Scene that was omitted from my story "Something New"
Routines calmed him, stabilized him and made it seem like everything was alright, predictable, normal. But twice doesn't make a pattern. After going through his landscape in the morning, the jolt of adrenaline made him irritable, sullen. Word quickly spread to stay clear while he took it out on the punching bags, moderation wasn't something he was interested in practicing.
Amar watched him with concern, stripped down to a white tank top left over from Milwaukee. He was sweat soaked, so that the black of his tattoo shown through the white. Amar was convinced by the Abnegation hands that Four probably didn't intend on the display. Fortunately, the blood splashed pink across his side was distracting enough to avoid gossip. He pulled up a stool and sat just in Four's peripheral bringing slices of apple up to his mouth ever so often.
"You just going to sit there?" Four spat, hammering into the bag.
"You going to tell me why you can't get past the baby in your landscape?"
"No." He punched again.
"Then I guess I'll have to sit here until you fall over or die of blood loss."
His arms were past falling off. His legs didn't want to shuffle and brace anymore. His neck ached when he let his head bow chin on his chest. He looked at his knuckles, split and bruised. Then at the apple slice Amar pushed through his lips, his stomach rumbling. But he wasn't in the mood to entertain Amar's tactics, he threw his shirt over his shoulder on his way out to his apartment.
"Same time tomorrow?" Amar called after him, amused despite his concern.