How Green Becomes Wood

"We can battle," Claire said, turning with them that way, "but I still think I'm at a disadvantage."

"Because you're short," Sloan teased as if she was a particularly tall person either---but in her defense, she was a good three or so inches taller than her friend and for a gymnast---who averaged to be only about five feet in height---she seemed tall.
 
"We're at the disadvantage of never having been on any kind of balance beam," Alec said cheerfully. "It looks nice and wide, though."

"I shall be victorious over all!" Xander smirked as they approached the area. "Right. Two vs. Two, and then the winners battle? Try to match it fairly, or do evens and odds or something?"
 
Claire looked warily at the two boys and at the foam fighting sticks. She supposed it was flattering Alec was so certain she wasn't immediately cooked but she herself had some serious doubts. But Sloan put her arm around her shoulders and said, "We can split by fairness first, I think, then the winners can face off."
 
"Yeah sure," Sloan said, picking up one of the foam battering rams and handing it to Claire before picking up one of her own. "We're pretty evenly skilled on the beam, so I don't think balance will be an issue."

"And we're used to thinner ones than this," Claire added, while the two of them got on. Once their little battle started, though, their slight height and weight discrepancy meant Sloan was a bit more difficult to move and she could more easily whack her friend from above. Claire tried to bend down to go for Sloan's legs, but ultimately, and without much fanfare, Claire tumbled off the little bar, landing softly. Immediately after, Sloan hopped off and helped Claire back up, not feeling much of a need to gloat.
 
"Thanks," Sloan replied, returning the fistbump, "I have to do what I have to do."

"I do feel thoroughly vanquished," Claire said, handing her foam baton to Alec, "I'm excited to see who wins between the two of you."
 
Xander snickered as he took the baton and headed forward to climb up on the beam. "Bet I'm going to be facing you in a few."

"I'm totally going to win!" Alec boasted. Then he leaned forward and whispered to Claire, "I'm totally going to lose, but might as well act confident!"

They climbed up onto the beam and squared off. They both took a swing, and Alec immediately missed his footing and fell off without Xander even landing a blow.

Xander stared down at him. "Okay, that cannot count. Get back up here!"

Sheepishly, Alec climbed back up onto the beam. They took a few more thwacks at each other, Alec mostly flailing awkwardly. Xander didn't even bother trying to dodge the hits and only blocked a couple. It didn't take long before Alec went tumbling again.
 
"I believe in you," Claire whispered back to Alec, sitting with Sloan to watch the 'fight.' When Alec fell off immediately, she put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing and Sloan tried to call out pointers to him once he was standing again.

When Alec fell again, they weren't sure if they should clap or not---praising Xander too much would rub it in, but not cheering at all seemed like it was also rude.

"How do you feel after your win?" Claire asked.
 
Alec laughed breathlessly from his spot on the soft floor, and Xander hopped down to help him up. "Yep, you win," he said, grinning.

Xander nudged him. "You gotta work on your footing." To Claire, he said, "My domination is inevitable. You ready, Slo?"

Alec plopped next to Claire and grinned. "Good thing the floor's soft!"
 
Xander smirked as he hopped back up onto the beam. "Bring it, gym girl." He set his stance, ready for her. While he did not normally have to deal with beams, but he did have to always know where his feet were because one step out of bounds counted you out in Judo. Not to mention needing to keep one's stance.
 
Sloan was extremely familiar with the beam, and this one was so wide it really wasn't difficult to stay on it. The problem was she didn't have any combat training, so although she stayed fairly steady herself, she wasn't good at being able to break through Xander's wall to hit him back. The best she could hope for was that he'd make a misstep, but she could tell she was already working harder than he was.
 
Having gained a solid stance, Xander rarely moved his feet, but his hands were fast. He did have combat experience - of a sort - and it showed. He took Sloan far more seriously than he did his brother, and he worked to black more than to attack, letting her tire herself out. It was still close. She got in a couple of good blows that nearly toppled him even as he blocked them. Then he started striking back slowly and methodically.
 
Sloan did her best to fight back against him, but even though she had excellent balance, there was only so much she could do. Still, she didn't go down without a fight, and she tried to be clever about it. Ultimately, Xander gave her one good hit, and the force of it was all it took to knock her over. It was too quick for her to regain balance, she was in the foam before it fully processed it.
 
Xander checked to make sure Sloan was okay, and the instant he knew she was, he raised his foam weapon above his head in both hands. "Domination is mine!" he called to Alec and Claire.

Alec dutifully clapped. "I'm not calling you boss!"

"How about master?"

"Absolutely not!"

Xander grinned and dropped down off the beam to help Sloan up. "All right there, Slo?"
 
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sloan answered, accepting a hand up, "Don't brag too much, one day we'll finally do our pull-up competition and you'll go home in tears."

"This is why I'm really glad I only battled Sloan," Claire said, fairly impressed and very relieved she didn't have to battle Xander.
 
Xander snorted, quick to let go of Sloan's hand. "I never cry at a loss. In the rare occasion I do lose." He figured he would lose against someone who played on parallel bars more than any monkey, but he wasn't going to admit it! "Come on. Who picks next?"

"Yeah, he's really good at stuff like that," Alec told her with a touch of pride. "Not that he needs to be told."
 
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