room to work until she was exhausted. She couldn't get her mind to stop working, but eventually her body got the best of her and she would drop into sleep.
She had already been in the room for an hour before someone else headed in.
Bishop rolled his shoulders and neck as he made his way into the training room. He'd awakened with a stiff back, the price of getting close to forty and having spent more than half his life in a very physical job. Not that he regretted it at all, he loved his work. It took precedence over most everything else in his life. He made up for it in his limited free time, though. Hard play to counteract the stress of hard work. It worked for him.
Looking up, he realized he wasn't alone this morning and he smiled wolfishly at the woman he recognized from the Auror unit. "Good morning, then. I expected to have the place to myself at this hour. It's Auror Tonks, isn't it?"
Tonks nodded in his direction. "Morning. Not many people are up at this unholy hour." She discreetly looked him over. Tall, built, scruffy. "I don't think we've formally met, Rascaile, isn't it?" She said in between breaths as she held herself against the wall, thighs parallel to the floor. She then stood up and bent over to stretch the stiffness out of her legs. The waves had been choppy this morning.
Walking over to where Tonks was stretching and positioning himself in such a way that he was able to admire her form, he watched a moment before answering her question. "That's right. Bishop Rascaile." He pulled his leg up behind him, stretching one hamstring and then the other. "Are you always here in the mornings, or was there a special need to work off some energy today?"
"I'm around, generally," Tonks answered. "I'm mostly just irritated at how a case was taken away from me for no good reason. But can't argue too much with the muckity mucks. They get testy." She grinned to take the sting out of her words, even though she was still really peeved. "It's quieter in the mornings, and I don't have to worry about firsties trying to out lift me."
A low chuckle rumbled from Bishop's chest. "The novelty of showing them up has worn off for you, eh? I only have the really cocky lads try to best me, generally. Might have to do with being a bit of a giant." Going back over her comment on her case, he frowned. There had been a number of odd happenings since the new administration had come in. Taking a case from the Auror who'd put in the ground work on it just didn't make sense, not if you wanted a conviction. He filed the thought away to be dealt with later. "You're no cocky firstie, but if you're looking to do a bit of sparring, I'd be glad to indulge you."
She chuckled at his giant comment. Then refrained from making an inappropriate one. It was early after all. "Well, I can be cocky, but it depends on what day of the week it is," was Tonks' reply. "I'll take you up on your offer. I have a feeling I won't need to hold back on account of your ego." She stripped off her t-shirt and shoes, standing in her socks, pants and sports bra. Her hair was natural again today, and in a bun on the top of her head. "Rules?"
"You don't kick me in the groin and I won't grope you gratuitously. Fair enough?" He thought he was being more than generous, considering the amount of cleavage her sports bra left open for viewing. On the upside, he did only promise not to grope 'gratuitously'. "You feel free to grope all you like, though, love."
Tonks threw her head back and laughed. Oh, she liked him already. "Kicking you in the bollocks would be cheating." She mumbled, "Though any groping would be the most I've gotten in a year." She hoped her voice was low enough he didn't hear. She rolled her neck, tested her bad shoulder, and stood ready. She winked, and made come hither motion with her hand.
Arching a brow at her gesture, he teased, "Like to be chased, do you?" before starting towards her. Feinting to the left, he darted right at the last moment, swiping his foot under one leg to knock her off balance.
Tonks let her knee buckle, and fell flat on her back, then used a hand to shoot out and grab an ankle. "No, it's not that," she replied. "It's simply that I like to have the upper hand." She quickly moved to get back to her feet, backing away slowly. Her hands were up, and she bounced on the balls of her feet, ready for his next move. She hadn't ever seen or heard of his fighting style, so she was more testing to see what he did.
Bishop went directly for her, hoping to use the advantage of height and reach to get a grip on her waist. She wasn't having it, though, and positioned herself so that her lower half was just out of his range. Planting his right foot, he brought his left knee up into Tonk's stomach, restraining himself enough that she'd not truly be injured by the move.
Tonks oofed as Bishop's knee hit her stomach, but she used her head to butt him in the chest, and then twisted so her elbow hit him in the side, right in the ribs. She knew her elbows were nice and pointy. She ducked under his arm, he really was tall, shoved her foot squarely in his lower back. Hard enough to make the point.
"My center of balance is still lower than yours. You'll have to try again."
A deep chuckle filled the air as Bishop felt the impact of her blows. She was a fiesty one, not that he was surprised. One didn't go into law enforcement if he or she wasn't a bit of a scrapper. "If you insist, darlin'." He went after her again, but this time when Tonks moved to head butt him, Bishop snaked an arm under her shoulder. With a push of his legs and twist of his hip, he tossed her aside. "Better, then?"
"Much," Tonks grunted. She got to her feet again, circling, and thinking. He outweighed her by a good couple stone at least. And out reached her by a good fifteen centimetres. She was quicker. She ran towards him and ducked as his hand shot out to grab her shoulder again. She punched his side where she'd hit with her elbow and landed a few solid ones to his stomach before flitting backwards again.
Tonks pushed her hair off of her face; it was sticking and getting in her eyes. Her face was split with a huge smile. "This is fun."
"Bloody harpy," he muttered without rancor as he stretched out his side. Lips twitching a bit as they squared off again, "Like foreplay for the S&M crowd, or so I've heard."
As they circled one another, Bishop made a grab for her, stretching farther forward than he'd intended . Tonks dodged at the last moment and he lost his balance, tumbling to the mat with a grunt. "Looks like I'm a bit rusty."
Tonks offered her hand with a smirk. "Oh, like you don't enjoy a good scrape as much as the next bloke. The view is at least nice, yeah?"
"I won't argue that," he said with a wink. Taking her hand, Bishop smirked and took advantage of her lowered defenses. With a sharp yank, he pulled her down on top of him, rolling them both and pinning her to the mat. "Well now, the view's nice from this angle, too."
Tonks laughed. "Defeat!" She had worked some of her anger off and was more likely not to kill the next person she saw. She'd also had to work for once, and that was a nice change.
"You going to let me up anytime soon?"
Bishop made a show of considering the question, and finally relented. "I suppose I'll have to. Eventually someone else will walk in and I don't want anyone to think you were taking advantage of me. I've heard you Auror types at the water cooler. You lot are worse than the secretary pool," he said, tossing Tonks a wink as he helped her to her feet.
He was pleased he'd come in early this morning. Tonks was challenging and quick-witted, not to mention quite attractive. All in all, there were far worse ways to start your day than doing a bit of roughhousing with the likes of her.
"I'm sure no one takes advantage of you unless you let them," Tonks chuckled. Wasn't he a charmer. "Let me know if you'd like to spar again; I like the attention." She gathered her clothing and headed to the locker rooms to shower. Looking over her shoulder, she called, "Have a good day, Rascaile."
SUMMARY: Tonks and Bishop spar in the MLE training room.