How Green Becomes Wood

"Yeah." Milo agreed. "It does." Then he turned and watched the level 10 gymnasts coming out and he straightened up, his face growing almost as serious as the atheletes', "Maroon isn't a problem." He had experience with action shots, but not like these, and it was a challenge that mattered.

Sloan's team first began with vaulting, which was good for her, because it was her worst event and the one she absolutely enjoyed the least, but she did fine, especially if you didn't know what you were looking for. Her floor routine was solid and she looked completely satisfied at the end, especially because she landed a particularly difficult skill.

Her beam routine went poorly, though. Near the end, her foot slipped and she fell hard from the beam. As painful as it looked, she caught herself before hitting the mat, and using all of her strength, she fought herself back up onto it. It was impressive enough for the audience to cheer, and because she didn't touch the mat, she'd get fewer deductions than if she had, but when her routine was over, it was obvious she was unhappy, and her mom went down to the sidelines to speak with her. As long as they stayed on opposite sides of the barrier, it was allowed. Whatever was said didn't seem to make her much more at ease, and when she walked away, one of her teammates squeezed her shoulder as they went to the uneven bars, which was her last event, and the one she was best at.
 
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Xander found himself acting as a barrier between Milo and Alec as his brother cheered wildly and shifted around, bumping into him and Dark in his excitement. When Sloan nearly fell, Alec gasped allowed before standing up and cheering loudly. Peter and Becky stood as well, Peter standing on the bench to see better thanks to his short stature, and none of the three stopped clapping or cheering until Sloan had walked off the mat.

As Sloan started to walk toward the bars and everyone else started to calm down, Alec stood up and yelled out, "Go Sloan! Show those bars who's boss!" Then, loudly to those around him, "I know her! She's one of my best friends! She's the greatest!"

Xander figured Sloan had most definitely heard all of that, and despite his desire to bury his face in his hands and possibly pretend he didn't know this other person, he stoically sat in place and gave Sloan a very serious thumbs up. Peter and Becky laughed and clapped then settled down into silence as Alec sat down.
 
Xander was right, and Sloan had heard it, but in the moment it was just background noise. There were bigger things. Just then. She was last in the bar rotation, so she stood back with her team watching her teammates have their attempts, stone faced, except for when one of her teammates finished their events, then she clapped for them.

Finally, it was her turn. She rolled her shoulders back, chalked her hands, and mounted the higher of the two bars with an elegant twist. Her routine combined power and beauty, with one particular flip seeming almost impossible, and she landed perfectly, not stumbling slightly from the force like some of the other gymnasts had. After the few required moments of perfectly posing with her arms up, she gave herself a few seconds of restrained but genuine celebration, fist-bumped her coach, and exhaled heavily as she returned to her teammates who were absolutely thrilled for her.
 
Alec, Becky, and Peter all stood clapping and yelling excitedly for Sloan. Xander stood with them and clapped, but he was far more reserved than the other three. He sat down first, leaving the others still celebrating for a bit.

Leaning over to Milo, he asked, "Did you get any good pics, do ya think?"

Alec sat down with the others and hugged Dark's arm. "She was so great!"
 
This time, Sloan both heard and acknowledged the cheering, and turned to the stand where they all were with a big grin. Then she took another deep breath because what she had just done was very impressive... but very exhausting, and she was glad it was her last event, but she was clearly proud of what she had done, and her team was thrilled.

"I hope so," Milo said. He had stood with everyone, but was too busy trying to get good shots of the routine to clap properly. "I think so. I wish I could check. I took burst shots, some should be clear."

Dark nodded, "She was, it was very impressive." He had only stood after she had landed, because while she was still performing, there was no way on earth he was going to stand up and risk blocking anyone's view.
 
"I bet there's at least a couple of awesome ones. If you get any good ones, can I get a couple from you to enlarge like a poster?" Xander asked. "I think it'd look cool."

Alec let go of Dark's arm, realizing he was probably overstimulating him, and leaned away slightly. "I wonder when we can go down and see her? I don't want to crowd her too soon. But I want to tell her how awesome she was!"
 
"Sure, yeah." Milo said, peering through his camera lense again, and feeling confident he managed to get a good shot of Sloan's quiet, exhausted celebration.

"They still have to... declare winners, I think," Dark replled, and it proved to be right.

Overall, her team took second, but for individual meets, although Sloan didn't place for vault and definitely not for beam, she ranked alright for floor. But she took first in the Uneven Bars, and her (and their other teammates who crushed it, of course) until finally they were all free to return to their friends and family.

When Sloan did come back to them she, of course, had to greet her family first. Her dad hugged her, Benny high fived her, and Blair said... something, but it couldn't be heard over the noise of the arena.

Then, she went up a few rows to greet all of her friends.
 
Alec held his hands up high. "Sloan! Sloan, that was one of the greatest things I've ever seen! That bar routine? Perfect! And that save you did on the beam? That was fantastic! How did you pull that off? And you were so gorgeous!"

Becky gently elbowed Alec aside. "You really were! That color is fantastic on you!"

Peter couldn't hope to compete, so he grinned and raised his thumbs up in congratulations.
 
"Thank you!" Sloan said excitedly, high-fiving both of Alec's raised hands. "And I don't want to talk about that fall, it hurt like hell, I'm probably going to have a giant bruise. But I told you, you know, I'm like... really strong, remember? Like," she laughed, still a bit caught up in the adrenaline of winning, "if Xander and I had to compete in a pull-ups competition, I'd smoke him. There's not a question of it. And thanks, Becky, this is one of my favourite leotards they've given us."
 
Xander snorted at her statement. "No argument there," he mumbled, fully willing to acknowledge her prowess.

"Are you doing anything with your family or team after this? Do you want to go celebrate your awesomeness?" Alec asked eagerly. "If you have other plans, you should totally go with them, but if you don't, we'd love to take you out!"
 
"I think if we had taken first we would've gone together," Sloan said, looking over at whichever team members were still congregating, but most had already gone off with their friends or family, "I'd love to go out with you all. I just have to change first."
 
"Awesome! You go change." Alec hesitated and turned to Dark. "Uh... I guess we should have sorted out rides and whether or not you were okay with that. I guess if you would be willing to give us a ride, you could go home, and later Sloan can give us a ride home."

"If she drove herself," Xander reminded him.
 
"I do not mind you going out to eat as long as you are not out too late. You do still have school in the morning." Dark replied.

"I did drive myself, don't worry. I have to be here way earlier than any of you, so it's not really worth it to make my parents wait here all day. When I come back, just let me know where we're going." She waved with one hand and then trotted off.
 
Alec, Peter, and Becky put their heads together, excitedly discussing where to go. Xander didn't really care where they went, so he leaned over to Milo. "You up for coming with? Or are your grands coming to pick you up from here?"
 
"I can go," Milo replied, watching Alec's other friends make plans, "I just have to call and let them know." He really, really wanted to say that he didn't want to be in the way or insert himself, but he was trying to remind himself, if he was invited, he was wanted there. At least by one person.
 
"Cool," Xander said. He reached over and poked Alec in the back. "Milo says he can come."

Alec turned around, brightening. "Really? Excellent! Milo, do you prefer burgers, tacos, or all-you-can-eat? We're taking a poll."

"Man, all-you-can-eat never has any actually good food," Xander complained.

"I wasn't asking you, I was asking Milo. You can have your vote next," Alec said primly.
 
"Oh, um. Burgers, I guess. Burger places have milkshakes, most of the time, right? If... If I won," He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, "I'd want a milkshake."

Around the same time they were having that conversation, Daizi decided to go for a walk, so she could tell Alec she had, in fact, done as he recommended. Strapping Ivy into the baby sling and leashing Enkidu, she grabbed her cane, locked the front door, and started walking down the sidewalk.
 
"I'd vote burgers, too," Xander nodded.

Alec frowned. "Darn. That makes two tacos and three burgers." He brightened. "But milkshakes are good! So, unless Sloan veotes us, burgers it is!"

Peter had his phone out and suggested, "How about that place on seventh street? They have milkshakes advertised."

"Perfect!" Alec cheered. "We'll go there."

~~

Lex had the garage door open as she went through one of the quieter, less fun aspects of smithing: cleaning! She noticed Daizing walking and raised a hand in greeting. A few seconds later after she'd already turned back to work, she realized the futility of her action and snorted in amusement at herself. She brushed the ashes off her hands and moved to lean out the garage. "Hey, Daisy!" she called, accidentally getting the pronunciation wrong. "Nice day for a walk?"
 
When Sloan rejoined them, she was still in her sweats, but now had the matching jacket on over a simple tanktop, and she had her gym bag slung over one shoulder. After quickly saying goodbye to her family, she rejoined her friends and asked, "Did we decide where we're going? I'm starving like you wouldn't believe."

~~

"Oh, hi," Daizi said, turning to towards the sound. "Yeah, the weather is gorgeous, I thought it was only right to take this one out to experience a little bit of it."
 
"Burgers at that one place on seventh," Alec told her. "Unfortunately, there's six of us, and I think your car can only hold five." He turned to Dark. "May we have a ride?"

~~

Lexington exited her garage and sauntered down to grin at Enkidu. "Nice dog you have there. And cute baby! Hey, kid! Remember me? We met for.like five seconds a couple of weeks ago. Sorry, I can't remember her name, but it had something to do with a plant, right?"
 
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