No one felt much like staying up that evening. Even Christina turned in for the night before eleven, nursing her tattooed forearm and black eye. I don't even remember hearing Al's crying, having fallen asleep moments after I pulled the blanket up. Unfortunately, I ended up waking up at the same ungodly hour as yesterday, my system convinced that was the official Dauntless wake-up time now.
Despite my best efforts, I could not coax myself back to sleep. Rather than stare at Al's bunk above me for the next hour and half, I rolled off the bed and got ready for the day. Pulling my hair back into a messy ponytail, I left the dorm and headed in the direction of the training room.
Dauntless was once again quiet and still, the few guards moving around the halls nodding in greeting at me before continuing in whatever they were assigned to do. I cringed at the thought of having to work this early shift every day. Yet another thing to motivate me to rank high in initiation. As if the worry of being Dauntless-not-Divergent in everyone's eyes wasn't enough.
The training room door was closed just like yesterday, and I smiled to myself. This would be nice. No distractions, just some alone time to work on building endurance. I slid it open and went in, discarding my sweatshirt on the bench by the lockers. I thought back to yesterday and recalled how painful running had been.
Stretching should help, I reasoned. The side of the room lit with the still-warming fluorescent lights was totally empty with the exception of the lockers and the empty weapon's table. I double checked my laces on my boots and started to stretch out my legs and core using some of the forms we had been taught in Mid-Levels.
Even stretching stung my muscles, but I gritted my teeth and tried to power through it. I heard the sliding door again, breaking my concentration for a moment. Looking up, I spotted a painfully familiar fauxhawk. Eric. "Still getting up at ungodly hours to show up the newbies?" I called out cheerfully. Since our fighting yesterday I felt like I could rib on him a little - just a little.
His head turned to look over at me in a lazy motion. "It's too early for jokes," he replied in a voice tinged with tiredness. He continued walking and I just shook my head. So much for the terrifying Dauntless leader. Maybe everyone was the same person when they were tired, I mused. Confusing and abrasive Eric had to be tired sometimes. Even so, I didn't dare say anything else, returning to my stretching.
Pressing one foot against the bench, I slowly pushed until my leg was completely straight. Leaning over took another bout of gritted teeth and pinpricks of pain. If initiation didn't kill me, my own self-imposed training just might.
"I thought I said it was too early for jokes," Eric remarked snarkily from the other side of the room, "yet here you are calling that stretching." My head snapped up and I mustered up a glare to rival Four's. He'd put down his holster and pistol, as well as taken off his vest. If I hadn't been so insulted, I might have taken a moment to appreciate the sight of his tight, black shirt against his chest.
"Beg pardon?" I replied irritably. Maybe my form wasn't perfect, but I wouldn't have called it a total joke.
Eric smirked and walked over to where I was. "You're getting about half the benefits from actually stretching with how you're standing right now," he explained smugly. I would have thought that by now he'd be bored of showing off to the 'oh so terrible' Abnegation transfer. Clearly it was just too amusing for him.
"Here," he said gruffly, the smugness dropping from his voice as he stepped slightly behind me. "Like this." Eric's left hand slowly twisted my outstretched leg as his right pressed against my hip. The slight change made me hiss as my muscles protested their new position.
"Got it?" he asked, releasing my leg. I nodded, biting my lip as I tried leaning in to the stretch. It felt different, and I could almost reach my toes now. "Good," Eric murmured when I didn't reply aloud. His hand on my hip moved just slightly down, fingertips brushing against my ass.
I moved my leg from the bench and stood up fully, feeling his hand fall away smoothly. "Same for the other leg?" I asked cautiously. Keep talking. Don't pay attention to what he's doing, I thought furtively to myself. It was probably just because he was tired.
"Mmm," he murmured in agreement, shifting to my other side. I mirrored the form he'd just shown me before he had the chance to correct it for me. This leg was less stiff and the position didn't hurt even when I started reaching for my toes. "Come on. You can do better than that."
Eric's hand pressed slightly on my back, just below my shoulders. My fingertips curled around the toe of my boot and the muscles in the back of my leg flared with pain. "Shit!" I cried out reflexively. "Don't do that, Eric."
The pressure on my back let up as I straightened back up. He didn't completely remove his hand though, the warmth from it radiating through my tank top. It felt kind of nice, I mused, my cheeks burning when I realized exactly what I was thinking. Hell, I hadn't blushed like this when he'd been feeling up my ass a moment ago.
"It's going to hurt for a few days until you've loosened up, Stiff," Eric retorted. He said the Abnegation slur lightly, genuinely teasing about my inability to stretch. I turned to face him directly, switching to a stretch that I knew he wouldn't be able to get handsy with. Whatever was going on right now, I didn't want to continue. Not while I was trying to figure out how I fit in here at Dauntless, and certainly not while I was still finishing waking up.
Holding my foot behind me to stretch the front of my thighs, I tried clearly my face of anything except a bland half-smile. "So are you going to let me actually run-" switch feet, don't look at his tight clinging shirt "- or are you just going to limber me up for breakfast?" I asked half-jokingly.
Eric smiled blithely before he kicked his leg past me, resting it on the bench, the same form I'd just done. "Oh, I'm almost done with you," he replied smoothly, reaching to touch the toe of his shoe with apparently no issue at all.
"Great." My voice squeaked tightly. The closeness between the pair of us was unnerving. When he switched legs, I shuffled awkwardly out of the way to avoid his shoulder brushing against me as he stretched. I switched legs again, not wanting to just stand there next to him while he was at least doing something.
"If you're so antsy to run, then you should just go," Eric ordered. I cast a sideways glance at him, not sure if this was another of his strange tests. He turned his head slightly to look up at me. "Just go."
I skittered a few steps away from him before my brain caught up with me. Slowly I began jogging, sighing softly. If I kept this up, he was going to think I was a complete freak, incapable of deciding to do anything myself.
Screw that, I thought to myself, my mouth pursing together in a determined scowl. I was Dauntless now and I was not going to be intimidated by some cocky faction leader. My breathing settled evenly as my strides leveled out. My jogging pace set and my mind made up, I focused entirely on my run.
I finished one lap, noticing Eric as he rounded the corner just ahead of me. He'd finished stretching and was already moving at a faster pace that I was. I gritted my teeth and sped up just a bit more. My calves stung from the effort, but I could still breath fairly well.
Two more laps later and my pace hadn't dropped down despite the slow creep of fire into my lungs. I'd lost track exactly of where Eric was, no longer able to spot him in my peripheral vision. He was probably creeping up steadily behind me, a thought that would have irritated me if I was a competitive person. No, I wasn't irritated at all when I head the footfalls behind me.
I passed by the weapons table for the fourth time before Eric brushed past me. I scowled, but otherwise wasn't going to let it mess up the pacing I'd perfected. Then he tilted his head back and, clear as daylights, winked at me.
A challenge. Come and get me.
"Oh, come on," I growled under my breath. Already he was at least ten paces ahead. My level-headedness forgotten, I pumped my arms and tried to coax my tired legs to go faster.
Rounding the door of the room, I managed to match Eric's speed. My lungs were burning, but I was determined to catch up with the cocky ass. Another half-lap around and I managed to half the distance between us.
Eric glanced behind to look at me again, faltering for a step or two from the motion. I saw his mouth form a startled "oh" as he caught himself. I grinned and powered ahead, a burst of adrenaline coursing through me in the moment.
Three, two, one more step and I was even with Eric, my strides shorter but faster than his. "Let me guess," I panted in short bursts, "this isn't even your fastest pace." I snuck a glance at him, smirking when I noticed he was breathing fairly hard as well. I wasn't the only one tiring from our little "race."
"Something like that," he retorted with a matching smirk. "But I reserve that for 'showing up' full members rather than initiates." We ran together for almost an entire lap before my legs threatened to give out from under me.
"Fuck, I'm out," I admitted as I dropped from sprinting to trotting tiredly. I'd lost count of exactly how many times I'd lapped the room, but I knew it wasn't close to my mental goal I'd started with this morning.
Eric grunted in agreement and slowed to match my speed. I trotted to finish the lap, ending up by the lockers once more. When I stopped jogging finally, my legs ached and my back was drenched in sweat. I could feel my hair sticking to the back of my neck, the strands that had escaped my ponytail coiled uncomfortably against my skin.
Sitting down seemed like a double-edged sword, as I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to stand back up again once I did. Instead I found an unopened water bottle and cracked it open, gulping down three mouthfulls with a content sigh.
Lurking in my peripheral vision, Eric searched the benches with a scowl. He looked over at me and let out a huff. "Do you enjoy taking people's things, Tris?" he asked, looking pointedly at me. "That's not very Abnegation at all."
I tipped my head slightly, not following what he meant. "Beg pardon?" I replied, confused. I went to take another sip of water before I realized what had happened. "Shit, sorry," I backpedaled, capping the bottle loosely and holding it out to him. I hadn't brought a water this morning, having forgotten to grab one on my way past the pit.
He smirked and snagged the bottle from my hand with a smooth motion. "Sure you are," he teased, taking a hearty gulp. Without capping it, he passed it back to me. I couldn't place the expression in his eyes as he continued to stare at me. "Keep it. I still need to get a coffee to wake up."
I took the water bottle back, not knowing what else to say. "Thanks," I finally replied. "I'll try to remember my own next time." Eric nodded and finally broke his stare, walking to collect his things from the weapons table. I turned around so he wouldn't see the smile I couldn't keep off my face.
Next time. Like this was a thing, a habit between the pair of us. I could get used to this, training and competing against Eric. I wouldn't call it a true competition, not when he had two years of Dauntless training over me, but it made me feel like I had something to work towards. A challenge to overcome, like his taunting wink earlier.
I left before he did, calling out a gentle, "seeya," over my shoulder when I slid through the doorway.
A/N: So this chapter was supposed to be posted *checks calendar* approximately forever ago. I had a really hectic week this week and originally wanted to have at least one more scene in it. Alas, that didn't happen and I got a few requests to update sooner rather than later!
Feedback, as always, is appreciated! It motivates me so, so much to see what you guys think about how the story is developing and what you think is happening between the characters.