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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 3:42:32 GMT -5
Unfortunately for her plan of being boring, Charlotte just doesn't have enough endurance in her upper body to keep practicing her positions for very long - that's the whole reason why she's supposed to be working on them, actually. So when her arms start to ache and shake too much, she lets herself back down with a sigh - she always feels that one the next day.
And now that she's not having to focus so much, she can't help but give the bleachers another glance. She's only met a couple of the people Selina knows so far, and heard of a few others, but all of them are so... different... that she can only imagine how whoever this guy would fit into the picture. In fact, right now she's pretty sure that she doesn't want to know anything about him - though a lot of the resentment she feels for him at this exact moment in time is merely because of his presence. He's an unknown that's distracting her from her practice.
Though not too much, because she's not looking at them for more than a moment before her attention is back on the bar for her next drill. This time she pushes back the pad to be far enough away that she has to give a little hop forward to reach the bar when she stands on it. This she does, catching the bar in her hands, swinging underneath it, then backward again as far as she can so that she can stop herself in a standing position in front of the pad. Then she steps backward onto the pad and repeats the exercise - just getting used to the jump and the swing.
This particular exercise is one that she puts a great deal of focus into, never mind that it's relatively simple: it's the first step to learning a kip, and as the better students at the school keep informing her, a full kip is hard and it took them forever to learn it... which they did years ago. Therefore, Charlotte would be quite delighted if she can learn it relatively quickly - though at the moment she can hardly imagine getting the moves immediately afterward down. They look so easy, but no. Still, baby steps - at least she never misses catching the bar when she jumps, unlike the vast majority of the other students at her own level.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 3:56:03 GMT -5
"Poor kid, that's rough. At least she's in good hands."
Harvey pawed her shoulder with his fist gently. He mostly watched Charlotte, but he would turn his gaze and glance to Selina every so often. When Selina slipped the envelope in his pocket he was going to look at it until she asked him to do it later. He just gave her a nod.
"Got it."
Harvey looked back to Charlotte again to see what she would do next, his eyes staying fixed on her when Selina asked that last question he just smiled.
"Not a chance. I can tell, that one's got some fight in that little face of hers."
Harvey's little heart moved with Charlotte, he was a little floored at what she could do. Things like that always made him feel like maybe the world had a little hope in it. He finally looked to Selina again.
"Never know, might ease up on it once she gets to know you a little better. I can tell she already doesn't like me. Ha, man, its like old times.'
While Harvey's sisters loved and respected their big brother they still had moments, even to this day, where they showed him their mean faces. He had been the closest thing they had ever had to a father, hell, he walked two of them down the aisle. The youngest, Laverne, was out singing her little heart out to the world. Harvey feared it was only a matter of time before she'd return to Gotham with some schmuck on her arm.
"Hey, she gets any little boyfriends, give me their names, I'll run background checks."
Harvey winked to Selina and smirked.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 7:43:11 GMT -5
As he shoved her shoulder, she leans her head on his shoulder, smiling. The two then watched Charlotte work, and she can't help but suppress the fondness and pride swelling once again in her chest. Who would've thought she'd be happy over this? She knew one person who would be damn proud of her. In a way, Delilah Bullock had become her measure for a parent. And sure as shit, Delilah would be proud. Snorting at his comment, she lifts her head up. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Part of the reason I ..couldn't just walk away. I honestly don't know where I would be unless you'd hauled me to dinner that night." Her words are quiet, because they are in public, and some of the parents are snots. "Well...she hasn't met many of my friends, yet. And the ones she has met...aren't exactly...run of the mill." Batman was peculiar. Bruce was 'stiff.' Kory and Dick's photos ellicted interesting responses as well. After practice, she can bet the stink eye and attitude will arise again when Selina introduces a Detective from Gotham PD as an old friend. Who looked like he was put through a shredder. Sighing slightly, Selina wishes she could just...talk to him. About all of it. Not just the fact that the security business has her run into insane situations, but...her night life does, too. Maybe he'd understand, and give her some good advice. Laughing loudly at that one, she elbowed him. "Hell, I think I could run a better background check than you. I do have my own security business, you know." Watching the floor, Selina catches the eye of one of the other parents; a mom that has actually formed a friendship with. Sam, she prefers instead of 'Samantha' used to be a gymnast, and had sent her a text asking if she'd help out at some point. And gladly she'd agreed. So when the petite blonde motions to Selina in the bleachers, she waves back with a smile. Turning to Theo, she smiles. "I gotta go help quick. Watch my things?"She slips in front of him, she's kinda limping, but she'll be fine. Making her way as quick as her foot will allow her, she smiles at Sam and they talk quick about the little demonstration while another coach calls the kids to watch for a second. "Mrs. Wiliams and Ms. Kyle are going to do a bit of demonstration, considering they both were once gymnasts as well!" There is some polite clapping before Sam Williams does a rather impressive tumbling routine, to some clapping at the end. Selina sits and waits, shedding her own sweater and jeans to show off a simple leotard/leggings set. Her foot is wrapped tightly with an ace bandage, and as she ties her hair back while walking to the uneven bars, it's clear she's injured. Still, she jumps effortless to grap the lower bar of the two, quickly gaining enough momentum to pull off a rather impressive set, before slowing, heading to the smaller, and dismounting gingerly. She wasn't able to point her left foot, but her right is in perfect form. Walking back to applause, her and Sam hug, and then selina pulls her things back on, heading back up to the bleachers, scooting by Theo, and sitting down, reaching for her water bottle. "Sam and I are going to help out some of the kids later," she says, pausing before sipping some of her water. "I was going to do a floor routine...but..foot isn't healed yet, so I opted for the bars. I just hope she's not embarrassed." And she is hoping with all her might Charlotte doesn't think she's insane, either. Nothing is said of her limp, because she can just feel she'd never hear the end of it from him. (Reference: gymnasticszone.com/compulsory-uneven-bars-animations)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 23:49:04 GMT -5
As much as she's concentrating, Charlotte doesn't notice that Selina has left the bleachers until she hears the coach. Stepping away from the bar that she's been practicing with, she doesn't quite 'gather' with the rest of the girls, preferring to hang back a little. But she does move to where she can watch first Mrs. Williams and then Selina do their demonstrations.
And no, she doesn't look embarrassed by it - because Selina is good at it. If she wasn't, that would be plenty embarrassing, but if anything the fact that Selina is good at their sport makes her a bit cooler by association. Well, so long as she gives no sign of basking in the reflected glory - that would only cause the other girls to make snide remarks about Charlotte thinking that she's better simply because of Selina. If she plays her cards right, instead all the other girls will be jealous of her. They already are a little, because so many of them assume that Selina is her mother. One who is young and 'allows' Charlotte to call her by name, which means that she is a 'cool mom'.
So Charlotte watches, unashamed, feeling mostly... a little jealous, actually. She has a far better understanding of just how hard everything that Selina can do is, and she wants to be that good, but instead she's where she's at - still without her full kip even. But at the same time, Selina seems convinced that it's only a matter of time, and that helps somewhat.
Lost in these thoughts, Charlotte neglects to stick around and applaud - instead she turns around and goes right back to the bar to practice some more swings. She's not going to get any better by standing around watching Selina and wishing that she could do it, after all.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 0:03:41 GMT -5
"Well, I had to feed ya, and Ma was makin' that risotto..."
Harvey snickered and sighed. He was having a good lunch break today, it turned out. He nodded at the comment on Selina's friends. Harvey then realized he hadn't really met any of her friends either. That would be a topic for a different date.
"You'd be surprised at how much I can do, baby. I got connects you'd'a never seen comin'."
Harvey was technically a spy once. The Bishop was inactive from Checkmate... for the moment.
Harvey watched Selina as she suddenly took off. He was not surprised at how good she was, though there was a part of him that found it quite a nice little show. He shook his head, clicking his tongue as she moved about.
"Mmmm, that's my girl."
Harvey paid no attention to the double takes a few people did between Selina and himself. It was good he didn't care to pay attention to anything but Selina, he might have gotten into some sort of fight.
He looked over to Charlotte watching Selina. He half expected her to be embarrassed in some way. The kid seemed to emote very little. Harvey liked her more and more. When Selina returned he put his good arm up to high five her.
"Nice."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 2:42:05 GMT -5
She waved her hand at him. He had't -had- to do a damn thing, and they both knew it. But he was grateful, nonetheless. Smiling at him, she elbowed his side. "Oh, I'll make a bet with you on that about connections. Want to wager money on that?" She raised her brow, curious to see what he would bet on who had the better contacts. A detective for the Gotham City PD, or Catwoman. She laughed at that, a sparkle in her eye.
After the demonstration, she had high-tailed it back up to the bleachers, where someone was bright eyed and bushy tailed as she scooted past him again to sit down. A high-five was given, and she shook her head. "Now, I kinda understand the embarassment a bit. But yeah. The foot...is still not healed. I don't want to screw it up. But if you find yourself with some free time, I can give you the schedule. They're always looking for help, encouragement, spotters." She thought she had told him she was in gymnastics back in the day.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 3:23:29 GMT -5
After the break to watch the demonstration, Charlotte returns to the bar with extra energy, but her arms are soon failing her just with that much as well. Gritting her teeth through one last swing where her fingers start to slip a little, she calls it quits before she'll risk losing her grip. Hmm, so much for the beam.
Walking away from it, she sips her water bottle and peruses her options. There's an available balance beam so she could go there again, but a check of the clock indicates that there's a very limited amount of time before practice will be over and she hasn't done the floor exercises yet. So maybe she should do that now to make sure that she gets that in, and then if there's time she can do more balance beam.
But as her arms are just killing her, when she gets to the floor she decides to work on her splits first. The floor is covered by scattered girls all working on different things, but as none of them are advanced enough to be learning any of the floor skills taking up much space, it isn't hard for Charlotte to find a spare corner for her own needs.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2014 17:43:32 GMT -5
Harvey nodded.
"I don't know if I'd be a good spotter, but I dunno, maybe I'll think about it."
Harvey was exceedingly busy with work, he didn't get a whole lot of leisure or free time. He couldn't really imagine himself being involved in anything beyond his work, though, there were moments. Moments when he imagined himself a father and with his luck he'd probably have nothing but girls. He imgained they would do things like this, maybe other things like baseball, or ballet, or anything really, but whatever they did he imagined himself being there, as much as possible.
He sighed a little, somewhere between happy and sad. Those little imaginings were far from every coming to fruition, but it was always nice to dream, wasn't it?
Harvey watched Charlotte again, noticing the other girls just sort of dicking around while Charlotte actually made use of her time, unline the others. He had to respect that. There were some days at work that Harvey felt like that, the only one who knew what the hell they ere doing. He finally turned to Selina.
"How old is she?"
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2014 0:06:41 GMT -5
She was watching the different girls, leaning into him, as well. "I'm not saying a huge 'have-to,' but if you have the free time..." She really was asking him a lot. She knew he had dreams. She had them too. It was just hard when life kept you busy.
Or prevented you from doing what you really loved. Or wanted. "I know you do a lot for Gordon. And the rest of us, Theo." She elbowed him slightly, hoping to rouse him out of his mood. "Without what you do, this sort of thing could never happen."
"She's 16. Really a throwback, no?" Doing a bit of easy, quick math, she chuckled. There was no way she would've even been aware of what to do at 16, to have a child her age by now. But it was, a welcome change in her life, she did have to admit. Watching Charlotte actually practice, she scrunched up her nose. "I wasn't that lanky, was I?" She was all gangly arms and wide eyes, that much she could recall. And further down the path of destruction.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2014 17:20:26 GMT -5
Of course Charlotte works hard at this - she very much wants to get better! Mostly because when she first tried it, she made so much rapid improvement that it encouraged her to think of this as something she could master easily. But then it got hard, and even then Selina kept telling her that she has a talent for it, so now it feels more to her like she's earning something that she has a right to. She's never been very athletic or graceful before, but then again she never really knew that she could be - that's very rapidly changing now.
Once she's had enough of stretching her legs, her arms are more recovered from the bars so she starts working on what she really needs to: handstands. Well, she also needs to work on bridges, but she'll need a spotter for that, so she might as well get what she can do on her own out of the way first. Standing up straight, she lifts her arms above her head, leans forward until her hands are on the ground, and then tries to push herself up into a handstand. Then one of two things happens - either she falls back and catches herself with her feet, or she starts falling the other way and turns it into a forward roll so she doesn't hurt herself. But it's always one or the other - she doesn't have the arm strength to maintain the position for more than a microsecond. And that's frustrating when several of her own classmates can do much better than that.
She certainly wouldn't appreciate it if she heard Selina calling her lanky. But it's true, though. Though she doesn't quite have that classic gymnast physique - a hair too much fat, not nearly enough muscle - she's definitely on the slender side, so it's only a matter of time before doing things like this will earn her one. Whether or not she'll ever manage to develop a few curves on top of that is a bigger unknown.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2014 13:25:07 GMT -5
Harvey continued to watch Charlotte, clicking his tongue at her falling, but smirks at the roll.
"Hmm, she at least knows how to fall. You know, we do a student police academy for high school aged kids. They report to our training facility twice a week for two to three hours at a time for about two months and we teach them the ins and outs of police work. Its sort of a way for us to garner interest in them to eventually enroll in Police academy when they are old enough, later."
Harvey turned his head to Selina.
"They have to have a current officer as a sponsor and, of course, a signature from their parent or guardian if they are under eighteen. Maybe, if she's interested, she could come and learn somethin'. Part of the point of it, too, is to teach the kids that we're here to help 'em, not book 'em."
Harvey watched Charlotte again and continued listening and talking to Selina.
"God, sixteen. Man. I remember a certain seventeen year old that had that same look on her face not too long ago."
Harvey gave her a sideways smirk.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2014 13:50:26 GMT -5
"I've been working with her, too. And hell, she's already more wary of the police than I was at her age. So...I'll try to bring it up to her." Noting the fall as well, Selina smirks. That's her girl. She's already grown quite proud of the teen, with her advances in school despite her setbacks, the things she is excelling at, and how damn well she's doing with each twist and turn thrown her way.
"She might like that." It doesn't sound bad. And hell, it's not like she knows an officer, or Detective or anything...
"Hey now! I can remember a certain twenty-four year old taking said morose seventeen year old to his mothers. I wish I would've asked her what she thought. My god..." She hadn't looked seventeen, she knew, but she was full of piss and vinegar. Skeptical to the core, leery at anything offered to her that even resembled nice. And hell, she still had that coat.
"I still have that coat, you know. You think that bet paid off?" She gave him a smirk in return. She'd made sure to use leather moisturizer on it, and had worn it in Italy.
But on a different note, she glanced down at her hands, not quite knowing how to bring up the subject. He'd pretty much raised his sisters, so maybe he would understand.
"It's normal, to feel..fondness and a bit more than slightly maternal toward her, right? I know you had a big part of raising your sisters..." but it was just so alien to her... She wanted to add. It wasn't that she was a cold, unfeeling bitch, but she'd never have thought she'd be looking for something more permanent in her life at this point.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2014 12:43:31 GMT -5
When you're trying to do a handstand and can't do it yet, falls are simply to be expected. Charlotte just gets up and tries again, over and over until her arms are protesting too much, never quite getting a decent handstand. Which is annoying, since her headstands are just fine - you'd think that it would only be a little harder. But she just sighs about that and finds a spotter to help her with her bridge. Though she needs the spotter for more than just making sure that she doesn't fall - in fact it's not like you can fall while doing a bridge and hurt yourself unless you're being dumb - it's that she needs help getting into position. And staying in it. She already has the flexibility for the move, as that part of it is way easier than it looks unless you're fat or something, but the weight on the arms is just too much for her not because she's heavy but because her arms are weak. So though the spotter tries to let her do it on her own, she starts to sink out of the bridge the moment they try. It doesn't take her very long before she gets sick of trying and calls it a day on the bridges. Thanking the spotter, she stands there for a moment, looking noticeably frustrated. There are just... too many things that are too hard to do. Glancing over at where she left her water bottle at the edge of the floor and noting that there's nobody between her and it, she abruptly does a series of cartwheels over to it, able to perform the familiar move smoothly and without any problems at all. See? She doesn't suck at everything! Finishing right next to her water bottle, she picks it up and drinks from it, looking up at the clock. There's only about a minute left until practice is officially over, so she decides that's it for the day and starts heading over to where she left her gym bag near the bleachers.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2014 15:06:00 GMT -5
"Well look at us now, sittin' here all watchin' your kid do tumbles and stuff. I'd say that bet payed off."
Harvey shifted in his spot and turned to look at her more fully. He then turned his head to see Charlotte looking as though she was done for the time being, picking up her gym bag and all.
"Extremely normal. Well, looks like class is over. Introduce us. I can't stay much longer, I gotta run, but I'd like to meet her."
Harvey stood and offered a hand to Selina to help her up.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2014 3:30:16 GMT -5
Perhaps their decade and then some bet had paid off. She glanced at Charlotte, then her hands, turning to see him watching her. The teen was hers, in a way, but at times she wished she would've just had an ours. She'd had that chance when she was younger, but it ...hadn't worked out. And she never talked about it, either. There wasn't a point. So with his short, to the point affirmation, she nodded, taking his non-busted hand, and grabbing her purse so they could go meet Charlotte.
It wasn't too far, and they were one of the first to get down there. Her with her limp, him with his busted up looking face, and arm. Selina waved to the teen, hoping she'd not shy away and avoid them, so Harvey could meet her, then get back to work. She'd probably drop something off for him later, knowing his proclivities to working through all meals.
"I appreciate this, you know. And don't forget about that envelope." To say she was nervous wouldn't be right, but introducing the teen to one of her oldest, closest friends was something.
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