Sorry for the delay. Once again work is preventing me from doing what is truly important in life: writing cheesy Furina fanfic chapters.
Chapter 13
"This is the Fleuve Cendre Ferryman, and it will be your trusty weapon," explained Aether with a straight face. "At least until you improve at sword fighting and we can invest in something better."
"It's just that... I was expecting... you know... something more elegant. Or at least a sword," complained Furina.
"You don't expect me to give you a sharp blade for your training session, do you? You could hurt yourself. It's better than a stick because you need to get used to the weight of a sword in your hand. It's perfect. And besides, you look great with it, trust me."
Furina cringed so hard that her eye twitched. She knew that Aether meant that as a compliment, but someone telling her that she looked "great" with a rusty pipe in her hand as a weapon was one of the most insulting things she had heard about her appearance in years.
"Where did you get that anyway? Did it break off from somewhere while you were in the Fortress of Meropide?"
"Of course not. I got it from the Fishing Association for helping them catch some mecha fish."
"The Fishing Association hands out a rusty pipe as a weapon?!" Furina got a bit agitated. Was Aether messing with her?
"Yup," confirmed Paimon. "Besides, we've seen much worse. In Sumeru, they actually tried to give us a bow made from a fish."
Furna looked at Paimon incredulously. Was this some kind of joke that she wasn't in on?
"Anyway," continued Aether, "let's go on the grass over there; we won't have a stable footing here in the sand."
They walked to the grass, and he explained, "Okay, first, posture is very important. Spread your legs apart, like this..." he demonstrated, "and bend your knees slightly. Not that much. Just so you have a stable footing." He came to her and started adjusting her pose. She was glad that Aether was teaching her, since he was touching her hands, her waist, her thighs. She had a feeling he was doing a bit more touching than strictly necessary, but she wasn't going to stop him.
"That's better," he said finally. "Now, let's see how you handle the weapon."
Furina gripped the pipe firmly by what she could only assume to be the handle and lifted it to her side. It really did feel a bit heavy in her hand.
"Uh, maybe you should try to hold the weapon between yourself and the enemy. Like this." He adjusted her grip a bit and showed her how to properly hold it, then picked up a long stick from the ground and stood up in front of her.
"Good! Now, swing at me as best you can. Don't worry, I'll protect myself."
Furina immediately broke the pose he showed her and did a theatrical swing so wide that she nearly hit Paimon, who was floating almost behind her. With a lazy movement, Aether deflected the pipe as it was approaching him and knocked it out of her hand.
"Hey, that wasn't fair!" exclaimed Furina, somewhat ashamed.
"Of course it was," laughed Aether. "Do you expect an opponent to just wait for you to hit them? Your movements have to be deliberate and calculated, in accordance with the biomechanics of the human body. You have to swing at the opponent quickly, precisely, and efficiently in a way they won't expect it, while simultaneously being ready to protect yourself from any counterattack or riposte."
Furina gulped. That seemed way too complicated. Could she truly do this? Aether noticed the look of concern on her face and continued calmingly, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Many people say sword fighting is similar to a dance, and you are fantastic at dancing. After all, that also requires a certain understanding of the body's biomechanics and fluidity of movement, doesn't it? You'll definitely get it eventually."
Furina smiled and picked up the pipe to try again. They spent the next few hours practicing. Better said, Aether was showing her stances, movements, and techniques that she was trying to replicate and then use against him. Unlike dancing, it was clear that he was extremely proficient at it, and Furina felt like a fish out of water for the first time ever around him. Was that how he was feeling the entire time they had their dancing lessons? Furina, of course, knew that the fake fighting she was used to when performing on stage had almost nothing to do with actual combat, but only now did she understand that in practice. The comically wide swings, the twisting and turning, and the spinning she was used to were all completely detrimental. Maybe because she was a performer at heart, she found that it lacked a certain grace. Or maybe she just wasn't proficient enough to understand that grace.
When she shared her thoughts with Aether, he said, "Well, these are only the basics. You will eventually find your own style that complements your Hydro abilities. Even spinning and sweeping attacks aren't out of the question for a Vision user. For example, Noelle, a friend of ours from Mondstadt, protects herself with a Geo shield, negating the need to deflect enemy attacks, then grabs her claymore and spins on her heels. It might sound ridiculous, but I've seen her defeat lawachurls with this move single-handedly. Now, let's try it again: you just come at me, using everything I just showed you. I'll just protect myself."
This time, it was a lot better than the tragic first swing. Furina still had sloppy footwork and was overswinging wildly, but for her first sword fighting lesson ever (not counting the fencing lessons she took some 100 years ago), she was doing fine. Of course, for Aether's class, "fine" meant that he needed to move his arm a bit most of the time and take a step to the left or right occasionally, but he wasn't expecting anything better.
Until Furina came at him with a quick thrust attack when he wasn't expecting it, and his stick lay close to his right leg. He hesitated for a second. Not because he didn't know how to deflect it; of course he did, but because doing so would most likely cause Furina to lose balance and fall. But the pipe was coming quickly at his ribs, so there wasn't much time to think. He quickly lifted the stick up and hit Furina's weapon from below, causing it to go over her head. As expected, she lost her footing and started falling backwards. Aether let go of the stick and reached out to grab her, but he wasn't fast enough.
But then, instead of Furina falling on her ass, a water bubble appeared underneath her, stopping her fall as she sat on it. Inadvertently, she spun on it, rotating almost 360 degrees, and, completely accidentally, of course, slapped Aether's left hip with the pipe at full force.
"OW!" shouted Aether.
Furina, who somehow managed to land on her feet, dropped the weapon and covered her mouth with both hands, gasping. "Oh my Archons, I am so sorry, Aether!" she exclaimed and rushed to him. "Sorry, it was an accident, I didn't mean to!" she said with worry in her voice and hugged him.
"It's okay, don't worry. My fault for getting distracted. But I'm always distracted around you," he tried to play it down. He had been hurt a lot worse in the past, so he wasn't in much pain, but getting slapped with a rusty pipe on the side of his ass and leg was definitely a first. He even started laughing about it and hugged Furina back when he saw that she was genuinely worried. "Come on, I'm fine, don't be upset, love. I think that can be the end of today's lesson, let's just go home." She nodded.
"Are you okay, Traveler?" asked Paimon as well, as she was trying to hold back her laughter. Not because she was mean-spirited (well... maybe just a little sometimes, but not to Aether), but because she had seen him wounded and knew that that was nothing to him.
"I'm fine, Paimon, thanks. Let's just pack up the bags and go."
When they came back to her house, Furina, still worried about the damage she had inflicted, told Aether to sit and pulled his pants down.
"Hey, Furina, what are you doing? Not in front of Paimon, wait until we're in bed," joked Aether.
"Shut up, silly! I want to check your leg. Look at it!"
His left butt cheek and upper thigh were swollen and completely blue in a straight line.
Aether just laughed and said, "Stop worrying, it doesn't even hurt." Furina scoffed and pressed a finger against the blue part of his leg. "OW!... Okay, it hurts when you do that."
Without saying anything, she brought him some ice and put it on the bruise. "Aahh, that does feel good," admitted Aether.
"Stay here, I'll be right back. Paimon, make sure he doesn't move," said Furina, and she went to the other room.
"Okay, mom!" joked Aether. He was ever so slightly annoyed, but he was even more amused and somewhat touched that she was so worried for him.
Furina came back after a short while with some kind of ointment in her hands, removed the ice, and started applying it to the damaged area. "This is a kind of salve that some scientists at the Institute developed a while ago to help heal bruises," she explained. "It really helps a lot. I used it myself every time I had an accident back then. Can't let people see that an Archon has a bruise, can you?"
Aether felt a bit bad for her after hearing this. Another scar Furina had to hide from everyone else. But just as he was about to say something, she applied a bit more force while spreading the ointment, and he twitched, "Ow!".
"Hold still, you baby! I have to put ointment on the entire bruise, and it's huge. And didn't you say it didn't hurt at all?"
Aether couldn't help but smile. "Are you still worried?" he asked.
"No," said Furina stubbornly, but as their eyes met, she added, "Well, maybe a little bit."
Aether kept smiling. Was he actually enjoying this? He just sat still and let Furina do her thing.
After a while, she was finally done and said, "Good! Should be completely gone in a couple of days."
"Come here," said Aether. She approached him, and he grabbed her and made her sit on his healthy leg. "I liked this, you know. A lot."
"What, getting slapped on the butt with a pipe? Next time, I can aim for that thick head of yours," joked Furina, feigning annoyance.
"No. You taking care of me. While I'm caught with my pants down. Literally."
Furina giggled and started kissing him while running her fingers through his hair. "Oh, I can take care of you."
"Ugh," said Paimon, and floated away. They were used to it already: when they started kissing or getting steamy, Paimon would just float away into her room or into the kitchen to scavenge one of Furina's delicious cakes. But they understood her and appreciated it; no one liked being the third wheel all the time (especially in a cheesy relationship like theirs), and Paimon was so far enduring it heroically.