Gym - Thursday, late afternoon - 7/10

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir wasn't precisely practicing what Ino had taught him. He was practicing what Ino had taught him... with the broom.

After all, if he had a movable surface, something that could be pushed off of, pulled on, hung from, swung from, rolled with... well, it was certainly worth exploring the possibility of it's use, if only in practice to give him a bit of variety. After all, he doubted he'd only be attacked on flat ground with good footing and traction. Plus he could increase the height of a jump or gain momentum if he used it right; he didn't want to rely on the thing, after all, but neither did it do to let untapped potential just sit there.

There were too many things happening, here and in Oz, to have that be an option.

[open for liirish or gymish needs!]

Comments

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata was, in fact, just passing by but she couldn't help but stop and glance curiously at what Liir was doing.

She watched quietly.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

The eyes on him gained his attention soon enough. He stepped off the broom to dive farther into a roll before coming up with a grin.

"Hello, Hinata," he said, a little sweaty and a little tired but smiling. "How are you today?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She smiled at him. "W-Well enough," Hinata said lightly. "R-Rather quiet, b-because of all the n-new people, but..."

That got a very slight shrug, a silent 'what can you do?'

"H-How have you b-been?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Well enough," which was his answer for when it wasn't particularly good but neither was it particularly bad.

"Alive. Cooking. Practicing. I was a kitten last weekend, so I wasn't dragged to the picnic."

He sounded rather pleased with being a kitten.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Y-You were happy b-being a kitten?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He grinned.

"Of course. Why not? I was cuddled and held and scritched. My sole responsibilities were to be cute and affectionate. And I didn't have to talk to anyone."

He settled on the ground.

"I don't know how life gets much better than that."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"It m-might get boring," she said, though she had to smile. Yes, the way he'd put it sounded like a nice life.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He shook his head.

"Not with all the scents and things to poke at and bite and paw at," he told her, tipping his chin to her.

"I'm sure your kitten would say the same: the world is a fascinating place. And when it's not, a nap is a wonderful thing."

He breathed out.

"But I'm fine as I am as well. Perhaps less prone to being hugged and cuddled, but I'll soldier on somehow."

For all that he no longer was a kitten, the experience had brightened his mood somewhat.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I c-can bring h-her to see y-you again, if y-you'd like," Hinata offered, smiling. "She's s-so sad when I l-leave her in my r-room. But w-with the snow t-today I didn't w-want to take her o-out."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"You're welcome to come by my room sometime. There'll be tuna for her and tea and cookies for you if you do."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I'll k-keep it in mind," she promised him. "I've b-been r-remiss in g-getting out l-lately."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"You as well?" he asked with a faint smile.

"Ino's been after me to talk to more people," he said. "She doesn't think I'm social enough."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"I've n-never been g-good at socializing," she said, looking rueful. "N-Not like Ino-san, t-though she means w-well when she t-tries to make m-me. No o-one is s-social e-enough for her, I t-think."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"I grew up with two people around, for the most part," he said. There'd been the children at the mauntery and the rest of Fiyero's get for a few years, but that didn't cover nearly enough to be helpful.

"And quite a few monkeys. And a number of other animals. It's why I do better with those than people. Well, animals and inanimate objects."

Yes, those do talk to him.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata nodded for most of it, but she had to ask. "I-Inanimate o-objects?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He nodded.

"Objects hold memories. Sometimes, they talk. I used to think everyone could hear them, but apparently it's just a part of my magic. But they do speak."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"That's a-amazing," she said quietly. "D-Does every o-object do t-that?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Some things are louder than others. Some things shout. Others, you have to listen to."

He shrugged.

"I used to think I was mad. But things here sort of convinced me I wasn't making things up."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She smiled, looking down at her hands. "T-They sound a b-bit like p-people do, t-that way. H-How they're d-different."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

The broom was in his hand still and he thought it would make a good example. He tapped the handle.

"The broom is very loud. Obstinate too. It won't burn anymore, break anymore... it just refuses to. It flies for me, and the handle is cold when it'd rather you didn't touch it.

"It's always warm for me, oddly enough."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"It s-sounds like a g-good friend," she offered.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"It's the only thing I have left from my mother," he explained. "Though that doesn't explain the warmth."

He'd made a joke. No, really.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata took it seriously. "T-That doesn't m-mean... even w-without warmth... s-some things a-are still... t-tradition."

It wasn't the right word, but she couldn't think of any better.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Thropp tradition. Definitely."

He shook his head.

"Don't mind me. My family is a strange thing."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"A-Aren't all families s-strange to an e-extent?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't know. I grew up in almost complete isolation. But from what I saw... probably."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"It's j-just important to r-remember that p-people are m-more than t-their families," she said.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"They have to be," he said with a faint smile. "Or I would have been nothing for even longer than I was."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She twitched.

"No one," Hinata said with quiet fierceness, "is ever nothing."

Then she blushed furiously.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He actually smiled. He wasn't humoring her. He was just glad to hear it.

"Ino told me the same thing."

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Ino-san is v-very kind, if l-loud," she said, still blushing. "A-And it's true t-though we l-learned it f-from d-different sources."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"I learned it from her. And from Karal. And from Miss Lulu and Millie."

He'd learned it from a few others, but he didn't want to mention them.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"It's s-something, I f-find, that y-you've got t-to keep l-learning," Hinata added quietly.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He didn't say anything for a moment.

"It's very easy to forget," he said.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"Y-Yes," she agreed, but quietly. "W-Which is why i-it's so i-important to try n-not to."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"We are made of our memories, in part," he said, "so I suppose if you remember anything, you're not nothing."