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ax_main2018-03-08 11:57 am
ax_diamondlil) wrote in ax_main2018-03-08 11:57 am
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Lil and Nick - March 8
Lil and Nick head to the Danger Room for some sparring practice and bonding.
The Danger Room was completely empty: no programmed enemies, no background scenery, no program running and frankly, for their first attempt at sparring, that was exactly as Lil wanted it. Nick's request to spar with her made her nervous. Yes, she thought it was a good idea for Nick to learn some stuff beyond what the hand-to-hand combat class could offer and sure, she was probably his safest bet to let loose with his claws, but damn it, Lil could hurt him. Her punches were like hammers, and she wasn't sure Nick quite understood that yet.
Well, she'd take it slow to start, the same way Laura had with her a couple of months ago. Then... they'd see.
"Alright. You're sure you want to do this, right? With me?" she asked. Didn't hurt to ask one more time.
"I-I mean, I don't want to hurt anyone," Nick said. "But if I'm going to join X-Force, I might have to. And I'd rather practice first with... y'know, someone I can't actually hurt," Nick said, reluctantly. The stuff taught in their self-defense classes was kind of basic and general, to his understanding. If he was going to join X-Force, he needed to know more than just the basics. Not if he was going to try to keep people safe.
"I just, y'know. I... I want to learn," Nick said, firmly. "And I trust you. I trust you to teach me," he said. He was wearing one of his rattier t-shirts, and a pair of older jeans, just in case things got ripped, torn, stuff like that. He wasn't sure why, really. He just... figured it was a good thing.
She wanted to hug him tight and thank him for his trust, but they had work to do right now. "Okay, but it's not like I got a whole lot of show you, and I got a feeling you're going to catch on to some of this a whole lot quicker than I did." And then Lil intended ask Laura to help him. Heck, they both had claws so it only seemed obvious that they should train together.
"We'll see, I guess," Nick murmured. "So... how do we do this? Like, do I just... I dunno, come at you or something?" he asked, feeling just a bit awkward. He scratched the back of his head, idly.
"Other way around." Lil smiled and raised her fists. "The easiest guys to take down were always the ones who came at me swinging. They thought they could take a hit from me and didn't have to block it or move, stupid shits. Besides, if you're gonna help other people, you gotta make sure you can keep yourself safe first, right? So block." She threw a punch, but kept it slow to give Nick time to react.
Oh jeez. Nick raised his hands, nervous. Even though he knew she was invulnerable, he was still, for some reason, worried about hurting her. So when she swung, and she had told him to block, he instead backed out of the way, getting out of her reach, by taking a few faltering backsteps. "Ah," Nick began, wondering if maybe this wasn't what he was cut out for. "S-sorry," he said, finally, realizing he hadn't done what he was supposed to have been doing.
"No apologies. You got out of the way, and that's good, but this time try to stop me." She'd show him how in a few moments, but right now she was curious about how he'd act. She threw another punch.
Right. No apologies. No saying sorry. So instead of getting out of the way, this time, he put his arms up, blocking the blow. It hit, and it hit maybe just a bit harder than he'd anticipated, and he hissed just a bit with the pain of impact.
"Oh Jesus." Lil didn't miss Nick's reaction - it was exactly what she'd been worried about - and she reached out to lightly touch his arm. "I gotta admit, this is the big thing I'm afraid of, that I'm gonna hurt you."
"I--I heal quick," Nick said. "Not, not as fast like, some others, but... faster. Faster than normal people," he said, brushing it off. "It just surprised me, I guess."
It didn't make Lil feel better any more than Laura's reassurance ever had, but it wasn't as if she'd broken his ribs, which she'd definitely done with Laura so... "Okay, I guess I'll have to get used to it if we're gonna be doing this, right?" She took a breath to get her brain back on track. "Okay you moved and you blocked and both work. Honestly, moving out of the way is probably the best most of the time since you don't have to do so much thinking, but there are times you've got nowhere to move to."
"Right," Nick said, getting back on track. "S-so like, do I... need to work on my form?" Jeez, it was feeling painfully obvious that they had no idea what they were doing. Or at least, he didn't. Maybe Lil did. She probably did.
Lil gave Nick a quick once over. “Naw, I think you’re form’s pretty good as is, Handsome.” Then she grinned and lifted his arm to give it a kiss. She was going to fuss over it later, she could tell that already. “But seriously, if you’re getting out of my way and keeping me from landing a hit, your form is okay for now. I think what I’m good for is helping you get some confidence, but once you’ve got that, I think you gotta see Laura.”
Laura made Nick nervous, though they'd never met. He blushed at her comment about his form, except that she couldn't see because of his fur. "And... you're probably right," Nick admitted. "C'mon, then, I guess," he said, getting his hands up again.
She did. Nick was slow, but not anywhere near as slow as Lil had been when she'd started with Laura, and he seemed to be catching on quicker. She was trying to keep her hits soft because it wasn't hard to see Nick's winces and know that she'd gone a little far, but then there was that little bit of magic where it seemed to motivate him into avoiding the same error next time. Yeah, pain didn't sound like such a great deal, but when she watched how it could help others catch on to things it took her twice as long to figure out, she wished she could experience just a little bit now and then.
There was something strange about how Nick was experiencing this entire thing. He wasn't a stranger to adrenaline, and while he'd gone into true fight-or-flight when he'd lost his parents, he'd been all flight the entire time. Fighting was... different. Hurting was something he'd get used to. He knew that was part of getting stronger. That was an Army thing he'd seen on T-shirts people wore on TV shows; a quote that was something like 'pain is weakness leaving the body,' or something like that.
And he needed something like that in his head. He couldn't break, not again. Never again. He knew that nothing he could've done back then would have saved his parents. Aside from talking it over with the shrink, no single scenario he ran through ended with any better result than what had happened. There were some things you just couldn't win.
But he'd be damned if he was going to ever feel helpless ever again.
"I'm gonna--" He was interrupted by having to quickstep back from one of her punches. "I'm gonna start countering," he warned her, though he realized, a bit stupidly, that he really shouldn't warn someone in a real fight about that kind of thing. Also, he couldn't hurt her, which made the warning kind of twice as dumb.
"Awesome, except here's where you find out I'm not the hot stuff you think I am." Lil grinned, but she wasn't really worried about Nick hitting her, not yet. It had taken time, but she'd gotten much better at avoiding hits over the months she'd worked with Laura.
Nick grunted as he blocked another punch, and he started putting together some of his hand-to-hand combat stuff from classes. He went for a gut-punch to follow up, even though he knew she would either avoid it or just, well, not be effected.
Okay, he was definitely quicker than she'd expected, but she still managed to get out of his way. She smiled and backed up a step, waiting for the next shot.
Since she was on her heels, so to speak, he decided to keep it up. He took a few steps forward to close the distance, following up with another punch, this one aimed at her shoulder, because he didn't want to be predictable, and he also couldn't bring himself to swing at her face.
She saw that one coming to and smacked it aside before he made contact. "You're cute when you're on the attack, you know that?"
He couldn't help but grin as he took a few steps back, anticipating she'd come after him and getting his guard up. "We can make out after this," he promised her, grinning.
Lil laughed, but the thought was enough to distract her for a moment and she got sloppy enough that Nick blocked her without any trouble. She took a second jab, but it wasn't any better than the first.
Nick blocked the other one, turning it aside. "Distracted much?" he teased, grinning.
"Dirty trick on your part, getting me thinking about that." She threw another punch, a respectable one this time, but Nick dodged it. "Especially since you seem to be better at this then you were pretending."
"Gamer's reflexes, I guess," Nick guessed, still grinning. It was so strange. It was like something had been flipped in him, like nerves were coming alive that hadn't been firing before. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was just a part of his mutation he'd never felt before. As he dodged again, he twisted and, forgetting himself for a moment, lashed out with a slashing uppercut, claws out and everything. He knew he couldn't hurt her, so he wasn't going to be careful.
That surprised Lil. She didn't get out of the way fast enough and, if it wasn't for her power, likely would have been on her way down to the medical lab. Time to start taking Nick seriously, because it looked like things were about to get fun.
She came right back at him, lower this time, looking to push him off his feet.
Well, okay, maybe he'd gotten a bit enthusiastic, because he tried to backstep again, but he still got shoved a little bit, and he stumbled backward, though he was still grinning. This was actually kinda fun. He spent his time trying to recover his stance, careful to be ready to avoid whatever was coming next.
What was next was another punch as Lil straightened up. Still slower than she’d ever try with Laura, but Nick wasn’t there yet.
Still off-balanced, Nick tried something he realized was stupid a half-second after he did it, and a half-second too late to correct it. He tried to duck, and while he was successful, he stumbled backward even more and landed square on his ass. He looked up at Lil with a bit of sheepishness in his eyes, and he started to chuckle just a little at himself.
Lil grinned and knelt down beside him. "Having fun? I had a hunch you'd like this stuff."
"It's pretty fun," Nick agreed, nodding. "I mean, I, y'know, know it's gonna be different, during an actual fight," he said. "I just... wanna make sure I can handle myself."
"I got no doubt you'll be able to. When you got me with that one hit, you weren't fooling around." She reached down and took one of Nick's hands, running a thumb over the back of his hand and claws. "You're sorta built for this. We both are."
"Yeah..." He was glad he couldn't be seen blushing again. "After I did, I was kinda worried about t-tearing your clothes or something," he admitted, sheepishly.
Lil snorted. "I wear my old stuff in here anyway so it's fine. I mean, be careful about it so you protect my modesty... " She laughed, then leaned in to touch foreheads. "Is it fine or messed up that fighting with you like this makes me feel closer to you?"
"I mean, it's something we're doing together," Nick said, quieter, happily. "So I don't think it's weird. I think it's... y'know, it's a good thing that we're doing this together."
"Mmm." Lil tucked her head into his shoulder. With Nick, this felt more intimate than kissing. His muzzle meant that sort of thing was a little limited, but like this she could hear his breath in her ear, feel his fur on her cheek, and simply melt into him. Probably not a great plan for the Danger Room though. She sighed. "I'm glad you suggested it. Maybe we'll get to do more together too."
"I'm sure we will," Nick said, happily, putting his arms around her. "Wanna go do that make out thing I mentioned earlier?" he asked, the grin evident in his voice.
She started giggling. No sense in pretending it was anything else. "Man, that makes this a short workout, but I definitely do." She straightened up so she could look him in the eye. "One thing I got to tell you though. I went and talked to Scott and... I guess I'm gonna join X-Force too."
He smiled at her. "That's good," he said, feeling relieved. "I'll feel a lot better about it with you in the team, too. I... didn't wanna pressure you into it, if you didn't want to. I know we both kinda felt... really off about the whole thing, when it was announced. But... after seeing the things they do, the people they've helped..." And hell, being one of them on top of it. "I can't help but feel like I need to be a part of it."
"Then I do too. No way I'm gonna let you go into that alone." She stood and held out a hand for him. "I think, 'we can look out for each other,' is one of the first things you said to me when we met."
"Yeah." He smiled and took her hand, letting her help him up. "And I meant it. I still mean it."
She pulled him close again once he was standing. "I know, and it's probably like, fifty percent of why I'm crazy about you."
He put his arms around her, one across her back, the other across her waist, where he knew she was comfortable with it. "What's the other fifty percent?" he asked, jokingly. "My big bad wolf charm?" he joked.
Lil nodded seriously. "Your charm, your kindness, your good looks, your jokes: pretty much everything else about you."
He couldn't help but grin. "I'm pretty crazy about you too, you know," Nick said, putting himself next to her so they could start walking back upstairs. "Not everyone can say they've got a sweet, tall, invulnerable girlfriend."
"Just you." She smiled at him. Sweet. Who else would say that about her?
"It's true," he confirmed. He leaned his head against her shoulder. "Dunno what I'd do without you," he confessed, quietly.
"You'd do okay," Lil said firmly. "You're smart and strong, and maybe I've helped you through some stuff, but you did most of the work yourself, right? That's why I know you can hold up your part of that 'watch out for each other thing'." She hoped he understood. Nick might be a sweet and quiet guy, but she didn't mistake that for any kind of weakness; he'd been through awful shit and come out the other side still standing.
"Guess so," he said, happy to have her by him anyway, just because, well, he was stronger with her. "Still. I'd rather have you here."
"I'm glad - who else have I got to make out with?" she teased.
"You'd find someone else," he said, grinning. "But I'm glad it's me, right now," he added.
Lil smiled but didn't say anything. There wasn't anyone else - even her crush on Tamara had faded as she and Nick had gotten closer - and maybe Nick didn't get that yet, but Lil would get through to him eventually. For now it was enough that he was happy with her.
The Danger Room was completely empty: no programmed enemies, no background scenery, no program running and frankly, for their first attempt at sparring, that was exactly as Lil wanted it. Nick's request to spar with her made her nervous. Yes, she thought it was a good idea for Nick to learn some stuff beyond what the hand-to-hand combat class could offer and sure, she was probably his safest bet to let loose with his claws, but damn it, Lil could hurt him. Her punches were like hammers, and she wasn't sure Nick quite understood that yet.
Well, she'd take it slow to start, the same way Laura had with her a couple of months ago. Then... they'd see.
"Alright. You're sure you want to do this, right? With me?" she asked. Didn't hurt to ask one more time.
"I-I mean, I don't want to hurt anyone," Nick said. "But if I'm going to join X-Force, I might have to. And I'd rather practice first with... y'know, someone I can't actually hurt," Nick said, reluctantly. The stuff taught in their self-defense classes was kind of basic and general, to his understanding. If he was going to join X-Force, he needed to know more than just the basics. Not if he was going to try to keep people safe.
"I just, y'know. I... I want to learn," Nick said, firmly. "And I trust you. I trust you to teach me," he said. He was wearing one of his rattier t-shirts, and a pair of older jeans, just in case things got ripped, torn, stuff like that. He wasn't sure why, really. He just... figured it was a good thing.
She wanted to hug him tight and thank him for his trust, but they had work to do right now. "Okay, but it's not like I got a whole lot of show you, and I got a feeling you're going to catch on to some of this a whole lot quicker than I did." And then Lil intended ask Laura to help him. Heck, they both had claws so it only seemed obvious that they should train together.
"We'll see, I guess," Nick murmured. "So... how do we do this? Like, do I just... I dunno, come at you or something?" he asked, feeling just a bit awkward. He scratched the back of his head, idly.
"Other way around." Lil smiled and raised her fists. "The easiest guys to take down were always the ones who came at me swinging. They thought they could take a hit from me and didn't have to block it or move, stupid shits. Besides, if you're gonna help other people, you gotta make sure you can keep yourself safe first, right? So block." She threw a punch, but kept it slow to give Nick time to react.
Oh jeez. Nick raised his hands, nervous. Even though he knew she was invulnerable, he was still, for some reason, worried about hurting her. So when she swung, and she had told him to block, he instead backed out of the way, getting out of her reach, by taking a few faltering backsteps. "Ah," Nick began, wondering if maybe this wasn't what he was cut out for. "S-sorry," he said, finally, realizing he hadn't done what he was supposed to have been doing.
"No apologies. You got out of the way, and that's good, but this time try to stop me." She'd show him how in a few moments, but right now she was curious about how he'd act. She threw another punch.
Right. No apologies. No saying sorry. So instead of getting out of the way, this time, he put his arms up, blocking the blow. It hit, and it hit maybe just a bit harder than he'd anticipated, and he hissed just a bit with the pain of impact.
"Oh Jesus." Lil didn't miss Nick's reaction - it was exactly what she'd been worried about - and she reached out to lightly touch his arm. "I gotta admit, this is the big thing I'm afraid of, that I'm gonna hurt you."
"I--I heal quick," Nick said. "Not, not as fast like, some others, but... faster. Faster than normal people," he said, brushing it off. "It just surprised me, I guess."
It didn't make Lil feel better any more than Laura's reassurance ever had, but it wasn't as if she'd broken his ribs, which she'd definitely done with Laura so... "Okay, I guess I'll have to get used to it if we're gonna be doing this, right?" She took a breath to get her brain back on track. "Okay you moved and you blocked and both work. Honestly, moving out of the way is probably the best most of the time since you don't have to do so much thinking, but there are times you've got nowhere to move to."
"Right," Nick said, getting back on track. "S-so like, do I... need to work on my form?" Jeez, it was feeling painfully obvious that they had no idea what they were doing. Or at least, he didn't. Maybe Lil did. She probably did.
Lil gave Nick a quick once over. “Naw, I think you’re form’s pretty good as is, Handsome.” Then she grinned and lifted his arm to give it a kiss. She was going to fuss over it later, she could tell that already. “But seriously, if you’re getting out of my way and keeping me from landing a hit, your form is okay for now. I think what I’m good for is helping you get some confidence, but once you’ve got that, I think you gotta see Laura.”
Laura made Nick nervous, though they'd never met. He blushed at her comment about his form, except that she couldn't see because of his fur. "And... you're probably right," Nick admitted. "C'mon, then, I guess," he said, getting his hands up again.
She did. Nick was slow, but not anywhere near as slow as Lil had been when she'd started with Laura, and he seemed to be catching on quicker. She was trying to keep her hits soft because it wasn't hard to see Nick's winces and know that she'd gone a little far, but then there was that little bit of magic where it seemed to motivate him into avoiding the same error next time. Yeah, pain didn't sound like such a great deal, but when she watched how it could help others catch on to things it took her twice as long to figure out, she wished she could experience just a little bit now and then.
There was something strange about how Nick was experiencing this entire thing. He wasn't a stranger to adrenaline, and while he'd gone into true fight-or-flight when he'd lost his parents, he'd been all flight the entire time. Fighting was... different. Hurting was something he'd get used to. He knew that was part of getting stronger. That was an Army thing he'd seen on T-shirts people wore on TV shows; a quote that was something like 'pain is weakness leaving the body,' or something like that.
And he needed something like that in his head. He couldn't break, not again. Never again. He knew that nothing he could've done back then would have saved his parents. Aside from talking it over with the shrink, no single scenario he ran through ended with any better result than what had happened. There were some things you just couldn't win.
But he'd be damned if he was going to ever feel helpless ever again.
"I'm gonna--" He was interrupted by having to quickstep back from one of her punches. "I'm gonna start countering," he warned her, though he realized, a bit stupidly, that he really shouldn't warn someone in a real fight about that kind of thing. Also, he couldn't hurt her, which made the warning kind of twice as dumb.
"Awesome, except here's where you find out I'm not the hot stuff you think I am." Lil grinned, but she wasn't really worried about Nick hitting her, not yet. It had taken time, but she'd gotten much better at avoiding hits over the months she'd worked with Laura.
Nick grunted as he blocked another punch, and he started putting together some of his hand-to-hand combat stuff from classes. He went for a gut-punch to follow up, even though he knew she would either avoid it or just, well, not be effected.
Okay, he was definitely quicker than she'd expected, but she still managed to get out of his way. She smiled and backed up a step, waiting for the next shot.
Since she was on her heels, so to speak, he decided to keep it up. He took a few steps forward to close the distance, following up with another punch, this one aimed at her shoulder, because he didn't want to be predictable, and he also couldn't bring himself to swing at her face.
She saw that one coming to and smacked it aside before he made contact. "You're cute when you're on the attack, you know that?"
He couldn't help but grin as he took a few steps back, anticipating she'd come after him and getting his guard up. "We can make out after this," he promised her, grinning.
Lil laughed, but the thought was enough to distract her for a moment and she got sloppy enough that Nick blocked her without any trouble. She took a second jab, but it wasn't any better than the first.
Nick blocked the other one, turning it aside. "Distracted much?" he teased, grinning.
"Dirty trick on your part, getting me thinking about that." She threw another punch, a respectable one this time, but Nick dodged it. "Especially since you seem to be better at this then you were pretending."
"Gamer's reflexes, I guess," Nick guessed, still grinning. It was so strange. It was like something had been flipped in him, like nerves were coming alive that hadn't been firing before. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was just a part of his mutation he'd never felt before. As he dodged again, he twisted and, forgetting himself for a moment, lashed out with a slashing uppercut, claws out and everything. He knew he couldn't hurt her, so he wasn't going to be careful.
That surprised Lil. She didn't get out of the way fast enough and, if it wasn't for her power, likely would have been on her way down to the medical lab. Time to start taking Nick seriously, because it looked like things were about to get fun.
She came right back at him, lower this time, looking to push him off his feet.
Well, okay, maybe he'd gotten a bit enthusiastic, because he tried to backstep again, but he still got shoved a little bit, and he stumbled backward, though he was still grinning. This was actually kinda fun. He spent his time trying to recover his stance, careful to be ready to avoid whatever was coming next.
What was next was another punch as Lil straightened up. Still slower than she’d ever try with Laura, but Nick wasn’t there yet.
Still off-balanced, Nick tried something he realized was stupid a half-second after he did it, and a half-second too late to correct it. He tried to duck, and while he was successful, he stumbled backward even more and landed square on his ass. He looked up at Lil with a bit of sheepishness in his eyes, and he started to chuckle just a little at himself.
Lil grinned and knelt down beside him. "Having fun? I had a hunch you'd like this stuff."
"It's pretty fun," Nick agreed, nodding. "I mean, I, y'know, know it's gonna be different, during an actual fight," he said. "I just... wanna make sure I can handle myself."
"I got no doubt you'll be able to. When you got me with that one hit, you weren't fooling around." She reached down and took one of Nick's hands, running a thumb over the back of his hand and claws. "You're sorta built for this. We both are."
"Yeah..." He was glad he couldn't be seen blushing again. "After I did, I was kinda worried about t-tearing your clothes or something," he admitted, sheepishly.
Lil snorted. "I wear my old stuff in here anyway so it's fine. I mean, be careful about it so you protect my modesty... " She laughed, then leaned in to touch foreheads. "Is it fine or messed up that fighting with you like this makes me feel closer to you?"
"I mean, it's something we're doing together," Nick said, quieter, happily. "So I don't think it's weird. I think it's... y'know, it's a good thing that we're doing this together."
"Mmm." Lil tucked her head into his shoulder. With Nick, this felt more intimate than kissing. His muzzle meant that sort of thing was a little limited, but like this she could hear his breath in her ear, feel his fur on her cheek, and simply melt into him. Probably not a great plan for the Danger Room though. She sighed. "I'm glad you suggested it. Maybe we'll get to do more together too."
"I'm sure we will," Nick said, happily, putting his arms around her. "Wanna go do that make out thing I mentioned earlier?" he asked, the grin evident in his voice.
She started giggling. No sense in pretending it was anything else. "Man, that makes this a short workout, but I definitely do." She straightened up so she could look him in the eye. "One thing I got to tell you though. I went and talked to Scott and... I guess I'm gonna join X-Force too."
He smiled at her. "That's good," he said, feeling relieved. "I'll feel a lot better about it with you in the team, too. I... didn't wanna pressure you into it, if you didn't want to. I know we both kinda felt... really off about the whole thing, when it was announced. But... after seeing the things they do, the people they've helped..." And hell, being one of them on top of it. "I can't help but feel like I need to be a part of it."
"Then I do too. No way I'm gonna let you go into that alone." She stood and held out a hand for him. "I think, 'we can look out for each other,' is one of the first things you said to me when we met."
"Yeah." He smiled and took her hand, letting her help him up. "And I meant it. I still mean it."
She pulled him close again once he was standing. "I know, and it's probably like, fifty percent of why I'm crazy about you."
He put his arms around her, one across her back, the other across her waist, where he knew she was comfortable with it. "What's the other fifty percent?" he asked, jokingly. "My big bad wolf charm?" he joked.
Lil nodded seriously. "Your charm, your kindness, your good looks, your jokes: pretty much everything else about you."
He couldn't help but grin. "I'm pretty crazy about you too, you know," Nick said, putting himself next to her so they could start walking back upstairs. "Not everyone can say they've got a sweet, tall, invulnerable girlfriend."
"Just you." She smiled at him. Sweet. Who else would say that about her?
"It's true," he confirmed. He leaned his head against her shoulder. "Dunno what I'd do without you," he confessed, quietly.
"You'd do okay," Lil said firmly. "You're smart and strong, and maybe I've helped you through some stuff, but you did most of the work yourself, right? That's why I know you can hold up your part of that 'watch out for each other thing'." She hoped he understood. Nick might be a sweet and quiet guy, but she didn't mistake that for any kind of weakness; he'd been through awful shit and come out the other side still standing.
"Guess so," he said, happy to have her by him anyway, just because, well, he was stronger with her. "Still. I'd rather have you here."
"I'm glad - who else have I got to make out with?" she teased.
"You'd find someone else," he said, grinning. "But I'm glad it's me, right now," he added.
Lil smiled but didn't say anything. There wasn't anyone else - even her crush on Tamara had faded as she and Nick had gotten closer - and maybe Nick didn't get that yet, but Lil would get through to him eventually. For now it was enough that he was happy with her.