sound the bugle now

[chromosomes]

CHARACTERS: John "Reaper" Grimm and anyone who shows up!
LOCATION: gym
WARNINGS: Possible language, references to people dying in horrible ways and PTSD, possible violence, a punching bag being beaten to death.
SUMMARY: Reaper is working off some steam on a punching bag.


[ He hasn't been sleeping well.

He hasn't slept well since he arrived, since he got off Olduvai -- since before that, since the mission in the jungle and Jumper's death. He knows what they call it medically, just like he knows the memory therapy didn't work and probably just made things worse. It sure as hell didn't help his temper. On the ship there's no memory therapy but there aren't any doctors who know the best way to treat someone like him either -- someone superhuman, whose body heals but whose mind doesn't, whose body metabolizes medicines faster than it should and doesn't let them help his mind. The nightmares haven't stopped, have slowly gotten worse instead, and now...

Well, now people are in stasis comas. People who rely on him and the rest of the SEC team to take care of them, to keep them safe. People he has seen in the halls even if he's never spoken to them, and people he has spoken to. People he likes. There's nothing he can do this time and so John escapes from the nightmares when he isn't on duty and hides out in the gym. It's only when he doesn't think anyone else is around or paying attention that he lets himself go all out, though.

That would explain the way the punching bag is knocked off its hook, slamming down a few feet away while Reaper stands there, sweating and breathing heavily but not nearly as winded enough as he should be for a punch like that. He picks up the punching bag and drags it back. Time to go again.

(And again, and again, and again...) ]

Comments

[bibliophilism]

[Michelle walks into the gym, searching for archery equipment - or at least, a target she can shoot at. But when she hears the thump of a falling punching bag (not that she'd know that it was a punching bag but in any case, the source was worth searching for), she follows the sound with quick, deliberate footsteps.

There, she sees Reaper pick up the punching bag and continue beating it to bits, and stands from a distance, watching him.

Well, he seemed okay - if rather determined to kill it.]

[chromosomes]

[ His senses are good enough that he can tell when he's being watched, could hear her coming under the thudding of his fists (unwrapped, yet any time she gets a clear view of them, unharmed) into the punching bag. John had chosen to ignore it at first, but eventually he stops hitting the bag, taking in a few deep breaths before turning his head to look at her. ]

Not taking up your spot, am I?

[bibliophilism]

[Michelle shakes her head and waves a hand airily. Then she walks over to him, smiling brightly.]

Oh, no, not at all!

[chromosomes]

Oh. Good, then.

[ One hand goes to rub the back of his neck, ignoring the sweat there. ]

Just coming to work out, or...?

[bibliophilism]

Well...I suppose I would call it working out...

[She shrugs. She was only here to find targets to shoot at.]

as usual if this is no good let me know dariln'

[the_vishual]

[ The third (or maybe fourth?) time the punching bag goes skittering to the floor, it lands by small, tiny feet in polished mary-janes.

Chase is there, out of her Tranquility uniform and into the clothes they managed to barter on their very first post. She's not upset. In fact her face is quite neutral, because for all of the hustle and bustle on this ship she's yet to talk to this one, she thinks. Seen him over the network, of course, but in person?

In one hand, she holds a towel. The other, a bottle of water, and she silently offers them to the troubled man. ]

chaaaaaaaaase

[chromosomes]

[ There's a kid, and John blinks for a moment. He knows there are kids on the ship, of course, but every time he sees one... well. It's different from Olduvai, where they had their families, but look at how that turned out.

(He doesn't want anything to happen to them -- will die for them, if he has to. If he can.)

The offered towel and bottle of water have him staring, though, and John rubs the back of his neck. ] Uh. Thanks. Just... let me put the bag back up.

chaaaaaaaaase

[the_vishual]

It's alright, sir. We have approximately 14 days of nothing too dangerous happening on the ship, barring disappearances. There's no need to worry for the time being.

[ And her head tilts to the side, hands still outstretched, still offering the towel and bottle of water. ]

Are the nightmares the reason you're here?

[chromosomes]

[ Well now he's just staring, punching bag held in his arms like he's momentarily forgotten what he's doing with it. ]

How do you know all of that? The... days, the nightmares?

[ ... right, putting the bag back up. ]

[olympicgrade]

[ The ship's huge. Anyone on board knows that, even if they haven't gotten lost. There's so much of it that's unexplored, either because they have yet to do so (to her knowledge) or because they can't, and it's not exactly cramped when all of the passengers come out of the grav couches. But Olivia still finds herself uncomfortable with the lack of people running around, with the emptier-than-normal hallways. Especially with the network being buggy; it feels like the life's slowly being sucked out of the ship and it makes her skin crawl.

Not only that, it makes the hallucinations stronger.

They happen mostly when she's alone in her room, trying to get some sleep. Peter appears in her peripheral, tries to urge her to remember things she couldn't possibly because that's not her life and lingers until she either passes out or gets fed up and leaves her room. Even then, he sometimes follows her out. She sees Walter, too - not the Secretary but some seemingly older, crazed version of him - but it's usually Peter.

Tonight (she assumes it's night, anyways) seems to be a worse night than she's had recently, even after the jump, so she tugs on her cargo pants and her undershirt, then stuffs her feet into her boots and heads to the gym. Hopefully it'll be populated enough that the sounds of others will chase Peter away and she'll be able to focus on something else. ]

[chromosomes]

[ John's the same way. There's next to no life on the ship right now and it's driving him up the wall. He's used to long missions where he can't talk to others but he usually had his team with him, usually had more to do than sit and wait. Patrolling is one thing but he can't do it forever -- Tyke won't let him, for one -- and so he's in the gym, still punching away.

Olivia is familiar enough at this point that he doesn't notice her right away, at least not consciously. It's when he stops to double-check that his hands (unwrapped) are healing correctly that he realizes there's another scent in the room, a familiar presence, and he turns to look at her. He's not sure how much she saw but right now, that doesn't matter. She has a familiar look in her eyes and he nods to her. ]

One of those days, huh?

[olympicgrade]

[ She'd let herself get lost in the rhythm of John's punches, the certainty with which he hit the bag, that she's still staring when he turns towards her and even though she doesn't blush or anything, she does give him a sheepish smile. There's no real point pretending like she wasn't watching him, after all. ]

Seems that way. [ Her eyes shift towards his hands for a moment, then the bag. ] How long have you been at it? [ Considering the hallucinations and the fact that John's picked up on them before, Olivia probably shouldn't be talking to him right now, but she can't really bring herself to walk away. Not yet, anyway. ]

[chromosomes]

[ He doesn't mind, really. If it were someone else, maybe, but Olivia's going to find out about what he is and what he can do soon enough. It's just a matter of time. ]

Uh... [ Now it's his turn to look sheepish. ] Can't really remember. Probably longer than most people would say I should be, but I'm not tired. [ Not tired enough, anyway. ]

[licks]

[As much as Kate needs to get used to where everything is, the higher priority for her is getting to know who is all here. She'd already seen Scott. Lost puppy with those big brown eyes wandering around the ship. She was sure Allison would find him soon enough, but that just meant there was one more wolf on board. One that wasn't in stasis still, because it did seem that a few people from Beacon Hills had ended up trapped in the tubes.

With wolfs running around and her not being completely sure if she trusted that, she'd made a habit of changing her routine. Derek hadn't exactly threatened her, but he also didn't invite her over for brunch. There was a definite need for her to be alert.

Rather than take the long way back to her quarters, she cuts across and comes to the gym. Being used. Rather than continue to her room, she steps inside and takes a sweep of the room before just wandering and getting an idea for what was in here.]

[chromosomes]

[ At some point punching the bag has turned into kickboxing it, fists and now feet striking the bag with enough force to make it creak and sway and nearly fall off again. He can't sleep, can't help the people stuck in the pods, can't save anyone here the way he couldn't back home. All the negativity is getting to him and this is the only way he knows how to work it all out, how to be able to sleep if nothing else.

After one particularly hard kick the bag swings right back to meet him and he doesn't get out of the way in time (he should be able to and he knows it, but maybe he had wanted it to hit him). As a result he ends up swearing, stepping back from the punching bad and shaking his head. He probably should check to see if he'll bruise just to keep up appearances but he can't be bothered right now; everything's already healed anyway. ]

[licks]

[Kate had circled around by the time this guy starts going Full Metal Jacket on the bag. Despite the slight erratic movements, she can tell that he's actually trained. Maybe he's space crazy, she thinks, just for a moment until the bag thwacks him.]

To be fair, you might've deserved that one. [It's a light joke, one that's not actually funny, but she's never been one to avoid a risk.]

[chromosomes]

[ Scowling at the bag a little more, John turns his head to look at the woman. She's not someone he recognizes off the top of his head but he shrugs a little anyway. ]

Might've. Somehow I don't think the bag will give us its opinion.

[passe]

[ For the most part, Hal doesn't leave his room - even with the network down, he's been fine to remain isolated, avoid contact with the other passengers. He might be the only one who found some relief when half of the pods didn't open; quieter halls, less of a crowd, less distraction. But even he can only go so long pent up, and so the gym is an exception to the rule, even if he still tends to aim for the quiet hours. Which these had been, briefly, until the fight with the punching bag nearby escalated into an exceptionally violent and exceptionally noisy assault.

He's on one of the treadmills, and he manages to tolerate the noise for a few minutes, tries to ignore it for a few more before it becomes unbearable. Half the point of exercise is to deal with excess energy; the other half is the repetition, the meditative nature of it. Having a punching bag launched across the room repeatedly isn't particularly conducive to relaxation.

The treadmill comes to a slow stop before he glances towards the offending party, and even if he's not quite shouting, the words carry easily. For all they're phrased like a question, they definitely sound more like a command. ]

Would you please be more quiet.

[chromosomes]

[ John's used to working out in a gym filled with people. They certainly hadn't had private ones back in Twentynine Palms for his unit, and there were usually three places on base you could find the guys: in the gym, in the barracks, or in the mess hall. It had been a way to bond for a lot of them, and it's almost strange now, working out without anyone else around.

Well. Almost anyone else.

Pausing his assault on the bag, John takes several steps back so it won't swing and hit him before turning his head to see whoever was pissed off enough to interrupt. ] Little difficult to turn down the volume, [ he retorts, absentmindedly cracking his knuckles before looking down to examine them. He should definitely be wrapping them but he isn't; they heal anyway, and sure enough, there's not a blemish on them. ]

[passe]

[ Hal should just leave. Starting an argument with a stranger is the opposite of what he came here for, but he's not finished exercising - and this is hardly a point of major contention. The other man's clearly been here long enough, judging by the scent of blood and the battered state of the bag.

He's staring critically at John, meanwhile, and when he cracks his knuckles, Hal notices the lack of harm. It's enough to catch his interest, provide another reason not to just leave. ]

Then perhaps you might find it easier to turn down the enthusiasm. You're likely to hurt yourself if you continue like this.

[ It's a pointed remark, either fishing for information or suggesting that he's noticed something not quite matching up. Maybe a bit of both. ]

[chromosomes]

I'll be fine.

[ Leaving now when the other man may have noticed something is too suspicious, and besides, he's not done yet. He's not exhausted yet, which is half the reason he came here in the first place.

But he can compromise. ]

Maybe I'll run for a while.

[ Which... would also put him closer to Hal. Oops. ]

[heroisms]

[ Med bay hasn't been as busy as Peter thought to expect, and while normally that's a good thing, right now it's just an awful thing to deal with. Nathan wasn't locked in, and he'd checked, but that doesn't relieve the worming terror of something happening to the people still inside their chambers.

That's how he finds himself at one of the gyms on the ship after his shift, hoping to have a quiet run on his own, only to find it occupied by— ]

...Hey. John Grimm, right? You and the pizza.

[ He notices the scant sand grains, the imprint of something leathery and heavy impacting against the floor. ]

Are you okay?

[chromosomes]

[ He knows that smell, knows the voice that follows just after it. Reaper takes several steps back from the punching bags, lets it swing back and forth to a stop as he turns to look at him. ]

Yeah, that's me.

[ Is he okay? No. He hasn't been for a long time, doesn't know if he will be for a while. But he just sort of shrugs. ]

Got some pizza of my own this jump.

[heroisms]

Yeah? I guess they decided to trade up on who gets the fastfood menu around here.

[ Peter rolls his shoulders, eyes the rows of sand-filled bags. That must've taken a lot of proverbial kick to swing that bag off the hook. ]

Need a spotter? I've got the medical training in case you need it.

[chromosomes]

[ There's a bit of a snort. ]

Guess so. Ended up giving almost a whole pie to a bunch of dogs as a result, though.

[ The offer is surprising and John blinks at him for a moment. He doesn't need a spotter -- and he definitely doesn't need medical training -- but it's interesting. ]

You a doctor?