Almost immediately, Vincent's emotions were back in check.

Except relief. She felt a wave of that from him.

"Well, then." he said.

"So long as he's being responsible." he commented,

"I don't know WHY you are trying to learn such a thing, admittedly, but I can't hurt to know how to defend oneself." he reasoned.

"I may have a chat with him to make sure he's treating you well. Relatively speaking, considering."

Vincent just sighed quietly.

"I still need to remember not to let my emotions flare around you!" he called back.

"But I DO just want to talk to him about this, make sure of what he's doing!" he said further.

"I'm sure he is, but it's for my own peace of mind." he added, before shaking his head slightly.

"And I'm sorry about that outburst." he apologised.

"Again, sometimes it just... happens."

Vincent just sighed again.

'Ash DOES tend to get rough when he fights.' he responded.

Meanwhile, Ashleigh had returned home from a bit of an extended flight, and she made her way down to the large bedroom that she and Ash shared. When she stepped inside, she saw Ash was already there... and he was using two different whiteboards.

One had a calendar on it, the other didn't. She saw what looked to be training regime on the calendar one, and meals on the other.

However, she also noticed that the regime was... insultingly light. For him, anyway.

He then noticed she had come in, and looked over.

"Welcome back." he greeted her with a smile.

"Huh?" Ash muttered.

"Oh! No, no." he said.

"Alice." he said further. "She came to me earlier today and asked me to teach her to fight." he told her. "So I had a spar with her, and I'm creating a program to help build her up." he continued.

"She feels bad that she was so weak when that teacher betrayed her, and how she's the weakest of the family, in her own words." he went on.

"So no. I'm not scared of repercussions. Not from her or Mom or Vincent, anyway." he then said, before pausing.

"...Aunt Rocky might come a-knockin'. Alice went to her first, and she... pretty much stopped short of forbidding it..." he mumbled at the end.

"Feel free to claim ignorance." Ash responded.

"I'll be putting these boards elsewhere, to help with that story." he told her.

"And I'm starting light. She's... well... listen, Ashleigh, I want her to get stronger, but I don't want to break her." he said. "Everyone treats her either like a nuke, or like she's fragile glass, just because she's an empath." he went on.

"Until she can properly harness her empath abilities, she's at a disadvantage." he reasoned.

"If it seems like this is TOO light as I go, I'll ramp it up." he then shrugged.

Ash shook his head lightly.

"It's not fair." he said.

"She can't control what she is. It's not her fault." he went on.

"But damn it, if she wants to learn how to defend herself, how to fight, I'll do it." he told her.

"If no one else will, I will!" he declared.

"And I don't CARE if Aunt Rocky has a bone to pick with me on it!"

"If she DOES show interest in defending against aerial attacks and foes, would you be willing to train her?" Ash asked.

"I will make sure she's an expect at ground based hand-to-hand." he promised. "But I can't do anything for air-based foes." he said further.

"It's fine if not, but she might like training and sparring so much, a new perspective might be healthy for her." he reasoned with a small shrug.

"As you said, you're more on the 'next level' of training." he chuckled.

"And you have some... unorthodox... fighting styles." he went on.

"Big reason why you're so high up on the leader boards. Not a lot of targets know how to deal with your shifts and unique fighting."

"Just so long as you're not purposefully taking wing damage." Ash responded.

"THAT'S when Emelie'll have... some things to say." he mumbled.

"Anyway, yeah, this is a schedule that takes into account any distraction or handicap her empathy might give her." he then said. "If she learns to turn that shit on and off at will, then she'll be quite formidable. But for now, it MAY be a slight hindrance." he continued.

"It'll change once I start seeing improvement." he said further.

"Because I agree that she should know how to fight and defend herself."

"It is." Ash responded. "But that Mikhail guy is actually training her to turn it on and off." he then told her. "The progress is very slow, as her empathy was forcefully awakened, but from what I hear, she's showing promise." he said further.

"Also... I can think of one thing that I might ask you for. Or... rather, if you do so, it'd be super helpful." he suddenly realised.

"That special charcoal that you sometimes gather from that one volcanic area." he mentioned. "Dissolving that into water makes for an excellent recovery drink, and we're... running low." he told her.

"If you could get some in the next... 3 weeks? I'd greatly appreciate that."

"If you want to do it now, that would be fantastic." Ash told her.

"Because I just remembered something about a hunt you're going on, literally as you started to say it." he chuckled.

"A shame you have to do it alone, but... you're the only one that can do it." he lamented.

"But yeah, if you could get some before that hunt, I'll make it worth your while." he promised her with a grin.

And she knew what that meant; that vindaloo that she absolutely adored. Specifically, the chicken and sauce, which he always made sure she had in plenty when he made it.