Every Fiber of My Being Wants To Puke At Once When I Say This...

[Hills]

Saoirse's grip is tight enough to hurt and her assistance in bringing Alizeh to her feet is non-too-gentle, but the greenette has seen and felt more than enough of the moody Irishwoman to know that this, at least, isn't a deliberate attempt to hurt her in revenge. Her palm is also noticeably sweatier than normal, something she seems to notice as she wipes it off absentmindedly on her shirt after letting go.

"You suck."

Saoirse's blushing face and refusal to meet Alizeh's eyes make it clear enough that she isn't fully recovered, but despite her terse response the surly tone of her voice betrays a lack of true anger despite her wounded pride. After taking a few moments to (attempt to) reassert her self control, the Irishwoman shakes her head and runs her fingers through her hair, removing a few strands that had gotten caught on her face. Letting out a breath, she turns back to her friend, (mostly) back to normal.

"Didn't know you were that much of a masochist."

[Bare]

Feeling grip force that from any other woman would have been uncomfortable, if not outright painful Alizeh knew better that with Saoirse, that this was all but near gentle for Wyvern. Hauled onto her feet by the iron grip of her friend Alizeh would chuckle at the short but rather blunt retort of her friend.

"Hehe I do suck... lots of things in fact." Alizeh said, sticking her tongue out as she walked to the ropes and leaned against them, adjusting so that she was mostly sitting on them before looking up at Wyvern and noticing the tell tale signs of being flustered and embarrassed which in turn continued to make Alizeh chuckle and struggle not to laugh.

"Hehe, that's.. not untrue. Or at least, violence is definitely a turn on if nothing else." Alizeh said right back, unbothered while crossing her legs and tossing her hair back in a relaxed, albeit unintentionally sexy way. Whether or not this was to directly mess with Wyvern or not remained to be seen. Either way she was just watching for the woman's reaction to see what it would be.

[Hills]

Alizeh's immediate, ribald response to her statement prompts an eyeroll from Saoirse, but also elicits a snort of amusement. The Irishwoman's unintentional exposure therapy seems to be having some kind of effect on her, at least. She puts one hand on her hip and shakes her head, but there's no frustration in the motion, only amused resignation. There was no escape.

"Well, just be careful about what you put in your mouth in public."

Saoirse blinks in confusion when Alizeh describes violence as arousing, apparently and perhaps surprisingly not sharing the trait, but what follows may be of more interest to the greenette. As Alizeh gets comfortable, Saoirse...notices, for lack of a better word. A stare lasts a little too long, weight shifts from one foot to the other. Scant instants pass before Saoirse turns away, glancing out over the gym as she occasionally does to make sure she isn't being watched, before turning back to the conversation.

"That explains a lot, actually."

[Bare]

Alizeh noticed the slight playfulness in Wyvern's posture and expression. Sure enough as Alizh had expected the woman was getting more and more comfortable with her, or just this type of stuff in general. Either way it made things more fun with her and Alizeh liked that. "Trust me I am." She said with a wink before noticing the... reaction Wyvern had given her.

That light linger of her eyes, the quick look away to those around them before focusing back on her before finally answering. Oh now this would be interesting.

"A lot of people say that... Honestly makes me curious, what does it for you Saoirse? At least assuming you're not ace. But I never really got those vibes from you. So if there's a certain.. thing that gets you excited other than making sweets or breaking bones I'm curious." Alizeh said, tip toeing around saying the more.. crass version of what she meant, but making her curiosity known regardless.

[Hills]

That's enough to get a blush and for Saoirse to break eye contact, but she doesn't flush crimson or shut down like she might have a few months ago. Suddenly nervous and unbearably self-conscious, she combs her fingers through the back of her hair as she thinks for a few moments, giving the question the level of careful consideration Alizeh has likely come to expect from her when confronted with a prompt she doesn't have an immediate answer to. Even once she has her answer, it takes a few seconds of deliberation before she speaks, her jaw working subtlely as she either tries to figure out how to put thoughts into words, or determine if she's willing to expose this level of vulnerability to someone else. Ultimately, however, she speaks up, albeit only barely loud enough to be heard.

"...I'm not...uninterested, exactly. I just...fighting isn't...I wouldn't say that..." She takes a breath to steady herself. "I guess I don't really know. Fighting or baking or whatever isn't like...that. I've never really thought about it. I'm...look. I'm sure you've figured out that I'm...off. Broken. You've only scratched the surface. And it just gets worse the deeper you go. I don't know if I'll ever be able to...be intimate with someone, in any sense of the word, without it being dangerous. So...why bother? Might as well focus on something productive."

[Bare]

Alizeh sat back and waited patiently for Wyvern to gather her thoughts before saying them. Arguably it could be said that, out of LAW at least, no one knew the Irish woman better than the Emerald Storm which admittedly wasn't a whole lot. After all Wyvern was quite the enigma as a whole. But what Alizeh did know was that the woman was pretty thoughtful and didn't take to this line of questioning well, hell the fact that she didn't immediately shut Alizeh down may have well as just been a testament to how well they knew each other.

So when Wyvern was finally willing to get her thoughts out Alizeh sat back and listened patiently, nodding along to nudge Wyvern along. Though Alizeh wouldn't lie that when Wyvern called herself broken a look of concern flashed across her face. When Wyvern finished Alizeh would hum softly before lifting herself up and crossing her arms as she gathered her thoughts. "Well not shocking. Honestly I'm more surprised that there seems to be SOME interest." Alizeh said with a chuck to add some humor before continuing.

"But... I get what you mean. You're definitely off, weird, anti-social, aggressive etcetera." Alizeh said, rattling things off as she approached Wyvern and punched her shoulder. "But I wouldn't call you broken. If you have interest, you should try, crazier things have happened." Alizeh said encouragingly before grinning.

"After all we're friends and I don't think anyone would have expected that." Alizeh said, seemingly done before raising her hands up in a joking way. "Plus, admittedly in a company like this, having some familiarity with intimacy CAN be productive." Alizeh said with a small laugh towards Wyvern.

[Hills]

"Physical fitness is strongly tied to libido. It would be weirder if I didn't...you know."

Couching her statement in clinical terms only gets her so far when Saoirse tries to respond to Alizeh's lighthearted first response, but apart from that first response she otherwise listens silently as her friend finishes the thought. The gentle punch to her shoulder is enough to elicit a small smile and a resumption of eye contact after the agony of laying her insecurities bare in front of another human being; Saoirse had always assumed that nobody would ever be willing or able to listen to her thoughts on this subject without judgment, and while Alizeh certainly can't fully grasp Saoirse's view do to the vast gaps between their experiences, she doesn't need to fully understand to be understanding. This kind of support isn't something Saoirse ever thought she would be able to find. It's...nice.

To Alizeh, devoid of the reader's convenient access to Saoirse's inner thoughts, it's clear her younger friend isn't fully comfortable with the discussion, but this isn't the hostile or potentially violent discomfort the Irishwoman has displayed on other occasions when the subject was brought up. Discomfort or no, she's a willing participant in this conversation in a way she often hasn't been in the past.

"That's nice of you to say, but it's not...that..simple. Besides, I'm ready for anyone who tries anything in a match. I've got a subscription, I watch some of the recordings for the more...competitive matches. I know the common attack methods and defense techniques."

So that's what they're calling it these days.

[Bare]

'Wait is that true?' Alizeh thought to herself with Wyvern's little fun fact about libido tying directly to physical fitness. Which if true made a lotttt of things makes a lot of sense for her. Especially in the context of LAW. But it did also make Wyvern's own interest make a good deal of sense as well. Even so Alizeh was grateful that the Irish woman heard her out totally and as she spoke Alizeh made sure to listen carefully in kind. Though she took notice that Wyvern also still wasn't.. comfortable with the topic.

Which was fair as far as she was concerned but still if she could put the woman at ease a bit she'd do it. "Fair enough." Alizh said with a shrug before pointing out one little flaw in what the woman had said. "Though that being said, watching and knowing are different than doing and practice. You of all people should know that." Alizeh pointed out before pursing her lips for a moment and continuing.

"So if you'd want and would be comfortable with it. I'm open to... expanding our little training sessions to include that sorta stuff." Alizh offered relatively nonchalantly though she knew it probably wouldn't be taken that way. "Of course only if YOU'D want too though, I'd never wanna pressure you into something you aren't down with, especially since we're friends." Alizeh added on at the end to make sure she knew there was no pressure.

[Hills]

"...!..."

The almost imperceptible, dull, low-pitched squeak that Saoirse emits at Alizeh's offer of the extension to their curriculum is a rare, possibly unique, emission from the often subdued woman, although given how this conversation is going it may become less rareified in the future. Without hesitation, she brings both arms up in front of he chest to form an x, no doubt planning to sweep them apart in an unambiguous dismissal of the idea. She freezes mid-motion, however, and a distant look appears in her eyes that Alizeh has come to learn means that she is giving very serious thought to something. She looks to each side, a series of subdued expressions of mixed trepidation and interest flashing across her face as if having a silent conversation with some imagined Greek chorus.

After a few moments, still holding her arms up frozen in place, her gaze drops to her feet in deep contemplation before Saoirse seems to shut down entirely, eyes cast down and her expression unreadable. Long seconds begin to drag on, as she remains frozen in place no matter how patiently Alizeh chooses to wait for her to speak up again.

[Bare]

Alizeh had done it, she made her offer and now waited patiently for Wyvern's response, whatever it may be, though with her arms moving into a X shape it seemed it would be a refusal. Shame but at least she made that adorable squeak sound. However before she could follow through a look of hesitation and dare she saw interest flashed across Wyvern's face.

Followed by her...just straight up shutting down causing Alizeh to blink in confusion. Looking around to make sure no one noticed Alizeh would wait a minute or two before getting up and approaching Wyvern with a look of concern. "Yo! Saorise?" Alizeh said, waving her hand in front of the woman's face before snapping her fingers a few times to try and get her attention.

"You don't have to say yes, honestly I don't care." Alizeh said before if still getting no response... Alizeh would raise a arm and do a quick chop across Wyvern's chest, no where near full power, just enough to send a string of stinging pain and hopefully snap the woman out of her stupor.