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 Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 5:11 am
She'd been taking a walk of the grounds. It wasn't a very exciting walk by any means, more a meandering zombie walk of 'I think my brain's leaked out my ears from all the studying arrrrghhhhh'. There was not a lot going on in Leo's head at the moment; she was exhausted. Lately she'd been cutting into sleep to be able to study more and that, and the effects of just sitting down most of the day, were beginning to be felt. Her limbs felt like jelly.
But still, an interesting movement from the side of her eye caught her interest. Was that.. was that a ghoul doing gymnastics? And very prettily so at that, too. The ghoul seemed to be an undead, but her movements were limber and graceful. More limber and graceful than Leo could ever hope to be.
She stopped and boggled.
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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 12:15 pm
Too much energy. Too much to think about. So much had been going on...her thoughts kept slipping back to Eisheth and the other Horsemen. The small ghoul needed to preoccupy herself but she didn't feel like going to the gym. So she spent most of her day free running and balancing on things around campus. Nothing like a little fresh air. Her limbs felt a bit stiff from time to time but she ignored it. Falling forward onto her hands, she hand walked along a concrete rise that students generally used to sit upon. Mid-walk, dark brown eyes spotted someone watching her. She supposed she did look a little bit silly walking around on her hands like that....but in this school there were even stranger things. Without putting her feet on the ground she turned and smiled, though being upside it coulda looked like a frown. "Hey there!" Now she let her legs fall forward, doing a slight flip so that she was upright once more before she began walking towards the other ghoul who she assumed was another student. Though one could never be certain. "I haven't seen you around much. Are you new here?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 1:12 pm
"Not.. not quite." Leo had never been able to walk on her hands, ever. Every try had succeeded in a fall that on her face that, inevitably, ended in a headache. "I've actually been here quite a while. Nearly two years." More important than her lack of time at school, though.. "How did you do that? That was amazing!"
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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 3:38 pm
Mei made an 'o' shape with her mouth. "Ah well! I guess if you've been here for two years you wouldn't be new then. I've been here a few months myself so I guess its safe to say I haven't seen everyone who is a student here."The ghoul laughed and gave a small shrug. "You mean walk on my hands? Its easy. You just gotta practice balance is all." She straightened out her sleeves, sleeping her hands inside the for the moment. "I've done gymnastics for a while now so I guess I'm a bit more experienced than most so it looks easy. That and dancing, I love to dance."She squinted her eyes lightly at the other ghoul. "I could teach you if you wanted, its no problem. OH! By the way my name is Meixiang, most people call me Mei though." Slipping a hand out of her sleeve she held it out for the other ghoul to take. "And you are?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:39 am
"Well, I have been kind of missing in action most of the time, so that's probably why you haven't seen me around." Sheepish shrug. "Really, you likely know more students than me." "Wow! It sounds kind of easy when you say it like that." Leo took a moment to admire the other ghoul. Good at dance, gymnastics, nice and pretty clothes - though the latter could've done with a bit more plaid, in her opinion. But quite nice regardless. "I haven't ever really done gymnastics, or danced. But I can imagine that you're really good." Such graceful movements, she had to be! The mare firmly believed that. "You could?" Leo's entire face lit up. "That'd be amazing!" Think, to be able to move like Mei! The idea was utterly fascinating. "I'm Leo, nice to meet you!" She shook the other ghoul's hand with great enthusiasm, always pleased to meet new people, and even more pleased to meet one as nice as Mei.
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:36 pm
"Missing hm? Well I guess that would explain it as well." She put the tip of her finger to her bottom lip as she thought about what reasons someone might be missing from the school for a lengthy amount of time. Perhaps the ghoul had fallen into a strange inter-dimensional hole or....was sick. Oh no! Perhaps she had gotten a bad case of the rots or something! Mei was quiet for a moment before she snapped out of her thoughts suddenly. She had a tendency to drift off into her own ponderings from time to time in the middle of conversations. Putting her hands on her slender hips, Mei beamed. She was proud of her gymnastic and dance accomplishments for sure. "Most people think its hard because they don't have the dedication or want fast results. But its not a fast learning process and you need to have your mind into it." The ghoul tapped her left temple with a finger. "And the desire of course."Mei brushed the imbued scroll upon her forehead to the side only to have it fall back into her face. "Its a pleasure to meet you too, Leo." The other ghoul's enthusiasm only made Mei's enthusiasm go through the roof. She'd never actually tried to teach anyone but hey, there was a first time for everything. And it didn't seem like it would be that hard. "We should go to the gym if you've got the time. There are pads there that we can use. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself." She motioned with a hand in the direction of the gymnasium.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:37 am
Leo missed Mei's moment of inattentiveness, lost as she was in the daydreams of being able to walk on her hands, or do flips, or.. She snapped back to attention when the other ghoul spoke. "I have dedication." Or at least her family had always said that she was a hardworking ghoul when she put her mind to it. "It's more if I have the time to practice regularly." She deflated slightly. "I have to study a lot, you see, to keep up in classes." Still, she regained some of her enthusiasm when Mei mentioned the gym. So maybe she didn't have a lot of time to practice, but surely she could make some time? "I'd like that! It's er, this way, right?" Leo started leading them in the direction she was almost sure led to the gym - she was still re-learning campus.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:42 am
"Ahaaaaa, but you see.." Mei put up a single finger to make a point. "Once you become better at maintaining a good balance you can study and do gymnastics at the same time. Even dace!" The Jiang Shi did it often, sometimes standing on her head while reading text books or dancing around her room. As well as other things. The ghoul nodded. She didn't have anything else to do today so a quick lesson to get Leo started couldn't hurt to wiggle into her enormous amount of down time for the day. "Yep! Lets go!" Mei lifted her knees high as she marched towards the large gymnasium. "We won't really need to change out for what we'll start you off with so we can just go straight into the gym itself from the locker room."
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:51 am
Leo couldn't have been more impressed if she tried. "I'll definitely practice, then!" Likely she'd jump in at the deep end and try studying and doing gymnastics first, but, she reckoned, Mei's exercises were probably her best bet. "Alright!" Soon they were at the gymnasium, and Leo was nearly skipping from her excitement over the lesson. All the tiredness from earlier seemed to have vanished, although there were still dark rings around her eyes and occasionally she'd calm down a bit and look slightly zombiesque. She'd probably crash badly later, but now wasn't the time to think of that - she had something fun and productive to do! "So, where do we start?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:09 am
As they entered the gymnasium, Mei scanned the large room. There were a few others here and there but it wasn't all that crowded. Although it generally never was crowded in the first place, but at least they wouldn't hafta share the mats with anyone right now. Her eyes locked on the mats laying in a corner, stacked rather sloppily on top one another. "First, we need to set the mats up so you've got a cushion and not the hard floor." The ghoul scurried over to the pile and picked up four mats. Her arms wrapped around them as she grunted a bit, lifting them up and carrying them over to the wall where she stacked them in twos next to each other before turning to Leo with a grin. "Now we practice balancing. The easiest way to find your center of balance when upside down is to do it with your back against the wall first. Here I'll show you." Moving over to the mats, Mei laid down on her back with her legs propped up against the wall. "I will spot you when you do it but..." Placing her hands next to her head, she pushed herself upwards. Her feet walking up the wall until her legs and back were flush. "Practicing getting yourself up and balanced is a first step. The wall will support you while you adjust to the weight your body will put on your arms." Kicking her legs forward, she flipped her feet over her head and stood up as soon as they touched the floor. "Your turn, I'll help you get up then you just need to find your center of balance to keep from falling away from the wall." She motioned to the mat. "Don't worry if you can't keep yourself up for very long, like I said it takes practice and eventually you'll be able to not use the wall."
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:30 am
"Okay, I think I understand that." It seemed straightforward enough, but she had the feeling it'd be less so in practice. "Down on my back, legs walking up the wall.." She did as Mei had, resting her back on the floor and her legs on the wall. Slowly, she tried to move her weight from her back to her hands, not noticing how her arms were starting to shake a bit. She'd never tried it like this before, and her arms weren't quite used to the weight, so the first attempt failed - she'd managed to get herself a bit up, and then her arms gave out and she fell down with an 'oomph'. "...Right, so that didn't go so well." Maybe she just didn't have the arm muscles for it? But still, giving up after just one try would be stupid. That in mind, she repositioned herself, back to the beginning pose, and started lifting herself up a bit more slowly this time.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:12 pm
"Nobody does anything well the first time. That's why they say practice makes perfect." Mei moved so that she could grasp onto Leo's legs, holding them up against the wall with what body weight she could put behind the hold. She wasn't entirely strong upper body wise either, but her small and light frame made it a bit easier on her arms. Plus ya know, the practicing. "Ok now, we're gonna try a little flip over. Just let your legs fall forward until your toes touch the ground. Then you can push yourself up." Holding out a hand, she helped guide Leo the best she could. Hopefully the other ghoul wouldn't fall on her face. Mei wasn't sure she could save her from that.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:58 pm
"Alright.." She was a bit doubtful, but the second handstand went fine after Mei held her legs so really, the other ghoul knew what she was doing and Leo had to trust her for this to work. So she would. Besides, Mei didn't seem like the type to make fun of her by trying to make her do anything too hard for skill level. Following the other ghoul's words she started to let her feet fall forward, but as she did so her body gave a reflexive jerk from supposedly falling into thin air and she ended up flat on her face instead. "I'm alright, it's fine." Leo got up on her knees with a determined air. "I'm gonna try again, I think I almost had it."
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:14 pm
"That's the spirit! When you fall off the bike you just get back on!" She was glad Leo didn't give up after the fall. It showed her that the other ghoul did have the determination to learn. Picking one's self up and trying again showed a lot about her character. Mei had faith she could do it. "If you feel like you might fall again let me know and I will help you down." She moved over to help Leo up again. Mei had to admit that she was a pretty fast learner and was actually doing a lot better than most generally did at first.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:01 am
"Right, you can't just give up! Gotta have determination." Leo nodded seriously, trying to ignore how sore the whole front part of her body was after that fall. It didn't feel like anything serious though, so pretending it wasn't there was probably the best course of action. Taking Mei's cue, she moved back into position, trying very hard to do as the other ghoul had told her. Just... lift up on her hands, slightly there, nearly there, almost there-- it really was a lot easier with Mei's hands on her legs to steady her. "I... I think I got it this time!" She smiled jubilantly, upside down as she was, and wiggled her toes happily. Sure, it was mainly because of Mei, but Leo was still quite proud! The first one could have been a fluke, but surely two couldn't! Just as she was celebrating, her arms made themselves known again. "Er, but I think I might need to get down soon." Before she fell down.
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