[hr] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZRIi89Y.jpeg[/img][/center] [hr] [indent][indent][color=darkgray] [i]"...You're doing it again."[/i] He said to himself the second the time was announced and began with an unacceptable 'eleven'. [color=86a8ad]"Anyone who finished in under fifteen minutes is excused for the rest of the day. For everyone that remains, you will run the course a second time."[/color] He cringed. That made things more socially difficult. He'd want to get down the front early to start as soon as possible, lest it appear he's trying to 'show up' the people who [b]HAD[/b] to be here. Which would mean he'd have to rush to get to the start. Which would itself see people making their own judgements about him, or even add further credence to such a notion that he's trying to show them up. People who were already suffering and irritated by the fact they had to repeat something they didn't want to do once were prone to forming such conclusions, after all. [i]'Move swiftly, don't run.'[/i] He thought to himself as he cut a path to River as the new leader began to get himself situated in a position on a bench, his primary duties over the whole group concluded, to now only watch over the remainder and lend aid and support on request. Pallas managed to get himself there first, just in front of the one armed man from earlier. [color=goldenrod]"If runtimes aren't being tracked for the second attempts of the others, would you be able to use the stopwatch for--"[/color] The stopwatch was airborne. Pallas snatched it out of the air, from the leader who already seemed through with the conversation. He looked down at it, standard two-button electronic stopwatch. [color=goldenrod]"This'd all be fine if it weren't for the pool..."[/color] He turned the stopwatch over, checking the battery compartment's seal. If it had ever had the batteries changed it wouldn't be waterproof anymore. [color=86a8ad]"Look man, you passed. You can borrow my stop watch if you want, but there are others who might need my help. They take precedence."[/color] Pallas recognised the tone. He knew the the social exhaustion that he was hearing in River's voice as if it was his own. He wasn't going to get any more out of this conversation, and he barely had the social battery to expand it himself. Besides, he still wanted to get started soon, so he wouldn't be blowing past anybody and raising others' ire. [i]You couldn't just start it and leave it at the finish line...[/i] He thought to himself as he left the new leader's audience. As he stepped away he saw that the line up was expanding, including an assortment of women, most of whom hadn't made the cut-off, but also curiously 'Haughty' from earlier who comfortably had. His curiosity finished there for now, though. [i]No matter. Pretty much the same game plan as earlier. Ten minutes. Control pace, control breathing. You know how to do the crawl now. Technique up, strength down. Throw the stopwatch to the finish end of the pool, before you turn to get to the start. When you hit water, stay submerged and kick hard for as long as you can, to limit the time you're leaking. Control pace, control breathing. Precision, precision. Ten minutes, P. Ten minutes.[/i] He re-affirmed the game plan, instilling it into his being as he focused inwards, striding towards the start. Without fanfare he hit the button to start the stopwatch and he jogged out to the tires, before exploding, his legs firing like pistons as he accelerated through the first obstacle on arrival at the tyres. [i]Precision, precision.[/i] Perfectly placed feet as he burst through. His speed dropping quickly back to the controlled jog as he cut a path to the logs once more. He completed the logs in identical style to the first attempt; hop, bounce, hurdle, box jump and box jump back to springboard over the last. His brething was balanced and perfect, as he returned to his bouncey jog advancing once again to the crawl. He dove forward onto his belly, under the netting and immediately started and settled in to the technique he'd found worked best on the first occasion he'd attempted to do the course. This was a mental test as much as a physical one, but now he felt confidently reassured that he'd found the best way to progress through, he focused on his breathing and technique and made far better pace through the obstacle than the first attempt. He exited at a more stable pace, keeping his run within himself and his breath held steady. He locked his feet on the rope and settled in to once again display perfect form up the rope as it stayed ramrod straight during his steady ascent. With a solid slap on the beam at the top, the rope again burst to life as he swung his way down, biceps swelling as vice like grips once again saw him rapidly descend the rope, avoiding ropeburn. [i]Technique up, strength down[/i]. Back to the bouncey jog, he exploded onto the rope bridge with his confidence brimming. He made great time on this last time, and now with his fine-tuned sense of balance, and precision over his body he could really take advantage of this obstacle as all movement within the system of the rope bridge was due to his own. He perfectly moved with the sway of the bridge and anticipated every motion of the apparatus. His run was building its own momentum now. He dropped down from the bridge, his breathing perfectly balanced, and the bouncey jog once again returned to maintain a steady pace. [i]Ten minutes, ten minutes...[/i] He grabbed the rope swing and threw himself through again without losing stride. And when his feet squelched in mud once more, he didn't sweat a moment of it. He returned to his bouncey jog, knowing the arena's sands would speckle and dry his feet from the first run giving him fine purchase when he hit... He exploded through the balance beam, practically breaking into a sprint on the ascent, his confidence bolstered from the knowledge that his minor concerns were proven waylaid in the first run. He let the steep ascent from the first beam steadily slow him, so that he merely moved at a rapid pace across the flat section before raising his arms briefly to make certain of his descent to not risk wasting the good work that was already in place. He needn't have bothered. He grabbed the stop watch just as he stepped from the beam, and got ready. He took two quick steps towards the far end of the pool and lobbed the stopwatch into the sands beyond the end, before quickly cutting back to continue his run towards the start of the pool. He made sure to regain control of his breath in this, the pivotal moment. [i]Ten minutes. This is doable... Ten minutes.[/i] Without hesitation he lauched himself into a textbook dive and began kicking, his arms forming a perfect 'torpedo'. [i]Stay submerged, kick-kick-kick. Stay submerged, kick-kick-kick.[/i] He held to game-plan, a stream of bubbles leaving in a steady exhale whilst he extended length on the elevated-pace entry stage to his swim. There was no hitch. No burst to the surface gasping for recovery. Only perfectly executed plan. He eventually surfaced and began to pull through the remainder of the pool with strong freestyle strokes, before reaching the end and lifting himself from the water. Golden confidence as he began his bouncing jog to the ladder, but first, he opened up one side to drop his weight and sweep through re-gathering the stopwatch and-- The time was stopped. [i]Don't stop. Maybe this is something else.[/i] He looked at the display and the numbers still held. [i]Oh wait. Maybe it fell on the 'Lap' button rather than the 'Stop' side...[/i] He tapped the 'Lap' button and watched as the numbers all reset to zero. [i]Of course... No such luck.[/i] With his time long gone, he returned the stopwatch and just focused on closing out his run. [i]Surely you're pushing ten minutes though. Or at least better than you were...[/i] He threw himself against the ladder and took his frustration out on the physical demands of scaling the obstacle, making good pace as his arms and legs worked in unison, scaling the tallest monument in the arena. [i]If nothing else, it certainly feels better... Close it out.[/i] He began a rapid descent knowing he wouldn't have to hold much back left in the tank for what little remained in the course, dropped from one rung higher than his first run, now confident that he could comfortably do so without harm to his bare feet, and broke out into a swift sand-skimming sprint towards the long jump at the end. He lunged, this time with more thought for distance than he did on the first run through, when he had more mind for time and completion of the course. And turned to look back and gauge just how far the jump was, whilst pacing, remaining upright and concentrating on breathing through his core until his need and desire to bend over, hands on his knees, panting left his mind. [i]Surely that was ten minutes... Surely.[/i] He kept pacing and considered the two runs. [i]It was better. That's enough.[/i] He answered his own clawing thoughts. That rising pride threatening to show its face and symbolise that he'd truly neglected to learn the most important lesson from the first run. [i]Maybe I could have squeezed a few more seconds out, if I rode my confidence higher. If I had to.[/i] But that aside, the self-assured promise that he could always do more. Always improve. The drive which would always see him arise early the next day to keep working, keep trying harder. But he hadn't shamed himself with this run, hadn't done himself an injustice. He looked across the course at the others far in his wake, who hadn't been as eager to return to the scene of hurt quite so quickly. Many of them were in pairs, finding their way through the course already receiving aid from friends, presumably gained from their longer stay at the camp. Or perhaps getting to know new friends better. He wasn't sure how to offer his own help without interjecting or forcing himself upon people. Made worse by being 'the guy who just ran through the course twice and now wants to show that he's better at X, Y or Whatever else'. It seemed like a minefield. Owl-eyes hung a few seconds longer just to make sure nobody really could use his help. They held an extra beat again at the waif-like blonde who didn't seem to even be able to consider how to approach the climbing rope. That was something he felt he could actually help with. But she'd already been smothered by her own brother, the big blonde guy, earlier and seemed to ardently push away help. But could that be more of an issue of rejecting where the help was coming from. Pallas looked down at the stopwatch in his hand and negotiated a meaningless promise with himself, bargaining over social interaction. [i]Go return the stopwatch, and get your shoes and socks back on, your clothes together... and if she still looks determined enough to try to figure it out, and hasn't got any other help. You at least ask if she wants some.[/i] He cut a path to River, who now seemed to be running some kind of gym session with people pumping out pushups and basic exercise around his feet, and grunted out a 'Thanks' as he returned the stopwatch, before looking to the stands where he left his belongings and figuring out how to best get there from his current position. He curiously looked around the prostrate assembly of bodies at the leader's feet in various stages of exhaustion, and began to make his way to the stands when-- [color=cf328d]“Oh my God, you have the most beautiful pair of eyes I’ve ever seen in my entire life,”[/color] He stopped like he'd been stung. That was... new. He'd never had anyone compliment his eyes before. But then, until he came to camp he spent every public minute of his life wearing his brown contacts. He was wary. Everywhere he'd been, the charter schools, the rich kids of class - and surely demi-gods weren't a far cry from those experiences - these first interactions were always something to be cautious about. They'd almost all been downright predatory. But it hadn't been sarcasm. He felt no... it was hard to describe... vibration? When people were deceptive, when they'd try to lie to his face. To trap him, to catch him out, their words were accompanied by something which was hard to describe, he'd feel it in his bones like an old man feeling a coming squall in his trick knee. It didn't always work... or at least he didn't always pick up on it... and sarcasm certainly screwed with its effectiveness. But his mother had told him that he had an innate ability to divine truth. He just generally didn't see the benefit to being around people enough that he'd ever really had the opportunity to hone the ability. In his own case, the most obvious way it had ever shown itself to him is that in twenty years of various martial arts, sports and other training he'd never bitten on a fake or feint. Ever. So, he was pretty sure that the source of the comment. She genuinely meant what she was saying. Or she thought she did. For whatever that's worth. [color=cf328d]“[i]Oops![/i]”[/color] Ariana exclaimed with a giggle, shifting up into a seating position and looking back up at the young man. [color=cf328d]“Sorry! Guess I should’ve at least introduced myself before I went off on you like that,”[/color] she simpered, mindlessly flipping her silky mane over her shoulder. As the woman apologised for her spontaneous outburst, Pallas realised he'd been thinking far too long about what was just said, and left far too long without any reply to it at all. As he took in all of the glory of the sight of the woman in front of him, Pallas didn't realise that all thoughts of the waif-like blonde and her prior plight with the climbing rope had been stricken from his mind completely. [color=cf328d]“My name’s Ariana. Would you mind helping me up, please?”[/color] she asked the man, extending her arms in his direction and casually batting her eyelashes. He shook the haze from his head and realised for some reason he'd stopped breathing entirely. He exhaled and held out a calloused palm for Ariana to take. [color=goldenrod]"Pallas. ...or Paul."[/color] [/color][/indent][/indent] [center][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img] [color=808080][b]interactions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] River and Ariana[color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]mentions[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] Iliana (and unseen vague reference Heath), Wes, Maylisse [color=2e2c2c]...............[/color] [b]collabs[/b] [color=2e2c2c]....[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]....[/color] none[/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/sup][/center]