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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Come on." Trampoline first! Because that required no skill or dignity. Parker showed Kaylin how to get on the trampoline without hurting yourself or bouncing off, then just jumped up a couple times. Then did the splits in the air. Then landed on her butt. "Get a feel for it. Do something silly!"

Kaylin bounced gingerly at first, then with more energy until she was flying high up into the air and bouncing all over. "This is wonderful," she yelled. "It's almost like real flying!"

"I know!" Parker loooved this stuff, and it was a good lead-in to the pommel-horse stuff. "See how high you can go!"

Oh, there was going to be bouncing and flipping in mid-air and some ridiculously, maybe close to dangerously scary high jumping.

"This is the best thing ever!"

Parker's cackling went up and down with her bouncing. She beamed at Kaylin as they switched places, up, down, up, down. "We use a smaller kinda one of these for getting up on the pommel horse. But it's just fun in its own right too." She did a somersault, landing on her feet. "Think you can try?"

That got the bouncing to stop quickly. "Oh no," Kaylin said, a little panicky, "No horses. They're big and they like to step on you or bite."

"Ugh, no." Parker shuddered back at her. "I've gotten better with them, but just... no." She flopped down and scooted off the trampoline surface, walking over to the pommel horse. "This is what I'm talking about. No idea why they call it the pommel horse, but basically we're playing leap-frog with it."

"Leap frog?" Kaylin said, following her over and looking carefully at the Not-Horse. She stepped up and bounced a little on the small trampoline.

"What are you supposed to do?"

"Like this. Take a couple steps back." Parker got back to the line in front of the horse, started running, bounced off the small tramp, and leapt at the horse, her hands touching and lifting her, then letting her do the splits and leap-frog over it. She did it again, this time with her legs between her arms. "Try that, maybe, it's the easiest. If all you can do is leap on top of it, that's okay too."

Kaylin watched her closely, then took a deep breath and ran at the horse, hitting the trampoline and going flying over with it.

She stopped and turned back to look at the mini-trampoline. "This would have made things so much easier when I was -"

She broke off and looked over at Parker with wide eyes. "I mean... I... well... I don't do things like that any more."

"When you were-- what?" Parker asked, curious. "You should always do things you like. As long as no one else is getting hurt."

Parker's idea of 'hurt' was a little circumscribed, it has to be admitted.

Kaylin shook her head. "No, it was wrong. And I want to be a Hawk now, which means upholding the laws and not..."

Her head went down and her voice got very quiet. "I did a lot of terrible things. I stole, but everyone stole, but not everyone did the other things I did."

"I stole," Parker said frankly. "I stole art. I stole jewels. I stole money." Said lovingly. "I still do, sometimes. I just steal it for other people now, so they can be safe or have justice or get what they deserve." Either meaning of 'get what they deserve.' "And I stabbed a guy with a fork once, but he really had it coming." She gave Kaylin a sober look. "The laws are good when they work the way they're supposed to. For everybody. If that's the kind of -- Hawk? - you're going to be, that's super. But what you did in the past? You did what you had to to survive, I'm guessing."

Kaylin listened and dared a glance or two up at Parker. "The laws have to be for everyone or what's the point?" she said after a long moment. "The Hawks take care of everyone."

She was quiet for a moment longer, struggling with what to say and what she believed. "People say that. That I did what I had to so I could live. But maybe... I think sometimes that I should have said no. Even if I died instead. I was scared and - " No, she couldn't go there.

"Parker, if you knew... I think you would be scared of me and maybe hate me."

"Doubt it," Parker said. "Look, you know Eliot? My boyfriend who wasn't a bear last week?"

She nodded. "I like him too. He said...he told me he knows what it's like to worry about how dangerous you are and that I could go talk to him."

That had meant so much to her. Not just someone being kind, but another, like Jono, who might really understand.

"I don't need to know all he did to know I trust him now." Parker gave Kaylin a sober look. "He hasn't told me. But he's never done anything in the time I've known him to make me think he'll do anything unforgivable again. I guess-- I'm trying to say--" Hardison was so much better at this. "You should talk to him. But the thing to remember? The past is the past. You can make a new future. And change."

"That's why I have to be a Hawk. I have to."

She could never make up for what she had done, but she could be good from now on.

"I don't ever want to be like that again. And I will talk to Eliot. I will."

And it was good to know that maybe she didn't have to tell about everything she'd done.

"Sometimes you have to take a leap--" And a run, and a full flip over the pommel-horse, and stick the landing. Parker turned to grin at Kaylin. "Of faith.... now you try."

Both, of course.

Kaylin made a valiant effort, but wiped out entirely on the landing.

She rolled to her feet and brushed herself off. "I can do that better."

"I know it." Parker grinned. "It just takes practice."

"Which I can do a lot of," Kaylin said grinning back.

Gymnastics is Life, Danger Shop, Period 3

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!

Re: Stretch! Bend! Fall!