[ He's there in ten. Dressed lightly in uniform pants, a black sleeveless undershirt, and the usual single long glove that covers old red burns. One hand carries a fresh towel swiped from his new rover room and the other, a full canteen. It's surface still bares the scratches of use while climbing through Macha's trees.
The first time he'd taken this assessment he was a mess of inexperience. He'd been plenty active before, but had little concept of organized strength building and an even smaller idea of how strong he actually was. He overdid it in some areas and breezed through in others. Aeryn hadn't approved, or at least that's what her reaction lead him to believe.
This time there's no other cadets around to compete with. No Aeryn, no John with his collection of snacks waiting at the end. It's quiet and the VR room echoes softly with his movements while he waits for Shepard. As the lists of transfers grows larger PKN7 grows smaller, but Jasper has learned too much, utilized the program as a distraction for too long to quit now.
Instead of inexperience, his unorganized emotions are what's in his way. There's a burning knot in his stomach that won't quite unravel as he sits and goes through the regular set of stretches. Can't wipe the scowl from his face or ease the tension in his shoulders, can't clear his headspace. At least not while warming up alone. He's focused but in the wrong tunnel-visioned sort of way. An ear twitches at the sound of footsteps, but he doesn't recognize it as Shepard's distinctive stride until she's almost towering next to him. ]
[The VR room without programming is just a flat expanse of space, stranger for the fact that she's been in it for assessments - watched enough of the team trials that were conducted in it that the emptiness feels bizarrely intimate. Reminds her uncomfortably of sitting in the dark with Parker however many months ago that'd been (the memory seems remote, but she'll be damned if she can pin the reasoning for that on stasis or Macha or just one bullshit thing after another). But she shrugs off the sensation - like an itch she can't scratch, so better to forget about it - and closing in on Jasper where he's waiting. She can recognize the tension running through him from a mile away, ocular implants or no.]
Are you warmed up?
[She gives him a pointed once over as she moves around to stand in front of him - not for this, she could care less how he performs on this test right now (or at least isn't as invested as he is, not by a long shot), but a careful examination of how he stands, the set of his shoulders - how recovered he actually is.]
[ He finishes a stretch before standing at her presense, all overeager and quick flickering movements. If she doesn't care how he performs now, he doesn't need to know. Doesn't need any more fuel added to the fire.
It's a few more stretches and shakes before he calls it done. He isn't calm by any means as he bounces on bare feet against the padded floor, anger replaced by anxiety. And as if taking her suggestion to warm up literally, there's a orange and red glow spreading under the skin of his throat and chest. Normally a sign he's getting ready to breathe fire, but all that pours from his mouth is steam. Though he doesn't remember the last time he used it this way, Shepard might. They'd been hauling through Ajna's last storm, trying desperately to keep warm and get out.
As the spell ends and the glow fades, he turns to face Shepard with a fire still behind his eyes. One not made of magic, or whatever she'd call it. It's a pure excess of anger he's holding in and doesn't know where to direct. Doesn't know if this will hurt or help, but it's what he wants to try. If he's still hurt, still recovering, the aches and pains are buried too far below for him to feel them. ]
[She doesn't - remember -, not consciously anyway. Recognizes the hiss of steam, but can't place it. Ajna's shuttle crash had been months ago and at the time she'd been operating at less than peak standards, half her internals on the fritz from whatever had taken out the shuttle. But the rest she's satisfied by enough to lay aside the stripe of concern running low through her. He seems fine, or at least fine enough that pushing himself like this isn't going to have him vomiting up blood or anything. Might need a hot shower for aching muscles and a solid nap, but nothing that was going to throw him in medical.
So she rocks back on her heels. Settles expectantly. He should know how the order goes, but the first evaluation feels like forever ago and she's here to be a guiding hand as much as anything - can't make him less angry, can't make him better or worse than he is. She just has to let Jasper do whatever the hell Jasper needs to or can do.]
[ Jasper takes a moment to breathe, mentally collecting condensed anger before he drops to his hands and feet on the padded floor and begins. The first goal is two-hundred push-ups and he starts fast out the gate, his form vastly improved from the last test, but still overeager.
He's terrible at keeping track of how many he's done, and with his mind still occupied with worries, has difficulty pacing himself at first. Around the first fifty is where he looses count in his frazzled head, but it's also where he starts to slow to a more measured pace. Once he hits that stride he breezes through the next one hundred. At least he thinks it's been one hundred. He's done at least this many before while pushing himself in PT. Hopefully Shepard is keeping an eye on his count. ]
[It's a ridiculous number. She couldn't do two hundred pushups except maybe on some rock where the surface gravity was a fraction of Earth's standard, but that's what she gets for letting someone like Aeryn Sun draw up all the evaluation files - another thing to be gently scaled to a more sensible level now that Sun's-- Well. Better off, frankly. She's willing to bet the Q-whatever doesn't evac planets in the middle of missions. The fact that he hits fifty fueled almost entirely by rage is impressive. The fact that he keeps going is-- Shepard settles back on her heels. Counts out loud every ten he goes past a hundred. One-ten, One-twenty.
If Jasper can't be trusted to keep count for himself, she can. Figures that's mostly why she's there - he doesn't actually need her to count for him, to clock his run time. But it's a security line, someone to be held accountable to. So sure.]
[ Around the last thirty is where he starts to slow down to a crawl. His arms are shaking all through the last fifteen, but he stubbornly drags himself to the end with that same furious glare stuck on his face.
When he hears the two-hundred count he immediately collapses on his stomach. Turns his head to the side as he gasps for air, one cheek pressed into the mat and sticking there with sweat.
He needs water. A break between sets, but not too long a break, or he could lose this momentum. Would Aeryn have allowed him time between push-ups and sit-ups? Would there be breaks when he had to do this over again with the rest of the class? He’s not really sure. He’s not even glad he finished the set. He’s still thinking about Terra on Grey and Corvo in stasis and Wade transferred and how blazing two-hundred push-ups wasn’t enough to help him forget. ]
I need... to do more.
[ He stiffly moves his arms to push himself up, (two-hundred-one) and sits. He’s still catching his breath as he looks up at Shepard. ]
[There's a part of her that goes sharp at the wet thud of him collapsing to the mat, a small voice that she shouldn't be letting him do this. It hasn't been that long since Macha and nanites or no, freakish elf stamina or no, he's still been pushed hard.
But he's angry. And this is good for that part of him. Better than a whole list of alternatives she can think of. So crisp and clear and as flat as she can make it:]
Sit-ups.
[She moves to where he's left his canteen, fetching it up off the mats before gravitating back and passing it over.]
[ He takes the canteen, practically rips the cap off and drinks. Half of it's down before he comes up for air in more gasps, but he calms quickly enough after a few deep, controlled breaths. They exhale with steam again as he tries to clear his head, to focus on the tasks still to come.
He sits quietly a few minutes more with Shepard, waiting while his heart settles back to a quieter pace. Doesn't want to say anything, and doesn't need her to say anything more either. When he's ready he caps the bottle and sets it aside. Lies back on the mat and stares up at the bright lights and metal ceiling, brows knotting. ]
Two-hundred.
[ He stuffs his hand behind his head, locks the fingers there, and starts. He's fast out the gate again. Has to be if he wants to get through this next set. Shepard may not have expected any cadets to meet Aeryn Sun's goals, but that didn't mean any cadets didn't expect to. ]
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no subject
The first time he'd taken this assessment he was a mess of inexperience. He'd been plenty active before, but had little concept of organized strength building and an even smaller idea of how strong he actually was. He overdid it in some areas and breezed through in others. Aeryn hadn't approved, or at least that's what her reaction lead him to believe.
This time there's no other cadets around to compete with. No Aeryn, no John with his collection of snacks waiting at the end. It's quiet and the VR room echoes softly with his movements while he waits for Shepard. As the lists of transfers grows larger PKN7 grows smaller, but Jasper has learned too much, utilized the program as a distraction for too long to quit now.
Instead of inexperience, his unorganized emotions are what's in his way. There's a burning knot in his stomach that won't quite unravel as he sits and goes through the regular set of stretches. Can't wipe the scowl from his face or ease the tension in his shoulders, can't clear his headspace. At least not while warming up alone. He's focused but in the wrong tunnel-visioned sort of way. An ear twitches at the sound of footsteps, but he doesn't recognize it as Shepard's distinctive stride until she's almost towering next to him. ]
no subject
Are you warmed up?
[She gives him a pointed once over as she moves around to stand in front of him - not for this, she could care less how he performs on this test right now (or at least isn't as invested as he is, not by a long shot), but a careful examination of how he stands, the set of his shoulders - how recovered he actually is.]
no subject
[ He finishes a stretch before standing at her presense, all overeager and quick flickering movements. If she doesn't care how he performs now, he doesn't need to know. Doesn't need any more fuel added to the fire.
It's a few more stretches and shakes before he calls it done. He isn't calm by any means as he bounces on bare feet against the padded floor, anger replaced by anxiety. And as if taking her suggestion to warm up literally, there's a orange and red glow spreading under the skin of his throat and chest. Normally a sign he's getting ready to breathe fire, but all that pours from his mouth is steam. Though he doesn't remember the last time he used it this way, Shepard might. They'd been hauling through Ajna's last storm, trying desperately to keep warm and get out.
As the spell ends and the glow fades, he turns to face Shepard with a fire still behind his eyes. One not made of magic, or whatever she'd call it. It's a pure excess of anger he's holding in and doesn't know where to direct. Doesn't know if this will hurt or help, but it's what he wants to try. If he's still hurt, still recovering, the aches and pains are buried too far below for him to feel them. ]
Ready.
no subject
So she rocks back on her heels. Settles expectantly. He should know how the order goes, but the first evaluation feels like forever ago and she's here to be a guiding hand as much as anything - can't make him less angry, can't make him better or worse than he is. She just has to let Jasper do whatever the hell Jasper needs to or can do.]
Pushups first.
no subject
He's terrible at keeping track of how many he's done, and with his mind still occupied with worries, has difficulty pacing himself at first. Around the first fifty is where he looses count in his frazzled head, but it's also where he starts to slow to a more measured pace. Once he hits that stride he breezes through the next one hundred. At least he thinks it's been one hundred. He's done at least this many before while pushing himself in PT. Hopefully Shepard is keeping an eye on his count. ]
no subject
If Jasper can't be trusted to keep count for himself, she can. Figures that's mostly why she's there - he doesn't actually need her to count for him, to clock his run time. But it's a security line, someone to be held accountable to. So sure.]
--One-sixty, one-seventy--.
no subject
When he hears the two-hundred count he immediately collapses on his stomach. Turns his head to the side as he gasps for air, one cheek pressed into the mat and sticking there with sweat.
He needs water. A break between sets, but not too long a break, or he could lose this momentum. Would Aeryn have allowed him time between push-ups and sit-ups? Would there be breaks when he had to do this over again with the rest of the class? He’s not really sure. He’s not even glad he finished the set. He’s still thinking about Terra on Grey and Corvo in stasis and Wade transferred and how blazing two-hundred push-ups wasn’t enough to help him forget. ]
I need... to do more.
[ He stiffly moves his arms to push himself up, (two-hundred-one) and sits. He’s still catching his breath as he looks up at Shepard. ]
Sit-ups or... or lunges next?
no subject
But he's angry. And this is good for that part of him. Better than a whole list of alternatives she can think of. So crisp and clear and as flat as she can make it:]
Sit-ups.
[She moves to where he's left his canteen, fetching it up off the mats before gravitating back and passing it over.]
no subject
He sits quietly a few minutes more with Shepard, waiting while his heart settles back to a quieter pace. Doesn't want to say anything, and doesn't need her to say anything more either. When he's ready he caps the bottle and sets it aside. Lies back on the mat and stares up at the bright lights and metal ceiling, brows knotting. ]
Two-hundred.
[ He stuffs his hand behind his head, locks the fingers there, and starts. He's fast out the gate again. Has to be if he wants to get through this next set. Shepard may not have expected any cadets to meet Aeryn Sun's goals, but that didn't mean any cadets didn't expect to. ]