Authors Note: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer, I just throw the characters around. Thanks for all the reviews! Each and every one of them mean a lot to me! Sorry this keeps taking it's time, but fear not, I will see it through to the end. And for those of you who's also following "Doing what they shouldn't be", I haven't abandoned it, I swear! It's just that I read a fic that was too close to what I had intended to do, so I need to find another path for it and it's taking some time.
beta: Lacrema
Chapter 9
Phin
I was fidgeting while I tried to decide what to wear. Since my shift started so early, I usually got off work about 3pm, and for the last hour, I had tried on every t-shirt in my closet at least twice. I wanted to look good, but not too good. Not like I had dressed up or anything. If I did, the rest of my group would notice and there would be no end to the teasing. The one I really wanted to wear, just a simple white one with some quirky text on it, was currently in the hamper. The text itself was very me, it said "I love my personality problems," but the reason I loved it was that it was just tight enough to show my curves without being clingy.
When the alarm went off at half past four, I knew I had to decide, and gave in to my vanity. I picked a pale pink t-shirt which had the general shape I was looking for, but also a scooping neckline. I was relieved the current fashion included tops to look like you had another top underneath, because a few inches of my sports bra was visible all the way around. So if I can't wrestle my partner to the ground I can just stun him with my sudden cleavage-flashing and he'll probably faint. I smirked at myself in the mirror as I tied my pants and then donned the white robe that made up my gi. I swung the blue, worn-to-threads belt over my shoulder and gave myself a last look. With a sigh I took off the robe and put it in a backpack along with the belt. I pulled the closest hoodie over my head. Who was I trying to kid, I would still be freezing before the car had heated up enough. At that thought I grabbed my winter jacket.
I briefly considered using the window to exit, but decided that I better go through the office as usual, and say good bye to Louise who was still working the front desk. Once outside, shivering in the cold, I was so relieved when I immediately spotted him leaning against the passenger side of my car. I wouldn't need to wait in the cold for him. I hurried in and unlocked his side of the car. My car didn't have automatic locks, and I was too much of a big-city girl to leave the car unlocked like everyone else in town did.
"Hi Red, you look... mismatching," he laughed, as he assessed my thick jacket and thin white cotton pants.
"Hi Fluff." I felt my cheeks go hot and once more wondered what kind of magic this man had over me. I had blushed maybe five times in my entire life before I met him, and now it was almost my constant state. "The pants are a part of my training gear, but I can't wear just that, I'd freeze. My heater is pretty slow, as you can see." I nodded towards the console, where all settings were on hot.
"It's not that cold in here! I bet you could remove at least the jacket or you'll be a puddle of sweat before we get to where we're going." He was beaming at me, and wiggled his eyebrows as he suggested I undress.
I had to laugh. "Well, that you rarely freeze I've already gathered, but I do. And I do this many times a week; I haven't broken a sweat yet." I raised just one brow as I spoke, giving him a bit of a meaningful look. I mean, OK, so he's hot, but I don't think my hormones are that whack.
"How often do you do these trips with someone else in the car? Two people heat a confined area much more efficiently than just one."
"OK, fine! I'll take it off!" I rolled my eyes at him as I struggled to get out of the jacket, because he was right. The coupe already felt habitable, and I hadn't even started the car yet.
"Nice!" He beamed at me, then leaned in and kissed my now-exposed neck. "I bet I could make it hot enough for you to remove some more clothes..."
I just laughed at him, playfully pushed him off of me, slapped his arm, and then turned the key in the ignition, the stereo effectively drowning any protests he might have had.
When I was out of town, on the highway, I tuned down the volume and pointed to the glove compartment. "There are some other CDs there if you wanna listen to something else."
"I don't care, if you like this we can listen to it."
"Well, if you find something you like better, we can listen to that, because I don't have music I don't like in my car."
He occupied himself with going through every single one before he settled for a homemade CD.
"Why did you pick that one?"
"It made me curious since it didn't have a label. When you don't get a written description you don't know what to expect and just have to find out on your own, and I like that."
"OK, fair warning though, I was in a funny mood when I made that one."
"You made this?" He gave me a very pointed look as a song by the Beatles begun to play.
"Well, not the music, but I made the mix. I picked the songs and burned them onto the disc."
"Pirate."
"Who are you to say that I don't own the originals, in which case I am entitled to copy the material for my own use?"
"Pirate." He mused on the word this time.
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, first of all, only one who's into piracy would know that so that they can claim it. And secondly, it takes one to know one..." He winked at me as he said the last words.
"So you're saying you're a bad boy?" I knew I looked doubtful, mainly because his features were so sweet, and his personality was so gentle that I doubted he had ever even thought about illegally copying anything.
"Yes ma'am." His mock southern accent made me laugh, and I was still laughing as I pulled up outside the gym and parked in my usual spot next to the dumpsters.
I grabbed my bag from the backseat and locked the door behind him before I stepped out, locking my own door as I did so. I showed him the way inside, though I would much rather have walked behind him so I could have ogled his back some more.
Once inside I stopped. "OK, here we part." He looked incredibly sad. "You go through that corridor and down the stairs. Take a left when you get down and follow the corridor until it ends, and inside there should be some benches or chairs for spectators. You see, the changing rooms are up here, and then they have separate access to the dojo." I smiled at him when I saw how confused he seemed by the word 'dojo'. This was going to be so much fun! As he started slowly walking away, I realized that I actually felt giddy as I turned to the locker rooms.
I had barely hung my jacket up before the door slammed and I was jumped by two teenage girls from the group, both of them speaking at the same time.
"Who was that!?"
"He was so gorgeous!"
"Are you dating him?"
"Is he a good kisser?"
"Aw, come on, tell us!"
I laughed at their enthusiasm, and that made them calm down a little. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you, just let me have a word in between all the questions."
The shorter one, with blond ponytails above her ears, nodded encouragingly at me.
"That was Seth, he IS totally hot, I guess we might be dating and his kisses are to die for. Happy?" I felt not just a little smug as their jaws dropped towards the floor and stayed there. I bet they had expected him to be my brother, or Mike, whom I spoke about every now and then. When I was all done up in my gi, belt in place and all, they still hadn't regained jaw-control and with a wave I walked towards the other end of the locker room and the passage downstairs. "See you in a bit girls, don't be late, you know how that annoys the coach."
–
There were already a few people up on the tatami, and I saw Fluff sitting in the bleachers talking to one of the guys. Generally, the bleachers were for us, and spectators weren't allowed there, but they seemed to know each other so I guessed he had been called up there, it happened every now and then.
It didn't take long before our coach called us all to order and had us lined up, the two teenage girls making it just in the nick of time. After the greetings and formal stuff, warm-up began and I felt good about myself. I loved how Fluff's eyes were following me. Just like when I danced, I loved the feeling of someone watching me, only here it also gave me the encouragement I needed to give a little extra, to push myself just that much further.
After the running exercises, push-ups, and sit-ups, it was time for pair exercises and I eased over to Timmy as usual. He towered over me, not as big as Fluff, but still one of our biggest guys. Despite the difference in appearance, we weighed the same, and that was what was important to the training. He was also one of my best friends in the group and my favorite to train with.
He gave me one look and then smiled at me. "Brought the boyfriend, did we?" He sounded genuinely happy for me, and I guessed he was. He was married and had a lovely daughter, I really liked his wife the few times we had met.
"I'm not sure we're quite there yet, but maybe with some good luck..." I grinned at him as he heaved me over his shoulders like a fireman and ran a lap around the room with me bouncing there. As he set me on my feet, I hoped I wouldn't trip when it was my turn. That would be so humiliating. I tipped Timmy up over my shoulders and adjusted my grip a little. I actually had the easier task here; he was so tall I didn't have to do much. I slowly jogged my lap and then when we were done, we started jogging beside each other until the next exercise was called.
That went on for another ten minutes before there was a water break and I dragged myself over to the bleachers and dropped into a pile before them, greedily chugging down the water in my bottle. I knew I had done well, I had pushed myself so hard to show Fluff how tough I was. On second thought, maybe that was not the best approach. Guys tend to like girls who are... ladylike. Oh, well, if he doesn't like me the way I am he's a waste of my time anyway. I snickered at myself for being cocky, I knew I wouldn't be so tough if things went south.
When coach called again, I got to my feet and took my place beside Timmy, waiting to hear the instructions.
"Today you get to train a bit freely, walk around and practice your favorite techniques, I'll be helping those of you who need it. Phin, Timmy, show them what I mean."
I grabbed Timmy by the thick woven collar of his robe and pulled it, hard. He answered by pulling back at mine and dragging me along for a bit. We had done this before, and we both knew he'd be the one throwing first. Going through these movements is a well rehearsed play, and our timing was perfect. As he crouched in under me and then sprang up, I felt myself flip in the air, light as a feather, before slamming to the ground with a booming thud.
Seth
I saw her in front of her mirror as I came back from my round, I had been checking so there had been no new traces of bloodsuckers around town. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't resist the chance of seeing her in her underwear. She wore a pair of white boxers and an equally white sports bra. I had seen athletes on TV that wore less when they competed, so I didn't feel like I was peeping that much. She tried on shirt after shirt, and then tried them all again. It made me ridiculously happy, because she never fussed over what to wear normally. She'd just grab what was on top of the wardrobe and leave with her bag. When her alarm went off I realized I had promised to wear a shirt, and I was still just in my cutoffs. I raced to my room and just barely made it back to her car, now dressed in jeans and a sweater, before she exited the post office's front door, dressed as if we were in the Arctic.
The car ride was nice, I got to tease her and learned some more about her taste in music, which proved to be very broad. When we reached the gym, she sent me on my way with some instructions, but I halted when I heard a commotion behind me. I let out a little laugh when I heard it was only a couple of girls showering my Red with questions about me. Before I could hear her answers the door swung shut and muffled the sounds too much to make anything out. I sighed a little and continued. I would survive ten minutes without her, after all, I had all of the ride back home to look forward to.
The 'dojo', whatever that was, wasn't hard to find, big signs showed the way, and once inside I settled on one of the dangerous-looking plastic chairs. The room was bigger than I had thought, about 150 feet deep and maybe a hundred wide. At the long end was a booth that seemed to serve as an office and bleachers with white robes hanging here and there. I shifted a little in my seat and froze as it gave a pained squeal of protest.
"Hey, Seth-man, don't sit there, you'll kill the poor thing!" I was on my feet and turning towards the voice even before I recognized it to be one of the guys who worked permanently at the farm that had brought me to Silverthorne to begin with. His name was John and he was the farmer's eldest son. He waved at me from where he exited the mens' locker room. "Join me up there." He pointed towards the top of the bleacher. I felt a lot more comfortable up there, and we were soon deep into catching up. The coach came to say hello, and John explained that he knew me and therefore I was cool to sit up there.
When the coach called them to order I saw my Red in the midst of the line. They looked kinda silly, all dressed up in what looked like stiff, white PJs with colored belts. There were all the colors of the rainbow present: white, yellow, orange, green, blue (which was what my Red was wearing and I though was the prettiest color), brown and black. I guessed they indicated some sort of level, since the youngest in the group all wore the lighter colors, whereas none of the black-belted people seemed to be under their 20's.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching my girl run around, doing rolls and jumps. It was fun to see her so free. Of what I had seen of her until now, she stumbled on her own feet more often than not, but here she was sure on her feet, even though the floor they were on seemed to be soft somehow. I hadn't walked on it, but I saw how their feet sank down a little as they ran past me. It was made up of squares, maybe 3,5 feet on each side. They went from the bottom of the bleachers to the opposite wall, a dark green color, with a red ring three squares in from the edge. I suppose it had a purpose that I just wasn't aware of.
When the water break was announced, I hoped that she would come up and speak to me, but she just sank down at the floor, hugging her water bottle. Well, I couldn't blame her, she had been carrying around a guy almost as big as me, I couldn't see why the coach hadn't shifted that, he shifted another couple that was too disparate in size. But she had done it. I was so proud of her, and a bit amazed at how strong she was. I guessed that she actually would be able to put up a pretty good fight with me if she ever where in the mood, and not collapsing in giggles all the time.
Once they got up again and the coach called her out with her partner, I watched curiously. I guessed I would finally find out what this sport was all about. I knew it had to be some sort of wrestling, since John was very good at that-- we had wrestled a lot when I worked out on the farm. I noted how she pulled the guys coat, making him bow down, and I flinched as he immediately retorted by pulling her even lower, then up and around. I saw her adjusting, struggling, and then the guy pulled her around him again, at the same time he crouched down, making her end up on his back. As he stretched his leg, one came up in between hers and before I could comprehend what was happening she was flying through the air. His hands on her collar forced her down at his feet with a bone-crushing thud. I was halfway down the bleachers when I heard the coach say "Very good Timmy, perfect timing there!" as Red, without any obvious injuries, came to her feet, and instantly took a grip on the guys robe again. Once more, I didn't even have time to register what was happening before she just walked past him and the big guy fell.
I snapped my mouth shut and sat my butt down before I made more of a fool out of myself.
The rest of the practice was pure torture. Rationally, I could see that she was unharmed from how she sprang to her feet all the time. Admittedly, at the end she got up more slowly from the floor. But all of my imprinted being wanted to get out there and rip those guys to pieces for throwing my girl around like that.
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Info: A dojo is the location where you train Judo. A gi is what the Judo-robe is called. The tatami (the squares on the floor, also called mats) is made by a shock-absorbing material that makes the hard falls completely pain-free if the technique is correct. The pronunciation of gi I'm not sure of, since it's a Japanese word and I only know how we say it, but in my mind it sounds like the gi in Yogi (the bear) and if you wanna be clear you can say judo-gi, but since we're not talking about any other martial arts here, I felt that would be to much. For more info, just wiki Judo.
AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know how you're feeling, but if you're about to threaten my life for being a slow updater, please remember that I'm currently carries a pup (only 99 days left by the way) so the pack will defend me if you try =)
