[gathering] cardiovascular conditioning

[onlyapassenger]

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[prodigaljaybird]

Jason can't help himself. Even when Bucky's eyes slide his way, he's fighting a grin, suppressing it not because he fears rebuke, but because this is Bucky's class, his new, slightly sadistic baby, and though Jason would never say so out loud, he wants it to go well for him.

And so he swims, and he runs, and he sweats and he pants and wants to throw up, and all the while he's happy. Really bone deep happy in a way he hasn't felt in a long while. Lux believes in him, and she knows a hell of a lot but she doesn't know how truly cruel the world can be, but Bucky does, and he still believes in Jason, still believes in pushing him to be better, and it feels...it feels good. Being on the side of someone good again, even if Bucky won't see it that way.

So Jason will keep running, he'll keep aching and cramping, he'll keep chasing ways to make Bucky proud of him, and he won't complain, not in any way he truly means. It's a good afternoon, it's a good day.

He runs his last lap, tips his face back into the sun and soaks his sweaty head in its rays. It's a good day.

[arrownomore]

Someone is going to have to carry her home, Cissie thought as she finished her last lap and toppled over gracelessly, one hand flung over her eyes to keep out the sun. Muscles she didn't even remember having were hurting but she couldn't deny that it'd been a really great workout.

After a few moments of lying there, dead to the world, she realized she'd landed near someone and sat up with a groan. "I seriously can't remember the last time I had a workout like this," she said. "Or class like this, for that matter. I may never move again."

[prodigaljaybird]

"You'd better," says Jason, finally giving in to his body's insistent need to sit down. He lands with a small flurry of sand to herald him, tipping a half-exhausted, half-amused glance Cissie's way. He isn't afraid of her or the others from his world, but he is wary, has avoided them all since his arrival, but Jason opts for some friendly advice all the same.

"Next class'll be worse. Trust me, he gets off on this shit."

[arrownomore]

Cissie groaned at the thought, though she was careful not to do it too loudly just in case James overheard and decided that called for push-ups or something worse. That would mean moving and moving was very bad right now.

"Oh great," she shook her head wearily. "At least I'll be better prepared next time. I hope. I'm going to stick with this class even if it kills me."

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason laughs around the mouth of his bottle, tipping some much needed water down his throat. "It might," he says, holding the water out to her. "Kinda surprised half the class hasn't quit already, but maybe they're too damn tired to crawl the rest of the way to - to James."

It's not like Bucky's nickname is a secret, but he hasn't given it here today, and anyway, Jason kind of likes being one of the few to call him that.

[arrownomore]

Cissie smiled gratefully as she accepted the water bottle and took a deep gulp. That was something else she was going to have to remember for next time - bringing water bottles with her. She was definitely going to need them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's what it is," Cissie said, handing the bottle back over to Jason. "Or maybe they're too stubborn. All I can say for sure is that if I survived my mom trying to make me into another her, I can do this too."

[liestobatman]

Jason's been watching him.

The thought should probably disturb him more, but Tim had recently found a reminder of his childhood hobby on his bed at the treehouse, and stalking each other through the neighborhood is practically their family's way of saying hello. And it makes him feel a little better to be leaning against a tree, watching Jason finish his laps and holding his gaze until Jason crosses the line, then the short distance to him.

He looks a lot better than he had that first day, no lingering effects from the mace, and Tim finds himself glad. "Smile for the camera," he greets, lifting the apparently magical gift from where it hangs against his chest, but nothing more. He'd taken enough unauthorized photos of them to last a lifetime, back home.

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason looks up, catches the eye of the boy who replaced him, who took everything he ever wanted, and he smiles. He's exhausted, body wrung loose and thoughts and heart whittled raw, but there's no anger in his gut today. Jason isn't the Red Hood, and he isn't Robin, and neither is Tim. He's another son of Bruce, a little brother, and Jason's gaze dips down, finds the camera bumping against Tim's sternum.

"The hell'd you get that?"

[liestobatman]

Tim lets himself smile back, a little thrown by the ease of Jason's expression but not wanting to ruin it. He had pictures of that smile as a kid, and it's hard to think that far back, to realize how long ago it wasn't, but he can remember the last time he carried a camera like this. How he was terrified of being noticed, but kind of wanted it, too. Wanted Jason to see him and smile.

Jason would probably laugh if he knew, or just start punching him again. Maybe both. "I found it on my bed. Apparently the forces that brought us here are benevolent enough to give presents."

[prodigaljaybird]

Some of the smile slips from Jason's face, because he knows this, he's seen this before. The brass cornucopia appeared in the same way, and Katniss had beat her hands against it until they all but bled, and it wasn't - it isn't a kindness, surely, when they receive things. Just a test.

"Did you check it?" he asks, because if Tim did, he's checked well, and the camera's safe. If he hasn't...

[liestobatman]

Jason's probably the only other person here who would ask that, and Tim...appreciates it. More than he could have predicted. Dick might not even ask that, and that's an entirely different outlook to miss, the kind of thing Tim appreciates because it's so far removed from him, it's something he wishes everyone could have.

It's still nice, when you're not the only one who doesn't have it. "I was assured that this is something that happens every year, but I made sure to take it apart and check: it's just a camera." A really nice camera, and it's only today that he's finished putting it back together. "Why," he asks, doubt starting to cloud his expression, "What did you get?"

[prodigaljaybird]

"Nothing," says Jason, "but I've seen what others get. Sometimes it's - " Jason's mouth thins. He'd checked Bucky's weights more times than was truly necessary, and found them fine as well. If there's a pattern here, he needs more information to find it. "More than what it looks like."

His legs are tired, pushed near to the point of unsteadiness, and Jason hides it as best he can as he steps past Tim towards his water. The effort, of course, is futile. Tim will see it, just as he's seen everything else here, and Jason doesn't know why, even if he finds he doesn't truly mind it. Taking a long gulp, he eyes Tim over the bottle.

[liestobatman]

Tim looks down at the camera again, wondering if there was something he missed, something he couldn't detect--his knowledge of magic was theoretical and second-hand at best, gained in passing from the missions it required. "It's certainly not something I'd expect," he concedes, and not for the first time, he wonders how much Jason actually knows about him.

He knows quite a bit about Jason, but he's been in this business long enough to understand the difference, that he doesn't know Jason. "I guess he leaves all the stretching to your free time," he says, inclining his head in Bucky's direction, though he's watching the muscles twitch in Jason's leg.

[onlyapassenger]

Bucky's making the rounds, ensuring that those who can't walk themselves have someone to help them home -- or, in some cases, their next class, and he wonders if he won't get a few complaints from his fellow teachers for tiring out their students to the point of collapse -- when he spots Jason talking to a boy with hair dark as his. He called Tim his brother, but while Bucky's since sussed out that he didn't mean a blood relation, he isn't surprised to see a few similarities -- assuming, of course, that this is even Tim Drake at all.

And maybe it isn't. Maybe he's someone else entirely. While Bucky keeps an eye on Jason, he respects the kid enough to afford him some measure of privacy; he's hardly Nick Fury when it comes to his personal life. Even so, Bucky finds himself making a few quick observations, noting the new boy's posture, his expression, assessing his potential ability should there be any trouble. He's shorter than Jason, actually looks like a teenager, but even at a distance, there's a familiarity between them that Bucky picks up on, one that piques his interest enough that he heads on over.

"Everything alright, here, boys?" he asks, deciding to roll with his assumption, even if it'll bite him in the ass. It's not the first impulsive decision he's made, and he doubts it'll be his last.

[prodigaljaybird]

It's not a big change - with Tim already there to make a show for, Jason's standing straight and breathing evenly, but at Bucky's voice his shoulders roll back, feet spread just a little wider, his body just a little more on alert. It's not quite on par with what Jason would have managed around Bruce, but Bruce never made him swim a million meters and then celebrate with a few billion laps to jog his lunch up afterward.

"Fine," he says, and then, because he's just not wired to be any different, especially not when unnerved by the presence of both Tim and Bucky together, adds, "Thought it'd be harder."

[liestobatman]

Tim resists the urge to roll his eyes: whatever he's reading from Jason's posture, he can't say it isn't the truth. Bruce had put him through his paces every day when he started the job, tried to discourage him with the sheer work of getting into something like the kind of shape it takes to wear the cape, and only part of that was the paranoia instilled by Jason's loss.

It seems even smaller now, with Jason next to him, impossibly alive. Taking a cue from him, Tim takes his weight off the tree and stands to his full, if meager height, arms at his sides. "I was just observing," he says to Bucky, then holds out a hand. "I'm Tim."