#I just saw Harrison using a bo staff and I was like

[baconsoupforthesoul]

LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

A/N: I have been meaning to write something for the BATIM Space Pirate au for some time now, and I got inspired to write this one-shot after seeing this lovely art from Trashboatprince. Harrison in this au belongs to the wonderful @inkspottie and Hugo belongs to the amazing @trashboatprince and briefly mentioned is the lovely @doberart‘s Henry. I hope you all enjoy~

Harrison closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting his lungs slowly fill up with air before slowly exhaling. He tried to focus his mind before opening his eyes and extending his metal bo staff. He slid his left foot back till he was in the fighting stance that Henry had taught him. Now, how did that form start again? Harrison jabbed with his staff before stepping back so his right foot was directly behind his left. He moved the bo staff in front of him as if writing a “J” in the air. Henry had told him that this was like a parry, mean to hook around an opponent's weapon and moving it out of the way. Harrison then spun on the balls of his feet so that he was facing to the right, twirling the bo staff with him so that it ended up underneath his armpit. He swung the bo staff up as if to hit his imaginary opponent under the chin, before bringing it down into an overhead strike.

Harrison continued practicing the forms Henry had taught him, occasionally fumbling with his staff or missing a step or two. He was doing a lot better than he was before though, especially since that one time when he had hit himself in the face. Harrison was really starting to get a handle on his new weapon and he couldn’t wait to show Henry his progress. For now though he was content to practice by himself, it was a nice break from constantly being made fun of by-

Clap, clap, clap, clap

Harrison jumped and spun around to see Hugo leaning casually on the doorway, slowly clapping as he smirked at him.

“Not bad, Dainty Hands,” He drawled, stepping into the room as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his trench coat.

“Did you need something Hugo?” Harrison sighed, not in the mood to put up with the mutt’s antics today. “I’m a little busy right now.”

“I can see that. The air won’t know what hit it,” Hugo chuckled. “Has Henry just had you swinging your little stick at nothing this whole time? You know actual enemies are gonna fight back, not wait for you to get into the proper stance?”

“I’m just practicing Hugo,” Harrison huffed. “I can’t fight anyone if I don’t practice.”

“Sure short stack, but practicing by yourself is only gonna get ya so far,” Hugo pointed out.

“Well, if you know so much why don’t you help me then?” Harrison grumbled.

“Hmmm,” Hugo tapped his chin in thought, before walking towards the side of the room, taking off his coat as he went. “Not a bad idea,” Hugo said as he strapped on some pads to his arms and elbows.

“What… what are you doing?” Harrison lowered his bo staff and stared wide-eyed at Hugo.

“Helping you practice, dummy,” Hugo told him, rolling his eyes. “It’s one thing to know how to hit someone, but it’s another thing to know where to hit someone.”

“O-okay,” Harrison felt completely thrown for a loop. Sure, he liked Hugo, he was an invaluable ally and could be funny, sometimes. But outside of watching his back in a fight, this was one of the first times Hugo had offered to help him without prompting. The two of them had gotten off to a rocky start when Harrison turned Hugo in for trying to steal the Seraphim. Since then Hugo enjoyed nothing more than poking fun of the Deiman and pulling pranks on him with Bendy. But every since that incident with his brothers well… the half-breed had been slightly nicer to him as of late. It didn't feel like pity for what happened though, more like the two of them had finally come to an understanding, though they still tended to bicker like cats and dogs.

“Now, you want to hit somewhere that it’s really gonna hurt. You want to incapacitate them to leave them open for a harder attack, ya got that?” Hugo explained, stepping in front of Harrison.

“Got it,” Harrison nodded, looking eager to learn.

“Elbows and knees are pretty good targets, and a strong enough hit to the upper arm may make their arm go limp for a second,” Hugo told him as he motioned to where he placed the pads. “Going for the hands is good if they’ve got a weapon, but for now let’s assume you’re fighting someone who's unarmed.” Hugo stepped back into a defensive stance. “Now, let’s put that knowledge to the test.”

Harrison nodded, getting into a defensive stance of his own. “Now, I’m not gonna go full force on you Danity Hands,” Hugo assured him. “This is just practice. I’ll up the ante once you know what you’re doing. But for now, we’ll take this nice and-”

Hugo didn't get a chance to finish his thought before Harrison swung at him with his staff, causing the half-bred to jump back to avoid getting hit. “What? Not expecting that?” Harrison taunted him, sticking out his tongue, as he had heard that this was how humans mocked each other.

“Ohhhh, fighting dirty are we? I like it.” Hugo smirked at him before lunging forward, causing the Deiman to stumble back. Harrison attempted to jab him with his staff but Hugo sidestepped him. Harrison moved forward and swung his bo staff, managing to hit the pad on Hugo’s elbow. “There ya go, know we’re getting somewhere!” Hugo chuckled. “A lot better than swinging at nothing, am I right?” He asked as he swung out his arm into a back fist that Harrison blocked.

“Yeah!” Harrison agreed, feeling the adrenaline coursing through his system. The two of them continued sparing, Hugo occasionally taunting him or giving him tips on his technique. While Harrison wasn’t fond of violence, he found that sparing with Hugo was actually fun. It wasn’t like when his brothers used to fight and hurt him. They had only wanted to cause him pain, making it a game to see how fast they could get him to cry. He had felt helpless and scared, powerless to stop them. But with Hugo, it almost didn't feel like a fight at all. It was as if they were playing really, neither one wanting to hurt the other. Hugo was trying to teach him so the blows he landed on Harrison weren’t that painful. And Harrison wasn’t going out of his way to hurt Hugo either, merely trying best him in their little sparring match.

As Harrison found himself considering the differences between fighting his brothers versus Hugo, he lost focus enough for Hugo to knock his staff out of his hands. “Eyes here short stuff,” Hugo motioned to himself. “Never take your eyes off your-AHHH!” Hugo yelped as Harrison leaped forward and tackled him, sending them both down onto the mats the covered the floor. ‘Why you little-!” Their sparring match quickly descended into a wrestling match as the two of them rolled along the floor, trying to get the upper hand. “Now I got ya!” Hugo declared as he managed to get on top of Harrison, wrapping one of his arms around his torso and rubbing his fist into Harrison's fluffy hair, giving the poor Deiman a nuggie.

“Ahhh, get off of me!” Harrison cried, trying to buck Hugo off of him as the half-bred merely laughed. Harrison managed to spin around in his hold and attempted to push Hugo off of him. His hand hit Hug’s armpit and the man let out a hysterical giggle as his arm spasmed, causing him to topple off of Harrison.

“Stop that, it tickles!” Hugo complained, standing up and looking down at a bewildered Harrison.

“What? What do you mean tickles? What does that word mean?” Harrison asked, not understanding.

“Uhhh,” A green flush appeared on Hugo’s checks. “It-it’s nothing. Uh, I think that’s enough practice for one day. I’m gonna just,” Hugo didn't even finish his sentence or grab his coat as he hurried out of the room, leaving a confused Harrison behind. What did he mean by “that tickles”? Harrison knew he would have to ask the others about this one. After all, he thinks he may have just found Hugo’s ‘weakness’.