Vertigo (Lily)

[Deleted]

Andy was trying something new today. She was in another one of those many spare classrooms, a punching bag in front of her. She was wearing the gloves, but she wasn't hitting it yet. She wanted to be avoiding violence, thought she should be, but maybe... Maybe she needed to find a way to embrace it. A way to get her aggression out in one moment and use her mediation to find peace the next. Wasn't that part of the whole martial arts thing? Oh wait... No, that was finding calm within the fight. Or something. Either way, this was another thing her therapists were trying. She was sent the bag and given all sorts of schedule to do it and was supposed to report back.

She took a deep breath and hit the bag, it barely budged. She took another and hit it again, a little harder. She groaned, leaning her head back to look at the ceiling for a moment. Okay. She could do this.

She hit it again, trying to focus all of her energy on making it move. It swung a little more and she nodded, a little more confident. She hit it again and felt pain in her knuckles through the glove. She smiled. She lifted a hand to hit it again. And again. Until she was switching off fists and pounding on it. After several minutes she ripped the gloves off and tossed them aside to start punching it with her bare knuckles instead. She didn't realize she had started laughing somewhere along the way.

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

@lestrange

Skipping down the corridors when no one was around was easily the greatest thing in the world. Those huge leaps without having to stop or move around people were blissful. Plus she could make a game out of it. Since skipping wasn’t always an economical way of moving around, Lily traded it out with hopping from tile to tile. Sometimes two or three tiles away. Every now and again she’d try to rely a little more on the wolf and for five or six tiles. She had always been an energetic little whippersnapper before, now it was increased by tenfold. Not burning off all the excess steam would lead to literally shaking in class with it. That was bothersome to her classmates and professors, and even to herself. No one wanted someone that couldn’t control themselves to be around. So from daybreak to sunset, every waking moment that wasn’t eating or in class was spent running around like the wild animal she was. It fit her style anyways, so there were never any strange looks from people as she bolted off to do her thing.

Today was no different, except for the fact that she was skipping class to skip. That was the best part about it. Someone asked her why she wasn’t there, the easy answer was that she was skipping. Literally and physically. What a great idea it was too! Shifting from skipping to hopping, Lily planted herself with a great leap right in front of an old door on the sixth floor. Most of these rooms were typically empty, aside from people looking to get some peace and quiet or to get a little frisky. The laughing that was coming from inside of the room sounded like neither of those though. That was way too interesting for her to pass up. Pivoting on her feet to face the door, Lily grinned and popped it wide open. She wasn’t sure what she was going to be greeted with, but the sight of a punching bag and Andy hitting it definitely was not it. “Whatcha doing?” Lily asked as she stepped all the way and closed the door behind her. Punching things was fun, especially when they swung around like punching bags did. Having it come back so that she could hit it again was better than it running away. Adrian used to run away sometimes. Lily mentally reminded herself that that was done with now. Having to think of that always struck a few open wounds that had yet to heal. “Can I punch it too?”

[Deleted]

Andy heard the door open but just kept hitting. It felt too good to stop. Then, she heard the voice. Lily, asking what she was doing. "Taking out aggression," she muttered truthfully, though it may have been too quite for Lily to hear. Well, Lily did have those wolf ears. Hah.

Lily asked if she could punch it too and Andy stopped, out of breath, and brought one hand down while using the other to steady the bag. She turned to face Lily. "Yeah," she said without hesitation, nodding shortly, a smile on her face. She felt one hundred times more relaxed and, even though she had always found the redhead girl kind of ridiculous, she was happy to see Lily. She was kind of the perfect person to share this with, in an odd way. Andy took a step back. "Gloves are right there," she pointed, though she didn't really expect Lily to take them.

"You want to treat it like it's a torso. Punching the weak points where the ribs would be on the sides," she suggested. "Don't hit it too hard at first, you don't want to break your knuckles," she added. Though, she was sure Lily would do whatever she darn well pleased. She took another step back from the bag.

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

@lestrange

Taking out aggression? Was that similar to her running around all day to burn off energy? Certainly sounded like it. The only aggression Lily ever felt was to run over and jump on people and bother them to know end. But they always liked that. Obviously because it was her. As for rage induced aggression, assuming that was what Andy was talking about, she wasn’t too sure. There were times where she’d get frustrated over something little and pointless, but ignoring it until it went away or fixed itself always worked. She had never thought about punching something to fix it though. That was new.

Andy offered her gloves, and Lily stared at them for a second. Did she actually need to use those? Her body had already become well-adjusted to the wolf. Bones were stronger, skin didn’t rip as easily, and she had a huuuuuge appetite now too. Actually, scratch that last one. She was always hungry and eating lots of food. Now she could blame it on the wolf though, and that made it easier to convince herself not to stop stuffing her face every night at dinner. With the amount that she moved around, gaining weight was almost impossible to do.

Still staring at the gloves and trying to decide what to do with them, Andy continued, explaining how to punch the bag and that hitting it too hard could cause damage to her hands. “I do like my knuckles…they’re good for lots of things…” Lily pondered briefly, before snatching up the gloves. If they got too warm too fast, tossing them to the side wouldn’t be that big of a deal. She had punched harder things before and walked away with less damage. Large sticks and trees didn’t stand a chance against her these days. Slipping the gloves on, she made sure they fit snuggly on her hands. “Do I just wail on it, or is there a proper technique?” she asked, turning to look at her housemate. Andy was the expert here, and Lily wanted to learn how to properly punch a person. Just because.

[Deleted]

Lily decided to take the gloves, which Andy thought was wise of her. Then the girl was asking if there was a proper technique or if she should just 'wail' on it. "I think you could really go either way, but there are several techniques," Andy started to explain. She stepped up to the side of the bag, lifting her fists in front of her face. "You want to loosely rest your hands here, protecting your face. This is your home base," she explained. She took a deep breath and focused on the punching bag, "your target isn't just a black of wood or a wall. It's something that moves. That reacts to your hit," she brought her left fist back a little, turning her shoudler with it. "You want to use the while strength of you body, turning your torso and holding your hips steady..." One more sharp, deep breath and her fist launched into the bag. "And you mold the target however you want," she explained. Humans broke easier than this bag did, though.

"Don't tuck your thumb INTO your fist. Keep it in front," she lifted her fists to Lily to show. "Just over the fingers but not the knuckles, or you'll crush it," she explained, though that seemes obvious. Still, Lily asked for direction.

Andy took a step back again. "Try it." Her voice was firm and confident, as if she'd been teaching people how to punch for years.

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

@lestrange

Lily stared at Andy, not blinking as she took everything in. This was way more detailed than she thought punching something ever would be! It would definitely come in handy the next time she decided to hit something though, be it object or person. While she didn’t really worry about hurting someone with her newfound strength, there had definitely been times where pushing or hitting a person had resulted in more damage than she had initially intended. At least most understood that her intentions weren’t bad. If she wanted to be a bully, she definitely could though. As Andy explained everything, Lily followed with her own motions. There was protecting her face, which had never really occurred to her when it came to a fist fight, since normally she went for the tackle right away. Getting a person off of their feet decreased a lot of power. The moving bit of the demonstration also made sense, but at the same time, Lily knew this would be the most difficult part. Keeping herself still to react to the next motion would be tough; bouncing around wildly was her thing. Being restrained to certain movements and to capitalize on those was something she had never done before. Having the flexibility and mobility would certainly make it easier, but waiting wasn’t her thing.

The last tidbit was about keeping her thumb in the correct spot. Something about not wanting to crush it. She doubted that punching a bag would do that kind of damage, considering her bones were a little different from Andy’s now. At the command to test it out, Lily set her feet and body the way that Andy had described, and took a deep breath. First fist forward was her right hand. It made contact with the right side of the bag, and sent the thing swinging, her body continuing to move forward despite nothing being there. Stepping right into the path of the bag going back to its starting place, Lily reached out to grab it, the momentum taking her with it. She tried to plant her feet, but the awkward motion of it prevented her from doing so, and she ended up dragging herself along the ground as it swung back the other way again. Letting out a laugh, she let go of the bag and landed on her butt. “That’s one way to go down I guess.”

[Deleted]

Lily took the stance and a deep breath and Andy nodded, she looked set. Andy was no expert, and she was sure Lily would be much better at this than she was, but she also knew that Lily was better at... freestyle than structure. The punch was good... but then there was that odd display of stepping into the bag and getting swept away by it until she was down. Lily laughed, and Andy found herself smiling a little, too. "Maybe not the most graceful way," though, grace wasn't really Lily's kind of thing, was it? Somehow, though, the girl managed to do things like a complete lunatic and still be utterly appealing while doing it. At least, that's what Andy had heard people say.

She held out a hand to the fallen wolf, "want to try again? Maybe try keeping your feet planted this time," she knew that would be hard for this girl. The two of them were so different in that regard. Andy preferred to keep her ground and let the fights come to her, at least that's what she was going to do now. Whereas Lily was perfectly capable of hunting things down herself... sometimes literally.

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

@lestrange

Her laughing went on for a little longer, only stopping when she needed more oxygen in her lungs. Andy was right, that most certainly was not the most graceful way to fall. But when was the last time she had actually tried to do something gracefully? Even as elegant and regal the Yule Ball had been, that was only for a few minutes before she devolved back into her mischief making mode. Being calm and peaceful probably only ever happened when she was asleep, and even then there was a noise-reduction charm cast around her bed because of how much she snored. So the answer on gracefulness for Lily Potter was never. “You know how I am,” she laughed one last time. “It wouldn’t be me without something silly happening. Even when I take it seriously.” If anything, trying to calm herself down and doing things correctly always ended up with a more ridiculous outcome. She was sure that was why everyone always told her that she was her father’s daughter. At least she could have fun at school, all thanks to him.

Reaching out for Andy’s offered hand, Lily hopped back to her feet, brushing her backside off just in case. She had to look proper while beating the hell out of this punching bag! “Round two. Let’s go.” Setting her feet and body in the same position as before, Lily lined herself up for the first hit. This time she wasn’t going to try and kill it in one go. There had to be rhythm to this kind of thing, right? First punch went forward and made contact. Instead of lunging after it like she had last time, she timed it and took a jab with her other hand as it came back, making a clean hit once again. More confidence instilled in her abilities, Lily prepared for the third punch. The bag came back and she hit it with her right first, but this time harder than the previous two. Apparently putting a little more ‘ooomf’ into it was too much, because it shot off like it had in her first go, whipping back towards her with increasing speed. Instead of trying to grab onto it like last time, she instead braced her body to block it, sending it back in the opposite direction with less intensity. “So? Practice makes perfect?”

[Deleted]

Lily said it wouldn't be her without something silly happening, even when she took things seriously. Did Andy have something like that? "Oh, you know how I am," she could have replied, "it wouldn't be me without somebody ending up dead."

Well, that was morbid. She was glad she didn't say it out loud.

Lily took her hand and Andy pulled her up, then released. Lily was ready for round two and Andy grinned, stepping back again. "Just be anchored. Like a tree. Rooted to the ground," she added softly as Lily geared up for a hit. The first punch was good, Andy nodded. Then she took another hit. Good. Andy didn't say anything, kind of fascinated in watching the little wolf go.

When he braced her body to block the bag, Andy grinned. "Practice makes prepared, Lily Potter. Nothings perfect and you shouldn't expect it to be," she knew that was just a figure of speech, what Lily said, but she still wanted to defend her point of view on that particular phrase. "How do you feel?"

lily luna potter

[lily luna potter]

@lestrange

Prepared, perfect. They were basically the same thing in her mind. “Same difference,” she voiced her thoughts, not really thinking much more than that. Being prepared only meant perfecting something first, right? There were plenty of perfect things out there, like herself, chocolate, full moons, herself, and chocolate. Okay, so maybe some of them repeated when it came to her, but perfection was in the eye of the beholder. Her idea of what was perfect varied from what Andy thought would fall in that category, and so on and so forth. “You and Phil are perfect,” she commented as she finally let go of the bag. Hopefully that wasn’t too serious for her current behavior. Not like it changed what she felt about the topic. Practice couldn’t make something like that work, or could it? That kind of stuff was just natural or at least seemed like it was from where she was.

As for the question of how she felt, Lily wasn’t even sure if Andy knew how to comprehend the amount of energy surging through her currently. No one ever could, and Lily couldn’t hold that against them. She was her own person, her own wolf. Very few people would even be able to comprehend any of that. “Like I drank a dozen energy drinks at once,” she grinned, making a few more jabs at the air. “I think I need to go run this all off now. Can’t really sleep when I’m shaking like this.” Turning from Andy, she bolted towards the door, only realizing that she still had the boxing gloves on when she attempted to open the door. Laughing at herself, she ran back towards Andy and used her teeth to untie one glove on the way. Popping the second off, she handed them over. “Thanks for the lesson! We’ll need to do this again over the summer!” With that, Lily bolted back out the door as fast as she had entered only minutes earlier.

[Lily Out]