voidtreckerexpress | [RABBIT 19]

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[RABBIT 19] - TRAINING GYM

Who: Emporio, and YOU!
Where: Training Gym
When: Rabbit 19
What: Emporio's Daily Training is a Thing, That Happens
Warnings: Usual End Stone Ocean Spoilers for Emporio- Permissions Here!

It is the start of what is a typical day, for Emporio. It's been a long time since he started this habit, but he's done his best not to stop- and he hopes that the people from the watery, alien retreat where he and so many had learned to better defend their minds, would be pleased with how he's been doing.

The boy is dressed simply- swim shorts and a t-shirt from Aquafir work rather well for gym clothes, and he's made use of them since that trip. There are mats on the floor, and his Stand keeps itself feet-to-the-ground before him as the boy practices.

Breathing in-

Breathing out-

Emporio goes through the motions of katas that may seem familiar, and yet not. They look almost fluid- too fluid, like they were meant to cut through water in the process of their motions. The strikes and exercises however, resembling something akin to Tai Chi, become something to be wary of as he begins to speed up per the exercise requirements though. Before him, Weather allows cloud to mist around every 'strike' they take. The Stand moves as if in a fight himself, allowing their charge to learn just enough to adjust accordingly.

Particularly as the end of the exercise comes. With a short, muted shout, Emporio manages to throw his own Stand overtop himself by grabbing hold of an incoming arm and immediately raising both legs. A death grip forming a death roll for the attacker, before Emporio himself recovers to continue the set.

It goes on like this for roughly an hour. Or at least, as long as it takes for any interruptions.

If that happens, Emporio and Weather both pause immediately after all. They pause, turn, and in the case of the one with more capacity to display emotion, blink.

"Oh- ...Uh..." The boy goes somewhat red. "I...didn't think a lot of people came here this early..."

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Thankfully for Emporio, Alice doesn't really look like she's judging him in any way. If anything, it's kind of hard to read much of any particular emotion into her facial expression as she stands there, looking at him and the Stand. She mostly just looks passive, until she shrugs.

"I do not like spending time here while there are many people around."

Hence going here early, while other people might still be having breakfast first.

That's not the main point here though, and Alice bends down to put her plush cat onto the ground before looking back at Emporio. "Did you not want anyone to see that?"

You know, considering his faintly flustered reaction.. Though Alice isn't too sure whether that's the reason lurking behind it or something else entirely.

Sonya wasn't really one to observe a person while they were training, but she was in the habit of sizing a person up-not as a rival or enemy, but how they might work on the various teams.

That was usually the case; otherwise it was just happenstance.

"I'm not a lot of people." She remarked; it was true though, she didn't know many people who got up this early either. "And at my age stretching first thing in the morning is vital."

"I guess that makes sense." Not for any specific reason, mind, but he'd be a bit hypocritical if he didn't see the point in it. "Um- it's not like it's a secret though!! It's more..."

The boy rubs his head, trying to find the words. It's hard to describe the full feeling behind it, but he can't really leave it hanging either. "...I guess...since I'm practicing with Weather, it feels kind of like I'm throwing myself around..? ...so people are walking in on me...beating myself in a practice fight?"

Even though he realistically knows he's not Actually the one going down on the mat (And is actually the one delivering the blow), the feeling of embarrassment is tricky to just toss out.

"Oh- Uh, I guess that makes sense..." He doesn't really have any good argument against that, or even a bad one if he thinks about it. "...I guess the mats are already down then if you need them then at least..."

"Just a short workout this time. Red has KP duty this month." And for that to happen meant an early morning for those capable-or willing to wake up to even start.

"Was that some form of kung fu or another style of martial arts?" Not that it really mattered, but she recognized the moves to a certain extent-the same way a person who speaks spanish might recognize Italian or French.

Oh, Emporio.

It almost feels like a silly thing to be so worried about - especially in the light of all the stuff they've dealt with, and compared to the heavy mood that has seemed to hang around some people on the train with the amount of people they have lost, and keep losing.

Thankfully Alice's own seems a little lighter again. Maybe it's the stop at the island that did her some good, who knows.

Either way - whatever is going on with her is enough to make her shake her head a little. When she looks over at him, she isn't quite smiling - it's Alice, after all - but there's a hint of faint amusement around you.

"I would not worry so much about that, if I were you. Don't you know what they say?"

She pauses a moment, almost for effect, and then adds: "People don't think about you as often as you think they do."

Which is a good thing, in this case. She means to say that people probably aren't overthinking Emporio's actions here as much as he himself is.

"I know...." Well. Intellectually anyway. His face is still red though, and the acknowledgement of who among everyone on the train is paying attention to this only drives it more home as he buries his face in his hands. "It- it's still not something I'm used to..!"

There is the strangest sense that Weather is chuckling at this. Which is odd, considering Weather has done nothing but stand impassively behind the boy.

(The sense is still there though.)

He shakes it off, focusing on Alice. "Uh- anyway, what brought you to this carriage? ...Other than it being mostly empty, I mean..." There's bound to be others that would be this empty, so he's curious about if there was a reason or not.

"Oh!" That does make sense, so he just nods.

"It's...I guess the latter? It's not from Earth," he explains with a small smile. "...Actually I don't think it's really made with humans in mind at all...were you on the train when we went to that training retreat? It was a lot like being underwater, but we could still breathe...mostly we were there to practice defending our minds, but they were practicing this martial art there as well. When I asked if they were willing to teach me, they helped me learn some beginning exercises that would work for my size!"

When he asks that question, Alice gestures in the direction of the cupboards - the one that holds the training dummies.

"I have been informed by several people that I should not be throwing around suitcases." It's said.. a tad dryly, but she at least did understand certain people's concerns - like Emporio's, for that matter. But it was at the very least enough for her to not want to go back there and get lectured over and over again once more.

"So I thought I would upgrade to the training dummies here."

Hey, that's their entire purpose, right? Getting smacked around?

Sure, it's not quite as satisfying as those suitcases, but Alice can make do. It's just about the only method she has on this train of getting her anger out.

Training had become the good chunk of Jolyne's day when they were stuck on the train. Even more so when she was feeling entirely restless, which... was most days, to be perfectly fair. Her normal attire is just the cargo shorts and one of the polos she's, of course, taken the sleeves and collar off of, not particularly interested in the restrictive clothing. It's probably not remotely a surprise, given how she can be.

She pauses as she enters, having expected other people but not him, necessarily. He did have to defend himself at some point, but it seemed like Weather Report had been acting in that capacity. But, hell, he'd been alone for a while before she got here, hadn't he? Would make sense.

Slowly she clears her throat after one roll, seemingly alone at this particular moment. Not that Stone Free is ever technically far from here.

"I see you learned some shit, huh?"

"Uh-!"

It takes a moment to roll back over, Weather Report simply floating there to stare. "Um- a little bit...they're just basic exercises, but the people who practiced it recommended going through them daily to make it more 'natural'."

He pauses, frowning at the mat a bit. "...They also had tentacles instead of normal limbs though, so I was surprised how much actually worked out for me..."

"I was there," Though admittedly she was more interested in the exploration aspect then physical training-however she did get involved in that as well-she said as much. "Focused more on the mental rather than physical."

Especially given her own trauma, anything to alleviate the symptoms was worth a try.

"Ahahahaaa..." There is a weak laugh at the dry tone, but Emporio is soon nodding in agreement. "They'd probably be more durable at least, and it's definitely what they're here for...oh-"

A thought occurs to him. "...I don't know how easy they are to throw but...there's probably other things you can use for that if you want? Or maybe I could make some ice balls for you..."

"Right." He's pretty sure most people were, but he won't comment on that- not the least because he's well aware that most people didn't join in on the physical exercise there. "...Well...I hadn't meant to at first, but I'd come into one of the rooms the people there used for training- and at the time, with everything that happened... ...I didn't want to end up somewhere where we couldn't use our powers, and have no way to defend myself," the boy explains.

"When I brought this up, they were really careful to share techniques they had that I could use! ...I don't know if I could manage the rest of the art without tentacles or something..."

Look at Emporio. Such a good boy, already trying to figure out other ways Alice can take out her anger here. For a moment she wonders if he's just that glad that she's no longer making a mess out of the luggage carriage..

Though she's pretty sure throwing the dummies around here would be just as big of a health hazard to someone accidentally walking in at the wrong time, so she's letting that idea rest for now. Instead she glances over at the boy, asking: "Do you think it would feel good to throw those ice balls around?"

Hey, she's never tried it before. Surprisingly enough.

"I suppose that would be a hindrance." Though she had to give some respect to the race willing to teach others-she knew plenty that tended to be rather xenophobic in that regard. "But it's always a good thing to expand one's skills."

That was why they trained her in knives as well as rifles in the military, and not just because amno was expensive. One couldn't just rely on firearms, especially in the OIA-one had to be able to adapt.

Good thing she's used to the Stand simply floating and staring, one of the few things that never seems to change despite everything going on around them. Her attention remains on Emporio, however.

"Tentacles? I could say somethin' 'bout that, but I'm gonna refrain." For once in her short life, look at that, sometimes she can pretend to be an adult. "It's good, though, to be learnin' that kind of shit. Since, you know, little more dangerous on this train..." Which is a weird thing to say, when she thinks about it for longer than, like, two seconds. "Man, we really did go from one dangerous thing to another, didn't we? Goddamn..."

"Yeah, like jellyfish," he starts, only to pause and then frown. He can, sadly, already guess. It's easy enough to shake off though, at least mentally. With a weak smile, he ducks under his hat in a manner that any other from their world could call strangely familiar. "Y-yeah...though, it feels safer here at the same time? ...We don't have to hide from everyone on the train, and I can use the Ghost Room for something other than...well. Somewhere I live," he laughs quietly.

And then, a thought occurs to him. "I...huh."

"...I don't even think I showed you the ghost room here... ...I guess that proves how much I wasn't thinking about it."

Look, she wouldn't be her if her mind didn't immediately go to the gutter, thank you very much. She can't help a smile, though, as he ducks under the hat. Good grief, there shouldn't be that pang of... something... that she's going to conveniently shove to the side because we're not doing that today.

"... Yeah, that is the nice part, ain't it? Don't gotta be on guard all the time as if someone's gonna attack in the middle of the night or in the halls..." Man, it really is fucked when she thinks about it, but that prison was a shitshow from the very beginning.

Huh. He still has that ability, does he? "That ain't a bad thing. The situation still kinda fuckin' blows, but still better than Green Dolphin." As if that's hard.

"Exactly!" And considering that was his entire life, it's been a heck of a change. Still, he looks a little bashful as he agrees.

"Haha...I still wish I thought of it earlier...it's been kind of nice to decorate it, even if it's just another Quiet Room...do you want to see it?"

Why is this kid so cute, this is so unfair.

"Why not~ 'Sides, not like I gotta train right now or anything. It'll be nice to do something different from my usual routine." Which is... true. Better to not end up in some kind of rut and she doesn't have to do it, she'll be fine for a day. "Lead the way, dude."

"Right!"

In that case, Emporio will head for the door while Weather quickly puts some of the mats away until he has to dissipate. Gotta be responsible!

Fortunately the gates at certain doors will make the trip to the Quiet carriage relatively short- once they're there, he'll head for the makeshift lab there. "Okay...here we are. This is the one I normally use- there's two," he explains. "They destroyed two quiet rooms to make this lab before a Lab Carriage was made, and I showed most people the other one."

Responsible is gross, how dare you, Weather.

Jolyne quietly follows after him, taking note of the quickest way there. You know, just in case she needs it in the future. Once they stop she nods slowly along with his words, that... makes sense. And is a lot less concerning than she thought it would be. "I was concerned it was gonna be something worse than that, but that... makes sense."

His Stand is being a Good Parent,

Well, Emporio in any case is laughing and shaking his head. "It happened before I got here...I actually had to get an explanation from someone else, it was really surprising to find them to begin with. Here, though-"

Grabbing her wrist, he pulls her through the entry crack.

They come out in...well. Technically it's just another quiet room. But there's a mini ball pit under the table. A few Aquafir posters are on the wall, and some toys and souvenirs from various locations are scattered about. There's a pilfered statuette from a planet's ghost room, and more.

It...looks a bit like a kid's clubhouse, all things considered.

Stand parent, even grosser.

Look, with how she knows how Ghost Rooms work, she has to be concerned about how this happened! It's a relief that it's something mundane, all things concerned.

At this point she's used to being pulled into these things and puts up no resistance. Though she blinks slowly as she observes the room. Why she expected anything different is... well, she's not sure why she expected different. He is a kid, after all.

"You really are starting to act like a normal kid now, huh?" Jolyne, no.

How rude,

Emporio seems almost nervous about showing Jolyne the room when he first pulls her in, honestly. It's not until she says that, that he pauses. And then has to snort. "I-" Honestly, what does he even say to...

"Y..yeah, I guess! It's...been nice? ...Weird, I guess..? ...I don't really know a lot about what being...'normal' would even mean, but I've been having fun at least..."

"Right..! They were pretty clear about making sure I wasn't going to run into fights blindly before teaching me too, so I try to make sure I don't overstep..." Not that he willingly does that after all, it's just...

"It can be pretty easy to get caught up in a moment when people are in danger, so it's hard to properly watch myself..."

It's a good question. Not really one he has a solid answer for though, so he just looks at Weather for a moment to think it over.

"...Well, it can be pretty fun throwing icicles when I know they won't hit anyone at least...though I've never thrown them with my bare hands either..."

"It depends," She conceded. "Some lean more towards the 'flight' part of fight or flight. Good for you you're able to move past the former."

Though she couldn't say that the latter was smart either; considering how hard the military worked so that a person could ignore their urge to run, (and thus save their own skin), and how she didn't have much issues with proverbial fighting-she did wonder at just who was the smarter of the two.

"I'm part of the military back home. New recruits are always put through the ringer, you need to do well enough to survive, but smart enough to not..willingly..get yourself killed."

Because nice as they were at memorials, dead soldiers were still useless ones.

"Then I will try it," Alice simply answers.

The last thing she's worried about here are her hands getting cold. She's dealt with that enough in the past, after all, so it sure isn't going to start being an obstacle now.

Instead the girl just nods calmly, ready to try this out. If Emporio seems to have even a little bit of faith in it, then trying it out couldn't harm anything or anyone, she assumes.

"Could you make some?"

"The trick will be avoiding both sides then, huh?" he laughs, guessing the unspoken worry. "...That does make sense though. There could be situations where I'm better running, but just as many where I should be standing my ground huh..."

A swallow, and he looks to Sonya with a nod. The Military leaves a lot unsaid- the understanding of true danger, the understanding of what it really means to go out into particular situations and circumstances, and what the consequences could inevitably be. Emporio turns away, a small frown on his face.

"I guess...a lot of the people on the train never get that kind of lesson huh..."

"Right!" Emporio looks to Weather, and nods to the Stand. Immediately, a number of watery orbs begin to form, soon freezing over into ice. "...Okay...These should be semi solid? There's still some water inside, but if they were solid ice they might be a bit too heavy," he laughs, letting the Stand float them over. "You can tell me if they're too light though, I'll just freeze them a little more."

It sure is something, having a Stand like this. It truly is Alice's Wonderland experience that manages to make it not look as strange as it could to other people. A figure that can just conjure up water and ice out of nowhere?

Definitely not too strange by those standards, even if it might be by anyone else's.

Hence why Alice looks relatively calm and casual about it as she reaches out to grab one of the orbs, seeming to weigh it in her hand. (And probably tossing it back and forth between one hand and the other to keep either from getting too cold.)

"That must have been handy during our last stop," Alice remarks. "You always have an ice cream maker with you."

Kind of. Ssh. Let her make the joke.

Sonya just managed to hold back a sigh. That there were kids in this place was something she'd resigned herself towards-however much it was clear she didn't and would never like it.

Least he wasn't on the Red or Purple team; if the train had to pull in kids, they should be on the squad least likely to be in danger.

"It's no better or worse than other military mobile units. Kid like you shouldn't have to fight though."

Emphasis on shouldn't. She knew too damn well that whatever her feelings, being a kid wasn't a failsafe to danger.

"PFfffffff..!" It's something of a testament to Emporio's progress here, that he immediately laughs at that. "No flavor though, which is where the fun comes from..! You know, it actually works pretty well for that otherwise though... ...I think with a recipe, I could do it..."

He should probably not cover what else he's done with Weather. Somehow, water and ice conjury is the most basic he has.

Emporio smiles- but it's pained. Very pained.

"...It's... ...I know. ...Honestly though, the train's been a lot better than where I was before," he answers back- the tone is casual. Perhaps not alarmingly so, as some have felt it, but there's also a tired edge to it.

He's had to explain this a few times. A lot of times- but he's not about to press about it either. Not much, at least. "...Having people on board that care about that kind of thing was actually weird for a bit..!"

...Might help if he didn't say things like that so casually though.

"You would just have to take some syrup with you."

Emporio could make shaved ice, clearly.. Maybe that's what Alice is thinking about here as she's making that suggestion. A suggestion that's maybe slightly less of a joke - though it's hard to tell the difference, with how she says all of this stuff with the exact same facial expression.

A moment later she seems done with tossing the ice from hand to hand. Instead she moves her hand back, and then releases the thing to throw it right at one of the training dummies.

There's a slight pause, and then Alice slowly voices her opinion.

".. That did not feel so bad."

Maybe not quite as satisfying as the sound of the suitcases hitting the wall, but.. well, at least she isn't breaking anything here?

"I guess I can't say I don't have room." It's a bit of a cheeky response, but somehow an honest one all in one go. Emporio watches the ice ball launch and from there crack on the ground though, and grins.

"Great..! I can probably change the density if you want to play around with that too...I put enough snow in the garden carriage for a snowball fight once, so I've had a lot of practice."

Alice glances over at the boy, something in her look a touch cautious.

"It doesn't tire you out?"

It's not like she knows how Emporio's powers work, after all. Maybe they're like her own and they generally don't tire you in the slightest - unless you're trapped on one of those mission worlds that seems designed to do that with any power it perceives as even faintly otherworldly, after all.

But for all she knows, it could be tiring for him to make all this ice with Weather. So Alice would like to make sure of this first before she accidentally tires out a poor young boy - and especially once she tries to look after when she can.

(Read: when her own mind isn't a total mess.)

"Not really, no." It's clear from how casually he says so that he's being honest, as well. "Though...I'm not really doing anything too big..? There's already air around us, and making it water doesn't take too much- especially since it just goes right back into it...so it's not like making a storm from nothing, or changing what the air is made of completely."

Wait.

Hold.. on?

It's not even that she's suspecting his answer. If Emporio says he's find and he's not using up too much energy, that's fine. Alice doesn't think he would lie - at least, not under circumstances like these, which aren't pressing in the slightest.

No, it's the last part that obviously draws the girl's attention. As much as Alice is used to strange, strange things..

"You could.. change what the air itself is made out of?"

That sounds dangerous, Emporio!! People kind of need air!

"AH-" Well when she puts it that way it does sound terrifying ~~and it's how he killed a guy so~~ but!!!

"It's not something I can just do without thinking, it really takes a lot of focus I promise..!!"

"Well, yes. It shares that quality with most other methods of murder."

Look at how calmly she says that. Look, Emporio is a kid, which is why she usually goes a little more easy on him than this.. But considering the current topic, it's really, really hard for Alice to not make that dry remark.

Especially in the face of what Emporio is saying here.

(Look - she's not even worried about him doing it accidentally, it's just--)

"I am merely surprised," she continues, shaking her head. "I was not aware the powers were quite that.. extreme."

Look, it'd be one thing to kill someone with some other weather disaster, but stealing the air right out of someone's lungs seems like a particularly bad way to go to Alice herself.

It's probably no surprise, but Emporio is looking just a little uncomfortable about the fact that they're talking about the exact thing he once did, albeit to someone very deserving. About the method he used- and could use again, potentially, in the right situation. He looks fairly anxious- and self conscious for that matter- and ultimately he can only look to the side and nod.

"It's...well, Weather covers anything that could contribute toward weather patterns forming, so..."

He doesn't really know what to say...

At least Alice can understand when not to press matters. With some people she might have pressed all the same, since she isn't exactly merciful either, but even she is not going to bully a child.

Hence why she just nods, throwing another one of the icy objects rather than continuing to talk about Emporio's rather surprising ability. She trusts him with it, but.. well, it's a stark reminder to make sure that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands if this place decides to swap their powers around at some point or something along those lines.

It wouldn't be out of the ordinary, considering what this place does often do to them.

"Sounds like a quite versatile power," she instead remarks, leaving some room for Emporio to breathe.

A slow nod. "...Yeah. ...Weather...er, the one who was Weather Report's original user I mean," he says with a cough, though ever since Little One said her piece on Weather Report's continued presence, he's found himself wondering about it, "...he could do a lot with that power. He could even make it rain frogs across an entire city, or make a space suit of clouds..."

There is a small smile as he thinks about that, however sad. "....He could even just...play piano with it."

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[RABBIT 19] - TRAINING GYM

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