Nothing Against Looking


Admiration 4.


Ahsoka leapt up on top of the stack of practice mats, sat, opened her bottle of water, took a drink, and watched.

The crowd surrounding Rex and Cody was not quite as big or enthusiastic as the crowd that surrounded Barriss and herself a half hour earlier, but it was still fairly enthusiastic. The two clones were dancing around each other, in a very different kind of dance than she and Barriss participated in. They wore padded gloves on their hands, their fists raised, and paced around each other. Rex moved first, a quick elbow strike bringing him too close for Cody to easily deflect or escape. As Cody ducked back, Rex pressed forward, his jab extending into a backhanded strike towards the face. Cody weaved, managing to catch only a glancing blow. A fresh series of steps began, each clone using careful footwork and hard punches.

Ahsoka cheered, setting her water bottle aside and clapping.

Standing nearby was Barriss, opening her own water bottle and looking a little skeptical. "Don't you think this is a bit…" she searched for the right word, not wanting to insult her friend, and came up with, "…unprofessional? Watching them like this?"

Ahsoka gave her a funny look. "They're just practicing. And they watched us."

Barriss turned a darker shade of green, indicative of embarrassment. She sipped her water, then glanced again towards the fight. Cody landed a roundhouse kick just above Rex's hip, sending him staggering to the side, though he did not fall. Taking advantage of his opponent's unstable stance, Cody swept forward again, aiming for the legs and hoping to take Rex down. He moved low, arms out and aiming for the back of Rex's knees. It was a smooth motion, all well toned muscles moving clearly against a sweat-soaked grey shirt.

"Oh my," Barriss said, round-eyed.

Ahsoka giggled. "What, never seen muscles before?"

Barriss gave her a somewhat indignant look. "I see muscles all the time."

Ahsoka grinned, wickedly. "Oh really? I had no idea you and Gree were so close."

Barriss turned dark green under her tattoos and spluttered, "Ahsoka! I'm studying to be a healer! There are physiology texts and –"

Ahsoka just kept laughing. "I'm kidding, Barriss, relax!" Ahsoka returned her attention to the fight in time to see Rex hit the mat, roll and fling himself back to his feet. Cody promptly leapt after him.

Slowly, while fiddling with her water bottle, Barriss said, in a very thoughtful tone, "Well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with looking."

The two girls exchanged sly glances, then grins.