Journey of the Heart ~ Clownzy

Oh to be a Golden Flower (17)

~ Clown ~

"Wait Lefu," Clown turned to look at her, "that's actually a good idea. Branzy, you up for it?" That was an understatement; it wasn't just a good idea, it was something that Clown should have thought of sooner.

"Yeah sure, I do need to get better." Branzy twiddled his thumbs together.

A small smile formed under Clown's mask. This was going to be fun. "Great I'll show you some tips to do with sword and bow fighting?" Branzy hummed and nodded in agreement.

"Wait also maybe you guys should also practice some physical fighting," Lefu looked from Clown to Branzy and back to Clown again, "you'll never know when you'll need it and- and the rules would be simple, you would just need to uh pin the other person to the ground to win? Yeah!" Lefu looked away. She sounded like she was trying to hold back an immanent laughter that was threatening to break free at any given moment and anything else would push her over the edge. "Well while you both practice I'm going to make us somewhere to stay for the night," and with that she sauntered off.

Both men watched her walk away, with mild bewilderment, before glancing at each other. Branzy quirked an eyebrow. "So are we doing this right now?"

Clown carefully thumbed the pommel of his sword. "I guess we do need to be prepared for Kevin." Branzy hummed in agreement, threading a hand through his silvery-white locks.

"Ready?" Clown murmed, pulling out his sword.

"Ready." Branzy did the same.

Clown started by showing Branzy a basic sweep, trying to slow his movements to allow the other man to learn. "Make sure to always keep an eye on your opponent." Clown maintained eye contact with Branzy as he performed the swipe. A look of concentration had twisted Branzy's face; he was slightly biting his lower lip and his eyebrows were furrowing as he focused. Clown didn't know why but he found that look so incredibly hot.

Clown shook off the feeling and tried discarded any of his previous thoughts. Stop that Clown, you need to focus. "Now it's your turn," he said to Branzy, his mind still racing and distracted.

Hesitantly, uncertainly, tentatively: Branzy held the blade ninety degrees from his body before sending it swinging in front of him just as Clown had previously done. Unfortunately, he had overestimated the amount of power he had thrown into his hurl, and nearly sent the weapon straight through his body.

Being careful to avoid the sharp edge of the sword, Clown spotted the mistake before it developed into an irreparable error and grabbed Branzy's hand to steady the blade before it could ever even reach him. "You've got to control your movements," still holding onto Branzy's hand he moved it back to wear it started, "or you won't be hurting others," he slowly dragged it through the air to show him the motion, "you'll be hurting yourself." His hand unclasped from around Branzy's. "Now, try it again on your own."

Branzy performed the movement and this time he didn't nearly kill himself.That was an improvement! "Hey, that was much better."

"Really?" Branzy's expression lit up. Clown noted how his eyes seemed to sparkle like the stars; the whole expanse of the galaxy swirled within those orbs. Clown would almost certainly get lost exploring their deep purple beauty. "Yes, I'm proud of you Branz." Clown forced himself to tear his gaze away from Branzy's because if he continued to look into his mesmerising eyes, things would get awkward pretty fast.

Clown continued to show Branzy even more moves, correcting Branzy's errors each time he made them. He found that his mouth seemed to be permanently stuck in a smile; no matter how hard he tried to relax the muscles in his face, they wouldn't listen. Just being around Branzy seemed to have some weird effect on his body because he couldn't stop laughing.