Help

by WittyNameTFM

Chapter 22. A Natural

"Indigo, it's good to see you again, how are you?" Dr. Waller asked, giving her a soft smile.

"Tired." The teen replied, slumped against the couch in her therapist's office.

"I was informed you had an incident that took you to the hospital after our last session, would you like to talk about that?" She asked, concern slipping into her tone.

"I had a panic attack, apparently." She said with a sigh.

"Do you know what could have triggered it?" The woman asked.

"I think so. I was freaking out after I left. I know what you said, but something just made my heart drop at the idea of putting more onto them."

The doctor frowned softly, making a note. "Have you-"

"After I got home, I told Sunny." Indigo cut her off. "And we told the girls the next day. I even had a talk with Lemon." She said, "I don't deserve them." A bittersweet smile crossed her face.

"Now, now." Dr. Waller said. "You've opened yourself up to them, putting yourself down now will only foster more negative feelings."

"Right." She shook her head. "I'm just trying to get back to a sense of normal…right?"

"Normal has been a bit skewed for you, Indigo." She said sadly. "But you're making your own normal now."

"Seems like it. What do normal girls do?” She asked, looking down. “I hang out with friends, do school stuff, have a job, what else is there? Dating? Pft,” She scoffed. “As if.”

“Well, that is something that people your age are usually interested in at this point in life, but I don’t think trying to set yourself up to be ‘normal’ is the correct way to phrase it.” Dr. Waller said with a small frown. “You’ll really set yourself up to be disappointed if you can’t accomplish something you deem as normal even though you’re capable, just not at a good point in your recovery to handle.” She explained.

“So, that’s a no on dating?”

“I didn’t say that, Indigo. I’m not here to tell you what you can and can’t do with your life, just to give a little guidance to help you feel more comfortable with yourself and your choices.” She spoke, taking notes. “There are a lot of variables in that route, a potential partner could help your self confidence, but there’s no telling how things will go without trying.” She sighed.

Indigo crossed her arms, looking down in thought. “Pft, that’s if anyone would want a screw up like me anyway, so don’t worry about it.” She waved it off, though the thought would stick in the back of her head for the duration of the visit. ‘Dating was ‘normal’, she could do that.’

“Take care, Indigo, I’ll see you soon. Please call if you need anything in the meantime.” Dr. Waller said as the athlete stood to leave.

“Thanks, doc. I’ll see you.” She said over her shoulder.

Indigo opened the door, heading down the stairs to the first floor again, a brief flash of the last time she left this office hit her suddenly. She shook it off, there was no way she was gonna pass out in the cold again, she huffed as she exited and began walking. The afternoon was still nice, that kinda cool air that came with sunset. ‘You’re friends with Shimmer’s girlfriend.’

‘Even Dash is dating someone, and she’s gay?’ She mused as she walked. ‘I mean…the hair was a giveaway, but whatever. If she’s happy, that’s what matters, right?’ She asked herself, feeling a little jealousy twinge within her. ‘Maybe I need a boyfriend or something?’ She thought, looking up, picturing herself with some kids from the school. Something in her felt off, the idea of kissing, or even hugging any that came to mind just wasn’t appealing.

‘Hmm. Maybe I need to get to know them more before I’d feel up to that stuff anyway.’ She told herself. She reached into her pocket, taking out her phone. ‘I wonder if the boss would let me work a few hours…’ She thought, she wanted something to busy herself with, too many thoughts were swirling in her head. She texted Sunny where she was headed, just to avoid the worry that would come if she hadn’t. She knew Sunny would feel better knowing if she wasn’t coming home right away.

‘Hey, I’m gonna blow off some steam at the gym before I head home. Just letting you know so you don’t freak out again.’ She typed out, before hitting backspace on the last bit. ‘Just so you know’ was fine.

‘Let me know if you need a ride home after, okay?’ Sunny replied. A smile crossed Indigo’s lips and she felt a bit lighter in her step, just from the simple reply.

‘Gotcha, you’ll be the first to know.’

She turned the corner, heading downtown to the gym. Upon entering, she greeted her coworker, heading past reception. Loud banging and grunts of exertion were the norm for a gym, but they were usually accompanied by the sound of metal clanging with the bars and weights, but these sounded more like wood clattering.

“Hit the ropes.” A voice instructed as she walked into the gym proper to find the boxing ring filled with a handful of prospects, Michiru and Ronin stood by the apron, giving instructions. “Okay, let me get in there.” Ronin said, climbing in. She took one of the girl’s arms, guiding her back against the ropes. Indigo stepped up beside Michiru as she watched on. The masked woman led her through a cycle of running off the ropes, ducking down and getting up for a leapfrog. The tomboy’s eyes tracked the skillful athlete’s movements, remembering how often she’d seen these moves used in matches.

“Howdy Indigo, thought you were off today.” Michiru said with a smile.

“H-Hey.” She said, still a bit nervous to speak to the woman.

“C’mon, what’s with that reply?” She gently shoved her with a smirk. “Thought we were friends.”

“Friends? We barely know each other…” Indigo blinked.

“All the better for you to talk more. I saw you watching Ronin.” She noted, crossing her arms. “Did you think about joining the class?”

“I’m kinda going through some stuff at the moment, I can’t really commit as much as I would want to if I got into this.” Indigo admitted, frowning.

“Hmm, I understand. That’s okay, you know.” She nudged her again. “You just look so invested, I figured I’d ask again.”

“That obvious?” Indigo said with a faint blush.

“You’re a fan of her’s, it makes sense that watching her work is entertaining.” She nodded, “I know what you said, but how about hopping in the ring with me after class? You might get the itch.” She smirked.

“But I have no training-”

“I know that! I’ll show you the ropes. You might just like it from the inside, you know.” She teased.

Indigo sighed, but stepped up to entering the ring, going through the ropes was cooler than she'd admit. She looked around, the inside felt so much larger than it looked. Michiru hopped over the top rope with practiced ease. The young woman rolled her neck as she spoke "Alrighty, we're gonna start simple. Collar and elbow tie up." She said, putting her arms up, instructing Indigo to follow suit.

The rest of the class resumed with Ronin teaching them, occasionally glancing over to watch the prospect.

With a lock up, Michiru brought her close enough to speak. "Quick way to adjust plans on the fly. Keep that in mind." She said, "Now, lead me back to the ropes."

Indigo pushed forward, making the movement even seem like a struggle as Michiru caught on, allowing herself to be pushed back, though from the outside it looked as if the student just overpowered her teacher. Ronin gave an approving nod, but focused mainly on the paying students.

An hour passed in a flash, she was taught how to run the ropes, duck and drop down as Michiru hopped over her. She slowed to a stop at the ropes. "Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

"Pretty sure." Indigo said, catching her breath.

"You're a natural, dude." The elder grinned.

"Yeah?" Indigo asked with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah! And I'm not just saying that either."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, if you ever wanna take it more seriously, I'd be glad to have you." She pat her shoulder.

"I'll think about it. I've still got some stuff I'm trying to work out."

"That's fine. We'll be here for a while." She nodded. "Feeling any better?"

"I guess so?" She asked. "It was fun and I could definitely see myself doing this more. I guess I needed something to focus on that isn't my usual issues."

"Good luck on figuring out what you need to, I'll be waiting to teach you again." Michiru grinned.

Indigo waved, heading out of the gym. She took out her phone and typed a message to Sunny. She knew she'd be there soon, one of the few people she could rely on. 'Maybe…she'll know what I should be doing…' She mused, crossing her arms. 'Sunny's probably had dating experience before.' She thought as she was hit with a twinge of…jealousy? Maybe not, but it did make her feel something and it wasn't good.

'And what if she did? Why did I get upset by that? She's her own person…' Indigo shook her head. 'This is too much to worry about right now.' She tried to think more about her wrestling class. Something about it felt right. A natural, huh?

Author's Note:

Sorry about the lateness, been feeling pretty sick lately. The last 4 days have been miserable. Hope you enjoy!

Comments

[The Sleepless Beholder]

I hope you recover from that illness. Good chapter and nice to see dating being introduced into the story. This'll get interesting

[Danyram1308]

A good chapter. I look forward to when things get serious between Sunny and Indigo.

[WittyNameTFM]

11224142
Thanks! Its not great at the moment, but I'm sure it'll pass.
Thanks for reading

[WittyNameTFM]

11224428
Thanks and me too, Indigo seems to be catching more onto the idea, so baby steps.