Julie was blushing so hard it felt like her entire face might melt, and the strange, fluttering warmth in her chest was beginning to overwhelm her.

This mood, whatever it was, felt too much, too intense, too...something that she wasn't used to. She had to break it before she drowned in it.

So she suddenly shook her head, shoved the needles into his hands with an almost violent speed, and spun around just enough to put a bit of space between them.

"Okay! Enough of that!" She barked, waving her hand in the air. "Let's focus! It's time to get to the real deal. You're gonna teach me how to knit, right? Come on, come on! I want to be just as good as you are!"

Cassius blinked, then burst out into laughter. Her mood swings never failed to amuse him. With a wide grin, he tilted his head and said,

"As good as me? Hah, I don't know if I'm that talented a teacher."

Julie shot him a sharp look.

"But..." He added quickly, still grinning. "I can definitely make you good enough. Good enough to make a dress. Or even a scarf just like you wanted to make."

Hearing this, her eyes lit up with excitement like a spark had been thrown onto dry hay.

"Alright then." He held the needle firmly, then glanced back at her with a sudden seriousness, one brow lifting. "I'm going to teach you using a different method. A method I came up with myself. I'm going to integrate swordplay into it."

"Swordplay?" Julie's head tilted in confusion. "You weren't joking when you said that?"

"Yeah." He said, still smiling. "But first, I need to ask. Back when you first started sword training...did you ever use a dummy? You know, to practice targeting specific spots over and over again until your precision was perfect?"

Julie's lips curled faintly at the memory.

"Of course. That was my earliest training. Before I was ever allowed to spar with anyone else, I had to perfect my forms alone. My father, he'd always watch. He'd stand just to the side, silent at first. Then he'd call out, 'Slash here.' 'Thrust there.' 'Aim for the shoulder.' 'Now the side of the chest.'"

She moved her hands slightly as she spoke, as if her body still remembered each motion, even now.

"The dummy also made of metal, painted with different colors to indicate various parts of the body. And my father...he'd keep calling out targets. Over and over again. Until it became second nature. Until I could perform the entire sequence without needing the commands."

Hearing this, Cassius smiled, eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

"Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Because that's how I'm going to teach you how to knit."

"I'm sorry, what?" Julie's brow furrowed.

He didn't explain immediately. Instead, he gently handed her the two needles along with the ball of yarn, then reached forward to pull her a little closer, not quite touching, but close enough that he could see her hands clearly.

"Back then..." He said calmly. "You used a dummy to practice swordplay. Now, to learn knitting...you're going to treat this yarn as your opponent."

She blinked. "The yarn…?" TheoriginalsourceisM|V|L5EMPYR.

He nodded and pointed to the small section where the stitch would begin. "This right here, this is your target. This is your dummy. It may not look like much, but it's got all the same parts."

He leaned in and slowly, carefully, traced along the strand of yarn with the tip of his finger.

"This right here..." He said. "...is the head. And here, this section, it's the shoulders. This twist? The chest. That curve just below it? That's the torso. And down here, see that loop? That's the leg."

Julie stared at the yarn intently, watching as he pointed out each section. Her eyes followed his fingers, and when he was done, she nodded.

"Got it. Head. Shoulders. Chest. Torso. Leg."

"Good." He said, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. "I'm only saying it once."

"I already remembered it." She replied with confidence.

"Of course you did." He said proudly, nodding with approval. "That's my Captain. Something like this is no big deal for someone like you."

Julie looked away, but her lips curved just a little.

Cassius then tilted his head with a playful grin. "Alright then, we've got the dummy…" He gently tapped the stretched-out yarn between them. "Now we need the swords."

He gestured to the two knitting needles still in Julie's hands.

"And these..." He said dramatically. "...will be your blades."

Julie blinked, the weight of the needles suddenly feeling very different, while he leaned in slightly, voice dropping in false seriousness.

"Tell me, do you know how to dual wield swords?"

Julie scoffed, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Dual wield? That's the easiest thing in the world." She lifted both needles, mimicking a swordswoman's stance. "Don't insult me. I can wield three swords if I wanted to."

Cassius raised an eyebrow. "Three?"

She nodded confidently. "Yes. Two in my hands and one in my mouth. I've trained with that before, you know."

He blinked a few times, clearly impressed.

"That's...honestly kind of amazing. I wasn't expecting that." He chuckled, nodding with approval. "That's actually perfect for what we're doing."

She grinned a little wider, while he held both of her hands again, gently repositioning the needles until they were angled just right.

"From now on, these are your swords. But this isn't going to be the same as fighting a person. I'm going to teach you a set of movements. Sword techniques, but translated into stitches."

Julie blinked. "Stitch techniques?"

"Exactly..." He said. "You're going to memorize every move I tell you. Every one of them will have a name, just like in swordplay. I'll say something like..."

He suddenly grabbed her left hand gently but firmly, guiding the needle toward the yarn.

"Left sword, slash to the head!"

With precision, he drove the needle into the top portion of the yarn, the "head", and pulled the yarn through with a clean tug. The stitch shifted, stretching at the point of contact.

"Just like that. You aim. You strike. You pull."

She stared, eyes narrowing slightly as she committed it to memory.

"Again..." He said, taking her right hand now. "Right sword, thrust to the stomach!"

With her hand, he pushed the needle forward, driving it through the central area of the yarn, just where he'd previously designated the 'abdomen.' The needle pierced cleanly through the loops, and he pulled it out on the other side.

Julie raised an eyebrow, amused. "So...it's basically just you saying what the move looks like, and I have to memorize the motion, the action, and the name together?"

He gave a proud nod. "Exactly. You're already getting it."

She gave a small chuckle and nodded confidently. "That's easy. That's just like calling out forms during training. Something like this is nothing to me."

Cassius gave her a wide, theatrical grin. "That's the spirit."

"Then go on!" She said, her eyes glittering with enthusiasm. "What are you waiting for? Give me the list already!"

He leaned in, dramatically cracking his knuckles. "Alright, prepare yourself, warrior."

Then, like a drill instructor, he began.

"Right sword, impale through the right leg!"

He guided her needle diagonally through a lower strand of yarn. "This one, clean and fast."

"Left sword, gut-slicer, slice upward from the stomach to the chest!"

He twisted the left needle, catching the yarn low, then pulled it upward slowly through the loops.

"Right sword, downward slam to the shoulder!"

"Left sword, spinning hook through the knee!"

"Right sword, double slash to the ribs!"

On and on he went, calling out more techniques, acting them out with her hand, making sure she followed every movement.

Some he made up on the spot, others he based on real sword drills, all translated perfectly into stitch maneuvers.

"Left sword, curve in from the hip, stab and twist!"

"Right sword, pierce through the side, then snap outward!"

Julie's face lit up with fascination, following along perfectly, every move absorbed and locked into memory. Her needles sliced through yarn like they were actual weapons, the motions crisp and precise.

By the time he had finished, he leaned back with an exaggerated sigh.

"Phew...Alright. That's about a hundred and ten techniques. I think I've drained every move I've ever known."

Julie also stared at the yarn, her breath slow and steady. Then she looked up at him with solemn determination.

"It's not that different from swordplay, really." She tightened her grip on the needles, nodding slowly. "I understand every single one. I can even perform them right now if you want."

"That's my girl." Cassius couldn't help it but say when he saw the confidence brimming from her.

And hearing this sudden intimate compliment, Julie didn't respond at first. She just stood there, her fingers curled lightly around the two needles, the yarn still slack between them, her head slightly bowed.

But inside...something bloomed.

That one sentence, simple, teasing, affectionate, struck a strange chord in her chest.

She had been praised before. Her father had said words like that to her all the time during training.

That's my daughter, he'd say with pride when she struck the target right, or when she completed a new sword sequence without faltering.

Back then, it had made her stand taller, filled her chest with a determined kind of pride, made her eager to keep improving, to impress him again. That praise had always driven her forward like a sharp, clean wind at her back.

But this, this was different.

The way Cassius said it. That small grin tugging at his lips. The warmth in his voice, not proud or commanding, but soft and full of affection.

It didn't fill her with determination, it made her want to melt.

It was gentle. Intimate. It made her stomach twist and flutter all at once.

A soft warmth spread across her chest, rising to her neck and cheeks. Her heart gave a small stutter as she swallowed thickly, eyes blinking quickly before she dared to glance at him again.

She hated it.

And yet...she wanted him to say it again. Whisper it, tease it, murmur it like a secret. Over and over.

"That's my girl."

Her fingers tightened slightly around the needles.

What the hell was that feeling?

She gave a sharp little breath through her nose and turned her head, trying not to let him see the way her shoulders curled inward ever so slightly or the way her expression fought between flustered and stoic at his words...