Dragons, Dystopians, and Denial

Elias let out a little pout that Jerica resisted his weak attempt to topple her, but it didn't surprise him. She was strong.

He nodded when she got back on her feet, his pout turning into a smirk.

"What can you not do?" he asked playfully, leaning on his hand again.

She took a deep breath and then let it out with a puff, letting her arms swing to stretch them out. She nodded once, decisively. "Math."

Math. Well, Elias wasn't good at that, either. Most things, really, but especially not math.

"Quick, what's six times seven?" he asked.

"Oh, hmm, that'd be--" She flopped down on the ground next to him, and turned to look him in the eyes. "Fuck you."

Spoiler

Elias laughed, but it came out more of a snort, and it hitched in his throat.

"It's okay, I don't know the answer either," he said, flicking her middle finger away.

She laughed and laid back on her elbows, smirking at him as she gestured at the clearing. "Alright, you're up Soldier Boy. Show me what you got."

Elias beamed. So this was a talent show, huh?

"When I was younger, I used to do backflips in return for a hug. Wanna take me up on that?"

"What's with you and hugs?" she muttered. "But sure, if your boozy ass can pull it off, that'll earn a hug."

"I've been told I give great hugs," Elias said with a shrug, and then got up on his feet. It was a lot harder than he thought since the ground started to spin, but he eventually stabled himself.

"So it's been a while since I've done this," he admitted, squinting down at Jerica, trying to focus on her face. "But I get unlimited attempts. Okay?"

"I'm more than happy to watch you bust your ass repeatedly." She smirked, gesturing for him to continue. "Be my guest."

Elias grinned and nodded, then closed his eyes to try to focus, steadying his feet and legs. Back in the day, he used to easily do backflips and was also pretty hardcore parkour. Unfortunately, he didn't have the same tolerance of risk as he used to, but it wasn't like his body wasn't able to do a backflip anymore.

He pushed himself off his legs and swung his arms and legs for the angular momentum, but it was crooked and not right. He must have not used the same amount of force to push himself off the ground.

Elias landed with a thud on the ground, on his side at first, but then rolling on to his back.

"Ow..." he mumbled, but the smile hadn't left his face.

Jerica laughed, at him, but also with him. "I didn't see much of a flip there, Elias."

Elias groaned, but then sat up and got on his feet. "Just wait," he said, rubbing his head. "That was just my warm up."

The sky felt like it was spinning, so when he tried to push himself off his feet and flip again, he got disoriented and fell on his stomach, face planting the dirt.

"I mean, you did make it to your other side that time," she laughed, pushing herself to her feet. She bent down to offer him a hand. "Changed my mind. Don't hurt yourself, just sit down."

Elias groaned once more, getting up on his knees but then took Jerica's hand to get up. It was like getting pulled up out of a hole when getting buried alive, or pulled up when drowning from a pool of water. Of course, it was neither of these things. She simply helped him up because he probably looked ridiculous trying to do a backflip but failing.

But suddenly she had given him a burst of inspiration he felt was missing from making this a success.

"I got this, I got this. Infinite tries, remember?" he said with an appreciative smile, letting go and steadying his stance again. He pushed off with his legs, swung them above with an equal and high amount of momentum, and then swiftly landed back his feet with a wobble.

He did it. He did a backflip.

Elias beamed back at Jerica and gave her a big bear hug, snugly hugging her waist.