ic Hell on High Heels

[Electra]

"At my old school, we did a unit of yoga basically every year," Raina explained, pulling her own hail from the ponytail and twisting it into a sloppy bun before replacing the elastic. "We did all kinds of weird stuff, water polo, horseback riding, yoga and tai chi. It was a very exclusive school," she added without modesty or pride. "I had cotillion in seventh and eighth grade, but you don't learn much more there than how to box step. I like to dance for real though, like at parties and clubs," she added helpfully. "But it's not like there's steps to it."

[alderwitch]

"Yoga is good, dancing - even without steps - is good. The more comfortable you are in knowing what your body will and won't do easily makes everything else a little more intuitive. Here, close your eyes and hold your hands out to the side, palms out," Talya suggested, demonstrating the pose briefly. "It's all about proprioception. It's critical when you start doing things like genuine acrobatics and that sort of thing but helpful even at this stage. Although, I have to say, dancing with steps is an awful lot of fun. Dancing was my background before I took on more adventurous activities. One of the few things I genuinely miss about the past. The rest of it is glamorized a great deal, but I do miss that."

[Electra]

Raina shut her eyes and put her arms out to the sides tenatively, suspecting that she looked rather like a scarecrow and very unlike a dancer. "I don't do much acrobatics," she told Talya, "except like on my broom and stuff. And that doesn't require a lot of muscle, just, like, control of the magic. What kind of a dancer were you?" she asked. "If that was like forever ago, did you do jazz dancing and wear those crazy skirts and stuff?" 

[alderwitch]

"I was still a child when jazz dancers had their hey-day. Swing dancing was popular but my mother had me in ballet. I wasn't a professional dancer, not really, but I was a performer and it was expected that if you were going to perform that you'd be able to dance as well. If I tried anything en pointe these days, I'd probably break an ankle. Certainly a toe," With her eyes closed, Raina couldn't see Talya's face but the smile was in her voice, "Think more 'Dancing With the Stars', less 'Chicago' if you're trying to picture it. But, you know, not awful."

 

Talya put her hands under Raina's arms, "Relax a little. Arms spread but not taunt. Its about knowing where you are in the space whether or not you're looking at the limb."

[Electra]

Raina startled badly at the sudden touch, and for a moment her skin got very hot, nearly like touching a mug of fresh coffee. Her eyes popped open before she forced them shut again, flushing a little. "Relax, right. I can do that." She deliberately loosened her muscles, rolling her neck and taking a few deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth. "I don't get it," she told Talya. "I know where I am, even with my eyes closed. Unless we teleport, I'm still here in the training room, and we haven't even moved." 

[alderwitch]

"We are visual creatures, humans are. You know where you happen to still be standing but you didn't know that I was about to touch you," Talya pointed out. "Or where your limbs are in relation to my body."

 

Talya let her hands drop away, holding them just a bit away from Raina's skin. "When I move, it disturbs the air - it even changes the temperature near your skin, just a fraction. You can learn to read those signs like you do visual cues," Talya left her hands there a moment longer and then smiled faintly, "I'll contact the Headmistress and have your off-days changed to yoga and perhaps a dance class. I think you'll enjoy them and get more use from them than running laps. You can open your eyes and set your arms down, if you'd like."

[Electra]

Raina opened her eyes and rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if warding off the shivers. "I can feel you with my eyes closed," she admitted, "magic that tastes like blood in my mouth. I could probably recognize you in the dark, but it doesn't give me a really good sense of where you are in the room. The feel of the magic is just there, you know, and when I'm paying attention to it, it's harder to feel other things." She considered the offer. "Well, I'd definitely rather hold a swan pose than run a lap," she conceded, "but I'm not taking yoga if Archer is teaching it. Some things I just don't wanna ever see." 

[alderwitch]

"It's the blood sacrifices," Talya answered as she stepped back onto her heel, her manner matter of fact. "Leaves an unpleasant tang to the few who can sense the lingering magic. I assume that eventually it'll all get used up but it isn't as if the spell has any meter on its efficacy. I suppose we'll know its up when I cease to bounce back."

 

She shifted her weight to one foot and went to remove her shoes, "But that's not the sort of senses I was talking about. I'll have to see if Erik can work with you on the proprioception. I think my nature's going to cause too much static for my teaching to be half so effective."

[Electra]

"It feels strong," Raina commented, mirroring Talya's gesture to remove her own shoes. "I mean, like, I've only felt animal sacrifices before, so I'm not totally sure," (she was almost one hundred percent sure this was true. Ninety-five percent. She was pretty sure,) "but the magic still feels potent. I wouldn't want to mess with that kind of power without an experienced coven, definitely." 

 

She nudged her shoes to one side and took up a tree pose, one yoga position where she could successfully control her legs and arms. "Would he like be grabbing at me and stuff while my eyes are closed? I'd hate to set him on fire by accident." 

[alderwitch]

"Mmm," Talya agreed noncommittally as she slipped the other shoe off and walked to where she could put them away by her clothes, "You don't want to mess with that kind of power, period, I can assure you. It was 1940 and no one looked askance at undesirables vanishing from the streets. Even so, I assure you the intended consequence of those particular Thule cultists was not to imbue those of us they were sacrificing with a dubious form of immortality. That was clearly not the desired goal of their arcane intentions."

 

Talya smiled as if the topic were only merely unpleasant. She was very, very good at managing a polite public facade. "Nasty time, nasty story. And, no, I don't think Erik would enjoy being set on fire either although I have every confidence that he would probably get out of the way. He's generally difficult to hit if he's not willing to be caught." 

[Electra]

"Well honestly I was more worried about the grabbing me part than the setting him on fire part," Raina muttered, moving her foot from her inner thigh to stretch it out behind her and grab it with her hands. It took two attempts and a litle dangerous teetering before she found her own foot, but she did manage. "So what happened to the people who made you immortal?" she asked. "Did they go to jail or get eaten by something they called up, or did they wind up getting away with it?" 

[alderwitch]

Talya hesitated then, her pause brief but noticeable as she debated whether or not to blunt the reality although her expression never rippled. After a heart beat she replied with an even, "Dead, my dear. They've been dead a long time. It was during the war. There were many casualties on all sides." Her blue gaze remained steady holding Raina's for a long pause, "And I was a different sort of person, during a different sort of time."

 

She turned then, breaking the eye contact to reach for the half socks that she usually wore in the dojo. Talya continued on, her voice remaining calm and unruffled as if they'd been just discussing the weather and not, for example, some of the blood that might be on her hands. "Erik's not going to grab you suddenly. He can always use one of the practice blades to tap your shoulder or leg when he's gotten close. He'd not just stealth up behind you and grab your shoulders. That would be rude. Also, clearly, ill advised for so many reasons."

[Electra]

"Okay, I can live with that," Raina decided. "And probably not start anything on fire." She studied Talya's face for a moment, then let the subject of the past drop. It didn't look like something her teacher was interested in discussing, and Raina wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. She only knew a little bit about the Thule Society, but the supers who had arrested her parents had been making pretty free with the comparisons, which was totally uncalled for. And also, as far as Raina was concerned, entirely unproven. Even so, hearing how Bombshell killed a bunch of magic people during the war wasn't high on Raina's list. "So what's next on the agenda?" 

[alderwitch]

Talya chuckled, "You claim your prize and spend the rest of the afternoon planning for your party," her teacher said with a nod towards the pair of sky high heels. "I told you that if you did well, we'd finish early and I try very hard not to go back on my promises unless I really have to." Plus it seemed that Talya might have some research to do on Blackstone and Raina's parents. She'd spoken truly that she had no concerns about Blackstone - it was a known quantity after all - but she wasn't going to take Raina in blind to visit her parents. Which meant some digging and very likely some currency in favors to be prepared to take the girl to see her family. The sooner Talya started on that, the better. "You can make it up to me by doing some exercises during the week of trying to work on your proprioception."

[Electra]

Raina squealed with delight and ran for the other box of shoes, losing no time in trying them on and doing a little dance. "I love them!" She took a look at herself in the mirrored wall and did a twirl. The heels made her very tall indeed, but she obviously didn't mind. "Thank you!" she told Talya ebulliently, then calmed down a little. "Really. Thanks for everything. And for talking to the folks at the prison and stuff. I'll do the proprioception homework, even if it makes me look stupid in front of everybody else." Slipping behind the cocky facade once more, she added, "So, you think Erik would be upset if I brought some of my friends over next time? I kinda mentioned how hot he was, and they want to see." Well, Cathy wanted to see Talya more, but Raina just wouldn't mention that part. 

[alderwitch]

"Just do it with confidence, my dear. The only difference in looking absurd and looking dashing is a only modicum of grace and all the rest is confidence," Talya smiled indulgently as Raina went towards her new shoes. It was more than worth it to see that wary facade fall away in the face of genuine youthful enthusiasm. It gave Talya a glimpse of what she might have been like, before her world tumbled down. Leaning her hip back against the weapon stand, Talya added, "And, of course. Erik's appeal is really the foundation of the school's business model. Attendance doubles come spring when the number of 'too hot for wearing shirts' days goes up."

 

Her reply was glib and easy, even though that might have been an exaggeration. "But no, he won't mind t'all. Bring who you like. We'll find something for them to do whatever their level of skill might be."

[Electra]

Raina carefully, almost reverently, put the shoes back in their box, then did the same for the less spectacular but still very nice heels she'd been practicing in. "I wonder if we're due for any unseasonably warm weather soon," she mused. "I guess there's always next semester." She put on her old shoes to go back to school in, then shrugged her backpack onto her back. "See you next week then, and maybe I'll bring some people. Maybe you can meet my boyfriend. Well, not my boyfriend yet, but he's going to be, once I whip him into shape." On that note of cheerful confidence, Raina scooped up her prizes and headed for the door. 

[alderwitch]

Talya took in that statement and the confidence with a bemused smile. She had been suggesting confidence if not quite in that particular manner. Nodding her head rather than offering caution, Talya agreed with a small smile, "I look forward to the upcoming introduction. I'll see if I can have that appointment scheduled by our next class time. Have a happy Halloween, Raina."