xp_logs | Topaz and Matt || Gymnastics (Backdated)

Backdated to February 2. Matt gets a gold medal in getting Topaz to actually have fun.

Standing in front of Topaz in the library, Matt waited for her to respond before he just blatantly interrupted her reading. Getting to a stopping point was important.

Topaz noticed Matt a few minutes before she reached the end of the page. But if he was going to be polite enough to let her finish, then she was going to finish. She hurried it along a bit, and when she finally got to the end she looked up, quirking an eyebrow at the boy towering over her. "Hi Matt."

"Yo," he grinned down at her. "C'mon. It's icky outside. So you're coming with me," his logic was specious at best, but that was part of the point. Ridiculousness. "What're you wearing?"

"..." Topaz just stared for a moment, bewildered to the point of absolute speechlessness. "Uh...pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, shoes...wait, why am I going with you? Where're we going?"

"Gym," he replied simply, "Remember, I said you were going to learn some gymnastics? Well, today's a good day to do that. Do you need to change or anything?" he had on similar clothes, but underneath he wore a tank top and pants.

"I mean...do you think I should? Are pants okay?" Something more important clicked in Topaz's mind. "Wait, you were serious about that?!"

She was seriously asking if he thought she should change? "So, this is the part where I point out that I'm blind. You tell me if you need to change, not vice versa," he joked, "but yes, of course I was serious," or at least, he was now. Mostly, he was bored and looking for something to do.

"Well I don't know what's appropriate for gymnastics." Topaz stood, looking down for herself. "I...guess this is okay. You know I'm probably going to break my neck, right?"

"You're not going to break your neck!" Matt laughed, amused at the idea, "I promise. That's why I'll spot you."

Topaz opened her mouth to throw his words about being blind back at him - then stopped and closed her mouth again. "Fine," she ceded. She'd been trying to avoid Matt since that...incident...with the Slendermen. But she couldn't very well ignore him if he was seeking her out. "If I fall and hurt one of us, I'm not takin' responsibility." She shoved her book back in her bag and stood, throwing her bag over her shoulder.

Heading out of the library, Matt nodded, "That's legit. It'd be mine for suggesting it and then not spotting you properly," he agreed. "Anyways though, I've been in the gym a lot the past couple weeks, so I think I'm good. Just don't do something strange like...I don't know. Disappear."

"If I disappear mid-fall, do me a favor and call Amanda," Topaz replied dryly. "Probably means somethin' magical's goin' on." And clearly the staff here didn't know how to handle that. "Why're you spendin' so much time in the gym?" Might as well get a conversation going. Probably better than walking in silence.

"Helps me focus when the cravings get rough," Matt replied honestly, "And wears me out so I sleep better," he didn't mention the bouts of insomnia he sometimes had. Right now, he was sleeping again and he didn't want to chance it by mentioning it even if it was silly and superstitious. "But that's good to know. I have Amanda's cell phone number on my speed-dial," not that he had a lot of people in his phone anyways.

Right. Topaz squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, remembering the conversation they'd had in the Askew World. "Has it been bad?" She asked finally, quietly.

Shrugging Matt didn't respond for a long minute. "It's doing better now," he replied. It had been difficult for a week or so, but now it was getting a little easier. "That's how it works. Good days and bad. Mostly, they're good overall. But the bad happen, too," and he had to deal with them all regardless. That he had a support network (assuming he used it), helped a lot. "Today's a good day. Just boring."

"Good is...good." Oh brilliant, Topaz scolded herself. It didn't usually bother her that she was horrible with people. But this was one of those rare occasions when it did - and when that happened, it bothered her a lot. "Well, you should get plenty of amusement from watchin' me fall on my arse over and over..."

There was always that possibility, but Matt doubted it. Laughing at others when they didn't get something wasn't really his style, "Only if you're laughing, too," he assured her. "But I doubt you'll be that bad," he pushed open the doors and automatically toed his shoes off, pushing them against the wall. Since he didn't have sunglasses or his cane to put with them, all Matt did was tug his sweatshirt off. He still had his athletic tank on underneath.

"Well at least one of us has confidence," Topaz muttered as she looked around. She'd only been in the gym a couple of times, and none of those times had been to do anything more than watch someone else. She pulled her own sweatshirt off wearily, leaving it and her shoes against the wall with Matt's stuff. She was going to regret this later, she knew it. "So...how do we start?"

Sitting down on a mat, Matt reached out and grabbed his toes. "With stretching. You are guaranteed to hurt yourself if you don't. Do just copy me."

"Right, then..." Topaz settled down aside Matt, imitating his actions. She was far from the athletic type - the stretches were a little harder than they probably should have been.

Matt made the stretching look easy. He wasn't perhaps as limber as he could be, but he had no complaints about it and he did fine in gymnastics and trapeze and whatnot, so he was satisfied. Once he was sure they were stretched and limber to the best of their abilities, Matt grinned. "Can you do this?" he asked, bending over easily into a handstand on the mat.

"...Nope." No sarcasm, no witty remarks. For once, Topaz couldn't manage any. "I don't think I have the balance for that."

"Yes you do," Matt disagreed, righting himself. "Try it. I won't let you fall. Or do you need me to show you again?"

"No, think I got it." She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Right. Okay. It wasn't nearly as easy for her as it was for Matt to get herself up. By some miracle she managed not to fall over, but it was slightly disorienting. "Whoa..."

Grabbing her legs as Topaz swung up inverted, he held her that way for a moment before letting hey down again. "Not gonna let you fall," he assured Topaz again. "What did you think?"

"I think bein' upside down is weird," Topaz said, rubbing the back of her head and trying re-orient herself. "Not bad, though."

"It is. Completely disorienting," Matt grinned, maybe that was why he liked it, "Can you do a somersault?" That was pretty basic, but sometimes people had trouble.

"Probably? I've never tried one before, but..." She shrugged, shifting from foot to foot. "How hard can it be?"

"Give it a shot," Matt suggested, going into a handstand and then rolling into a somersault. Maybe the floor wasn't the best for Topaz. It wasn't his favourite thing either.

She was doing this. She was actually really doing this. Topaz took a deep breath before attempting anything. Her somersault wasn't nearly as clean as Matt's - and she ended up on her back. But it was something.

"Now put them together like I did," Matt grinned, sure she could do it with his help. He didn't expect her to do a handstand somersault on her first try alone when she'd never done anything like this before. "It's fun. All bouncy."

"Bouncy. Right." Topaz stayed on her back for a moment, trying to regain her senses, before she stumbled up again. "Okay then." Another breath, and she tried again, wavering horribly on the handstand and ending up in more of a roll then a somersault. At least she managed to come out standing up, though.

Matt caught her and helped to control the somersault, but there wasn't much he could do about her jelly arms. "Awesome!" Maybe there was a reason that adults didn't take up gymnastics unless they did it as a kid like he had?

"Yeah, I'm a natural." The words were sarcastic, but a smile was slowly pulling at Topaz's lips and it was fairly obvious in her voice. She'd never been the kind of kid who went out and bounced and ran around a lot, always preferring to hide behind books. This was different.

The mat might not be her thing. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world either. "How do you bounce?" Matt asked, a thought percolating. "Trampoline?"

"I've...never tried to bounce before," Topaz admitted uncertainly, raising an eyebrow. "How hard can it be?"

Helping Topaz climb onto the trampoline, Matt outlined a couple basic safety precautions, then headed to the middle with her. "Jump!" he said, doing it a few times, then flipping.

Topaz bounced along with Matt, because the alternative was falling over. She could only watch, wide-eyed, though, as Matt flipped. "Bloody..." She stopped, and nearly fell over when Matt continued to bounce.

"Try it!" Matt encouraged. "Just bounce and roll like a somersault. It's okay if you land on your butt," he bounded onto his butt then bounced up again.

Oh this was going to end so badly. Topaz took an unsteady step back, bouncing a few times until she was certain she was getting high enough. Amazingly, she almost managed to succeed, until she panicked halfway through and ended up landing on her back. A slight huff - almost a giggle - slipped off Topaz's lips as she lied on her back, staring at the ceiling in disbelief.

Laughing, Matt bounced down so he was sitting next to her. Poking Topaz in the side, he grinned, "What do you call that move?" he asked, entertained.

Topaz jumped when Matt poked her; she was smiling just the smallest bit as she sat up, curling her legs under herself. "Pretty sure the only name for it is 'Topaz screwed up.'" Amusement was clear in her tone. She'd never admit it, but she was actually having quite a bit of fun with this.

"Never!" Matt disagreed, jumping up and flipping over her before moving to do a layout and then adding in a full in as well. He liked flipping around. "Now that might be a little hard," he teased when he stopped, "but I think you can do a basic flip."

Was he...mocking her? Topaz smirked a bit as she stumbled up, never one to pass on a challenge. "Right, then." She bounced a bit before propelling herself higher into the air. This time she managed not to panic halfway through, and even landed on her feet - well one foot, at least, that decided not to support and deposited her none-too-gracefully onto her butt. "Ha," was all she allowed herself to say before biting down on her lip.

Matt grinned as big as the Cheshire cat! "Woohoo!" he crowed, cheering for Topaz! "And the silver medal goes to the magical girl who said she couldn't do it!" Maybe they should have an Xavier's-lympics. That could be fun. "That was awesome!"

She was smiling - really, actually smiling now. "And the gold medal goes to the boy who taught the absolutely inept," she returned, curling her legs up once more and rocking back for a moment. "Thanks."

"Ah-ah!" Matt shook his head, "You gotta keep going. It's no fun to stop just when you're getting the hang of it!"