The War in the Ward

'Almost sexual'. That was an interesting way to describe it, one that hadn't occurred to Lydia, but wasn't wrong by any stretch. What sort of people could do the things those two did to each other, nearly rip their bodies apart, and come out of it as stronger friends than when they went in? It was the sort of thing a psychologist could write volumes on, and she had to confess it was a mystery to her. Maybe, as a non-fighter, she wasn't meant to understand it...but that didn't mean she wouldn't try.

She returned Colleen's bump with an even harder one and skipped away before she had the chance to retaliate, an impish grin on her face the whole time. "Oh, I don't know about all that." She moved over to the door and held it open, motioning for her to come through like a servant ushering in her mistress.

"Carmen's not bad, but let's be honest - Lorenza pretty much dominated that fight." She shrugged. It was a blunt truth, but Lydia liked to think she was a blunt woman."She had control of the flow, especially near the end. Carmen had to get all bitey just to keep up." She snapped her teeth a few times for emphasis.

Colleen almost grunted as she was bumped back even harder. She was going to retaliate, but before she could Lydia unhooked their arms and skipped away like a merry tattooed forest elf, or something. The professional woman rolled her eyes as she followed Lydia down the hall to the room where Carmen and Lorenza were staying. “Iâ€d say youâ€re blinded by your lust,” Colleen would reply. “Carmen dominated for most of the fight. Lorenza was completely out of it after Carmen slammed her into that exercise machine. She pulled them down the stairs so she could salvage at least a partial victory out of what would have been a sure defeat.”

Meanwhile, inside the hospital room, Lorenza and Carmen were locked in yet another vicious battle. Lorenza had started out strong, but didnâ€t seem to be landing on any of the Payday spaces now, and was struggling. She did have a wife and child—how that worked, exactly, prompted a rather lengthy discussion between the two of them about sperm donors and what states allowed gay married couples to adopt—but right now they werenâ€t helping her move along the board any faster.

She didnâ€t notice initially when the door opened and Lydia and Colleen walked into the room, engrossed as she was in trying to defeat Carmen.

Ah, gay marriage. One of Carmen's favorite topics, especially considering it wouldn't have even been legal for her to have sex in Puerto Rico about ten years ago. Needless to say, they were a little behind the times, and getting in touch with the LGBT community was on her to-do list. She wasn't super-famous, but her stint in the Olympics earned her recognition of the world stage, and she could cash in on it in any number of ways. Might as well give back.

As the door opened, though, her eyes shot up and a smile crossed her face - they could talk about world politics, later. "Hey, bonita." She waved to Colleen as best she could with her busted arms, looking her over from head to toe. Carmen knew any sort of sexual activity was right out with her body in fragments like this, but with the outfit her extremely friendly friend was wearing, the temptation was strong. Professional, yet subtly sexy, the same reserved prowess that allured Carmen in the first place.

Colleen hadn't come alone, either - Lydia was there, looking all kinds of seductive for Lorenza and reaffirming what Lorenza had told her about their time going well. In fact, it must have gone really well for her to dress like that in public.

"My shining knight." Lydia made her way over to Lorenza's side, giving the boxer a soft, concerned look, like she'd just fallen on the field of battle.

Lorenza had never really given much thought to being an advocate or an activist for same-sex marriage. Obviously, as a lesbian, she supported it, but she had sex so infrequently that its legalization would more likely than not never affect her personally. She had never been one for politics, anyway. She privately applauded recent decisions in Mexico and the United States in favor of the right to marry, but she had never spoken publically on the matter, especially not in her role as world champion.

After listening to the way Carmen spoke about it, however, Lorenza wondered if maybe she should follow her rivalâ€s lead and take a more active role in the public discourse on same-sex marriage. If she wanted to make the world a better place, that might be the place to start.

The door opened, and, after hearing Carmenâ€s greeting—which would have been quite the non-sequitur in the context of their previous discussion—Lorenza would turn to see Lydia approaching her. She smiled. “Hola, mi reina,” she said, sitting up a little as Lydia came to her side, grunting as her lower back protested.

Meanwhile, Colleen would make a bee line for Carmen, stepping to the side of the Puerto Rican boxerâ€s bed and kneeling down. She would rest one arm on Carmenâ€s belly and the other on the top of the pugilistâ€s head, then leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Hi there,” Colleen would purr familiarly, smiling down at Carmen.

"Ah, ah." Lydia kicked off her flip-flops and pushed, gently, against Lorenza's chest, easing her white knight back into the bed. The tigress was strong, but even the fiercest animals needed their rest, and Lydia was going to make sure she got it, even if it meant stapling her to the sheets. "Down. Down." She brought her lips down and pleasingly pecked Lorenza's pair, running her tongue along the side before she pulled back. Sure, nothing much could come of this teasing for a while, but that would just make the wait so much sweeter.

Carmen sighed at Colleen's kiss, soaking in the adoration. The woman had an angelic touch, and her very presence seemed to take away a good bit of the pain. She reached up and caressed her face as best shoulder through the cast. Skin just as soft as she remembered. "God, I need you, here. Thanks." She sighed, then looked past her to Lydia. "And I see you ran into my favorite tattoo artist, too."

Lorenza would resist her professional sexual affiliateâ€s pushing for a few seconds, but, feeling her body beginning to ache all over once again, she would concede the point to Lydia, slowly lowering herself back down into the bed. She chewed on her lip, quietly pouting in her own way. All she had wanted to do was get up and give Lydia a hug and a kiss, and her body couldnâ€t even do that much for her.

Lydia had quite the bedside manner, however, leaning down to give Lorenza a peck on the lips, her smooth, wet little tongue darting out and sliding across the corner of Lorenzaâ€s mouth as she did. The Mexican boxer grinned and lifted up a cast-stiffened arm to awkwardly pat Lydia on the shoulder. “Thank you,” Lorenza would sigh.

“Iâ€ll take care of you,” Colleen would whisper to Carmen, as the boxer told her that she needed her. Colleen would smile down at Carmenâ€s blissful face, leaning down to give the Puerto Rican another kiss, this one square on the lips. When she would break away again, the well-dressed woman would smile and nod in response to Carmenâ€s observation. “Thatâ€s right. We met in the lobby and realized we were heading to the same place.” She glanced over her shoulder at Lydia, nodding. “Now, what have the two of you been up to since you got here?”

"You're welcome." Lydia smiled and kissed the cast, leaving her black lipstick as a signature. She'd missed the touch of her flesh, that subtly strong skin, those inviting folds. She sat on the edge of Lorenza's bed, giving her most of the space to work with. "But the best way to thank me would be to actually get some rest and not make your pain even worse." She laid Lorenza's arm on he lap, let it rest of the bare skin of her thigh.

Her black gaze moved away from Lorenza for the first time since she'd entered, finally noticing that the place looked like the playroom in an afterschool. "What's all this, now?"

"That,"Carmen eased back into the bed, enjoying the pillow. Hospital pillows were always the best. "is what we've been doing with our downtime. Lorenza wasn't satisfied with me smacking her around the ring, so we brought in some board games to help settle the score."

"Oh, really?" Lydia grinned and bit her lip as she shifted about on the bed, nestling into her spot. "And I'm sure Lorenza's been dominating. As usual." There was a playful tone in her voice, but she'd definitely picked up some of Lorenza's competitive edge in there, too. She threw a quick wink at her lovely lover. "Isn't that right?"

Lorenza sighed as Lydia eased her back down. “Yeah, yeah…I know,” she would murmur. It would be difficult waiting so long, staying perfectly still in this bed, feeling as if she was wasting away. Lorenza was not always so patient. She wanted to get out of this bed. Or, rather, she wished she and Lydia were in the bed without any casts, bandages, or clothes.

After Carmen explained to their two visitors what all the board games and card games were for, Lorenza was happy to hear Lydia instantly assuming that she was dominating. “Thatâ€s right,” she replied with a laugh. “Thatâ€s right.”

Colleen, meanwhile, wasnâ€t buying that, scoffing and rolling her eyes. “Oh, Iâ€m sure. Thereâ€s no way that Carmen hasnâ€t been kicking Lorenzaâ€s ass, as usual. What is this now, honey? Life? Youâ€re winning, arenâ€t you, Carmen? It doesnâ€t look like itâ€s even close.” Colleen would lay her hands gently on the Puerto Ricanâ€s shoulders and give her another kiss. Her eyes flicked upwards to give Lydia a competitive look.

Carmen didn't know why, but she supremely loved the way Colleen called her 'honey'. It was the first time anyone ever had, that she could remember. Something she could get used to.

Subtlety was never Carmen's strongest suit, so it took her a moment to pick up on what was really going on. When she did, though, she couldn't help but smile and chuckle under her breath. Apparently, her rivalry with Lorenza was infectious. "That's because it's not. I was about to start dominating when you both came in." She gave Colleen's firm behind a squeeze, as best she could with her gimp hand. "You know how good I am at that."

Carmen made a mental note - as soon as she was physically able for it, she'd have to come up with a way to reward Colleen for such rigorous affection.

Lydia reached up and stroked Lorena's hair, slipping her hands around those azure strands. "She's just making the game more interesting. My girl is a champion. And a champion always know how to make things interesting. It's a matter of expertise. Knowledge. Tact."

Colleen grinned when Carmen told her how she was just beginning to dominate their latest game. She nodded excitedly. “Yes, yes! I do know how good you are at…” She paused, biting her lip, glancing coyly towards Lorenza and Lydia before turning her gaze back down to her Puerto Rican paramour. “I do know how good you are at dominating things. And people,” she finished quietly. She chuckled as she felt Carmenâ€s weakened hand groping her posterior.

Lorenza wasnâ€t going to agree that Carmen was about to start dominating her. She had hit a rough patch, but she was just about to rebound and start dominating Carmen. Obviously. Lydia understood that perfectly. “Thatâ€s right, mi reina,” Lorenza would say to the tattoo artist. “Itâ€s always sweeter…to win after a good fight.” Her head turned towards Carmen. “If I just walked all over you, neither of us would have any fun.”

Colleen snorted when she heard the explanation that Lydia and Lorenza had concocted together. “What kind of a pathetic excuse is that?” she asked, rolling her eyes as her hands would cup Carmenâ€s cheeks. She leaned down again, kissing Carmenâ€s forehead, then her nose, then her mouth, moving down her face in a line. Then she glanced back towards Lydia and Lorenza.