fandomhigh | Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

"Yo, Rookies!" If Reno looked a little less mellow than usual, that was totally the imagination of everyone in the class. If he looked like he'd done up a few more buttons than usual on his shirt, too? Well, that much wasn't. Even Reno could respect when it was really freaking awkward to go around half-dressed in front of students who were practically his own age. "We've covered all kinds of fun fightin' crap already, and healin' and all of that, yo. So today we're gonna expand a little on that barricade thing we did the other week, and go into defenses as a whole."

Insert thoughtful pause while Reno struggles not to make a horribly off-color crack about 'protection,' here.

"In the sim where we we set up that barricade and faced off against them griffins, we were really just stratchin' the surface, yo. There are plenty of ways to keep invaders out, beyond just pilin' things up. It's true, some of the best-fortified places have way more time to set up those defenses than we do, yo. Can we really be expected to-" he choked on the word 'erect,' "set up a wall around the whole island or whatever? But there are things we can do. I know my girl Rikku's got experience with puttin' together patrol droids, which ain't a bad first step. Knowin' there's an enemy on the way and gatherin' info about 'em early on is a big help on the way to fendin' them off."

Deep breath. Press onward, Reno!

"Makin' yourself ha-difficult to find is another important step. Camo, magic or tech-based sight-shields, findin' your way into convenient little hidey-holes, they're all gonna save your ass when the heat is on, yo. And then, of course, comes the barricade stuff. The point ain't always to pile so much junk so high that it'll take 'em forever to get in. That kinda strategy don't work against an aerial enemy, does it? But the same idea applies, whether you're layin' out mines, electric fences, or lightin' your barricade on fire for one major last stand."

Okay! He was in the home stretch now! He could do this!

"Discussion class today, yo. Knowin' as much as you do about the island, how would you go about protectin' what you got? Where do your own strengths sit? Talk about what it is you can contribute to fortifyin' the island if somethin' big hits, whether it's early-warning, finding a place to hunker down that'll give you a tactical advantage, or just keepin' shit out."

[Open!]

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...yeah, in all honesty, Kennedy was mostly curious as to how Raven was handling the whole being-around-Karla thing these days when she happened to glance that way.

In a stunning moment of irony, the fact that she just happened to click her tongue stud kind of loudly against her teeth right then wasn't intended to get a reaction out of Raven; Kennedy just happened to be thinking (a bit more vividly than usual) about someone else in the class at the time.

Raven jumped a little at the click, moreso from the jolt of emotion than the noise itself. She was blocking out most of the background noise of hormones, but she'd made a habit of keeping a tiny thread of power connected to her friends so she might know if they were in trouble, and Kennedy's thoughts had merrily zoomed up that thread. She squirmed a little, glancing over at Kennedy with wide eyes.

...um. The wide-eyed look on Raven was kind of adorable, wasn't it? The thought occurred to Kennedy while she was indulging a particularly well-articulated fantasy about her girlfriend and holing up in a survival shelter and... well.

"What?" she mouthed.

Wow, bad time to remember making out with Raven up against the wall, Kennedy.

Raven actually gasped audibly as the memory of that kiss hit her as well. It had been a very impressive kiss, after all. Her cheeks turned pink as she ducked her head and tried not to squirm again.

"What's with you?" Kennedy asked under her breath (despite the internal smirk and thought of damn, I'm good).

"I can feel what you are thinking about," Raven whispered back at her.

"Oh, really?" Kennedy drawled. Hello, not-so-internal-any-more smirk! "You're welcome, then."

Raven squirmed some more, unable to help but think of how making out with Kennedy had made her feel at the time. "Now you are doing it on purpose!" she hissed.

"So am not," argued Kennedy. "Are you, like, making me think about this more? Is this a weird empath feedback-loop thing? 'cause damn, if I realized you thought about me that much..."

"I am not deliberately trying to make you think of such things!" Raven insisted. "That would be a misuse of my powers!"

"So what counts as an okay use of them, then?" Kennedy had to ask, with an eyebrow waggle that hinted none too subtly that she wasn't talking about checking up on people.

Checking people out, on the other hand.

Raven was turning even redder now because she knew exactly what she could do with her gifts. "If we two were in a relationship, and you were willing, I could use them in such a way then," she mumbled.

"Oh, really." Don't look so interested, Kennedy. "Never knew you were that kinky, Raven. Props for that."

"...it is not possible for me to be 'kinky' when I do not have the experience to be so!" Raven protested feebly.

"All it takes, Raven," Kennedy intoned knowledgeably, "is a really good imagination. And it's always the innocent-looking ones, seems like. Man, you're really gonna surprise someone someday. I'm almost jealous."

Well, she did turn into Mistress Raven, Lady of Pain once.... Stupid island.

"That is not necessarily an accurate prediction of the type of behavior I might exhibit should I ever be involved in such a relationship," she stammered.

"Whoa, hey!" Kennedy held her hands up, and dammit, now she was curious. "Who was making predictions, little miss full of surprises?"

"You were," Raven said. "You said I was going to surprise someone and implied I was kinky." At least she knew what that word meant from working at 'Dite's shop.

"Someone not me," Kennedy protested, although now she was kind of wondering what Raven would try with her. "'sides, the mental tricks, that's totally kinky if you ask me. Come on, that's way less satisfying than actually putting the manual effort in."

Beat.

"Not that you necessarily have to use your hands..."

"What else would you u--oh. Oh." That was an interesting shade of red Raven had become now. Especially factoring in the tongue stud.

Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

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