After she and Rhys began working together, Rabbit’s schedule shifted yet again. She understood this as a temporary issue, stemming mostly from Rhys’s desire to enter the tournament--- curious that the creature had drawn her attention to it first, but that Rhys would be the one to participate in it later, and with her assistance. At least, those were the Felusine’s hopes; whether they would come to fruition was another matter.
Nevertheless, he wished to, and Rabbit had agreed to assist in the interest of keeping it from Aster--- on Rhys’s side--- and on her own side, keeping Rhys from doing so while utterly unprepared.
And the creature had given her some assistance in this venture, with a little convincing. She wasn’t sure whether he would be amenable to it, but in the end he had acquiesced. It had furthered his own practical training, which might have been his justification for it.
Certainly, he did not seem as irate back then as he was now.
As the cooperative portion of Rhys’s training drew to an end, and Rabbit spent more and more time training him one on one, her time with the creature became diminished. This, presumably, was what the creature was cross about. It was an unfortunate side effect, and Rabbit was not sure how to smooth the matter over.
“It is merely that his request is time sensitive,” said Rabbit, her words addressed to the creature’s hindquarters. “When I have finished teaching him the basics that are necessary, we will resume with our previous schedule.”
There was a beat during which the creature seemed to be a little mollified; or at the very least, he seemed willing enough to turn one ear back in her direction, as though to show her that he was listening to what she was saying.
But then Rabbit said, "I will need to accompany him to the tournament venue,” at which point the ear turned back, and the creature's back hunched still further, wings mantling, in a renewed demonstration of distaste.
In short, this was not going very well.
It would have been so much easier if he could simply tell her what it was he wanted. All this guess work was not something she was well suited for, and even if she knew him better now than she had beforehand--- and this better than anyone else knew him, she thought, for he wanted nothing to do with Aster, and that seemed to have held true for his previous caretaker as well--- it was still nothing like a direct line of communication.
More to the point, he was not communicating. He could have made his desires more plainly apparent, if he chose to do so. The fact that he was not doing so was meant to demonstrate some sort of point. Rabbit knew that he was displeased, and quite possibly the subject of this was her preoccupation with other matters, but as to how to amend this apparent slight to him, she did not have many working hypotheses.
It was the sort of situation that might have given a human cause to sigh. Rabbit did not, as she was not human, and the measure would have brought her no satisfaction, but the thought came to her all the same.
"Do you not wish to go to the gym today then?" said Rabbit, at last. If he wished to be left alone to be unhappy, she could certainly acquiesce. When the creature did not respond, she turned to leave. But as soon as she did so, a low rumble emanated from the creature's chest--- a warning growl.
No, evidently he did not want that either.
Living creatures of the flesh were fickle things.
"Then let us be off to the gym," said Rabbit. If he wished to play games, that was very well, but she would not play if he did not bother to explain the rules to her. The creature did not turn to face her even when she faced him again, so Rabbit simply continued where she had left off and walked away. If he wished to join her then so be it; and if he wished to be left alone, she would respect that as well. She had laid the choices before him and he had not brought her any alternative.
She walked some distance without hearing him follow so Rabbit assumed that it was the latter. It was only when her sensors picked up something rapidly approaching her head that she turned once more, and saw the creature snatch his claws back, looking as though he had no idea how he had gotten there or what she could possibly mean by looking back at him as she did. It might have been more convincing if she had not caught him in the act.
But very well; he had chosen. To the gym it was, then.
Rabbit didn't know how it would go, the two of them heading out when he was in something of a mood, but the walk to the gym and their subsequent check-in was as customary. By this point they were a regular sight here, and the receptionist did not so much as glance their way before waving them past. They did, after all, come here on a daily or near-daily basis, and that had been true for months by this point.
There was nowhere else for them to go but to the back, where the equipment for larger creatures was situated. That, too, was as usual. However, something else had occurred to Rabbit in the intervening time. Perhaps the solution to the problem of the creature's strange mood was to put him through more strenuous work himself.
She did not, of course, have full confidence in this theory. It was still just a hypothesis, and if pressed, she would have had to admit that the premises themselves were somewhat uncertain. However, the thought had come to her that he might simply have been jealous of the progress that Rhys had been making, or perhaps even of the time and attention she spent on the Felusine, rather than on himself, as he was accustomed. And if he felt that his own progress was lacking, then that, at least, could be easily remedied.
"I recall that you asked me to teach you to fight," she said. The creature did look at her now as Rabbit perused the equipment, considering some and dismissing others. The sullen air about him had abated a little, and now it abated further at her words. His ears turned forward, as though she had said something worth listening to, quite possibly for the first time today.
"Our work here is also important to this. As a fighter, you will need to be fast, as well as steadfast in holding against your opponents’ blows."
The creature gave a shrug of his wings, affecting a disinterested look, but she saw him glancing at the equipment as well. He was not a straightforward creature, that much she had learned. Notions of pride seemed to compel him to appear less invested in anything than he actually was, but judging from this, perhaps she was not completely incorrect in her assumption that more work was, in fact, the answer to the problem.
"We may work on your endurance or your speed today," she said. "Which would you prefer?"
He had done training for both as part of his physical rehabilitation, so he was familiar with both routines. The creature appeared to be givin the question some real thought, so Rabbit stood back and gave him room to consider his options.
After a moment, the creature settled on the track, though with some obvious reluctance. Rabbit, recalling their last attempts at bolstering his recovering endurance, knew that he found the process tedious, this one more so than the regimen that they had done for speed, and thus had not urged him to pursue it in earnest in quite some time. But now he chose it of his own accord, perhaps because he wished to do so now that he had a clearer goal in mind...
Or perhaps because it had finally been long enough between now and the last time he had done it that he felt that he could face it again. Either way, it was good that he had chosen it of his own volition. If he had wished to continue here, and to continue learning the things required for combat, then eventually she would have had to mandate it as part of their efforts. She had been certain that he would have greeted the news with no small amount of displeasure when the time came. This made things easier; she was spared that occasion, at least.
"Very well. Please begin your stretches," she said.
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