Getting Dino-sore {Open Class Topic}

Where did that stain come from?

The blond gripped the bottom of his shirt, pulling it down so he could eye the dark grey stain on his grey P.E. uniform. It wasn't wet, and it wasn't there last time. Shepard tilted his head to the side--blood maybe. Nice. Blue eyes peered outside, adjusting to the bright sun without a flinch. The second group was running their mile, beating the heat with ponytails pulled as high as possible, and some boys removing their shirts. Others stretched across the field, practicing what looked like yoga.

A shout from a student inside forced Shepard to turn away stare inside the gym. Multiple people were lining up to practice combat. Some to the side with weapons, others on the mats wrestling. To the left others who were lifting weights. Running a hand through his hair, Shepard sighed. Where should he start?

What were the others doing?

Ed had instructed the students to pair up and spread out into three different areas. One for weapon-based combat, one for old-school wrestling, and the third for strictly hand-to-hand combat. His leg clanked around as he weaved between the students, adding comments here and there to improve their forms or how not to block. Occasionally he would stop and watch the problem students, those who had no intention of trying their hardest. Often enough it was those students who knew the most about combat. He also spent extra time helping those who were struggling but refused to give up, a trait he admired amongst them. But he noticed that one of his students didn't have a partner and as he was about to let them wail on the teacher to practice, he noticed Shepard, son of the new headmaster, just standing there outside the gym. "Herman! If you aren't doing anything important why don't you come inside and spar?" He barked, a little harsher than he had intended.

Jelly legs flopped out from under her, sending her spilling out across a gym mat inside with a sweat-damp white towel of surrender draped around her shoulders. "I'm gonna die," she wheezed. She sucked down a pint of Gatorade like dad sucked down Budweisers during a Pats game. "I'm actually dying." The longest mile she'd ever run. By the final quarter lap, she was practically dragging herself across the finish line, as runners from the next group passed her up.

Her time? She'd be too ashamed to admit it, but it was an integer between twenty-one and nineteen. Push-ups? A flat zero. Knee push-ups? Still zero. Pull-ups? Cailin got about midway up to her chin before she sent currents through the metal bar, clamping tight like a magnet and hoisting her up. They disqualified her for that and checked her off at zero. Curl-ups, well, that was a number close to her mile time. Stretches, at least the lighter ones, she was good at. She had held back from the combat areas as much as she could, and the stark looking Coach Jackson. The last thing she wanted was to hurt somebody else. This class was enough pain just leaning back in the leg press.

Couldn't she just stretch all the time? Or maybe a nice nap? She almost felt herself drifting off right... about... n...

"Yowch!" A sharp bzzt! pierced through the air, like the sound of turning on an old TV, sparks shooting out from her bangs as the finger prodded her back to full alertness. "Cut me a break," she snapped back between clipped breaths, massaging where she'd poked her. How was it her business, anyway? If this wasn't mandatory, she wouldn't be here. "I need my heart rate to go down."

There was the sound of wheezing and gasping for breath as Morgan stumbled across the gym...Before collapsing into a sweaty pile on the floor. Why. Why did they have to have gym class. Never in his life had he seriously excuse. He figured eating healthy was good enough but now...Now he knew what dying felt like. Honestly, he just wanted to curl up into a ball as his gaze found another student in a similar position of him, with another berating them. For a second he felt like saying nothing, maybe he would be lucky enough to go unnoticed. But as he laid there panting for breath, he winced - he had to get out of his shell more...

"Are you sure...She...We can't...Just lie here for a bit?" he wheezed as he lifted his head slightly to stare at the two, flicker of flames with every heaved breath but it was like the flames themselves were running low on energy, the way they sparked pitifully. "I just...Don't know...If we are cut out...For this. Or at least...Give us time...To catch our breath...Before we do any more exercise. Please." With that, he allowed his head to slump to the floor again. His parents had never mentioned how terrible PE was. They had never pushed him to exercise and you think they would have warned him about something as terrible at this but yet here he was.

That boy was a dead-man standing and he didn't even know it yet, the poor guy. It wasn't as if she'd planned for this, nothing at all like she requested to Coach Jackson in they could have more sparring sessions to practice their self-defense "in light of recent events". And there was absolutely no bone that Jo had to pick with Shep at all. It wasnt as if he, say, kept her hanging for days for who knew what after she requested to have a serious meet up and talk with him after he, oh, almost died.

Nope, Joanna was all business. "Excuse me, kind sir. I need a sparring buddy." She came up behind him with her sweetest smile, or the cutest smile she could manage, anyways.

Shepard didn't realize how much of a dead man he was. Not realize it despite the harsh bark from his teacher, turning into the building to be stopped by the person who was going to hand his ass to him on a silver platter. She had that look. He couldn't place it, but he was certain it was the same one he has seen a few times in his life.

"H-hey Jo! How's it goin'?" He managed, trying to understand the face she was making at him. Something told him something bad was going to happen. He did his best to shrug it off, but fear weighed down his shoulders. They made it to the mat, the blond kicked off his shoes, padding into the center of the circle. "Okay, you ready?" Shepard offered, giving her a grin. He trusted Joanna to not completely murder him...right?

Oh, man. He really didn't know what was coming. Like actually. The man was clueless. Joanna wasn't sure if that made her pity the boy or if it just pissed her off all the more that he didn't see this coming. She kicked her shoes off to the side and danced over to the middle of the ring.

You know, it was a good thing they had such well considered exercises here for the students to vent their frustrations in a healthy manner, she thought on a whim.

"Are you?" She tightened the root of her pony tail, huffing in her breath as she leaps onto her toes, cutting right to the point and throwing a punch right at his dumb, adorable face. "Why am I only seeing you know?! You almost died and you can't say hi until GYM CLASS?"

No, in fact, he was not ready. He hadn't expected a fist to come flying at his face as soon as his best friend took a step onto the map. As such, he didn't expect the collision to his nose. The blond immediately staggered back, pain blossoming from his nose. A harsh sting causing him to wince, gingerly bringing his hand up to make sure no blood fell from his nose. Through wide blue eyes that watered from the sharp pain, he watched Joanna yell at him. It all came running back to him, punching him in the gut this time.

She was upset with him. He vaguely recalled her voice in his head as he tore after the gunman. He hadn't thought about it. Everything had been a huge blur afterward. The man's blood on his clothes, streaking across his face. A blurry face of his step-uncle ushering him away. The shock. Then Shepard insisting on pursuing after the group that had gone after his father. She had contacted him then. Wanting to talk. He hadn't talked to her since.

"I-" Shepard began, sounding clogged up with his hand to his nose. "After everything..." The blond trailed off again, gingerly removing his hand from his nose, inspecting his hand for a moment before letting it fall to his side. He didn't really have an excuse. "I'm sorry Jo." Shepard wanted to look away in his guilt but forced himself to meet her eyes. "I should have talked to you sooner." He could spend forever staring at her, even though she was pissed as hell.

Hate was a strong word, but the right one. And in this case, Eli hated P.E., which wasn't a surprise, seeing as though he hated most things. Far from being even close to "athletically able," he may have been tall, but he was a twig and struggled in simple sprints that his class practiced, which of course was pathetic, but he didn't care. Hobbling away from the drinking fountain, the tall, dark haired boy chugged his now filled water bottle. Oh how he wished he could just dump a bucket of ice on himself. Or maybe go stand in a blizzard, either worked.

Looking around the stuffy aired gym that reeked of sweat and testosterone, the sight of sparring caught his attention. Sparring... it seemed like a risky activity, seeing as though some kids might end up taking things to seriously if they already had beef with each other, but none the less, it was interesting to watch.

Slowly making his way over to the mats and standing among the growing crowd of spectators, he watched as Shepard, one his only true long-time friend, and Joanna fought. From the looks of it, the girl was winning and he wondered if the Autumn would even dare hit a girl. Probably not, which was a bummer, since the girl looked as though she wanted to kick his butt.

Even though she was certain that she wanted it, and even though she knew all this was just another sparring match, her heart still dropped to the floor as she saw him pitifully wipe her punch away. Who said he could give her that sad "puppy-dog" eye look? Why couldn't he just have swung back?

He totally deserved it, but God damn.

Joanna let her fist fall, forcing in a deep breath and ignoring the stinging sensations in her eyes, not daring to cry in public. "I've been so worried about you!" She said, feeling her chest well up. "Shepard, you... you owe me big time.. " She wasn't sure what else to say. Maybe she should punch him again? Joanna huffed, and it was like a switch went off in their minds.

She scraped up every bit of worry she had, every ounce of anger and fear she'd had poured out toward him. He almost died. He was stupid and brave and almost died, and then he would have been stupid, brave, and dead - and then what would she have done without him?

"But I'm not fighting terrorists," she wheezed. She made no claim of being her father, or her mother. "Why would I ever need to fight a terrorist? That's crazy. This is just gym. And gym isn't even a real class." Strands of hair lifted with static cling, as if standing up in alarm as she flagged the teacher over. Frickin' snitch. "I'm not running one more lap."

The pain wasn't quite actually pain. But it still hurt. A strong concoction of fear, worry, and anger overwhelmed Shepard's mind. Blue eyes squeezed shut, brows knitting together, mouth parted waiting for a breath. It didn't come to him, and it was only after a long moment he could. Slowly, his breath was back, yet the anger remained. Yet, the anger towards himself drove his heel deep into the mat, eyes opening wearily back at Joanna, tears building up dangerously. "Jo..." He managed through a closed throat, taking a step forward. And another until he was in front of her, a gentle hand on her arm. He knew she could totally twist his arm out of its socket for so much as being close. Yet he was risking it anyway.

"Jo, I'm here. I'm not dead." He took a deep breath, struggling to take on the sheer emotion she poured into his mind. "I promise," Shepard began, fighting the lump in his throat to hold up a pinky in another hand. "I won't do it again." He did his best to offer a smile. Unknowingly, Shepard thought to himself 'This is normally when they kiss in movies, isn't it?'.

Watching as Shepard got punched in the face, Eli couldn't help but smirk. Oh how wonderful love was. Looking around, the tall student noticed a group of students just a ways away, one of which had called the teacher over. What a snitch. The last thing he wanted to do was be ratted out for not doing anything and wasn't going to let her doings go unnoticed.

"Says you!" Eli hissed, slowly making his way over to the group with his hands in his pockets. Casting a glance at the kid who'd collapsed on the floor, he let out a sigh. "Do you want more people to look like that?" he asked, raising a brow. The last thing he wanted was do have to run more and didn't understand why this girl would call out someone who looked as if they were dying.

Morgan let out a soft snort at his 'I am dying in the middle of gym' friend defended their behavior. "Besides...My parents weren't even in Beata at my age," he pointed out, feel too tired to be filled with his normal nervousness as he glanced up at her. "Both of them joined when they were sixteen...Not thirteen like me. So...If your logic is right...I still got three years to go before I should feel guilty," he said with a soft gasp as he rolled onto his back, even as she tried to call the professor's attention to their 'laziness.' He closed his eyes as he tried to sink into the floor, feeling the warmth of his flames flicker as his breath started to grow a bit more...Normal. "Can't you at least just give us time to catch our breath, at least?"

Damn, straight he wouldn't do it again. They had guardians for a reason, and the cemetery was filled with rows and names of kids their age who thought they were invincible. A part of her crumbled a bit when he felt his hand brush up against her arm.

How dare he touch her right now, a stubborn part of her mind screamed, but she knew how badly she'dongedd for it. For a hug, at least. Joanna forgo'd the pinky promise and threw her arms around him instead, burying her face into his shoulder. She didn't care who saw. "I'm holding you to that," She mumbled.

It was hard to tell where his thoughts started and hers ended then. It was almost entirely static to her, and while she'd been contempt in her confusion for the moment, it all changed at the drop of the hat the moment she though that she might have picked up on some certain things.

Her face was very red. Joanna kept her face tucked down, suddenly all-too self-aware of how close they were and taking a bit of a stumble back on the mat. "Just... Oh my God." Jo cracked an awkward grin, dropping the connection between him and swinging a half-hearted punch away at his arm. Then another one, a little more seriously.

Wide eyes only lasted for a moment, feeling her embrace, he too collapsed into it. He was never worried about who saw. Shepard only cared what his two best friends though, and that was it. As such, he brought her into his embrace, finding comfort in holding Joanna. He saw through her eyes thanks to the connection. The blond was not sure what he would do without her, what his life would be like. For as long as he has lived, Shepard had her in his life.

Her reaction to--something caused him to let go, he tilted his head in confusion. Oh. Wait. A mirroring red face covered the blond's cheeks. He kept his mouth shut, feeling the connection fade and his own emotions taking control. Shepard shook his head, clearing his thoughts. It was only when the first punch landed his arm, did he smirk. "Oh, it's on."

As the serious punch came his way, the blond caught her hand by the wrist, sharply pulling it close then hooking a swift foot behind her knee to try and send her down to the ground.