Not the beach, Tuesday morning

[betterthanaplan]

It was finally cold enough to start giving Duke flashbacks to his childhood in Maine, so he figured he'd give Rey a break and handwavily let her know he'd moved their morning yoga to somewhere with walls and a heater.

Which meant, of course, that he wasn't going to follow through on his threat to make her do yoga on a rickety stack of rocks. Yet. But considering he'd moved them to a room on the Cape Rouge, it did mean that she was going to be doing yoga on a surface that was gently bobbing up and down, back and forth, with the rise and fall of the water in the port.

Not that he noticed the movement anymore, not unless he was specifically paying attention to it. So he also had that balance board he'd been talking about ready. . . .

[beach yoga is not on the beach, but it's still open!]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

Duke smiled. "Good answer."

Even if it didn't necessarily help get to the whole floating thing.

"Try switching legs."

[thatwaslucky]

There may- may- have been a little tiny "ugh" from her as she slowly put her leg down, slowly scooting her other foot to the middle of the board until she could put both feet down, and then moving just as she had the first time to get the other leg up.

It was a very. careful. process.

Because maybe now she was showing off a little.

[betterthanaplan]

"Beautiful," Duke said. He wondered if Skywalker would let him borrow some of those remotes. "How does that feel?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Okay," she said, turning into the wobble a little to stay up. "It's easier this time, knowing how to do it already."

[betterthanaplan]

"Well yeah," Duke said. "Not knowing how is one of the biggest roadblocks out there." He stopped in front of her, folding his arms over his chest, and tilted his head. "Want to try a handstand?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Could be a disaster," she said, but she lowered her leg and stepped off the board, because why not.

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah, but I doubt it," Duke said.

He was definitely going to make her try it without getting off the board first if she managed this on the first try.

[thatwaslucky]

Rey looked at the board for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to do this without falling over. What she really wanted was the board to settle, like it was just part of the boat. She could do this if it was the floor of the boat.

So she bent to place her hands on the board and pushed herself up, willing the board to stay still. Which was probably her just being very focused on keeping her arms steady, maybe through some cheating, she really didn't know, only pulling herself up when she was sure she had the right balance. Handstands she could do, if she took care of the board, it was no problem.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke watched all this carefully, eyebrows shooting up a little when he saw the board settle. He looked from the board to her and back a few times, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, once she was upright. "When you're getting into position?"

[thatwaslucky]

"That I don't want to crack my head open, so the board needs to stay still," she answered.

[betterthanaplan]

"Do you think about how the board will stay still?"

[thatwaslucky]

"No. Just that I want it to," she said.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded slowly. "And, uh. When you first started doing handstands, and you 'cheated'. Did you think about how you were doing that? Or did you just know you wanted your body to be steady?"

[thatwaslucky]

"Both?" Rey said, lowering her legs to get up again. "I knew where to apply it and just kind of did it."

[betterthanaplan]

"Alright." Duke tilted his head. "Do you know what's different between stabilizing yourself in a handstand and lifting yourself up off the ground completely?"

[thatwaslucky]

"I knew exactly what I'd have to do to stabilize myself," she shrugged. "Floating still seems like one of those things that's crazy to think about."

[betterthanaplan]

“Why?” Duke asked. “What makes it crazier thank holding yourself, or that balance board, steady?”

[thatwaslucky]

"Because it's me, in the air, with nothing holding me up. I know when I'm holding onto the board. I know how that works," she explained.

[betterthanaplan]

“Hm.” Duke reached over to hold onto her ankles. “So if you were to overbalance right now, I would be holding you up, right?”

[thatwaslucky]

"...Yes. Should I be overbalancing?" she asked.

[betterthanaplan]

“Nope,” Duke said. “And if I do this. . . .” He shifted closer, to wrap both arms around her knees and pick her up off the balance board entirely.

“What’s holding you up then?”

[thatwaslucky]

There might have been a little undignified yelp when he did that.

"You!"

[betterthanaplan]

“Exactly!” Duke lowered her back down gently. “I can hold you steady, and I can pick you up. How is what you’re doing with the Force different?”

[thatwaslucky]

"Because," she said, standing up, "I didn't tell you to do that, or when to put me down. It's different."

[betterthanaplan]

“Rey,” Duke said. “Rey. That’s ridiculous.”

She could, for instance, absolutely tell him when to pick her up and put her down.