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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deva" data-source="post: 1449137" data-attributes="member: 13573">In the gym, Raisa sits on the floor at one end of a length of tumble mats while putting on her dance slippers - not unlike ballet shoes but a little more flexible. Over the sound system a quick rhythm plays softly. Her head bounces lightly with the beat as she stretches her legs out to the side, nearly doing the splits. She closes her eyes and leans forward so her arms are stretched out before her and her forehead is touching the floor.She sits like that for a moment, letting herself fall into the music, her breathing synchronizing with the rhythm, until she pulls her hands beneath her chest and lifts her body off the floor. Her elbows bent at a ninety degree angle, she lets her weight rest on the back of her upper arms as she holds herself a little over a foot above the floor. She quivers momentarily as she gains her balance, and after a minute she shifts her weight forward and pushes her arms straight to lift her into a handstand with her legs still spread to either side.Slowly she rotates her legs so they now extend front and back, then pulls them up and together and holds the rigid handstand for a few seconds before letting go of her center. Her hips buckle and she begins to fall backwards, but at the last moment she curves her back and lets the momentum carry her into a series of flips and vaults down the length of the mats. At the opposite end she turns abruptly, takes a few running strides only to cartwheel into a second run of precision vaults. Raisa comes to a stop at the edge of the mat a mere second after the music stops and is walking toward the square mat set out a few feet away when another song, a soft Latin ballad, begins to play. No matter how bad things seem, she can never stay mad at the world when she dances. It is her sanctuary from the Big Bads, the scary things that lurk in the real world, and the only thing that chases away her darker moods. She could find release in it always and would be content to spend every waking minute just letting the music take her away.It would be easy, were she not a freak. It seemed inevitable that "Amazon" would dictate her direction for now. Things were expected of her and she had an obligation to her family and to herself to see it through. But today, she had one more day to just dance.With a smile in her eyes, Raisa steps onto the mat and rises to her toes and pirouettes a few times before she settles into a ballet-style dance she uses to warm up with.</blockquote>

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