Macau x Chay

Chapter 11

Macau looked at his watch for the fourth time in the last two minutes, tapping his foot in an anxious manner. 'Where is he?' he muttered quietly to himself, thinking about the unusual and concerning behaviour of the boy the day before. Macau tried to think about what could have caused such a reaction in him, but Chay seemed perfectly fine before he left to get some water. Letting out a groan of frustration, Macau sought some way to relieve his building stress and kicked the closest ball to him. Immediately regretting his decision, he knelt to hold his pain-filled toes, glaring at the medicine ball that had barely moved a meter.

'Everything ok in here?' a small voice called out behind him.

Macau stood and turned, letting out an awkward laugh, 'umm, yep. Everything's perfectly fine,' he said, grimacing at the pain that was still making his foot ache.

Chay looked at him, his face full of amusement, 'Really? Cause I could swear I just saw you lose to a ball.'

Seeking to change the topic but also being curious Macau asked, 'Why were you late today?' He gestured to the clock, 'it's almost 11.'

Chay bowed his head, 'sorry, I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to just play some video games, but I must have passed out and when I looked at the time it was already past ten.'

Macau tilted his head, 'you couldn't sleep, are you ok?'

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Chay replied giving a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Macau looked at Chay slightly concerned, 'if you say so,' he said slowly, giving one last look to him before turning and making his way over to the mat. 'So exactly how much sleep did you get last night?' he questioned Chay as he began to take off his shoes.

Chay followed suit, 'um, I don't know exactly, but at least 4.'

Macau sighed, 'Well, since that's the case, we won't go for as long today.'

'No, don't worry about it, I'm fi-' at that point, a yawn forced its way out of Chay and he looked at the ground guiltily. 'I'm fine.'

Macau let out a stubborn huff, 'pushing yourself on too little sleep never helped anyone.' Chay saw the insistence in Macau's face and let out a defeated breath before giving him a small nod. A smirk appeared on Macau's face at his victory before he made his way to the middle of the mat to face Chay. 'Ok!' he said trying to bring up the energy while making small jabs in the air, 'today, you're going to learn how to take a punch!'

Chay slowly nodded and gave him a quiet, 'ok'.

Macau's face faded from a smile into a concerned frown at Chay's reaction, or rather, lack of. Normally, when Macau tells Chay what they are learning in a jokingly impending way, he has some sort of reaction. Sometimes he's worried, and sometimes he smiles, looking straight through his joke, but not today. 'Chay' Macau said gently, making the boy look up, 'what's wrong?'

Chay shakes his head looking at Macau with sadness in his eyes, 'don't worry about it.' Macau gave him yet another worried look before Chay took a breath and shook his body as if getting rid of lingering thoughts before looking at Macau and giving him a smile, his eyes seeming clearer. 'You said I was going to learn how to take a punch?' at Macau's slow nod he asked with a nervous laugh, 'so how painful is today going to be then?'

For the first half hour, Macau explained the theory of how to avoid the most amount of pain if you get hit, giving him demonstrations every now and then. 'If it's a blow to the stomach you have to tighten your abs and stomach muscles as well as shift your body, so you get hit on the side, and if you can, use your arms to absorb the blow. If they are aiming for your face you need to tighten your neck muscles and lower your jaw to your neck making sure to clench your jaw as well. And, as hard as it is, you can't flinch and move away from the punch, that would just allow them to get more momentum and force. I mean, if you can avoid the hit entirely, then do that but, if you know you're going to get hit then make sure not to flinch.' The next hour was spent with Macau throwing different punches at Chay, all the while trying his best not to actually hit him.

By the end, it was evident that Chay was losing focus and was getting more and more tired, causing Macau to actually hit him a few times when he was too slow to dodge even his restrained blows. 'Ok, I think we're done for the day' Macau told Chay after starting to see his eyelids droop.

Chay nodded and let out a yawn, 'I think that's a good idea,' he said rubbing his side where Macau had accidentally hit him. Macau gave him an apologetic look to which Chay just chuckled, 'it's fine,' he said dropping his hand before raising it again to cover yet another yawn.

Macau let out a breathless laugh, 'I think we should get you to your room.'

As Chay struggled to keep his eyes open he eventually nodded and started walking to the door. Macau gently grabbed one of his arms and placed his own around Chay's waist and turned him around to the exit rather than the equipment room.

As they made their way towards Chay's bedroom, the tired boy leaned more and more into Macau forcing him to put Chay's arm around his shoulders to support his weight. I don't think he would have even made it to his room if I hadn't gone with him Macau thought, a smile forming on his lips as he looked at Chay's tired face. When they finally arrived, Chay was barely awake, making it very awkward for Macau to open the door while having to hold up almost his entire body weight. Eventually, Macau got it open and readjusted his hold on Chay before making his way over to the bed and pulling back the covers, placing Chay to sit on the bed. As soon as he was seated, Chay fell back and didn't move.

Macau facepalmed and looked down at the boy with amusement before kneeling to take off Chay's socks and shoes, placing them near the dresser. He then made his way back to Chay and moved his legs under the doona before readjusting his head onto the pillows, making sure he was comfortable. Macau let out a short laugh at the whole situation that just occurred as he made his way out of the room. However, before he reached the door, he looked over to the open windows, sunlight shining through and almost touching the bed. Wanting Chay to get as much sleep as he could, Macau made his way over to the windows, closing the curtains before making his way out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.