Aberrant

Chapter 26 - Happy B-day

Early the next morning I actually manage to drag myself out of bed and get to training. The sun had somehow managed to break its way through the grey clouds on the early December morning, but shadows still cast over every inch of the town and the horrid gale forces still managed to make my eyes water and make me regret not having a warmer coat.

When I made it up to the gym I expected to be met with Estril's anger for not turning up yesterday but instead Avex approaches me in a tracksuit, singing '50 Cent - In Da Club.'

"Go, go, go, go go, go, go, shawty," He sings precisely, "It's your birthday, we gon' party like it's yo birthday." He continues to sing as he dances in weird 'rapper' style movements. He's even wearing a snapback.

I wait until he's done, standing there silently judging him. "What the hell was that?"

"Your birthday jam," He says confused, "it's the 5th of December."

Then I realise, "It's my birthday?"

"... Yeah." Avex looks as confused as I am.

"I didn't even realise it was December, wow." I swing my gym bag off the floor and onto my shoulder.

"Hey, that's okay. I always forget that I can't lie and try to do it anyway - which happens a lot now that I think about it, I should probably see a doctor. I don't think I'm supposed to forget those kind of things."

Avex looks like he's about to take a dive into his mid-life crisis a tad bit too early so I place a hand on his shoulder. "So, I think we should do something since it's my birthday, you can make the arrangements if you want." I suggest.

He jumps out of his slumped position and stares at my with sparkling red eyes, "Really?" He squeaks.

"Yeah, we can do whatever." I prompt, already regretting my decision.

"Okay." Before I can ask him what he plans to do he's sprinting out of the building.

That's when I meet Estril's anger, "Where were you yesterday?"

"I was sick." I say without thinking.

He looks at me doubtingly, "Okay, well, call in next time because I don't want to be waiting on you."

"Sorry."

He nods at me to follow him, "Well, we were going to do some more training with your abilities yesterday but we can do it today instead."

"What, really?" I raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well, you can't just concentrate on fighting."

He takes me into a separate room, opposite the gym where there are all kinds of things floating around. I'm not sure what ability he wants me to train, I suppose that I should practice my languages but mass is more useful when it comes to fighting.

"I've read Cree's notes on your abilities and from what I can tell you're pretty good, but controlling your power is all about seeing its full potential, which is why we're going to set a goal each week. We'll be starting with controlling mass."

"So, no language training?"

"You've been training in that since you've been here."

"Not really." I say, perplexed.

"Language isn't just about words you know, it's about movement. How do you think that you beat someone in a boxing match, who had had more than five years of training, in the whole month you spent here?" He shakes his head, slumping against a randomly placed desk.

"Are you saying that fighting is like a language?"

"Well, you haven't exactly got the best punches around here but you're great at reading the other person's fighting style," He says, "and you also picked up on the moves I showed you rather quickly."