Tin Man Fanfiction - "Float Like a Butterfly" (PG-13)
Disclaimer: There are many things I own, but Tin Man is not one of them(unless you count DVDs) Tin Man belongs to Steven L. Mitchell, Craig W. Van Sickle, and all the other grand high Mucky Mucks of Sci-Fi. No copyright infringement is intended, and of course no money was made from this. Any similarity to any other story not my own is coincidence (and this does resemble another one of my stories)
Title: Float Like a Butterfly
Genre: AU/General/Romance; Dorothy Gale/Wyatt Cain
Rating: PG, possibly PG-13
Timeline: Sometime after the mini-series
Author's Notes: First, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" is attributed to Muhammad Ali of course. Second, getting a handle on these two has been a bit harder than expected, especially since the 'Ship is primarily only in fandom, but I hope that I got the characterizations at least in the realm of possibility. As for this being a sparring fic, I thought it would just be interesting, particularly since I, myself, haven't seen it done in this fandom. Anyhoo... here goes...
Float Like a Butterfly...
~To reach me, you must move to me~
Bruce Lee
“I really don't see why this is necessary,” DG said, not for the first time as she threw her dark hair back into a loose ponytail that left only a few curls free to brush against her cheeks.
“Because, Princess,” Wyatt explained patiently, “You seem to be prone to... adventures.”
DG quirked an eyebrow.
“And I'm not always going to be able to be there with you,” he continued undeterred.
“I am capable of taking care of myself, Mr. Cain,” DG replied dryly. “Mostly...” she conceded in a soft undertone.
Wyatt's lip curved up ever so slightly.
“Humor an old man.”
Again, the princess quirked an eyebrow.
“You're far from old,” she countered almost absently.
“Then do it, knowing that it'll let me rest easier in my bed at night,” he argued, surprised to see her blush lightly. “Princess?”
“All right... all right,” she sighed, positioning herself on the light exercise mats. “After all, having you worry about me is not one of the ways I'd like to keep you up nights,” DG teased, tempted to laugh when she saw the tips of the ex-tin man's ears redden. Instead, she focused on widening her cornflower blue eyes and giving Cain a look of blameless innocence.
Wyatt sighed and joined her on the mats that covered the scarred wooden floor. He took a deep breath and set his body into a loose en garde position, bringing his arms up and curling his hands into fists.
“Glitch still thinks that you should let him teach me Za'mi'do instead.”
“Za'mi'do is for show,” Cain replied in a gruff voice. “I need you to be able to defend yourself anyway you can, Princess; not just look pretty.”
DG smiled brightly.
“Ahh... Cain, you think I'm pretty,” she teased in a sing-song sort of voice, smiling at the way her Tin Man's ears reddened.
“DG...” he almost growled in rough embarrassment.
“Okay... Okay...” she soothed, trying to sober herself as she faced Cain and mirrored his en garde position. “I'm ready to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”
The ex-tin man shook his head slightly in response, waiting for the princess to make her first sparring move. When she did, it was to move quickly, trying to catch him off-guard with a swift kick. He parried it easily and returned with a quick punch of his own. DG nearly missed blocking it, but she succeeded at the last moment, and danced away.
“Good job, Kiddo,” he encouraged her. “Again...”
DG made a tentative punch forward that Cain easily deflected.
“Don't hesitate, Princess.”
She punched forward again, and again, her opponent quickly deflected the movement.
“Come on, give it another try.”
DG sighed in mild frustration and did as Cain directed, but this time, when he parried her forward jab, she surprised him and grabbed his wrist before punching out with her other fist. The maneuver didn't connect, but DG saw pride in Wyatt's ice blue eyes nonetheless.
“That's it, Kiddo. Try again.”
She did, and though she missed, she did anticipate Cain's riposte quickly enough to duck low and roll out of range before coming back up to face him. The look of admiration in his eyes was enough to set a low beat of pleasure racing through DG's veins, quickly followed by a rush of adrenaline as she blocked a jab from the ex-tin man trying to break through her guard.
“Good,” he said in simple praise.
DG smiled brightly and dropped her guard.
“You can't get over confident though, Kiddo,” Wyatt warned her as he grabbed the princess' arm and pulled her around. He held her against him, her back to his chest.
DG tried to flip him over, but her leverage was wrong and Cain was too heavy. All she succeeded in doing was pressing herself to him and letting Wyatt get a better grip.
“Never drop your guard, and never let your opponent get too close,” the ex-tin man advised, his breath hot along her ear. “Now what are you going to do, Kiddo?”
“This,” she replied before shifting slightly and hooking her foot behind Cain's leg. She slipped out of his grasp enough to pull with her leg and bring him down as she stepped neatly out of the way.
She didn't expect him to roll to his side though and use his own legs to sweep hers out from under her. DG went down just hard enough to knock a little of the breath from her chest.
“Not quite the way I imagined you sweeping me off of my feet,” she couldn't help but tease somewhat breathlessly.
Cain quirked an eyebrow almost playfully, reaching his hand out to help her up.
“And just how have you imagined me sweeping you off of your feet, Princess?”
DG met his eyes a moment, surprised to see a hint of something that made her pulse race with more than just adrenaline.
“I... that is...”
Wyatt gave her a familiar quirk of his lip before sliding his hand out of hers and letting the moment pass quietly.
“You have to remember to keep moving,” he said, returning to the lesson.
“Keep moving; right,” DG echoed, bouncing lightly on her feet. “Float like a butterfly.”
The princess danced around Cain for a moment, and his sudden awareness of her hit him almost like a breath-taking punch; her unconscious grace, the way her body curved beneath her clothes, the curls that stubbornly refused to be tamed. Suddenly, she wasn't a kid, wasn't a princess, or even DG. Suddenly she was Dorothy.
“And avoid distractions,” he added in a voice shaken rough with that unexpected awareness.
DG flicked a glance to the glow of Cain's impossibly blue eyes.
“Distractions...” she murmured thoughtfully, flicking her wrist to whirl a small orb of light around the man facing her. It flashed out of existence with a mild brightness that forced Cain to close his eyes.
“Sting like a bee,” she said in a soft undertone, pushing just hard enough with her magic to set Wyatt off balance. A quick foot sweep sent him to the floor and let DG pin him there with her light weight.
“Cain?” She asked softly when he kept his eyes closed, breathing quietly. “Cain?”
He opened his eyes slowly.
“You did say that Zo Ku was about doing anything I could to defend myself,” she offered with a hint of uncertainty.
“I did,” he reassured her. “But if you ever get the opportunity to do that in a real fight...”
Suddenly, he rolled them both, deftly shifting to put DG beneath him so that he was half laying, half straddling her and supporting his weight with his arms.
“You should take the chance afterwards to run...”
DG shifted beneath him, but Cain compensated by letting her feel a little bit more of his weight, effectively pinning her. He shifted his weight to his legs and grabbed her hands, bringing them up above her head.
“Make the light brighter and the push harder, then run,” he continued.
DG nodded as she licked her lips quickly, a little disconcerted that she saw Cain note the quiet gesture with a surprisingly intent look. She shifted again when he still didn't let her up from the pin.
“You aren't heavy enough to keep an opponent pinned, and once they pin you, you can't reverse it,” Wyatt explained.
DG smiled softly and then pushed, using a touch of magic to once again reverse their positions.
“I wouldn't exactly say that, Tin Man,” she said with a small laugh, shifting until she straddled his hips.
Impulsively, she leaned down to brush her lips over his, thinking nothing of the easy show of affection. But when Cain froze as if he had been suddenly thrown back into a Tin Suit, DG was afraid that she had unintentionally rushed one too many fences with him. She held herself still, trying to ignore just how warm Cain's lips were beneath her own, and just how wonderful his breath felt against her skin.
“Dorothy...” he whispered against her mouth, sending DG's heart careening about her chest. Then suddenly, Wyatt was kissing her, and her heart seemed to stop a moment before finding a wild beat to match his.
“Wyatt...” she murmured, his name tasting rich on her tongue.
He smiled against her lips before his tongue whispered gently against them and she deepened the kiss, responding in kind. She moaned into his mouth and his lips deftly captured the sound. Then slowly, they shifted until Cain was sitting and DG was settled in his lap, not breaking their kiss until they were both breathless and dizzy with sensation.
“This is...” Cain murmured before reaching out to loosen her hair and letting the wild curls brush down to her cheeks before burying his hands in them. “Oh this is...”
“Me kissing you,” DG whispered before capturing his lips with hers again until they were once more breathless and giddy.
“DG...” Wyatt moaned softly in a voice that hummed against her skin before he began trailing kisses like rose petals along her jaw line and down her throat.
“Yes...”
His kisses trailed lower and DG bowed back, arching into the caress, letting Cain slide his hands down her back to support her. He kissed his way lower still.
“There you two are,” Glitch said as he entered the small room that served as a training room in the royal safe house. “The Queen would like to speak to...” he said, trailing off when he saw DG and Cain practically jumping away from each other.
“Are you still trying to learn that Resistance fighting, Doll?” Glitch asked the princess before turning to Cain. “I still think you should let me teach her Za'mi'do Cain.”
“It's okay, Glitch. I like learning with Cain. And I think I'm actually getting better,” she said brightly, if somewhat breathlessly. “Besides,” she added, looking back at the ex-tin man with a sweetly wicked smile that Glitch couldn't see. “I think that Cain actually enjoys our lessons too.”
Wyatt made an almost strangled sort of sound and quickly reached for his fedora to cover his reddened ears. The former advisor looked quickly between the pair with a curious expression on his face. He opened his mouth to comment when Cain interrupted him.
“You needed something?”
“What? Oh... oh yes,” he said, recalling his purpose with an abrupt nervous energy. “The Queen wanted to speak to you and DG. She sent me to find you both.”
“Well then, we should go,” the princess said with a grin. “The sooner we see what she wants, the sooner Cain and I can get back to sparring lessons.”
Glitch nodded and headed out the door as DG glanced back to Cain. She watched nervously as he tipped his hat down to slant over his eyes.
“We are going to continue this lesson aren't we, Wyatt?” She asked, a hint of pained uncertainty coloring her voice.
He stepped close enough that his breath was a soft whisper in her ear.
“I'd like that, Princess,” he replied in a low rumble that shivered through her.
DG saw the small curve of his lips, and though his fedora hid his eyes, she was certain that they were smiling too. She grinned herself and followed him out the door...
FIN
Title: Float Like a Butterfly
Genre: AU/General/Romance; Dorothy Gale/Wyatt Cain
Rating: PG, possibly PG-13
Timeline: Sometime after the mini-series
Author's Notes: First, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" is attributed to Muhammad Ali of course. Second, getting a handle on these two has been a bit harder than expected, especially since the 'Ship is primarily only in fandom, but I hope that I got the characterizations at least in the realm of possibility. As for this being a sparring fic, I thought it would just be interesting, particularly since I, myself, haven't seen it done in this fandom. Anyhoo... here goes...
Float Like a Butterfly...
~To reach me, you must move to me~
Bruce Lee
“I really don't see why this is necessary,” DG said, not for the first time as she threw her dark hair back into a loose ponytail that left only a few curls free to brush against her cheeks.
“Because, Princess,” Wyatt explained patiently, “You seem to be prone to... adventures.”
DG quirked an eyebrow.
“And I'm not always going to be able to be there with you,” he continued undeterred.
“I am capable of taking care of myself, Mr. Cain,” DG replied dryly. “Mostly...” she conceded in a soft undertone.
Wyatt's lip curved up ever so slightly.
“Humor an old man.”
Again, the princess quirked an eyebrow.
“You're far from old,” she countered almost absently.
“Then do it, knowing that it'll let me rest easier in my bed at night,” he argued, surprised to see her blush lightly. “Princess?”
“All right... all right,” she sighed, positioning herself on the light exercise mats. “After all, having you worry about me is not one of the ways I'd like to keep you up nights,” DG teased, tempted to laugh when she saw the tips of the ex-tin man's ears redden. Instead, she focused on widening her cornflower blue eyes and giving Cain a look of blameless innocence.
Wyatt sighed and joined her on the mats that covered the scarred wooden floor. He took a deep breath and set his body into a loose en garde position, bringing his arms up and curling his hands into fists.
“Glitch still thinks that you should let him teach me Za'mi'do instead.”
“Za'mi'do is for show,” Cain replied in a gruff voice. “I need you to be able to defend yourself anyway you can, Princess; not just look pretty.”
DG smiled brightly.
“Ahh... Cain, you think I'm pretty,” she teased in a sing-song sort of voice, smiling at the way her Tin Man's ears reddened.
“DG...” he almost growled in rough embarrassment.
“Okay... Okay...” she soothed, trying to sober herself as she faced Cain and mirrored his en garde position. “I'm ready to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”
The ex-tin man shook his head slightly in response, waiting for the princess to make her first sparring move. When she did, it was to move quickly, trying to catch him off-guard with a swift kick. He parried it easily and returned with a quick punch of his own. DG nearly missed blocking it, but she succeeded at the last moment, and danced away.
“Good job, Kiddo,” he encouraged her. “Again...”
DG made a tentative punch forward that Cain easily deflected.
“Don't hesitate, Princess.”
She punched forward again, and again, her opponent quickly deflected the movement.
“Come on, give it another try.”
DG sighed in mild frustration and did as Cain directed, but this time, when he parried her forward jab, she surprised him and grabbed his wrist before punching out with her other fist. The maneuver didn't connect, but DG saw pride in Wyatt's ice blue eyes nonetheless.
“That's it, Kiddo. Try again.”
She did, and though she missed, she did anticipate Cain's riposte quickly enough to duck low and roll out of range before coming back up to face him. The look of admiration in his eyes was enough to set a low beat of pleasure racing through DG's veins, quickly followed by a rush of adrenaline as she blocked a jab from the ex-tin man trying to break through her guard.
“Good,” he said in simple praise.
DG smiled brightly and dropped her guard.
“You can't get over confident though, Kiddo,” Wyatt warned her as he grabbed the princess' arm and pulled her around. He held her against him, her back to his chest.
DG tried to flip him over, but her leverage was wrong and Cain was too heavy. All she succeeded in doing was pressing herself to him and letting Wyatt get a better grip.
“Never drop your guard, and never let your opponent get too close,” the ex-tin man advised, his breath hot along her ear. “Now what are you going to do, Kiddo?”
“This,” she replied before shifting slightly and hooking her foot behind Cain's leg. She slipped out of his grasp enough to pull with her leg and bring him down as she stepped neatly out of the way.
She didn't expect him to roll to his side though and use his own legs to sweep hers out from under her. DG went down just hard enough to knock a little of the breath from her chest.
“Not quite the way I imagined you sweeping me off of my feet,” she couldn't help but tease somewhat breathlessly.
Cain quirked an eyebrow almost playfully, reaching his hand out to help her up.
“And just how have you imagined me sweeping you off of your feet, Princess?”
DG met his eyes a moment, surprised to see a hint of something that made her pulse race with more than just adrenaline.
“I... that is...”
Wyatt gave her a familiar quirk of his lip before sliding his hand out of hers and letting the moment pass quietly.
“You have to remember to keep moving,” he said, returning to the lesson.
“Keep moving; right,” DG echoed, bouncing lightly on her feet. “Float like a butterfly.”
The princess danced around Cain for a moment, and his sudden awareness of her hit him almost like a breath-taking punch; her unconscious grace, the way her body curved beneath her clothes, the curls that stubbornly refused to be tamed. Suddenly, she wasn't a kid, wasn't a princess, or even DG. Suddenly she was Dorothy.
“And avoid distractions,” he added in a voice shaken rough with that unexpected awareness.
DG flicked a glance to the glow of Cain's impossibly blue eyes.
“Distractions...” she murmured thoughtfully, flicking her wrist to whirl a small orb of light around the man facing her. It flashed out of existence with a mild brightness that forced Cain to close his eyes.
“Sting like a bee,” she said in a soft undertone, pushing just hard enough with her magic to set Wyatt off balance. A quick foot sweep sent him to the floor and let DG pin him there with her light weight.
“Cain?” She asked softly when he kept his eyes closed, breathing quietly. “Cain?”
He opened his eyes slowly.
“You did say that Zo Ku was about doing anything I could to defend myself,” she offered with a hint of uncertainty.
“I did,” he reassured her. “But if you ever get the opportunity to do that in a real fight...”
Suddenly, he rolled them both, deftly shifting to put DG beneath him so that he was half laying, half straddling her and supporting his weight with his arms.
“You should take the chance afterwards to run...”
DG shifted beneath him, but Cain compensated by letting her feel a little bit more of his weight, effectively pinning her. He shifted his weight to his legs and grabbed her hands, bringing them up above her head.
“Make the light brighter and the push harder, then run,” he continued.
DG nodded as she licked her lips quickly, a little disconcerted that she saw Cain note the quiet gesture with a surprisingly intent look. She shifted again when he still didn't let her up from the pin.
“You aren't heavy enough to keep an opponent pinned, and once they pin you, you can't reverse it,” Wyatt explained.
DG smiled softly and then pushed, using a touch of magic to once again reverse their positions.
“I wouldn't exactly say that, Tin Man,” she said with a small laugh, shifting until she straddled his hips.
Impulsively, she leaned down to brush her lips over his, thinking nothing of the easy show of affection. But when Cain froze as if he had been suddenly thrown back into a Tin Suit, DG was afraid that she had unintentionally rushed one too many fences with him. She held herself still, trying to ignore just how warm Cain's lips were beneath her own, and just how wonderful his breath felt against her skin.
“Dorothy...” he whispered against her mouth, sending DG's heart careening about her chest. Then suddenly, Wyatt was kissing her, and her heart seemed to stop a moment before finding a wild beat to match his.
“Wyatt...” she murmured, his name tasting rich on her tongue.
He smiled against her lips before his tongue whispered gently against them and she deepened the kiss, responding in kind. She moaned into his mouth and his lips deftly captured the sound. Then slowly, they shifted until Cain was sitting and DG was settled in his lap, not breaking their kiss until they were both breathless and dizzy with sensation.
“This is...” Cain murmured before reaching out to loosen her hair and letting the wild curls brush down to her cheeks before burying his hands in them. “Oh this is...”
“Me kissing you,” DG whispered before capturing his lips with hers again until they were once more breathless and giddy.
“DG...” Wyatt moaned softly in a voice that hummed against her skin before he began trailing kisses like rose petals along her jaw line and down her throat.
“Yes...”
His kisses trailed lower and DG bowed back, arching into the caress, letting Cain slide his hands down her back to support her. He kissed his way lower still.
“There you two are,” Glitch said as he entered the small room that served as a training room in the royal safe house. “The Queen would like to speak to...” he said, trailing off when he saw DG and Cain practically jumping away from each other.
“Are you still trying to learn that Resistance fighting, Doll?” Glitch asked the princess before turning to Cain. “I still think you should let me teach her Za'mi'do Cain.”
“It's okay, Glitch. I like learning with Cain. And I think I'm actually getting better,” she said brightly, if somewhat breathlessly. “Besides,” she added, looking back at the ex-tin man with a sweetly wicked smile that Glitch couldn't see. “I think that Cain actually enjoys our lessons too.”
Wyatt made an almost strangled sort of sound and quickly reached for his fedora to cover his reddened ears. The former advisor looked quickly between the pair with a curious expression on his face. He opened his mouth to comment when Cain interrupted him.
“You needed something?”
“What? Oh... oh yes,” he said, recalling his purpose with an abrupt nervous energy. “The Queen wanted to speak to you and DG. She sent me to find you both.”
“Well then, we should go,” the princess said with a grin. “The sooner we see what she wants, the sooner Cain and I can get back to sparring lessons.”
Glitch nodded and headed out the door as DG glanced back to Cain. She watched nervously as he tipped his hat down to slant over his eyes.
“We are going to continue this lesson aren't we, Wyatt?” She asked, a hint of pained uncertainty coloring her voice.
He stepped close enough that his breath was a soft whisper in her ear.
“I'd like that, Princess,” he replied in a low rumble that shivered through her.
DG saw the small curve of his lips, and though his fedora hid his eyes, she was certain that they were smiling too. She grinned herself and followed him out the door...
FIN