Perfect School

Andrew:

“I just wanted to talk. Nothing more,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders. She probably thought I was about to give her another pitch about my family like my sister would. “I feel like our family has been misrepresented. You've just seen the worst of it, but Kyra would have you believe that we are the grandest family to ever be.”

“We are far from perfect. My dad is controlling and plays favorites, my aunt is too emotional and acts from her initial feeling, and my uncle gives into her nearly one hundred percent of the time. I've seen yelling matches between my dad and aunt that ended in them both furious. We are all human and sometimes we say things that hurt others when we didn't mean to.” I looked her over for a moment then dropped my gaze to the table.

“Kyra doesn't see the faults because she is the perfect mix of loving and loyal. I have never fit in perfectly. I wasn't into hugging and heartfelt conversations. I would rather have sat in the corner. But they all loved me just the same, even when I made it difficult.”

“Being the way you are isn't bad. Whether you were born or raised that way. This is you, and if someone has a problem with that, then they don't deserve you.” I glanced up at her briefly. “Just know that you do have family that accepts you how you are. And screw the rest until they can too.” I stood up with my hands in my pockets to leave.

Giving him a long side long look for a moment I returned my gaze to the rifle with a slight nod to proceed. It certainly was interesting to see his take on it all, so vastly different and yet similar to the rest of his family. Undoubtedly his was different. He was a black sheep, one who didn't fit within the social norm of his family. But I was different even to him. Not only that I did see some sililarities between his father and sisters words. No one even asked what I wanted.

When he finished I glanced at him once more then picked up the rifle. Assembling it took only a handful of seconds and at the end I grabbed a full clip, slapped it into place and cycled a round into the chamber. I had intended to be done, but I had the desire to shoot once again.

Jonah:

I let Kira have her space for most of the evening but that night I approached her and suggested that we start doing refresher practices where we worked on things we had learned during our private training. Through her wall she seemed almost eager. I picked a technique I had trouble with before that she had excelled at. I could see hints of enjoyment as she landed hit after hit on me. I came away that night with many bruises. It wasn't that I was taking it easy on her, I was simply trying a different method.

I came to her the next night with the same proposal, and again she bested me. I knew I would have to try something different with her if I was going to get anywhere. It was clear that I didn't have the same emotional access as her family did. I would have to spark something different if I was going to get through her barriers.

I had tried to keep to myself, stay out of everyone's way. I had grabbed dinner to my room, eating on the floor with music. But Jonah had sought me out there after eating himself. It was only expected he would come. He always came and tried to take advantage of a situation. But him wanting to bring back our nightly practices has been the last thing I had expected.

I was eager to get back into it, eager to put the whole event behind me. Him wanting to even do something I was good at raised my spirits. He left with bruises and i was fine. The next night he came again, but after hearing what he wanted I had my suspicions. Again I performed well and left feeling elated. It was nice to get into the rhythm of things again, to push myself harder and harder. I appreciated his efforts, but when he came a third time with something I was good at i stopped him.

"Why are you doing this Jonah? Its one thing to invite me to train, another to only do things that i am good at. Explain, now.". I folded my arms, gazing up at him from my doorway.

Jonah:

I looked at her for a moment before shrugging my shoulders. "I wanted to work on something I wasn't as good at. And well, I thought you could use the pick me up,” I said honestly. I glanced down the length of her body as I leaned against her doorway. She was going to refuse to come out with me if I did the same thing as the last two nights. “Tonight can be entirely your pick, whatever you want to do. And I promise I will give you my all.” I gave her a small grin. She wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of trying to beat me at my best.

It was clear from my expression that I didn't fully trust his word. But with a shrug I went into my room to grab a water bottle from my dresser. Spinning it in my hand with my back to him I considered just what to do. It took me a moment before I turned around and undid the cap. "Fine. I'll pick." Sipping at the water as I passed him I moved out into the hallway and glanced over my shoulder at him. "Yoga. I want to work on my flexibility."

Jonah:

I sighed dramatically as I fell into step beside her. Yoga wasn't difficult, but it could be uncomfortable and there wasn't much thrill to it. For the next hour, we worked on flexibility. Whenever I was helping her I was liberal in my touching, not enough for it to be obvious but a slight step up from what I had done in the past. Lingering touches, and an occasional hand moving higher on her thigh.

My flexibility was far better than his, but as usual we pushed each other further. Why we helped each other at all was beyond me, but since he helped me i returned the favor. I felt like hat something was different about the whole situation but couldn't place exactly what made it so. After it was clear I wouldn't get any more out of him I called us to a stop and grabbed up my bottle to finish the rest of my drink. I could have left then but lingered, driven by an unknown desire for a moment before finally I began the short trip back to the house.

Jonah:

I hurried to catch up with her. "What do you want to work on tomorrow?" I asked as we walked back tot he house. It was working on her. That it showed results so soon encouraged me. I would take it slow, so as not to drive her away, but I was confident that I could get what I wanted. It wasn't sex, though after tonight that was definitely more on my brain. I wanted emotional access to her.

Carefully i considered. We couldn't just do what I was good at. It wouldn't help me grow better though it would for him. So after we entered the house again I stopped by the kitchen to refill my bottle before finally answering, "Judo. I want to work on grapples and throws against someone stronger."

Jonah:

I leaned against the entryway to the kitchen, watching her. "We can do that," I said with a small smile. I wanted to stay and be around her more, but I didn't think it would get me anywhere tonight. "Goodnight Kira," I said softly and turned to go up to my room.

"Goodnight Jonah.". I remained in the kitchen for a few minutes before grabbing an apple. I felt...strange. Not bad but not great either. Different. I pondered the feeling as i went up to my room to shower and get ready for bed. I paused outside of Kyra's room for a moment then just went to my room instead.

Jonah:

It was easier to touch her casually during our next session the day after. It was part of judo to get up close and personal, so most of the way I touched her was nothing out of the ordinary. At one point I did pin her with her legs wrapped around my waist but I resisted her every attempt to get out of the position.

The day ended with me panting softly from trying to fight him off. I hadn't been very successful but it did show me how i needed to work on it. In s contest of strength i simply wasn't going to be the winner. "Your pick for tomorrow.". I called between pants.

Jonah:

I laid next to her and stretched. "You know, I kinda liked this," I said with a small grin. I propped myself on an elbow. I reached out and trailed a finger briefly from her shoulder down her arm.

I had my eyes closed and was working on my breathing when he spoke. I only grunted in response at first, but as he trailed a finger down my arm an involuntary shiver passed through me and my gaze snapped to him. "Why.". It wasn't a question, and not even I knew what part i referred too.

Jonah:

I trailed my gaze down then up her body before I rolled over to a kneeling position. "You know how I said you have to direct your emotions into something or else they would break you? I think you're able to do that with these practices," I said. It wasn't an answer to her question, and it wasn't honest either. I got to my feet and offered a hand down to her.

I watched him, doing what I could to puzzle out his responses. Looking me over was its own answer one that was followed by his words. "We have been lax in training anyway. All i have ever done was push myself to be better. Since I first started. It's....good to be doing something like this again.". I couldn't have known about his evasive lie. But mine wasn't really truthful either. Still I clasped his hand for the help up.

Jonah:

"Well," I pulled her up to her feet but didn't let her go. "There is a difference between training and competing against one an other. When You and I are together we tend to get competitive." I gave her a small grin. I was close enough to feel the warmth coming off her body in the cold room.

"To get better competition must exist. When you no longer have to fight to know you are the best, you grow weak. Look at predators They have to fight everyday and in doing so they do better.". I could feel his warmth. The room was cold, like most gyms, and as I cooled off the sweat made me cold. His warmth was...inviting to say the least. I chalked up as simple survival instinct.

Jonah:

I chuckled softly. "Well, I often identify with a predator. Always chasing what I want." I moved my hand from hers to trail along the inside her arm, below her elbow.

Looking down at his touch I almost shivered. Drawing my arm away finally I frowned at him briefly then turned to start moving towards the door. "Just because a lion is the biggest predator in the savanna, doesn't mean he can't be brought low by something smaller. It shouldn't be the chase, but the catch itself that matters most." I flicked a glance at him over my shoulder.

Jonah:

I followed her. The catch did matter most. "You know female lions do most of the work. The males only come in after the kill to reap the reward," I pointed out to her as I fell into step beside her. The air outside was chilly, one of the first really cold nights of the season.

This time I couldn't keep the smirk off my lips. "I never said that I was a lion. Just that you were." I knew what I was. I was a falcon. A predator of the skies, one who had the freedom of wings, deadly, swift. And at the same time, could be trained. And trained I was. I always returned to the glove I'd been trained to go to.

Jonah:

I looked at her sideways as we walked, analyzing what her analogy told about how she thought of me. It had been a good night, a playful night. We were making progress.

The next night while grappling, I pushed limits. I put my hands on her more, in places unnecessary to sparring all the while watching her reaction carefully. Near end of the session I moved my hand around her waist where her skin was exposed, inching the hem up just a little higher.