"Okay boys, one more lap and bring it in!" I stand next to Coach Zahhak, him shouting to the team. I finished weighing everyone and I gave him the information to Coach. He'll determine their weight class, and I'll weigh them through out the week to make sure they don't leave it.
"Must you yell so loudly?" I sigh. I haven't even been here thirty minutes, and I'm ready to leave.
"Well, no," I turn to look at him, Coach Zahhak is looking back at me with a slight frown. "I guess I don't have too, but, I like too."
I shake my head. I don't think I'll ever understand this guy. The kids circle around us, just as Strider strides into the room. He walks besides Zahhak, giving me a scowl. "Alright, Coach Zahhak and I are splitting you guys into two groups. Some will go with me, others with Zahhak."
I roll my eyes to the ceiling as he starts to call out the team's roster. Just 105 minutes and I'll be out of here. I look back down, landing my sight on Gamzee. He gives me a little grin, causing me to smile back. He looks good in muscle shirts, I never really noticed before. I rub the back of my neck, looking away. I don't think I should be thinking about that right now.
"Vantas! You're with me," I catch him with a devious smile glued to his ugly mug. "Over here to the mats!"
I don't like the way he said that. I shrug my shoulders and follow behind the armada of students. They circle around the mats with Strider and me standing on them. I lean over to him, "What are you up to? I whisper.
He grins "Okay, you all are the team's strongest wrestlers, so you are better suit for these moves than the lower ranked kids over there. I'm going to teach you a few power moves."
"Shit," I curse under my breath. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground in a half-Nelson.
"This is called a Half-Nelson, it almost completely immobilizes your rival, if you do it correctly, almost impossible to get out of." When I try to squirm, he tightens his hold. I can feel his disgusting, sweaty hand on the nape of my neck.
"Almost," I raise my back, leveraging Coach Strider's arm on mine. With my other arm, I grab the back of his neck. I get the strength to ram him in his stomach and chest, causing him to free my other arm. I charge his chest again, making him fall onto his back. I quickly, swing my legs, wrapping my arm around his neck in the process. Then, use my legs to pin down his, and my other arm to press down hard on his throat. "But not impossible. You have to be able to gauge you opponent's strength and pressure he has you pinned with. I'm not sure if you can use this move, it might be illegal. "
I let go of Coach Strider, who is gasping for breath. I probably pressed down harder than I should, but I don't care. He crawls to his feet, stumbling a little. He coughs, clear his air passage way. "Okay, practice those moves for a little, then we'll see if we have enough time to move on."
I get off the mat, dusting off my clothes. There's a quiet laughter surrounds Coach, I can't see his eyes, but I can sense they are on fire from anger and embarrassment. And I'm still not done fueling it. "Coach, do you wish for me to teach the guys how to escape the Half-Nelson? You might want to get yourself checked over, make sure I didn't bruise your larynx."
"I'm fine," He tries to catch his breath, but he doubles over from a coughing fit.
"Whatever," I shrug "We can practice some more defensive moves." Letting a michevious smile slip on my lips.
((()))
"Okay, we had a great practice going today, and I expect an even better one Friday." I stand in the middle of Zahhak and a still pouting Strider. "Don't think that because we don't have practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays that you can squirm out of practicing by yourselves." Zahhak warns.
"I expect you to watch what you eat," I speak up "Stay away from too many carbs."
"Okay, put your fist in," Equius looks over to Strider, motioning for him to put his in as well. He reluctantly places his fist in, far away from mine. "When I say Skaia, you say High. Skaia!"
"High!" Everyone shouts. Everyone pulls their fist out of the circle, signaling the end of practice. As the boys and Nepeta go to the locker rooms, I wait outside with the Coaches.
"Vantas," Zahhak calls out to me. "Can I ask you for favor, once more?"
I rasie my eyebrow in suspicion. "What?"
"We have to vacate early, we have another meeting." He mumbles under his breath.
"I didn't know the school had a meeting," I glance at my watch. "It's 4:30, I thought everyone would have gone home by now."
"It's not for here," Coach Strider speaks up. "It's for wrestling coaches."
"We just need you to put away the mats and make sure you lock up afterwards."
I wave my hand in dismissal. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Hurry up before you're late."
"Thanks," They shout in unison, almost running towards the exits.
They probably don't even have a meeting to go to. I sit down on one of the free standing benches, and watch as everyone begins to leave. Some of the faces I recognize, others just seem familiar. They wave goodbye to me until I'm sure no one is left. I start towards the locker room. I can't wait to get out of these sweaty clothes. I go down the hall that leads to the back and met with a surprise. "Gamzee, what are still doing here? I thought you already left."
He's still In his practice clothes, sitting there with his phone in his hand. "Hey, Coach V. My brother just can't pick me up right now." He tosses his phone in the locker behind him, having a reassuring thud against the metal. "What about you, bro? You're usually the first one out of here."
I sag against the doorway. "Not today. Zahhak and Strider ditched me. I'm cleaning up tonight."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," He gets up stretching from his low seat. "I'll help you."
"I'd like that," I smile warmly at him. "I'd like that a lot."
He laughs, grabbing his back-pack coming towards me. "You're to old to do it alone, anyway."
"C'mon, you little fuck," I motion towards the gym floor, with him close on my heels. "Before I decide to lock you in here instead."
It is actually taking longer than I imagined to roll and move the mats. Thank God. Gamzee still was here. We manage to take care of two mats, but, there's still eight more. Gamzee and I rest on one of them, staring up at the ceiling. "Hey, Karkat?"
"Hmm?"
"I didn't know you wrestled."
I lean back on my elbows to look over at him. "What makes you say that?"
"You completely knocked the wind out of Coach! There's no motherfucking way you're going to tell me you haven't."
"Well," I rub the back of my neck from his praise. "I didn't, I took self defense classes."
"You got to show me those moves," He sits up now, crossing his legs. "Nobody has been able to take him down like that before."
"We have some time, and the mats," I pat them. "Why don't I show you now."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why not. Can you do a Half-Nelson?"
He nods his head, then proceeds to smash my face into the mat. "Like this right?"
"Yeah, like this," The stench of old sweat fills my nostrils. "Now what you're going to do is, raise you're back up. The guy that has you pinned though, might be stronger than you. So if raising your back doesn't help, use your go limp, then wrestle your arm free." I do the same thing as I did with Strider, except I go a lot easier. "One you have your arm free, get your other hand and place it on the back of his neck. Then ram there chest with your shoulder until they fall back." I go gently in his chest, making him stumble back. "Finally, wrap the arm that's closest to their neck, and wrap it around their throat." I let go of him before that step however. "Do you want to try?"
"Yeah, I think I can do it." We switch positions, me placing him in the position. He gets the leveraging the back part down packed, does well with getting his arm free, somehow he screws up the wrapping the arm around my throat. He ends up on top of with our legs twisted and my head in the crook of his elbow. His other hand, well. I clear my throat "Gamzee, your hands on my crotch."
"Oh, geez, I'm sorry, Karkat." He says through some giggles. He quickly gets off of me, a blush over his face.
"It's alright," I can feel my own face heat from this. "We'll try again later, let's get a few more mats up.
"Alright, I won't aim for your crotch next time, I swear."
I shrug "Trying or not, it'll end up down there eventually." I laugh. He looks at me funny, raises his eyebrows and laughs. "Let's hurry up, I'll give you a ride home."
