Not all gifts are "sweet" (Cassiel/open) - The White Tower

She smiled at his touch, lifting her hand to brush across his cheek, her other hand resting on her stomach.

"I think it will be. But don't hold back, okay? If I'm gonna learn, I need to push myself. And maybe, just maybe... when we're done I'll snoop around for a Fortitude teacher."

"Mmm.. if only those teachers were easier to find" he chuckled, touching his lips to her cheek again. "We'll start easy though, I promise, and then work from there. No need to go with the American Army approach of breaking down and building up. And I don't want to hurt you..."

"But I'm going to get hurt, Charlie. There's not point in going easy. I'm a fast learner anyway."

Such determination for a little whiff of a thing, really. She pulled herself forward, just out of Charlie's touch and struck the bag again without so much as a flinch.

"Yes" he said, circling around to the other side of the bag. "But I still think it's better to start off easy" he tilted his head to the side and lashed out with a short left hook that barely looked like it took any effort at all but which was still enough to swing the bag out of the way upon impact.
"Than to break you in two right away" he looked at her. "I'll make sure you know what to expect. But I won't go full out right away Cass. I won't" because he enjoyed her company far too much to shatter it by breaking what shouldn't be broken.

She took a step back from the bag, regarding him with a soft expression. "Alright, Charlie. If you think that's best, then..."

She brush a hand through her hair and then rested both hands on top of her head, fingers interlocked.

"And in the meantime, Presence will continue to be my friend," she smirked.

"Mm.." he slipped around to the other side of the bag again so that he could face her, and to close to gap between them. "You're staying here for the time being so... we'll have plenty of time to practice and make sure you have something to fall back on if needed" Charlie smiled at her.
"Oh, and the box didn't have room for it, but there's a sheath for the knife as well. It's on your nightstand along with a couple of belts"

"Oh," she smiled. "I hope nobody else has the same belt. That would be... ah... yeah..."

The youth's hands found her cheeks with a gentle touch as he pressed his lips to hers with a soft sigh, letting the kiss linger for a little while before pulling back just enough to speak.
"Still wouldn't be the same.. still wouldn't be you"

Cass shook her head with a crooked smile before leaning forward to press her forehead to his. "How is it that you see I'm not invisible while everyone else does, Charlie?"

She bit her lip and pulled away from him and stepped back up to the bag. She had some energy to burn. She began wailing on the bag with every little bit of umpf she could muster. Better out with emotions than in. And this worked. This worked quite well.

Charlie simply let her do as she wished, moving over to take a seat on the bench as he watched her work off her feelings.
There were still things that needed sorting out. He had in no way forgotten about her crying herself to sleep in his arms not that long ago. But for now, perhaps the punching bag was the right thing to go with.
Heaven knew he'd beaten his own knuckles bloody and torn more than once trying to work through his own emotions.

Beating her own knuckles bloody? Yeah... it was likely. She could handle physical pain much better than emotional pain any day. At least she could see where the pain came from. You didn't question a scrape or a cut or a bruise. It didn't need explaining-- the source was as plain as day.

It made more sense than... emotions. Stupid feelings.

He could relate to that. But although he hated seeing her hurt, he wasn't going to stop her this time.
He knew what it would take to heal it afterwards, and right now the youth figured this was what she needed. Even if the physical pain was only a temporary substitute to get her mind off things.

Sometimes though, temporary was good enough...

She lasted maybe an hour until her arms felt like jelly. Her hair had fallen into her face and out of its rubber band far the jarring of hitting the bag. Had least she did it the way she was supposed to. She... smiled... the soreness in her hands from the torn flesh and the blood that seeped from them was well deserved and very much needed. She regarded Mr. Punching Bag with a nod, as if to tell the inanimate object that she would be back.

"Not so bad, once you get used to it," she said lightly as the Rose began to unwind the bandages from her hands.

Once she seemed done, the youth got up and swiftly though gently reached out to take her hands.
"Let me..." Charlie offered with a soft smile, carefully unwrapping her right hand, then the left and looking over the damage done. "Feel better?" the youth looked up at her, still resting her hands in his as he searched her eyes for an honest answer.

"Yes," it seemed an honest answer. "Of course I feel better," she smiled to him. Her knuckles had taken quite a pounding though. As if she had scraped them over a cheese grater. "And it was worth it."

He gave a light nod of his head in response to her answer, seemingly pleased with it.
"Then let's get you fixed up shall we?" Charlie smiled at her, brushing the back of a hand across her cheek. "Wash and bandage your hands, get you something to drink" the youth tilted his head to the side and let his fingers linger at her cheek for another moment or two.
"You did good Cass. Really. Think you got him scared now" Charlie said with a nudge of his head towards the punching bag with a playful tone of voice.

She laughed lightly, like she had no other care in the world at the moment.

"He'd better be scared. Because I'm going to be the shit out of him eventually," she smiled and leaned in to give him a quick kiss.

With that, she turned and gathered the box with the knife and the rose and headed down toward the bathroom. Icky.. blood...

As if he'd leave her to tend to that alone.

Charlie grabbed the towel and the water bottle along with the rest of the boxing bandages and whatnots and followed her downstairs to the bathroom.
"Just sit back and relax" he smiled at her as he dumped the things with little care on a nearby table and walked over to turn the faucet on and grabbed a few supplies from one of the cabinets, bandages, a small towel, some disinfectant, some resin (Hey, some things worked why change a winning recipe?).
"I'm good at this" Charlie winked at her, making sure the water was temperate before mixing in the disinfectant and soaking the towel in it. "Years of practice and a bit of a temper does wonder for ones medical knowledge" he smiled as he moved to clean her hands.

She made herself comfortable and held her hands out for him. She was watching him with an interested grin.

"Do this a lot, I take it?" She nudged him gently with a foot. "You have knowledge of the body... I have... um... other knowledges," she grins. "Anything you don't know?"

"There's plenty I don't know" he chuckled, washing one hand gently then the next before drying them off with a new towel. "But some things comes with the territory and the job" the youth looked up at her, still with that same smile of his as he made sure to cover up the cuts and wounds before starting on the bandages.
"But I'm good with anatomy, languages, combat. They're rather essential skills for someone like me, though it doesn't mean I know everything" he tightened the bandages a little before setting about doing the same with her other hand. "There's always something new to learn"

"So, what is it that you do?" Look! A topic they hadn't explored!

And Cass was very interested. Even as she winced just slightly.

Ah, yes, what he did...

He carefully, and with a trained hand, finished the second bandage.
"That depends on which side you look at it from. During times of war I guess I classify as a spy" the youth said, watching her closely. "I gain people's trust, retrieve information, people. Or alternatively make it disappear" it and them.

"So you really were part of the war?" It was phrased more like a statement. "That's heavy stuff," she said, flexing her fingers. "Dangerous, even... Do you like it?"

"I've taken part in quite a few actually" the youth smiled at her, watching her flex her fingers with a satisfied look that the bandages appeared to be alright. "I don't know if "like" is the right word for it. But I'm good at what I do and I never could sit back and do nothing while others were out doing what was right"
Charlie turned back to the sink and turned on the water again, washing his hands and his face, having turned the temperature to cold again.
"Perhaps you're right though" the youth straightened up and brushed his fingers through his hair before reaching for a towel to dry the water from his face. "I guess I do like it somewhat"

Which was a really disturbing thought if you knew the details of said work.

She looked at him a moment, as if studying him.

"Is that why... Is that why you are so good and happy being either gender?"

Because it made a hell of a lot of sense.