In the recreation hall, Luna realized seventeen minutes and thirty three seconds into her run on the treadmill that she wasn’t exactly alone on the machines anymore.  An uncertain glance to either side of her showed the considerably taller Kris jogging along at an easy pace, looking for all the world like he was just taking a simple stroll in the park.  On her left, Jonghyun was attempting a similar approach, appearing slightly less svelte with his shorter legs resulting in faster strides to maintain an equal speed.

                Still jogging, she pulled the ear buds from her ears and paused her iPod.  “Um…  When did you guys get here?” she laughed lightly, having completely missed their appearance.

                “Just a couple minutes ago,” Jonghyun answered first, giving her a thumbs-up and a winning grin as his arms swung loosely at his sides.

                “Not that long, Luna,” Kris assured her on the other side with a confident half-smile.

                Rather perplexed by the unexpected company, she continued looking at the dragon and couldn’t help but comment, “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you on a treadmill.”

                Before he could respond, Jonghyun spoke right behind her, “Yeah.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to impress her or something,” he snorted with a roll of his eyes.

                Kris shot him a glower that Luna missed when she looked at the shorter male with a furrowed brow.  When she looked ahead, he resumed his half-smile and added, “I cannot fly in here so I have to find other methods to suffice.”

                “Oh,” Luna nodded and turned to him directly.  “I get it.  So you use it to keep your stamina up so that you’ll be able to fly better even though you can’t exercise your wings indoors, right?” she smiled, trying to puzzle a reasonable answer out.

                “Exactly,” Kris agreed with a nod, glancing at Jonghyun with a satisfied smirk.

                Focused on his otherwise valid dilemma, Luna missed the exchange with one finger pressed against her front lip in thought, the other hand swinging rhythmically at her side.  “So could you maybe do pull downs or some sort of flies to work your back and shoulder muscles?” she asked, gesturing towards her back with both hands and faltering when she lost her stride at the unusual motion on the treadmill.  “Yah!” she yelped with a giggle, snagging the handlebars while she stumbled to regain her footing.

                “Careful!” Jonghyun urged while Kris reached out as if to steady her, longer arms nearly able to reach with little trouble.

                “I’m good!” she chirped, settling back into a steadier pace, even if she was flushing rather brightly.  “I guess I shouldn’t try that again.”

                Both males breathed a sigh of relief and Jonghyun took the opportunity to direct his next statement to Kris.  “You seemed a bit confused when she mentioned some of the exercises.  If you’d like, I could help show you a couple,” he assured the taller male, winning a grateful smile from Luna who beamed at his offer.

                “That’s right,” she nodded in agreement towards Kris.  “Jonghyun does a lot of weight lifting in his free time.  I’m sure he could help you with those if you had any questions.”

                “Sure,” Kris agreed through a rather forced smile, shooting his competition an annoyed glare when Luna shifted her attention briefly.

                “It’s settled then,” Jonghyun smiled, the expression considerably more genuine while he regarded Kris with satisfaction.  “There’s no better time than the present.  Come on, Kris,” he urged, stepping off the treadmill and gesturing for the dragon to follow him.

                “Don’t worry,” Luna waved after them, keeping one hand on the handrails to make sure she didn’t trip herself up.  “Jonghyun’s a good instructor.  He’s given me lots of useful pointers,” she assured him with a light giggle, hiding behind her hand.

                Muttering under his breath, Kris turned his treadmill off and stiffly followed the smug Jonghyun to the weight lifting floor.  “You honestly think to give me pointers in… this?” he gestured at the machinery on the floor.

                Jonghyun’s gaze peered around the tall frame and back towards Luna, responding with a cheery, “Yes.  Have a seat dragon boy.  Why don’t we try you out on the lateral pull downs shall we?”

                Satisfied that they were actually playing nice for a change, Luna took a breath and resumed her focus on running, intent to finish out her thirty minutes of cardio before moving onto light circuit training.  Listening to her music, she lost track of what they were doing until a loud clang startled her into yanking them out of her ears, glancing at the pair with wide eyes.  “What happened?!” she yelped, hopping off the still going treadmill when she noticed Kris on the ground, the long bar held in one hand, his other propping him up while Jonghyun laughed heartily beside him.  Another look at the now broken machine showed the cable wire had snapped and the counterbalance weights were misaligned and falling apart.

                With infinite care, Kris set the bar down on the ground next to him, refusing to look at the recovering Jonghyun and instead picked himself up with an embarrassed smile at Luna tense posture belying his otherwise relaxed expression.  “I believe I may have misjudged my strength,” he explained with a helpless shrug.  “Oops?” he murmured uncertainly.

                “Oops?” she laughed, scratching the side of her head with her index finger.  “The machines can be fixed.  I’m just glad you’re both alright,” she explained, patting his upper arm comfortingly.

                Jonghyun cleared his throat and pointed at the machine, “I told him not to try so hard.”

                While Kris bristled behind her, narrowed eyes directed at the shorter male, she nodded at him and agreed, “I’m sure you did your best.”

                “Eh,” he shrugged, looking chagrined.  “Some people are just better students than others is all.  Like you,” he grinned, clapping her on the shoulder with his right hand and nodding at her in approval.  Luna ducked her head and flushed under his praise, grinning excitedly when she saw the rest of the crew coming in from the hallway near the living quarters.

                “Hey Jong!” Joon called, jogging ahead of the pack and heading straight for the basketball court.  “You up for a beat down today?” he laughed, snatching the first ball that came to hand, tossing it back and forth lightly.

                “No you didn’t,” Jonghyun snorted, attention briefly diverted.  “Excuse me while I go teach this blowhard what it means to get a beat down,” he winked, jogging over to the court where Siwon and Amber were already moving to join them.  Behind them trailed Henry and Yesung, looking thoroughly amused, the younger watching the four soldiers with interest.

                “Come on.  Want to go watch them?” Luna asked, tugging at Kris’s sleeve excitedly.  Amused by the question, Kris nodded with a smile, tentatively placing a hand against her upper back to gently guide her along.

                “Luna!” Yesung called loudly, swooping in behind them to capture her in a back hug, neatly prying her away from Kris to his disgruntlement.

                “Yesung!” she whined plaintively, giggling as he walked them forward in a weird side to side pace that had them swaying amusingly with their forward progress.

                “Why are you ignoring us today?” he whined, pretending to be deeply wounded by her absence.

                She snorted at the question and elbowed him lightly in the ribs.  “I just came to work out.  Something you should be doing too, you know,” she remarked, allowing herself to be seated on the benches with Yesung on one side and Henry on the other.

                Annoyed at being displaced so easily, Kris took a steadying breath and plopped himself down on the bench next to Yesung, hard enough to jostle the other male.  When he looked over at the dragon in surprise, Kris was surprised to find his expression matched on the other male’s face.  With grudging respect, he backed down and turned his focus back to the impending game.

                “No!” Amber denied vehemently.  “You are not pairing us together again,” she scowled while pointing at Jonghyun.

                “Like I wanted to be on your team anyway,” he chuckled, moving to align himself with Siwon.

                “Hah!  You are so going down,” she taunted, giving Joon a ready nod.

                They hadn’t even been playing for more than a couple minutes, punctuated by cheering supplied predominantly by Luna, when Kris stood up to retrieve another ball from the rack, bored of watching.  Idly, he played with it on the sidelines, just watching the four humans and laughing at the way Luna didn’t seem to know which side she was cheering for.  To be honest, it seemed as if she was just happy for everybody really.

                “Yeah!” Luna clapped when the ball went into the net, giving Joon and Amber’s team the lead.  “Henry.  Why don’t you see if any of them want to trade out?” she suggested, leaning close after noticing how antsy he was.

                “Nah,” he waved, shaking his head when he didn’t want to interrupt their game.

                “Hey guys!” she called before they could resume play, hopping to her feet.  “Can Henry join you?” she asked, pointing at her still seated and now flushing companion.

                “Oh!  I could get Eunhyuk to even the odds,” Amber laughed, fanning herself with her hand.

                “Come on…” Siwon and Jonghyun groaned, recalling the gryphon’s last attempt at playing.

                “What about Kris?” Joon asked, pointing at the dragon on the sidelines who was easily spinning the ball on his finger, just watching them.

                “Eh?” Jonghyun frowned, nudging Joon with a look.

                “What?” he shrugged, tossing the ball off to Amber.  “Henry wants to play so we need another player.  Obviously, he has some skill,” he gestured at the still motionless potential player.

                Jonghyun couldn’t exactly argue with that.  “Henry!  You’re with us,” he gestured, waving the younger male over quickly.

                “Yes!” Henry grinned, joining them on the floor excitedly.

                With a confident wink at Luna, Kris shifted the ball he was toying with and took aim, shooting it with ease for a perfect shot, hitting nothing but net as it fell through the goal.  “Let’s play,” he smiled, leveling his gaze on Jonghyun who muttered under his breath when the dragon joined them on the court.

                “This is so exciting,” Luna grinned, bouncing in place on the benches when they started playing.

                “Calm down, Luna,” Yesung laughed, actually patting her on the head.  “It’s just a game you know,” he reminded her, focusing on the players as well.

                While it may well have started off as a game initially, with all members taking an active role in defending and shooting as necessary, it quickly devolved into a grudge match between Kris and Jonghyun.  The height differential was nearly comical, not that it stopped Jonghyun from trying to drive for the basket anyway, only to lose whatever lead he had when Kris broke through the guard and trapped him.

                “Jong!  I’m open!” Henry called on the outside, keeping ahead of Amber who tried to block him off.

                Ignoring his assistance, he tried to take the shot with Kris looming over him and lost the ball almost immediately.  The dragon passed the ball out to Joon who attempted to drive in but had to veer back when his defense, Kris, failed to get into position for trailing Jonghyun unnecessarily.  “Kris!” he yelled when he got stuck in place, unable to dribble or shoot for Siwon covering him.

                “You guys do remember this is a team sport, right?!” Yesung shouted from the benches, sitting next to a tense Luna who kept watching with wide eyes, considerably quieter as the game progressed and the score remained unchanged.

                Eventually, Siwon had enough.  “Feh.  I’m done with you two,” he gestured, waving his hand at them in disappointment as he started to walk off the court.

                “Hey, Siwon,” Jonghyun called, tossing the ball off to Henry who caught it uncertainly.  “What’s up?” he asked, catching up to the taller male.

                “Seriously?  It’s like we aren’t even here, Jong,” he snorted with a toss of his head.  “Right now.  It’s you and Kris and we’re just the extras,” he gestured huffily, wiping away a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

                “No it’s not,” he denied, scowling at the dragon.

                “Actually, it is,” Joon shrugged with a grimace, looking between Jonghyun and Kris with a shake of his head.  “I’m hitting the shower,” he sighed, waving at the group and not waiting up for anyone else.  It didn’t take long for Siwon to follow with Amber heading to the lady’s locker room, leaving the other five on the court and benches.

                Frustrated, Henry headed back to the benches with the ball in his hands before he sat down and used it as a foot rest, running a hand through his sweaty hair.  “Sorry, Luna,” he apologized to her when she remained where she was, sitting nervously at the sudden departure.  “Looks like we didn’t quite manage to finish the game.”

                “Yeah…” she smiled with a grimace, looking between Kris and Jonghyun who were officially glaring at each other.  There was plenty of space between them, but neither batted an eye until they finally broke apart and headed their separate ways.  Jonghyun headed for the showers and Kris aimed for the cargo hold doors.

                “Whoa!” Eunhyuk yelped as Kris brushed past him, surprising the gryphon who was punching in the code for access when the doors slid open anyway.  Stepping through, he pointed after the retreating dragon with a confused expression, looking between the three remaining humans until he noticed the ball on the floor.  “Basketball!” he grinned, bounding over to Henry and looking at the younger male expectantly.

                Unable to resist that look, Henry dredged up a smile and tossed the ball to the fairly uncoordinated-on-the-court gryphon.  “Alright, Hyukkie.  Let’s see what you’ve got,” he laughed, playfully shadowing the blonde male who grinned and ran, forgoing all the normal rules of basketball in favor of fun.

                “It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Luna asked, playing with her fingers in her lap with a sidelong glance at her still seated companion.  Yesung frowned and nudged her in the shoulder with his elbow.  “Ow!” she yelped, sitting upright and eyeing him in confusion.

                “If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s both of theirs for being so damn thickheaded and competitive,” he muttered, nodding at both doors the two had departed behind.

                “But…”  With a grin, he slung an arm over her shoulder and dragged her close, rubbing the top of her head with the knuckles of his other hand.  “Yah!  Yesung…” she whined, prying herself away with great effort.

                He snorted in amusement and glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.  “It’s none of my business, but figuring out what you want would save us all a lot of trouble,” he reminded her with a sage nod.

                She gave him an annoyed glare, shoulders dropping slightly.  “You are so not helpful,” she told him, quickly redoing her ponytail to correct the stray strands he’d prompted.

                “Is that any way to talk to your senior?” he frowned at her, poking her in the exposed ribs.

                “Ugh!” she grumbled, sliding down the bench and hastily finishing fixing her hair out of range.  Determinedly, she hopped to her feet with her right hand raised as a fist in front of her.  “Okay!  I…”  She paused, looking at Yesung as if searching for an answer.  “Have no idea,” she admitted with a breathy sigh, slumping forward to drop her arms in front of her.

                “Yep.  Sounds about right,” Yesung nodded, standing up and patting her on the back with a distracted hand.

                With an effort, Luna picked herself back up and brushed the hair out of her face, leaving her hands to rest on top of her head.  “Eh…” she groaned with an unhappy pout.

                “Watch out!” Henry cried in warning.

                Luna turned just in time to see the ball bouncing straight for her face.

(a/n: So... not as funny as the initial post but the rivalry is definitely still there.  I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep this to a three shot or will have to extend it slightly but we'll see.  Maybe a four shot...  >.>  I don't know!  *flails*  I'll let you know when I do though!  haha  Thanks for reading and I hope you look forward to the next installment.)