The Gym, Sunday afternoon

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

His studies were going well, he was getting some weapons to fill his new utility belt with, and he was even putting together the facade of a social life. But the most important thing to Bruce was making sure that he didn't miss out on any of his physical training. And that meant spending some time in the gym, punching the crap out of a punching bag for a couple hours. He would periodically stop, switch to a different form, and continue punching the crap out of the bag. The fresher he kept himself with the various forms - and the closer he brought them together in his training - he was starting to get a feel for how the different martial arts he had learn could be best blended together into something unique.

But, really, to an untrained observer it probably looked like he was punching stuff over and over for the hell of it. And if anyone asked, that's probably what he would claim he was doing.

[OOC: I'm bored. Hence, open post!]

Comments

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

Kyle used the gym from time to time and today was no exception. He kept a respectful distance from Bruce as he went to get some of the weights to use. He'd never be as bulky as Barnes, but that didn't mean he couldn't work on making his arms as useful as possible.

He gave a silent nod of greeting in Bruce's direction, not wanting to interrupt, but open to have a conversation if that was the way things went.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Kyle," Bruce said after another pause in his punching. "Doing some weight training?"

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"It's been a while," Kyle nodded. "I usually focus on running, but the parkour talk got me thinking about being able to climb too. That bag do something to insult you or are you having fun?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Just having fun," Bruce said. "It's good to get out here once in a while and try to keep in shape."

That... was an obvious understatement.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"Until I came here, I didn't realize there were people who weren't in shape. It's a different lifestyle with the TV and not many places to go."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"The people around here are still in better shape than a lot of places," Bruce said. "We have a lot of random outliers here for whatever reason."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"People don't usually go a long way to go to school?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Usually not more than a few miles from their parents' home. Definitely not through time and space," Bruce said. "That might explain why so many people here are at one end of the Bell curve."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"I never thought about it like that," Kyle mused. He now had a small frown. "I wonder how they choose us then. And why."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Personally, I chose Fandom," Bruce said. "The real question is why I made the choice and not any of the other Bruce Waynes in the multiverse, or anyone else from my universe."

Yes, he had thought about this quite a bit.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"And why at this point in your personal timeline. But not everyone knows about Fandom," Kyle thought aloud. "Does the school board decide who to contact or let know that this place exists? Is there a reason why everyone doesn't know about it? Is there a reason people learn about it at one fixed point in their lives? There are a lot of questions."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I think it's more internalized than that in most cases. I suspect the information's out there for us to stumble across whenever or wherever we are," Bruce theorized. "It's just a matter of finding it. The real question is why we couldn't find it before."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

Kyle nodded slowly, thinking it over. "I was ordered here," he explained. "I don't know when my CO found out about it, but he'd have to have known about it a long time. It's a big effort to send anyone back here from home, and he would have to know it was secure."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Do you know why your CO would make that kind of effort to send you here?" Bruce asked.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

He shook his head. "At first, I thought it was because I screwed up. I did something wrong on a mission and he sent me here telling me to get better. There's more to it than that now. I think he has a plan for all of us. I don't know what it is, or what my part is, but I'm here for a reason. He knows what he's doing." He spoke like someone who had complete faith.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"You have a lot of faith in him," Bruce noted.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"I do," Kyle admitted. "We all do." Well, most. "If anyone can win the war, it's John Connor."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce gave a nod. He understood that kind of faith. It was how he felt about himself. "Who are you fighting this war against, anyway?"

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

He knew this spiel well after having been in Fandom for over a year. "Skynet," Kyle said simply. "An advanced sentient network of machines that was supposed to run defense systems but when it started to think for itself, it decided humans were the biggest threat and set off every nuke and missile it had access to in major cities around the world. Then it made more of itself and got smarter and keeps trying to make us extinct. We're not going quietly."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Hmm," Bruce said. "That's really not the answer I was expecting."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"What were you expecting?" he asked curiously.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Humans," Bruce said. "I know that a robot revolution is possible, but it's still not something I expect to hear."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"Nobody was expecting it at home either. I was only a little kid when it happened, so I don't remember much, but after seeing what it was like back here, I understand why it was hard to adjust." Realizing it was a good place to veer away from the topic, Kyle asked, "you said you chose to come here. Why?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I was looking for a new school anyway and the... variety of subjects seemed interesting," Bruce said. "I wasn't prepared for anything beyond the school itself, of course, but I still think it's worked out well for me."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"What are you learning for? I heard some kids go to college. Some have jobs. Some have other stuff they have to do."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"To take over my parents' company," Bruce said. "There are more companies under the umbrella of Wayne Enterprises than I know how to count. I figure if I learn a little bit of everything, I might just know enough to use the company to do some real good in Gotham City."

There were several truths and half-truths in there. It didn't hold up to much scrutiny if you really studied his class roster since he had been in Fandom, but it worked in simple conversation.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"That's a lot of responsibility," Kyle noted. "Do you have to go to college for that or do you take over the company after you graduate here?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I could do it either way," Bruce said. "But I think I'll still have a few things to learn before I'm really ready. Some extra schooling would probably be worthwhile."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"There are some good people here to learn from. You made a good choice."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"That's why I'm still here," Bruce said with a small grin. "If I wasn't happy with it, I would have been gone at the start of summer."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"You don't mess around, do you?" Bruce seemed very straightforward to Kyle - focused, no-nonsense and not the type to waste time.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Not often," Bruce said. "Time is precious. I wouldn't want to misuse any of it that I have."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

Kyle considered Bruce's words for a few moments. "That's the most sensible thing I've heard anyone here say."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Thanks," Bruce said. "Unfortunately, that's usually a life lesson you have to learn the hard way."

There was a certain tone to it. A tone that, if one were to pick up on it, might suggest that no, there would not be any clarifications of what exactly that meant, but if one were paying attention earlier in the conversation, they could probably piece things together pretty easily.

[OOC: Oh, hey, I guess I missed hitting post....]

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

There was a nod of understanding. Kyle learned the lesson young as well and knew from experience it wasn't something anyone wanted to talk about. "Yeah," he said when he finally spoke. He lifted one of the dumbbells. "I'll let you get back to hitting stuff. You still interested in doing parkour?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"If there's a club, I'll join it," Bruce said before drilling the punching bag hard.

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"I'll let you know if I hear about when the club fair is." With that, he grabbed another dumbbell and gave Bruce some space.