You stirred awake, feeling a heavy softness enveloping your body as well as a comforting squishiness underneath your heavy head. With bleary eyes, you blinked and pulled yourself up into a sitting position. A blanket, green of course, cloaked your form and a pillow had somehow managed to appear under your head. You smiled, knowing full well who put those there for you, but you wouldn't be able to pinpoint the moment that they got there. You slept for hours, well until to the early afternoon of the following day, and for once, your body felt rested and even relaxed.
The warmth of your small nest tried to coax you back into a tranquil slumber, but it was late enough in the day and you didn't want to seem like a complete sloth. With a series of satisfying pops and clicks down your spine as you stretched, you peeled yourself away from the lounge and scrounged in your bag for a fresh outfit. Something comfortable, yet would pass well out in public. You had spent too long in your laziest outfits, and you finally felt better mentally to want to wear something else. You took a brief look in a small compact mirror, gasping at the way your eye had healed overnight. There wasn't a trace of your existing injury at all, and you poked at your face with wonder.
Your ears pricked at a muffled sound from outside. It sounded like heavy breathing, and your concern spiked. You walked over to the front door and quietly snuck through it, in case there was some sort of danger approaching. You peeked around the curved edge of Coco's house, careful to not make any noise. Your fright ebbed away once you surveyed the scene. Kiss had nested next to one of the large trees that took up residence on the lonely plateau, looking out over the scenery contentedly. His sharp, crimson eyes locked onto you the moment you were in his field of vision, but he then closed his eyes with a serene look. The heavy breathing you had heard wasn't imaginary.
You couldn't help but marvel at the fluidity of Coco's movements. He had his back to you and was moving through a series of smooth exercises. It reminded you of tai chi, and you continued to watch him, almost mesmerised. From the harshness of his breath, he must have been out here for a while. As he moved through his set, he then began adding different forms of techniques; ducking and weaving before returning to more offensive positions. You stepped out from behind the wall and tiptoed quietly over to Kiss, patting his beak gently as you continued to watch.
Coco continued to practice through his form, changing from unarmed combat to using different weapons fashioned from his poisons. Whether he had felt your presence already didn't deter his concentration. With a steely gaze, he continued on with his training; pulling a sharp bow and arrow from seemingly nowhere as he moved. His actions had an air of grace, despite the driving power behind them. He pulled the singular arrow back across the bowstring and locked his target. If you blinked, you would have missed how quickly the arrow flew from his hand and landed its purchase with a swift 'thwip'.
Bullseye.
His goal was the complete centre of a target, suspended on the trunk of another tree. The target itself was on a furry-looking spread; like a blanket painted with a circular target. You let out a soft series of applause, the sound causing the King to jump a little with surprise. He turned to your direction and grinned sheepishly.
"You're awake. I didn't hear you." He said, his bow melting back into his palm while the arrow melted to the ground. You noticed the grass at the base of the tree was dead and yellowed.
"I guess you don't share the same ears as Toriko, then?" You joked, tucking your hands behind your back.
"No, but I rather like what I can see." He quipped, causing a light blush to cross your cheeks. Of course, he noticed this and tried to correct himself.
"Wait, I mean-"
"Don't worry about it!" You laughed, crossing over to him. You could hear his panting clearly now. "I'll take it as a compliment."
"If the shoe fits." He said, turning away with mild embarrassment.
"That was impressive." You remarked, pointing at the target to change the subject. "Could you teach me to shoot like that?"
Coco blinked at you.
"Probably not immediately." He admitted, trying to broach it as kindly as possible. "Have you ever had any practice at archery before?"
"Nope."
"Oh. Hmm."
Coco rested his hand on his chin and thought, before wandering off without a word. You blinked at him owlishly, wondering exactly what he was doing that left you standing on your own.
"Did I say something wrong?" you thought, rubbing your arm nervously.
You watched him walk around to the front of his house and heard the door open and close. Your eyes darted about as a small breeze licked at your skin. You looked back over to Kiss, who had watched his master just as intently as you had been. You patted your sides with your hands and rocked on the balls of your feet, wondering exactly what to do. Did you follow him? Did you wait for him to come back? Should you ask him what you had done wrong?
With a drawn-out puff of air, you wandered over to the practice tree, inspecting the target that was nailed into the springy trunk of the tree. You breathed out a small 'wow' of amazement, noticing that the targets centre had barely any holes around it. Instead, there was a singular hole that was ever so slightly off-centre of its line of symmetry; concluding that this was the only spot on the goal that had ever been pierced from the arrow's head. You shook your head at the thought. Coco's aim must be dangerously accurate to only ever hit that mark over and over again.
"Everything okay?"
Now it was your time to jump in surprise and you whirled around, almost grazing your nose against his chest. You definitely didn't hear the door or hear his footsteps approach you so close from behind. Glancing your eyes down, you noticed he had a thin, wooden bow in one hand and a small quiver of arrows in the other.
"I was just looking at your work." You stuttered, looking up again and drowning in his irises. This close, you could see small speckles of darker shades of brown within them, and the ring around his iris melted into a deep chocolate colour. You bit your lip unconsciously as you stared up at him.
"You're…really good." Was all that you managed to get out, the tips of your ears turning a soft red.
Coco let out an airy laugh before breaking off your gaze.
"I don't normally have spectators." He said, before handing the quiver out for you to take. You were thankful for the distraction, and looked the holster over, trying to sling it over your shoulder into a comfortable position. Coco watched you with amusement.
"Here." He said, taking it back before slinking his arms around your waist and securing the buckles together tightly. Feeling his arms brush over your waist set your mind reeling, and you were finding it difficult to concentrate properly.
"Now, I don't have to show you which way this goes?" He smirked, holding the bow out for you.
"No." You snapped at him playfully, taking the weapon from him and feeling it over. Its sleek finish felt nice under your fingers.
"Okay, now let's come back a little bit," he said, calling you over to a small distance away. "Show me how you think you do it."
"O-okay." You stuttered, your heart fluttering from nerves now. You took an arrow from the quiver and held it up against the string and pulled back into a stance you had seen on television. You were pinching the arrows end with your fingers and getting a slight ache from trying to hold it in place. A cool hand rested on your arm and pulled it down, and you saw Coco trying to stifle a laugh.
"Not…quite." He said, wincing a little at your attempt. "I admire your enthusiasm though."
This time you were red out of embarrassment.
"What did I do wrong?"
"…A lot. But that's okay; you haven't done this before. First thing we're going to do is nock the arrow."
"Knocking? Like how hunters stun prey?"
"'Nock', with an 'n'. This part here on the back slips into the string, see?"
His fingers pulled the end of the arrow onto the string firmly, lining it up with a small section at the front of the bow. That answered your question about how arrows seemed to magically stay in place.
"That makes a lot of sense." You relented, realising just how silly you must have looked before.
"Next, you want to turn to the side and put your feet about shoulder-width apart. Make it a nice strong stance."
Your feet complied with his soothing voice before you even realised what you were doing. You didn't even shuffle your feet in different spots either; something internally was telling you that you were in the correct position. Coco gave a light push to your back to test your balance, and you swayed back and forth effortlessly to return to your position.
"Very good!" He said, giving you a sweet smile. You smiled back up at him in response.
"Okay, so you want to raise your bow before you pull the string back. The best way is to use three fingers; one above the arrow and two below. Don't be frightened."
You drew the string backwards, feeling the difference in the tension this time around. You worried that the string would bounce back and slap into your other arm.
"Rotate this elbow out." He said, gently guiding the crook in your arm holding the bow. This small difference made your grip feel stronger already. Coco moved to the other side, facing you parallel now.
"We're going to use your mouth as an anchor." He said, moving your shooting hand close to your face.
"Excuse me?"
Coco laughed lightly, and you could feel his breath grazing ever so slightly by your neck. You wanted to shiver at the sensation, but you kept your cool.
"It's just a point of reference." He explained. "You'll want to return back to this point when you're shooting as a beginner."
"Oh."
"Now, focus on where you want the arrow to end up. When you're ready, let go."
You took a deep breath and tried to envision the arrow hitting the bullseye. You knew that it wouldn't get there, but you tried to will it to sail perfectly in line and impress Coco with some imaginary talent you had. You exhaled and let go of the string. To your surprise, the arrow flew in a wonderfully straight line.
Straight past the tree and sailing over the edge of the cliff.
"Oh no!" You gasped, bringing a hand to your mouth while the other dropped the bow at your side. You looked back at Coco with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry! I wasted the shot."
'Don't worry about it." Coco said, as a large gust of wind blew both his and your hair to the side. Kiss had flapped his large wings and shot off down the side of the plateau with incredible speed. In a flash, Kiss had pulled back up to the land, arrow firmly in his beak. He tipped his beak towards Coco who took it from him and patted his friend with thanks.
"Good boy, Kiss." Coco said sweetly, while Kiss crowed out and nested back in his spot. "See? Not a problem."
"I didn't realise how fast he was." You said, awe washing over you again.
"He's still young. He'll grow bigger and get faster. Now, shall we try again?"
You nodded, and pulled another arrow out from the quiver. You set it on the string like you were shown and prepared your stance one again. Coco watched you set your form up again, but found his eyes travelling over the curves of your body more than supervising your shot. His stomach bubbled up with excitement and his heart flipped out behind his ribcage. He tore his eyes away from your figure and instead focused on looking at your face.; watching the way your (e/c) eyes fixed with concentration. He had seen that look before; like the way Gourmet Hunter's would become fixated on their hunt.
Or, even the way he had caught himself looking at you sometimes.
You took another deep breath and steadied yourself more this time. You moved your hand a fraction to straighten your shot and exhaled as you let go. The arrow let out a smaller 'thwip' than the one Coco's had made, but it sailed cleanly before sticking into the target. It was nowhere near the centre, but it at least sat in the outer ring.
You let out a small cry of joy and chanted "I did it!" a couple of times. You threw your arms around Coco's neck and pulled him into a tight embrace; not realising your actions. You ended up pulling him down a fair bit from the differences in your height, while your giddiness left you oblivious to what was happening. You bounced on the balls of your feet, brushing your chest up against his and he felt his face burn at this contact; your soft mounds melding against his muscles almost too perfectly. He put his hands on your waist and pulled you off of him gently, while trying to calm the arousal that had fired up in the pit of his stomach.
"Great job." He congratulated, smiling brightly at your excitement. "You did well."
"I can't believe I did it properly!" You said happily, revelling in your own excitement. "That was so much fun!"
Coco just kept smiling, trying to force the flush away from his face and trying to quell his desires.
"You can keep practicing if you like." He offered, walking over to pull the arrow from its resting place and returning. He was just thankful for the brief moment of relief.
"If that's okay? I didn't think I would enjoy this as much. Where did you get this bow from? Did you make it?"
Questions tumbled out of your mouth from your excitement, unable to contain your curiosity. Coco handed the arrow back to you as he answered.
"I was given it when I was young so I could practice before I learned how to make my own."
"How old were you when you started?"
"Eight."
'Wow. That's so young! Also, shouldn't your target have dissolved from your poison? I wanted to ask you before you walked away earlier."
"It's the pelt of a Target Tiger. It has a high tolerance to poisons and other objects. Eventually it'll decay, but not for a long time."
Before you had a chance to ask more questions, your stomach let out a groan, and your hand flew to cover your stomach. You hadn't eaten since the single bowl of curry last night, and your body was now reminding you.
"Ahah… I guess I should probably eat something." You said sheepishly, coming down from your high.
"Should we have lunch then?" Coco offered.
"I think so." You agreed, unbuckling the quiver from around your hips and holding all of the equipment close. The two of you wandered back inside to settle in for a bite to eat. You hadn't felt this pure joy in such a long time, and you could almost feel it radiating out of you.
It felt nice.