Wolfe shook his head.

Laurel nodded before running off to find James.

"Right..." Blaze replied. "I have a favor to ask."

Wolfe nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"If you have the time, I'd like to fight you," Blaze told Wolfe. Then she coughed a little as she realized she hadn't explained. "There's something I need to think about, and I think better when I'm fighting."

Wolfe blinked and looked slightly confused until she explained. "Ah..." he replied, "Alright." And he stood. Frei was peering at Blaze closely.

Blaze was silent for a moment. Then she blinked. "Oh, you're ready now?" she asked.

Wolfe shrugged.

"He's always ready." Frei stated calmly.

"Alright," Blaze replied with a shrug. "Here then?"

Wolfe looked around, there seemed to be a decent amount of space away from the breakables so he nodded, stretching a bit before looking at Blaze expectantly.

Blaze also stretched a little and took off her jacket. So when it looked like the both of them were ready, Blaze went after Wolfe. Unlike when she fought Nic, she quickly took the offensive role. And she was faster.

So Wolfe took the defensive. They appeared to be pretty evenly matched, or perhaps Wolfe was just matching Blaze's skill. It was impossible to tell since he hardly ever took the offensive.

A flaw couldn't be found in Blaze's form. She switched styles frequently, but it all flowed perfectly. She was like a human fighting machine. Even as time passed, she maintained her speed and strength faithfully. Then suddenly she assumed the defensive.

Wolfe had more of an eloquence to his movements, he had clearly also been designed for fighting but his movements were all balanced and perfectly timed out as if planned in advance. It was rather striking and beautiful to watch. When she switched to the defensive, Wolfe stopped. His breathing was barely affected as he adjusted a strap on his arm and waited to see if Blaze would attack again.

"... Huh?" Blaze asked after a moment, breathing fairly normally as well. "You won't attack offensively?" she clarified.

Wolfe shrugged, "Don't want to." he stated blandly. There was a light chuckled from Frei.

"Why not?" Blaze asked, looking confused.

"He gets lazy." Frei explained after a moment, "He can defend without thinking. Offense takes some thought." Wolfe looked bored. "Maybe you'll get him to fight you offensively some other time." she shrugged.

"... I guess I'll figure out who's better later then," she replied as she dropped her stance.

Wolfe gave her a critical look. "If that's all you're interested in, find someone else to spar with. I have no interest or time for such insignificant things." and with that he went back to Frei. His words were more emotionally charged than Blaze had ever heard from him. Frei looked back at the screen.

Blaze blinked, watching Wolfe for a little while. "... I... didn't mean it like that," she tried to explain.

Wolfe snorted lightly as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

Blaze blinked. It looked like she didn't know how to analyze that reaction.

Wolfe let out a small sigh as he sat back on the couch, "Then what did you mean?" he asked outright, giving her a chance to explain properly. Frei was still looking at the screen.

"Uh..." Blaze muttered as she tried to figure out how to explain. "I do... want to know. I've thought about it a lot. But... I think I could go without knowing. If not knowing means that much to you. I came to think, and I reached a decision. So... thanks."

"It doesn't mean anything to me." Wolfe shrugged, "But I dislike people who make a big deal about being 'better.'" he explained, "Because in a real fight situations, being 'better' in a dual situation doesn't mean shit anyway. And being cocky in a fight means death. I fight to work out and hone my skills, not to rate myself against my opponent." he paused, looking Blaze up and down, "I don't mind fighting you but never mention this topic again. Rate me all you want but keep it in your own head." and with that speech done, it looked like he was done talking.

Frei was chuckling again.

Blaze looked confused, but she picked up on the hint and quietly left after a moment.

Laurel almost ran into Blaze as she sprinted past, "Oh, sorry!" she apologized before starting to run off.

Blaze blinked, but let Laurel run on her way uninterrupted. In the mean time, she went to take a shower.

Eventually James called a group meeting. The neonates, James and Laurel showed and waited for the others to arrive. Meanwhile, James attempted to call Nic and Raven on different lines.

Raven picked up, but Nic didn't.

Once everyone gathered, James began. "As you all know by now, Laurel's father has showed signs of waking and Yue's friend is kind enough to get him safely out of the country. Laurel has expressed a desire to be with him with he wakes so I'm sending her on ahead to Sweden. Pepper will drop her off and then return." he stated to the crowd and Laurel nodded. Pepper let out of grumble but didn't interrupt.

Raven blinked a little, wondering why James had called him for this.

"She should be safe, but she'll call us every night just to be sure. If she doesn't call, I'm sending someone to check on her." he stated before he glanced at the screen with Raven on it, "We can't get ahold of Nic. When he returns please fill him in." he stated. Laurel glanced at Raven and smiled a bit, she hadn't seen in what felt like forever.

Raven nodded a little and gave a small smile. "I'm not sure when that will be," he replied. "He left earlier this week, and when I asked when he'd get back all he said was 'in awhile.' Whatever that means."

James sighed, "Sounds like him." he glanced at Laurel. "She should be fine though, just wanted to keep you all in the loop." he told Raven.

Raven nodded briefly.

So the call ended and James let out a sigh, "I mean it, Laurel. Call every night." Laurel nodded silently.

And so the rest of the day proceeded more or less the same as Laurel prepared to go ahead to see her father.

"I'm surprised he's letting her go," Blaze noted to Kale during their typical meal.

Kale shrugged, "It was a long conversation." he stated, "Basically, Laurel would have kept attempting to sneak out and go on her own until he let her go. He couldn't just lock her up so the safest thing was just to send her with Pepper and have her check in." he explained, "Plus it won't be long until we're in Sweden too. Though... I don't know how long he's planning on letting her stay there." he admitted before taking another bit of his cupcake.

"Hmm..." Blaze mused, remaining quiet for awhile. Then she changed the subject. "... I'm not sure I'll become friends with Wolfe," she explained.