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 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."

[momslilassassin]

Ben blinked. "Wow. Are you sure we're not related somehow?"

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"I can say for sure there are no Jedi in my world," Jen told him. Although that didn't rule out the possibility of someone crossing over worlds somewhere, which led to the inevitability of brain breakage if she thought about that too much.

[momslilassassin]

"You're missing out on all kinds of drama," Ben said with a completely mirthless smile. "Really."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Sounds fun," Jen said in a tone that meant anything but.

[momslilassassin]

"Loads," Ben said. "I was named after a Jedi Master who was my father's first teacher and my grandfather's best friend. He was killed while my dad watched, and that's pretty much been the way things work for the last, oh, hundred years."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"It's sad, isn't it?" Jen gave the dummy a solid kidney punch. "I'm from a thousand years in a version of this world's future, and it seems like there are some things we never learn, ever."

[momslilassassin]

"That's because we're all stupid," Ben said, sending the bag flying across the room again.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen snorted and gave the dummy a good hard roundhouse kick. "And no amount of technological advancement ever fixes that, does it?"

[momslilassassin]

"We just find new and better ways to wipe each other out," Ben said. "During the last few months, I've seen a planet set on fire, another good-sized moon blown up, and a nanovirus tweaked to exterminate very specific families. How civilized."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"If it's not that --" Jen slammed an elbow into the dummy's chest. "It's finding ways to control people. Make them what you think they should be. Or just refusing to see beyond the immediate problem. We just don't ever learn."