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Hoshi leaned back and avoided the foot that was heading for her face, missing it by millimetres. “Too slow,” she teased, whirling in a standing cartwheel to swing her own foot at Malcolm as they let the capoeira direct their limbs in a freestyle series of kicks and punches.
“I wouldn’t like to make contact with your face anyway,” was his rejoinder, “bare-foot or not. It’d hurt, and we don’t want that.”
“Yep, and smelly feet aren’t my thing,” she riposted, a sly smile on her face as she landed from a standing jump, bending her knees slightly.
“Smelly feet?” Malcolm stopped for a moment, outraged - long enough for her to hook a foot around his ankle and pull, sending him tumbling to the mat.
Even as he went down, she was moving, pushing her shoulder against his leg, bringing it up while she threw her weight laterally across his torso and lifted, pinning his shoulders in a cradle move. Although he tried to kick out, she managed to hold him down for three seconds before releasing him, turning swiftly to lay her entire body the length of his and grab his wrists, pinning them beside his head.
“Got you down fair and square that time!” she panted, her grin of victory blazing bright.
Malcolm grinned back up at her. “Square, yes. Fair?” he winked, managing to raise a sceptical eyebrow at the same time.
“Hey, not my fault if you were distracted by me insulting your feet!”
He laughed. “I’m not sure another opponent would take you seriously if you said their feet smelled,” he teased, content to let her pin him for the moment.
Laughing in return, she lowered her head and bumped his nose with hers. “I’ll be sneakier against other opponents,” she chuckled. “Besides, I haven’t gone up against anyone else I want to get down to the mat and hold there.”
“Is that so, Lieutenant Sato?”
“It is indeed, Lieutenant-Commander Reed. And as I recall, you promised to let me kick your - ‘arse’, was it? - at least once a session. So I’m taking advantage of that.” Hoshi winked, satisfaction in her gaze.
He smiled and tugged gently at his wrists, with no real intention of getting free. It was fun when Hoshi insisted on pinning him so she could feel in control despite his superior strength. He’d never let anyone else use this hold on him.
Then she focused on his eyes, leaning over his face and moving her legs to straddle him so she could get closer. “Did you know,” she said conversationally, staring at his irises from millimetres away, “that your eyes actually have three colours? A greenish-grey, some pale gold, and a little amber around the pupil. Oh, and a tiny speck of - hmm, maybe blue? - in your left eye.”
Malcolm chuckled. “I did know,” he told her. “But you're very close, so you can see it. Otherwise they just look grey. Or grey-green, depending on the light.”
“Well then,” she smirked, “It’ll be our little secret.” Her own eyes twinkled at him, and suddenly he twisted his wrists out of her grasp, surged upward and rolled as she squealed, so she was the one pinned.
“Hmm, let’s see,” he murmured, straddling her and getting up close to her eyes in turn. “Shades of brown, ranging from dark chocolate to black coffee and a bit of amber. Nice.” He booped her nose gently with his own. “Also some shades of irritation, I see,” he teased. “Can’t help it if I want to be on top, Lieutenant. It’s a command imperative.”
“God, stop it, you’re so full of nonsense!” she exclaimed, trying to buck him off, but failing. Trying to look annoyed, she started giggling as he booped her nose again, then released her and rolled off, jumping to his feet and holding out a hand to help her up.
“Let’s take this nonsense back to my quarters, then, shall we? I think the time is ripe for some massages and extra cuddles, minx.”
Taking his hand, she jumped to her feet in turn, and bumped his hip with hers. “You’ve got it, hero. Let’s go.”