Match of the Millennium

Description: It's the morning after Hawksley and Coco's Round 2 matches and one of them is in a far sorrier state than the other. Thankfully Nurse Coco is on duty to treat Hawksley's war wounds.

[HAWKSLEY]
Following yesterday's fight with Kenzo, Hawksley has slept solidly for twelve hours, other than one brief interlude where he took some more painkillers and then staggered to the bathroom. Upon waking he can't say he feels well rested however. His head feels heavy, the scratch on his arm stings and his stomach is agony. As he sits up slowly, he lets out a sharp breath before looking down at the gauze dressing that covers his wound. The blood has seeped through whilst he was sleeping and it's going to need changing.

"You there, Coco?" he checks, hoping to see her familiar if not always friendly face close by.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I could probably do with some help with changing my dressing. I'm really hungry too. I could murder a cup of Barry's and a bacon sandwich."

[COCO]
There's no answer from Coco, although there's a sound of quiet under-breath singing drifting from the direction of the kitchen area the next room over from the futons that have been arranged in one of the dojo's off-shoot chambers as the sleeping quarters for Brian and Hawksley. Coco and Iris have been sleeping in the opposite end across the central dojo area from the lads.

The sound of Hawksley's voice does draw a scuffling of feet on wood from the kitchen, though, and soon enough, a familiar binturong wearing an eastern-style straw hat waddles in under the dragon-patterned doorway curtain separating the two rooms. Morgie stands up on his hind legs and chuckles at Hawksley before turning around to head back into the kitchen, practically beckoning for the Irishman to follow.

[HAWKSLEY]
"What's that Morgie? There's a boy trapped down a well?"

Shaking his head and getting up cautiously, the Cork City lad moves to follow the bearcat. "I'm guessing her ladyship is busy elsewhere?"

As he walks he winces. Kenzo really did a number on him, though it was a bloody good brawl. Despite his defeat and the damage done to his body, he's feeling in good spirits.

"Coco?" he calls out, as they get closer to the cosy kitchen area. Is that the scent of coffee he smells?

He's currently barefoot and bare chested with a pair of black and white checked pyjama pants on his lower half.

[COCO]
When Hawksley comes through the curtain to the cosy kitchen area, he's greeted with the sight of a familiar purple-haired lass shaking her ass - not for his benefit, it appears, but because she's listening to a pair of headphones and half-singing along with the song. Coco's wearing a white silk Simone Perele camisole and matching silk shorts and dancing as she washes some dishes. A freshly-brewed kettle of coffee is waiting on the counter between her and the fridge and pantry. The music she's listening to is loud enough to be heard faintly, and sounds like it's Ash, of all things.

"Yeah, you are a shining light o/~ Yeah, you light up my life..."

[HAWKSLEY]
"That's good to hear, cailin" Hawksley says with an amused grin, as he comes up close behind Coco and pulls off her headphones.

He plants a peck on her cheek from behind, possibly startling the purple haired posh girl, then swiftly moves out of swiping distance to pour himself some coffee from the pot.

"I meant to ask, by the way. How did your fight go with Djamila? I was so out of it, I just wanted to get to bed when we got back. I didn't even feel like a beer."

Blowing on the black coffee before taking a tentative sip, he leans back against the counter as he awaits Coco's response.

[COCO]
Coco is as startled by the headphones being pulled out of her ears as she is by the peck planted on her cheek immediately after. Hawksley's predictive evasive maneuver proves to have been wise, as the back of the purple-haired girl's hand instinctively swings through the space that he was occupying moments before.

"Rude, Lucky!" she complains as her shoulders hunch with sudden self-consciousness, and she sticks her tongue out at the Irish fighter as he pours himself a cup of coffee. A glance turns into a lingering look at the topless wonder as she settles her hips back against the side of the counter and unconsciously bites at her lower lip.

"Hmm...? Oh, you mean yesterday's match? I won, Lucky! Though I've a few bruises. If you ask nicely, I might even show you where."

She gets a sly look on her face before adding, "Probably not in the kitchen, though. Anyways, nothing very special happened, other than it being a close fight. Probably not worth looking up on FightTube or anything."

Her expression becomes more concerned as she peers at Hawksley's bandaged stomach. "Lucky, that looks ghastly. Are you sure you shouldn't be in hospital with that? Those bandages deffo need freshening up."

The coffee, it must be said, is mega strong. There's probably a reason why Coco doesn't have her own cup on the go.

[HAWKSLEY]
There's laughter from the Irish lad as Coco swings at empty space.

"Ah, I'll be grand" he shrugs, waving off her worries about his health. "I mean, I do need the dressing changing for sure but the medics were okay with me heading back here, as long as I was resting and not on my own."

He takes another sip of the coffee, grimacing at the taste. "I think I'd prefer this with cream and brown sugar" he decides, setting the cup down on the work surface.

"Congrats on your win. I will for sure be checking it out on FightTube at some point. At least one of us has picked up maximum points for Team Blaze. I have a feeling Brian might have his match today at the funeral home. At least there's no sign of him in our bedroom. How about Iris? Is she around?"

He eyes the Chelsea girl in her swanky short pyjamas and wonders "So where exactly are these bruises?"

[COCO]
"Well, at least you aren't too badly injured, if they say so," Coco murmurs with a faint expression of concern still directed at Hawksley's stomach. "Shame you lost, but you know, it's all a lark anyway, isn't it? You're still ahead of me in points. Just barely, mind."

The previously non-competitive Coco looks slightly pleased at the fact.

"Are you trying to say there's something wrong with my coffee?" Coco asks as she watches Hawksley's reaction to tasting the beverage, one eyebrow creeping upward slightly. She takes a step closer to Hawksley.

"I haven't seen Iris or Zog or even Mitsuru so far. As for the bruises, I think your injuries are in more dire need of attending to. Let's go to the bathroom and get a fresh wrap and some peroxide, or whatever we've got in the cabinet."

Morgie, for his part, busies himself with licking up spare coffee grounds that have been left on the floor following Coco's morning preparations.

[HAWKSLEY]
"All of life's a lark" Hawksley responds. "It's the only way to look at it and stay sane."

"As for the league table, I'm fine with you breathing down my neck. It'll keep me on my toes and out of trouble. Well, maybe not the latter."

He picks up the coffee, considering giving it another chance and then decides against it. "I'm sure it's grand if you wanna pull an all nighter. How many scoops did you put in?"

He starts to move towards the bathroom on Coco's suggestion, happy to have his own personal nurse service. "You'll go easy on me won't you? I know you like to play rough at times."

That's pretty rich from the man who had brawling as a hobby before making it his career.

[COCO]
"Yeah? Well, I'd rather having you breathing down my neck," Coco posits with a cheeky expression that isn't quite clear as to whether she means literally or metaphorically. "Anyway, I don't know, I just put it in until it seemed good enough. I don't usually make my own coffee."

She takes Hawksley by the hand as she leads him through another set of artistically-decorated curtains and down a short corridor before arriving at a doorway that, thankfully, has an actual door with a proper lock on it. Inside is a bathroom with shower, toilet, and sink facilities; opening a cabinet underneath the sink, Coco reveals that it's also stocked with medical and first aid supplies. She opens a box and takes out some fresh bandages, a pair of scissors, and a tub of antiseptic cream.

"Here we are," she says to Hawksley, holding the supplies up to show him with a smile. "Alright. Sit down and promise you're not going to flinch or scream or anything and this should be no bother. We'll have to get those off first," she adds, nodding at the bandages on Hawksley's stomach.

[HAWKSLEY]
"I'm sure you've felt that before" Hawksley murmurs before letting himself be led away to the bathroom.

He watches as Coco sets out the supplies, his expression unusually serious. "I can't make that promise, can I now? I might just get the urge to scream or something if it's agony. Not that I'm usually much of a screamer. There might be some flinching too, but I won't do either intentionally."

He leans back, taking a breath in and seeming to hold it as he awaits her touch. "I hope you don't mind getting my blood on you. I can pull them off myself if you want."

[COCO]
"God, lucky, you make it sounds as though I'm some sort of sadist getting ready to torture you," Coco says as she snip-snip-snips the air with her scissors before setting them aside and running the sink to wash her hands with soap. Once she's done, she dries them off and moves over to kneel in front of Hawksley. "You're alright, I can handle a bit of blood. I mean, as long as it's not my blood, I'm not overly bothered."

Using her fingernails, she starts peeling away the bandages that have started to seep through, biting her lower lip in concentration as she does. "I still think it's mad that people fight with weapons in tournaments. Then again, I suppose you've got blokes like that Bison who are just as dangerous with boxing gloves on, so I suppose it's not that different, really," she says, before committing fully to pulling off the taped gauze - the bit that is as likely to be painful as anything.

[HAWKSLEY]
Hawksley is being a very brave boy. He not only manages to resist screaming, he also stays mostly still as Coco works her magic.

"Have you done this before?" he asks, curious about how calmly she's setting about the procedure.

"I can't really complain about people using weapons when my fists are a registered weapon" he jests, holding them up playfully. "Seriously though, someone like Bison could kill with one punch probably..."

His voice trails off as he recalls the tale about the elephant.

Looking downwards, his dark eyes stray to watch Coco at work on his wound. "I reckon I'm gonna have a scar. At least for a while."

[COCO]
"I've done this sort of thing with dogs before," Coco claims as she proceeds carefully with stripping off the bandage. Once it's been peeled off completely, she deposits it in a bin that was purchased during the dojo's restoration as a serviceable living space. "So it's more or less the same thing here, really. Though I will say, you've been a very good boy. Hardly any whimpering at all."

She unrolls a short length of bandage, applying some of the antiseptic cream before she starts to press the taped end against one end of Hawksley's injury.

"I don't think you'll scar too badly. If you do, at least it's not like you have to worry about your bikini bod. Scars on blokes are sexy. If I had the same scar, people would probably think I'd had a Caesarian. No, thanks."

She starts delicately flattening and rolling it out further, adding a bit more of the cream as more of the gauze is needed. Finally, she takes the scissors and snips the now-used section of bandage off of the roll.

"There we are. You deserve a treat, Lucky," she says with a sweetly patronizing tone before reaching up to ruffle his hair as she rises.

[HAWKSLEY]
"I seem to remember you thinking I was more of a rooster than a dog" Hawksley chimes in. "Or was it a cock?"

There's something about having her care for him that seems strangely relaxing, despite the sharp sting as the antiseptic cream is smothered on his stomach. "It won't be the first scar I've earned and it's unlikely to be the last. I suppose a Caessarian scar isn't too bad to have if you get a cute baby for your trouble afterwards" he adds.

Once the dressing is finished he rewards Coco with a sunshiney smile. "What kind of treat will I be having now? Do I get to choose or is it gonna be a surprise?"

He makes no objection to his dark hair being ruffled. If anything his smile only grows brighter.

[COCO]
Fortunately for Hawksley, Coco is already finished by the time that he chimes in with his rooster-related remark, and thus she only ends up sputtering harmlessly for a moment rather than accidentally having her hand slip around his injury.

"Well, maybe you're some sort of half-rooster, half-dog creature. Like a griffon's more ridiculous cousin."

She crinkles her nose at the mention of cute babies. "Cute babies are also poopy babies," she says with a distasteful tone. "If I ever have a baby, I'm going to have to have a nanny, and personally, for the moment, I'd rather stay as beach-friendly as possible. Not that the beaches around here seem particularly worth the visit."

She looks around as if to ensure that they're not being watched, her hands moving to his shoulders as she stands over him, massaging the muscles between his neck and biceps as she considers his question.

"Well, I suppose I did say that once you were treated I could show you my bruises. Seems like an opportune time and place..."

Log created on 17:11:08 07/02/2023 by Hawksley, and last modified on 14:22:43 07/03/2023.