fandomhighdorms | Gym, Monday morning

Blair walked in carrying a mat and waved over at Pip. "Hey, man. What did that bag ever do to you?"

"Insulted my mother," Pip said. "It should know better than to insult a man's mother." He hit with a roundhouse kick. "So, what are you up to so early on a Monday?"

"Well you teach it a lesson then." Blair laughed. "I'm working off some nervous energy. Thought I would do some yoga or something."

"Oh? What's all the nervous energy from? Molly's birthday tonight and whatnot?"

Blair finished stretching and stood, bouncing a bit. "Yeah man. I just don't want to screw things up with her. We're doing pretty good right now."

"//Good to hear somebody I know is,//" Pip muttered in French. "You won't screw up, man," he said in English. "Keep that sort of mixture of zen calm and bouncy hyperactivity that you have." He hit the bag again. "So, make any plans for a post party celebration? Something more private maybe?"

Blair caught a little bit of the French, but it was too quiet for him to make out the rest. "Thanks, Pip. I needed to hear that. So I have a sort of zen hyperactivity thing, huh?" He bounced and grinned happily.

"I think I'll probably invite her out for dinner later this week or something."

"Eeeexcellent." Another punch. "Which reminds me, I need to pick up my present for her later."

"Yeah, you do! Seriously, man, she's really looking forward to her birthday and I think presents are a big part of that and you really should remember to pick something up and maybe you should leave now." Blair took a deep breath and stared at Pip worriedly.

"Whoa. I think I need to work out a lot of nervous energy."

Ivanova strolled into the gym, spinning her staff around absently in one hand and looking like she hadn't slept at all the night before. She nodded to both of them, starting to stretch. "Morning Pip, Blair."

"Morning Ivanova! You look..." Blair wasn't sure if saying a girl looked tired was rude or not. "Nice stick."

"I look tired," she filled in for him with a flat look. It wasn't really hostile, just . . . tired. She spun the staff around and retracted it into a small cylinder that fit into her palm, switched hands and extended it again. "It's Minbari. Which reminds me, I still haven't given you your present from break."

"You don't look bad tired. Just tired. Is everything okay?" Blair watched her move with the staff. "Aww, you didn't have to get me anything. Minbari is another culture, right? You seem really good with that, almost like an artist."

"No, everything isn't okay," she sighed, but moved on.

"And I wanted to get you something. A couple somethings, actually. As a thanks for that massive gift basket you gave me before I left. Which, by the way, I didn't come close to finishing so I brought what was left to Down Below and gave it to the lurkers." She twirled the staff around again in what seemed to be a difficult move but was really just a bit of flashy showmanship. "And if you think this is impressive, you should see the Minbari Ranger I learned from."

"Wow." Blair really tired to not to get dazzled by the fancy showmanship, but it was hard. "That's very cool. Oh, and I'm glad you enjoyed it and got to share it with others!"

He moved a step closer and paused. "Do you want to talk about it, Ivanova? I care about you and would love to listen if it would help you."

"That's sweet, Blair," Ivanova murmured, absently retracting the staff and palming it. "But I don't see how you can help. Unless you can find a way to . . ." her voice wavered, "keep her from leaving." Dammit, she had said the L word. She turned away from him and swiped an arm across her eyes, wiping away barely formed tears, a blank mask settling over her face as she began to move through a series of attacks with the staff.

Blair quickly moved back a step. Ivanova looked like she was adept at the staff, but he wasn't taking any chances. "You're right, talking about it doesn't change the circumstances and I'm really sorry that you're hurting right now. Sometimes talking helps you feel less alone, lets you know that others are around and care about the same things." He paused in his soft speech and shrugged. "If you do want to talk, come and find me. Or if you need anything. I'll be happy to help."

She faltered a bit in her exercises. Why did he have to be so nice? "I . . . will, Blair. And thank you." She lifted the staff again, but instead of resuming her patterns, she whirled on him, almost accusingly. "She wrote me poem. No one has ever written me a poem before. No one." She sounded like she wasn't sure if she was happy or angry at this fact.

Blair bounced a little nervously and took a deep breath. "She did? She must care for you a lot."

Pip stood off to the side, holding the bag, not sure whether he should step in and say something or not. He trusted Ivanova, especially considering that he had more or less broke down in front of her last week, but he wasn't sure that this was a conversation he should step into.

"She did." Ivanova waved a hand - not the one holding the staff. "She does. And I don't . . . it's never happened to me before, I've never been in love so, so stupidly and absolutely, not even with Talia and now she's leaving and I'm terrified that we're never going to see each other again." The mask was starting to crack as her voice did.

Blair stepped forward. "Don't go borrowing bad luck. Fate brought you together once, there's nothing saying that it won't happen again." He placed a hand on her shoulder, not quite sure if she wanted a hug.

Ivanova wrapped an arm around her ribs, the staff clattering to the ground as she buried her face in her other hand. She drew a shaking breath, trying to keep herself from breaking down entirely.

Whether she wanted a hug or not, Blair didn't care. He moved forward and hugged her tightly. "Hey, hey, hey there. It's okay to cry, you know."

"In our line of work," Pip said, stepping from the bag and putting an arm on Ivanova's other shoulder, "you could spend a lifetime wondering if everyone you care about is going to be taken away from you forever. Someone once told me that if you let that fear paralyze you, you're insulting the memories of everyone who came before you who was lost to someone. That the last thing they'd want you to do is to ruin your life because of them." He smiled. "'sides, in my experience, it's impossible to disappear completely. The universe just doesn't work like that."

Her arm was shaking as she wrapped it around Blair, burying her face in his shoulder as she sobbed silently for long moment. Finally her shoulders stopped shaking and she looked up, her eyes red and her cheeks damp, but she was smiling. It was small and uncertain, but it was a smile.

"I heard the same thing," she said hoarsely. "But it never makes it easier."

"No," Pip said. "It really doesn't. But it does need to be said every time, I think."

She tried to laugh, but it came out as a sniffle. She drew back from Blair, her back stiffening slightly.

Blair looked up at her curiously.

She smiled at him. "I'm . . ." she swallowed to get rid of the hoarse, post-cry croak, and tried again, her voice coming out at something more closely resembling normal. "I'm fine. Well, I'm going to be fine."

Blair nodded and smiled. "You're going to be fine."

Ivanova sniffled again and scrubbed at her eyes with the palm of her hand. Now that she had gone and broken down in front of them, all she wanted to do was run away and hide. "I should go and make myself look human again before class," she said, trying to make her tone light but not quite succeeding.

"Probably a good idea," Pip said. "Though considering this place, "looking human" is hardly the norm."

"You look beautiful as always." Blair smiled and waved his hand towards her. "But I understand. I'll be at Molly's party later tonight, if you want to talk more."

Ivanova actually managed a little laugh at Pip and a watery smile for Blair. She nodded. "I'll keep it in mind."

Abruptly she fled, leaving the Ranger staff lying on the floor of the gym.

Pip kicked the Ranger staff up to his hands. After fiddling with it for a moment, he got it to retract into its small cylinder form. "I'll hold onto this for now," he said. "Methinks she wants to be alone for the moment."

Gym, Monday morning

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