Atlas Gym, Thursday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

Even the weirdness of this morning's class was not enough to throw off Liam's good mood as he made his way over to the gym in the afternoon.

Although, yes, he was going to take a minute to give the programming on his fencing sim a careful once-over before he started it up. Everything there seemed to be fine, though, so he grabbed his usual practice weapon from the equipment locker and started the sim.

[ooc: open! though i'm off to ~dyson academy~ for the morning so pings will be slow for a bit.]

Comments

[justice_undone]

Most of the time, her anger didn't bother her too much. She had stowed it away with that half-formed plan about what she was going to do once she could leave the island, but she had assumed that would happen when she graduated, and here she was, a music shop owner, and maybe it was because she had met Tisarwat and been reminded about the Radch and how much she hated...

This was why Breq showed up at the gym and walked towards the ounching bag.

[firstofitskind]

Oh, Liam recognized that look. He wore it himself more often than he’d like. He waved a hand, pausing the sim, as he watched Breq head directly over to the punching bag. “Hey,” he greeted. “Looking to work off some stress?”

[justice_undone]

Breq turned her head to look at Liam, not bothering to adjust her facial expression from the blank ancillary look.

"Thought it would be a good idea. I won't disturb you."

[firstofitskind]

“It’s fine,” he assured her. “You’re fine. Go ahead and do what you need to do.” It was a public gym after all.

[justice_undone]

Breq reached for the boxing gloves. "You don't look like you're having that kind of day."

She wouldn't have commented on it if it wasn't obvious.

[firstofitskind]

“No,” he admitted. “But I’ve had plenty of them in the past.” Enough so that he made regular financial contributions to the gym to replace equipment he destroyed. “I know what it’s like.”

[so_hawkward]

Clint was trying to be better about existing managing the gym, so he'd spent the morning going over inventory in his office. It was definitely time for a coffee break, but he stopped when he saw Liam. "Hey, I hear congratulations are in order."

[firstofitskind]

Liam glanced down at his left hand, with the unfamiliar weight of the ring Verity had given him.

“Yeah,” he beamed, looking back up at Clint. Sorry, Fandom. He was going to be obnoxiously cheerful about this for the next forever. “Thanks, man.”

[so_hawkward]

"That's awesome news. Can I consider this one positive thing to come out of the crap this summer?" Clint asked.

[firstofitskind]

There had been... a few good moments scattered throughout the summer, in Liam's opinion, but overall, yeah, it had been pretty damn rough. "Guess it is, at that," he acknowledged. "I mean, I'd been thinking about it for a while, but then Verity had to go and beat me to it." Which had been completely unexpected, honestly.

[so_hawkward]

"Awww, at least now you know she would have said yes if you'd asked first," Clint said. "I only had the courage to ask after years of our kid showing up after the school's prom. And us ending up in a fake universe where we were engaged." That wasn't even Fandom's fault for once. "It's still kind of a miracle Kitty said yes, now that I think about it."

[notallbluemonks]

"'sup, boss," Beau called upon spotting him, waving one hand in a manner that was frankly a bit too nonchalant for, you know, greeting your employer.

[so_hawkward]

Oh yes, because Clint was totally one for being formal to bosses, which was why he never made fun of Tony and Steve ever.

"Hey Beau. Sorry about the... whatever the hell was in here on Monday. It would be so nice to have control over what this place looks like all the time."

[notallbluemonks]

And see, Beau would appreciate that so much if she knew it was a thing he did.

"Eh," she said with a shrug. "That kind of shit I'm used to. Like, normal levels of Fandom fucking with us."

That was not a sentence she'd have expected to attach the word 'normal' to, but there it was.

"That's easy enough to deal with. As opposed to a total hellscape makeover, right?"

[so_hawkward]

"Absolutely. Isn't it nice to know you've settled in enough to accept 'normal' levels of Fandom's crap?" Clint asked. "Are you doing anything at the school this semester, or just working here?"

[heroic_jawline]

Had Steve paid a visit to the police station to do a little friendly stalking of Liam today?

Yes.

Was he now in the gym carrying a casserole dish?

Also yes!

"Liam?"

[firstofitskind]

“That’s what it says on my birth certificate.” Which was a fake, but Steve didn’t need to know that.

[heroic_jawline]

"Oh, good, I found you before the casserole got cold," Steve said, beaming and handing it over. "Congratulations on your engagement!"

Which, apparently, meant you got tamale pie. Yay?

[firstofitskind]

Okay, but there was a reason Liam was taking the time to learn how to cook and that was because his girlfriend fiancée thought something like fajitas made from leftover Chinese food was a valid breakfast choice. Tamale pie sounded like it belonged in that category.

“Thanks,” Liam said, grinning as he accepted the dish. Because he had no idea of the true horror within, and also even if he had, he would’ve accepted out of politeness in appreciation of the gesture.

[heroic_jawline]

Well, tamale pie started in the 1930s when no one ate Mexican food, so...don't expect a ton out of it, Liam.

"You're very welcome," Steve said. "It's from Tony and me."

Tony would absolutely deny any part of this.

[notallbluemonks]

So Beau had been super awkward about a particular bit of news earlier today and she knew it, and she was . . . kind of sorry about it? Keyleth had given her a brief but earnest not-quite-lecture about that after the radio broadcast, which she'd grudgingly tolerated.

It was just . . . being that genuine with her feelings on the radio where anyone could hear her felt like making herself way more vulnerable than she cared to, and maintaining her asshole front to the island at large also felt like a necessary defense.

Which was why, when she came in, she affected a loud sigh and held up her hands like she was shielding her eyes from a harsh blast of wind, or too much light.

"Gods, fuckin' -- turn that shit down, Liam, I still have a hangover."

[firstofitskind]

Of course, given that Liam was part-energy, he did have a moment where he looked down at his hands, to make sure he was not literally glowing.

That done, he turned his most innocent expression on her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

[notallbluemonks]

"That's because you're too busy, like, floating on a fucking cloud to really think about anything right now," Beau grumbled, though Liam should hopefully know her well enough by now to tell that her tone lacked the actual edge that would mean it was genuine annoyance. "I'm getting, like, secondhand embarrassment watching this."

[firstofitskind]

"...Sorry?" Liam said, sounding, well. At least a little bit apologetic. Though not terribly much.

[notallbluemonks]

"Like hell you are," Beau said, snorting. "Don't fucking apologize, okay? That was kinda gonna be my thing."