Chapter Text
“Did you hear we’re getting a new teammate? He’s from out of state, he’s supposed to be a beast,” Kai said, plopping down next to Nya as she laced up her skates. “Looks like you’ll finally have some decent competition, sis.”
Nya scoffed, tightening her laces and looping them around her ankles, tucking the extra ties into her skates. “I highly doubt that.”
“No, seriously, Nya. They call him ‘The Rogue’ back where he’s from. He’s nearly Olympic," Cole said, sliding through the locker room. Nya squinted at him as he pulled on his pads.
“Then why is he coming here? Why not stay where you’re the best of the best?”
“Because I busted up my knee last season,” a stranger's voice said from the door, pulling the team’s attention toward the edge of the locker room. There stood the fresh meat, dressed in navy blue with his wild auburn curls pulled into a bun at the base of his skull, his arms crossed over his chest. “Had to pull back to heal, lost my spot, then I moved out here. It's a lot easier to be the best of the best when I have less competition. That’s why I agreed to join your bonehead team.”
Nya blinked at the stranger, then shook her head. “We’re one of the strongest teams in the state.”
“Not in the country, though. That’s what I’m used to. I was with the Wolves before I came here,” the stranger said, leaning against the doorframe. “It’d be a miracle if you people could keep up.”
Nya’s lip curled. “You really are cocky, aren’t you?”
He grinned at her. “I have a right to be. See you on the ice, ladies,” he said, gliding back down the hallway. Nya turned to her brother and her best friend.
“What an asshole,” she muttered, standing up and skating after their newest teammate.
Jay Walker. The Rogue. Arrogant and insolent, but talented beyond compare. There was a reason he had been the best of the best, a reason for his haughty attitude and his snarky remarks; especially when, after their first practice as a team, he impressed Coach Wu so much that he bumped Nya to pivot, giving Jay the top spot.
That night, when she and Kai had gotten home from practice, she had gone straight to the family’s garage and whaled on the punching bag hanging there until her knuckles split open, raw fury coursing through her even when she went inside.
Nya Jiang. The Waterlily. A deceptive nickname, really. Unlike the gentle flower, Nya was stubborn, known to have never once given up on a fight she knew she could win. When it came to Jay, she wasn’t backing down.
She was the team’s jammer. He was just a pompous placeholder.
Nya was lucky she had chosen - and excelled in - such a violent sport. It meant that the natural anger that charged her, her short temper and the irritation that filled her at the slightest provocation could be harnessed. It could be channeled into the game. Since Jay was more than a slight provocation, Nya found herself buzzing with frustration more often than not at practice. She had never played so well, but he was still better.
That bastard.
Jay’d zip past her on the rink in a flash of deep blue, turning slightly to smirk at her as he rounded the corner, zooming away in a mess of wild curls. Nya would push hard against the polished wood floor, never one worried about falling, to catch up with him. She always did.
Wu, unfortunately, saw how the energy between them made them both better. He didn’t pay any attention to the way they glared and swore at each other off the rink, the way that Jay would look at Nya with a condescending smile when he was continuously favored on the team or the way that Nya would swoop her leg to try to trip him on the way to the locker room. He didn’t care about any of that. All Wu cared about was his team being the best. With Jay among their ranks, they were getting there. Despite their hatred of one another being the only thing they had in common - besides being really good on wheels - they made each other better.
That was, of course, until they didn’t.
He had refused to bridge, as usual, rolling his eyes when the rest of the team broke the huddle. Nya often found herself wondering why Jay had picked such a collaborative sport. He was an awful team player, constantly weaseling himself ahead of the pack instead of merging into it to win as a group. Nya had called him on it during one of their first practices, and he had shrugged, saying that he ‘did his best work solo’ before skating off. She’d rolled her eyes at that, feeling the same spark of competition in her chest.
One day, she decided to follow it, to lean into it completely. When Jay broke away from the team, skating forward quickly, Nya followed close behind. She could practically feel his long curls tickling her face as she skated up behind him, moving to cut him off. Not very sportsmanlike, but hey, what did that matter to the opposite of a team player? Nya had just about made it when, without turning around, Jay elbowed her in the face.
“Fuck!” Nya shouted, the weight of the blow knocking her to the ground. Her tailbone throbbed from the impact, but her nose was even worse. It was pulsing, begging for her attention as Jay turned back, looking down at her with widened eyes from where he had skidded to a stop a few feet ahead.
“Holy shit, Nee,” Kai said, dropping onto his padded knees beside Nya to assess her face. She pushed him away, glaring at the Rogue. What a stupid nickname. Fitting for a stupid, jackass of a man.
“Dude! Are you trying to break my nose?” Nya snapped, holding the bridge of her nose as blood poured out of it. He blinked at her, making Nya even madder. Using Kai’s shoulders to push herself up, Nya got to her feet, muttering to her brother about how she was fine and glaring at Jay one last time before she swept off the floor. “Wu, ‘alright if I take five? I don’t wanna bleed on the rink.”
“Yeah. Everyone take five!” Wu said, waving for the rest of the team to slow their skating. “Nya, let me know if you think it’s broken. I can call a medic to help set it.”
“Thanks, Coach,” Nya muttered, pinching her nostrils and tipping her head back as she skated off the rink toward the locker room, where she examined her face in silence, holding a paper towel up to it to help slow the bleeding. She groaned when the door squeaked open on its hinges, pulling her attention toward Jay in the door. Nya rolled her eyes. “What? You wanna get a few more jabs in? Kick me while I’m down? Snap a finger, while you’re at it?”
“No,” Jay muttered, sliding forward to the sink where Nya was standing. “Wu wanted me to apologize.”
“That doesn’t sound like an apology.” Nya turned to look up at Jay.
“That’s because it wasn’t one,” Jay said with a shrug. “I’m not sorry. This is the game, Waterlily. Sometimes things get rough on the rink. You’ve just gotta suck it up and take it.”
Nya wrinkled her nose at Jay, wincing at the pain. “You really are an asshole.”
“This is derby, princess. You’ve gotta be at least a little bit of an asshole to be good.”
“Like you need an excuse to be an asshole.” Nya glared up at Jay. Jay sneered down at her. The tension between them, which had hung heavy ever since they had first met, crackled with unspoken electricity. It flickered with something besides hatred, something more akin to desperate need. Then, they both lunged forward.
Their mouths were quick to open up to each other, carnal in their search for something to ease the tension. Nya could taste her own blood in his mouth, the sharp flavor mixing with that of her and Jay’s sweat and his saliva as his tongue roamed her mouth, running along the underside of each tooth as his hands moved across her body. She didn’t hate him enough to push him away when his arms fell around her back, his hands reaching for her ass. Instead, she returned the favor with one hand digging into his chest, the other settling on his muscular waist as she pressed their hips together, grinding her body against his.
It was a miracle they didn’t fall over. They were still on skates, after all.
They pushed and pulled at each other as their kisses grew deeper, just like they did on the rink. Neither of them would back down, neither of them would let the other win. They were competitive to the bone. Jay’s hand moved up and was around her back, digging into the muscles beneath her sports bra as hers reached lower, gripping at his hips, when they were interrupted.
“Woah!” Cole’s voice echoed in the locker room, bouncing across the tiles. Jay and Nya shot apart, with the former grabbing onto the sink so he wouldn’t fall on his ass. “Uh, sorry to interrupt! I just, uh,” Cole turned to Nya, half cupping his eyes just in case he’d see something he wasn’t supposed to. “Wu wanted me to ask if you needed your nose set.”
Nya brought her fingertips to her face, pushing down gently. It was busted and aching, sure to leave an angry bruise across her face, but not broken. She flashed him a quick, awkward thumbs-up. “I think I’m good!”
“Okay, I’ll just, uh, let you two get back to- shit- I’ll get outta here. Back to practice,” Cole stammered, gesturing over his shoulder and quickly turning away, skating down the hallway. Nya glanced at Jay, whose face was beet red, both from his furious blush and her blood, which was smeared across his lips and chin and nose. It was disgusting, really. But it was also really hot.
“You, uh, have somethin’ on your face,” he muttered, gesturing to her lips. Funny. Talkative, snarky Jay Walker seemed stunned into half-silence. Maybe she should kiss him more often to save herself the headache of him. Nya assumed that the entire bottom half of her face sported similar bloodstains. At least she had a practice-relevant reason for them. At least it was her blood. Still, Nya dampened another paper towel and brought it to her chin, dabbing carefully at the smear of red while she and Jay stood in static-y silence. It wasn’t until her face was clean that he broke it. “Don’t think this means I’m gonna start going easy on you, Waterlily.”
“Start?” Nya asked, smirking as she tossed the soiled towel into a nearby trash can, leaning against the sink. “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing all season?” Then, she moved to skate away, glancing over her shoulder at him one more time before leaving the locker room. “You’d better clean up your face and get out there so I can get back to kickin’ your ass, Rogue.”