Prompt: "That's a good look for you."
Word Count - 498
A/N: Gymnastics Hiccstrid AU. First time writing for the httyd fandom! Let me know what you think in the comments.
The laws of physics state that any object thrown into space by the exertion of a force follows a trajectory that is both predictable and calculable. In an ideal world, once released, the projectile travels through the air in a uniform gravitational field with no air resistance, and lands at a distance that can be computed using a relatively basic mathematical equation.
Simple.
Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world.
And unfortunately, Astrid is today's projectile.
.
.
.
She knows before she even lands on the mat that she's done something terribly wrong.
Either her release was off, or the bar was set wrong, or her games is just way off.
Time slows when she releases the bar and she spares a millisecond as she spins to glance down at the faded blue plastic that is suddenly too close for comfort, but of course there's nothing she can do now that she's in the air and at the mercy of gravity. She barely has enough time to curl into a defensive position before she hits the ground.
It doesn't hurt when she lands, at least, but she stays down, rolling onto her back to stare up at the lights on the ceiling with a blank mind. She's had worse falls, but something just feels wrong and she refuses to feel anything and this can't be happening right now, not with regionals in two months.
But before she can even lift her neck to assess herself, her coach is there and pushing her head back down and prodding her sides and hips and thighs and shoulders, and it's this last one, on the left, that causes stars to float into her vision and a moan to escape her lips.
In ten minutes she finds herself relocated to the hospital gurney in the corner of her coach's office which functions as the gym's impromptu medical room, wearing a borrowed shoulder support over her leotard and clutching a bag of ice to her left side to numb away the pain that has been blossoming there every time she moves it, and her mood has improved slightly from "blank state of disbelief" to "ultra-bitch in pain." Coach Suthers is glancing at her every few minutes from his desk where he's currently on the phone with some sports-injury specialist or another, and he's insistent that he's not worried but he keeps twisting the phone cord around his fingers in a nervous tic while he talks and it stresses Astrid out just to watch, so she focuses instead on Ruffnut, who's just walked into the office for her practice.
And of course, Ruffnut manages to hit the nail on the head with all her usual delicacy when she takes one look at Astrid lying on the gurney, barks out a laugh, and states, "That's a good look for you, Astrid! Bet the judges are going to love that cuff."