Dynamics (Twoset Violin Fanfic)

Chapter Two

Brett had always been flexible. He was flexible about his school, which he chose to be with his friends. He was flexible when his parents focused all their attention on his older brother, the lawyer. He was flexible when one of his roommates said they couldn't pay their share of rent and could he please cover it for just this month. Spoiler alert: it wasn't just a month.

Needless to say, he was also physically flexible, which was why his parents had signed him up for gymnastics in the first place. Even though he wasn't double-jointed or anything, his first coach had always said "Brett, your spine is like a pipe cleaner." Although he'd taken that comment as a compliment, Brett preferred to think of his skeleton as a low-key Australian hippie, who said things like: "It's all good, mate" and "life's too short for pain." Strange flexibility notwithstanding, he'd come to love gymnastics on his own, but ultimately chose circus.

Which brought him here, in an overheated room across from a boy who couldn't do a split for his life. Obviously, he would have rather been working with Destiny, the woman he'd met earlier. She, unlike Eddy Chen, didn't unnerve him. There was just something... different about the boy across from him. At first glance, he seemed like your average acrobat: somewhat tall, short hair, lean muscle. But he didn't fidget with the same nervous energy as the rest of the students, even though he'd shown up 20 minutes late. He didn't even flinch during Coach Henry's "inspiring" speech about the different ways you could break all your bones if you didn't "have a mat and a spotter at all times, buttercups!"

If that was the case, Brett was being a terrible spotter. Based on their earlier "conversation" (if it could even be called that) Eddy seemed to be the aloof, stoic type. But as soon as he tried to do a split, he bit his lip as if holding back a string of very artistic curses.

"You alright?" Brett asked.

"I'm fine," Eddy said, a bit too quickly.

There was an awkward pause.

Okaaay, Brett thought. So the scary boy will probably hate me if I ask again, but he might get injured if I don't.

Another pause.

Screw it, Brett thought.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "Because your pupils are kinda dilated and"— he brushed Eddy's wrist with two fingers— "your pulse is going a zillion kilometers an hour even though we just started stretching."

"I already told you, I'm fine," Eddy said.

You're obviously not, please don't hurt yourself, Brett wanted to yell.

Wait a second, he thought suddenly. Dilated pupils, increased pulse, angry... oh no. Brett never thought this would happen, but his short interactions with his party-loving roommates might be useful right now.

He glanced around the room before dropping his voice to a whisper.

"Look, are you high? I won't snitch or anything but it's just really unsafe to be—

"What. The. Heck." Eddy interrupted, his voice shaking with anger.

"I'm not high," he hissed. "You can ask me a math question or whatever. Just because someone's not as flexible as you doesn't mean they're on drugs, ok? Now, can I please stretch without being interrogated?" he said, glaring.

"Sorry," Brett squeaked. But only because Eddy's coherent sentences meant he was sober. He would have come up with a math question, he really would have. He certainly wasn't scared of the taller boy or anything.

Eddy scowled in response. Brett silently cursed his roommates. Both boys continued stretching in silence, each upset with the other.

Coach Henry walked around, correcting everyone's form and occasionally pushing someone's splits down a bit further. When he reached Brett, he simply gave him a curt nod.

Then he saw Eddy.

"What on earth are you doing, cupcake?" he said, crossing his arms.

"A split, sir," Eddy said, looking directly at Coach Henry.

Bold, Brett thought. If the coach asked him something like that, he probably would have started apologizing profusely.

"Well, it certainly doesn't look like one," Coach Henry snorted. Then he sighed. "Square your hips and shoulders, right now you're practically doing a left split and not a middle one. Point your toes and keep your back straight, you're cutting off your circulation," he directed. Being Coach Henry, he was speaking loudly enough that everyone in the room started staring.

Eddy adjusted his split accordingly, and Brett saw his indifferent expression flicker to agony for a fleeting moment. Then his mask of calm returned.

"And just for good measure...." Coach Henry said as he pushed down Eddy's shoulders slightly.

To the other trainees, the whole scene just looked like a coach adjusting a student's stretch, something they'd all been through themselves a million times. If you want to excel in any sport, you have to push yourself. If you can't, your coach will. It was so ordinary, everyone stopped staring and went back to chatting quietly amongst themselves.

But Brett knew that Eddy was already nearing his flexibility limit. He heard a sharp intake of breath and a few choice words whispered in Mandarin that Brett wouldn't repeat for a million dollars.

Called it, Brett thought.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Coach Henry asked Eddy, in a tone that made it very clear he was not sorry.

"I said thank you, sir," Eddy managed.

Brett gave a half-suppressed laugh. He couldn't help it: he didn't even know it was possible to be that obscene in such a short time. And now, Eddy was trying to play it off as a 'thank you'? It was just too much.

"Excuse me?" Coach Henry said.

Eddy looked at Brett.

Oh, he's talking to me, Brett realized.

"Sorry sir," said Brett, coughing to hide his laugh. Eddy looked like he was about to collapse, so it was time for a little flattery. "It's just that... your feedback was so good, he... didn't know how to express his gratitude."

He briefly glanced at Eddy, who dared to roll his eyes at Brett's obvious lie. Brett gritted his teeth. He was trying to help him, for crying out loud, but Eddy just wasn't taking it.

But it was Eddy's smirk that was really the last straw. It looked more like a grimace, but it got the message across.

Oh, so you want to play that game, Brett thought.

Maybe you'd like to help my partner some more?" he said innocently.

Eddy gave him a glare that dropped the room temperature 10 degrees. Brett smirked back (and tried not to shiver).

"That's enough for now," said Coach Henry gruffly. He moved on to the next student.

Eddy's posture immediately reverted back to its original twistedness, incorporating only about half of what Coach Henry had said.

"You'll pay for this, partner," he told Brett, quietly enough that no one else could hear.

"Looking forward to it," Brett replied in Mandarin, just so Eddy would know he had understood every word. His face deadpan as to not draw attention, but he was unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

This was going to be fun.