fandomhighdorms | The Gym, Wednesday morning

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The Gym, Wednesday morning

Today was a day for gym practise, River decided, but not for fighting - unless anyone should ask her for sparring, of course. She made her way to the middle of the floor, and stood still for a moment before starting to move, mixing cheer moves with a few punches and some dance steps. She found a rhythm to it, as if there was some kind of music playing in the room.

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Jack had slept badly, wasn't paying attention, and didn't even notice there was someone else there. All he wanted to do was work on the bag, lose himself for awhile, and he ran a hand through his hair as he walked in, rubbing the back of his neck.

At first River ignored the approach of another person, but as soon as she recognised him she froze. Not aware of her, his mind was completely open to her. Pain and confusion made her shiver, and a part of her wanted to offer comfort, before her anger and hurt from before returned. Remaining still and quiet, she let her emotions run through her.

It was the sudden lack of movement that grabbed his attention, and Jack stopped, looking up sharply. He started to think about numbers, equations, running through the insertion points for his last three jumps, then just stopped. He was too damn tired to bother. "River," he said, not keeping her out, but not welcoming her in, either.

She turned, looking at him. "Don't know either," she said.

"No, I guess not." Jack kept watching her while he walked over to the bag, and rested his hands against it. Still not reaching for the numbers.

She wasn't invited, but not kept out either. It would have been hard not to hear him at all, and struggling to keep her own feelings - contradictory as they were - separate from his became a struggle. She sank down to her knees, drawing a deep breath. She had known how to comfort him, to make worries go away, and she'd enjoyed being able to do that, nothing but the present moment there for both of them. Still hurt, part of her said no to that, and it made her strangely enough wish he'd cut her off again.

He sighed and rested his forehead against the bag, drawing up a swirl of coordinates, boring ones, and let them fog his mind. He knew River, and he had a feeling he knew what he was doing to her. "Want me to leave?"

River sighed. "Just keep me out." She looked up at him. "Can't comfort you anymore." Still, she couldn't hold back the sadness in her voice.

"I didn't ask you to," he muttered into the bag, shoring up his defences, building them as strong and as high as he could. "Better?"

"Better." She got to her feet again. "Never did ask before either. Just didn't object." She turned her back to him, stretching tall, preparing to resume her practise. "I did shelter you against the more complicated relationships, didn't I?"

Jack turned his head, pressing his cheek against the bag while he looked at her in silence. "That's never what you were," he finally said.

She glanced over her shoulder, smiling a little. "Didn't mean it as a bad thing. Knew exactly, then." Leaning forward, she stood on her hands, then slowly got back on to her feet.

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Yeah. Me too."

She repeated the move. "Made me happy then, Jack. Have no plans on demanding anything from you."

His eyes followed her as she moved until he forced himself to look away, stepping back from the bag and starting to stretch. "Glad I made you happy," he said quietly, more to himself than to her.

"Just don't hurt me. All I ask." There was a very subtle hint of threat in her voice. She spun around, then did a backwards handstand this time, landing on her feet again.

Jack heard the threat, and his nostrils flared slightly. "Don't give me a chance," he said flatly, and began hitting the bag, ignoring the weakness in his hand, gradually speeding up.

River felt her anger rise again, struggling to hold it back. "Didn't give you a reason last time," she replied, turning her back to him again.

He started hitting the bag harder, glaring at it, and didn't answer.

Entering a sequence of moves, every step River took turned a little more aggressive than she'd planned. The gentleness was gone, replaced with kicks and punches in the air.

Even though Jack was angry, at River and maybe at himself, he couldn't help watching her, attention split between pummelling the bag and following her movements.

Unconsciously, he started to fall into a rhythm hat matched hers.

The synchonised movements were soothing, despite everything else, and River found herself emphasizing it. Reaching the wall, she spun around, then raised her head, meeting Jack's eyes.

He gave her a crooked smile and slowed, gradually letting his hands fall to his sides, breathing deeper but not laboured. "We always matched."

River gave a sad laugh, shaking her head. "Just not easy to find that." Part of her was close to telling him she'd missed him, but she didn't.

"No, no it's not." Jack leaned forward, resting against the bag, closing his eyes briefly, then straightened. "I'll go, leave you in peace," he said, and headed for the door without looking at her again.

River stood still and watched him leave, then turned all her focus back to her own movement. The sequence that followed was fast, very fast, with lonh sweeping kicks aimed at nothing.

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The Gym, Wednesday morning

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