Work It Out

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Blue was quite used to sitting by himself during exercise time. He preferred to spend it in the library but there were times when he was dragged (sometimes literally by the warden) outside. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the company of his uncles. It was that they didn't have that much in common anymore and he needed all the time he could get to work on his own designs since he had to devote some to time to the 'home work' he got from school. The problems, as they were called, would not have been difficult for him when he was an infant but he still needed to hand it in.

A genuine school problem had Blue hard at work one sunny afternoon. Balancing his sketchpad on his knees he was coming up with a defense system for a game the children liked to play during their own yard time. It involved throwing large red balls at one person who tried to deflect them. The rules seemed dubious at best and it seemed unfair that he was always the child against the wall but if he refused they wouldn't let him play at all so he did his best. it was not an easy task especially for someone like Blue and especially against someone like Wayne Scott. The bigger boy had an excellent throwing arm and before Blue knew it he was down making himself an easier target for the others.

That was why he was determined to create something that would give him an edge. A wristband of some sorts? It would be small enough to take to school but would it be too small to provide adequate protection? It wasn't always easy to see the projectiles flying his way; he wouldn't have time to bring his wrist up. That idea was out as well as the clunky invisible dome. He tapped the end of his pencil against his chin. What would work best in this scenario? He had discussed this dilemma with Minion but the fish was just as, if not more so, stumped as he was.

Lost in thought, he jumped when Uncle 29619 came up behind him. "Whatcha makin', little brother?"

Once his heartbeat slowed down to a reasonable level, Blue sighed. "Nothing so far. I can't come up with a decent thing to help me with a…a game at chool."

29619 sat beside him. "What kind of game?" The real question he had was what kind of game had a kid genius almost busting a brain cell on his own safety equipment but that was beside the point. Blue explained the general gist of the game. "That sorta sounds like dodgeball. You don't need anything fancy for that. You just gotta dodge."

"There's a lot of balls."

"Then catch some and throw them back."

"Why would I give them back?" When he got hit he let the balls fall off to the side. The less ammo they had at easy disposal the quicker the game ended. Of course that didn't always stop Wayne from gathering them up in record time. That didn't mean he had to help them.

His uncle shook his head. "Throw them back, not give them back. If you hit them they're out. Less balls you gotta dodge."

The very idea made Blue's eyes widen. "I can do that?" How many more rules to this game did he not know? He normally hated admitting not knowing anything about something he encountered but it sounded like this was to his benefit.

"Well, you're certainly allowed to. I don't know about 'can'; let me see your arms." Blue stretched his arms out straight in front of him, palms down. 29619 took hold of his wrists and brought his arms up and to his sides so from shoulder to elbow was parallel to the ground and the rest was pointing to the sky. Giving the skinny arms a wiggle 29619 considered the raw material. "Hmmm. Might need some work." He motioned Blue over to the area of the exercise yard that he had never been, the actual exercise yard. There were several weights and barbells as well as other strength building machines that the youngest resident could not identify.

He examined the barbells that had been left behind from another inmate. The weights on them were bigger than his head, which he knew was saying something. "I don't know if this is the way to go for me."

29619 waved away his concern. "You won't be starting with those, little brother! You work your way up. You got small arms so you start small but before you know it you'll be lifting all kinds of weights." He lifted his arms in the same manner he lifted Blue's. The boy had to admit that they looked rather impressive. If being stronger could help him fit in with the other children the way it must have done for Wayne then it was worth a try.

He followed after his uncle, weaving his way through the various workout equipment. Uncles and other inmates did double takes when they saw him as he normally avoided the area. He gave them small waves and hurried over to 29619. His uncle was standing next to weights independent of any machine. "These, Blue, are called free weights. They're a good way to start." He picked up the smallest of the weights and, after some consideration of its weight, handed them to Blue. "One in each hand," he corrected when the boy attempted to hold both in cupped hands.

Shifting them into the correct position certainly helped but just holding them made his arms ache. "What do I do with them?"

"Lift them over your head." 29619 picked up a much larger example of the free weights and demonstrated the proper method. "Do a couple of reps of these each day and you'll be ready for anything those kids throw at you."

Unlikely, thought Blue but attempted to copy his elder's movements. He lifted them as far up as his ears a few times before his arms gave out. "How often do I have to do this?"

29619 put the weights back. "Eh. That's a good start, I guess. Oh! How often? Every day is best. Let the muscles know you mean business, right Bobby?"

Bobby, prison number 41907, was neither an uncle nor a non-uncle. Blue didn't know him very well and although 41907 thought a child in the prison was bizarre and, quite frankly, a clear sign that the whole system was out of joint he didn't pay much mind to the small blue inmate. Still, this was one subject he understood well. "Practice makes perfect, runt. If you want something you can't expect it to fall in your lap. You gotta work for it."

Blue eyed the weights with disfavor, his bottom lip unconsciously sticking out at the thought of doing that on a regular basis. Exercise period was the best time to think up schematics. How was he supposed to work on his own projects if he was always busy with building up his defense?

Pout noticed, as it was fairly obvious, 41907 uncharacteristically offered a solution. "Why don't you start with sit ups and push ups. You don't need any equipment for that so you can do it in your cell. Helps clear the mind too which probably is a good thing for a head that big." He lightly jabbed a finger against the forehead in question. At the limit of his involvement he turned back to his own exercise regime.

Blue rubbed the spot. He knew the other inmate didn't mean for it to hurt so he didn't say anything. Besides, the idea had merit. If he didn't need any of the 'free weights' to do it then it must be easier and being able to do it in his cell certainly freed up plenty of time for his inventions. "That sounds great, 29619! How do I do the sits and pushes?" Exercising, on the whole, did not thrill Blue but he knew all too well the necessity of pushing one's limits.

29619 grinned. "Great idea, Bobby! Why didn't I think of that?" 41907 snorted but didn't comment. "Okay! Let's do push ups. Lay face down on the ground."

"On the ground?"

"Well, yeah. You have to get a little dirty if you wanna win." Blue grumbled but followed instructions. "Put your hands flat down by your head. Shoulder width apart, not so close together. Same with your feet but go on your toes. Okay, not literally on your toes; bend them a little. That's…better." Blue's feet were technically in the correct position but the toes were bent far back in an impossible angle. 29619 found it a little disturbing. "Now push down against the ground."

Blue didn't move. "I thought these were called pushes-up."

"Push ups, yeah. You push down on the ground and that makes you push yourself up. See?"

"I see the ground, yes, though I fail to understand the dis-tink-tion." Nevertheless he added pressure against the concrete even though a few stray pebbles bit into his palms. His arms shook but with determination he felt himself lift.

His uncle was silent for a moment. "Um, not really what we were trying for. Lift your head and level yourself out. You look like one of those fancy stretching moves."

One of the nearby guards laughed. "Yoga, Sam. And you're right. Nice Downward Facing Dog, dude." Blue flopped down in defeat.

41907 shook his head. "That was just embarrassing. Try sit ups. Even girls can do those."

29619 waved him away. "Leave him alone; he's just top heavy. Besides, your mother can't do anything so what does that say about her?"

The other inmate scowled but didn't respond as he knew it was true. 29619 clapped his hands. "Don't pay Bobby any mind, Blue. He's just grumpy cause the guards confiscated his mail again. He's got a point though. Sit ups are easier. Maybe you should start with those. Lay back down on the ground but on your back this time." Blue was not feeling particularly happy with how this experiment was going and would rather label it an 'unsuccess' but he did as he was told. "Keep your feet together and bend your knees up." 29619 knelt in front of him and placed his hands lightly on the top of Blue's feet. "Now put your hands behind your head and bring it to your knees."

This sounded worse than the pushes-up. He was, as his uncle stated, very top heavy. His head currently weighed twice as much as the rest of his body. He hoped that ratio would change as he grew older but at the moment there was nothing but a thin neck and narrow shoulders to hold it up. Doing what his uncle asked of him seemed daunting but he knew his uncle was only trying to help him. Linking his fingers behind his head where skull met neck to limit the amount of strain on such a delicate balance, Blue took a breath.

His stomach clenched. His teeth ground together. His legs were desperate to lift off the ground to counterbalance this arduous task but his uncle's hands gave them no leave. Distantly, he was aware his uncle was giving him words of encouragement but they were drowned out by the blood pounding in his head. When he could do no more he went back down wincing at the hard ground and panting.

"Well," 29619 said after a pause, "you got the form right at least. That was a good half of a sit up."

"More than half." Blue defended. He could tell. He was precisely 5/8 up, to be perfectly clear and he knew from experience that rounding up or down in any calculation was never wise. Still, it was less than what he hoped. "Perhaps my people were never meant to do this sort of thing." He'd probably never know for sure but this seemed like a good indication.

"I guess." 29619 was not comfortable with the idea of aliens of the otherworldly sense. He had seen ET as a kid and although the title character was a good sort it still gave him the heebie-jeebies. Most of the time he tried to ignore that Blue was…as unique as he was. "Keep it up though. It'll get easier. When's your next dodgeball game?"

There was no set days that they played but Wayne seemed to favor the game. "Tomorrow, probably."

"Oh." 29619 scratched his chin. "Maybe you should just wear a helmet."

Blue's face immediately cleared and he grinned. "That's it! Oh, thank you, 29619!" A quick hug was given before the boy dashed back to his sketchbook. If he wanted his defense up and running by the next day he had some serious work to do.