A/N: Hey, you guys! I am so sorry that I haven't updated in about two weeks! I decided to do Camp Nanowrimo and I started it a day late and I am also revising my other stories. I'll try to update as much as I can, though!
The playful atmosphere in the room immediately vanishes. Taking its place is a tension so thick that you could slice through it with a knife.
My heart leaps into my throat and beats painfully as I stand up straight. Tobias goes completely rigid. The smiles and laughter are gone.
Eric pauses mid-step when he sees us. Shock glints in his dark eyes as he looks at Tobias, then at me.
"What's going on here?" Eric asks.
"Red came in to practice before training starts and I offered to help her," Tobias replies in an almost casual manner. If anyone were to come in at this exact moment, they would have no idea that Tobias and I were nearly caught goofing around.
"Ah." Eric nods and shuts the door behind him. "What was that laughing I heard about then?" He asks.
Crap!
My eyes widen. He heard us laughing? I force a blank expression on my face. "That was me," I say. "I was laughing because I took Four down and I couldn't believe that I did." That is partially true. I did take Tobias (a.k.a. Four) down and I couldn't believe it, but I wasn't laughing when I did that.
His eyes widen in disbelief. He nods toward my brother. "You took Four down?"
"Yes," I say. Tobias nods in agreement.
The look that flashes across his face for a brief moment is almost humorous. When he regains his composure, he leans against the wall next to the door.
"What?" I ask. "Is it against the rules for an initiate to practice before training?"
"No." He shakes his head, but doesn't say anything else.
I want to ask why he's just standing there, doing nothing, but don't. He is a Dauntless leader, but it's a little creepy that he's staring at me. Instead I flick my braid over my shoulder and turn to Tobias. "Can we go again?" I ask, walking back into the arena.
"Sure." Tobias puts his hands up. He is still very tense - like if somebody just tapped him on the shoulder, he would snap - but his eyes glint with relief. He thinks - or I hope he thinks - that Eric believed me.
We circle each other. "Don't let me win this time," I mouth to him when my back is turned to Eric.
"I don't plan on it," He mouths back. His lips are pressed into thin, emotionless line, but a smirk sparkles in his eyes.
Eric made it sound like taking my brother down was such a big deal, especially for an initiate, and Tobias said that they were in the same initiate class. Did Tobias take Eric down during their initiation? What was his rank?
I study him for a few moments. Tobias's form is almost perfect. Almost. It takes a few moments for me to notice, but I see a gap in his guard. One fist is held up near his chin and the other is in front of his chest. There is a space between his arms that extends to his stomach. Bingo.
I reach out and strike the area where his ribs end and his stomach begins. He groans quietly - a sound that is both music and torture to my ears - and goes to punch me. I wince when I block the it - his punches are pretty strong - and then step back quickly to avoid the kick aimed at my midsection.
This fight is harder than the last one - proof that he did go easy on me during our first one - but despite its difficulty, it ends the same way. I manage to hook my foot around the back of his knee and yank his leg out from underneath him. He lands on the floor with a wooden bang! I put my foot on his chest to keep him from getting up again.
"Looks like you've met your match, Four," Eric comments as Tobias gets up. "And from Abnegation transfer of all people." I glance at Eric and see him twisting one of the rings in his lip while staring at both of us.
"Are you going to quit underestimating the transfers now?" Tobias asks in a bored voice.
"I might have to," He replies.
I wipe the sweat off my forehead and start for the door, hoping to take a quick shower before the other transfers get up. I don't feel like explaining to anyone why I was in the training room practicing when I didn't have to. I am turning the doorknob when I feel a hand on my arm. My first instinct is to smack it away - a reaction I'd occasionally have when Marcus would grab my arm - but I resist it and instead look up. It's Eric. My stomach churns.
"Nice job," He tells me.
I nod and murmur something along the lines of "thank you" and then flee the room. A couple other initiates are up, but none of them pay attention to me - probably due to the fact that they're still in the process of waking up - when I go into the girls' bathroom.
I spend a good twenty minutes washing away the feeling of Eric's calloused fingers on my upper arm and trying to forget the malicious hunger that shone in his eyes when he looked at me.
A/N: I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. The one thing I really want/need to know if I got Eric's personality right. Please let me know if I did or didn't!
