The gym [afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

Ben's already terrible mood had not been improved by hearing about John and Hurley on the radio.

So there he was, down in the gym despite the workout he'd gotten with his grandfather earlier in the day, kicking the ever-loving crap out of the heavy punching bag.

He was getting the feeling that he'd need his instincts to be sharp in the next few days.

[OOC: totally open omg]

Comments

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen, as it happened, was in a pretty lousy mood herself, having had a run-in with some zombies on her run this morning. Why they always managed to show up when she wasn't armed -- or properly armed anyway, because as cool as pink paintballs had been they didn't do a thing against zombies -- she had no idea, but it was starting to get annoying.

A long, long shower later she was . . . ready to get sweaty again, so down to the gym it was, with every intention of using the heavy punching bag.

Seeing it was occupied, though, she went over and hauled out a practice dummy instead, then got to work on that.

It was, as a routine on a dummy that couldn't fight back (that was never as much fun) went, a pretty surgical job. Series of feints to break down the other guy's (hypothetical) guard, finishing with a head feint and a jab to the solar plexus. Slam an arm down across the back of the neck, elbow to where the face would be. Spinning back kick to drive him back a few steps, several rapid jabs to the face and chest, hook kick to the kidneys, a spin and a knee into the stomach, and a sweep that actually knocked the dummy over.

Jen stopped, breathing heavily, adjusted her Chronomorpher's position on her wrist, and set the dummy back up again with a regretful look. Really was a shame the thing couldn't fight back.

She took a few seconds to breathe and focus, then launched back in at it again.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's eyebrows rose. "Nice technique."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen had completely forgotten he was there a few minutes ago, actually, and she turned to look, leaning on the dummy as she got her breath back. "Thanks. You're pretty good yourself."

Around Fandom that wasn't exactly a surprise.

[momslilassassin]

"Lots of recent practice," Ben grunted, lashing out with a foot and shooting the heavy bag all the way across the room.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen had to gape at that.

"Nice," she said admiringly. Then, just to amend her statement, "The kick, I meant. The other part doesn't sound so good."

[momslilassassin]

He shrugged. "It is what it is." He held out a hand and called the bag back using the Force. "I'm getting the feeling my skills are going to come in handy sooner rather than later."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Jedi, or other kind of telekinesis?" Jen asked, because she liked to know these things. "I get the feeling we're going to need everything we can get. The zombies are getting thick out there."

[momslilassassin]

"Jedi," Ben replied with a tight smile. "And I'm also trained with guns, which a lot of us don't do any more."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"I'd think you guys don't need them much," Jen observed, "but it's always good to have options."

[momslilassassin]

"Exactly," Ben replied. "A lightsaber's good in close quarters but if you can neutralize the problem before it gets close...that can be better."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen made a nonverbal sound of agreement. "I tend to do a lot of close-quarters work myself, but there's definitely something to be said for picking off targets from range."

[momslilassassin]

"Harder to see the fallout, for one," Ben said quietly.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen's ready crack about giant robots sort of went off the rails, and she nodded. "There is that, yeah." It kind of killed her to see someone that young talking about this like he knew exactly what he meant.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm doing it again," Ben said, running his hands through his hair. "I'm generally a lot less...this."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"A lot less what?" Jen asked quietly. God, she'd saved kids his age more times than she could count, and he looked a lot like she'd felt on more than one occasion. Even worse, maybe, and that scared her.

[momslilassassin]

"Depressing to be around," Ben admitted.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen's chuckle was sympathetic. "It's okay. I've been that person a lot."

[momslilassassin]

"Really?" Ben asked.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Depressing . . . too serious . . . no fun. Take your pick," Jen told him. "But people put up with me anyway, so it's only fair."

[momslilassassin]

"I think the list of people willing to put up with me is going to get a lot shorter," Ben said, reaching for weights to lift as something to keep himself busy.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. You might be surprised." Jen started a series of half-speed punch combinations on the dummy. "Anyway, it's the ones who stay on the list that count."

[momslilassassin]

"It doesn't help that I've got people from home--but different timelines--are here. And I can't--won't--tell them what just happened," Ben said.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that problem." The look Jen gave him was completely sympathetic. "I hate that."

[momslilassassin]

"You're from a wonky time thing too?" Ben looked distinctly relieved. "My grandfather teaches here."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Your grandfather? Not Master Skywalker?" Jen asked, grinning slightly at him. "And yeah, I have all kinds of time travel problems. My ex-fiance from the future was here for a while, and so was my ex-boyfriend from the past, and I knew everything about what was going to happen to both of them and it was the worst thing ever."