piper90 | 007: AMAs, Third Round

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007: AMAs, Third Round

So, we've got a load of new people, and that means it's time for me to do the only thing it feels like I get on these comms to do anymore: AMAs.

For you new people, I find it helps when we get together and explain a little bit about ourselves, any powers we have, and our skillsets. That way we know what we're starting with and what we can build off of. So, please, come and introduce yourselves and be willing to answer questions.

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Infinitely. If I could get away with it, I'd never do a situp or a pushup again and I'd still be in great shape.

Is there anything in the training room we could use for lessons? Because this seems like a skill that is both useful and could be used to annoy my friends, which is the best kind of skill.

[Ooh, that is a dicey proposition. He doesn't know if Stacia didn't read between the lines, or if she just doesn't care, but the optics of teaching a teenager to poledance, especially given the way Dan's learned it and why...

He just comes out and says it.]

Stacia, you realize when I say "club circuit" I'm talking about exotic dancing, right?

[Stacia raises her eyebrows.]

I know I walk around acting like a cute kid all the time, but I've gone into several places that required the use of fake ID's in the company of various bad influences in the name of teaching me how to not stand out in uncomfortable situations.

But you're right, I should have asked you if you'd be comfortable with that first. Sorry.

[There is nothing that says "cute kid" more than using "I've gotten into places with a fake ID" as a way to establish cred. If Dan were condescending, which he isn't, he'd call it adorable.]

I ain't gonna get anywhere close to teaching you the style I dance, but I can teach you some basic, athletic lifts and and twirls. But I gotta warn you, it hurts when you start.

[She's definitely not saying what she did in those places once the fake ID got her in. It was very illegal and also usually violent. Except the time she found the archangel Gabriel in a strip club, that was just a high-stakes conversation about averting the end of the world.]

Oh, oh yeah, that's definitely all I wanted to know! And I promise, I'll whine to someone other than you about it.

[Dan laughs.]

You won't be able to. You'll be whining right then and there. I'm not joking. Try pinching your inner thigh and then imagine doing that with the pressure of your entire body weight, and add in some friction burn. Then tell me if you're still interested.

Don't give me permission to whine! I am very good at it! I can and have complained for hours at a stretch.

[She puts her comm down for a moment and steps away. Muffled swearing can be heard. She comes back.]

Okay, yeah, it's not fun, but also I really hate doing sit-ups. Plus it'll be useful for some of the tree-climbing I get up to.

No, I'm just saying you won't just be whining later, you'll be whining in the middle of every exercise. And you're welcome to, because, as you can see, it's painful when you start.

[He nods.]

Alright, so long as if I teach you we all clarify what language we're using so everyone knows I ain't teaching you movements you oughtn't know. When's your training time?

[Stacia nods.]

I promise to be very clear and specific in my language regarding the things you're teaching me. And aside from mealtimes and whenever Jorgmund wants me somewhere, my schedule's flexible. Though I'd prefer not to get too much cardio right before bedtime.

Alright. I'll contact you when I figure out a time for you and Setsuna. [He's not doing this one-on-one. The optics are dicey enough.]

Oh! Dancing! I like to dance, and I need to get back in shape anyway. If you're teaching Stacia, can I learn too?

First, I have to ask how old you are, but also, yes, I can teach some lifts and twirls.

[Completely honestly:]

I'm sixteen. I know there's some techniques it's not a good idea to do much of while you're growing because of the potential for long term damage to the ligaments and underlying bone structure, but unless those are what makes your style "exotic", I don't foresee that being a problem you'll have to be worried about with me.

[Dan's body just kind of tenses with a "well now what to say" energy.]

That's, ah, not what makes it exotic dancing, but nothing I do to make it that style is necessary to teach you some fundamentals. Just lifts and twirls.

So long as you know it's going to hurt, a lot, during and after. Your body adjusts after a few weeks, you get calluses and get stronger, and then it just becomes fun exercise.

I don't mind; I like to dance competitively for fun, back home, actually. So a little exertion like that's fine with me.

Someone gave me a book of dances to practice while I've been recovering, which was either kind of a cruel thing to do when I'm not allowed to practice any of them, yet, or a thoughtful way to give me something to look forward to when I can. But it reminded me ... I haven't really danced at all, since waking up on the Rig. I think I just miss having other people to dance with.

How do you mean, you ain't allowed to practice them?

Well, everything was so upsetting when I first got here, I just didn't think about it at all. And then - [Setsuna hunches in on herself, some, eyes darting side to side for a minute, as she catches her breath and forces it steady.]

You must have arrived afterwards. That's probably good, it was an awful thing, anyway. I've been recovering from ... an attack, in the Rig hospital, for ... I guess it's been a few months, now. Rose Tattoo ... I had to have a few surgeries, and was ... they said I was comatose, for a while, and that they had to keep me that way for longer, for my safety. They said I was lucky ... [She trails off, looking very young, very small, and very haunted.] I almost permanently lost the use of my legs, I'm told.

[She smiles weakly, papering over the unhappiness she feels about Jorgmund doing more "operations" on her with an effort at sincere relief.] Good thing they've learned a few interesting ways to put the Stuff to some actually good use, huh?

I've been recovering with ... therapy, for a while, since then. But they wouldn't let me risk exerting myself till I'd met ... [A little shrug. A small, faintly embarrassed smile.] The requisite physical qualifications, just this week. So even if I'd wanted to dance, I wouldn't have been allowed to.

Right. You were one of the kids who got attacked. I'm so sorry. [Dan was here for that, but new, orienting himself, not sure who or what was happening. Had he had his footing more, he likely would have tried to reach out to the people who were hospitalized.] I'm glad you've made a good recovery, and that you'll be able to dance again.

If I'm gonna teach you or Stacia anything on the pole, it won't be very dancerly. It'll just be climbing and holding yourself up in different ways and the like, and I don't want you to injure yourself if you ain't fully healed. If that still interests you, I might could teach you some fundamentals.

Yeah, I'd like that. I think it could be fun!

[She pauses, then beams at him.] And ... thank you. I'm glad too.

Alright. You, me, and Stacia, and we'll start by learning how to climb up and down and suspend our weight, then go from there. I'll hit y'all up on the inboxes when I figure out a time.

[Like hell is he teaching either of these girls even a basic fireman's climb one-on-one.]

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007: AMAs, Third Round

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