[...] Her hands gingerly finished the act of cleansing his face to his arms from any grime or sweat that came from his match. A blank canvas to finally tend to some his cuts. Yue imagined even the surface level cuts hurt when they happen. "No need to thank me." She hums, taking a brush with a blob of ointment. She slowly spreads the medicine, fanning it with her other hand as she did so.
"You both seemed like you had a lot of fun. Those types of fights are fun to watch. No matter how professional you are, there has to be passion. A clear desire to win, at least shown on your face." She muses warmly. He had her full attention, even if it didn't sound in her voice and nor in her gaze. "You will have to teach me one day, unless you are afraid I will beat you." Yue teased, snickering under her breath. While the smile was faint behind her veil, the mischief was evident in her gaze.
Nodding her head at his question, she answered without hesitation. "Thank you. I learned that move at a young age. I spend many nights trying to nail it down." She explains contently. Tending to Lio was her chance to make a friend out of him, and she would not waste it. "The fight was nice. My opponent had a bit of anger problems tonight though. One or two of those hits will bruise rather ugly tomorrow. But, pain is a part of the fun, I suppose."
While he had respectfully put distance between, Yue didn't allow him too much security, inching closer and closer as she worked to patch and paint his wounds with the medicine. She'd hate such a pretty face to be ruined by a fight here, even if a few scars added character. Nearly done with his face, her free hand moved to his chin, and she gently moved it around to ensure that she had not missed a single mark.
"You are so wound up still." Her hand moved his head one last time so that she finally got to meet his gaze. "Relax. You don't have to be so polite around me. Let's be friends, not colleagues." With a content hum, she finally freed his face, letting her attention then turn to his arms, so she could give it similar assistance.
“Still, I’ve got a need to say thank you, for making the time to help me with this,” Lio insisted, as being grateful and expressing his thankfulness for genuine kindness had become a part of who he was. A slightest of wince fleeted across his face when the ointment first touched a cut, but the cool breezes made by Yingyue’s hand did help to ease the burn. When the first instinctive reaction past, Lio quick to regain control, keeping the muscles of his face still to make it easy for Yingyue to take care of the wounds.
“It’s no longer a legit fight if none of the parties involved have the desire to win, right? Though I admit, I tend to get carried away by that desire sometimes, and that’s when things aren’t as just fun,” he remarked. Lio kept smirk subtle and his words close to mumble, as he was refraining from making big movements on his cheeks and jaws, the two areas of his face that took the most damage.
He was still looking at the ceiling while she made the suggestion, but Lio believed that his ears registered the mischievous note in her tone and snicker, and when he cast his eyes down to meet hers, that was quickly confirmed. “We can practice together when you are ready,” he affirmed, the light smile on his face and the stability in his voice implied his confidence. Lio would never refuse the chance to sharpen his combating skills, all the better if it was with a new practice partner, as he could always learn new things from them. Yingyue was a competent fighter, her skillset was rather different from his, and so Lio already had a growing anticipation for their practice sessions.
A better part of his attention remained on Yingyue’s hand movements, as he had always got this urge to guard himself whenever someone or something came close to his face, no matter who or what it was. He knew well that the demigoddess meant well, and she was helping him, so Lio reminded himself to take a deep breath and try to loosen his tense muscles. One way to keep himself from being over-defensive was paying more notice to Yingyue’s story and holding a meaningful conversation with her.
“That’s dope! Meanwhile I didn’t learn to punch properly until I was fourteen or so,” he chuckled lowly, still being careful not to make big moves with his face until Yingyue finished applying ointment to it. As she mentioned her aggressive opponent tonight, Lio let out an understanding hum. “I saw the way he threw his fists at you, definitely will leave some nasty marks, but I bet he took it much more than you did. You were smart to dodge his critical hits, while most of your attacks landed on his weak points. That was an exciting match, to say the least.”
Lio tried not to move further as she once again shortened the distance between them, taking it as a chance to learn how to relax and let himself be taken care of. He moved his head side to side as guided by her hand, his fingers stopped intertwined tightly to rest on his thighs, but his shoulders were stiff still, and his back kept being so straight it almost guaranteed uncomfortableness.
So when Yingyue pointed that out Lio let out a silent chuckle. “Sorry, I’m still learning to relax, it’s not at all because of you though,” he explained, trying to relax his body a little bit more as her gaze suggested him to.
While waiting for her to work on the cuts on his arms, Lio still had this need to engage in the conversation so that his mind and body would not tense up again. He made a question, feeling it easier to look at her face this time. “If you don’t mind me asking, what got you into martial arts and fighting in the first place?”
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