(no subject)

[yondu]

Who: Yondu | OTA
Where: Gym
When: Nebula Day 20
What: Old Man Yells at Cloud (Angst over Missing Friends)
Warnings: Possible violence, Probably foul language, discussions of fake people trauma

Gym

It's alright sometimes, and then it's suddenly not. It's a "not" kind of day as Yondu's in the gym wailing on a training dummy with all his energy. His knuckles are already blistered black and his muscles are aching in a way that he can feel it in each punch now. He's feeling his age. At least he's pretty sure that by the time he's done the worst will be worked out of him, he just has to let it all out. And he's not being quiet about the fighting part, he's wordlessly yelling at this thing like it's the enemy he's chased his whole life.

It was never easy, watching someone walk away. It happened to everyone on the train at some point, apparently. Maybe he hadn't made the connection earlier on, when he didn't know or barely was acquainted with anyone. But then later it progressed. Someone he'd know would walk off and he'd feel that same goddamn sense of helplessness again. Like he was sitting in that chair on the Eclector, hands cuffed behind him, voices crying out for him to help them as his loyal crew were marched by one by one.

Of course what the train did was more empty than that. People leaving it didn't struggle, they didn't speak, they didn't rage, they didn't protest, they just walked off stoic and literally impassable. They were empty, but it still provoked that wriggling uneasy failure that roiled in his stomach. This wasn't an inevitable fate like his crew marching out the airlock, but he didn't know what the hell it was and that provoked a different level of hateful out of him.

Afterwards they were gone, and people moved on. People handled it. But every single day that Soldat was missing was another day it felt like them showing up on that platform, bag in hand, marching off to an uncertain destiny was more likely. They'd been in one place before, right? Possibly they could go somewhere else, them and all the caretakers wandering around in that battered noggin of theirs, carrying their own weight of baggage each. Yondu could only hope because they were dead back home to the best of their reckonin'.

It seems like a pretty big reaction to be having to 'just a friend', Yondu didn't feel more than that but that was enough. Somehow they'd become the closest genuine friend Yondu had ever had, someone that deeply cared about all the little shit that made him unique and didn't just think of him some kind of criminal or murder machine, someone that could recognize his raised hackles as defensive. Soldat was nigh on family. They gave each other two different varieties of trust and letting another messed up soul like his in so damn close had been rough in the first place.

He's worn out and he takes a break, seated and dropping his head in his hands until he can pull his energy back up and have another go. He's aching for an outlet and of his two favorites this is the one he's using today.

Comments

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou has very possibly been watching for a while when Yondu drops into a seat with his head down.

So, of course, the priest approaches and sits down beside him, as quiet as the moonlight.

"That good, huh?"

[yondu]

Yondu, both off in his own little world of pissed offedness and with Koumyou's natural grace, doesn't notice the fucker until he materializes beside of him. His whole body jolts as he sits upright.

"Ya almost made me shit myself, goddamn." He starts, but then admits. "Remind me to use ya for somethin' stealthy sometime if I have the chance."

That's where he goes instead of admitting, yet, where his dumbass heart is.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"The moon isn't known for being noisy," Koumyou tells him with some mild cheer, then reaches over to pat Yondu's shoulder. "You'll live. Did the training dummy say something particularly rude?"

[salutosinedelectat]

As far as anyone knows, Aziraphale hasn't once stepped into the actual gym in this car. His closest contact with the place is all the times he's walked through the car to get to the kitchen, almost every day - although not as of late, not as often, ever since he and the demon had shaped their shared room to their own comfort.

It's one of those days he's making the trek to get himself some tea and check what's new in the kitchen, when he hears the muffled wild yelling coming from inside the training room. It's curious enough that he looks through the glass and spots the familiar blue hue, and leads him to pause his kitchen recon for a small chat with a friend.

He looks curiously around at the equipment as he goes in, arms neatly folded behind his back.

"Good morning, Yondu. Working hard to stay in shape, I see."

I hated the tag so I poked it into a logical order

[yondu]

He's never seen Aziraphale in here before, so the sound of his voice makes him look up with a start. "...Did you get lost?" He blurts, but not unkindly. More surprised. But he sighs, and gets back up with a tired, rickety grunt. The comment's pretty funny because he's got the average amount of fat and he's still strong, but compared to most of the chiseled muscular and lithe bodies around here he stands out as a dad bod.

"I'm too old to be in any kind of shape. Besides, I like food too much." He pats his stomach.

He's definitely not unhappy to see him, even if he was startled. Bad judgement call on his part. He has been working hard on wearing himself out. A lot of anger, a lot of sadness, and no certain place to put it.

[salutosinedelectat]

If anyone looks out of place, it's the angel, with his argyle sweater and his nice shoes. He hasn't really devoted himself to exercising ever since angels had their own training, well before they had their physical corporations, and well before time.

"As any good man does." The angel smiles, softly amused. "I do hope I'm not interrupting."

[nell_of_soulwood]

Nell was taking advantage of the quiet to do some exploring. On her wanders she happened to poke her head into the gym, where she saw Yondu punishing the training dummy - or perhaps himself. She watched for a moment, considering, then left as silently as she'd arrived.

She returned carrying a small basket to find him sitting with his head in his hands. She stood quietly for a moment, then softly cleared her throat.

[yondu]

He pulls his head out of his hands, vaguely aware someone is there but not who at first. Knowing there's no real privacy on this damn train but also past the point of caring. He's thrown tantrums in public before.

But it's a milder face than he expects, and he almost feels bad for all the venting when he sees it because it's quite a thing to be so upset in front of someone gentle-natured like that.

"Ah, yeah. How ya doin', Nell?" He asks, shutting up the last of that frustration before it adds some growl to his voice and finding that scratchy equilibrium.

[nell_of_soulwood]

"I think maybe my day is going a bit better than yours," she said lightly. "May I join you'un?"

She held the basket off. "I got some decent coffee and some fresh baked muffins."

[achickenformylove]

WangJi happened to come in sometime in the middle of Yondu pounding on the training dummy. He debated for a moment, tempted to move forward, to reach for his friend. After a moment, he decided it was best to wait a few more minutes.

His thought at least paid off as Yondu soon stopped. As he sat down, WangJi made his way over.

"Do you need to talk?"

[yondu]

WangJi's been a solid roommate and a good friend, and he's already worked a ton of his frustration out. So rather than any other raw emotion he's got going on, he sounds tired by the time he speaks. "I dunno. I can't decide whether talkin' would make me feel better or feel like a bigger dumbass than I already do."

But he does ask him something.

"What was your family like back home?" He'd remembered Wuxian bringing it up on the mission, to the aliens. How he understood a home under threat, having a family to worry for. He assumed WangJi was similar. It was something Yondu just didn't understand because the Eclector had been his home and it wasn't exactly a place filled with love. It was a solid 70% stress.

[goingthroughaphase]

Kitty isn't a stranger to seeing people taking their frustrations out on a training dummy - heck, she's done it quite a bit herself. But for a while she can only watch Yondu as he pummels it, feeling her stomach twist a little as she listens to the raw edge in his voice as he yells.

And she has an idea of why he might be upset. Soldat's disappearance had worried her too, and she felt terrible that she couldn't recall if they had walked off at the last stop. She didn't think so, but she couldn't really be sure now. Either way, she'd felt their absence quite strongly, though she knows it must be worse for Yondu right now.

When he goes to take a break, she finally walks over to where he is. She doesn't say anything as she slowly takes a seat next to him, and after a moment she offers him a water bottle.

[yondu]

For all that Yondu can center himself without having his crew around trying to kill him, there's still that part of him that's genuinely angry and violent and raw. Just generally unpleasant to be around, even if he rarely talks about the reasons behind it.

Soldat had been a real trooper, seeing past it.

He hears Kitty sit down, having mostly been in his own little world despite knowing that he wasn't alone in there. After rubbing his hands over his face he looks up, notices the water bottle, nods his thanks and accepts it. "Borin' as hell between missions, huh?" He comments idly, as if that was the source of the problem (even if, considering her history with Soldat, she likely knew).

[firewalled]

Rich enters the gym, initially intending to do a little bit of sparring, or maybe some meditation to work on what Elidibus taught him, but all his plans fall short when he sees Yondu whaling on the training dummy. That's... pretty intense, and though Rich can't exactly judge if that's normal for him or not, he has a feeling there's something else going on here.

So he waits until Yondu seems to take a breather, and then takes a tentative step forward.

"You're... uh, you're getting quite the workout in, huh?"

[yondu]

Yondu hadn't minded not being alone. He's thrown full-fledged tantrums in public before and this is just angrily beating the hell out of a mannequin.

"Yeah, yeah. Train just got on my nerves." He says in way of oversimplification. "Been a while since I've had to fight real hard- I'm blue team, we get easy shit -so thought I'd put all the energy somewhere."

He says it all casually like he hadn't just sworn a dummy into a shame corner, and his voice wasn't rawer for it. But the biggest thing is he does remember shit Rich said, and he does try to get it under control because that boy has been through a lot. Being around someone that angry when you're from that kind of background? Can be a mess, and sometimes (often) Yondu's prone to outright ignoring that.

"I can quiet it down, bein' noisy helps me fight harder when I ain't whistlin' or whatever."

Room for one more?

[soldier_blade]

In her years in the military (hell, even prior to), Sonya had lost a good number of friends and allies; she knew what it was to try and distract herself from the emotions that came from it.

As such, she also knew what it looked like it others who took the same route.

"Don't suppose you'd like a sparing partner." She took a seat next to him. He might've well wanted a rest, but she was still going to put the offer on the table.

Always!

[yondu]

Sometimes the best way to work out frustration is to just wear ones self out. He looks up from his hands when she speaks, at the moment his expression still tired. But then she speaks and he throws on a sharkish grin. Half performative, half genuine. He does appreciate having a fight that'd give him no time to think.

"Well, I wouldn't mind good company," he tells her in that raspy, folksy way of his, getting up. He almost takes off the armored coat, but he decides to leave it on. He could stand to practice a little more with the weight.

"You been wantin' to work on anything?"

[averyusefultray]

Everyone in the Rebellion had their own ways of coping. Some people drank, some people fought, some people worked. People could debate all day about which ones were the healthier options. It was all coping.

"One of those... days? Weeks? MOnths?" In some ways the train was a more relaxed pace than a war. But it had its own quirks.

[yondu]

"Just... Goddamn train." He scrubs his hands over his face.

He would drink, he would fight, he would work. He would do all the things people deemed unhealthy. He'd probably do better to meditate, but it felt like his wire-addled brain was always too busy for it.

He straightens up then, and loudly works a crick out of his neck. "You get those ship models for the simulator?" He might as well check. Any distraction is a good distraction at the moment.

late with starbucks etc

[wishalone]

Kyoko hasn't slowed down with training. But she's shifted focus -- away from working with her illusions, and more with improving her fighting skills, expanding her repertoire. She wants to be more flexible in her fighting style. Being a magical girl already gives her a lot of flexibility, but the missions she's been on has proven to her that she's still limited. She's already learned a new way of fighting once -- She's not scared of putting in the work to do it again.

But while she didn't stop when she noticed Yondu enter the gym, since he didn't approach her, she does stop when he starts yelling. It's not the kind of sound you can ignore, especially not when it's coming from your family. And it's a kind of sound, a kind of action, that she understands. Instantly, deeply, even if she doesn't know the cause.

She leaves her magical girl outfit and waits until he's done, slowly turning her fully-formed Soul Gem in her fingers as she watches. When he stops, sits, puts his head in his darkened hands, she makes her way over at a slow pace. When she gets to him, she doesn't say anything -- Just sits down on the floor in front of him, legs criss-cross, and holds her Soul Gem out towards his knuckles.

Healing magic has always been her weak spot. But she wouldn't have survived this long as a magical girl if she couldn't at least patch up this much.

[yondu]

He is aware of other people being around, and doesn't pay too much mind to them. Yondu's thrown public tantrums before, even knowing some people would get entertainment out of it. Emotion tends to make him abandon those little shreds of dignity he has left, especially helplessness.

But what he doesn't expect is that his knuckles start to soothe, the ache from trying to murder a training dummy sinking into his hands. He looks up, a little startled.

"It's alright, Candy cane, you don't gotta do that." Spend magic on him, he means. The concern is there immediately.

"You keepin' up on your trainin'?" He asks as if he hadn't just been screaming like his whole heart had it out for him. But it's... something else. Another place for his mind to go.

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Raven had been looking for Yondu, mostly because she had something for him. But also so she could start learning how to fight with a a knife, since he'd said he'd teach her. Somehow she was and wasn't surprised to find him in the gym.

Heading over, she had a pulled out a water bottle from her backpack, and shoved it at him. "Hey."

[yondu]

He hears her, barely, as she comes up to him. It's her 'hey' that draws him to look up, voice familiar, and he knows that she knows something of the situation.

He takes the bottle with a nod, has a drink, offers it back. Then just steeples his raw hands with his elbows settled on his knees.

"...Soldat's not gonna come back, are they?" He's largely resigning himself to it. They've been gone for so long. That's usually what happens, right?

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis hadn't really talked about the spell Caleb and Essek were planning to cast on him beforehand, because he couldn't deal with the sympathy if it hadn't worked. Which meant dealing with the confusion over and over about his new look, or why he'd spent most of a day resting in his cabin.

But he was going stir-crazy and he remembered that one of the things he'd lost was some strength and endurance. So, time to head to the gym and get that back (or try).

He did clear his throat before approaching Yondu. "Mind if I join you."

[OOC: up to you if Yondu has already heard about Zel's transformation, or not. It's not a big train.]

[yondu]

Yondu recognizes someone's nearby, waits for them to either pass or sit. He's assuming pass, because he knows he's not the only person on this train to have a public rage and people tend to just let it go.

But the voice he knows, and it's nice to have that familiar mercenary nearby. Yondu looks up and-

What?

Well, he'd said he intended to do it, but he can't quite hide the surprise that passes over his face. Welp, he looks Terran, and that's a big step to not standing out. "You for real or is that an illusion?" He briefly abandons his own issues to sate his curiosity.

OOC: I'll let him be surprised because it's a good thing to happen.