#i wish steb was in my fencing club so i could fence a tall person that didnt have a rotten attitude

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MORE steb fencing au bc my brain is thinking so much note: the reader, steb, and maddie do epee, and as such this is very epee centric so please keep that in mind!

steb does both epee and sabre

you, steb, and maddie started fencing at the same time. maddie convinced steb to try fencing and he ended up enjoying it more than he expected

the number of epees was really small when you guys joined. sometimes it would just be the three of you and your coach. because of that, the three of you grew pretty close

steb had an advantage because of of his height (at least 6'0 feet/183cm), which gave him a longer reach/range. because of that, you learned early on how to fence against taller people

the first time you beat him in a bout, you're so happy that he's a little endeared

one day, maddie doesn't come to that day's session because she's sick. it's just you and steb, and that day, you guys become a little closer

when you guys become good friends or start having feelings for each other, steb decides to get you a brand new blade for your birthday. the grip is perfect for your hand size and the weight is perfect for you, and the blade is perfect for what you specialize in (whether that be parries or flicking or something else)

either that, or when your blade breaks, he gets you a brand new one

you and steb both do badly in your first tournament, but the support of having each other makes everything a little better and a little more fun

after your first tournament, you two decide to work together so you can do much better in your next tournament. you guys do a lot of drills together, sometimes you can do drills for at least an hour, but doing it with him makes the time pass so fast

by your third tournament, you guys are a LOT closer, so close that you guys end up surprising each other by buying bouquets of flowers for each other (to wish good luck and commemorate any victories you guys have)

steb gets into fixing gear first. you eventually join him when you realize you sort of miss his presence in fencing

some days, when you two are too tired to fence, you'll just fix broken gear together and enjoy each other's company

sometimes, when steb wants you all to himself, he'll ask ahead of time if you want to fix gear together, and you two spend the entire time in the storage room fixing gear together. spending time together like this, it feels like no time passes at all

you two end up getting into the habit of going out to eat after fencing. when one of you invites the other over to eat at either yours or his place, that's when things really start to change between you two