The gym, Friday morning

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Aeryn's at the gym pretty early today. She's been slacking a little lately, and every once in a while you just really need to hit something just because. She goes to get the gloves from the locker, leaves them on the mat where Rory could see them, and then starts hitting the bag kind of hard as a warmup while she waits.


[For rory__gilmore, but open. SP is love and all.]

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[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory bounces in bright and early, in her nice warm workout clothes, and spots the gloves. "I need to get some of these," she announces, picking them up and smiling at Aeryn.

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"They do help," she says, stepping back from the bag. "You're sure about this?"

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"Of course I'm sure," Rory says, nodding. "Are you all right with it?"

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"Completely," she says. She's very good at detaching herself from things sometimes. "If you'd like to stretch out or anything, now would be the time."

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Rory plunks down on the floor and pulls her feet towards her, stretching the arch. Someone used to be a dancer.

"So how're you?" she asks pleasantly. "Did you get to fight the trolls?"

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"Some. Not as much as I would have liked," she admits. "You weren't out in that, were you?"

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"I was in the library," says Rory, stretching out her arms. "So all I suffered from were paper cuts."

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Aeryn frowns and asks, "Are those bad?"

She kind of tries to stay away from most things paper.

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"They sting like hell. They're tiny little cuts that you get from running your finger along the edge of a page," she says, bouncing to her feet. "Okay, what do I do first?"

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"Let's see if you remember how to hold your hand to hit," she says. She's pretty sure she taught her this, but she wants to see how much was remembered.

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Rory quickly slips on the gloves and curls her hand into a fist with her thumb on the outside. "Like this?"

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"Good," she says after inspecting her hand. "Refresh my memory and hit the bag, will you?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory takes a good look at the bag, visualizes a dark helmet and imagines the sound of assisted breathing.

Then she recalls him telling her that he's not Anakin anymore, and hits the bag as hard as she can.

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"Did that hurt at all?" Aeryn asks. If Rory's feeling any twinges in her wrist or arm, it means she didn't hit it straight.

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"My wrist went numb," Rory says, shaking it out. "But I'm okay."

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"If you're sure," she says, giving her an out just in case. She demonstrates the correct positioning with her own hand for Rory to copy. "Keep your wrist straight. It lets you hit harder and you stand much less chance of hurting yourself."

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Rory studies Aeryn's hand and mimics the positioning. "Okay. And is this the only way to hit?"

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"No, but it's fairly standard and the easiest to learn," she says. "Try it again, see if it's better."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory tries again, and smiles. "It didn't hurt or go numb or anything. It just feels like my hand!"

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"Good... that it feels like your hand," she says. And because she's found that other people tend to do this, she asks, "Are you visualizing anything when you hit?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory nods.

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She doesn't need to ask. Instead she says, "Aim for a specific part, keeping your form as intact as possible."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory nods again, and pictures Vader standing in front of her.

That box on his chest has always looked vulnerable, so she hits exactly where she was visualizing it as hard as she can.

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By watching Aeryn can get a general idea of where Rory's hitting, and that's a little weird for her, because now she's thinking about the durability of the suit. "How was that?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Therapeutic," Rory says honestly.