Hero and Perfect

Chapter Sixteen.

Hero and Perfect had arrived at the Hulin estate in time for a late afternoon lunch.
The introductions had gone reasonably well.

Perfect was relieved to find that his apprehension dissipated quickly.

Hero had kept a steadying hand on the small of his back and Perfect relaxed  somewhat when he found that Hero's grandparents, while reserved, were both gracious and calm.  He had met Hero's grandmother, Madame Xiang, already, and that had definitely helped.

They did not seem cold or stiff.
There was no sense of either of them being awkward  or the conversation feeling forced.

Minjun  Mei Lu and Fei  joining them had helped to ease what small tensions that might have been present.

Madame Xiang appeared to be enjoying their company immensely.

The airy mansion was beautiful and understated. The food was delicious , and with Hero, his family and his dearest  friend present , the conversation after the meal was lively and relaxed.

Perfect soon found  himself laughing and holding forth as he shared details of the wonderful evening spent with Three/4/One.

" Tell! Tell! Oh I want to hear every moment!" Fei leaned over as far as courtesy would allow , smiling  like the fangirl that she was.

They had made a gigantic bonfire and Hero had produced several trays of delicious skewered meat.
There had been some groaning appreciation and all of it had quickly disappeared leaving nothing but a huge platter of bare skewers.

Hero and Shyjian had removed their shirts and sparred lightly on the beach, while Perfection and the band members had watched , wide eyed .
The two powerful young men were well matched.
The tall leader of Three/4/One  proved to be extremely fast - a highly skilled adversary.
Shyjian scarcely appeared to move, and to Perfect's utter amazement - he took Hero down.
He had been lighting quick - his movements compact and very aggressive.

Perfect had blinked. His lips parting slightly in surprise. He heard himself make an odd squeaking sound.

But Shyjian found himself thrown down mere  seconds later.
Hard and fast.
He clearly had trouble finding his breath as Hero grasped his arm, easily pulling him back up to his feet.

They had laughed , high-fived  and  called it a match.

Both large men eyed each other with new respect when they returned to the fire.

The whole thing had taken place so quickly that the observers  hardly  had time to cheer.

Perfect had never before seen anyone who could come close to an equable match with Hero's implacable strength and speed.
He found it grudgingly ok that if it was anyone, at least it had been his sort- of -next - kind - of  favourite man , King Jewang Shyjian - who also happened to be his absolute bias.
The twins and Silk had also sparred - the twins seemed able to effortlessly defy gravity with their kicks and spinning leaps.

But Silk proved to be the definition of his nickname .

He flowed like smooth water. Always just out of reach.
Darting in and stealing both of the twins neck scarves, giving each of them a sound tap on the jaw. Then strolling back to the fire.
"Age and skill before beauty", he had announced with a smug smile.

Beitan had played the piano gorgeously for awhile and then wandered over to challenge Perfect to a game of speed chess. He produced a small hourglass from his pocket ; shaking his head and taking a selfie with Perfection and the chessboard when Perfect won in a matter of moments.

They played several times, moving pieces quickly while the others watched with increasing interest - until Beitan won the fifth round.

The other group members cheered wildly while Perfect took a selfie with Beitan and the chessboard, too.