karate adjacent ™

𝐏𝐄𝐘𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐄

Michelle Monaghan as Bonnie Witt

askbox fun / @valleykids's nadine

Out of all the things she expected Nadine to say, this wasn't one of them. She doesn't know how to feel about it. Then again, it's not like Lia's got a lot of room to feel much about anything, considering she wasn't anywhere near the Larusso's, much less the Valley, during Christmas.

(Grandpa had flown everyone out, citing that he's long overdue for a Christmas with his "best girls". Mami had scoffed and called him a filthy liar, but wasn't about to say no to a free trip.)

"Bet that freaked him out," Lia chuckles after a short coughing fit. She looks like a blanket burrito. Feels like one, too. "How'd it make you feel, Deeny? Was it good? Was it bad?"

It's sweet of her best friend to show up. It's sweeter, still, that Nadine is suffering through some of Lia's movie choices.

The Covenant doesn't really have a plot but it has Steven Strait and that's enough for her.

   she expected maybe a little anger - at least as much as lia could muster.   though nadine should have known better. her best friend wasn't that type of person & it made her want to hug her. germs and all. ❛ it sure did, ❜ she confirmed with a grin, looking over at her friend & letting out a laugh before looking back at the tv. it had been a spur of the moment thing. the mistle toe was right there, he'd pointed it out and suggested ignoring it, and she said absolutely freaking not. nadine mcqueen was not the type to back down from a challenge. or a kiss. though after the fact, she had worried about what lia would think about it. nadine didn't know if she still had a crush on anthony. or if she had a crush on kenny. or if she liked them both . . . ❛ it was . . . wet, ❜ she admit before laughing again. maybe some other girls their age would have blushed, but she had little shame when it came to boys. she learned from yasmine after all. ❛ i thought his brain was going to explode honestly. ❜ it had been kind of cute.

" oh, is that how it is ?? " laughter wraps around her question after just a few moments of bewilderment. after all, she'd just received a pillow to the face for lovingly calling her girlfriend a book worm. it's not that she doesn't adore chiara's love for books. it's one of her favorite things about her ! but it had been about two hours since she last paid attention to her & naturally, something had to be done. retaliation was fair, but still ! " violence is not the answer, miss james. " she tries to keep a straight face but fails miserably as she pushes the hair away from her mouth & uses her other hand to reach for the flower shaped pillow behind her. " studies say it's very important to verbalize- " she starts, landing a hit against the other's arm. " -your feelings ! " & another one against her thigh. she then makes sure to hold her pillow as a shield & move a little further away before things escalate & her hairstyle faces any more danger. " they also say you should take a reading break because i miss you. " missing her while they sit two inches apart ? yeah, sounds about right.

it was a weird night – their first night out as a team in a foreign country & things couldn't have been more off. it was the perfect setting to have a little fun, to let loose & she'd spent it agonizing. among other things. this time around, it wasn't just about the fate of their team. it wasn't just about her teammates, her senseis or tory. her boyfriend was having the scare of his life on that flight home & so, carmen had easily infiltrated her seemingly never-ending list of worries, too. the one person she wanted to spend the day with was going through hell & she couldn't even hold his hand. she's making up for that now, during a quiet moment stolen outside of the hotel. " can we stay out here a little longer ? " she's okay. his mom is okay. & thank god for that. the alternative would've been entirely too much. with the silver of it all on top of it now, to say they would've cracked is an understatement. " it's just that if i hear silver's name one more time right now, i might get a rash. "