fandomhighdorms | Gym: Sunday Morning [1-6-08]

A young man wearing rags wandered in a few minutes after her, looking somewhat puzzled and somewhat intrigued in equal measure. Green green eyes took in the interior of the building and some of the devices that were sprinkled on the floor and their owner walked over (though not too close) upon seeing someone using some of them.

This whole thing was entirely alien to him and a little observation might save him from looking like a complete idiot.

Lana looked up and smiled over at him. "Hey," she said a little breathlessly and hit the bag again with the punch and kick combination Lex had taught her before turning back to the young man. "How's it going?"

"I couldn't tell you," he said, sounding a little bit distracted. He was trying to figure out what the bag had done to deserve such a thrashing. Or why the girl liked hurting her hands.

"Can't you tell for yourself? I do think it's dead, though to be fair, it was dead before you started. Probably."

Who could tell, here?

"Dead?" Lana asked a bit surprised. "Oh, the bag. Um, yes, it wasn't ever alive." She paused, holding the bag still. "You must be new here. I'm Lana. Lana Lang. And I'm exercising - practicing ways to defend myself."

"Is it extremely obvious?"

That was mildly annoying but something of a given. Not only was this an entirely new place, but it came with so many entirely new things.

Moving on, though...

"Exercising?" He'd never heard the term used as such. Generally, Elphaba would have said that if you were hitting something, you'd exercised all your options already. Which isn't to say she didn't.

"Obvious that you're new?" Lana asked. "Well, it's a small island and I've been here for a while, so if I don't recognize you it's a pretty good bet."

"And yes, exercising. Getting stronger, staying in shape, practicing..." She smiled at him a little ruefully. "I'm learning how to fight - how to defend myself."

"Because of the... invasions here? Or because your world is dangerous?"

He'd been trying to piece things together since he'd first come in. Nothing was quite sensical, so most of it was guesswork, but he thought his mental schematic made sense.

Which wasn't a very good measure, but it was the best he had.

"They have a class for that?"

"All worlds are dangerous," Lana said quietly. "Each in their own way. But yes, partly because of the invasions. Partly just because it would feel good to know I didn't always have to hide behind someone or be rescued by someone else."

She let the bag go and walked over to grab her towel to wipe off her face. "They don't always have a class for it exactly, but there are lots of people here who know how to fight and one of them offered to teach me."

"Oh."

'All worlds are dangerous'.

Especially Oz.

'It would feel good to know I didn't always have to hide behind someone or be rescued by someone else.'

That one hit especially close to home as the someone who'd taken care of him was very much dead. No matter what kind of a harpy she'd been, the Witch had been--

A mother? No, not really.

But Someone.

The hunger for something like that, for the knowledge to defend himself, for someone who would offer to teach him that was plain on his face as he wasn't one for guile. He had no real experience in hiding his emotions as the Witch didn't much care what they were at any given point.

"That's good," he finally said, rather lame but the best he could do. His grand total of social experience, after all, was said harpy and a crazy old woman. Those in the Emerald City didn't really count as that wasn't exactly social so much as 'get off my damn property before I send the Tiger after you'.

Lana saw the hunger and the yearning and her heart, always quick to care - perhaps even too quick - went out to him. "I'm not very good yet," she said, "but if you were interested..."

She hesitated, wondering if maybe she'd read the situation wrong and he would be insulted if she finished her offer. "I'm sorry. I don't even know your name."

"That'd make two of us," he murmured, mostly to himself.

"Liir," he provided after a second. "And you have to know more than me."

He wondered, only for a brief moment, if she was very kind or if he was just that pathetic. Then he seized the moment because as he'd learned on the streets of the Emerald City... no one else would seize it for you.

"I am interested, though. And--" Elphaba always said "I've heard that teaching is the best way to learn something thoroughly."

"Liir," she repeated. "It's nice to meet you."

And then she couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I'm willing," she said. "It may be a bit like the blind leading the blind, but I'm glad to try and teach you what little I know. And if it helps me learn it more thoroughly myself, then I'll owe you one - Ino will too."

"Maybe she'd even be willing to teach us both," Lana said thoughtfully. "Though I'll teach you what I can in any case."

He would never understand why people said that.

"I'll never turn down lessons," he admitted. He'd never been offered them before here.

"Blind leading the blind," Lana said again with a smile. "But maybe together we'll both do well. All right, come on over here to the mats and I'll teach you how to fall."

That startled him just a little.

"How to fall?"

Wouldn't the whole point be to prevent falling?

Lana headed over to the mats. "Sounds crazy, I know, but I'm assured it's the best thing to learn first. Saves you from getting hurt when you fall during training or a fight. Though..." she sat on the mat, with only a small wince from the stiffness. "Stretching might be the best place to start."

"I'll follow you," he said.

She knew more than he did no matter what and it was best just to see how things played than to question everything.

She demonstrated some simple stretches, making sure to show him carefully so that he wouldn't hurt himself if this was new to him. "You want to make sure all of your muscles are stretched and warm before you exercise or you could hurt yourself."

He didn't speak, but he did mimic what she did down to even the tiniest detail. The 'stretching' caused a faint, but oddly pleasant, sort of loose feeling and a sensation of warmth that must be what she was talking about.

She smiled at him. "Good. You're doing really well. Ready to try some falls?"

He kept his silence but nodded. He'd fallen before. He'd fallen many times. There was one particularly memorable fall where all the wind had been knocked out of him due to a trick by Manek.

He'd never liked Manek.

"The most important thing to remember is to relax," she told him. "I know that sounds impossible, but you can do it. I learned how to, so anyone can."

She demonstrated for him, showing him just how to do it. "Why don't you give it a try."

He watched her carefully before running through it in his mind slowly. Then he did it with his body, slowly again, before performing it at normal speed.

Well, actually. Very well. Another duplicate performance.

He looked up, waiting for critique.

She looked a little startled, then grinned delightedly. "Wow. That's incredible. You're better than I am. Are you sure you really need my teaching?"

That flustered him right off the floor.

"A monkey can duplicate what's shown," he said. "That's all I did. I'm not better than anyone."

He seemed very firm on that.

She wasn't sure why the idea bothered him so much. "All I meant was that you picked up the skill very easily. Much faster than I did."

She smiled at him. "I'll have to ask Ino if she'll teach both of us together. You'll need more than I can teach you soon. But if she will, we can practice together."

"Oh," he said awkwardly.

"Okay. Is Ino your guide sibling? Or an instructor?"

"She's another student," Lana said. "A ninja, a trained fighter. And she offered to teach me how to fight as well."

"Did she ask a fee?"

He was making sure. He didn't mean to be rude.

"No," Lana said. "She just thought I should be able to fight."

That, LIir thought, was odd.

"She's very nice then, I'd think."

It was an attempt at being nice himself. He wanted to make good relations, after all, especially with those who'd be teaching him things.

"People here are generally very nice," Lana said quietly. "We're all in it together."

He was good enough not to laugh. Or to show that he vaguely wanted to. It wouldn't have been a nice laugh anyway.

"I'm sure," he said carefully enough, "I'll get a better idea of how this place is once school starts."

It wasn't disagreeing with her, anyway. And everyone had been nice. It just wasn't what he was used to.

She smiled at him. "It's probably much different here from anyplace you've ever been. But I think you'll like it here."

She stood up, stretching out again. "Practice the falls - onto your bed at first, as often as you think of it. That will help your body get used to the motion. Not that I think you need as much practice as I do!"

"I'm just going to do a little weight training before I head back to my room for a bath. What's your room number anyway?"

"316."

He wondered why she'd need it. It was just a place to sleep, after all.

"Nice," Lana said. "I'm just a couple of doors down from you. Number 322. If you ever need anything or you just want some company, feel free to stop by."

Yeah, she'd taken him pretty firmly under her wing.

...he'd managed to get under a few wings. It was hard to say if he'd realized any of it yet, though. Mostly, it was just confusing. A little confounding, even.

"You're, um... welcome."

That wasn't lame at all. Unfortunately, he had picked up on the Witch's sarcasm.

She smiled at him. "It can all be a little confusing here at first, but you'll get used to it."

"It's better than the Emerald City," he said with a shrug.

"Emerald City?" she asked curiously. "Is that where you are from?"

No, I'm from the Vinkus, from Kiamo Ko.

"Yes," he said. "That's where I came from."

It wasn't a lie. He'd been there before he'd come here. And he'd been there to get a fresh start as his own person, away from the memories of the Witch.

"I'm from a place called Smallville. In Kansas," Lana explained.

. . .

Was Kansas some massive tract of land in the United States? If he met one more person from Kansas...

"You're not related in any way to a Dorothy Gale, are you?"

Because then he'd be very very upset with life, the universe and everything.

Lana shook her head. "No. Never heard of her. Smallville is a pretty tiny place, though."

"All right."

Apparently, the universe wasn't yet out for his sanity. Yet.

Lana went through a weight circuit, making sure she hit all the muscle groups, then sat down on the mat to stretch herself out again before she headed back to the dorms.

Liir scampered off to his own room. He had some considering to do.

Gym: Sunday Morning [1-6-08]

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