[a quarter honesty: between missions and private lessons, an extra three hours to a day became precious. a quarter thinking it too obvious, too connected -- the bit that believed the boot camp to be tailored to the CDC's benefit. a much larger part lethargy that swept in and out without apparent warning, sapping motivation to the point he barely left bed or ate, let alone felt up to racing around a field.]
[texting a friend that he couldn't show up due to such-and-such inconvenience was easy. Shepard? not so much. it was like missing practice... and disappointing a coach.]
[silly. but somehow important.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org A few others have been willing to teach me weaponry and tactics and all
Between that and missions, times just gotten less, you know? At least until we're back on the Neheda. I don't know how you've found time to continue it.
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org It's been extremely helpful
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org Like, really really, and with the new recruits too, it should continue being
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org Thank you for keeping it going
[embarrassment--- mounts, shame and a spot of regret curling in his belly as her texts roll in (this is what happens when you give in to being lazy, the hell was he thinking? he felt fine! he needed to keep to his promises). his own fingers fly over the keyboard, replies sent as fast as possible.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org The teaching style's fine! The teachers are great!! You picked them well! The lessons, they're well organized, I followed alone easily!
Maybe there could be more variety in PT but it isn't bad! The routine is nice! I don't know what accelerated means??
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org Like I don't know, you could include more competition?? Like a reward system besides who gets a half-smile and who doesn't? Maybe some search challenges?
I dont know thats what I'm thinking of right now but I wasn't thinking about it before!
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org I wouldnt RATHER be taught by someone else, that's just what happened! Their once a day, PT is three times, thats all
[She could leave it at that - pretend this never happened and they can both go back to the usual without any change. Hinata stays in the program, she stays at arm's length. Instead:]
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
What the real issue here, Hinata? It's obviously not the program
[he expected her to either kick him out for wasting her time (not really, that was just a worry that cropped up) or (more likely) agree and drop the conversation.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org I don't know?
[he half-wishes she'd picked the usual latter. couldn't even come up with a proper excuse; this was quickly turning from an embarrassing mistake to a mortifying mar.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org I mean its part about the time, it seems like before I know it, it's dark out and you can't do much outside of camp!
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org Otherwise I don't know
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org PTs not often but it feels like too much sometimes?? There's no, sick days, or holidays
[he'd never wanted to miss a day of practice in his life - he'd gone even when during flu seasons (and been sent home in the same period). but, well. as was obvious. PT wasn't volleyball practice. that apparently made all the difference.]
That sounds really whiny and lazy and I don't mean it like that, honest, except I guess I kind of do? I don't know, its confusing, I can't describe it
[why... whyyy... a hole had better up and swallow him - a phrase so cliche he never before believed it but now he hoped with all his heart it would come true. would she make him do push ups? run a few miles? carry something heavy in circles? the ideas were ridiculous.]
[in any case, he will be in the same spot. one tree off from the watch post, butt planted on a root that broke to the surface. dagger on his leg, check. gun on the other, check. a whole lot of hand-wringing and nail-picking despite looking quite well-rested (the tension in jaw and eyes came from the figures in the medical tent), check and check.]
[the second she came into view, up to his feet he jumped. but what--?!]
[She comes down from near the line of rovers, line of her chin habitually high over the turned up collar of her Ajna issue jacket. After so many PT sessions, she should cut a familiar figure as she makes her way down to the outpost though as she draws closer it's pretty damn clear she's been more put together than she is right this second. There's something sharp in her expression, undercut by what is clearly a recent, dried but unfaded blood stain all over her jacket's left sleeve.
She should be mollified by Hinata leaping to his feet at the sight of her. Instead it cuts up under her ribs and hooks back into something raw and bloody and sensitive. Shepard draws to a halt, heavy boots scraping in the shale and sand.]
So what's the plan? If I let you off the hook, what exactly are you gonna do with those two extra hours?
Edited 2015-05-12 07:14 (UTC)
you're going to kill me and I hope I haunt you for all days after
[arms at his sides, wary eyes on her. the day had been full of emotion, declarations and promises; none from instructors, none from the CDC, invigorating all the same. even if Ciel, Guy and Parker matched up to Tess's disdainful prediction for who would be willing to listen, weighted words carried purpose. but there wasn't anything immediately to be done, and after ghosting around medical for nearly an hour, he had to get away. so why the change with the boot camp? a feeling of growing older? of not needing to be treated as a cadet? initially, yes. -- Shepard halted, spoke.]
[ah.]
[he'd rather the push ups.]
I... [a too-long pause, expression pinched. always had been better over text.] ... Hadn't planned that far.
[a beat. head turning down and to the side by a few scant centimeters, as if a new recruit looking for signs he was doing it right. not as nervous as usual - embarrassed, though, in a strained, uncomfortable way.]
[It's a small battle not the settle on her heels, to cross her arms over her chest. She wishes for her rifle, slung over her shoulder and a familiar weight at her hip, so she could tuck her hand at the strap: sway back against it like leverage off a line. Instead she forces her arms to stay loose at her sides. Forces herself to stay forward on the balls of her feet instead of collapsing back into that habitual, defensive line.
Patience isn't her forte, but that doesn't mean she doesn't sometimes consider it as a concept. So Shepard let's him talk, let's the sideways look of his hang between them for a second - and then she flicks her eyes away, shifting her weight to scan the camp as it's laid out between them and the beach.
And then she swings her attention back around, the line of her shoulders unconsciously crisp.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Fire away
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I don't think I have time for PT from here on out
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What's changed
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[texting a friend that he couldn't show up due to such-and-such inconvenience was easy. Shepard? not so much. it was like missing practice... and disappointing a coach.]
[silly. but somehow important.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
A few others have been willing to teach me weaponry and tactics and all
Between that and missions, times just gotten less, you know? At least until we're back on the Neheda. I don't know how you've found time to continue it.
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
It's been extremely helpful
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Like, really really, and with the new recruits too, it should continue being
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Thank you for keeping it going
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So it's not good enough for you anymore
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What? No! I didn't say that! How did you get that??
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You'd rather get taught by someone else
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Was the program not accelerated enough for you? You don't like the teaching style? What's wrong with it
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FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
The teaching style's fine! The teachers are great!! You picked them well! The lessons, they're well organized, I followed alone easily!
Maybe there could be more variety in PT but it isn't bad! The routine is nice! I don't know what accelerated means??
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Like I don't know, you could include more competition?? Like a reward system besides who gets a half-smile and who doesn't? Maybe some search challenges?
I dont know thats what I'm thinking of right now but I wasn't thinking about it before!
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
I wouldnt RATHER be taught by someone else, that's just what happened! Their once a day, PT is three times, thats all
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So your only problem is two hours? There's nothing else making you want to quit?
1/?
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
When you say it like that...
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That is what I said
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Thats what I meant!
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2 hours in 72 is barely anything isnt it
done!
i'm sorry
is it too late to take back this whole conversation?
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FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
What the real issue here, Hinata? It's obviously not the program
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FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
I don't know?
[he half-wishes she'd picked the usual latter. couldn't even come up with a proper excuse; this was quickly turning from an embarrassing mistake to a mortifying mar.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
I mean its part about the time, it seems like before I know it, it's dark out and you can't do much outside of camp!
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Otherwise I don't know
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
PTs not often but it feels like too much sometimes?? There's no, sick days, or holidays
[he'd never wanted to miss a day of practice in his life - he'd gone even when during flu seasons (and been sent home in the same period). but, well. as was obvious. PT wasn't volleyball practice. that apparently made all the difference.]
That sounds really whiny and lazy and I don't mean it like that, honest, except I guess I kind of do? I don't know, its confusing, I can't describe it
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If you weren't
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
You know what never mind
FROM: shepard.lydia@cdc.org
Where are you?
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...?
[pause.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
By the south watch post, why?
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Stay put
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Why?? Was it something I said???? Are you coming over???
Listen really maam, sorry for bothering you! It wasn't about the program! I just had a weird moment I guess??
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Are you still coming over???
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Yes I'm still coming over and you better still be there when I get there or I'll track you down
aaa...ction?
[in any case, he will be in the same spot. one tree off from the watch post, butt planted on a root that broke to the surface. dagger on his leg, check. gun on the other, check. a whole lot of hand-wringing and nail-picking despite looking quite well-rested (the tension in jaw and eyes came from the figures in the medical tent), check and check.]
[the second she came into view, up to his feet he jumped. but what--?!]
action!!!!
She should be mollified by Hinata leaping to his feet at the sight of her. Instead it cuts up under her ribs and hooks back into something raw and bloody and sensitive. Shepard draws to a halt, heavy boots scraping in the shale and sand.]
So what's the plan? If I let you off the hook, what exactly are you gonna do with those two extra hours?
you're going to kill me and I hope I haunt you for all days after
[ah.]
[he'd rather the push ups.]
I... [a too-long pause, expression pinched. always had been better over text.] ... Hadn't planned that far.
[a beat. head turning down and to the side by a few scant centimeters, as if a new recruit looking for signs he was doing it right. not as nervous as usual - embarrassed, though, in a strained, uncomfortable way.]
Which is fine. Since it's not happening.
pls no i'm really scared of ghosts..........
Patience isn't her forte, but that doesn't mean she doesn't sometimes consider it as a concept. So Shepard let's him talk, let's the sideways look of his hang between them for a second - and then she flicks her eyes away, shifting her weight to scan the camp as it's laid out between them and the beach.
And then she swings her attention back around, the line of her shoulders unconsciously crisp.]
You know what this program's for, right?
already half-way there it's your faaault
n-noooo
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---> network.
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