Fence Is Not JUST a Sport

Laurent smiled to one of the other boys, as he dressed into his white grey uniform, as he looked around for a brief moment, before walking out with them. They were only 5 today, because some had skipped, and some were ill, so they needed another one to participate. Laurent hoped he wouldnt get Sergei as partner, as he had heard from the boys, that he was a very stern man, someone who one should never make angry, as they had seen the pure terror in him, but then again, how serious and mean looking could this man even be. When they came there, the first thing they noticed, was that there wasnt the normal teacher on the job, only one person. Sergei.

Laurent looked at him for a moment, without the helmet on, as it was under his arm, before looking down at his saber. He then looked up again as he thought for himself * He doesn´t look that scary? *. He smiled, as this was his first day, since he had started school in mid November, something most people didnt do, but he did, as he had felt utter alone in a big house, while his mother had to work. He ran a hand through the thick messy hair, that ended standing to all sides, as he looked around with the pure silver blue eyes, as they started to pair up. Luckily for him, someone asked him, if he wanted to pair up, as one of the other students were alone. He didnt really know that much about the sport, so his stance was off and his grib around the saber too. His partner walked over to him and gently tried to readjust the saber, as Laurent laughed a little at himself and nodded.

Yet another day to just get through before he could get back to the work he deemed his real, actual work. Sergei really only had this teacher gig going to earn a bit of extra cash - his real, proper income, was less stable, but gave him oh so much more on his accounts... But this was at least stable income, so he made do with it. Even if it meant teaching a lot of teens and young adults who often asked too many questions for his liking. Really, he was probably not the greatest teacher out there, and he wasn't too happy about his job, but he did it nonetheless.

He'd gotten up early as usual, and had already been teaching a morning class,spells, before going to the gym hall, after having changed, and put out the training mats. Yakov was nowhere to be seen today, and good riddance for that - he did not know why the fallen angel was absent, nor did he really care, he was just happy to not have someone as infuriating as him around right now.

So there he was, standing ready, with the face guard in one hand and the saber in the other, waiting for the students to get inside. And when one of them entered... His eyes instinctively narrowed as he looked at him. There was no doubt. Really, a student? Was one of his students now the person that his mark wanted to tell him was his mate? Please. As if he'd ever want that. Especially when it was another man. The look he gave the young kid was probably akin to a death stare, before he realized that everybody was in the room now, and he asked people to find someone to partner up with.

Of course, he wound up with the one kid that did not get a partner. After a small bit, wherein Sergei had only really corrected the student that wasdueling him, he told that kid tot ake a break while he looked at the others. he did a fej minor adjustments to two others, before he reached Laurent. "Keep your back straight," he said, and sharply poked the end of the saber against the guy's lower back. "And lift your arm. The movement should not guide you, you should guide it." seeing as he knew how it instilled a bit more fear in some people, he made sure that his Russian accent, usually well-hidden, shone through just enough for it to be clear that he had lived there for most of his life.

Laurent looked at the teacher. Sergei. He didnt really know his lastname, as it had been hard for the french british accent to even pronounce it right, as he had sat and studied it for a time. He raised his brow a little, as Sergei stared him down, as he entered. * What is his problem? *. He shrugged for himself. Maybe it had been a hard morning for the man, no matter what, he was not gonna judge him. He was almost completely wrapped up in his partner´s steps, before he felt the pointy end of the saber. Even with protection, he knew how hard a saber could actually leave marks on ones body, if pressed to hard against ones skin. He instantly straightened his back from it, as he heard the words.

He lifted his arms as he was told, before hearing him say that the movement should not guide him, but the other way around. " What? ". He looked behind him for a moment, before feeling his partner hit him right at the neck, making the helmet fling off, as he started bleeding from his jawline, as he fell backwards, and ended right in front og Sergei, as he looked up at him with an apologizing smile, before saying with the quite unique british french accent, sounding sensual but also so posh and luxurious. " I dont know what you mean by guiding my movements? ". He had heard the very stern Russian accent, but all he could see whenever he looked up at Sergei, was not a very stern man, but a man that looked like a model. intriguing, alluring.. fascinating, as he held such a unique accent. He smiled a little nervously at him, before getting up, if he didnt get any help, before looking down at his suit, stained a little from the blood. " I will be right back ". He gave a nod to them all, before walking over to the locker rooms, as he could change there, but also stop the bleeding with some bandages he had. He then looked into the mirror while cleaning it, as he thought he heard the door go up into the room.

He put the plaster on, before walking back. One of the students looked, as he said " I´m gonna go check on him ". As he was about to leave the class, since Laurent had taken quite some time, as he had to change into a new uniform, but also that he had to make sure not to bleed over himself and on the new suit. * Whats his problem.. Sergei.. *.

Sergei sighed and rolled his eyes a little when the young boy of course didn't get what he was hinting at... And also,Sergei wasn't the biggest fan of the accent he had, but then again, Russia had never really had good relations with either country... At least, not while he had lived.

"I mean what I'm saying. Your movement are guiding you,when you should be the one guiding them, the one to direct them instead of letting them play around with you as if you were but a puppet on strings." not unlike how most witches were around their destined mate. Sergei, however, had already killed two who had been destined to be his mate, so he was by now pretty used to ignoring the pull as well as one could. And with his ability to hide any feeling he wanted on top of that? One would never think that the kid he was picking on right now, was in fact one destined to be his mate, for some reason.

"You need confidence to do things correctly. Even if you don't know what you're doing is wrong, confidence will make a lot of it look like you still know what you're doing." and it also helped make the opponent a bit uneasy, seeing aggressive confidence coming right at them. He nodded, curtly, watching Laurent leave to grab a change of clothes. Then, he huffed, turned around and told the others to take a break until the guy was back. He used the break himself to get at his bottle of water, and downing quite a bit of it, while simply waiting for them to be able to get back to training.

He looked as a person came in, before smiling as they started small talking and he got to say that he was ' alright '. His jaw was a little sore, but not much. He walked out again with his sparring partner, as he looked over at Sergei, before the boy that had been with Sergei asked Laurent´s partner, if he wanted to maybe swift. Laurent touched his other arm a little, as he stroke it a little up and down, while he smiled nervously, as he nodded, that it was okay with him, before finding himself walking over towards Serget. * great.. *. He looked at Sergei with a little smile, not holding back that he was intimidated a little by him, and that he was nervous as hell.

He got over to one of the training mats, as he waited patiently for Sergei. He could almost feel how the saber was slipping out of his hand, even when he was wearing gloves, as he felt so intimidated, but he wasnt afraid of him, only of diappointing the class and his fellow classmates, and also giving this man.. more to use against him. He would get himself ready, take on face guard, before he looked at Sergei, deep inside, he could feel how fast his heart was beating, as he felt it in his chest, almost like it was gonna erupt. He had such a stare.. intimidating.. stern.. like he had done him something wrong.

He tried his best to follow the others, but not having tried anything was proving highly difficult, as he felt he always falled short. As he landed again on the traning mat, he looked up at Sergei, before hearing the clock ring, as they had a break. His next study was canceled to later, so when everyone started to walk out, he waved as he said. " i´m just gonna stay back a little and practice ". He was gonna practice for himself, as he felt utterly useless. He took off the face guard, as he looked over at Sergei. " is it okay i stay behind and work.. on my stance? ".

After having gotten something to drink, and correcting his hair, he watched as Laurent stepped back inside the room. And of course they wanted to shift partners... So he got the young siren. Just typical. Fate still trying to work at getting him to actually accept a mate. Because that was really all it was, wasn't it? There had been way too many coincidences concerning each and every meeting with every one of his supposed mates, for him to really believe it was anything else than fate trying to force him to actually accept one... But, not today.

So, as they got into position again, he put on the face guard, and dropped into his stance - of course, being the teacher here, his stance was as close to perfect as it got. And when they started, he went a bit harder on Laurent than he maybe should have, but it was this underlying hatred of fate, of the entire mate-concept. He didn't want to be bound to anybody - he just wanted to concentrate on his goals, and, since he felt like having a mate would just destroy a lot of his opportunities, he had so far preferred to just kill each and every possible mate of his that he had met. But with Laurent being a student at the school, and himself being a teacher, that wasn't an option this time, at all... So instead, he roughed him up quite a bit, not holding back even though it was so very clear that the boy wasn't anywhere near his level in this sport, yet.

Once the clock rang, he pulled back on the spot, lowering his saber and pulling off the face guard before telling the class they were free to go as soon as they had put the sabers back, and changed back out of their fencing clothes. Then, the looked down at Laurent, one eyebrow raised but the rest of his face quite unemotional, a vast difference from the death stare he'd been given before. "Sure. I'll be watching from the sides." mainly because he wasn't allowed to let a student be in here on their own with a saber out and everything, as injuries were quite possible if the plastic guard on the tip should flick off for any reason. So, he went over to the side and sat down on one of the benches, his eyes on the kid - he didn't particularly want to stay back and watch him, which was possibly quite obvious to see, but at the same time, he couldn't quite keep his eyes off of the boy, though he wanted to... That damn, cursed mark.

He tried to follow Sergei´s stance, almost copying it, before feeling how hard he actually got hit. It was a wonder, that he could take it. Again and again, he found himself on the training mat, pushed down by the saber itself, as Sergei had hit him so hard in the chest and near the neck up to several times. He huffed under the helmet, trying to not seem weak, but in this very moment, he felt weak and vulnerable. He didnt know if Sergei really were this aggresive normally, but then again?, he was a teacher and he was new.. maybe he was just reading too much into it?.

As they bell rang, he felt once again how he almost got pushed down onto the training mat, as he took off the face guard, before he just layed there, huffing, almost gasping after air, as hes gaze followed Sergei, before he looked to the boys that left the gym. He heard the words coming from him, as he looked back up at him, before nodding a little, not really wanting to say anything against it. He wanted to do better, wanted to be better. He could already feel the bruises starting to appear, he was most certain of it.

He slowly got up, as he didnt think about taking the helmet on, as he felt like suffacating, so instead he took the helmet on and ruffled his hair a little up, as he started to work on his stance. He felt like the eyes of Sergei was burning him. If hell had eyes, it would be Sergei´s. Suddenly he understood the boys, how they had said he should watch out for him, and how strict he could be, but then again.. he didnt hate Sergei for it, as he didnt see it as ill intent. He was a teacher, trying to teach a new student.. wasnt he?. He slowly thought he got better, before leaning backwards, as he smiled to him, before asking. " How does it look?. My stance? ". But he was still holding his arm too high, and still he was ALL to off balance. If someone came over and pushed him, he would easily fall down to the side.

Sergei kept on calmly watching the boy, sipping from his bottle of water every once in a while, in-between checking messages on his phone and just generally checking the news... But most of the time he still found his eyes drawn to him, even as he did his best ignore than incessant nagging feeling trying to get him to be just a bit more lenient towards the boy - but no, he wasn't going to be.

He sighed, put his phone and water bottle aside, and stood up, when Laurent asked how his stance was. This, alone, was probably enough of a sign that it wasn't anywhere near where Sergei wanted it to be, but he still spoke as he would-be calmly walked over there.

"It's still rubbish," he calmly told him, never one to sugar-coat anything, unless he was trying to get laid. He then move din behind him, and reached out to sharply jerk the siren's arm back down into the proper height. "Your elbow should be here. You won't ever get any force output with your arm all up there." and then, to prove a point, he gently nudged Laurent's knee, just enough to make him almost lose his balance. "And your legs should either be bent almost 90 degrees, or be straight. Your stance is way too unsteady, otherwise - feel that?" and then he, himself, took the saber from the siren, to, himself, drop into one of the proper stances. "Here, try see if you can knock me off balance. Notice the way I'm standing." after giving him a couple of tries to try to knock him over - which was near impossible with such a steady stance - he handed the saber back to the young guy. "Try again. Learn something."

He looked over at Sergei when he said it was still rubbish. He sighed a little at the words, not because they hurted him, but more because he was disappointed in himself, but then again, rome was not build in a day, and so was his fencing skills neither. He looked at Sergei with an optimistic smile, as he grew rather nervous, as Sergei ended up standing behind him, before he felt his hand around his arm, as he sharply jerked it back into a satisfying position. He clenched his teeth from the sudden pain of feeling Sergei´s rough touch, before he nodded and said " Yes sir.. ". As he looked behind him a little, before he felt the gentle nudged towards his knee, as he was almost sent down onto the floor again, but he kept himself up, sorta.. as he looked at Sergei, before getting his saber taken from him. He breathed out, as he looked at him, before walking over to him, when he said he should try.

" I feel like i cant breath in this ". He hurried to walk out and change into a tshirt in white thin fabric, before he came back, and was also wearing a little more tight black jeans, as he walked over to Sergei, as he tried to get him to lose balance again, but nothing. " How? ". He walked around him for a moment, looking at the stance, before he stood besides him, as he took the saber, looking at it, before he tried to stand in the same stance. Finally he got it, as he looked at Sergei, almost an exact replica of how he stood, as he got out of focus a little but quickly gained the stance back. " how does this look? ". He looked over at him, before looking forward again, as he waited for instructions. He could feel some of the blood from his chin, slowly run, as he had by an accident hit it, as he had taken the face guard off in the locker room.

He started to relax a little as he smiled to him, before shaking his head a little, as he said. " Thanks for the help.. i wont occupy you anymore, i need to get ready for another class anyways ". He didnt have one before an hour or so, so when he turned around from Sergei, he went straight to the locker room, to take a refreshing bath. As he stood and let the water glide over him, he couldnt help but smile a little for himself, before he looked up a little, as he closed his eyes. He could feel how sore his body was and the bruises had started to show already on the body of his.

Really, he'd have preferred to just stick to looking at the kid from afar, but the mark did sort of pull at him, even though he tried to ignore it. Of course, if anybody asked him, he'd deny it was the mark's fault, and insist it was just his pride as a teacher, not being able to see a student not get it at all. But there he was, correcting Laurent's positioning, and not really feeling the remorse a witch probably should feel for sort of hurting his supposed mate, with how quick and sharp he'd moved his arm.

He huffed and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes when the siren walked out of the room, crossing his arms as he waited for him to return, before he showed him the proper stance - and probably the first, although weak, smile that Laurent had seen on his face so far, appeared when the siren, indeed, could not make him budge even the slightest bit. "How? by having the correct stance. That is all. With a proper stance, your footing will be secure enough that your opponent can't make you budge at all." then he got out of it, and asked him to try it again.

Slowly, calmly, taking his sweet time, Sergei walked around Laurent, looking closely at his stance, his expression unreadable, not giving away any of his thoughts until he'd circled him one time, at which point he finally gave a small, approving nod. "Seems good." he tested it, by nudging the kid's leg again, and sure enough, he didn't topple over this time. "Good work. Now, just remember that until next lesson - and you should be fine." while he said this, though, his eyes had slipped to the wound on the guy's chin that was bleeding again. Sighing, he raised one hand, and snapped his fingers while muttering something under his breath - and within the next few seconds, with his fingers lit up in a low glow, dark green in color as this was the color of his magic, the small cut healed with the healing spell he'd just utilized. He didn't care to use it anywhere he himself had stabbed at him, though - he thought that should act as a nice reminder to him.

He simply nodded at the siren's words - and since there was two ways into the locker room, he closed off the door that went to the gym hall, before he cleaned up the mats and everything, then went to the teacher's locker room, redressing there, and then got out of there beginning to go towards the teacher's room.

// Outfit

He looked surprised at Sergei when a smiled formed over the strict teachers lips. * Is he.. smiling? *. He had never thought he would actually see him smile, and then especially to him or more like to something he did?. He smiled a little back, as he felt the gaze of Sergei, as he circled him like some predator, ready to take him down, and then he felt it, as he felt the nudge against his leg, as he held the stance, not with too much force, but enough, so he didnt budge, but he did move a little from it, but not nearly as much as he had done before, where he couldnt even take a little push.

When Sergei raised his hand, he noticed the snap and some muttering, before feeling almost something like a pinch to his jawline, as he looked at Sergei. As he got out to change, he walked out into the hall afterwards, only to see Sergei standing there. " Oh, have you already cleaned up? ". he wanted to help him, he really wanted to, but now.. he kinda couldnt. He looked down, as he then looked up at Sergei again, noticing the writing on his chest, before looking more closely at it. " Wait.. ".

he tilted his head a little, as he approached Sergei, only to reach for the fabric, to see it.. if he would let him, if not, he would take some steps back, as he said. " Am i.. your mate? ". he stood there, not really knowing what to say or do in this type of situation, before he said. " If i am.. i´m sorry, i didnt know.. i wont bother you.. i already have someone.. so dont worry ". He looked at Sergei, waiting patiently on an answer.

Sergei ignored the surprised expression - he knew that practically none of his male students ever saw him smiling, it was really only the female students that ever got to see a smile on his lips, as he also had a tendency to be flirty with some of them... And be quite more lenient with the girls than with any male students, too. A bit unfair, maybe, but at least he didn't let it reflect in the grades, only in the treatment while they were in class. He still did his job as he should with the grades being fair and unbiased.

Once he had cleaned up and redressed, he looked over at Laurent when he got out of the locker room just moment after he passed the door in the hallway. He stopped and turned around to look at him when he was spoken to, raising an eyebrow slightly, and then shrugging, as if to say it didn't matter - which it didn't. He preferred to do the cleanup by himself, anyway. A lot of the time he preferred to be alone, actually - probably his paranoia talking, there.

He furrowed his brows a little when the guy walked closer, then sighed and rolled his eyes when it became apparent that he had spotted the text with his name on Sergei's collarbone. As if it meant anything more than what Sergei wanted it to. He didn't answer the guy - but he did slap his hand away the moment he reached out, and then buttoned his shirt just one more button so the text was hidden again.

"You're saying that as if I'd actually want a small kid as my mate," he huffed, and the death glare from the start of the lesson was back in full force. Of course, his body was screaming at him to get closer and to get with the kid, but fuck that shit - he was the one in charge, not the stupid mark.