Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in Gym- Night Time Movement

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aaron Calder (Security Officer) in Gym- Night Time Movement

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in Gym- Night Time Movement
Posted by… suppressed (17) by the Post Ghost! 👻
She had waited till the other person had left before she took out her earbuds and set them aside. Cori put on a piece of instrumental music with piano and violin and stepped into the middle of the open floor area. It was matted, but not heavily. Enough for protection, but not thick enough that it would hinder her movement.

Talking about dance again recently had struck something deep within her. All this talk about what new things she could do was important, but dance was something that she felt desperate to claim back, if only to find out if and how it could be a part of her life again. The reality was that dance carried baggage for her as much as some of the other major events in her life. It was important to test out more than just some simple barre work for conditioning. It was time to see if she could once again fly.

She straightened the mesh skirt that fell mid-shin and made sure the straps of her low-backed leotard were flat against her skin. Pushing her right toes out and sweeping them to the side, pulled her foot back in so her feet were in third position. Holding her arms out to the sides, she waited till the music hit a note that felt right. Then Cori moved.

What her body felt compelled to do was half ballet, half contemporary. She was physically so much stronger than when she had come to the gym that first time to do barre work. Now she was back to full duty and feeling as good as she ever had, if not better! Her turnout might not be ideal, but she didn’t care. She was dancing for her, letting grace flow through her, but also emotion. There was energy to her movements, intention. She punctuated staccato beats with force.

Little by little, Cori allowed herself to become lost in the music, in the movement. It felt wonderful.

~Corinne Dalton

Calder steped quietly into the gym, he found space off the mat and along the wall. Calder was in a tank to and shorts that hugged his legs. His muscles were not large but his strength was clear if not deceptive. His brown blond hair was high and tight with a little wave. He smiled at the woman on the floor as he sat and streched out his muscles. Today was a core day, so he would be using is own weight today. He did not speak, her movement was almost hypnotic..

For his first exercise he placed his palms on the ground, slowly lifting his legs open and into a hand stand, each cord in the muscles in his arms rippled at the new tension, cords appearing throughout his exposed skin. His back arched a little as he dipped into his palms pushing his weight from floor to extended. His leges soon flattened out behind him as he held a suspended plank for thirty seconds then rotated into the splits setting him self on the floor.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

She was aware of the new entrant, but it was like her mind had decided to not worry about it. Strange. Was this Cori feeling more at ease, about existing, about being seen? Perhaps. It was something for her to ponder later.

His precise motions caught her eye as she came out of spin. Breathing hard, Cori watched him for a moment and then her pale cheeks flushed. “I’m sorry. I can turn the overhead music off and just listen to it myself. I don’t want to disturb your workout.”

~Corinne Dalton

He smiled warmly at her, “No, no need, I like it, and it helps my timing” he said, looking up at her from the floor. “Besides you are a great dancer, ” he noted, “Aaron” he said his name . “And?” he asked.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

She smiled, even as her stomach twisted with the compliment. “I’m Cori. Thank you for the compliment, though I’m having a hard time not hearing my old instructor critiquing everything I’m doing,” she said with a laugh. She was all too aware of how unpracticed and sloppy some of moves had been.

“What about you? That looked like gymnastics floor work.” Her dance journey had been varied and included lots of side venturing, even if she had been set on ballet most of her adolescence.

~Corinne Dalton

“Oh well I know those voices, our mentors and teachers often guide us long after we arn’t with them anymore” he said rolling his back. “It, is indeed” he sat up still in the splits. “I have never been able to shake it, and it’s great for actual strength not just big muscles. ” he noted. “My line of work I need all I can get” he said with a grin. He did not want to be rude, so he paused his work out and just sat there talking.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

Cori eyed him for a moment, chewing on her lower lip. “Line of work around here could be a lot of things that need strength, but I’d guess Security?”

She took up a spot on the floor again and let the music play. When she was ready, she balanced on one leg and carefully kicked her leg out behind her. “I did acro dance at one point in my training. The dance school thought it was important for us to have a breadth of experience.”

Reaching down with one arm, her body shifted so that rather than being horizontal, she was now balancing on leg vertically with her head pointing to the floor. It lasted a solid couple of seconds before the tension in her leg made her have to reach out and throw herself into a gentle roll so she didn’t just fall over unceremoniously. She sat there and chuckled. “I’m in the Science Department,” she said, casting the comment back at him over her shoulder.

~Corinne Dalton

He watched her a moment as she danced and layed his palms flat between his legs and pushed up, his legs still in the splits. “Lot a core work” he noted in while she was in the pose. “I’m security” he said holding his pose, “But I’m also a field trama surgeon, I was stationed with the 511 fleet angels, 7th MEU” he said rotating his legs forward and then slowly back and back up into a hand stand. “SAR requires a load of core strength, especially combat medivac,” he noted. “What drew you to Science?”

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

That was a very good question, and one that had a much different answer now than it had when she had been a teenager plotting her future. “Ahh, so you are the ones that often bring the Ogawa new patients. Cool. Well, not for them of course.” The ship responded to disasters and a lot of different scenarios where a flying hospital had value, but it was pretty common for them to be sent crew that needed more care than their ship could provide and would not make it back to Earth.

“Science… hmm, well, when I was younger I would have told you that I hav always had an analytical mind and growing up on a farm on a colony meant that I was predisposed to science every day. It felt natural. But now that I am older and can think about those years with a different sort of clarity, I think I’d say that science feels orderly even when you are looking at the unknown, the seemingly impossible. There’s a sense of comfort in the process, even if sometimes the execution is unpredictable and bizarre.”

Sitting on the floor, Cori took a moment to stretch her legs.

~Corinne Dalton

His legs rotated out and back up over his head. As he started to relax his shoulders his nose touched the floor and then he grunted a push up. “Sounds like you really enjoy your work? How long have you been in the field?” he said dipping down again letting the muscles stretch and have resistance both directions.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

Some days she just went along and allowed herself to drift in this new life. Then there would be a moment like just now where she’d be reminded that everything was fine and yet precarious. They had a story and she had no problem sticking to it. It wasn’t far from the truth, anyway. Cori sucked in a breath as she reached forward to hold her toes. “Umm, it’s complicated. I was a scientist for three years after the Academy. I had something of an… accident on my second posting. Kind of derailed my career. Now I’m looking at science again and trying to figure out what I want to do. When you can pursue anything it’s a bit daunting.”

~Corinne Dalton

He shifted his weight onto one arm balanced for a moment or two, then shifted to the to the other and the scooted down and forward letting his legs out behind him “I can see that, guessing that’s a bit overwhelming. ” He grunted, as he held himself up. “They wanted me to chose between medical and security, so I chose both” he said with a laugh and rolling out into the ground and standing.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

She grinned. “Ahh, so you’re a multi-tasker too. A lot of people are around here. Not all, mind you, but it seems to be the ship for that kind of person. What’s your medical background?”

The music still drifted in the background and shifted to a solo piano piece by Handel that was bright with a lot of staccato beats. Cori pushed herself to her feet and began effectively doing barre exercises sans barre. Balancing on her left leg, her right moved quickly through the positions, her feet beautifully pointed when needed, her toes barely touching the mat, her arms held gracefully in different positions and moving fluidly between them.

~Corinne Dalton

Aaron rotated his feat forward and held there next. “Mmm, I’m technically a trauma surgeon without the dr In front of my name, I guess you could call me a combat medic with a twist?” he was not sure, he was able to perform emergency surgery in the field to save a life, but was not technically allowed to do it back at base though it had happened once. ” You are a great dancer” he said releasing back into a handstand again and then rolling out.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

Cori felt heat touch her cheeks. “Thanks,” she said more softly as she came to balance on one leg, her other foot resting against her shin. Arms outstretched, she tightened her core to hold her frame.

“You have very useful med training. Guaranteed it’ll come in handy at some point. This ship does all kinds of missions,” Cori said.

Calder stood and made his way over to some free weights, and began to work his laterals. “Do you do anything else other than dance and science ofcourse?” he asked he was genuinely interested, he loved people figuring them out getting to know them.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

Letting her braced foot slip to the floor, Dalton shifted to her other leg and repeated the balancing exercise. “Um, well, yes and no. Still finding my way here. But I spend time with the person I’m involved with.” It was a badly kept secret at this point. The Ogawa’s gossip grapevine flourished. She ended the exercise and gave Calder a half-grin. “Sometimes I am tempted to go horseback riding on the holodeck. Haven’t quite gotten there yet.”

~Corinne Dalton

Calder, “Horseback riding sound ok” he said. “I’m a bit of a thrill seeker on my off time, free climbing, skydiving, things like that” he shifted to his other side working slowly adding resistance both direction slow, the goal was to build strength not big muscles. He thought on the ship board romance. “Mm I was dumped on my way here actually” he said his face a showed a little sadness, it was all really knew. “Guess that’s life though”

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

“That sucks,” Cori said. ‘I’ve had my share of ended relationships.” She had to bite back a laugh of incredulity at the two most significant ones. “And yeah, it’s life. Ending and beginnings. Lots of those,” she said, her voice trailing off as the music changed. A stronger violin line played a forceful sort of sound. Not aggressive, but commanding. She half-smiled, speaking out into the room as if even the walls were a part of the conversation.. “The thing is that you never know which beginning will be the key to everything. The one that makes everything else possible.”

~Corinne Dalton

He thought on that a moment as he moved to the other side. “I agree” he said plainly. “I was kinda thinking she was that new beginning but maybe it’s not in the cards for me, I seem to lose girlfriends like a gorn sheds it’s skin” he chuckled. He was light and engaging, inside he was devastated, but growing up the way he did, no one really wanted to know that accept the headshrinkers.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security

Cori smirked. “What’s that old Human saying about having to kiss a thousand frogs? If they were the right ones, it’d work out, yeah?” she said before placing her right back behind her and pushing off into an inwards turn, a pirouette en dedans. “Trust me, I get it. The way I’ve come to see it is that we have to know what we don’t want in order to really know what we do want. Not that it makes the prospect of something actually working out any less terrifying.”

~Corinne Dalton

“I guess” he laughed switching to his shoulders. “I guess, just this one seemed different, but as you said, ribit ribit” he said making a slight frog sound as he pushed the free weights up over his head working through his first set.

Aaron Calder
USS Ogawa Security