Both Aeris and Jax had been engrossed in their sparring as they traded blows, every now and then one of them would try to swipe the other’s legs out from under them with their own between blows, but usually the other blocked or evaded the attempt, and even if they were tripped, they recovered quickly and easily jumped back up and resumed their barrage of strikes. There were jumps, flips, spins, and twists incorporated among their strikes, on Aeris’s part more than Jax, but he was surprisingly limber for his large build. Neither of them had stopped to acknowledge when An-Lok had entered the room, although Aeris could feel a slight change in Jax as his focus slipped just a little, although it was initially not enough to trip him up.<br/><br/>Next came Jek and again, they both seemed unfazed by the onlookers. Aeris kept her attention fully focused on Jax and the blows he sent her way, not willing to allow anything to distract her, even the one she loved. Jax, for his part, managed to stay focused, but the longer he was in An-Lok’s presence, the more his subconscious began to draw him towards her. It was a small change, but enough for Aeris to catch and extort. For the briefest of moment’s, his gaze shifted toward An and Aeris attacked without even a moment’s hesitation. She moved quickly, easily moving to wrap her legs around him, twisting her body with enough force to uproot him, twist him, and slam him into the mat below. She landed above him, crouching with her open palm millimeters from his chest, hovering over his heart.<br/><br/>“Don’t let yourself be so easily distracted,” she told him, “Lose focus like that, show even the slightest weakness in a real battle, and you will lose more than a match,” she warned with a serious look on her face. It melted easily though as she smiled lightly, standing and holding out a hand to help him up. “It was a good match. I haven’t had a workout this good in a long time,” she told him honestly. “Yeah, me neither,” he replied as he took her hand and stood before they both turned to the other two as they Jek’s clapping and An’s footsteps drew their attention.<br/><br/>“Thanks,” Aeris beamed happily at the compliment as she worked to get her breathing back to normal. She felt that he wished to wrap his arms around her, but he didn’t, which was probably for the best. She was very sweaty and hot from the workout, so it probably wouldn’t have been the most pleasant hug. She was happy to have him next to her, though, despite any disagreements they all might have about the mission that lie before them. “I can go another round if you want to give it a go,” she grinned at him, giving him a teasing wink. She felt lighter now, having released all of her frustration, tension, and stress during their match.<br/><br/>Jax had given an appreciative smile in response to Jek’s compliments before shifting his attention to An, whose heavy steps were soon upon him. His smile grew as she gave him a peck on the cheek and gave his biceps a squeeze, “Thank you,” he replied, “I haven’t felt this exhilarated—or bruised—after a match in years,” he replied, obviously happy to have been able to let go and fight without any reservations. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before looking between them, “What time is it, anyways?” he asked, having lost track of time as they’d sparred. It had to be at least 5:00, probably closer to 5:30 or later, but it was hard to tell.<br/><br/>Aeris allowed An-Lok or Jek to answer that before speaking up, “We’ll be dropping out of hyperspace soon. I can feel it,” she noted, “Perhaps we should go wash up and get dressed?” she suggested, not interested in going out all sweaty and gross, or in the fitted crop top and loose capri pants she currently wore. Jax nodded in acknowledgement, also wanting to wash up and put something a little more suitable on before it was time to head down to the planet. "Agreed. I could use a shower," Jax said, looking to the other two to see what they thought.<br/><br/>It would probably be another half-hour or so before they arrived, so if they wished to talk about what was coming, or if either of the other two wished to spar a little, they could spare a little time to do so; if not, though, she thought it was probably best that they go prepare for what was to come. There was plenty they could all probably say, but whether it would actually do any good was a whole different question. Jax wasn't sure that there was much left that they could say unless they all wanted to actually open up and talk about the underlying issues--something he had never been great at.<br/><br/>Aeris, for her part, wasn’t surprised by the issues they were faced with or how tense things were. She had her doubts that things would be solved with their simple agreement days before, and she had been right. It was not that simple. She’d called them all together at that time in hopes that they could sort things out in a more real way, not put a small bandage on a broken leg. But she’d seemed to be the only one who had felt that way, and she’d allowed herself to get swept up in their words, hoping things would work themselves out.<br/><br/>It was stupid, allowing herself to hope again when hope had ever brought her was misery. Why should this time be any different? Still, she had wanted, and still wanted to believe that somehow it would work out, but her cynical side told her she knew better. At any rate, doing nothing a hoping that somehow things would magically fix themselves was foolish. If you want things to change, you must do something. Otherwise, you’re just a coward running away and calling it faith. They would have to address this head on at some point; if not now, it would be later, but it would happen, either voluntarily or when things blew up in their faces and they had no other choice. That was how she saw it, anyways.