by Palladian
Lily got a collection of small, expensive things: a black and gold silk scarf from Lex; some exclusive perfume Serena had picked out; a thin, exquisite metal watch with a second hand from Casey; and a GPS from Riss. When Lily looked at Riss in surprise at the last item, exclaiming that she'd wanted one, Riss just raised an eyebrow. “I heard,” she said, smiling a little.
Mr. Chen just gazed at the gifts he'd received from his students for a moment before looking up at them with a small smile to bow and thank them. Lex and Casey had gotten their heads together and had liked the idea of getting a really nice set of brushes and a paperweight for his calligraphy. They'd found the brushes easily enough, but had trouble finding a paperweight they both liked until Casey shopped in Chinatown one day and happened on a small shop where she found it. The weight had been carved from green stone and showed a curling, curving dragon spread out long with a good heft to it. Casey and Lex both grinned at each other excitedly when they saw his reaction.
Riss seemed quite taken by Lex's gift, a new, super thin laptop. “Most of the ones you have seem to be the old bulky kind,” Lex explained. “I thought you might like one of the newer models, with better specs than what you'd get off the shelf.” Riss finally turned her attention from it long enough to thank Lex, her fingers still on the keyboard, obviously wanting to investigate right away.
Lex realized, as everyone’s attention turned towards her, that she’d saved her own presents for last. She reached for the first one, then, as she glanced around at her friends before starting to unwrap it. Once done, she realized Casey had managed to get someone to make a whip, one made of what looked like braided metal. “You could ask Mr. Chen to help you learn how to use it, or I'm sure you could figure it out on your own,” Casey shrugged. “You don't seem too bad with flexible weapons, from what I've seen.
Serena had gotten her a black latex dress, fitted from shoulders to waist and with a square neckline and short sleeves, then a skirt that billowed out a little to fall to just above Lex's knees. She howled when Lex held it up to herself to see how it was going to fit, causing Lex to blush and pack it back into its box. Lily's gift was a large jar of salve that she'd made herself. She explained that if rubbed on sore muscles, it would speed up healing so that most of the damage could be taken care of during a normal night of rest. “Of course,” she added, looking obliquely in Mr. Chen's direction, “it helps if you're not overworked the next day, as well.” Her grandfather raised an eyebrow in response.
Riss had a ghost of a smile as Lex opened her gift, a set of strategy games purported to be able to learn and continue to get more complex as a person played them. “I also improved that crappy laptop they got you when you came here, so that you can actually use it to play these games,” Riss said with an approving nod. Lex smiled but raised an eyebrow in return, wondering when Riss had found the time to do that.
Mr. Chen had given Lex a book about continually improving your singing voice, but then he told her, “Actually, there's something else. Follow me.”
Lex trailed him down to the martial arts studio, where she noted a wooden practice dummy in the corner of the room, reflected infinitely in the mirrors on each wall. She thought she recognized the equipment, probably from a martial arts film she'd watched.
“You can use this to practice your sticking hands when I'm not here, if you don't have anyone else to practice with,” he said, with a nod.
Lex stepped up to the wooden dummy and ran through the first few exercises of sticking hands, a practice designed to tune you into the energy and movements of your opponent, while she swallowed against the sudden ache in her chest. She gave up a minute later, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands, and cleared her throat, trying to calm herself.
“Thanks Mr. Chen. Thanks for the gifts and for your kindness. You are the greatest teacher I've ever had.”
She had to stop, since her throat was closing and her tears were coming freely now. Lex had pulled a tissue from her pocket, trying to get it under control when she heard Mr. Chen's voice from behind her.
“The only way one can become a great teacher is to have a great student. I have as much to thank you for, Lex.”
The two of them walked silently back upstairs and rejoined the others, who'd been discussing their gifts, the holidays, and everyone's plans for the new year. After a few hours, the Chens had to leave, so Casey gave them all plates of cookies and she packed another piece of pumpkin pie for Ron to have later.
Lex sat back on the couch after they left, feeling relieved that she no longer had hostess duties. Riss and Casey both looked curiously at Serena, who studiously examined her gifts and pointedly looked no one in the eyes until Casey finally spoke out.
“OK, so what happened earlier?”
Serena looked up and sighed, appearing more annoyed than upset about the memory at that point. “My parents want me to marry this idiot who's been following my father around trying to be his business successor.”
Riss' eyebrows nearly met her hair, and Casey seemed taken aback, as well. Lex watched Casey try to put together a response, but Serena waved it away. “Don't worry about it. Lex offered to think of something else to propose to my parents, so I'm not worried,” Serena said, grinning at Lex. After a pause she continued, less enthusiastically. “Anyway, even if they don't go for whatever she comes up with, I'm not marrying him. They can disown me for all I care.”
She looked down for a long moment, then back up at the other women, who'd all fallen silent. “Hey,” Serena said, grinning now, “when I left, I was so pissed that I took their special bottle of cognac. They usually have one out for the holidays, and they hadn't even opened it yet. I think my dad once told me that each bottle costs 50 grand or something like that.”
Lex looked at her in horror while Serena shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Shows you how stupid they are, spending that much money on something people are just going to drink.”
“Are you sure they won't call the police?” Lex asked nervously.
Serena snorted in response. “Not likely. What are they going to do, send them to DC from New York City for a suspected robbery? Anyway, who wants some?”
Casey laughed and raised her hand, and Riss raised an eyebrow, but nodded. When Serena returned, she brought the bottle as well as her Mp3 player.
“OK everyone, have as much as you want. I know you won't have any, Lex, but we've got to listen to my music. Even though the clubs aren't open tonight, we still have plenty of room to dance here.”
Casey pushed the coffee table out of the way, lining it up in front of the tree, and sampled the alcohol once Serena had poured it into the tiny glasses Casey had found in the kitchen. Serena stuck her tongue out after tasting it, Casey had a sour look on her face, and Riss, although carefully expressionless, put her glass down after one sip and never picked it up again.
“This sucks! It tastes like paint thinner!” Serena yelled, and then laughed. She lost interest in the bottle after that, pulling Lex off the couch and telling her to start dancing. After the two of them had danced for a while and Serena sent Casey off to put on her new dress, Serena stopped Lex and faced her.
“Lex,” she said seriously, “you've got to loosen up. It looks like you're going to attack someone or something. Look, get your hips and ass into it. Pretend you're trying to get someone you've had your eye on for a while, someone you're really hot for. Lift your arms up and grind your hips. Try it, come on.”
Lex blushed but did as instructed, trying to feel the beat of the music as she moved. The acoustics in the common room seemed to amplify the dance beats, making it easier to focus on the sound. After a while of following Serena's movements she laughed, moving more easily. Serena danced up next to Lex then, bumping her and giggling.
They fell silent as Casey strode into the room in her new dress. Lex's mouth hung open momentarily as she saw a side of her friend she'd never noticed before. The latex lacing barely seemed adequate to keep Casey in the dress, and neither did the
low neckline.
Serena wolf-whistled. “You look like a cross between a bodybuilder and a model. Hey, sexy, come over here and dance with me.”
“I am not wearing this outside the house,” said Casey, crossing her arms under her considerable breasts, a dark look on her face.
Eventually, Serena convinced Casey to join her and Lex and the three of them danced until late. Riss occasionally joined them from her perch on a nearby couch where she'd been busily investigating her new laptop.
Lex remembered thinking as her face hit the pillow early that morning that it had been one of the best parties she'd ever attended. She ignored the twinge she felt as the thought of Kurt crossed her mind, instead allowing herself to slip into happy dreams.
Chapter 18: Breaking
The first couple of weeks following the holidays seemed about the same as they always had, between training, meals with teammates, studying, and going out on the weekends. Lex had noticed some subtle changes, however, most of which she didn't know what to do about.
She became aware of the headaches first. They seemed to happen more often now, until near the end of most days she had a headache banging around behind her eyes, some days much worse than others. Remembering the previous fuss when she’d had her bad migraine, however, Lex refrained from telling the doctors anything, trying to tough it out most of the time or take over-the-counter medication if the headache was moderately bad. She reserved the medication they’d prescribed her only for the very worst headaches, since they pretty much knocked her out.
Also, Lex noticed that she'd begun to feel ill if she spent too long away from the building. She first remembered feeling the headache-ridden, nauseous sensation when she went out with Serena and Casey early in January to celebrate her six-month probation being over. Lex ended up calling a cab to take her home early, and within fifteen minutes of returning to her room, she felt fine. At the time she figured it was just an odd occurrence, but when it happened again on the following weekend, she became uneasy about it but stuffed it into the back of her mind, unsure of what to do.
Another thing that gave her pause was that after the holidays were over, she'd written a long email to Kate to catch her up on the news and to ask how the holidays had been for her, but almost two weeks had gone by with no response.
The day she realized that she'd been training with Mr. Chen for six months, however, Lex entered the studio joyful after having considered everything she'd learned so far and anticipating lessons to come. When she saw Mr. Chen sitting on the wooden floor waiting for her instead of in the middle of his usual stretches, her heart seemed to catch in her throat, and she stopped her rush into the room. Mr. Chen gestured to the floor in front of him.
“Lex, please sit with me. There's something we need to talk about.”
She sat, her mouth suddenly dry, and waited, trying not to think of everything she might have done wrong to anger her teacher. Mr. Chen continued, “Lex, I've been put on another assignment four days a week, starting tomorrow. I wanted to let you know about that right away. I've also been thinking about what direction we should take with your training next, and I had some ideas I wanted to talk over with you.”
Lex's stomach seemed to have dropped through the floor, but she swallowed and answered, working to keep her voice steady. “OK, Mr. Chen.”
“In the six months we've worked together, you've gained a good knowledge of both Wing Chun and Tai Chi. You're a good student; you listen well and work hard. There is more I can teach you, and I will continue to do that in the day a week we have together. You can practice in the meantime and ask Casey to work with you to help you continue to improve.
“However, I had an additional idea that might suit you even better. I was thinking that you have a high level of skill in a number of martial arts disciplines, but that none particularly suit all of your unique strengths. Due to that, I thought that perhaps you might like to work on a combination form, like the one you created before. This would be something that you could design, based on all of your knowledge and skills, in order to showcase and maximize your strengths. When I come once a week, I can see what you've been working on and offer advice, and we can also work more on your Wing Chun or Tai Chi. What do you think?”
Listening to him, Lex had actually started to feel excited again, despite her earlier misgivings. “Well, don't a lot of teachers frown on that sort of thing and say you need to keep each art pure?”
Mr. Chen smiled wryly at her. “Many teachers say things in order to make sure they stay at the top and that their students always have to look to them in order to learn more. My greatest hope as a teacher is that my students can take what I've taught them and use that to continue learning, eventually far exceeding me. I think that, given as much time as you've devoted to the martial arts over your life, you can successfully and respectfully combine forms to come up with something to highlight your talents.”
“Thanks, Mr. Chen. I'd really like to try that.”
“Good,” he said with another small smile. “Let's discuss where to start.”
They talked for a couple of hours, Mr. Chen giving Lex a clear assessment of what he considered her strengths and what areas she could work on. By lunchtime, they'd agreed what she should focus on to help direct her efforts: she was small, quick, flexible, more powerful than she looked, and could take more damage than it looked like she could. Also, they discussed the martial arts that Lex felt she had the best grasp of, both from a philosophical point of view and from a skill perspective. They decided that the ones she should focus on would logically be wing chun, hapkido, and judo, but that she shouldn't feel limited to getting good ideas from just forms she knew.
After lunch they worked on some of Lex's initial ideas, running through some of the moves that she felt represented her best. Mr. Chen critiqued her, tried some things out with her, and gave advice to help her construct the new form. They both decided to stop earlier than they usually did that afternoon, Mr. Chen again sitting down across from Lex on the floor.
“I think you've made some good progress today,” he said, nodding. “If you work at it every day and ask Casey to help you run through some of your ideas, I think you’ll continue to do well. I’ll come by every Friday and we can review what you’ve put together. I can offer suggestions then and we'll also work more on your wing chun and tai chi.”
Lex swallowed, suddenly nervous again. “Thanks, Mr. Chen. I’ll do my best to make you proud.”
He leaned forward then, putting his hand on Lex’s wrist gently. “I am already proud of you, Lex. Remember not to overwork yourself and get injured.”
Lex had to get up then, trying to blink back the stinging in her eyes. “Thanks, Mr. Chen, I'll be careful.”
She fled the room, trying not to burst out in tears. Lex had a swell of conflicting emotions in her chest that all seemed to want to get out at once. Her surprise and happiness at hearing her teacher's approval warred with her sadness and shock at the fact that she wouldn't see him every day anymore. By the time she got back to her room the headache of the day was raging. She took some of her powerful painkillers and tried to relax by having a nap. She didn’t wake back up until after midnight, finding a note from Casey on her bedside table saying that she'd saved a plate of dinner for Lex in the refrigerator. Lex walked to her drapes and slipped between them to stare out over the moonlit water, hoping an answer to all of her confusion would come to her.
When she explained the situation to Casey across the kitchen island the next morning, the other woman looked puzzled. “I wonder what he's been assigned to. The way he put it almost makes it sound–” Casey broke off and stared thoughtfully into her tea, finally looking back up at Lex. “It just seems weird, is all. I mean, we trained together for months, but nothing like this happened. I wonder what else he's supposed to be doing.”
Lex shook her head, wondering the same thing. “He didn't really seem to want to talk about it. Anyway, would you mind working with me on this form I'm tr
ying to build? It'd be very helpful to have someone to spar with to practice and help me shape it and to make sure the form doesn't have any weak areas. I don't want to get you off track on what you're working on, though, because I know you've been training really hard on your own program. If I can help you at all with that, I'd be glad to.”
As she finished speaking, Lex blew on her English breakfast tea, trying to cool it as she watched Casey hopefully.
Her friend laughed in reply. “Not a problem. I do have my own program, but it’s mostly just a lot of weightlifting. I'd been thinking recently that I should spend more time on my martial arts practice, since I'd only been devoting an afternoon a week to it, plus our sparring matches, so I think this would be perfect. How about two afternoons a week, following lunch?”
“Maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays?”
“That would work for me. So we'll start this afternoon after lunch.”
“OK. Keep in mind that it'll be pretty rough right now, though, so any advice you can give would help. I figure we can try a lot of variations and see what works best.”
To her surprise, Lex actually saw a smiling face in the mirror when she reached the martial arts studio later that morning. After about an hour of solo work in the martial arts studio, however, Lex paused as the alarm that she'd heard before went off. Muffling a curse, she ran upstairs, catching up to Casey near the top of the stairs into the main entrance area.
“Do you have any idea what this is about?” Lex asked Casey as they hurried across the main floor to the next set of stairs.
The taller woman shook her head with a look of excitement. “No. I guess we'll find out soon enough, though. See you in the briefing room!”