what doesn't kill you makes for a good story | open

Stretch deep, reach for the toes. Straighten and move back, following through the full range of movement. Careful, no need to stress the back muscles, and lower the leg down to be back in first. Skylar was moving through her morning ritual, standing beside her makeshift barre in the tiny flat she was renting. She had gone through the same routine for nearly 20 years now, every morning starting out with a ballet rendition and a thorough stretch, each movement perfected and adjusted when needed. Neither her broken shoulder blade nor fractured leg nor the few concussions that happened due to a poor lift - none of that ever kept her down. Even in the hospital, when they allowed her to stand up, she started the same morning stretches, ignoring the doctors and nurses who eventually just shrugged and moved away. 

Finishing in fifth, she sighed and flipped the music on her phone to her musical playlist. Walking to the bathroom, she started to get ready for the day. As she brushed her teeth, leaning against the sink, she browsed the local meetups. Ever since moving to Breckenwood, Skylar had been forcing herself to try new things, aiming to meet new people and, more importantly, pull herself out of her current depression. Far from home with no partner and no income aside from a few lessons she taught in the neighboring city tended to put her in a bad mood. On the worst of days, she wondered if maybe her parents had been right - maybe she should have gotten a degree. However, with a shake of her head, she pushed those thoughts back. 

Scrolling through the available posts, she paused at one that appeared less than 10 minutes ago. Last minute rock climbing that came with instruction? Well, that was something new! She had never been rock climbing but it had always made her curious, especially when one of her flings at one point tried to get her to go. Sadly, at the time she was wrapped up dancing but now....now she had nothing but time. Spitting the toothpaste out, she quickly typed up a quick message to the guy, asking if a lift to and from the park was included. Leaving her phone on the counter, she quickly stripped and hopped into the shower, singing along to the song currently echoing in the small room. As she washed off the conditioner, she heard the distinctive ping of the application go off. 

Smirking, she stepped out just enough to reach the phone, not caring that the water ran down her body and dripped on the floor. Her blue eyes quickly glanced at the message before her lips curled up into an amused smirk. Maybe today would actually be fun. 

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If dancing had taught her anything at all, it was how to be ready in an insanely short amount of time. Finishing with her shower, she toweled dried her hair before slipping into a pair of booty hugging leggins, a cropped sweater and old converse running shoes. Applying her make up in the mirror, she smirked when she saw the response. A vanilla what? Did he know the amount of sugar packed in one of those frothy drinks? Or was he planning to help her work off all those calories in various activities? Laughing at herself, she dabbed a couple drops of her signature perfume on her skin and ran a brush through her hair before grabbing a light jacket, her keys, phone, sunglasses and water bottle. Checking the time, she nodded to herself - 10 minutes on the dot as agreed.

The blue Tacoma was parked in the back parking lot, just as she described. From her vantage point behind the back door of the building, Skylar could just make out the driver and she couldn't help herself taking a second to admire the man behind the wheel. Yes, if he wanted extra activities after the rock climbing, she wouldn't say no. Not that he was offering, she chuckled, slinging into her jacket and pushing the door open. The day promised to be rather good - the sun was shining, disappearing only sporadically behind small whisps of cloud and the wind was barely able to ruffle her hair. Striding confidently to the car, Skylar opened the passenger seat, her eyes glancing first at the center console which currently hosted two very different cups of coffee before going up to meet the man's eyes.

"Skylar Morris," she stuck her hand out to him before grinning. "You must be the best company around?"

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Skylar flopped down into the passenger seat with a chuckle, settling in and letting her eyes wander for a brief second around the interior. This was certainly not the sport cars that her dance partners liked to drive, pristine on the inside to the point of being sterile. She had always wondered how they kept the cars so clean for it never seemed natural - it was as though the men themselves lacked something of a personality. The Japanese truck was certainly not lacking in that, the floor dusted with various bits and pieces of a working man's arsenal. It gave her an insight into what kind of man Wes was - which was anything but organized.

"Oh relax, Dread Pirate Roberts, no one is stealing your precious coffee," she rolled her eyes before pulling out her phone and flipping on bluetooth to pair. Music she could do - with the amount of different genres on her phone, she might as well be a walking DJ. Not that anyone needed downloaded copies anymore, not with all the streaming apps. As they pulled out onto the road, she looked at Westley with curiosity, trying to guess what kind of music he would be into. He was large, taking up a good amount of space in the cabin with an endearing and enticing smile which lit up his face and reached his eyes. Things like classical, ballet, musicals, latin and jazz fell away on their own. He didn't seem like the rock-and-roll type either for whatever reason. Smirking, she flipped to a song in a long forgotten playlist, reaching for her coffee as she watched his reaction.

Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
You better take it from me
That boy is like a disease
You're runnin' and tryin' and tryin' to hide
And you're wondering why you can't get free

"How long have you been climbing for, Wes?" she asked over the music, her tongue darting out to lick the foam of the coffee from her lips. Regardless of the calories, she had to admit the warm drink was good, a step away from her usual oat milk low fat lattes.

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Skylar smiled to herself, seeing his reaction. One either knew The Princess Bride reference or they did not. It was a niche movie in a way though quite a few quotes made it to be modern classics. Besides, it was one of the few movies she could remember that had a main character named Westley. The singing made her laugh out loud, watching his facial expressions with mirth before joining in, her voice a bit more in tune though the second he hit the falsetto notes she snorted in laughter, shaking her head. This man certainly wasn't shy about being himself and she was truly enjoying it.

As he looked over, Skylar couldn't help noticing that his eyes were blue. This brought another smirk onto her lips that she tried to hide behind her coffee cup. He's the devil in disguise
A snake with blue eyes the lyrics sang just in time, Carrie's voice echoing between them for a second before Wes responded to her query, making her raise her eyebrows. Pointers? Her? He was really something - wasn't he willing to teach?

"First time but I'm a quick study," she wiggled her eyebrows. "What was your hardest climb? And more importantly, you are a Carrie fan?"

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"Such a standard cowboy," Skylar joked, shaking her head and looking outside at the landscape. She hadn't taken much time to explore the great outdoors of the town past the waterfront and the park, both of which she adored but after a few weeks, it was nice to get anywhere else. She probably could have wandered to one of the many barns and ranches but she wasn't exactly a horse-lover to her bone and somehow, that seemed a requirement. She didn't really know where Wes was driving but anywhere was an upgrade from the charming quiet Breckenwood. His second answer made her frown, crunching up her nose before looking back at him.

"You grew up here, I take it?" Skylar had never pictured herself out in the boons of society - really, she was a city girl who enjoyed all the damned temptations and frivolities of the big city lights. Breckenwood was an accident though it did agree with her wallet rather well right now - if only she had a more stable job. How one survived such a town as a kid was beyond her - what did you even do? How did you get around without a car or the public transit system? Did you even have any independence? She'd chew off her arm before she gave up her independence - if her memory served her right, wasn't there a mountain climber who had to do just that when he got caught in an accident away from the rest of humanity?

The gruesome image made her shudder and she forced her mind back to more pleasant thought....like the way she liked how Wes glanced at her and his openness to be himself. Fine, she had to admit, his cockiness. It was exactly what she loved and missed, the silliness of the men in her life. It had been such a constant since she was young, she hadn't realized she missed it until now. "You ever taught anyone before?"

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"Hey, you do you chump," Skylar grinned as he mentioned various girls. It wouldn't have surprised her necessarily - he had the easy charm and cockiness to sway many a lady with ease. Whether he could keep them was a separate matter. Not that she really cared about that, the man was free to do whatever it was he wished. As he explained about his friend, she raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming Nate was unable to make it this morning?"

She chewed on her lip for a second before responding to his first question. "Urbanite is one way of putting it. I go where the music is and typically, that tends to be the city. Breckenwood does have some charm....if you disregard the smell of cow manure some mornings." She couldn't picture growing up in someplace in Illinois that was even smaller than this town which already had her wishing for excitement. The fresh air and beautiful landscape did make up for it - she had enjoyed starting her days with a run and enjoying the sunrise up at the vantage point of the park. That said, the chances of her finding a dance partner here were close to nill.

Swiping to the next song, she hummed along as she watched the landscape change and the truck make it into the parking lot, crunching the bare dirt under its wheels. Perking up, she looked around curiously. "We're here?"

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"Jeez, Sherlock, was it that obvious?" She teased, looking behind him over her shoulder. Somehow, she ended up in front, probably because she wanted to stretch her legs. Being couped up and sitting still has never been her strong suit. A small part of her whispered it was because Skylar really wanted to tease the man, knowing her body was in better shape than most. One did not spend countless hours at the barre and training, watching each calorie and counting them as though it was her religion for years to not look as good as she did. Plus, her mother somehow blessed her with curves in all the right places and a nice set of boobs that she was proud of. Yes, shallow as hell but a girl was entitled to use anything she wanted when it came to what she needed. Even harmless fun. "Have you ever tried?"

She arched her eyebrow, already guessing the answer. Ah, small country life. Why was it that the men were to die for but none of them could move in a way that made her wet all over? Waiting for him to catch up, she ended up side by side with him, pulling up the harness and rope he had given her, blue eyes shining in excitement. The trail was quiet, the silence broken by the whisper of the wind, the calls of the birds and the crunching of twigs, leaves and gravel under their shoes. Somehow, Skylar ended up humming a song under her breath as they hiked, albeit not long. Huffing, she turned to Westley once more. "Why did you decide to start climbing?"