Back to Work [complete]

[Huang Jiaming]

Jiaming squinted at Shikang the instant Xue's stupid suggestion left his mouth. There's no way he's gonna...

"Eh--huh?" she blurted his reply. She made a face at him, then glared over at Xue. "Waiiit a second. Ain't you supposed to avoid opportunities of more bleedin'?"

Then she squinted back at Shikang, folding her arms. "You're supposed to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, right?" Emphasis on 'stupid'. "Isn't that part of the whole...team thing, or whatever it's called? All for one and...ah hell, I don't even know."

She blinked. Waiiiit a second, who'm I kidding, speaking against a good match?

"On second thought," she piped up, "I fight winner. Or both."

[Zhong Xue]

"Well, it's okay now, right?" Xue said, shrugging. He didn't really feel all that okay; his head was pounding and spinning, and he was getting sick to his stomach, but he couldn't seem to tone down the overwhelming cheerfulness that was pouring out of his mouth. "Thanks so much, Shikang! I'll definitely repay you somehow... I mean, I owe you for the dress, still!"

[Ma Shikang]

Shikang gaped for a moment at Xue's words and suddenly came to an abrupt halt. The lids of his eyes were raised a little and his mouth was curved into a defiant frown. Then he glanced over to Jiaming and slowly stepped back. Well, did Xue tell the other recruit he was the one causing heresy through out the camp by dressing up? "I changed my mind," he said, "You two go on ahead."

[Huang Jiaming]

Jiaming was about to open her mouth to butt in and say something else, but the instant Xue mentioned a dress, her mouth shut and she glanced over at Shikang. Then back at Xue. Then back again.

A slow grin slid across her face. "So, it was you guys. Ah-deh! Wait, wait!" She leaped over to Shikang before he could make a move to leave, making a note not to touch him. Joking or not, she wasn't about to press her luck too much. "You three--it has to be three, there's no way Xaio would sit out--you..Oh, jeez. Xue, man, you let them make you wear a dress."

She stifled an incredible urge to laugh, stepping back from Shikang. She wasn't going to get on his case too much about it; he wasn't the one who wore the damn thing. Instead, she took another step back next to Xue, elbowing him in the side. "How much they pay you, eh?"

[Zhong Xue]

Xue rubbed his side, pouting. "T-They didn't pay me," he muttered. "They were trying to--" He stopped himself, frowning. It wasn't as though he thought he should keep it a secret from Jiaming - Xiao would approve, and Shikang wouldn't care - but would she hit him for keeping it from her? "Cause a distraction," he finished.

[Ma Shikang]

Shikang crossed his arms over his chest as he gave Jiaming an intense stare. Perhaps he didn't mind so much if she knew but if she did go around blabbing it to everyone - well, she would be done for. "Anyways," he said trying to put the topic off from their mind, "Don't worry about it, Xue." For a few minutes thinking on it, he still didn't want to be around the two.

[Huang Jiaming]

Jiaming smiled and waved her hand dismissively in response to Shikang's stare---he really did give her the creeps, so she wasn't going to give him an opportunity to be mad at her. She'd gotten enough information on it, anyway; the rest was trivial details that didn't concern her.

Though, the idea of stickin' around the guy spelled out bad news; he didn't look to happy about it. (He hardly ever does, but...) She clamped a hand on Xue's shoulder, with an expression of lightheartedness.

"Y'know what? Let's give the guy a break. You can kick his butt some other time or whatever. Besides, the later you start practicing, the later you wake up, and it's getting kind of late anyway."

She grinned at Shikang while shaking Xue a bit by the shoulder. "You guys should take time to meditate, or somethin', before I come over and take you both out at once."

The longer she dragged on the excuse, the grip on Xue's shoulder tightened ever so slightly, almost digging nails in as well. Just drop it, you dummy.

[Zhong Xue]

Xue was about to express disappointment, when he noticed Shikang's strained expression and Jiaming's too-wide smile; he'd hoped he was acting normal, but from the way they were looking at him, that was a bit too much to hope for.

"Maybe some other..." he began, trailing off as he stopped to look at Jiaming. "... ummm... y'think you could stop that? It's kind of painful."

[Ma Shikang]

Jiaming's light heartedness never really impressed him, almost like they were putting on some type of act. Actually, it was more conspicuous to accept that idea because of Naia. He didn't really know who to focus on but his gaze cut short to Jiaming's hand and the annoyance of the shaking. Shikang could even tell she was practically breaking the flesh. Approaching the two he slowly lifted his left hand and grasped Jiaming's wrist, prying her hand off of Xue's shoulder. Xue didn't need any more pain.

[Huang Jiaming]

"I, oh," Jiaming blinked at the mention of her hand. She was gonna move it, but Shikang beat her to it. When he did grab her wrist, she flinched, wringing her hand till her wrist was free and taking a couple steps backward. If that guy went out of the way of touching her, she had to have been overly annoying.

"Sorry," she muttered, clinging to her wrist for a moment. Gahhh, this is stupid and embarrassing... Shaking her head a bit, she plastered on a sheepish smile. "On second thought..or third--whatever--you guys go on, have fun. I'll just go on over somewhere...and.."

Her upbeat voice sank in futility, already noticing the pathetic nature of her excuse. "..And beat up a tree, or something...Guh." Way to friggin' go, girl.

She raised a hand as a farewell and took a few more steps back, head down to hide her reddened face. Stupid and embarrassing....and dammit, I'm still hungry. Son of a bitch.

[Zhong Xue]

"It's fine, Jiaming! You don't have to..." Maybe it was because Xue was more than a little distracted, but he hadn't noticed how tense Shikang seemed until then. Turning back to his teammate, he smiled hesitantly. "Ahh... Shikang?"

[Ma Shikang]

Shikang stared blankly after the girl before he shifted his attention onto Xue. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so forward with Jiaming but he wasn't exactly cheery today. "Yes, Xue?" he asked.

[Huang Jiaming]

Jiaming brought a hand to her face, grumbling a bit as she turned to the side to take a minute and stop being so embarrased--while, of course, having an ear in the conversation. She had a sense that these guys were weird, but apparently, she wasn't a very effective judge of character. It was becoming more ideal to just quit while she was ahead.

But. But. I just wanna see what's going on, and if it's utterly boring, THEN I'll go. She tilted her head a bit, while untangling her fingers from her uneven bangs.

[Zhong Xue]

Xue watched Jiaming go warily, suddenly nervous about being alone with Shikang. Not that he was scared of his teammate at all, but now that he had the older boy's undivided attention, he forgot his question for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Xue asked, trying to sound casual instead of wanting to shrink. "You seem sort of on edge."

[Ma Shikang]

Shikang immediately turned away when the question was asked. He paced himself a few steps forward before pausing and sitting himself down near to the back-hitch of the tent, staring at the lounging area the men had created near by. For some reason all his frustration got to him and the other's question marked his breaking-point. "Well," Shikang started off, not starting at the boy as he stood there. "Nothing." He lied.