The gym, Sunday afternoon

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For the record, Aeryn did leave the gym last night. She just wandered around rather than going back to 238. John had said he'd be gone when she got back, so she's really not in a rush to go back to an empty room. So she's back in the gym, working on zero sleep, trying not to think too much as she takes out her frustrations on the punching bag, and failing miserably at that.

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[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel had been meaning to get back to back to the gym since she returned. Today was the first day she actually felt energetic enough for it. If she also figured that was a good place to try and find Aeryn, well she was multi-tasking.

She came in and quietly started to stretch.

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Aeryn finishes off a punch, almost not noticing Isabel for a moment. When she does, she gives her a "Hey" while trying to catch her breath.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Hey yourself," Isabel replied, reaching down to grab her toes. "You're back."

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"Yeah," she says. "Sorry I didn't call back. I didn't even get the message until Friday."

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"It's okay," she quickly assured her. "I figured you guys were gone and then that you were busy when you got back. How are you doing?"

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Aeryn makes a face and glances down at her hands. Her gloves are in the room she hasn't gone back to yet, so her knuckles have seen better days. "Fine," she says dryly. "Long week."

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"I can only imagine," Isabel said, eyeing Aeryn's hands. "The chip's out. That has to be good though."

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"It is," she says, and it takes a second for that to catch up with her. "You know about that?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She nodded as she continued stretching. "I stopped by earlier and talked to John. He told me a little bit of what happened."

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Eyeing the bag again, Aeryn shrugs. "At least it's over," she says.

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"Is it?" Isabel asked, getting to her feet. "Because you don't sound happy."

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"It's been a really bad week, and a worse weekend," she admits, hitting the bag again, hard.

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"Want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.

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"I have no idea," she sighs, honest. "I think there's too much."

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"Why don't you start small. Where'd you go?" Isabel held out her hand and her bottle of water came flying over. She chilled it, then held it out to Aeryn.

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She takes it, not realizing how badly she probably needed water until she stars drinking. When she's done, she says, "Sold a few weapons on some little planet that led us to another little planet made of ice," she says. "Probably much like the one I died on in that alternate universe, by the way. There was a good surgeon there, though."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

The bit about Aeryn dying in an alternate universe was news but Isabel ignored it as not important at the moment. "So he took the chip out," she nodded. "Jamie and Molly went with you?"

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She nods. "Molly was the one who found me, and Jamie had been accosted while John was trying to get to the Prowler," she explains. "They both were able to help if John got out of hand, so it wasn't a problem at all."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Good choices. Strength and numbers." Isabel got a pair of gloves and started to put them on. "Molly found you?"

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Another nod. She's doing a lot of that lately. "Um. There was a fight when John was taken over. He won."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She returned the nod, hitting the bag squarely. "It wasn't him though. Even though it seems like he's determined to feel guilty for it."

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"I know," Aeryn says. "John as himself isn't capable of that. He could put up a fight, but he would never lay a hand on me."

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"Of course," Isabel said trying to develop a rhythm to how she was hitting the bad. Unfortunately the six months away meant she was a little out of practice. "Did he hurt anyone else besides you?"

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"I don't know if he or they want that advertised," she says, taking a seat on the mat. She actually really needed to just sit for a moment. "But I wasn't the only one, no. I think we were more in his way than anything."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Understandable," she said, although she has a pretty good idea of at least one other person just based on who radio said turned up in the clinic Monday. "I just tried to tell John that I seriously doubt that anyone would hold anything that happened against him. I don't think he believed me."

Isabel hit the bag again, finding a strange satisfaction in picturing the faces of a few of the more uptight Royalist commanders. "Was he able to gain control again after you left? Or did you have to deal with Ugly the whole time?"

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"He was like that for three days," she says, studying the mat carefully. "The surgery was Wednesday. He started coming back to himself then."

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"Sometimes words can hurt more," Isabel said quietly, dropping her hands.

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"Yeah," she says. "Kind of makes me long for the days they weren't necessary."

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"Would you really give all of this up?" she asked, taking a seat next to Aeryn.

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"That depends what 'this' includes," she says honestly.

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Isabel shrugged, "What would you leave out?"

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"The part where everything feels bad," Aeryn admits.

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"Would you believe me if I told you eventually it'll get better?" Isabel sighed and started to take the gloves off. "And at this point I'm speaking from experience."

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"Logically, I know that. It's just a lot at once and neither of us are in a good place about it." See, she's even frustrated into honesty.

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"And talking probably isn't working well at the moment." It wasn't really a question.

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Aeryn snorts at that. "Not at all."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I wish I had a magic way to fix everything," Isabel said. "All I know is that when I got back, talking was too much. Everything was too new, too raw. Just being quiet was much better."

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"I'm trying to let it be that way, give him room," she says, and let's face it, she needs it as much as he does. "He doesn't want to talk. But when there's no talking, I get accused of not being comfortable or thinking he did these things, and when I try to explain, he doesn't want to hear the answers, so we're worse off than we were before."

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"I can see that. Because you're both hurt," she nodded. "As much as it sucks, I think you're just going to have to give it time. But it will get better. You love each other too much for it not to happen."

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"Yeah," Aeryn says, frowning and going quiet for a moment. "I should get back up there." Not that she knows why, except she has to do it sometime.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Okay," Isabel agreed, wishing she could do more. "I told John, and the same goes for you. If you want a change of scenery, or just want to sit quietly with someone, you're more then welcome to come by. It doesn't matter when, day or night. I've got the extra bed and I can do quiet."

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"Thanks, Isabel," she says, and means that for more than just the offer. She gets up and says, "I'll see you later."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'll be around," she replied, reaching for the gloves again.