The other muscles. (Open)

[stern]

Stern pushed his arms up, fighting gravity, exhaustion, and a weakening will all at once. He lay on his back, pushing the heavy weights on his chest up. There were many who were watching him, as Stern was among the heaviest lifters in the school. There were many unique individuals in the school who could lift more, but Stern seemed to be particularly odd for such a heavy load.

Indeed, for someone who tended to out-think his opponents and talked of peace, he was incredibly athletic in build. He also had his hands and feet always wrapped, something someone who didn't fight would rarely do. He also looked a bit uncomfortable in the position, a common problem for Stern but also one increased by his desire to not be seen struggling by the small crowd who had gathered. It was not that the weights were particularly heavy, a challenge thought they were, but his desire to not show weakness in public. The whole situation eventually caused Stern's will to give out first, and he placed the weights back into a resting position.

Stern lifted weights not only to keep himself in shape, but also as a means of relaxing. He spent most of his time acquiring mental stresses, not physical, so the brief break when it came time to exercise was welcome. Up, down, up, down, keep your breathing in time eventually became instinct and his mind was truly empty for some time. He didn't even have that luxury when he slept.

Stern stood up from the weights and walked toward the gyms bleachers to rest. He quickly wiped himself down with a towel, obviously uncomfortable with people seeing him sweat, while drinking some water from a bottle. he wore black workout shorts and a Navy blue, sleeveless shirt. It was a larger amount of skin than Stern usually allowed others to see, though it's loose fit still left plenty to the imagination for his chest. Stern wondered if anyone would ever notice he didn't wear white to gym.

Sitting down, Stern quickly leaned back against the wall. his one brief break from life had been interrupted, and now he had to rest physically. He'd have to run a bit later in the evening to make up for the loss, but he should have time. Still, he didn't want to go back to his greater work just yet.

[victor]

OOC: Here's the revision.

Victor walked into the gym, immediately noticing the commotion in the center. What looked like the most muscular teenager Victor had ever seen was lifting an incredibly heavy looking weight. Victor had plenty of experience lifting weights, courtesy of his father's teachings, but this was amazing. The thing looked like it could crush the hood of a car yet he lifted it so easily. It wasn't often students had THAT kind of power.

"I've got to focus." Victor thought. "He's good, but I've also got to improve my skills as well. I wonder how skilled a fighter he is."

Victor went to a corner of the gym, set down his bag, and laid on the ground. He performed fifty sit-ups and then fifty pushups, making sure to get as close to the ground as he could. He then laid on his back and performed thirty leg raises, breathing with each rise and fall. He sat up in butterfly position and began to push his knees down to both sides, holding them until he felt the burn, then slowly letting go.

Sweating a little, Victor stood up and readied himself, then went into the Heian Yondan kata (Peaceful mind four), paused, then into the Bassai Dai kata (Penetrate Fortress Major), and finally the Jion kata (Monk form). He stepped down and panted, feeling a rush of endorphins. Ah, nothing like a bout of training to cheer you up.

"It's good, but I need someone to practice with." he thought. "Maybe that guy would like a friendly match. If he does, I'm willing to bet anything he's pretty good."

He began to approach the teen and considered the possibilities if his challenge was accepted. The guy was big alright, but Victor had a feeling he was also fast too, and he could probably do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Still, Victor was a good strategist and knew that even if he couldn't win, he could still have the thrill of a close-and good-match.

Victor sat down on the bleachers next to the teen and said "Hello. You're pretty cool to be able to lift that much." He waited for him to respond.

[stern]

(Yeah, I can't respond to that....I don't even know what your character just said....rewrite that last post.)

[victor]

OOC: It's revised, but allow me to explain. My character is performing kata, or forms (prearranged movements set into a sequence). If you already understood this part then I apologize. If you don't know what he's saying, he's going to speak to your character and somewhere he'll ask for a friendly match.

[stern]

(OOC: I know what Kata is...you just didn't bother to actually RP in that post. Doesn't matter how good you are if you don't do that.)

Stern turned to greet the newcomer, who quickly tossed a compliment his way. He had gotten progressively popular as time went on, his actions in school making such greeting common. People wanted to speak to him, and they thought going through his ego was a good way to do it.

Stern's ego was healthy enough though, and he was concerned enough about his public image to greet anyone regardless of the one they used.

"It's all just hard work....anyone can lift that weight if they work their way up."

[victor]

OOC: Sorry 'bout that!

"Heh, I know about hard work muchacho. I've known about that for a long time." Victor chuckled, reflecting both on the training his father had given him and on his own school career as a manipulative backstabber who had taken advantage of people for his own pleasure. Both had taken years and years of honing, but in the end they had paid off.

Victor laughed again and said: "How rude of me, I forgot to mention my name. Me llamo Victor. It's nice to meet you."

Victor thought back to Varron and some rumors he had heard about. From what he had heard it was this student, whoever he was, who had been quite a dangerous fighter. Rumors of winning a tournament had also sprung up and that sounded tempting. Victor had no interest in personal gain though. He simply liked to test his abilities wherever possible.

"Me myself, I don't use weights as much, but I have my own ways of handling myself... and my opponents." Victor emphasized these last few words, curious on the teen's potential.

[Valencia Donahue]

To many, seeing a female in the gym was unheard of. Training the body in the weight room especially had this masculine aspect to it while there were other places where most females would exercise… Like at an aerobics studio. However, at Hircine High, Valencia was one of the few female students who took strength conditioning and PE beyond the requirement. Why? Because there’s something called going A and B the C of D, transcripts, multiple professions, and the fact that her coach was practically a surrogate mom who knew how to train Valencia’s body well… Unlike most female PE teachers. Gotta love the boot camp instructor types. But anyhow, as she was working with the shoulder press machine when she began to hear a hullabaloo near the bench press machine. Rather than be distracted, she finished up the set and decided to rest and satiate her curiosity.

It should come to little surprise that one garnering attention had a familiar name. In fact, that name was Stern, a la “Creepy-Aura’d-‘Peaceful’-Fellow” who held that meeting some time ago. Valencia decided to observe from afar, a little because she didn’t want to be seen, more so because the crowd of sweaty young males had an odor she preferred to stay away from. She’ll never understand why men sometimes don’t understand that good health and hygiene go hand-in-hand as much as it does with working in the weight room.

The “blonde” Asian lifted a brow when Stern finished up and headed immediately to the gym’s bleachers. After some thought, Valencia concluded that he was probably done for the time being because it was better to stand and stretch or cramps will kick in. With that, she sauntered off to the side as some students walked by to get out of the way and began to stretch her arms. She continued to watch Stern intently, unaffected by his presence like last time because of the lack of intoxicating words.

Dark clothing… If he sweats a good deal and has cuts, the dye might run and infect those spots… By this, I can assume that he has little to worry about and is hardly one to get cuts to begin with.

It seemed like a reasonable conclusion. Because of the skin showing, Valencia made a sound assumption due to the muscle tone that he worked out and knew what he was doing… As usual. He had a purposeful air about him. She finished stretching her arms and then found an unoccupied piece of floor to begin stretching her legs, all the while continuing to watch Stern. In a way, she was hoping that he wasn’t one of those types who knew they were being watched, but she knew that it can’t be helped if he was.

Some time passed by and another student approached Stern. Valencia heard a good snatch of what was being said, but it required more attention than she wanted to give so she was on the move again, this time to the LAT pull-down to further work on her back muscles. The machine was closer, yet not too close to make her stick out like a sore thumb.

Then again, what’re the odds of people ignoring me here…? Aiya…

Valencia brought the bar down to her collarbone and carefully raised it to work on the latissimus dorsi and deltoids, all the while listening although it didn’t look like it. Having a blank stare the majority of the time has its benefits. Then, after a good deal of random bits of Spanish tossed into English speech, she heard something that caused her to tilt her head a little towards the direction of Stern and Victor. She finished her set and started to stretch her arms; quiet, yet solemnly interested.

[stern]

At the last sentence, Stern immedietly recognized the one speaking to him as a Varronite. Those who belong to Hircine didn't tend to brag about thier martial skill, standing behind the system's image instead. Stern had pushed the fact that so many fighters went to Varron from his mind, the fact that it returned so quickly proving that he was back from his vacation from reality.

Then again, considering the school had been Varron City's designated "dumping ground", as the higher ups called it, and hadn't had the same structure that San Fransico's had, that of Hircine, it was not suprising.

Stern did catch what the guy was implying though, and got up slowly from his seat. He would oblige, the ability to show his skills, and thus earn the respect of the strong, had been lacking since his current public face preached non-violence. He would have to hold back, but it would make a decent show.

That, and Stern was slightly irked when people mixed languages in thier speech, and fighting seemed like a good way to stop him from talking. He walked out a bit to a floor mat, where many were laying doing stretches and floor exercises. Ther was still a good deal of room.

"OK, lets go."

Stern made no moves, and took no stance. He had to remain reactionary for his image, so he was going to let his opponent take the role of aggressor. Otherwise a bad rumor could appear, as a crowd was already gathering, and he felt many eyes on him.

[victor]

OOC: Here's the edit. Yeah the left hand was used. I'll be careful of that next time.

Victor smiled. "So you've accepted, eh? All right, let's do it." he said. He watched as Stern stepped towards a mat. Victor stepped forward, already considering his options. Stern was powerful and looked like he could do a lot of damage. He would have to keep his distance if he intended to persevere.

Victor turned to one side and saw an Asian girl watching them. You didn't see girls in the gym very often which often disappointed him. Victor had a lot of admiration and respect for the girls in this school. They didn't look it, but they could be very skilled when push came to shove. Victor gave her a small smile and waved, then turned back to Stern.

Victor remembered his father's teachings well. Stances were important in the Shotokan style, but stances were also a dead giveaway in a match and you didn't want to stay in one for too long. So Victor kept his stance casual and stepped forward.

Victor began to slowly circle around Stern, always keeping him in the center so he couldn't get too close or too far away. He couldn't strike this one up close or the match would be over in an instant. He'd have to strike from a distance and play conservatively.

"He has to come to me." Victor thought. "He has to come to me or I won't be able to get to him."

Victor slided towards Stern in a front stance, preparing to deliver a jab but pull back before it could hit him and glide back. Stern seemed like the kind of person who liked to grapple. If he tried to grab, Victor would perform a knife hand strike to the sensitive area on the back of his hand to stun it while sliding diagonally to the side. If he punched or kicked, he would retreat back while striking at the connecting joint of his arm or knee with a hammer fist strike to crack the joints.

[stern]

OOC: I didn't pull out a mat, one was there, please edit. Also, try to say which hand your attacking with from now on, as otherwise it's hard to describe the direction of the other moves. I'm going to assume it was your left since it's not intended to be a strong blow and your not left handed as far as I know.

Stern watched his opponent move around, sizing him up. It was clear that his opponent was intimidated, so Stern already earned himself one advantage at least. Yes, he was being cautious, and was clearly afraid of taking damage. That would not work in his favor for long.

His opponent moved toward his slowly in stance. Stern watched how close he was moving in, and once he crossed a certain distance he knew that he was going for a jab. He wanted to stay away from those muscles, and he thought the best way was to be swift. Unfortunately, he didn't know Stern usually had a speed advantage in close quarters, and had not bothered to realize that Stern had longer reach than he did.

Stern already planned out his counter before the blow was even thrown.

As the jab was launched, Stern stepped forward with his right leg and moved his head to the right. He never bothered to guess whether the blow was a feint, and moved his head away from the blow and toward his opposite shoulder of the attacking arm. The jab moved over his shoulder much further than his opponent would have liked, and Stern was no inside his guard.

Stern's body was no much closer, and his right hand moved up parallel to his face to guard, though more into stance now that the fight had begun. His counter came as his left hand rose, hidden by both of their bodies up and into the boy's left kidney in a quick uppercut. Given Stern's speed and position, the chances of him pulling together a counter quick enough to stop the attack from going through were slim, and given his hand would only just be coming back from the jab when it was launched meant the only limb that could block that attack there was too far away.

The boy had a choice to make, if he was fast enough putting together what he saw to realize what was happening where he couldn't. He could stick around to try and stop his assault, or back off if he's quick enough and avoid the blow. Either action suited Stern, as this was merely a blow to weaken the defense for the true assault.

[victor]

Victor's plan to strike at the soft spots and joints hadn't worked, but he hadn't even begun to fight yet. The jab went forward and Stern stepped forward past the jab while simultaneously delivering an uppercut towards Victor's kidney region and blocking with his other arm, a blow which would have surely ended the match had Victor not heard a whooshing sound of air as Stern swung towards him. That sound was all the trigger he needed and he reacted. As the blow came, Victor twisted and ducked his body to the right while dropping to the ground with his hands planted on it, dodging the vicious blow.

"Not bad." Victor thought to himself. "Not bad at all. He's just as fast as he is strong and he's got a long reach. But he left a huge opening down below."

As Victor fell, he snapped his leg outward in a straight line, aiming for Stern's ankle, intending to snap it with a thrust. The joint where the foot and leg came together could be quite fragile, espescially if struck correctly, and Stern had left himself wide open.

It was the perfect set up. Even if Victor missed or Stern somehow blocked it, it would set him up for more evasion and attacks. Victor would somersault backwards with one leg aiming up to knock away Stern's arms and legs if he tried to attack or grab, making sure to land flat on his back and scramble away to keep his distance and even if the blow didn't break his ankle-or connect for that matter-it would be enough to distract him and let Victor would sweep him off of his legs. And of course if Stern raised up one of his legs, Victor could slide forward and thrust his foot up into Stern's groin which would still give him enough time to get back before anything could be done.

[stern]

OOC: Once again....you didn't say which foot was kicking, or which foot you were kicking....you need to include these details if you want to have you fights become anything more than a confusing mess.

Doesn't exactly matter since your not getting the attack off, but in a tourney match you would have just given you opponent the match.

IC:

His opponent twisted, using the attacks narrow dimension's to evade. It got him away from a light blow, but it had cost too much. He obviously thought he would evade and counter, but he was facing a fast opponent who was attacking now, not then. All he had done was dedicate himself to a movement that was placing him right next to Stern, while off balance during the fall.

When the returned jab went past him during the fall, Stern struck with his second attack. He twisted violently at the torso, switching from his left leading back to the more comfortable right. During his uppercut, the blow that had been brought up to guard had stayed were it was, and as his body changed and the danger of counter's up top diminished, that meant it went from a block to being ready for a second attack.

He lunged his right hand forward, this time putting some more weight behind the blow. Being a straight and the turn had moved the defending arm past the point it would have wanted the intercept, there would be no physical interference. The blow was swift and powerful, taking full advantage of the huge amount of time given and his opponents vulnerable balance, which now spun on a single axis. The blow would impact before the turn was even finished, slamming decisively into the side of the boys head, Stern's large fist covering everything from the tip of the ear to the side of the boy's eye.

His counter, whatever he had intended, would never be finished, and he would find himself pushed to the floor from the blow and his lack of balance, though that move would not actually hurt anything but maybe his pride.

Stern would quickly step forward with his left foot and bring the arm back, bringing both his hand parallel to his face to guard it a prepare for the assault. He couldn't go after the boy on the ground, bad for appearances, but he could make himself more than ready for when he got back up. His forward left knee bent, his palms facing out and open, and his arms framing his upper body in a tight guard, he was more than ready for his opponent should he wish to continue.

[victor]

Victor saw the strike coming again, but this time had he couldn't get out of the way. Nevertheless, there was a way he could still make Stern's attack fail. Victor leaned back while twisting his body and head to the right. The blow struck him in the side of the face, but Victor's head and body were sideways enough so that the punch did nothing more then scratch open his left cheek as it passed by. He felt the warm drizzle of blood come down his face as he performed a small back flip to distance himself. That had been good, and now Stern was on the defensive, waiting to strike. Perfect timing.

"I'll have to get that bandaged up later." Victor thought. "No matter. He's right where I want him now."

Victor would keep his distance and circle around him, always keeping him in the center while "pecking" at Stern. Victor remembered his training and the strength he had attained over the years. Although he did not use it very often, he possessed enough power and speed in his hands to tear open flesh and muscle. It was the result of years of push-ups, sparring matches, and lifting and holding of water jars among other things.

With Stern in a guard position, he was just one big target. Victor could snatch at him with his high speed, snatch a handful of flesh and dig his fingers in and tear like any animal. Even if Stern blocked, countered, or dodged he would have to leave some part of his body open, and even if he didn't his body was one big target for Victor's claw hands. He'd have to play conservatively and keep his distance, but he would wear Stern down little by little.

These thoughts went through his head in a split second before he even landed.

Victor landed with his hands in claw position. He would start with his right hand and use his long legs as a grounding to dart at and lean towards Stern as well as keep and pull away from him while striking with his clawed hands.

[stern]

The opponent managed to narrowly evade the blow, yet seemed to not learn the lesson of his last dodge. Economy of movement was important in any fight, and it greatly incearsed one speed. This one chose elaborate and effective movements, which while effective did not flow easily into one another and didn't take Stern into consideration. Stern's move were much simpler, flowed smoothely, though his movements were far less effective. The point was, however, was that they didn't had to be, and the extra effort was turned into a lot more time.

Stern continued with his step forward as his opponent moved aside, as he need to regain his balance anyway. He continued forward, and simply walked. When his opponent recovered from his back flip, Stern would be standing less than a foot away from, his hands on his hips. he had been given so much time that, had he rushed forward instead of walking leisurely, the fight would have finished quickly and brutally.

This was, however, a friendly sparring match, and Stern was not out for blood. So he stood in front of his opponent, taking not of his hands. A teacher of Varron could have apparently used this technique as it was intended properly, but by the speed at which it was pulled out in such a simple sparring match Stern knew this one couldn't do it to the intended degree. That move did not fight, it simply injured. It was used to end fights before worse was done to both parties. To pull it out now was bad form, though nobody in the gym probably had the knowledge of it to realize what had just happened beyond Stern's simple actions.

"You know how to fight, but you need to learn restraint."

Stern was speaking of both his opponents movements and his intended actions, as temperance was probably the qualtiy needed for him to advance any further in martial skill. Stern had always had his responsibilities to force that on him. This one probably had a better life than Stern had though.

"It was fun."

Stern turned and walked away, seeing the fight as over. The audience at least saw he had victory, but Stern really didn't need to damage someone to make the small point he intended. Afterall, though he was making a publicity appearance, it was at heart just a sparring match.

[victor]

Victor lowered his hands and sighed. Yes, Stern was right. That had been bad form. Very bad. Victor would admit that his temper had gotten him into trouble before, but not where it had cost him a match. Still, Victor wasn't stupid. Stern was stronger and he probably would have lost anyway. Ah well. There were more lessons in defeat than in victory anyway.

Victor stretched his arms and looked at Stern as he walked off. He had something he wanted to ask before he left as well.

"I don't know who you are, but I will admit you are far better then me and that was bad form on my part. I want to apologize since this hasn't happened before." Victor said. "Since you're clearly the superior fighter, do you have any recommendations on how I could improve? Maybe we could have another match when I get stronger and smarter."

[stern]

"Less flash, more substance.....and don't try that move you were thinking of. It takes years of intense training as an adult to be capable of it, and even more so to learn to use if effectively....you would have lost if you tried it worse than before."

Stern didn't turn around as he spoke, he didnt feel it neccessary to get his point across. The boy measured the techniques he could perform as a measure of his skill, but did not know how to use them effectively. If he could learn that, he could have put up a decent fight. Still, Stern had enough fighting for today. He had intended o take abreak, but ended up in worse shape than when he sat down to rest. He dropped back down on the bleachers, use his towel to wipe off sweat, and took another drink of water.

~Hmmm....I guess I did get a decent workout afterall.~

[Valencia Donahue]

“Hmph.”

When Victor waved at Valencia, it shouldn’t be too surprising for her to mentally want to break his arm because of the unwanted attention he gave her, but it was a small thing, so she dismissed it. At the time, she was stretching her arms behind her back in all sorts of odd angles for the sake of keeping up her flexibility. None of it was beyond an average person’s ability as long as said person knew which way an arm could bend without doing something stupid. She kept watching the two and lo and behold, the one that got her attention the most during the fight was Victor. Actually, he distracted her the whole time, but you get the idea.

Circling doesn’t do crap unless your opponent doesn’t know a thing about where you’re coming from. It’s just a waste of energy and time, really cruddy for baiting if you’re too small about it, and shows that you don’t know how to strike first.

With that considered, Stern pretty much thought the same way and did what any sensible person against a small-time fighter would do. Close the gap, unleash some pain to wake up the person. Since Stern chose to do so from above, Victor moved to drop below and went for Stern’s legs. Valencia could’ve predicted this with her eyes closed because of the unwritten rule of “opposites and twos”, but what happened next kept her from sighing out of exasperation. Stern floored him and intelligently enough, let him be for a while.

Well, after the flippin’ flippin’. This Victor person… Doesn’t he know that showstoppers work best when used for exhibitions, showing off, and Hollywood? Not in fights? Pfftt… Flipping exerts more energy compared to just “going back”, especially when it doesn’t have any immediate practical use. Kudos on knowing how to flip, but no points on application.

But anyhow, Stern did something Valencia seldom saw other people do and that was to hold back from going into a pummel-crazy melee on the floor. This showed a couple things… Restraint. Stern was disciplined in fighting and knew how to think instead of acting out of pure instinct. It’s definitely a good way to show the audience how much self-restraint he possessed. On top of that, he knew better than to attack the person on the ground because fighting on the ground can get a tad crazy if you don’t assume control quick. Moving along, Victor did something that “offended” Valencia’s eyes while she was stretching her legs.

Again. With. That. Stupid. Circling.

Poor Valencia. Or rather, poor Victor because he began to go a bit loopy in the head and was about to have at it with Stern until Stern put a stop to it. Ain’t that nice for the image? He even gave Victor some advice that even she had to agree to. As Stern began to make his exit from the mat, Victor asked him for some more advice and was given some pretty useful knowledge for fights to come. Now, here’s the thing… Stern didn’t stop and turn around to give Victor his say. True, there was no meaning to do so, but there’s always this sort of “superior air” whenever someone does that. She knows so because sometimes she does this herself, though most of the time unaware of this subconscious presentation of confidence. In the end, it shows that the person willing to turn their back and walk away knows when things are or aren’t necessary. Valencia stopped stretching altogether and mentally checked if she did everything she needed to do for the day in the gym. Once she found that she did, she determined that it was about time to rest and be done with the day. She headed over to bleachers some ways away from Stern and dug through her bag to fish out a towel to clean off any sweat and a water bottle of her own to rehydrate herself.

[stern]

Stern sat in the bleachers enjoying the rest before he went back to lockers. He always went early, and oddly the teachers never seemed to try and stop him. They couldn't really, since he had a doctors permission to do so.

As he was sitting, watching everyone else going about their business, he noticed one of the spectators get up and cross the room to the bleachers. Stern had paid no extra attention to her before, but upon focusing on her for some time, he realized he had seen her somewhere before. He watched her move, taking in her features and comparing it to his memory. He didn't come up with any details in particular, but recognized her from the meeting he held in the woods. She looked a good deal different from that time, and Stern guessed the reason he was able to make the comparison was because he saw her disguised first, rather than the other way around.

The next thing that stuck in Stern's mind was that he hadn't seen her again. Most of those who reacted positively to his speech made contact with him that night, or did so as the movement gained momentum. He never saw her again, which explained why he had someone in the meeting he didn't have information on. Stern immediately went to thinking of her as a spy, and anyone who didn't have confidence on the Pillar's side was most often blackmailed into the position.

Stern had mixed thoughts on the blackmailed students. While they could be made to betray the system, it was equally likely he would be betrayed in turn if he attempted such a thing. It was a shame that he could not trust them, as they would likely escape their tragic fate if his plan succeeded.

Stern suddenly hit a bit of inspiration, realizing an opportunity that would not happen in the end, but could help in reaching that point. As long as he kept the details on the final step out of the picture, she could prove useful.

Stern stood and walked over to the woman, taking his time to walk the significant distance toward her. He knew the best way to confront someone trying to avoid notice was to merely mention you had caught them in the act. It lost the element of deception Stern was famous for using, but it was able to mentally push someone off-balance if only briefly.

"So, how much longer are you going to continue to watch me before you do something about what you see?"

[Valencia Donahue]

Valencia finished her drink while Stern was gone and had her towel draped about her shoulders, not quite expecting that he’d return only to find that she assumed wrong. She wasn’t able to hear or detect Stern too well amidst the usual noises of the gym because of the way he approached her… Gradually. On the other hand, as he got closer, she couldn’t help but catch the tread of unfamiliar stride lengths and almost dismissed him as another not-so-frequent visitor of this gym until she discerned its path towards her direction. That wasn’t a very comforting prospect, considering that Valencia wasn’t too appreciative of Victor waving at her earlier. She draped her towel over her head and commenced cleaning her face once more until she heard a voice belonging to “Creepy-Aura’d-‘Peaceful’-Fellow”, AKA Stern to most normal people. When inquired, her hands jerked and she would’ve been paralyzed with brief surprise if her noggin didn’t tell her to keep moving.

No way could he have missed that… Dadgum it, please don’t tell me that I muddled up already…

Then again, there’s a bright side to this predicament. This wasn’t the first time that Valencia has been confronted about her secretive nature. In fact, scratch that. This definitely wasn’t the first time she has been asked a question and expected to give the inquirer the wanted answers. Sure, she lost her anonymity, but instead of flying off the handle and stumbling over some stupid, thoughtless statement of denial revealing more than what’s needed about her like most people, Valencia took the ambiguous route.

I don’t know how much you know about me, but…

“Oh, I’m quite used to watching people spar in the gym. As long as nothing gets broken like the equipment, I won’t raise any complaints.”

Valencia hoped that her answer would discourage Stern before any real damage could be done. She was telling the truth of course and to any average person, it may even appear as though Valencia interpreted Stern’s question as a nice, casual one instead of one that was dripping with insidious intent masked beneath a poke at her semi-waning efforts to remain hidden. As long as it didn’t drag her out in the open, she’s all good in the safety of her… Um… Towel. Yes, a towel can be a lot more reassuring than most would think.

[stern]

She jerked briefly as Stern spoke. It wasn't the largest reaction, and it was moved away from swiftly. Unfortunately, the attempts to down play the reaction were what gave her away. She probably would have been better exaggerating them, trying to feign surprise more than shock. She spoke her alibi next, which would have fit well with Stern's plan.

She played the game fairly well, and if Stern hadn't walked in with evidence to his suspicions, he would have likely dropped them momentarily. True, he would of had her watched, but his personal attention would be diverted elsewhere. Unfortunately, she started off with a handicap, and Stern was pushing it.

"Your reason's for snooping over gatherings in the woods is probably as equally mundane I take it then?"

Stern didn't want to give her time to hide, to sneak away from the discussion at hand. She was, a rare thing in Stern's mind, one who could play the game of subtlety at a level that could compete with Stern. If she managed to keep at that game then, there was a chance she could win it. Drag her out into the open though, and he'd see how well her game was there.