Drabble Challenge: Day 19

    Two hours ago, I was going to write forever and ever and have two thousand words and figure out how to words so that today's drabble wouldn't feel completely wooden, but then I found a Tumblr with amazing pictures of Korea. And proceeded to look through all 37 pages and cry because I'm homesick.

    Yes, I am a pitiful mess, why do you ask?

    Anyways. I did meet and surpass the word count without too much trouble tonight. Forgot the prompt and had to go jam it in, but I think it flows okay in the general, non-flow-ness of today's drabble.


    Drabble Challenge: Day 19 - transformation
    Word Count: 1,283    Minimum Goal: 1,140

    He was taller than she’d thought, but that was only because all the men she’d seen back at home had been Japanese, and thus averaged around her height or shorter. Scott easily passed her. 
    What really caught Jandy’s attention and held it wasn’t his height, nor how it looked like he’d already been training all morning, but the grief etched into his features. Deep lines in his face and dark shadows beneath his eyes that told of a grief deeper than she could ever imagine. 
    Rising after a belated moment, Jandy waited for Macy Chase to notice her last candidate had arrived and move to introduce them. It didn’t take her much longer.
    With confident steps, the secretary moved towards the man who’d approached, unperturbed by his sweaty appearance, and started speaking to him. Jandy only caught her name from amidst the foreign words – Jandy Sparks in that strange accent the shorter woman had – and straightened up when the gazes of both turned on her a few minutes later
    Macy’s blue flicked to the translator, who stepped closer to do his job.
    Jandy stood quietly while Chase gave Mr. Chun—the translator’s name; she’d finally asked— the sentences to relay and picked up on Dechlan Scott and her surname, but nothing else. 
    “This is Dechlan Scott, Miss Sparks. He is here at Mr. Boyce’s request. You two will carry out the same drills that you performed with the previous four candidates. Run two laps, throw the ball back and forth, maintain balance on the beam together, then two more laps.”
    Trying not to think of gaining more bruises due to having been unbalanced on the beam earlier, Jandy nodded her understanding. “And the language barrier?” One brow rose in question.
    Mr. Chun translated her inquiry and Macy merely smiled then waved to them towards the running track.
    A quiet sigh escaped her. She backtracked to the bench to take another draught of her tepid water before having to jog to catch up with Dechlan. Risking a glance at his face, Jandy found that a small transformation had occurred; he’d pushed the sorrow she’d witnessed earlier back behind a rather neutral expression, one that made it much harder to read him through.
    If only for his sake, she almost hoped that they’d be completely out of sync so that there would be no hope of their making a connection. Jandy didn’t think either of them would do too well under those circumstances.
    They stepped onto the springy track at the same time and Jandy could only hope that her sleep-deprived body would hold out for one more go. Weariness was starting to weigh on her but she wouldn’t quit. She’d never been a quitter.
    Well. Once, I almost did.
    The woman drew in a quiet breath, glancing at Dechlan, only to find him already watching, waiting for her no doubt. She shrugged a fraction to indicate that she was ready when he was.
    Wind blew down through the sheltered exercise area as they started at a slow, but steady, pace. Jandy let him set the speed and did what she had to keep up, her hands coming up out of habit.
    Awareness of the man at her side wasn’t a strong enough word, she realized after not very far. He stayed a reasonable distance away, gaze forward, but she was far more conscious of his presence there then she’d been of any of Macy’s previous candidates, many of whom hadn’t had a lot of running practice recently. Those laps had been spent trying to make sure that they wouldn’t collapse on her.
    Come on, Jand, focus, she reprimanded herself as they crossed the line they’d started at, marking the first lap completed. But she couldn’t help but wonder what Jane would’ve thought of this place. These people, what she was trying to do, even if what that was still hadn’t sunk in.
    I’m trying to find someone to make a permanent connection with, Jane, so that we can go fight monsters that are tearing apart the world as we know it. It sounded so funny and yet so terribly real at the same time that Jandy just took in a lungful of air and pushed away the thoughts.
    All she needed to do was get through this last test with Dechlan Scott, have Macy give them that shake of the head to indicate there was nothing to go on, and then spend a last night in her little heavenly apartment before getting returned home.
    They began to pick up speed quickly on the second lap and when Jandy’s legs were starting to feel like jelly, she and Dechlan passed the line in the same movement. Brushing off how synchronized it had been, she slowed to a walk, forcing herself to breathe deeply and slowly to get her thundering heartbeat under control again.
    Stray pieces of her short hair clung to her forehead and the perspiration there. Not bothering with trying to control them, the woman trailed in Dechlan’s wake as he finished walking off their run and started moving towards where she and the last candidate had left the ball.
    It was a bit smaller than a basketball and quite a bit heftier then one would expect and the exterior was a soft white substance that aided grip. Jandy went to stand in front of Dechlan so they could count off the steps. They were both supposed to take four steps backwards and pass the ball back and forth for a few minutes.
    The exercise struck the woman as being a bit useless and without much point, but what Macy Chase said, they were to do, so she didn’t complain.
    At the needed initial proximity, Jandy was able to get a better look at Dechlan, the greenish-brown of his eyes, the way he seemed eternally tired—and the line between his brows at her extensive scrutiny. Mumbling an apology in her own tongue, she followed his cue, taking the first step back when he did, then the next, until they were eight paces apart.
    The distance was a relief. It helped her mind clear again as the wind dried her damp forehead and she settled her stance into the impressionable and perfectly maintained grass.
    Stretching her arms out in front of her in preparation for the ball Dechlan had kept, dark eyes were drawn to the familiar pink blossoms on her arm. It didn’t escape Jandy that, if Jane were still alive, they might’ve been able to enter this program together. When she looked up, the man was waiting for her once again. 
    Jandy offered him a brief smile to indicate she was ready and her focus settled in quite rapidly when the ball came hurtling through the air towards her.
    After the four previous warm-ups, it wasn’t hard for her to get right back into the swing of things and return the ball to Dechlan the moment it was in her hands. Doing Miss Chase’s exercises with him was simultaneously harder and easier than it had been before, with the female candidates. It was harder because he knew what he was doing and he had a lot more against her, but it was easier because Jandy was able to predict what he was going to do next with greater ease than she’d been able to with the others. 
    They were pushing each other—she could feel it. He’d throw a little harder and she’d return the gesture instead of buckling. It was only when Miss Chase and Mr. Chun both called out in the required languages did they stop. 
    Jandy caught the ball one last time before it could collide with her face.


    Can you feel it? 

    Well, two things, I suppose. A) the complete lameness of how tonight's drabble turned out. Not as bad as that last Vena drabble, but almost. B) The connection. Can you feel it there subtly or is it waaaay too obvious? 

    Also, I feel like something's missing but I haven't a clue of what that might be. In the writing itself, not necessarily the content. If you have an inkling of where I went wrong, I would love to hear it.

    Now I'm going to distract myself with Dech and Jandy, otherwise I'll end up crying myself to sleep or something. And that's never fun.

    Ad astra per aspera.
    To the stars, through difficulties.