Training Room (Aerials & Spec-dolls)

[Fellen]

The enclosure's high ceiling is what sets the training room apart from the rest. The room is built to accommodate the experiments who take to the air in the shows, allowing them to practice comfortably alongside the equipment we have set out for them. Trapeze artists, aerial acrobats and tightrope walkers will find it a fitting second home. Back on solid land, the spec-dolls practically have the space to themselves. Their stunts and exalted grace are most welcome here, with all equipment gladly provided and maintained for them. Items not in use are expected to be put away in the storage, which is located at the very side of the room. In spite of this pleasing space, our cameras never fail to do their job in covering every little corner and blind spot of the spacious room.

- Quartz, the Ringmaster.

[CallMeTash]

Arabesque... pivot. Keep your eyes on the opposite platform. Do not falter.

To anyone who didn't know any better, Willow was the epitome of grace and fluidity as she slowly danced her way across the tightrope metres up in the air. If they watched closely or they were more experienced in the art, they would know her dancing was soulless. She moved with perfect technicality, not emotion. She was practicing steps, not perfecting a performance.

Willow knew this, of course. She was just warming up, getting her body used to the simpler moves she would perform. She always preferred to stretch on the rope than on solid ground; after all, the ground didn't carry her like the rope did.

As her arms reached towards the high ceiling her small, delicate wings unfurled, and she quietly sighed, her back feeling too compressed. She did another quick pivot, moving quickly this time. She did a few more kicks, and then tried her hand at a little jump. Her heart seized for a moment when she didn't hit the mark perfectly, but her wings made sure she kept upright. Cursing under her breath again, she did the jump a few more times until she was sure she wasn't going to be having any issues with it again.

With a few more added kicks and leaps to work out the kinks in her muscles, Willow finally realised that there was no one in the training room with her. Which was strange, because weren't they all here before...?

"Dammit." She'd missed lunch. She had to make sure she wasn't going to miss dinner, because she needed to start some choreography later. She needed the energy, not to mention the fact the scientists would be on her case if she failed to appear to two meals in a day. One was bad enough.

Waltzing back onto one of the platforms, Willow did her final stretches and shrugged. There were still hours till dinner. And since the training room was empty, why not start her choreography now?

[Fellen]

Yuj hated meal-time.

Sure, he loved meat like a dog loved its bones, but that was hardly the problem in his case. Barbeques are only nice when no one tries to start a gossip club every time you turn in the other direction and plug your ears. The fact that he had to attend to the dining hall three times a day – or twenty-one times a week if you prefer – only made matters worse.

In the Nocturne Theatre, if you didn’t count the white-coats, there were about one hundred or so children fluttering about the corridors every second of the day. They were always scattered, so naturally it didn’t bother Yuj very much… until they all were forced to gather and sit down for a meal. “Oh, but you must eat for the energy,” they all said. “What good will you be on stage otherwise?”

Otherwise, he would think while biting back his sharp tongue. You would punish us and inject us with all the nutrition we need until we never want to hear the word ‘starch’ again. Thus, Yuj attempted not to skip meal-times… too often. Today was one of those days, unfortunately.

Yuj didn’t like to think that he was a regular target for the bullies, for regular targets would be the victims of physical abuse alongside verba — okay, he did sort of receive both but it wasn’t as constant as other victims. Yes, he was at least definitely confident with that.

Today, seeing as the Head of the Aerials wasn’t around to administer order, some of his old Zany pals (pal being just a term here, if he was absolutely forced to compare them to something remotely similar to their behavior then that something would no doubt be the entity of everything that comes out of a diseased rat’s anal cavity) decided that spreading rumours about his habits was going to make lunch particularly enjoyable for everyone but him.

I mean, I don’t scratch the number of times in which Willow allows me to practice with her. It’s the number of times she openly happens to talk to me first. Get it right.


Of course, that would be the last thing he’d say in front of his old-time enemies. Instead, he remained quiet considering the fact that he couldn’t hear them at all. Silicone earplugs? Four point eight out of five for effectiveness – the point two being its little tolerance to outer, physical disturbances. That was why he hated meal-times. He was temporarily deaf until he chugged down the goods.

He didn’t realize until someone decided to smack him over the ear – now that’s when things started to get messy.

The earplug came a little loose, opening the gate for noise to seep through and intrude the psychology of his brain. Before he could recover from the sudden disorder, someone had pulled him right back up to the perfect posture and whispered into his ear: “They’re talking about you.”

That was enough for Yuj to wolf down the rest of his meal and hurry it on outta there, but he didn’t. He stayed to listen to what exactly the rumour was, how many people were laughing at him because of it and how completely untrue it all was.

“I don’t—” he had paused. The situation was one to too many to count. He was getting too much attention; there was too much noise. He couldn’t win like that. He had to get out of there.

And so, he left straight after. Leaving the Head of the Bastards of Bogus to sort out the commotion before the scientists had an in on it.

It wasn’t all that big of a deal really, but it certainly made Yuj lose his appetite. Too bad he couldn’t thank the person that bothered to awaken his senses, but he was already sick of it all.

He wasn’t sure where to go from there. He didn’t exactly have a lot of friends, and nowhere was a safe haven for him. He considered heading towards his dorm first, just to take a nap and get rid of all the stress, and that’s exactly where his feet decided to carry him.

However, that meant going through at least one of the training rooms first.

Might as well pass by for some tips from my faction.

But he hadn’t expected her to be there, alone.

He had only squeaked upon the door just a tad, but he could already see that she was up there doing her little work on the tightrope. She was beautiful, as always, and he knew she was just beginning to practice. After months of observing her, it wasn’t hard to tell anymore. He knew she wasn’t striving for perfection, but no matter how much he realized that he still couldn’t help but drown in his flaws; the critiques, the rumours. He hated the rumours the most.

But he only had to look up and the tranquility he received automatically swept it all away. She was that kind of person.

He knew that he shouldn’t be floating about the training room, particularly when the only other person around was her. The other Aerials and Spec-dolls would arrive any time now, and some would have most definitely overheard the new rumour. Most of them often sided with Yuj, thankfully so, but if they caught him running straight to Willow right after the uproar…

No, no, no. He had every right to be here. It was his training room, too.

He took a seat next to the storage room, coming to the conclusion that it was safer to watch from a distance first than to approach her with expectation. If someone happened to come in on them, he could easily just slip into the storage and pretend that he was just beginning practice. Willow wasn’t the sort of person to judge him for that, or so he thought.

“Don’t mind if I watch from down here?” he called out to her as he pulled out the plugs from his ears.

[CallMeTash]

Trying to choreograph a dance when there was no music was a hard feat. Willow would never admit this to anyone, of course, not even on the point of death, but there was only so much dancing you could do when you didn't have a beat. Sometimes it worried her -- was she really dancing from her soul if she couldn't do it without music? -- but today she was just annoyed. Since she'd missed lunch, she had wanted to be more productive than usual in case the scientists came after her and wondered why she was missing out on her nutrition and all that.

Slowly, she felt herself frowning as she danced, the moves becoming more jerky as she continued. She couldn't help but be grateful that everyone was still eating as she became stiff and unbalanced on the rope. Well, at least she thought she was alone until she heard the question from down below.

Yuj. He was her protégé and although it had been a little while since he'd left the Zanies and joined her faction instead, she still felt weary of him. He seemed nice enough -- and of reasonably mediocre talent, as of now -- but she was cautious around all her fellow tightropers. She was the leader of the Aerials, and by default better than the rest of them, but she always felt like she was in competition with them. That's why she worked so hard. She wanted to prove herself. Prove her importance.

And she'd heard the rumours about his feelings for her. She did nothing to encourage nor discourage them, but she sure as hell didn't appreciate them.

Having spaced out, Willow realised rather belatedly that Yuj was probably still waiting a response and that she had stopped dancing. She was rather mortified; Yuj had caught her nowhere near her best. After what he'd seen, she didn't really want him here. She felt exposed. When she practiced, she always felt like the training room had to be filled with a large amount of people (which she loathed, because people were loud) or with no one at all. Small groups of people watching her unnerved her. They could study her more closely and see her faults. And considering Yuj was her protégé (but really, Willow thought, that was just another word for 'rival'), she didn't want him to see her make mistakes. To fail.

So instead of answering his question she said, "Shouldn't you be at lunch?"

[Fellen]

The few seconds of silence that progressed between awaiting his lady’s response was… awkward.

Thankfully, instead of continuing on with practice, she had stopped to listen to him, but in spite of his love (no, urgh, such a cheesy word. I adore her? I fancy her? No, no, that’s not right… I just really, really like her) for her he still felt intimidated under her gaze. He tried not to appear anxious or desperate in wait – both which he ultimately failed at retaining – but they all said that love (no, extreme like) drove people crazy, and he was pretty sure he was becoming a swift victim of it.

Then she asked the bewildering question.

“Um,” he froze momentarily, averting his gaze and biting his lip to shrug it off as if he were thinking. Memories of lunch were still burning marks into his mind, and after memorizing a few more nasty accusations on his way out, his brain was anything but relaxed. Now, to face Willow.

"You mean, shouldn't you be at lunch?"

Oh my god, no, no, no. That isn't how you talk to somewhat you like! God damn slip of the tongue.

He hastily strove to compose himself, temporarily removing his sarcastic habit in honour of the Whimsical Willow.

“Uh, I mean, It’s pretty much over,” he finally said, blinking furiously to avoid eye contact. He, in turn, skipped the subject with a question of his own. “Why weren’t you there? Aren’t you hungry? You look like you’ve been practicing for a while… without music. Should I put something on for you or…?”

He hastily shut his mouth; paranoid that he was beginning to annoy her. This was how it was always like with her, he’d initiate the conversation – in high hopes of furthering their relationship – but ultimately she would throw a dart right into his bullseye and he would be left stuttering like an idiot.

And yet he still admired her.

“Er,” he tried to start. “Only if you want me to, I can just leave if I’m a nuisance.”

[CallMeTash]

The stagnant pause lingered in the air as Willow waited for Yuj to formulate a response to her rather simple question. She knew that he didn't talk to many people (she didn't either, unless she really had to), but at the same time she knew he wasn't exactly stupid.

His response had surprised her. Had she been standing with a leg extended into the air, she probably would've started sharply in shock. Thankfully, both her feet were placed -- although not very firmly -- on the tightrope. There had been a moment's hesitation, but the statement had been very direct. No one spoke to her like that. People would rather act stupid in front of her and be dismissed than be a smartass and face her wrath, she supposed. She couldn't truly find it in herself to be offended with his question though; after all, she should've been at lunch.

And then he realised what he had said.

It seemed as if he was scrambling for a way to cover up what he had just done, trying to make it clear to her he didn't think the head of the Aerials was someone who didn't follow the rules. He didn't look directly at her again. For some reason, it left her amused. She could've let the kid squirm, but she decided that he seemed uncomfortable enough.

"I forgot," she said simply, inspecting her fingernails in case he tried to catch her gaze. "And no, I'm not particularly hungry. I needed the extra practice -- but it was just warm ups for now, so I didn't need music."

She was startlingly honest, which lead her to fall silent and gaze at the roof of the training room. Perhaps Yuj's awkwardness had spurred her to try and comfort him. She was a leader of a group of ragtag children, but she wasn't very motherly. She wondered what had come over her, before quickly dismissed it. As long as she didn't make a habit of it, she didn't see why this little lapse of judgement would be harmful.

(After all, he didn't know that it had slipped her mind that there was, in fact, a music system in the training room.)

"That won't be necessary," she said abruptly, shifting slightly on the rope. "Lunch is almost over, after all. Everyone will be back here soon enough."

[Fellen]

You? Ha. I’m the one that needs the extra practice, Yuj thought, but this time around he knew how to hold his tongue. Despite his not-so-discrete desire to join Willow upon the rope, the childish acrophobia within him still tugged at the strings of his heart every time he so much as climbed up towards the practice platform – harnesses hooked in and all. His trainer – an older Aerial who Willow had designated to him – was kind and all, murmuring sweet words of encouragement from ear to ear, but no matter how many times they were imprinted into Yuj’s mind they just never seemed to help. “Just don’t look down,” the others would always say. “Look straight ahead, focus on getting to the other side.”

“But what if I can’t get to the other side?” would be Yuj’s innocent remark.

“Of course you can, chicken!” his trainer would answer with another try at a motivating grin, but of course two times out of three Yuj would slip in his first five steps and he would be left hanging by the waist as his trainer struggled to pull him back up. He didn’t mind when a few select Aerials giggled at him behind covered mouths and closed doors, but when Willow saw him… just god damn.

Instead, all Yuj managed to intelligently muster in return was a simple: “I th-ee.”

“I mean, I th — I see!” he corrected almost instantly, biting his cursed tongue twice in the process. “Oh what the heck, what does it matter? Forget it.”

At the mention of the near-end of lunch, Yuj redirected his canines to his lips. Not enough to make them bleed – although that was becoming a bad habit – but enough for anyone to know that he there was some sort of distaste for it. “Right, them,” he muttered under his breath and averted his eyes again.

“I gueth – guess – I’ll leave you alone, then. Yeah. Have fun training,” he finished on a slightly bitter note. Nothing due to Willow’s side of the conversation, that’s for sure, but more out of disappointment and ‘un’-comfortableness. He didn’t want to be seen as the guy who ran straight to Willow after a minor bullying incident (yes, he has experienced worse), and he certainly didn’t want to be around if people wanted to chirp away gossip to her.

He rose from his seat, dusted off and turned towards the exit.

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