I'll set you free

The Refuge was a Perfect Temperature, was currently experiencing Perfect Weather, and everyone seemed Perfectly Content. Well, almost everyone.

With his back pressed against the trunk of a large and sprawling oak tree (#GoodPosture), Everest sat with his notebook in his lap and a frown on his face. It bothered him a good deal that he wasn't able to shift in this place, and though he'd known that coming in, he couldn't have predicted how it feel to have such a fundamental part of himself blocked from his access. His shifts were what kept his mind balanced, what let him access the more playful parts of his personality, and what let him relax. Without them, he was tightly wound, anxious, and more OCD than normal.

Focused intently on the notes he was taking, Ever had begun to detail his surroundings in absurd levels of detail. He'd even started to record the comings and goings of everyone around him in a way that was very likely in breach of whatever privacy they ought to be afforded.

Everest wasn't the only one unhappy about being cut off from his shifts. Another young Attuned was also struggling with it. Paige didn't struggle in the same way that Ever did. She didn't need her shifts to balance her mind. She didn't need them to be playful. However, they were a fundamental part of who she was. Not having a quintessential part of her left her feeling empty.

As such, it was a struggle to find things to fill that space. Paige had taken to new hobbies. Just about anything to give her something to focus on. Recently it had been gymnastics. More specifically backbend kickovers and how many she could do in a row. Thus far she was up to thirty.

Paige pauses in her backbend, seeming to notice Everest for the first time, a smile curling on her lips at the sight of her friend. [say]"Hey! Watcha writin'?"[/say] She asks curiously, used to seeing him with the notebook and knowing that whatever he was about to tell her would certainly be longwinded. Maybe she could see how long she could hold this particular backbend while he explained.

Paige was actually up to 31 backbend kick-overs; Everest had been counting. Or well, he'd been recording.

With a number of slashes and lines on his page (currently Paige was at #13 and had travelled some 24ft), Ever blinks, completely dumbfounded that his research subject friend had stopped in the middle of her activity and was now addressing him. [say]"Uhm."[/say] Rendered utterly speechless by this sudden shift, all the boy could do was stare. Stare at the angle of Paige's spine, stare at her hair cascading towards the grass, stare at the blue of her eyes and the smile on her lips.

[say]"Uhm."[/say] He tries again. [say]"Hello Paige."[/say] The perfunctory greeting all but slips past his lips without Ever realizing he's said it. [say]"I'm...writing...observations."[/say] Having not grown into this stage of puberty quite so gracefully as Paige has, the boy's voice cracks as he explains what he's doing which has a crimson blush rushing up to his cheeks.

Had Paige known this information she'd be pretty impressed with herself given that she'd just started this today. 31 backbend kick-overs was not a feat to scoff at.

Paige had grown into her body rather nicely all things considered. While her curves weren't in completely, it didn't matter. Her limbs were long and lean, torso exposed as her tank top rides up with the curve of her spine, bare feet keeping her steady. Freckles still cover her nose, but she's lost the baby fat in her cheeks, revealing a sharp jaw and defined nose, eyes as bright as ever as she grins at him from her position.

Despite these changes, she hasn't lost her easy going nature and even as his voice cracks, Paige doesn't falter. Her smile remains. [say]"What kind of observations? Anything cool?"[/say] She asks breezily, rocking herself back and forth slightly, stretching out her spine before she rotates until her shins are facing him. The girl then moves slowly, curving herself until her torso is practically touching the ground and her chin is resting in her hands, peeking at him from between her legs.

Unlike Paige, Everest had not lost his baby fat. Chubby-cheeked and with body that was all soft edges and cuddleable proportions (not that Ever ever wanted to be cuddled, of course), the boy appeared to be right in the thick of his ugly duckling phase. If it was a phase, that was.

[say]"N..no."[/say] Ever mumbles, trying to keep his voice even. [say]"The temperature has been fairly consistent."[/say] He answers, of whether or not any of it is cool. [say]"Though the stream is fairly cold, I suppose."[/say] Ever's blue eyes grow wide and alarmed as Paige contorts herself in a way he's absolutely sure isn't possible.

Only...it must be, because she's literally doing it.

Wanting to record the shape Paige was in but finding himself growing warm and itchy each time he looked too closely at his fellow attuned, Ever gulps helplessly as he draws a crude stick-figure in his notebook. [say]"I've been running experiments to see what the limits are on the peace that's supposed to be here. But so far it's inconclusive."[/say]

It likely was a phase. Paige had seen plenty of the other boys and girls at the Halenani go through it. Not that she knew he was worried about such things. Otherwise she would have told him as much. Besides, both of his parents were conventionally attractive. Ever had nothing to worry about.

She giggles at his literal interpretation of her words, rolling her eyes affectionately at his explanation in a way that wasn’t at all condescending before she was planting her hands and unfolding herself into a handstand. This only causes her shirt to slip up more, revealing tan skin and freckles, a few scars shiny across her torso. [say]”Want me to help? We could test it out together.”[/say] She suggests as she sways unsteadily for a moment, shifting to the right on her hands in an attempt to keep her center of gravity before she eventually tumbles into the soft grass.

[say]”Or we can figure out how to make me better at handstands or how many times Phoebe yells at Jata in an hour.”[/say]

Glancing up, only briefly as Paige effortlessly slides into a new position, Ever suddenly wishes very much that he had his pencil crayons with him so that he might capture the shade of maroon Paige's cheeks were going because of the rush of blood to her head. Alas, the best he can do is quickly list the sorts of red-things he can think of that approximate the shade of her face.

With there being so very much skin suddenly displayed for his mind to know what to do with, Ever stares wide-eyed at his notebook, not wanting to be rude by staring nor be rude by not making eye contact (Tobi has told him how a lack of eye contact is often seen as being dismissive or distant). So it is he misses how his friend begins to sway, looking up in time to see her tumbling towards the ground.

[say]'Oh!'[/say] Pitching forward onto his knees with his hands outstretched, (not that he touches Paige or, you know, is able to help at all), he swallows hard and offers her a crooked smile. [say]"Which ever you like. I have been counting the number of times they go from laughing to nearly fighting and then back again."[/say]

From where she's sprawled out on her back, Paige grins up at Ever, laughing again as she resists the urge to boop his nose from where he's almost pitched over her. The whole thing is very adorable, but Paige knows better than to invade his personal space despite not having spent too much time with him lately. Arching a brow, her head tilts to the side, hair fanning out wildly across the lush grass, [say]"How many times are they up to?"[/say] She asks, rolling onto her belly, crossing her ankles and letting her legs sway for a moment before she pushes herself up into a plank.

[say]"I could teach you how to do a handstand, but I think you're better at researching. Maybe you can help me learn a few of the moves from this book I found."[/say] Hoping to tempt him with something that she absolutely knew he enjoyed, research and reading, Paige got to her feet with a hand extended to help him to his own should he choose to take it.

Realizing that Paige was more than alright, Ever retracts his hands and reaches for his notebook. [say]"Well, at least 7 that I've counted. Though sometimes it's hard for me to tell what's a ha-ha laugh and what's an angry laugh. I didn't really people could angrily laugh until I started really listening."[/say] Looking politely befuddled at the wealth of expressions and sounds people could make in an effort to disguise what they were really feeling, Everest just shrugs.

[say]"Book?"[/say] As if she'd waggled a bit of meat in front of his nose as a pup, Ever's blue eyes grow wide with interest. [say]"Absolutely I can do that."[/say] Looking at the outstretched hand and weighing his discomfort against being rude, he opts to take it, gently, and stands as well.

[say]"Lead on."[/say]

Of course Paige doesn't make him hold her hand the whole time. She knows better than that. Remembering how much he hates it in times when it isn't absolutely necessary and even in times when it is. Instead she drops it once she's sure he is steady on his feet, leading him towards the small dwelling she's residing in with her mother, only taking a few moments to find the book in question. The fact that many of the people within the book are scarcely dressed doesn't phase the young attuned and she thinks nothing of it as she offers it to Everest.

If they later realize that the positions in question are for more carnal pleasures and not strictly acrobatics is up for debate, but the two nevertheless persist in their attempts to teach Paige a variety of the different poses and positions until she flows through them seamlessly.

~FIN~