Valeriya panted against the cool wood of the floor, laying face down as she tried to recover from being thrown onto the ground so abruptly. Toni stood over her with a smirk, hands propped on her hips. They had been learning grapples during the week, Toni teaching her something new every day. The first day was concentrated on breaking out of grabs, day two was set aside for proper punching techniques, and where on the body is good for knocking against. Day three was their rest day, because Valeriya could only handle so much before her leg started to scream at her. Toni let her lay on the couch while they watched some movies and made small talk with each other. She knew stretches and things akin to it to assist in easing some of the pain, but part of enacting that knowledge meant that she would have to go out of her way to touch Valeriya in some pretty personal places, and she knew that her young apprentice wasn't comfortable with that.

Today was day four, and Toni was concentrating on teaching Valeriya how to execute certain holds and pins properly. So far, this was her weakest lesson day, but perhaps that had to do with the fact that Toni had to full on wrap herself around Valeriya and then twist her onto the floor or against the wall like she had done three different times now.

"This is hard!" Valeriya said from the floor, not too keen on getting up from her spot. It was cold down here, while herself and Toni were not.

"Well, it would be a lot harder if I was a man, now wouldn't it?" Toni retorted, her smirk turning into a grin.

Valeriya furrowed her brows and looked up at her. "Was that some kind of pun?!"

"No, I was actually being serious, but now that you mention it..." Both of her eyebrows rose at the thought. "Look at you gaining a sense of humor. God, I'm so proud."

"Of course you are." She grumbled in response, pushing herself up with the remaining strength left in her arms. Her leg was causing some amount of discomfort, quickly shooting into an annoying pain. "Ah... That smarts."

"Do you want to take a break? I can get you some ice for your leg." The assassin offered, losing her air of smugness for the time being.

Valeriya silently shook her head and began to stretch her leg, rubbing away at the soreness until it wasn't so prominent. "No, I'm all right. Let's keep going. I want to be able to do at least one of these grapples, or tackles, or whatever successfully before the day is through."

"Oh, well... Good. You don't have to try and impress me, though. If you need to rest, you can." Toni pushed, stepping over towards Valeriya to get a better look at her leg. "Sorry if I'm getting too close... I just want to make sure it isn't strained."

She sucked in a breath, but at this point Valeriya knew that she could trust the fact that Toni wouldn't do anything weird to her. They had a fairly deep talk a few nights ago after they had argued, and a lot of things were set out on the table between them. Valeriya admitted to Toni that she didn't mean to come off so rude and disrespectful, but she never had known anyone like that. Like her. Admittedly, Toni had still been angry about it because no matter how you word something like that, it still comes out making you look like an asshole on various levels. She was honest, though, when she told Valeriya that she wouldn't go out of her way to make her uncomfortable, expressing that what they had was a partnership and a friendship, nothing more.

It was weird for Toni to be addressing it the way that they were at the time, because in no other world would she make these exceptions for someone, but for Valeriya she did. That in itself said a lot about how she thought of her, but she wouldn't admit it out loud. Hell, she barely admitted it inside of her head, never having the nerve to form the thought into something cohesive. It always formed as something along the lines of, 'she's beautiful' or, 'I wish she would smile at me like that more often.'

"I think it's fine." She heard Valeriya say, pulling her from the haze she was fading into concerning her thoughts on the woman.

"Y-yeah, it's good. I just wanted to make sure." Toni said, taking a step back and looking at Valeriya. "Do you want to continue? We've been practicing all day and you're making little progress here and there, so I'm sure you'll get it down pat soon."

Valeriya smiled at her encouragement, giving a short nod before steadying her breathing so that she could concentrate on her next movements. She watched as Toni positioned herself in front of her, standing diagonally with her arms held up at either of her sides. She knew this pose by now, it was to hold off any body weight that could be thrown her way, but no matter the size Toni told her that there were always weaknesses. If unsure, always aim for the legs first. An opponent can't beat you if they can't stand, right?

She took this opportunity to focus and rush forward, sliding down and sweeping out the assassin's legs from underneath her in one fell swoop. Valeriya shoved herself forward and landed both of them on the ground with a loud thud, lunging herself forward to press her forearm into Toni's chest firmly so that she couldn't get up.

Toni was by all means taken aback by the take down she just received, completely breathless on the floor underneath her apprentice. She struggled there for a few short moments, trying to catch her breath and observe the way that Valeriya had slammed every ounce of her body weight on top of her. The devious smirk on the young Russian made a chill crawl up her spine, wiggling a bit to get out of her hold. There was a new formed heat that gathered in her core, spreading out to each of her limbs and she knew at that point that she had to put a couple of feet between herself and Valeriya.

"Damn." Toni muttered after she was finally able to get away, her hands perched on her hips again. Her heart was beating hard, but she excused that as being worked up over the work out, and not because Valeriya was just on top of her pressing all of herself into Toni's body.

"Did I do all right?" Valeriya asked, smiling a little.

"You did better than all right." Toni smiled at her, still working on that breathing thing that she forgot how to do. "You did great. That was exactly how I wanted you to learn to do that move."

At that, Valeriya completely collapsed onto the couch, taking in deep breaths through her nose and releasing them out of her mouth. Toni continued to look at her, that smile on her face growing bigger. She liked this time together, teaching, learning, bonding. It felt good to be doing it with someone other than Sentinel, the only problem was that the pesky feelings that were beginning to take root within her for this person that was now splayed out panting on her couch.

"Comfortable?" Toni asked, coming around to take her seat on her side of the couch, feigning annoyance when she saw Valeriya's legs spread out there.

"Mhmm..." Valeriya hummed, glancing over at her and then lifting her legs up so that Toni could sit down. "Come on, your spot is free."

That smile that was formerly on Toni's face returned as she plopped down, surprised when Valeriya's feet came down just after to rest on her lap. "Uh, you know that it's me, right?" She asked, wondering if Valeriya forgot about her former phobia about lesbian antics.

"I know it's you. I trust you, Antonia. Plus, your lap is warmer than the couch." She noted, staring at the television in front of them rather than looking at Toni, which for all the assassin knew, could have been on purpose, but probably not. Valeriya knew full well who she was, and Toni knew too.

Although, Valeriya was indeed avoiding Toni's face on purpose. She didn't want the assassin to know that over the last week her touch started to feel routine, and that when she went without it, she tried to find ways to snatch it again. At first, she attributed it to just wanting the warmth that Toni gave off constantly, but it started to morph into something more than that. Something that she found herself craving, but she couldn't quite place what that craving was, or where it was coming from.

"So..." Toni droned, catching Valeriya's attention before her mind ventured too far into it. "That hit that we have to do for that politician is coming up soon. Next week, actually. Do you think you're ready?"

"Yes, I think so. What is it that I have to do, exactly? Play the distraction again?" She wondered out loud, daring to let her eyes venture to Toni. The assassin looked relaxed as she watched the movie that played in front of them as white noise. A small smile was plastered on her face while her head rested against the palm of one gloved hand.

"Sort of... I may actually have you kill him while I distract him. I want to test the waters, so to say, if you're okay with that." Toni finally looked her way, catching her stare with a skip in her heart beat, trying to ignore how it made her feel.

"That depends." Valeriya challenged. "How would I be killing him? I don't know how well I could handle gore."

"It doesn't have to be gory, it just has to be discreet. No guns. We can smuggle in small, sharp knives, and poisons. Take your pick." Toni popped the p on pick, her stare never leaving the other woman's. It was odd to her that Valeriya made no move to break it, instead she only smiled at Toni and gave a small nod.

"Is it possible that my self defense training will come in handy here?" She asked, finally looking away from the assassin and back towards the movie. Valeriya felt her heart pick up at a steady pace, trying to regulate it enough so that Toni wouldn't notice, but she was sure she wouldn't say anything even if she did.

"Oh, everyday life calls for knowing that kind of stuff, but yes. This could be your chance to actually use it. We'll be training up until the day that we have to attend that grand party, or whatever it is that we're going to." She said, stretching her arm out over the back of the couch to get more comfortable.

Valeriya shifted her body weight and sat up, crossing one leg over the other. "Interesting... I'm going to become a killing machine."

Toni caught the snark in her tone of voice and let out a sort of snort, glancing over at her with just the slightest amount of admiration. "Yes, you will be. You'll be strong and regal. All thanks to me."

"Hey, you can't take all the credit! I'm doing some of the work here, aren't I?" Valeriya pouted, looking back at Toni now.

"Oh, please. I'm doing most of the work, you're just helping." The assassin pointed, a smirk growing on her face so that Valeriya knew she was only joking.

It apparently caught, because Valeriya immediately relaxed and sat back. "You know, I am starting to enjoy working with you. It's... Thrilling."

"I'm glad I can thrill you. This kind of work can be pretty thankless, but at least now you don't have to run head first alone. I'll throw you instead." Toni grinned.

A look crossed Valeriya's face that Toni couldn't quite make out, but as soon as it came on, it vanished, and she returned back to her normal reserved self. Her blue eyes sailed between Toni and the movie that they had playing, finally stopping to settle on the movie. It looked like she had something on her mind, something that may be plaguing her, but Toni didn't know how comfortable she felt straight up asking. Then again, why shouldn't she avoid asking her? There were things about this girl that she's sure her closest college buddies, and even that dumb ex of hers, didn't know.

"What was that look for?" Toni asked with a stoic expression. "Something on your mind?"

"...Not really." Valeriya hesitated, falling back into a comfortable silence. She didn't want to say out loud how she found herself becoming happier and happier the longer she was around Toni like this. The more they spent time together and really started to learn the details about each other's lives, the more she found herself craving more attention from her. She couldn't quite understand why, or where these feelings were coming from, but she liked them. It made her feel more down to Earth compared to how it had been lately, considering everything she's learned and witnessed.

Toni, on the other hand, found herself feeling quite prickly underneath her skin. The silence made her uneasy, but the vibe that Valeriya was giving off let her know that nothing was actually wrong. A wave of anxiety washed over her, and then it died down minutes later, dissipating into nothing but a small simmer in her abdomen. Her stomach expanded as she took heavy breaths in, letting them out after a few seconds. Valeriya noticed her grounding technique. She wasn't silent about it, either.

"What's wrong?" She asked hurriedly, sitting up straight so that she could scoot over towards the assassin.

"N-nothing. Sometimes this happens. They're just anxiety attacks." Toni responded in short bursts.

"Do you know what caused it?" Valeriya reached out and gently placed the back of her hand against Toni's forehead, trying to see if she was any warmer than usual. There was a slight rise in heat, letting her know that something was bothering her more than she wanted to admit.

It was a split second decision, but Valeriya leaned forward and took Toni's face in both of her hands. Each of her palms resting firmly against the smaller woman's cheeks. She stared into her eyes and blinked slowly, letting a small smile show. "Look at me. You're here, you're fine. There's nothing here that will hurt you, it's just us."

The way Toni looked at her caught her off guard. It was like she was looking at the most beautiful thing in the entire world, and it was all hers. A jolt of electricity shot up through Valeriya's body, trying to bring herself to tear her away from those green eyes. It wasn't working. Seeing Toni so vulnerable, and willing to be helped was almost addictive in a way. Like, at this moment, Valeriya knew that she needed to be here and that she needed to help Toni, just like she was helping her in her own little weird, twisted way.

It was Toni who pulled away, bringing her gaze down to her lap to break it from the younger woman. The anxiety that was filling her just a moment ago flew straight out the window, and she was utterly shocked that Valeriya had managed to calm her down in a such a short amount of time, even if she didn't want that time to end completely. They touched, they stared into each other's eyes, and Toni found herself falling and crashing much harder than she intended too, surprised at herself that she didn't whimper.

"I was thinking..." The assassin spoke up after a moment of gathering herself together, wrapping up her feelings and swallowing them down. "That we should head off to teach Petrov a lesson soon. Maybe within the next couple of days?"

Valeriya furrowed her eyebrows and stared, her lips parted just slightly. "What?"

Toni knew that the girl was caught off guard by what she said, but it was all she could do not to kiss her. "You heard me. Let's go exact revenge on that douche."

"I..." She paused for a moment and then simply nodded. "Okay, yes. Let's do that. Together."

"Yes, together."