[mp] [scoarta] gotta raise a little hell. [lev]

Scoarta was a town not like many others. To a stranger it might seem like a peaceful, quiet farming town with a serious lack of technology and some questionable fashion choices but Mihaela knew better. The town was full of hunters and healers, ghosts and ghouls, creatures and crazies, and during this particular winter break (and much to her joy) her current crush. The rope lights that had been strung up from house to house, powered by magic, made the village seem much more like a fairy tale than a last stitch effort to keep the wilds at bay. Thick white snow blanketted the village and the surrounding feilds and the entire place seemed to glow and hum with hopeful carols. It was wonderfully festive despite the blades and weapons that hung just outside of each doorway. Scoartan's were always prepared, even during the holidays. The St. Ignatius ritual had taken place last night and the town was still buzzing from it's success. There was a strange hope filling the air, hope for a good farming season, hope for many victories in the forests, and hope for plenty of fat new babies to join the population. Mihaela wanted to love this time of year. Wanted to love the cold and the stillness but it just went against everything that comforted her. The fiery teenage witch liked when things moved fast, when there was time to enjoy outside before the sun came down and curfew was in place. She always felt trapped by the winter.

At least this winter break she had someone to keep her company. Lev had come to work again but she didn't plan on letting him get much of anything done. From the moment he had arrived she had been pestering him nearly constantly. She wanted his attention more than she wanted anyone elses and she was not above falling to annoying lows in order to get it. She'd brought him to the pig sacrifice the night earlier and had basically begged him to spar with her this afternoon. The trials were coming up and she had to show up her younger brother who was swiftly becoming a better archer than she had ever been. When she was younger she had been given a bow but as she grew older she had begun to learn that hand to hand was the only way she was going to survive as a hunter. She couldn't stay quiet long enough to fall asleep let alone track and hunt down a vampire. It didn't matter that the summer trials were only for the men, Mihaela refused to not participate. They'd have to lock her up to keep her from fighting this summer. For the last two summers she had been working day and night to get better at fighting and she knew Lev had more than enough experience in the field. She'd been watching him get into scraps with other students for as long as she remembered and her money was always on him. He had a hell of a right hook and he was impressively strong. She thought about his strength more than she'd care to admit but more than that lately she had been thinking about other things.

Like what it might be like to kiss him. When the thoughts first began to surface she was confused by them. It was like a fire had been lit inside of her that she didn't know she had. It was like night and day when it happened, all of a sudden like, and she couldn't quell the flames. She thought about it more and more as the days after their summer break had gone by. Typically Mihaela was the type to go for what she wanted. She wasn't patient or accomodating and she could even be a bit selfish when the moment called for it but this was different. She didn't want to ruin what they had, their friendship was one of the few she'd been able to hold on to, and especially after what had happened between her and Gio the witch couldn't help but do something she rarely did: hesitate. She tried to pretend like things were normal between them but after a while (and quite a few girl talks) she began to convince herself that maybe it wasn't just her harbouring these hidden feelings. And that was when she began to grow frustrated and even more impatient than normal. She wanted him to make a move, she wanted it so much she was basically throwing herself in his direction, but she had little experience in these things and even though she thought she was being obvious maybe she wasn't. Maybe she wasm't half as good at flirting as she thought she was. Mihaela was rarely as good at anything as she claimed to be.

After lunch, and before the sun could begin to set, she lead him to one of the training huts near the center of the town. They weren't much to look at but they would give them some privacy. "Sure you're up for this?" She taunted him with a smirk as she shed the jacket she'd been wearing leaving her shoulders exposed to the crisp air in the training room. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a tight braid that fell down past her shoulder blades. The shirt she had on was completely over the top but not unlike other things she would wear (when her parents weren't around of course). It wasn't entirely impractical as its form fitting material made it easy to move around during the fight but it offered little armor. She'd had to convince Miki to make it so tight and revealing but Mihaela was on a mission. Her cousin was a genius when it came to fashion and even though Mihaela would of been happy with a simple cloth Miki had outdone herself this time. The bodice was made from a tough leather hide with a pattern printed into it. The leather was sturdy enough that it might even take to some enchantments for the future and the hood was a soft brown cloth that covered her whole head if she put it up. It didn't even occurr to Mihaela that she might look ridiculous or like she was trying to hard, the girl was going to get his attention one way or another. It also helped that most of the residents of Scoarta wore leather vests, armor, and all types of hunter type fashion. Her typical black form fitting slacks with enchanted pockets and a place for her wand completed the outfit. Her boots were laced up high as she kicked the hard packed dirt beneath them. The round room wasn't particularly large, it had no windows but was instead illuminated by torches floating over head and there wasn't much to it. There were a few rooms just like this in the village that were always open for witches and wizards to come and train. There was a table near the doorway with supplies and after walking to it Mihaela took a moment to wrap her hands with some scraps of cloth from the table. Mihaela took sparring very seriously, especially when she had more than one goal in mind. After she'd finished she turned to smile brightly at him, green eyes watching closely, before taking a right handed swing at his face.

"Aint afraid ta' hit a girl are ya?"

@Lev Leskov

There were so many things that Lev loved about Mihaela, and this was one of them. She took sparring, training, fighting—she took it all seriously as hell. Lev, who also took fighting seriously, loved that she wasn't afraid of it. Not that he expected her to be. She was from a family of hunters. The Scoartans were the Spartans of Romania. It was absolutely the hottest thing he had ever seen, and he felt as though he completely fit in there. Maybe that was why he kept coming back. Ever since he'd been there over the summer he had really been thinking about moving her more and more often. He was Russian by nationality, but he had no ties there. He had nothing holding him to his parents house and nothing to  go back to. In Scoarta, there was a chance for him to grow and become his own man. If they'd accept him. He'd been trying to learn the traditions and get in the the locals, and make friends—despite himself. He really was thinking that this was something for him, a chance for a better life. He didn't mind that it was simple or hardworking. He didn't mind that he'd never be famous or rich there. He just wanted a plot of land and a place to belong. He could be one of those fighters. Of course, that wasn't the only thing that drew him in.

More often than not, lately, he had been looking at Mihaela--really looking. He knew what it was going on between them, at least from his end. There was no confusion or fighting it. It was just a truth. He liked her. He wanted to date her. He wanted to be with her, but it wasn't that simple. Lev had absolutely no clue what he was doing, no idea how to ask her out or talk to her about his feelings and there was a pretty good chance that she'd laugh at him if he said anything. Men weren't supposed to have feelings. Wasn't that was Damyan always told him? Feelings made a man weak. He had attempted to talk to Valda about it, but it hadn't made him feel that much better when he came face to face with Mihaela that evening. His tongue caught in his throat and he couldn't forget the summer when she'd lifted her shirt for him. He had enjoyed that mental image several times since then, but it also made him more nervous. That had been a joke, really. It hadn't been serious. He couldn't even imagine her being.. that way... in a serious manner. He was stalling, but e worried. If he stalled too long, some other guy would come and scoop her up, and where would he be, then? He couldn't even be mad about it because he was she supposed to know that he liked her if he didn't have the balls to say it? It was a Catch 22 really. Admitting he had feelings was really emasculating. Being too chicken to act on his feelings was also really emasculating. Either way, he was not at his most manly, and that made him wanna hit something.

Unfortunately for him, today he would be hitting the object of his affection. He knew better than to go easy on her. Miha was stronger than she looked and he had no doubt that she could crush his head like a grape between her thighs if she had the mind to. And he would probably let her. This said, she wasn't exactly someone he wanted to pummel into the pavement. She would keep him focused. This was a spar, it was meant to train them, not necessarily be a release for his pent up anger. They had punching bags for that. Or well, that's why punching bags existed. Did they have punching bags in Scoarta or did they hit enough real things that they didn't need them? Maybe he'd ask. Later. After this. He smiled at her as she shed her jacket, and then his eyes just about popped out of his head. No effing way was she seriously wearing that! It was like 0 degrees and she was practically naked! He tried to get over that. He needed to focus or else he'd take a hit and it would sting like hell. Mihaela would never let him hear the end of it if she gave him a shiner.

He stretched and wrapped his hands, too, then began to move lightly around while she took a hit. He dodged the first hit. “If you think I'm afraid you hit ya cause you're a girl, you've got another thing coming.” He grinned. He was admittedly a little distracted, but so far, he was good. He took a shot towards her abdomen.

The cold, crisp, Romanian air hit her skin almost as soon as she got rid of her top layer but she fought back against the shiver, hoping it would be worth it. She wanted more than anything for Lev to notice her. Mihaela was the type of girl who craved attention, she needed it to survive the same way she need oxygen but more and more lately she wanted it even more from him. There was something about him that made her feel anxious and nervous and excited all at once and she was addicted to the feeling. She never wanted it to end. She didn't fully understand the feelings that were constantly bubbling inside of her when he was around; the way her skin tingled when he brushed by, the way she missed his smell when he left a room, but she was beginning to. The more time she spent thinking about it the more frustrated she became, the more she wanted from him despite the fact that she didn't know how to tell him what she wanted. Mihaela never pulled punches, not physically or metaphorically, so sitting and waiting for something to happen was strange to her. It made her uncomfortable and uneasy and her choice of clothing was just one of many ill planned attempts to bring an end to the waiting.

Despite her own confused feelings the young Romanian knew she wanted to be around him. She knew she wanted him to stay in Scoarta, and in her room because she liked the scent he left behind, as much as possible. She knew she wanted him to hang out with her --and her only-- as much as possible. But even these feelings seemed to feel strange to her. She was an independent witch who didn't need anyone, especially not a wizard, to keep her warm at night. She had grown up strong and proud and completely capable of taking care of herself. Mihaela saw other girls falling over themselves for boys in school and she had always found them pathetic, needy, and weak; things she promised she would never be. Her feelings for Lev left her equal parts discontented and entirely enthralled. There was just something about him, despite everything, that always brought her back for more. Maybe it was their shared penchant for violence or how strong he was, or maybe it was his reckless side, it was difficult to pin point but never the less she was enticed by him. Even just being close to him made her feel excited, giddy even, but she tried desperately to hide it in hopes of seeming 'cool'.

After they had both prepared she fell naturally into a fighting stance, hands up in a defensive but flexible position the same way she had been taught for so many years. This was Mihaela's comfort zone. Some witches might of found studying, or fashion, or maybe even pleasant conversation to be where they were most at home and at their best but Mihaela Lupesco was a warrior to the core and fighting was where she belonged. She shined here in a way that she never would during lessons or at Durmstrang. She was so far from the most intelligent of her peers that it was nearly humorous but she had skills none of them could match. She'd been trained to survive and especially to thrive in one of the most dangerous places in the wizarding world and she was damned proud of it. Mihalea threw a punch toward him that he easily dodged, which only made her smile. If it had been anyone other than him she would of grown frustrated but she didn't want Lev to lose. The thought occurred to her just as he returned her advance, connecting slightly with her stomach as she tried and failed to move back in time. It was a strange conundrum she then found herself in as she barely dodged his blow to her torso, catching the remnant force of his punch but not the full strength of it. It was enough that she might have a bruise in the morning but not so much that the wind was knocked out of her. On one side she wanted to win, Mihaela was insanely competitive, ridiculously even, and she stopped at nothing to win things like this... but on the other side, she didn't want to know she was stronger than him. There was something inherently attractive about the fact that he could hold his own in her town. All of the other boys she had crushed on over the past year or so had always lacked one thing: they weren't warriors. Lev was and she needed him to stay that way in her mind.

But that didn't mean she was going to go easy on him either.

"Nice shot." She breathed out heavily as she moved away from him only to come back in sharply. She moved her feet, left in front of right quickly, in an attempt to trick him into thinking she was going to attack with a right handed stance. Mihaela wasn't book smart, she couldn't remember facts or history, but she could remember foot work. In her village they were taught not only how to put the most force behind a punch but also how to play against an adversaries intelligence. In Scoarta they weren't just fighting mindless spiders and wolves, there were real, legitimately intelligent, threats in the woods and Scoartans had to be able to out smart them if they wanted to survive. "You'll have ta' be quicker than that though, I aint no sissy." She taunted him with another wild smile on her face, a special glimmer in her eyes reserved specifically for combat. In a split second she sent another forceful punch toward his torso, a wicked smile on her face as she did. She really wanted her hit to connect but it was only partly because of her interest in the spar. The other part of her wanted to know how solid his muscles were.