Asuma chuckled roughly. "I can live with that." Natsumi's hand wasn't exactly warm against his shoulder, but he still had to catch himself from leaning too far into her touch. Even with the little signals of hair playing and suggested-kissing, now wasn't exactly the time...

Five minutes, give or take, after he finished fixing up her hand.

"Actually, I've changed my mind," he said, casting about for something to use as a splint. "I've already had a couple welcome home meals. We should do something different. I could take you dancing, or you could show me how the hell you shoot a bow like that. Just so long as we don't go near water or anything with a high drop." He was babbling, just a little, breath stuttering as it caught cold between his teeth, but that was okay as long as his hands kept moving.

He glanced down at Natsumi's fingers, lashed neatly together and forced back into straight lines. The back of her hand was one ugly bruise, the skin crushed black and purple all the way up to her wrist, where his own hand had done the crushing. He couldn't tell if any of the small bones were broken, but there wasn't much more he could do if they were.

He decided to leave her fingers unsplinted. More pressure wouldn't help, and white tape drew a lot less attention than bandages and strapped support. He'd hate to leave the redhead a clue about where to strike, if she ever caught up to them. If she'd survived.

He quashed the thought.

Natsumi's hand stayed carefully still on his knee when he released it. Asuma caught her eye, then bent down and brushed his lips gently as a breath over swollen knuckles--which worked great as a romantic gesture right up until his side pulled with a nasty stab of pain and made him straighten up fast. He leaned his shoulder back against the fallen treetrunk, and offered a tight smile. Natsumi shivered in the dim light.

"If I wasn't a sunny optimist," Asuma said, pulling his legs up to see about getting some real feeling back in his toes, "I think this'd be the moment where a little cryin' wouldn't go amiss. Don't suppose we could revisit my idea about body heat? Because I sure can't think of a better excuse to get a free hug."

And judging by the glassy shimmer in Natsumi's eyes, the white-edged press of lips that had been set ever since he'd first touched her fingers, he wasn't the only one needing an excuse.