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Marlo threw himself on a wooden bench, panting like a dog after a good run. He was thankful for the cold air of the locker room, and was glad to see almost everyone had left by now. He was practically alone in the gym, save for a couple of night owls and the attendants forced to work through the graveyard shift.

He pulled the towel from around his neck and dabbed it against his sweat-matted fur. It did little to dry him off, but the placebo effect it gave him brought some comfort. He worked himself hard... far too hard for his own liking. But it was good. Despite how pathetic he felt during the exercise routines, and how badly he did most of them, he still felt accomplished.

Besides the benefit of trying to stay fit, the workout helped in clearing his mind. Yara had been dominating it for a while. Her strange behavior was hard to ignore. Distant and overwhelming. He couldn't put his finger on it.

His ears drooped just as he heaved a sigh. A sense of guilt washed over him when that thought ran through his mind. It wasn't even the first time he'd thought of it.

Closing his eyes, he settled lengthwise into the wood bench, allowing his arms to dangle down over the sides so his fingertips brushed against the cold tiled floor. He tuned into the noises around him, or the lack thereof.

A gentle thrumming of some unseen engine powering the complex. The cool conditioned air blowing through near-unseen cracks on the ceiling. It was the tranquility of it all that made him keenly aware on someone else. Lumbering low footfalls that only somebody heavy could have.

His heart sank. Marlo quickly sat and straddled the bench as he came face to face with Yara with a wide-eyed stare. He silently and carefully watched Yara as she glanced around herself, arms crossed under her breasts.

"Nice place." She shrugged off her leather jacket and threw it at his face, smiling when it draped over his head with a satisfying 'pap'. "So... this is where you've been running off to, huh?"

Marlo tugged the jacket from his head and folded it over his arm, coughing slightly to clear his throat. Yara wasn't really paying attention to him. She was too busy glancing at the lockers surrounding them, feeling them and sniffing at them like a proper animal.

Feeling like he'd suddenly been caged and muffled, all that came out of him was a small whimper as her head swiveled around to look down at him. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't look that angry either.

"Hey, fox. I asked you a question."

"U-Uh." She rolled her eyes and went back to sniffing and feeling each of the lockers. "I... I haven't been running."

She scoffed, pausing to brush her large prosthetic hand against the cold metal of locker 95. "Let's not call it running then. How's avoiding me sound?" Yara leaned in, took in a deep breath, settled her hand against a rather outdated lock, and began to turn it with steady precision. Marlo watched, dumbfounded, as she popped his locker open in seconds. "Yeah. I like the sound of that better."

"That's not fair, Yara!" he protested, throwing his leg over the bench so he could sit properly on the edge. Yara was rummaging through what little he stored in there - a clean set of clothing, his phone, and a couple of little odds and ends that stacked up through repeated use. Marlo knew there was little point in trying to stop her. "You're jumping to conclusions."

Yara shook her head, not believing a word he was saying. She snatched the jacket from his arms, making him jump slightly, and threw it into his locker. "Seems like avoiding to me if I have to track you down to know what you're up to." She turned around, arms crossed again, and leaned backward against the lockers. Her brows furrowed, a small frown playing at her lips. "You really thought I wouldn't figure you out, Marlo? I mean... really?"

"I... I mean."

"Whatever." She opened her hand and promptly closed it on his face, telling him to shut his mouth. "Get up."

Yara grabbed him hard, her iron grip painful as she yanked him up by the collar of his sweat-stained shirt. The force of it nearly ripped the fabric in half. "Hey! Yara!" He grabbed at her metal hand and tried to push it away, but she didn't budge. The best he could do was scratch his claws against the metal and hope that she'd be annoyed by the sound. "Where the hell are you taking me!"

"To relieve some stress. You're coming." She pushed him ahead and stayed on the hells of the stumbling fox, purposefully pushing him along roughly whenever he got a little too complacent. "Not taking no for an answer, fox."

"F-Fine! Alright. You can stop pushing." Her hand pressed against his lower back and guided him out of the locker rooms and into the gym proper. As Marlo remembered, it was mostly empty. The few that they passed by would pause and stare up at Yara's imposing frame, and would then glance down at the fox with a mild look of confusion.

Marlo didn't blame them. Were the roles reversed, he probably would have done the same. It didn't change the fact that he still felt a small bit of embarrassment, being escorted around by Yara like a troublemaking child would have been by his mother. He spared a quick glance at the hyena and, as he expected, found that she wasn't fazed by their stares. Her eyes didn't so much as deviate from staring directly ahead of her. The only moment they broke away was when he looked up at her, for which she merely pushed him hard to get his focus back ahead of them.

"In here," spoke Yara, pushing him into a room he'd only gone into a couple of times.

The floor was made up of large blue mats that would cushion and fall, while the walls had racks full of anything and everything somebody could imagine. Weights; medicine balls; and about a dozen other things he didn't outright recognize. Some of them looked like torture devices to him.

As he paced around the room, getting a feel for the place, Yara began to peruse through the racks. "Yara?"

She didn't reply. On one hand she held a pair of boxing gloves - Yara tossed it at his feet and stared expectantly until he put them on. She then fitted herself with a pair of black and blue boxing pads. With what sounded like a sigh of exasperation, she held out her hands and commanded him with a single word.

"Punch."

Marlo stared for a few seconds. The gloves felt heavy in his hands, like a pair of weights had been strapped to his wrists. They didn't even fit him properly. "I... I don't understand," he murmured, raising his hands defensively when Yara crouched a little and took a few steps toward him.

"Nothing to understand. Punch, fox."

He gritted his teeth, frowning as he threw a punch at her left hand. The hook whiffed by a couple of inches. The gloves still felt foreign in his hands. "Yara, I'm exhausted."

She lowered her hands, regarded him for a moment, then raised them again. "Punch."

Marlo threw another punch. He knew his form was wrong because he'd never trained for this, but he did so anyway. This one connected weakly. Yara didn't budge.

"Come on, Marlo." Her voice seethed with disappointment. "That's pathetic."

He gritted his teeth, winded back his right arm, and threw a harder punch. Yara deliberately smacked his arm aside, reared back, and hit him in the head with her other hand. "Shit!" Marlo winced, reeling as the world seemed to spin for a moment.

"Is that the best you can do?" She stood up fully and smacked him on the head again. Not a strong hit, but enough that Marlo felt the sting of it.

"Stop it!" he complained, throwing another punch at one of the mats. Again, she knocked it out of the air and this time hit him square in the chest. Marlo stumbled back a couple of steps. The hyena sneered down at him and once more put her hands up.

He threw one punch. Then another. Left, right, and straight through the middle. "No!" taunted Yara every time he either missed or had his arms knocked out of the way. Marlo gritted his teeth and continued his onslaught, a sloppy job that left him defenseless every single time. Yara pounced at every opportunity to either throw him off-balance or further mock his futile efforts. "Come on!"

Yara effortlessly planted her hand firmly on his chest when he left himself open and threw him on the ground. "Stupid fox!" she exclaimed as he struggled to get a proper breath. His throat had closed in on him. Marlo gasped for air, and it wasn't until that first breath entered his lungs that he got back up on his feet. His hands shook as he glared up at Yara.

"This isn't fair, Yara! I'm exhausted!"

"You're not exhausted, you're lazy!"

Marlo snarled, throwing a wild punch anywhere at Yara. He wasn't really aiming. He just wanted her to shut up. With a grin, she leaned back and smacked him on the arm with her pad.

"Lazy!" she repeated, further emphasizing it by once again throwing him on the ground. "Hurry up and throw a punch!" Marlo didn't wait more then a second to get back up. He pushed the full weight of his body forward, wildly throwing punch after punch anywhere it could go. Yara deftly sidestepped and knocked his arms away, showing a surprising amount of constraint that Marlo lacked. "Sloppy!" she taunted. "Weak!"

"Shut up!" he screamed, pushing himself against her in an act of desperation. He wrapped an arm around her body and used the other to throw one single punch upward against her gut. It was like punching iron. Yara didn't flinch. "Fall down already!" He threw second punch, hitting harder than before.

Yara shrugged it off and pushed him away from her, nearly toppling him for the third time that night. Marlo clumsily regained his footing and went at her again, snarling as he did. He didn't even realize one of his gloves had fallen off his hands, not until Yara caught his strike just moments before it connected with her stomach.

Something hot and sticky dribbled unto the palm of his hand from inside Yara's fist. Blood. It stained the blue mat under them as the first few droplets dribbled over his wrist. He flexed his claws and realized, in a state of sudden panic, that they were embedded her hand. "S-Shit! Yara!"

For the last time, Yara threw the two of them down on the ground. Marlo groaned from the sudden hit and winced as her weight fell on top of him. His claws pressed deeper into the flesh of her hands. It took little effort for her to pin him completely, to the point that Marlo couldn't even move his head either way.

"Cheap shot, fox!" she yelled into his face, spraying spit as she grinned down at him. It was crazed, like something in her had snapped, and the mere thought of it sent her into a fit of laughter. "You feel that fox?!"

"Y-Yara!" He struggled against her, involuntarily pushing his claws deeper into her hand. Yara winced, but laughed all the more because of it as her blood started to drop unto his face, mixing in with the miniature bits of spit and sweat that were matting his soft fur.

"Adrenaline! Come on Marlo! Show me what you can do!" He felt it. Like his whole body was trembling, threatening to explode in on itself if he didn't let it all out. But he couldn't. Try as hard as he could, Yara had him pinned. "Come on, Marlo!" Yara pressed a forearm against his neck and pushed down, threatening to cut off his air. "Or I'll hurt you!"

Marlo panicked, realizing all too quickly that she was pushing down hard. He couldn't breathe. All his little gasps of air only managed to empty his lungs, until the only thing he felt was a deep burning sensation that stared in his chest and began spreading throughout his body.

In desperation, Marlo resorted to his teeth. His maw found its mark on her arm, digging into her flesh as she snarled in response. Her blood instantly began to flood his mouth. The taste of it was intoxicating. It was so much like her; just like how her scent and her taste were distinctly her own. Had he not been so desperately gnashing at her arm, he would've moaned.

There was a wild and satisfied look in her eyes. Another fit of laughter escaped her as she struggled to fight through the pain. When she didn't let up on squeezing down on his neck, Marlo only bit harder and deeper. It felt like he wanted to bite clean through the bone. Her blood was staining the floor mats around them, and a surprising amount was flowing into his mouth. Despite how desperately he bit at her arm, she felt his tongue aggressively lapping away at it.

Yara jumped off, nearly shredding her arm as she ripped it away from his teeth. Through a wicked grin she called out to Marlo, who looked lost in another world. "Strong bite, Marlo!" As he got back up on his feet, Yara took a low stance, spreading her arms out a little to stabilize herself as the fox twitched and glared at her. "That's it... that's it. Come on!"

Marlo pounced at the challenge. Instinct took over as he threw himself headfirst into her body, rattling his teeth as he wrapped his arms around her midsection and dug his feet into the floor behind him. Yara took the force of his attack and held herself in place as Marlo tried to knock her to the ground.

With a loud snarl and an angry cry, Yara lifted him off the ground and threw him to the side with the full weight of her body behind her throw. He sailed a couple of feet into the air and harshly bounced against the floor mat. The air escaped his lungs, leaving him wheezing pathetically as he clutched at his throat and arched his back.

Yara stepped up to him, triumphantly grinning down at him as she placed a foot on his chest. He gasped loudly, breathed out, and gasped again. She waited until he had regained enough of his composure that he'd be able to talk, and then pressed down a little with the sole of her foot.

"Get up!" She challenged, but Marlo didn't budge. He didn't even try to move.

"I..." Marlo still tasted her blood on his tongue, and as he sucked on his teeth. Whenever he swallowed it felt as if he were taking in mouthfuls of the stuff. The shock of being thrown the way Yara had done drove all the fight out of him.

She won, he lost.

"Nah, don't talk." Yara bent over a little, putting a little more pressure on his chest, making Marlo wince in pain. "Just lay back and ride off that high."

Marlo closed his eyes, listening as that familiar laughter echoed loudly in the room.

~*~*~

"I'm sorry," he mumbled dumbly while wrapping a bandage around her arm. "I... I lost control."

"I know you did," she smiled warmly, holding her arm out so Marlo could treat it. Not necessary, but the fox had insisted, and she couldn't really say no to him when he gave her those sad eyes. "Hell of a lot of fun, huh?"

"Fun?" He scoffed, rolled his eyes, and momentarily looked away. "Your idea of fun is strange."

"You played along pretty well - OW!" She winced when Marlo slapped her on her wound. Yara nearly smacked him in the head with her other hand. "Watch it!"

The locker room was bathed in a blue an orange glow, like the kind Marlo would see in his dreams. Almost like something out of a fantasy. They each straddled a bench, sitting opposite from one another. A little trail of blood lead all the way to them; had anyone decided to follow it, Marlo would have had a tough time explaining their circumstances.

It made Yara a calming presence. He knew that with her around, he wouldn't have to do much explaining. She could be rather brutish at times, but it paid off nicely when it was needed.

"You shouldn't egg me like that," he commented softly as he stuck a pin between his lips. Marlo used both hands to tighten the bandage around her arm as tight as it would go, then stuck the pin into the fabric and locked it in place. Some little patches of blood were starting to form, but having disinfected, he didn't think it would be much of a problem.

"You liked it," she replied, checking out the job he'd done. Not the best field dressing, but not the worst either. She could have done a better job with herself. Yara reached out and patted him lightly between his ears. "Admit it."

Marlo shook his head, ears falling a little before perking right up again. "I felt strange. Not like me."

Her head fell off to the side. "You've... never fought like that before?"

"I've never thrown a punch to save my life, Yara. You know this. Much less... well... whatever it was that happened out there." He nudged his head to the doorway, frowning a little. "Why'd you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked, as Marlo scooted a little closer. He placed a hand on her thigh and drew little circles with a still bloody claw.

"Why'd you make me act like that?"

Impulse. It was all just impulse. But Yara hated that answer. She hated knowing that, on a whim, she wanted to push Marlo to his limits, and then break him. He wouldn't like that answer.

So she lied.

"I've wanted to test you for a while."

"Test me?"

She nodded. Marlo almost purred when her metal claws dug in at a space just below his ears. "Just to see how good you can fight. How well you can fend for yourself. Followed you here not really knowing where you were going, and saw an opportunity." Yara sighed. "Nothing like a good fight to let out some stress, huh?"

"Could have been a little nicer about it, though." He looked back up at her with those eyes. Yara wanted to push his head away, but she also couldn't look away. His hand slipped just under her shorts to rub a little higher up her thigh.

"If I had been nicer, I wouldn't have gotten you all frustrated." Her explanation seemed simple. For a lie, it worked. "I had to work you up if I wanted to get the best out of you. It worked. Not my fault I know what buttons to push."

Surprisingly enough, Marlo laughed. It caught her off guard, but she liked it. "You push them really well."

"Of course I do." She beamed with pride, flashing him her teeth. "It was sloppy, but... hey, you can put up a fight. A pathetic one, but it's still there."

"That's... a compliment?"

"The best one you're gonna get." She patted him again. "Hey, a little training and you could get better."

His ears perked up, and something in his eyes sparked at the thought. As quickly as it came, it left. His faze fell back to her wounds, and in turn he deflated. "I didn't like it, though. It was... not me."

She shook her head, bringing her hand around to caress his cheek. "Wrong, Marlo. That was you, just another side of you. Something you haven't yet explored." When he looked up at her, she smiled. "You still want to come with me to the Frontier, right?"

"I would love to," he murmured. Her enchanting touch and mesmerizing eyes held him in place.

"Then you need to understand that I won't always be there to help you out. Sometimes, you might have to defend yourself. And, hey, it's better to know something that nothing at all, right?"

"I... I guess you're right." He swallowed, trembling when he tasted her blood yet again. "Would you want to teach me?"

Yara grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

"Just... Hey, go easy on me, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." She dismissively waved off a hand. "Always complaining."