#giltcage

[silvasboys]

Julia - it’s Marcos. I’m gonna have to miss tonight’s session, and probably Thursday too.

[agoldenlight]

@gilt-cage, @desperadoundead, @joy-ride, @sleepinginporcelain, @breathingincorruptedlungs, @louderthanthevoid, @shadeandallies, @strange-wayfarer, @uigreyface, @dexteramortem, @skyjacck, @dyinginmydreams, @theangelvoice, @prettyfuckinglow, @artificialdesires, @goodbye-tothevoid, @lustblooded

Ah! Hello, hello!

Good evening!

[call-me-vico]

No one ever offers me herbal oils....

[silvasboys]

Two Steps Back

Marcos arrived at the training room early, the day after Giovanni called (don’t be late, being late is Bad) but he didn’t go inside. He sat next to the doors instead, knees pulled to his chest, staring at the wall across from him rather than the heady stretch of hallway on either side. Maybe Julia wasn’t coming. Maybe training was cancelled. (Go to the coordinates after the session. If there’s no session-)  Other students passed occasionally, but he didn’t react to them. There was a black hole in his chest, and he had to focus on keeping himself from collapsing into it. Every breath tugged on his ribs, strained against the gravitational force of the hole. If he passed out before Julia got there, would he still have to go?

[call-me-vico]

@gilt-cage

I like peanuts, just putting that out there,

[silvasboys]

It’s just not fair, y’know? That, like... she has to deal with this, too. //gestures towards his head//

If she’s as nice as you say, she probably doesn’t mind.

Not nice, just... I dunno. Decent? I think, anyway. But it’s not her job, is what I’m saying. She’s just there to help me get strong again, but I keep interrupting with all my mental bullshit.

Have you told anyone else?

Hell no, they’d make me see a shrink or something.

Figured. 

...what’re you smiling about. Think I should?

No, I just... think it’s kinda funny. Didn’t really need to ask. You’re doing better, though.

Doesn’t take much to be better than staying in bed for a week straight.

But still.

Yeah. As long as He’s not around, it’s... easier. I feel bad, but the way she talks still makes me jumpy sometimes. Sounds like Him.

Good practice.

.....yeah. Yeah, I guess it is.

[silvasboys]

A New Tack

The gymnasium was cavernous as Marcos pushed open one of the doors and stepped inside. Faintly, he heard shouts and hard impacts, shoes scuffing and a low hubbub of voices. From the other gyms, no doubt, but it felt like the sounds had soaked into the padded walls, saturated the waxed floor. There was nowhere in the Academy where he felt truly alone, and it was tiring.

He didn’t know what the purpose of this assignment was. He didn’t wonder, either. He knew he couldn’t keep up in his other classes now, that was made painfully obvious over the course of the past week, but he had been given little information as to what the administration’s solution would be. So long as it wasn’t reeducation, he found it made very little difference to him.

The locker room was quieter, insulated by white-painted cinderblock walls. He took his time changing into his training uniform, moving methodically and keeping his thoughts blank. He could tie his shoelaces without difficulty now, and only kept wrapped the fingertips that lacked nails, to avoid questions.

By the time he returned to the main gym, his instructor had arrived. She stood on the broad expanse of mats that covered the center of the floor, with her back to him. Agnelli. Julia, he thought her first name was, but he couldn’t remember what title she used. Ms? Professor? Agent? He’d had her in previous classes, but made a point to keep to the back whenever possible. The door closed behind him and he crossed the room, eyes on the middle distance off to her right.

[silvasboys]

Why would Giovanni know Julia’s grandfather,,,