Begone, I Asked For Gains [Brittany]

There was a name Brittany liked to refer to this feeling whenever it arose inside of her chest: it was called intuition. Right now, it was just it, her intuition screaming to her she was correct. Sad as it sounded, she couldn't imagine being trapped in someone else's prospect of a life. Or rather, she could as she has been there, with a different, non-resigned outlook in life. If she abode to others' rules, she wouldn't be Brittany to begin with.

“Yeah, but…do you want to be that someone? Do you want to be the "cannon fodder"?” It almost pained her to see someone so young letting others decide how he should live, and what he should be…especially someone who clearly isn't satisfied with the fate chosen for him. "Cannon fodder". They weren't close in any way, but deep inside, or not so deep, Brittany felt some sympathy for Joseph and an urge to help, even though she couldn't really approach a start. “Uh, sorry… I'm, like, asking too much, aren't I?” It was none of her business and yet she couldn't simply ignore it. Still, some part of her acknowledged her meddlesome behavior and decided to direct her attention back to the original purpose of being in the gym: practice and mind cleanse. Her steps walked softly, then turned into a straight line run, preparing to what would come next. It was not a simple routine: front handspring, step out, round off, back handspring, step out, round off, back handspring, full twisting lay out. So far, her physical prowess enabled the girl to fulfill it to absolute perfection, at least till the last part. This time, again, she would stop at it, sighing at the routine's end before performing the twist jump. No matter what, concentration would disappear precisely before she could try it...

Whether what Joseph said was a prospect compensating for having little control over his present choices or not, she wondered. Right now, despite his attempts of shrugging it off as if he was in fact more ambitious and relaxed about his future than the girl could think, she couldn't shake the feeling it was a façade. Ultimately, it was up to him. In one hand, she could never force him to admit the truth to her specially as they have no intimacy whatsoever. On the other hand, there was Brittany's good nature telling her to keep an eye out for him, just in case.

“Hum...kinda? I dunno, I'm not concentrated enough, I guess.” After she landed the last handspring, therefore with her back turned to Joseph, she'd stood there, both hands adjusting the looseness her hair bun earned due to the fast routine of exercises. “I gotta get this done before the next presentation, but geez....”

Yeah, obviously she kinda had something in her mind. But not the kind of thing to confide to a regular citizen, let alone a cadet. “Yeah, some stuff from work. No big deal, but just big enough to make, uh...a little bit anxious? Dunno how to put it...” Her solution for it was to come up with a half-truth. Being a Terrorist is somewhat akin to a job right now - a forbidden risky job but still a job! -, so one could say it was a lie. On the other hand, Joseph would probably think it was some modelling-business issue giving the way she presented it and the fact she has previously stated her involvement with the fashion business. “Anyway, I'll be fine. It's all a matter of mental attitude! Some things are less complicated than what we make it to be, really!”

Brittany blinked a few times, processing what Joseph has said. Naturally, talking about the issue with her closest friends was the obvious course of action, but listening how eloquent and understanding Joseph was about the whole matter grew a seed of admiration in Brit's heart that would later evolve into a nod and a smile of gratitude.

“Alright!” She had not much to say other than that. In a way, she felt inspired and Joseph's words would sure linger for a while. However, now she had to keep training. A good performance wouldn't come without practice, after all.