NO CELESTIAL / dick grayson

thirty-two, good parts

SHE WATCHED FROM the side, as Damian's staff slammed into the shield Yu Lan had formed. Yu Lan reacted quickly, slamming her feet into Damian's knee, causing it to buckle and pushing Damian off her. Damian backflipped back onto his feet, quickly getting back into stance.

She could see the sweat rolling off both of them. Apparently they'd been at it for a few hours now, though they'd heeded advice and lowered the volume.

She hadn't seen Yu Lan in action before. The girl fought like it was a dance—every move was elegant, and her blows were swift and fast. Damian was far more technical, but he didn't seem to have too easy of a time against Yu Lan either. Both of them were hard at work, giving it their all.

She wouldn't be able to teach Yu Lan much about her powers, but Remiel could teach technique. Some of the girl's moves were a bit too... extra. She couldn't have received that much training, so Remiel wasn't surprised.

Damian's brows were tightly knitted together. He must not have sparred someone younger than him before, Remiel thought with some amusement. He was experienced with grown men two or three times his size and multiple times his age, but not against a younger girl. It must be a riveting experience for him. Perhaps that was why he and Yu Lan had been going at each other for the past two days every opportunity they had. Or maybe they were just bored and had nothing else to do.

Both were possibilities.

This particular battle ended with a victory of Yu Lan, who caught Damian off-guard with a bolt right in the middle of his chest. Damian let out a groan as Yu Lan pulled him back onto his feet.

He glanced over to where Remiel stood. "Nice of you to join us."

"That gave me utmost satisfaction to watch."

"We're tied now," Yu Lan said with a grin. "We've had eight rounds. He was one round up before, now we're equal."

"What's the winner going to get?"

Damian rubbed his chest. "Nothing. It's just training."

"But we could get a price."

"There is nothing I want."

Yu Lan rolled her eyes. "No one said you were going to win."

Remiel looked amused. "Whoever wins... You know what? I can't think of a good gift either." Damian might appreciate a new weapon, but Yu Lan had no need for that.

Besides, she was going to make sure Yu Lan got everything she needed soon anyways. The girl would not find herself lacking in material goods.

"Remiel, are you sure you don't want one of my bottles of peach blossom wine?" Yu Lan asked, batting her lashes. "My grandma said it tastes quite good. I'm worried it'll go bad by the time I'm old enough to drink it."

Damian let out a cough. "It usually goes bad in a year if it's not kept properly."

"That's normal peach blossom wine. Not my grandmother's recipe. She told me it would last many years. But I don't know how many is many." Yu Lan pouted. "Remiel can try it for me."

"Are you trying to poison me?"

"It's not going to kill you."

Damian rolled his eyes. "I can test a vial for you. I've had alcohol before."

"Yeah, no." Remiel was going to put an immediate stopper into that. "Get a smaller bottle for me and Dick, we'll give it a try."

"I suppose Grandma left other things for me as well. She left me Nü'er Hong. Daughter red. Told me to dig it up when I get married." She grinned. "That's not going to go bad any time soon."