Danika's eyes roamed over the room that'd previously been her workroom. Charlie, the drawers of fabrics and hemming, so many thread bobbins, needles and pins, plastic templates for patterns she often utilized…. All of it had been packed away and shoved into their bedroom, with larger objects like her work table and whatnot going into a storage unit for the time being.

Temporary relocations. There were still debates about getting a bigger place--when, not if. They weren't cramming two adults who needed private work rooms (well, Dom more than her, but still) and two growing kids into a three-bedroom apartment forever.

They could. They fully could. But Danika was allowing herself to be selfish in her eventual goals, and that was chiefly getting a bigger place where she could have her own private space, much like Dom had his for when he was working. Plus, long-term, the twins would want separate bedrooms eventually. Either they planned for that sooner, or later.

For now…

The temporary loss of the main space she used for working on clothing projects, and kept a lot of her comics and such, didn't grate on her. Not when she was looking around the blue and cream-yellow decor. Two bassinets, a changing table, a huge comfy chair they could sit in while holding the babies, a bookshelf stuffed full of brightly colored books and some little trinkets on the highest shelves. Stuffed animals all around the room. A dresser in the closet to help with organizing clothing and blankets and so many baby supplies. Between the closet and the unit under the changing table, they'd at least not need to buy more for a little while…

Plus there was more out in the living room.

She'd need to ask Dom where the rest was shoved away.

Her gaze was soft as she thought about him--her husband. A title she never figured she'd actually use to address anyone. Nor had she really anticipated on ever being a wife or mother...

Danika smiled as she lowered herself down into the chair, relieved for the momentary ease for her lower back and ankles. Her hands rested on her swollen belly, mind distant as she mulled. She'd always just figured she'd be a partner, with whatever meaning that held for any particular relationship.

She had her partner at work--who was reassigned for the moment, given she'd been on desk duty for the last month or so, and as of a few weeks ago was out entirely on leave since the doctors were pretty damn sure the kids were going to want out soon… and she was dealing with all the fallout of that in her systems.

But Dom… she considered as her fingers tapped absently on her belly, feeling the slight fluttering sensation beneath. He'd been her partner through… a lot.

In regular life, in their alternate lives, they somehow made it work even after some pretty… bad s**t. They were partners again. In everything. Though she couldn't help but reminisce on times they'd been sparring partners…





Memory of around late December, 2017

Themiscyra stretched where she stood, the field around her crispy and glittering under the electric lamp lights with frost. They were a bit sparatic, though needed to be since she only had a few of the battery powered lamps. But it'd do, plenty of room for some practice.

There might not have been any snow on the ground yet… but she could smell it in the air. They'd be getting hit with some soon. Supposedly, that night. She wasn't sure if that'd cut into their planned time, but hey. It at least made it more difficult to get overheated while sparring.

It'd been her idea, after she and Dominic had seen each other a handful of times, and had done some patrol rounds together powered up. It'd been a while since they really worked together in a rough fight, she figured, so a chance to do some light sparring could be beneficial.

It was also a bit of an excuse for her to get out of family holiday things.


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Ashur was on the ground doing some stretches of his own, expression fully relaxed and at ease despite the impending sparring match. He and Danika had seen each other a number of times since their little rooftop reunion, the events of which, and every meeting since then, often lingering on his mind. It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say that she was on his mind more often than not these days, and tentative as it was, he was the happiest he'd been in a long, long time.

Blue eyes flickered over to Themiscyra on the other end of the lit area that designated their practice space, memories briefly flashing through of past fights, before they…

He cleared his throat, cutting off the thought and getting to his feet. "So," he started, wanting to break the silence. "If memory serves, and we both know it might not," Ashur managed a small smile at the little joke, wondering if she might find it amusing or feel it was maybe a little too soon to make light of it.

"You always wiped the floor with me whenever we sparred. That accurate?"



She grinned, pulling at her opposite elbow towards her back over her head. "Pretty much," she agreed, sort of… side-stepping the whole… memory thing. Though she had smiled when she registered the joke. Part of her still wasn't sure she had the right to joke or tease about it, but he was welcomed to make commentary as he wished.

"But I've also had a lot more practice than you back then, so who knows?" Considering the amount of rough and tumble Danika got up to even before becoming Themiscyra… she didn't hold it against him. Lot of people didn't seem to have much fighting experience, even just from like…. exercising with boxing and stuff, or basic self-defense, before joining the war.

Stretching her hand out when she released her arm, her other hand reached for the silver chain coiled and tied to her belt. "Weapons or just hand-to-hand? I'm fine with either, and not like we have to hit that hard." Though to be fair, if this were, say, a boxing gym, they'd at least have some padding to help soften things further.


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He chuckled at her confirmation, considering her words right after and giving a little shrug. "Not that I'd just roll over and let you win, but I feel like it'd still be the same even now." She was the more fit and athletic one between the two of them, after all. Flashes of wrestling matches and other playful little bouts crossed his mind nearly as soon as the words left his mouth, and he paused in quiet surprise at them before nodding, as if to insist that he was probably going to be right about this.

Ashur moved off to the side and deposited his staff on the ground just there, as well as his sash and any other dangling odds and ends on his uniform that might get in the way, and started to roll his neck and shoulders to loosen up just a little bit more.

"I'm weak in both areas, so maybe hand-to-hand for now?" It'd been a while since he sparred with anyone, or put any effort into battle strategies and fight tactics since he primarily went after youma anyway, so whatever skill he might have had in either area had long since gone.

With any luck, it'd be like riding a bike and he'd pick things up quickly. If not…well.

If anyone was gonna beat him up, there was a small comfort in knowing it was Themi.



Hey, she at least gave feedback on fights.

Though she put her chain down a ways to the side as well, and sent her golden chain into subspace, she didn't really remove anything else. He should go for whatever opportunity he could grasp in a fight. If they were up against Negaverse agents, or their senshi, then anything his muscle memory could then be used to instantly act upon would be extremely useful.

"Works for me," she said simply, straightening and walking towards the middle of the impromptu sparring ring. Her feet spread automatically into a solid stance, arms slightly raised though not fully in a defensive position.

Was she being cocky? Eh. Maybe a tad.

But Themiscyra was also pretty ******** determined to help Ashur improve in combat, defensive or otherwise, to try and reduce his chances of getting…. hurt, out there.

"Whenever you're ready."


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He made his way to the center of their little sparring ring, doing his best to recall what he learned when he signed up for those martial arts classes however many years ago now. There was some familiarity in the stance he took on, but even on sight it looked quite a bit weaker than hers. It was possibly more his uncertainty than anything, and he had to take a steadying breath.

This was why they were sparring, after all. To push past that uncertainty, gain a little bit of practical experience he could bring into a real fight, and hopefully lessen the chances of either of them (mainly him, he wasn't ashamed to admit) getting seriously hurt while they were out there.

He gave a little nod at her words, and without wasting another beat he stepped toward her and jabbed. A light movement, mostly to test his reach.



Her eyes were sharp as she looked over his form--not for fun, either, but a critical examination of his stance and how he was holding himself, how he was supporting himself. When he jabbed a fist forward, she took notice of how his weight shifted or didn't with his movement, if his balance was affected, and so on. Things that could leave easy openings for opponents if he wasn't careful.

On her part, Themiscyra brought up one of her hands to block his, pushing it lightly to the side in a basic redirection move. "Try pivoting more at your waist when you punch. Most of the strength behind impacts like that come from not just arm strength, but putting more energy and force from your core adding into it."

To prove her point, at least in motions, she pulled her arm back that was on the side with her foot furthest back in her stance, turning her upper body slightly with the pull before turning rapidly and shooting her fist forward--and above his shoulder, in an attempt to make it so she didn't actually hit him. "Don't move your feet when you do that, keep yourself rooted as possible."


[WIP log posting]