Swordsmanship

Tipol is copyrighted to Sallie Drazzi

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“Well?”

“Well… what?” Ash blinked at the Felinoid in confusion.

Tipol sighed and shifted his legs, balancing himself on his hip rather than sitting in the splits. He pulled himself to his feet lightly, “Well, where’s this sword of yours?”

Ash took a moment to recover himself from just watching Tipol’s movements. “Why?”

“Because I asked for it,” Tipol replied with a bored tone. “Give it to me, baby.”

Ash tilted his head, the innuendo flying over it, before he concentrated and formed his sword in his hand. He carefully took hold of the blade in his hand, offering the gold handle towards the cat.

Tipol took the sword, finding it heavy enough to need two hands to hold it. He secured his grip on the handle, lifting the sword and turning a little to look at the blade from different angles. “Hell, this is heavy… you’ve really been compensating with this, huh?”

Ash again didn’t notice the cutting innuendo, tilting his head the other way as he looked at Tipol. “It’s not heavy.”

“Yes, it is.” Tipol spaced out his legs, lowering the sword again and holding it by his crotch.

Ash growled shortly, before looking down slightly and frowning at himself. “Why did that…?” He trailed off into silence, uncertain what exactly that had made him feel.

“Some lost, hidden brain-cell in your head isn’t so naïve as the rest of you, that’s all,” Tipol informed him in a bored manner, although there may have been a hint of amusement in there too.

The Felinoid removed one hand from the sword, watching as it tilted down until the tip of blade hit the floor. He gripped the hilt with both hands again, managing to lift the blade again and balance the heavy metal in his grasp, before looking at Ash. “Well?” He asked again.

Ash looked from the sword to Tipol, “What?”

“Are you going to show me how to use this thing?” Tipol asked.

The Shadow Demon lifted his eyebrows slightly. “You want me to show you how to use it?”

Tipol sighed, “Yes. That’s why I just said that.”

“Why?”

“What are you? Twenty questions?” Tipol gave Ash a hard look for a moment. “Now stand up.”

Ash lowered his head at the glare, but he pulled himself up onto his feet obediently. Tipol moved himself around, his back towards Ash’s chest and his long tail curling between Ash’s legs and around his side without actually touching him. Ash’s cheeks colour just slightly with a blush, although he wasn’t really very sure why.

“Now, am I holding this right?” Tipol asked. He’d actually bothered to soften his tone, still sounding bored but not irritated.

Ash looked down at the cat’s hands; the scent of the Felinoid just curling around the Shadow Demon and that silky hair just looking so soft- no, wait, Ash couldn’t get distracted by that. He focused on the cat’s hands again. “Er… no.”

“How am I supposed to hold it then?”

“Er…” Ash struggled to think. “One handed is better-”

“It’s too heavy,” Tipol interrupted. “How should I hold it two handed?”

“You have to... well… move that one there.”

“What one, where?” Tipol tilted his head back, looking up at Ash, his eyebrow raised.

“That one?” Ash guessed, almost taking a step back uncertainly.

“Stay there,” Tipol ordered. “Move my hands into the right places.”

Ash felt himself blushing again, but he slowly lifted his hands and places them over Tipol’s, encouraging the cat’s lilac hands into the right place on the sword’s hilt. “Like that,” He said quietly, unable to get himself to remove his hands again.

“Thank you,” Tipol said. Graciously he didn’t order Ash to remove his hands again – maybe because the sword was lighter with the stronger male holding it too. “Now, how do I use it?”

Ash’s head went blank again, before he shook his head to awaken his brain-cells. “How do…? Er… well, there’s lots of ways to use it.”

“Well then,” Tipol said, lifting his head up and giving Ash another intense look in the eyes.

“Well, what?”

“You’d better get started teaching me, so it doesn’t take all day, hadn’t you?” Tipol asked, raising his eyebrow again.

Ash nearly stepped back again, and then he moved forward instead, closing the little distance between Tipol’s back and his front. “Yeah, I’d better get started,” He echoed.



Ash did his very best to ignore Tipol’s heat and scent, but it was right there, and it was very hard to ignore. Yes, very hard. He gave his head a little shake, focusing on where Tipol’s hands were.

That didn’t help at all. Tipol’s hands were beneath his, gripping the hilt of his sword. Gripping, the hilt, beneath his hands. Ash had no idea why this was so alluring, but it just was.

Ash cleared his throat, giving his head another shake, “Widen your stance a little.”

Tipol obliged him, those slender hips wiggling as he spread his legs wider. The scent just hit Ash harder.

“Say your target is there,” Ash pointed out in front of them, quickly putting his hand back. “Eyes on it, bring the sword up like this…”

Tipol arched his body naturally into the movement, needing to put his weight beneath the sword to keep it up. His shoulderblades his right against Ash, the Felinoid’s soft hair tickling his skin.

“Keep this arm up like this, if they get the swing in first, it’s here, guarding your chest and neck.”

“But that damages your stronger arm,” Tipol glanced back at him.

“Well if they’re out a bit, you’ll have time to swing, and it’ll be stronger, more likely to hit, so you go for a vital area. By then they’re close,” Ash leaned himself back, taking Tipol with him through the arcing motion of the sword over to the other side. “So now you’re blocking with your weak arm, shorter swings.”

“Just one after the other? Like this?”

“Yeah, just like that,” Ash took a moment to rub his cheek against his shoulder. He had no idea why he felt so damn hot. “You really have to read their body language, if they go high, you have to parry high.”

Ash helped Tipol lift the sword higher, as if parrying said blow. The Felinoid moved just as gracefully as ever, swinging the sword back down.

“Wow, that could cut someone’s legs.”

“Or their arm, or knock their sword away, with enough speed and force. Then you can pull back and thrust.”

“Mhmm, thrusting.”

Ash choked as Tipol said that, thrusting the sword forward.

“Ah, I nearly lost my grip on it, felt like it was going to come loose,” Tipol scowled.

“You’re actually holding too tight.”

“Loosen up my grip a bit?”

“Yeah…” Ash felt like he was on fire – or at least his face.

“Here, let me just move through these motions, get them nice and smooth,” Tipol repeated everything Ash had showed him so far, Ash only supporting the weight of the sword a little bit.

After a few times of that, Ash stumbled backwards, finding a place to sit down quickly, hunching up his shoulders and ignoring the protest from his groin. Tipol turned himself around and stood there, shifting the sword into various positions, each one jarring Ash somehow just by watching them.

“The thing about jeans, I can tell you’ve been thinking dirty things about me,” Tipol nodded at him.

Ash jammed his hands down onto the floor between his legs, hiding the issue. “Not my fault!”

“Tsk, perverted…” Tipol shook his head.

“Am not!” Ash blushed even more.

“Thinking perverted thoughts about Calm’s little dark-skinned baby.”

“ I was not!”

“Then what were you thinking about?” Tipol seemed just a little bit amused.

“I don’t know!”

“Then how do you know it wasn’t the infant?”

Ash exhaled forcefully, whimpering under his breath, “Hate you…” He didn’t mean it of course, and he regretted saying it immediately. Although there was that one little part of him that really did hate Tipol at the moment. Somehow he’d caused this, he knew that much.

“Well then, if you hate me, I don’t mind helping you a bit,” Tipol sighed as if bored, curling his tail over there to help the dumb baby demon with his little problem. Maybe he’d learn something this time.





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