Chapter 12
Riddick couldn't help but laugh. She was sitting on her bed in the corner, just watching things. Someone would walk by and she'd jump, then narrow her eyes to work on her focus. He remembered that feeling – experiencing the same things you've experienced before, but having to learn how to do it all over again with it looking completely different. She sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm wearing myself out," she groaned, flopping over onto her side. Her eyelashes fluttered open, searching him out. He smiled, and she returned it. "I see you," she said quietly.
"That's scary," he said with a snicker. It usually wasn't a welcome phrase in a dark prison. Her eyebrow arched evilly.
"I'm bored," she blurted, face falling. He sighed.
"I know."
"I want to do something."
"I know you do," he groaned. "But you can't yet." She groaned, sitting up slowly.
"Why?" she whined. He only looked at her, and she glared back at him. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice." He couldn't keep the small smirk at bay. "How about a trip to the canteen?"
"You don't have any shades," he pointed out. "It's too bright in there." She openly pouted, prompting a sigh. "Monkey's supposed to stop by later," he said with a shrug. "Ask him then." She nodded, suddenly taken with a string on the hem of her prison issue shirt. "Do some yoga," he suggested. She shrugged. "Aw, come on. You can't be that bad at it," he nudged. Her eyes snapped to his angrily.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" He shrugged.
"Why are you so shy about doing it in front of someone?"
"I'm not," she said slowly. "I just don't want to right now."
"Don't want to do it in front of someone right now, or don't want to do it at all right now?" She sighed, shaking her head. He snickered. "Performance anxiety."
"Shut up," she snapped. She glanced up at him every now and then, and he just watched her. "I need a fucking punching bag or something," she said quickly. "Maybe I can get a bag somewhere and stuff it with something." She glanced up, and his eyes followed hers. "Hang it from the rafters."
"Maybe," he responded with a shrug.
"You know," she started, leaning back against the damp wall. "When I was younger I always thought it'd be cool to be in prison." His eyebrows rose quizzically. "No job, no chores, no responsibility." She shook her head. "Didn't think I'd be so fucking bored." Riddick chuckled. "Do you know what it took to get that damn book?" she asked, nodding at the book on a makeshift table between their beds. He only looked at her, waiting. "Ten cigarettes and surviving a melee in the cage."
"The cage," Riddick said slowly.
"Oh, you've not been to the fights yet." His eyebrow rose. "We'll have to go sometime." She shrugged. "So you can see what it's all about. You'd probably get off on it."
"Why's that?" She grinned, still playing with the string. A shrug of the shoulder, and no answer. "When are they?"
"Depends," she said, glancing up at him and back down at the string. "Word gets around the day before, usually." He nodded slowly. She sighed, giving up on entertainment by string. She rubbed her eyes and flopped onto her back, crossing her arms behind her head. "So bored."
"Hungry?" She shrugged a little. "Want me to bring something back for you?"
"Sure," she said, glancing up at him as he stood.
"Stay here," he warned, pointing a finger at her. Her eyebrow rose.
"I wasn't planning on going anywhere," she said innocently.
"Better not," he threw over his shoulder, locking the chain up behind him. She watched him disappear and sighed, staring back up at the ceiling, letting her eyes close. She slowly drifted off, snoring lightly.
A few hours later, she woke suddenly, the flashing of the flickering lights shining through her eyelids. She glanced around the cell quickly, even looking up into the rafters. Riddick wasn't back yet.
"Hey Balls?" she called. He yelled back. "Do you know where Riddick went?"
"I haven't seen him since yesterday," he answered. She swore. "Why?"
"Looks like he's spending the night somewhere else. He's not back yet." Balls didn't answer, so she turned her attention back to the ceiling with a heavy sigh. "Fucker," she muttered, crawling under the covers to go back to sleep. It amazed her how much more sleepy she was the more she slept. Seemed like she should be more alert, but it never worked that way. When she woke late the next morning, he still wasn't back. With a loud stretch, she finally stood, suddenly feeling the urge to swallow her pride and do some yoga. When she was coming out of a complicated and rather twisted pose, Riddick was leaning against the door, leaning on forearms pushed through the bars.
"So it is performance anxiety then?" he asked slyly. She glared at him, stretching her arms overhead and bending backwards until her hands touched. Her abs flexed as one leg was raised straight up, followed by the other. His eyebrow rose, intrigued as her arms bent slowly, and her back arched slightly, allowing her to look at his knees. He noted her arms shaking slightly as her back's curve deepened, legs slowly curling toward her head. She held the pose, splayed hands pressing into the ground so hard her knuckles were white.
"Scorpion," she said slowly, voice strained by the pose. He nodded, eyes still pouring over her. She inhaled deeply, still staring at his knees. Her ankles followed her knees overhead, back to straight in the air, and then the rest of her back straightened. All of her weight was still supported on her hands and forearms, but she was now looking away from him. She pressed back up onto her hands slowly as she inhaled slowly, arms quivering only slightly from the strain. She turned to the side slowly, walking on her hands. Her knees bent to right angles, one foot pointing away from her head and her other knee pointing to her nose. The foot slowly reached the ground, resting there as she adjusted her toes before the other followed, her ribcage still straight above her head, the arch at her sternum curving sharply. He shook his head, intrigued, but his eyebrows rose when her neck curved back, her eyes now focusing on her heels. Her stomach was hollowed, moving in and out shallowly as she breathed quickly. She didn't hold that pose as long as she did the scorpion, abs flexing again as she walked her feet toward her head to bend her knees before kicking them back over and collapsing into a ball on her knees, clasping her hands under her butt over her feet, forehead resting on the ground.
"We could make some money off that, you know?" He said quietly. She chuckled a little, still not moving from the fetal position. He unlocked the chain and entered, leaving the door open behind him. "How long did it take you to learn that?"
"I don't know," she said, voice muffled by the stone flooring. "People think yoga's all about flexibility, but it's also about strength and endurance," she explained. "Most of the fun poses are the strength and balance poses, not necessarily the flexibility ones," she said with a shrug, rolling her spine slowly to sit.
"Those poses were all three," he said quietly, leaning back against the wall. She nodded.
"That's why I like them."
"Show me another one," he asked. Her eyebrow rose.
"I'm tired, Riddick," she said, groaning as she stood.
"Aw, come on," he pressed. "Just one more." She sighed. "Please?" She blinked a few times. She thought for a moment.
"Okay, fine," she huffed, lying on the ground on her stomach. "I won't be able to talk or look at you without killing myself," she said quickly, glancing over at him. He chuckled. "I'm fucking serious. Don't make me laugh, don't ask me anything or I'll seriously hurt myself." He watched her shift her hands under her body, lifting her head to rest on her chin. "This is locust, by the way," she added, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. Her arms flexed as she let it out slowly, and his eyebrows rose as she began to quiver, feet rising slightly off the ground. They paused for a moment as she inhaled again, moving a little more as she inhaled. He watched for a long time, her back arching more and more as her feet got closer and closer to the ceiling. Her arms were shaking violently when she got to the goal of the pose, resting only on her chin and the tops of her arms, hands clasped, with her back arched into a graceful curve, toes pointing to the ceiling, her heels a straight line above her head. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he watched her steady the pose, though her arms still quivered a little. Every muscle in her body was flexed as much as it could to hold her still, and she inhaled sharply as she slowly got herself out of the pose, lying sprawled on her stomach, breath heaving.
"I'm impressed." Riddick's eyes rose to meet Balls'. She didn't acknowledge his presence.
"How long were you standing there?" Riddick asked.
"When her feet were about this high off the ground," Balls answered, stooping to hold his hand about a foot off the ground. "I didn't know you did yoga," he said, looking back down at Sarge. She lifted a hand and let it drop to the ground. Balls chuckled. They watched her lay there for a while, glancing up at each other every now and then.
"Where were you?" She asked finally, slowly pushing herself off the ground to look at Riddick.
"Out," he said plainly. She rolled her eyes.
"Well, obviously," she retorted. His eyes shifted over to Balls and back to hers quickly. She shook her head. "He's fine," she said quietly. Riddick reached into an unseen pocket and produced a pair of tinted swimming goggles. Her eyes widened, and he held them out to her on a crooked finger. She quickly snatched them away.
"Where the fuck did you find these?"
"Went for a walk," he said with a shrug. Her eyes snapped to his, finally understanding. "Decided to sleep in the, uh, vent when the lights flickered."
"Smart move," Balls said, taking a seat on Sarge's bed. "I had to do that a few times," he offered. "Went out to see if I could track down some decent food and got lost." Sarge snickered. "By the time I found my way back, it was the middle of lockdown, so I just stayed behind the grate until the lights came on."
"I remember that," Sarge said, still smiling. "I'm hungry," she said quickly, leaping to her feet. "Let's go to the…" She paused, smacking a hand to her forehead as she fell forward onto Riddick's bed. "Canteen," she finished, the mattress on the cot muffling her voice.
"Stand up too fast?" Balls asked, biting back a snicker. She groaned, finally rolling onto her side. She sat slowly, wobbling a bit before regaining her balance.
"Whoo. I'm okay now," she said, standing slowly. Riddick just smirked at her, and she glanced between him and Balls. "Well, I'm going to the canteen. Y'all can just stay here and stare at each other if you want to," she said with a shrug.
"I've got some business to attend to," Balls commented, turning to head back down the hallway. She turned back to Riddick, and he pried himself from the wall to follow her to the canteen, watching her adjust the goggles several times before being satisfied enough to leave them on. Her nose wrinkled as she picked up a bowl of slop, turning to pick out the cleanest of grungy tables. He examined the bowls before him and finally picked one out, not like it mattered much. They trudged through their meals, neither speaking. Her spoon fell with a clatter into her bowl, and she let out a disgruntled sigh, leaning forward on her elbows
"Now what?" she asked. He shrugged, leaning back in his chair, folding his hands over a gurgling stomach. Boots stopped in the doorway, and she glanced over her shoulder, eyebrow raising. She sighed, leaning back in her chair and kicking her feet onto the chair between her and Riddick. "Fuck," she muttered, watching the burly man grin at her before selecting a bowl of goo.
"It's the Bobsy twins," the man snickered, pointing between the two of them. She shook her head, an unamused smirk curling her lips.
"Hey, look," she growled, "It's Raven's fuck buddy." The guy curled his lip at her, kicking her boots off the chair. "I was comfortable with my feet up," she ground out, her glare hidden behind tinted plastic. "Ass," she added quietly.
"What was that, Sarge?" She shook her head, shrugging as though she'd not said anything. "Who's your friend, here?" he asked. She glanced at Riddick, turning back to the man slowly.
"Why the fuck do you care?"
"Just wondered," he said collapsing into the chair once occupied by her booted feet. "Looks like a good candidate," he finished. She snickered.
"You don't want him, Daisy," she laughed quietly.
"Why's that?"
"You'd lose money on him," she said flatly. "I know you, remember?" Riddick's eyebrow rose, just listening to the exchange. "You'd throw him in and bet on your own guys." She lifted her metal cup to her lips, shaking her head as she took a small sip of tepid water. "Definitely lose money," she added.
"Does he talk?" She only shrugged, perching her chin on her shoulder to look at Riddick.
"Feel like talking?" she asked him, eyebrow still quirked. He shrugged.
"You got a name, man?" the guy asked him. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off quickly.
"Does he need one?"
"Don't be a bitch, Sarge."
"You know, most people here would take offense to that," she commented. "You're fucking lucky I'm actually a bitch and know it, or I might have to kick your ass." He snickered, and she scowled. "Again." He straightened up quickly, managing a quick glance at Riddick, which didn't go unnoticed.
"You better watch that mouth," he said, standing slowly. "I might just have to make sure it's too full for you to talk." Riddick's chair scraped as he stood quickly, crossing his arms over his chest with a menacing glare. "Where you goin'?"
"It's okay," she said quietly, "he knows better than to fuck with me again."
"You sure about that?" Daisy drawled, lips curling back into a sneer.
"If you've got half the brain you didn't waste with all that shit Davis sold you, yeah," she spat, "I better be."
"I guess we'll see," he said, crossing his arms and glancing Riddick up and down. "Why don't you grace us with an appearance tomorrow night, Sarge?" She snickered, playing with her spoon in her bowl. "I can set something fair up for you."
"Fair my ass," she snorted. "You don't know the meaning of the word."
"Take a chance," he pressed.
"The lady said no," Riddick growled. The man glanced up at him, surprised.
"So he does talk," he grinned.
"Yeah," she said, "and it's not usually a good thing." Daisy's smile fell slowly.
"What, are you her fucking body guard or some shit?" Riddick only cocked his head to the side, expression still unreadable.
"Tell you what, Daisy." She stood to her full height, sliding her hands into her pockets. He watched the movement, knowing she was going for something. "I'll do it. You set me up with Duke." Daisy's lips curled into a wicked smile. "Keep the lights low, and stay the fuck out of it."
"Deal," he said after a moment's thought. "But what's with the lights?" She smirked, shaking her head, turning to walk away.
"You'll see," she said quietly. Daisy glanced up at Riddick, watching him stare as he followed her, leaving Daisy standing in the canteen.