Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

She learned that tight-knit relationships could still be unwoven, she learned that simply cornering someone by a move of hers wasn\'t the end of the fight, she learned that some people would sacrifice part of themselves just to win a fight, she learned the consequences of holding back, and most of all, she learned that Quinn was just teaching her how to be tough.

That full-powered slap was a lesson she\'d never forget though there was more to it than that.

Eventually, Quinn helped her up though she almost sunk to the ground when Quinn patted her head. I could only guess the words exchanged by the two but they still shook hands and exchanged smiles when they went back to their own spot.

Quinn was wounding her shoulder over and over when she sat down with us but this time, I was the one who took a look at her. Tatiana and Kaley presented themselves as well but I wanted to learn the extent of the damage she took.

I grabbed Quinn\'s arm and turned it a few times before she hissed and tried to pull away. But to her surprise, I held her like a vice and she could just mutter curses with a grimace.

"Ah— What are you—"

"It hurts when I do this, huh?"

"IT DOES! SO STOP FUCKING DOING IT!"

"Hmm—"

"I SAID STOP MOVING IT!"

"Lotion…"

"Huh? What did you just say?!"

"Hmm? Lotion?"

"The fuck are you talking about now?! Ah— I said—"

I eventually let go of her arm, "I\'m done, I\'m done… Some of your joints were about to stretch to the limit so you\'d need to ice them, like right now. It would\'ve already snapped if you didn\'t stretch beforehand…"

Quinn was still looking at me while her head was tilted sideways, "..."

"What?"

"Hold on, don\'t fucking change the subject! I know what to do with my arm but why did you say lotion out of the blue?!"

"Oh. Look," I said as I held out my palm in front of her.

Quinn started to look annoyed, "I\'m gonna give you one more chance to explain properly or I\'ll crush your head with my thighs."

I chuckled as I put both my hands up, "Easy~ now~ Well… that\'s not a bad way to go…"

"JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!"

"Alright, alright, fine… See my hands? No calluses, right?"

Quinn didn\'t look impressed, "Uh-huh, so you don\'t jerk off a lot. Lucky you."

"No! I mean… That\'s not the point! I tried to remember what Edith\'s hands looked like before and they were as smooth as mine. She had exquisite technique but in order to pull that off, you\'d have to have some crazy grip strength. She did hold you down despite your size— I mean, strength… Yeah, let\'s go with that…"

"That\'s it, you\'re speaking gibberish. Between my thighs you go—"

"Wait! Let me finish! Why do I have such perfect hands… I can\'t explain shit with them this perfect!"

"..." everyone else.

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Fuck you. So, it\'s all lotion then? Is that all?"

"Hmm… You see, I started to learn karate when I was a kid but as I grew older, the demand for having tough hands increased. There\'s a specific type of training for that but long story short, I grew tons of calluses on the back of my hands—especially on my knuckles and the tip of my fingers. I got rid of them by applying lotion every single day…"

"And? What about Edith? You think she\'s doing the same?"

"In Edith\'s case, this is just a guess but what she\'s practicing requires her to grab onto things, not strike them. So, the calluses she developed should be on her palms. I refused to shake her hand that one time but I definitely saw none on hers. I can\'t say for certain as to why she was uncomfortable shaking my hand too but part of it could be that she\'s not confident in her lotion-applying capabilities. She might be really shy but she might be afraid I\'d notice her calluses that were practically nonexistent…"

Kaley interjected, "Isn\'t that a lot to take into account?"

Tatiana added, "Correct… That\'s a little too—"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders, "Hmm~ If it\'s Edith, you might be right on the money."

"I am?"

"Yeah, but why do you hate calluses so much? I kinda like them. For character, I mean…"

"Oh. I did grip training once when my calluses were at their peak and let\'s just say the weight I put on the bar I was lifting was a little too heavy and it ripped my calluses clean off right along with my skin. There was so much fucking blood and—"

"STOP! STOP! I GET IT! DON\'T SAY ANY MORE! JESUS!"

A guy numbered 777 interjected, "Hmm? What is it?"

"NOT YOU! I JUST EXCLAIMED— I\'M NOT TALKING TO YOU! SHUT UP!"

"B-But… you called me…"

"I DIDN\'T! FIND YOUR DISCIPLES OR WHATEVER AND TALK TO THEM! HELL, LOOK FOR JUDAS AND GET EVEN!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

After some time, Quinn asked us to also check on Edith but Sally was on top of things. The side of Edith\'s face was already iced when we checked on them and lo and behold, after a brief talk, I discovered that we were using the same brand lotion.

Kaley and Sally\'s face were twitching non stop when Edith and I started talking for the majority of the matches about moisturizing and lotion-applying skills. She even recommended some honey to add to the mixture we had and Kaley had to drag me away because we need to watch the next match.