Chapter Text
The heavy weight of her blade as it touched the ground as she stood ready. The frigid breeze of the Coerthas bit her even through the outfit she wore. Albeit… Lyla was always known for picking fashion over function and really the thin material of this top that made her boobs look great was not good against the cold in the slightest. Plus who cares about being cold when you can have great cleavage. Both from your top and from your sword. Some part of her that distinctly sounded like Raha was reminding her that there was soup in a thermos in her bag along with a fresh change of clothes for two people that she’d tossed to the side before this. Well, tossed to a cave not far that had enough supplies for a fire and blankets. It’s where Zenos had been staying. Enough soup for 4 people. Or rather, One Lyla and One Zenos.
“Come then, are we just going to stare each other down all day?” He taunted. Unlike Lyla, Zenos was from the cold climates worse than this and even if his clothes had plenty of fashion to it, it was tailored to withstand ghastly winds of the north. “Well I quite enjoy the view, it’s not what I’d prefer right now.” He said with that smug smirk. An attractive smirk but one that Lyla always took joy in wiping off his face. To be fair to Lyla, giving him a view was as much as being fun for herself while also tactical. Her tail slowed as she focused on her balance, her ears flattened to her head, and she felt her entire body still. And Zenos’s smirk grew wider. The top didn’t afford her enough time to surprise the master tactician that he was in a fight but it gave her enough time to get the first strike in.
She leapt off the ground, sword high above her as she drove it down in an arch in front of her. Zenos twisted the pole of his scythe around. The two collided with a clash of metal that sparked off each other from the force. With a shove, he knocked her off balance and sent her to the ground. Lyla anticipated the move and nimbly landed on her feet a few films away. Zenos swiped his leg out to try and knock her down. She jumped and rolled over the leg, bracing on her legs to shove herself up. Lyla used the force of the movement to bring the greatsword up. Shifting on the foot he hasn’t been kicking with, he spun out of her reach. Their backs brushed as they both pivoted. Both spun back around to again clash their weapons against each other, holding in place.
The size difference between the two mattered little in terms of strength in this fight. Their crossed weapons didn’t budget either way towards the other. Both putting their full force into it. And the miqo’te was much much stronger than she looked. But this stand off couldn’t last long. She could take a cheap shot she supposed but if she played dirty too early, he would too. And he had the reach to do worse if she didn’t play her cards right.
“I can see your mind racing. Come, I love what you can come up with today. Show me a new form of your fury.” His smirk became more maniacal than it was before. Zenos was beginning to feel the high only a battle with his Beast could accomplish. Lyla dropped, darting back from him.
“I think you just like the sound of your own voice.” Lyla spoke, voice rough as she growled it out. She knew in truth he just spoke when he felt motivated to. And he always thought it felt right to speak whenever she was around, even if it was to just narrate their battles. She didn’t mind in the least, finding his voice quite lovely but right now he was her enemy. And she wouldn’t let that distract her. Not yet at least.
“She doth speak today!” She didn’t reply to that obvious taunt. She discovered early on in this… relationship of theirs that he loved the challenge in every part of it. Including getting her to grace him with her words. So during the battle, she indulged his desires to be challenged for every inch of what they shared. And she’d concede to some of it. But never the actual physical fight. She never concedes those. These fights were as much for him as they were for her. It fulfilled a part of her that nothing else could. The adrenaline, the exertion, the emotions that all arose from her time around him. Heightened by the high only a good battle gave. It was like a fire that burned brightly inside her that only he knew how to stoke. While she loved G’raha deeply, he’d never be able to give her this sort of feeling. But at the same time, Zenos could never give her the same kind of feelings as Raha so it balanced out well, leaving her feeling right in her own skin,
She wanted those feelings only Zenos could bring out in her. Give it to her without her constantly fearing for her own life of course. She did fear dying fighting him but not because she thought he’d actually try to kill her now. No no, Lyla knew he valued her too much now for that. But accidents do happen. Maybe that was part of the thrill of it. The knowledge that one slip from either and it would be the end for them both. She knew it’s certainly what made it so exciting for Zenos.
“My Beast, you’re getting distracted.” The first real blow of the fight belonged to Zenos in that instance as he brought the flat of his scythe into her back, knocking the air from her lungs and definitely leaving bruises. She caught herself from falling flat on her front on her knee. From her new position, she swung again at Zenos. From the lower position than he was used to defending from, a slash across the fronts of both calves cut through his pants and sliced his skin, although not deeply. He laughed. “There are your claws. I was beginning to worry that I would be the only one to bare my fangs today.”
“And let you take an easy victory? I’d never be able to live with myself.” Lyla smirked, an expression almost entirely reserved for him.
His glee showed plainly in his eyes as he realized she would talk more often now. It was his reward for landing the first hit. She spun back up onto her feet, landing in front of him. They began to circle one another, matching looks of excitement.
“Oh but you’d look so nice, on your knees pleading for your life.” He swung again. Only for her to duck below it as she used the height difference to her advantage. When she popped back up, she swiped at him again. She successfully hit, slicing into his arm, deep enough to see the red splash out with her blade.
“No. If I am to be pleading to you on my knees, it’ll never be for my life.” She shot back, a flirty smile contrasting to the feral look in her eyes. “But you’d actually have to know how to earn it for me to give you that.” Lyla spun her blade so it was the flat of it. Then she rotated herself around him again while he contemplated those words and swung her blade as hard as she could against his back. If he wanted to leave her with bruises there, she’d return the favor along with a cracked rib from the sounds of it.
“Yes!” He bellowed at the feeling. He turned and grabbed her by the shoulder and tossed her across the field of their battle. She barely missed breaking her back on a tree but again. He wasn’t actually trying to kill her. But the force of hitting the ground on her chest knocked the air from her lungs and stunned her for a moment. She felt her face slam into it and tasted blood on her lips. She rolled over and tried to catch her breath quickly. But it was long enough for him to get up on her, a foot pressed to her chest. He began to dig the edge of his scythe into her side, searing pain from it sparking through her. She grinned before shoving her hand into the slash in his pants she’d created earlier. Lyla dug her sharp nails as deeply into the calf of the leg on her as she could and pulled down. The shock of the action caused the pressure to lighten some and she shoved up with all her force, causing him to stumble and enough time for her to rise up, leaving her sword on the ground.
“That was dirty.”
“Oh yes but you like it like that.”
“I’m going to slice your tongue out.”
“But then what would you enjoy upon your victories?”
“Silence.”
“You’d hate that.” He said and she growled knowing he’d won that point. She loved their post fight conversations. When she got to see the Zenos that could have been if he’s been given an ounce of love prior to well… everything fucked that had happened to him. It wasn’t an excuse by any means. He had a shit ton to atone for still. But it explained so much and the man who could have been was intelligent and well read with a deep understanding of how people worked. He just didn’t really feel much himself outside of what she inspired in him. But he was getting there. She recently got him to understand why she was upset at him threatening to break Estinien for being dense about things.
“Right now, I just wish you’d actually try in this fight.” She goaded and it landed exactly as she wanted it to. The feral energy she felt flashed into his eyes and he dropped his weapon. Now was when the fun actually began. She darted left and took off. She needed him further into the woods if she wanted to win right now. But not so far that if they needed, they could crawl back to her belonging where the food and potentially needed potions were. But potions were strictly forbidden in the fight. It was all raw. No magic either. It wouldn’t be fair to use it against the Garlean unless it was agreed upon prior. Just like he was to use no magitek although that was never an issue. He rarely used it for himself anyways.
“Come on, little kitten. There’s no need to run.” He goaded back, knowing how she hated to be called that in a fight. But thankfully for her, she was exactly where she wanted to be in this fight. She could see his cave not far from them. So after he said it, she whipped around and kicked as hard as she could into his hip. Zenos staggered. Planting her foot on the side of him and the other between his, she got into his space. Using one hand to grab the front of his coat, she yanked him down and slammed her head into his face. It didn’t break his nose but she could feel the force was definitely hard enough to make it bleed.
“I’m not a little kitten, asshole.” She snarled. The smile on his face looked mad with the blood now running from his nose mixing with it. He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her up to his height to look him in the eye.
“You could have fooled me with how easily you pick up by your scruff.” He dropped to his knees, bringing her down to slam into the ground. She felt the force in her chest as she heard a crack she knew was at least one of her ribs. With her top pinned, she had to work to shove her hips up and wrap her legs around his torso. Lyla squeezed as hard as she could on what she knew was a broken rib. The pain only seemed to make him go more crazed. “Yes! Show me what you’ve still got in you.”
“Well, it’s certainly not you right now.” She laughed, slightly crazed from the high the pain and adrenaline gave her. “But you should be careful what you wish for!” Using both hands, she grabbed his hand with one and arm with the other. Using his own weight against him, she turned to roll and with a combination of his weight and her strength, rolled them to change position. She rolled back to her feet. He was quick to follow. But she held the advantage and as he stood, she grabbed his arm. Bending it backwards and bringing up her knee, she felt it snap in her grip. What would have brought most people so much pain only made him laugh now.
“There’s that fire!” He grabbed her wrist with his broken arm, pain flaring through it. And with a fist, Zeno punched her directly into his stomach. And then stomped her foot. And punched again. He went for a third strike but she caught his fist. She twisted the wrist to distract him and shoved herself away once he focused on that. They both knew at this point the timer on the fight was running out. A broken limb needed more attention than other broken parts. Plus, Lyla could feel her muscles begin to burn. She is liable to slip up soon if she doesn’t end it. And she wasn’t in the mood to deal with the taunting jeers that came when she lost. So, it meant it was time for her secret weapon.
“You know, something you could learn before coming into these fights? Carry more than one weapon.” She pulled the dagger out that she hid in her boots. Lyla threw the dagger in a spot she knew would do no serious damage to him and watched as it embedded in his side. Quickly as she could, she charged. Yanking the dagger back out, she jumped back as his uninjured arm put a hand over the wound. When she got far enough back, she threw it into his ankle. He grabbed it before she could but still buckled under it. It struck something there that made him unable to bear weight on it.
Lyla knew then she’d won. She also knew she needed to heal him some while the rest he would want to heal the old fashion way. He wanted scars, things he had never had before, but only by her hand. No other scars but from her. It was sweet in that Zenos way, but that would come in a moment. Right now, she had something that had to be done. She sauntered slowly towards him, watching him watch her with an air of reverence to his expression. When she stood before him, he didn’t look up at her. Keeping his gaze front and center. One of her hands went to his shoulder, pressing down on the injured arm. Her other hand threaded its way into his hair and yanked it back to make him look up at her from his position on his knees. Her foot lodged firmly onto his crotch, threatening to step down.
“Submit.” He almost wished she would step down further. To make it more work for him to submit. But he also knew if he did that, she wouldn’t fix his arm until much later. She’d make the pain last just a little longer. And he wouldn’t get the second part of their usual visits. At this point, he wanted to get to that part especially if she pressed down any further, it might make it hard to do that part. Instead, with his unbroken arm, he reached up to caress her check, smearing both of their blood on it in the process.
“My friend, my enemy, my love. I am wholly yours to do with which you will.” He submitted beautifully. Enraptured at the sight of a woman he considered a near goddess. Hair wild and full of dirt and debris. Ears erect and alert. Tail flicking back and forth. Her face already nursing a bruise on the cheek alongside a busted lip from one of the times she hit the ground. Blood all over it, his and hers. Her outfit, once pristine now dirty, torn, and bloody. Her exposed chest with bruises, nicks, and a tear in the top that was moment from freeing her tits from it. The bottom torn with a large gash in her side from his blade. Her skirt dirtied and torn up to nearly the waist as it became less skirt than just barely there fabric to cover the bare minimum of her, making her legs look longer than her short stance allowed. Those thigh highs, scuffed and covered in dirt and blood but still in one piece but lacking a single knick. Every inch of her looked beastly to him and he wanted nothing more than to be allowed to indulge in her.
She smiled at his submission. She had won. And Lyla took a moment to feel the glory that came with this gory affair. She let her healing magic pulse into his broken arm. He shook it as it mended, feeling the range of motion coming back. She placed the same hand on her side, healing the wound there along with her cracked ribs. Lyla placed her hand on his clavicle.
Then she shoved him back into the cave, flat on his back. He grinned up at her as he watched her take the dagger she’d used on him.
“You’re paying for this top. And take it out.” And she sliced down the side of it and tossed the fabric to the side. Using his fixed hand, he undid the button on his pants but did not take them off yet. He reached in and did as she bid him to do. He stroked himself lightly as he watched her, content to stop if Lyla ordered it but wanting to just give himself something if she’d allow it. She stood with a foot planted on either side of his chest before letting herself collapse down on to him. He let out a huff of pain but nothing else to show the weight of her settling on his cracked ribs was noticeable.
“Careful, my beast. You only fixed my arm.” She set her hand on his rib. A silent invitation if he truly thought he needed it. He picked her hand off of it, the answer. He was merely making a comment. “What is it you want?”
“You can use the tongue I graciously didn’t cut out first. Then I’ll give you what you want.” He laughed at the comment.
“My my, you assume much about what I want.” She leaned back with one hand to grab at him, hand closing over the tip.
“Oh, apologies. I just thought this spoke of what you wanted.” She smirked as she dragged her nails gently over the head before leaning back away. Lyla heard his deep inhale at the sensation. But she knew it wasn’t in pain. He grinned maniacally at her before grabbing her thigh with the hand not jerking himself off. A quick hand tore the rest of the sorry excuse for a skirt she was wearing.
“Beast, anything from you would be enough.” He said before pulling her towards him. “Now allow me to worship at your altar.”