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

[momslilassassin]

"Most of the trillions only noticed there was something going wrong towards the end," Ben said bitterly. "Most of them don't think it's their problem. For me...it was a family fight. And it got really, really ugly."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen had never been in one of those, but it had happened enough in the histories she'd read. More than enough. "Those usually do," she offered quietly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

[momslilassassin]

Ben shrugged, obviously uncomfortable. "It's one way to grow up."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen knew better than to push someone in this situation; God knew her social skills were horrible. Even if she did want to protest that he was too young to be growing up that fast.

"I guess it is." Didn't mean she wasn't genuinely sorry, still.

[momslilassassin]

"It's practically a family tradition," Ben said. "Maybe this means I can skip losing a hand."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"That does tend to really screw up your balance," Jen noted. "I'd recommend against it if possible."

Jen kind of failed at defusing situations with humor.

[momslilassassin]

"Plus there are all these parts you have to carry around to fix your fake hand and people give you looks," Ben said with a very, very tiny smile.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"And I don't know about your world, but even a thousand years from now in mine that still makes travel security a bitch," Jen added, the corner of her mouth twitching.

[momslilassassin]

"Metal detectors are a pain," he agreed.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Some things," Jen said dryly, "are universal."

[momslilassassin]

That almost got her a smile. "Part of the Jedi thing. You mess with us, we whack off your limbs. You're still alive, but you remember what it felt like to have your limb whacked off. Totally effective deterrent."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"People back home for me would say that isn't very civilized." Jen snorted. "But then again, neither are a lot of the other things they do, so I can't say anything about that."

[momslilassassin]

"And we think it's much more civilized than being shot from a distance," Ben said. "Lightsabers are much more elegant weapons."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"They are pretty cool," Jen said with a touch of envy. Okay, a lot of envy. Just because her Chronosabers occasionally did a nifty light-up effect, it wasn't the same. "But your philosophies still don't make that much sense to me, I have to say."

[momslilassassin]

"That's because we're making up a lot of them as we go along," Ben said easily.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Okay, now you're messing with me," Jen said, raising an eyebrow at him. And grinning just a bit.

[momslilassassin]

"My grandfather's totally making things up," Ben told her solemnly.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Him?" Jen laughed. "He didn't strike me as the type."

[momslilassassin]

"That's how he gets you," Ben said. "By looking like he's never smiled in his entire life."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"What still gets me is the part where he's your grandfather, because I'm pretty sure he's not that much older than I am, and no matter what my brain knows about timeline wonk, my eyes are telling me something different," Jen admitted.

[momslilassassin]

"His new wife is having a baby soon," Ben said, looking a little grossed out.

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Which means you'd be older than your own . . ." Jen trailed off and looked a little horrified herself, but chuckled. "Except, at the same time, not. It's days like this I wonder why I decided I wanted the headache of dealing with this stuff for a living."

[momslilassassin]

"For a living?" Ben repeated. "Yikes."

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

"Well," Jen amended, "actually having the time travel issues were secondary. But it's not like I didn't know the Time Force Police had to deal with that stuff, when I signed up."

[momslilassassin]

"Time being in the name and all," Ben agreed.