Ally and Cael

I had asked Ally to meet me in the semi-functional room Alex had insisted on using for physical training. While I was grateful for the space and understood her need to have somewhere that could be destroyed while still keeping the young girl safe, it felt unnecessary to do these things here when I could so easily keep her safe myself. I sighed, that was neither here nor there though. It was just another thing I would have to work around to make any semblance of progress with this task I had been given.

I walked around the corner and into the room, prepared to announce my arrival when the words froze in my throat. Ally was in the room waiting for me, standing with her back to the door and stretching.

Her golden hair was pulled up into a messy bun as she pulled her arms across her torso, stretching her delicate back muscles taught under the black sports bra she wore. Then over her head and bending forward at the waist. Then she swayed from side to side, touching her fingertips to her toes, her decently muscular legs sculpted under the red shorts she wore. The devilish young woman had my vessel's head swimming as she worked down further until her arm could wrap around her knees. She held that pose momentarily before releasing it and letting out a small satisfied noise.

And that was it. That was enough to remind me of what had happened a few days prior. The gentle yet heated kiss we had shared in the kitchen. The feeling of her soft lips pressed against mine. The way her hands had felt as they ran through the hair on the back of my neck. The way her body had felt under my hands, the heat that radiated from her and into me. It was more than I had ever felt for another being in some time. I shook my head, I couldn't let those thoughts cloud my mind. I cleared my throat, the noise causing her to turn to me, a bright smile on her face that tugged at my heart.

"Hey, Cael!" Ally said warmly. "What's today's lesson?"

"Grappling," I stated plainly as I walked into the room. "You seem to know the basics but I'm willing to bet you still need practice on the application."

"Oh come on." Ally placed her hands on her hips, "I'm better than you think I am."

"So you think," I smirked a little as I shucked off the jacket I had had on. "Yet you still say you prefer to use hands-off methods. If your powers are going to be useful in a hand-to-hand fight, you need to know how to use them up close. The enemy isn't going to stop running at you so you can get five feet away."

"And?" She huffed. Such a stubborn human. However she smiled still, so I knew she was most likely teasing me.

"Where do you aim to hit a solid attacker?" I asked, pivoting to stand across the small padded 'ring' from her. I rolled up the sleeves of the shirt I had on, watching her eyes follow my hands as I did. Did she think of it too?

"Eyes, Nose, Throat, and knees are the best pressure points to hit," Ally stated. "And I need to remember that monsters are going to have claws, teeth, protruding spikes, and other things that can be used to hurt me."

I nodded. "Can you remember what I taught you the last time we grappled?"

"Ask permission before trying to touch your wings?" Ally smirked at me, happy with her joke.

I rolled my eyes. "The fighting techniques, please."

"Ya, I think I can handle them." She stepped onto the mat, her bare feet padding softly across it before getting into a ready stance in the center.

"Right." I walked towards her, my feet pressing into the soft foam silently.

I grabbed her shoulders softly, trying to stop them from shaking as my thumbs grazed the soft skin of her neck. Her body shivered ever so slightly. I swallowed the thoughts that crept into my head and pushed against her collar tighter.