"Yeah, darlin', you could have." Asuma's fingers splayed wide over hard-muscled, definitely unsteady shoulders. He wasn't ready to let go yet. "But then I wouldn't have got to see you naked."

Natsumi snorted, expression crossing the line from worried intensity to you are so not funny, and Asuma relaxed. Relaxed further when he spotted the telltale creep of embarrassed red flushing over sharp cheekbones.

At least she acted nothing like Tōu. He just wished he could figure out if that helped or hurt.

"Made you blush," he teased quietly, shaking the thought, and tried to get up again. Natsumi's uninjured hand slipped beneath his elbow, offering a semi-solid brace. With her help he made it most of the way, hit a dizzy patch, and ended up with his back pressed against rough-hewn branches. Good enough.

The bandages wrapped around his torso were only dappled with blood, not soaked. Between that and the pills she'd forced down his throat--which tasted foul--he'd be good for a while. At least long enough to return the favour. He yanked the tangled blankets back into place, piling them up in his lap, dragging a rough corner over his shoulder to dangle down his chest. Not exactly warm, but it'd do.

The hand he'd left on Natsumi's right shoulder slid down, stopping just above the new bruises he'd accidentally crushed into her wrist, far above the crooked lines of broken fingers. Muscles tensed like iron cords beneath his touch.

Asuma had spent six exhausting weeks working with horses once. He recognized the breathless little moment before you got kicked in the head.

At least he could talk to this horse.

"Inhale, gorgeous. I ain't planning to touch anything without your say so." He dragged his free hand across his mouth and chin, smearing fake blood away. Clean smiles worked a whole lot better. "About time we got those fingers dealt with, though. Before you get warm enough to really feel them."