The War in the Ward

"Thank you." Lydia's reply was as genuine and sincere as she could get, and she wasn't under delusions about Lorenza's objectivity. Obviously, they're relationship had at least some factor into her opinions. But even so, even if there was only a nugget of truth in the compliment, that was more than enough for her to feed on. Praise from Lorenza Saldano, the world champion, the legend, was high praise, indeed.

Lydia took a few gulps of water form her cup before setting it aside and leaning in, letting her face get teasingly close as she whispered. "You know," She brought her head close enough to Lorenza's ear to gingerly lick at it. "It might help motivate me if you offer me a reward for winning. A little carrot on the stick. Any ideas?"

Carmen shook her head and patted an open space on the bed, motioning for Colleen to take a quick seat. The nerves were starting to get to her a bit, but it was an easy fix. "That's the sort of thing that comes with time and experience and you still never get it 100% right. Don't worry, you're doing fine. Just calm yourself, let your body flow with it. You have killer instincts, bonita. Just have to trust them."

Lorenza would watch as Lydia drank down her glass of water, getting some much-needed hydration for the final round. The next thing Lydia did would make Lorenzaâ€s whole injured body tingle, as the tattoo artist leaned in close and licked at her ear. “Oh…if I wasnâ€t injured right now…” Lorenza would whisper in reply. “But, you know…my mouth still works just fine, so maybe when you win, I could…” she trailed off, then licked her lips hungrily. Positioning themselves would be difficult with all of Lorenzaâ€s injuries, but it could be done.

Meanwhile, as Colleen sat down beside Carmen, listening to her loverâ€s instructions carefully, she would start to get excited again for the third round. Very, very excited. She could feel her heart pounding, from exhaustion and exhileration. She smiled and turned to gaze down at Carmen. “I will. Iâ€ll do as you say, Carmen, and Iâ€ll knock her out here. Now…” She would lean down close to Carmen, their noses touching. “…what do I get once I win?”

In a way, Lydia didn't mind that Lorenza was bound up. Oh, she would've certainly preferred her to be up and about, but combat and pain were her life. A few hospital stays were inevitable, though if even a few of her fights in Friction were as intense as the one she had with her Carmen, Lydia wagered she'd be having a short career.

Still, this wasn't so bad. The teasing. The anticipation. It was like the pacing of a good novel, taking their time to develop the climax, enrich the experience before the plunge. "You're sure?" Colleen pressed a finger to her chin and tried her best to look innocent. "I wouldn't want to get you carried away and make things worse..."

Carmen was having a similar thought, only hers wasn't in jest. She would do all sorts of things to Colleen if she could move, but she just couldn't. So many options, taken away. Her lady deserved better than what the boxer had to offer.

"Well." She reached and took Colleen's hand in hers, stroking her thumb across the delicate palm. "If you don't mind a little waiting, I can give you a night. You're night. A night for you to just sit back and be worshipped. Anything you want, however you want, for as long as you can take it." She batted her eyes with fiendish smile. "Does that interest you?"

Lorenza laughed and patted Lydiaâ€s back again. “Oh, you could never make things worse, chica. Besides, my mouth is okay, except for the crack in my jaw and the tooth that they had to replace. But my tongue—my tongue, mi reina, is uninjured.” She licked her lips hungrily, letting Lydia know that she was ready to give her a reward should she win the match.

Meanwhile, Colleen had asked a similar question of Carmen. The answer was different, but Colleen was no less satisfied with the answer than Lydia was with Lorenzaâ€s. “That sounds very nice—very, very nice. I donâ€t get to be treated like that too often…especially by such an incredible woman as you, Carmen Rodriguez.” She would lean down and kiss Carmen passionately.

"Oh, is it really?" She reached over with her glove and nudged Lorenza's mouth open, then looked over and pretended to give it a thorough looking through. On a side note, she had to admit that they had done an excellent job with Lorenza's replacement tooth. Lorenza's winning smile was still intact. "We'll have to give it a few tests to be sure, Ms. Saldano. But first..."

Lydia stood back and started to get ready, slipping her mouthpiece in for the last time.

An incredible woman. Carmen sighed into Colleen's kiss, tasting the sweat on her lips, maybe even a little blood. It only added to the flavor, like a rare sauce she might never have the chance to taste again. "Flatterer." She spoke into Colleen's mouth as she pulled away. "One more round. I can't tell you anything you don't know already - keep doing what you're doing. You're going to win."

Lorenza allowed Lydia to perform her oral inspection, and, evidently, she approved of her findings. With one last little teasing comment, Lydia stood up and slid her mouthpiece back in. Lorenza would reach out and pat her girlâ€s butt encouragingly one more time.

“Youâ€ve been doing great. Had her reeling. Time to finish her off!” Lorenza would say.

Meanwhile, Colleen gave Carmen that quick kiss, filled with spit and sweat and blood, all accumulated over the course of this grueling spar with Lydia. When she would pull away, Colleen would blush slightly at Carmenâ€s compliments, before standing up and pounding her gloves together. “Thank you. I know I will. Iâ€m going to knock her out for you. Get you another victory over the Tigress over there—in surrogate, anyway!” Colleen would slide her mouthguard into place and turn to face Lydia again.

With both boxers appearing to be prepared for the third and final round, Lorenza would clear her throat, and then, when the second hand on the wall clock reached the twelve, she would call out once more: “Ding!”

Lydia let out a little squeal as she sauntered away from Lorenza with her hips full of sway, as always. Joking aside, she was still aching all over. Tired. When she got to bed tonight she would sleep like the damned, and not even that annoying cat of her neighbor's was going to get her up, this time. She might even call in sick to her own business. Woe betide the fool who dared ring her doorbell.

But it would be worth it. So worth it.

Carmen looked on, proud as Colleen moved back into position. It was unlikely she would ever have kids, but Carmen had to imagine this was the sort of feeling parents longed for. Watching someone with skill you had a hand in nurturing, who looked up to you, going on in your name. It was a warm feeling, and if Carmen ever had any doubts about training boxers full-time some day, this was erasing it.

Lydia took up position as the final bell rang this time, but she didn't attack straight away. This time she focused on her footwork and kept her guard tight, skating around the edge of Colleen's range and daring her to lash out and make a fatal mistake.

Colleen was proud to be representing Carmen Rodriguez in a fight, even an unofficial one. As Lorenza would ring the bell to start the third and final round, Colleen would throw one last smile Carmenâ€s way before it would be replaced on her face by a stony, determined look. She raised her gloves and approached Lydia as the two women prepared to settle this little spar, each eyeing the other warily, each preparing to go for the knockout blow.

Though Colleen had been going on the offense for quite a bit of this spar, she was not about to put herself out there and make herself vulnerable in this important third round. She would be cautious, keeping her guard tight, slowly circling around Lydia, waiting the tattooed woman out, hoping that Lydia would try to strike first and make a fatal mistake. With each pass, however, Colleen would get closer to Lydia, the circle slowly shrinking until the gloves which they held in front of their faces were almost touching, and Colleen could stare deeply into the other womanâ€s eyes through the small hole between her black gloves.

Carmen leaned in as the fighting got eeriely quiet and intense, like foxy boxing between two girl who actually knew what to do with those gloves and not just b. She didn't give any advice. Not a word. The less distractions, the better. For this round, she'd just sit back and let Colleen do her thing.

Lydia moved in, staring back at Colleen from the shadows. She wanted her to make the first move, hoping for a simple straight, maybe even a jab.. She could throw a good counter with that, perfectly time the shot. She'd seen Lorenza do it dozens of times, she knew he could turn the whole fight to her advantage with one, well-placed strike. But what kind?

How about all of them? Lydia dropped her shell long enough to send out a quick burst, swinging wildly and weakly at Colleen in a blazing barrage. The blows wouldn't do much damage to anything even if they did hit, but they might get Colleen to mind her personal space.

Lydia was eventually goaded into throwing the first punch of the third round. And she decided not to throw just one punch, but throw all of them, all at once, one right after the other. The barrage was surprising to Colleen in its sheer ferocity. The punches were wild, with some of them flying over Colleenâ€s head, and others pounding straight into her guard. But some of them slipped through and smacked right into Colleenâ€s face or chest, flattening her breasts or adding another lump or bruise to her cheek or forehead.

The damage was minimal, but Colleen was getting annoyed and a little dizzy as she was battered about, and she knew that if this continued much longer Lydia just might get a lucky shot, and put her in some real trouble. As it was, Lydia was building an advantage. Colleen was going to try to unbuild it. She started throwing her own punches, quick, short jabs fired in rapid succession, aimed at Lydiaâ€s face to try to knock her back.