trans_9 | Sometimes you lose too much [Open]

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Sometimes you lose too much [Open]

Something about the river kept drawing Morgan back.

Which was odd, since he'd never considered himself to have any particular affinity to water before coming to the ship. Sure, he'd trained in it, and enjoyed swimming, but he hadn't considered his pool or a beach to be any sort of 'quiet spot' or meditative spot for himself. Then again, lacking access to his mentor's dojo, or his own personal retreats of choice, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised that he'd found a new one.

Work kept him busy, with Medical low on staff and so much to do from the rebellion. Fake as it might be, he still found himself putting in long hours and lots of effort to keep things going.

Still, sometimes... especially when you got the worst of news, you had to take a break. And you couldn't be strong forever.

Morgan sat at the edge of the river, staring into the currents, and let himself quietly cry.

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"When you're ready," he said. "It isn't a very spectacular process, just pressing certain points on your body to alter the flow of chi in specific ways."

"More work with chi," Hit Girl said, but even she couldn't argue against it, not after the tournament and all the things she'd done to come out the victor...for a short time anyway.

"What do I do?"

"That's how I roll. That's how everybody rolls, I just know it," he amended. "Lie down, whichever way is most comfortable for you."

Hit Girl laughed. "You know, I think you're actually a combination of savvy and lame all in one. Don't ask me how that works."

She did as he asked, back down, eyes focused on him.

"That's a compliment, and I take it as such." He planted his hands on the ground to lift himself up and swing his legs into a kneeling position. Then he made a Force-persuasion gesture at her. "Shut your eyes and relax. All I'm going to be doing is applying pressure. Firm pressure, but not painful."

"It is," she said. "Keep in mind its been a long time since I could easily say I knew the difference between one and the other. It's not like I'm on earth anymore, after all."

She closed her eyes, thinking...of her dad, of Overlord Zetta and Lash...of Ruffnut, and she smiled, calming down.

He shut his eyes, allowing a moment of meditative calm to make sure his own chi was balanced and in harmony. As much as it could be at the moment, anyway, but that was enough to work.

Leaning in slightly, Morgan started at her lower legs and worked up, pressing firmly on points that seemed arbitrary, but that nevertheless seemed to have an amazing calming and relaxing effect when manipulated.

Hit Girl kept herself calm and, to her surprise, FELT him change. She could feel it very mildly before, but now she could definitely tell he was concentrating, changing how he was feeling to concentrate.

Part of her wished she could help him, but she couldn't presume to know what he was going through. He lived longer than her, and had seen worse things happened.

And anyway, he was trying to get her to sleep. Already she could feel herself starting to relax further, her muscles unclench, her body rise and fall.

The process wasn't slow, but it wasn't fast either; the only word to really characterize it was 'deliberate'. Morgan knew exactly what he was doing, and neither wasted time nor cut corners to accomplish it.

From his legs, he moved to her arms, then her shoulders and abdomen. All in all it took about a half an hour, during which he said nothing, just applied pressure, smoothing the flow of her chi all the while.

When he was satisfied with his progress, he sat back on his haunches, exhaling quietly. "There. That should see you through forty winks, give or take."

Hit Girl took a breath and then another. This was a time to let these feelings wash over her, to let him do what he did best. Gradually, she began to feel her muscles unlock, and seem to fall numb in a good way.

Without realizing it, Hit Girl had actually become quite rigid with her body, and it had made her movement much more solid.

When he was done she got up, rubbing her neck.

"I feel like I could."

"I'd be damn embarrassed if you didn't, since that WAS the whole point of this exercise." Not that he doubted he'd done the job right.

"If you need another treatment, you come find me, okay? None of this 'I'm tough, I'll just soldier through' business. You don't need to convince me you're tough."

Hit Girl chuckled, feeling light headed. "Yeah yeah, I guess you have a point. It's not like there'd be any good reason why it wouldn't work anyway."

Her shoulders slumped. "It's what I got to work with. Some people have their powers or their mutations. I saw shit I shouldn't see and I get back up, again and again. It's not always healthy, but its what help gives me drive."

Admitting that someone she cares about actually affected her enough to break her own patterns? Heavy stuff.

"Hmph. I think if you thought about it for a moment, you'd realize you have plenty of reasons to give you drive and keep you going, most of which would also allow for you to also get a good night's sleep," he said, smiling.

"I guess it really wouldn't be helpful to me if I was fainting all over the place during my stalking of the ship, huh?" She said, shrugging. "So much for my usual tough girl defense."

She always liked that one too. Damn.

"Or if you go to dodge an attack, fall onto your back, and lapse into blissful sleep right there. Kind of embarrassing, that."

"Dude, not getting much sleep isn't the same as being a narcoleptic!"

Not that she wasn't listening, she was. Though now, she was taking his advice instead of insisting she could do better.

"You sure you want to test that? Because I'd say you shouldn't," he said, teasingly.

"The way things are looking, I think I'm gonna have plenty of time to test out," she said. "Not that I'll do it on purpose!"

"Just keep yourself safe and well, through it all," he said. "Don't go doing something crazy-idiotic just to prove you're tough, okay?"

Hit Girl laughed. "You know, I'm not even sure that I can promise that. But I'll settle with promising not to go looking for trouble, ok?"

"That's no promise at all. Trouble will find you and you know it," Morgan said, crossing his arms sternly (which was ruined by the amusement in his eyes).

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Sometimes you lose too much [Open]

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