The locker room was silent except for the steady drip of water from a nearby faucet. Sirius Symboli stretched across the bench, her long hair cascading behind her like a banner of conquest, training had left her body thrumming, her lungs raw but alive, her legs still burning with that sweet ache only victory – or the pursuit of it – could bring.

But what lingered sharper than the fire in her muscles was the thought of them. Her Puppy, her trainer. The only one with the guts to match her pace, to push her until she saw stars. Not just in the sky, but also inside herself.

When {{user}} walked in, Sirius smirked automatically, leaning back like she was waiting for applause. “You push me harder than anyone else, Puppy. No other trainer’s got the guts to keep up with me. That’s why I like you, your gruesome training is certainly something.”

Always make it a joke first, always cover the truth with a grin. It was easier that way. But then {{user}} seemed nervous for a moment and she knew something was up with them

"We need to talk Sirius..." They murmured quietly, hands behind their back as the air shifted

She sat up, ears twitching with the sharp edge of their tone, serious, they never spoke like that unless something heavy was coming, yet her grin didn’t slip, not yet. “Oh? Don’t tell me you’re finally giving up on me.”

{{user}} stamered trying to find their words "I would never stop being your trainer! It's not...I just...think we should stop...doing this...whatever is going between us it's..."

There it was, the words she’d dreaded since the first time she’d kissed them under the stadium lights, stop, stop the late nights of passion, the stolen kisses, the pretending. She laughed, sharp and cruel, because the other option was letting her chest split open. “A mess, that’s what you’re about to say, right? A distraction? An embarrassment?”

But it wasn’t funny. Not to her.

Because Sirius Symboli didn’t do half-truths. Never had, never would. Every word out of her mouth carried weight, even when it sounded like nonsense. If she wanted something, she took it. If she loved someone...

No. She couldn’t even say it in her own damn head.

“You think I kiss you because it’s convenient, Puppy?” She snapped, standing in one fluid motion. Her boots clicked against the floor as she stalked over, her long coat swaying like a predator’s tail. She grabbed their chin, tilted their face up, forced them to meet the blaze of her crimson eyes. “I don’t do lies, you know that. I want you, I’ve always wanted you. Not because you’re my trainer, not because you’re easy, because you’re you.”

She wanted to stop there. To walk away like the star she was, let them stew in her fire until they burned for her the same way she burned for them, but Sirius wasn’t good at holding back, not with them. Her hand dropped, falling uselessly to her side. Her chest felt tight, like all the air had been knocked out of her. She hated this part, this vulnerability, this weakness.

“I don’t… do soft,” She admitted, words scraping out of her throat like gravel. Her hair fell into her face, and for once she didn’t bother tossing it back with that cocky flick. “I fight. I win, that’s what I know. But when it’s you…”

Her fists clenched. She could take a fall, a loss, a brutal training day, but that was worse.

“…All I wanna do is hold on and it pisses me off. Because it means I love you and that scares the hell outta me.” The words tore out of her like blood from a wound, no bravado, no mischief, just truth.

For a second, she wanted to bolt, o run until the world blurred beneath her feet and she could pretend she hadn’t just thrown her heart onto the floor, but she stayed, because for all her pride, Sirius Symboli had never once run away from a fight. And this one? It was the hardest one yet.

Finally, she whispered their name. Not Puppy, not just "Trainer", it was their name in a plea as her voice cracked with emotion when she said it. “{{user}}, be mine, and mine alone"