fandomhigh | Gymnastics is Life, Danger Shop, Period 3

"Hello, I'm Parker, I really hope you meant to be here." She frowned a second and then said sternly, "If the moose sent you here against your will, you are free to leave. You don't have to humor the authorities. But I think you guys would get something out of this anyway."

Parker had sent out an email the night before, to meet in the Danger Shop today. And with Hardison's help, it was now a multi-layered playground of mats, rings, jungle gyms, hanging chains, and bouncy balls. The ceiling was open, with platforms staggering upward to a diving board onto a huge trampoline. Plus a smooshy ball-pit you could swing into on a rope.

All enhanced by being at half-gravity! Parker had been gleefully thrilled the day before to realize the potential in this for her class.

"Gymnastics is useful! It's good for your body, if you do it right, and don't break your face falling off a balance beam. It's good for your mind and your focus, if you don't pull a muscle in your butt. And it's good to impress people by putting your ankles behind your ears, like this." See?

"We'll get into more of that as the class goes on. And we're lucky! The Olympics are this year, so if they schedule stuff right, we might get a field trip to Rio to watch some of the events in August." Parker put her leg back down. "Today we're gonna start simple, with stretching. And some yoga poses. And me just generally figuring out how much help you're gonna need not to hurt yourself." She paused and added, "We'll use the rest of this equipment over the next few weeks, but if you want to explore it and ask for help today, I'm good with explaining."

"Oh! And if you don't know people, introduce yourself. Or don't. Or make up a name you want to be called, I have a few of those." She did a back-bend, then came up on her hands. "There's popcorn for everyone who at least tries. Sorry for last week, my boyfriend was a bear and we got distracted."

[ooc: comments ~~going~~ up!]

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Just remember, Parker will take you seriously and call you Charlie Clown-pants for the rest of the class if that's what you pick.

Ringo offered Parker a quick grin. "For anyone who doesn't know me already, I'm Ringo Noyamano," she said, turning to the rest of the class. "And I usually don't do this sort of thing barefooted."

Parker grinned back at her. "Good to see you again." She cocked her head. "You know, this is one of the things that could really help with your Air Trek, or at least should give you some new ideas."

"That's what I'm hoping!" Ringo agreed with an enthusiastic nod.

Especially the new ideas part.

"Jalian," she said. "Jalian d'Arsennette y ken Selvren. I'm glad to be in a class that seems useful."

"Cool," Parker said, looking pleased. "Jalian. See, most people don't think that. But there's a lot more you can do with this beyond going pro or becoming a coach."

Jalian shook her head, a bit exasperated. "This helps in everything!" she protested. "People here are mostly very silly."

"I think so," Parker said, warming to her. "People only see the obvious. Gymnastics helps you think in three dimensions! How is that not useful?"

"And also climb, and fight, and fall correctly, and stay limber," Jalian agreed.

"Exactly." Parker nodded. "So yeah, welcome to class. It's going to be awesome. And useful!"

"I am Kaylin Neya and I believe this class will help me with my fighting and that sort of thing."

A useful class. With a teacher she admired. It could only be a good thing.

"Hi again, Kaylin." Parker beamed at another student she recognized. "It really will. I once took out a guy by doing a handstand and kicking him in the face. They never see that coming."

"Can you teach me that?" Kaylin asked earnestly. "I'd really like to be able to do that."

"Of course!" Parker flopped back onto her toes, and grinned at them all. "So yeah, we're going to get creative, and have fun, and learn how to use our bodies in ways which other people just don't. I'm glad you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here too," Kaylin said a little shyly.

"I'm Mayday Parker. That's my real name," Mayday said. "Well, my real name is 'May,' but everyone's called me 'Mayday' since I was a baby."

"Mayday. I like it." Parker grinned. "What are you into, Mayday? You signed up for this class, right?"

"I'm pretty sporty. Going pro in basketball is kind of my pipe dream, but I did gymnastics when I was a little younger, too," Mayday explained. "I keep up with yoga and stuff to help my flexibility on the court, butI figure I can take that farther here."

"Super. We've got a lot of stuff to work with-- the balance beam, the parallel bars, the rings, those aren't just for guys." Parker was pointing things out as she spoke, looking like a kid in a candy store. "I love the Danger Shop. If you can think of anything else we should add, just tell me after class sometime, and I'll be sure it shows up in the next one. You're tall enough for basketball, so, why not dream big?"

Gymnastics is Life, Danger Shop, Period 3

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