But Sooner Or Later God'll Cut You Down [Open]

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

'Running away' is, in Howard's opinion, the most useful thing the human body can do. And unfortunately, he has plenty of reasons to think it will come in handy at some point, or at various points, in the future.

That's why he's set up a 400 yard circular track-slash-obstacle course in Hydroponics, as well as set up markers for hundred meter, two hundred meter, and mile routes. Every other morning, before Med Bay shifts, he's here, improving on speed and stamina. He knows full well that even if he gets into the best shape of his life, he can still be outrun (or outflown) by his super-powered, magical or metahuman peers, but it's better to have that added little bit of competence if and when he ends up sprinting away from danger.

He's feeling the results, too. There's no way to time if he's getting faster, but where he was once just skinny, he's becoming lean, and the mile run that used to exhaust him leaves him considerably less winded than it did a few months ago. And he's getting much more confident going through the tunnels and up the ladders of the obstacle course.

The only thing looking worse for the wear is his shoes. At some point he's going to have to relegate his velociraptor shoes to a beloved keepsake, because the seams are literally coming apart around his toes.

Howard double-knots his shoelaces and stretches a bit before running the obstacle course again.

Comments

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"So this is where you've been disappearing to." Zouichi was carrying a couple of items he'd collected on the planet... including the complimentary cowboy hat, which he was now wearing.

"Do you need any clothes? I don't really think the goggles look right on me."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"You make it sound like I'm slinking off under the cover of dark. I'm here every other morning." Or whatever counts for morning here. The more pressing question is, is Zouichi really wearing a Stetson?

"Don't tell me they make oversized three-coyote-moon goggles on that planet."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe Stetson-by-spider-lady. Anyway, Zouichi didn't know what he was going to do with these cowboy boots.

"If you really want to know, you'll just have to go down there yourself, I'm afraid."

He eyed the track with some interest. "Feel like a footrace?"

I CAN HTML RIGHT :|

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Wear them over the body armor, obviously.

"I already hit one of their trading posts. They had enough jerky to make my head spin."

He looks back over the track and then back at Zou. "Seriously? I work so hard and your first thought is how you're going to leave me in the dust and discourage me?"

[keep-suriving.livejournal.com]

Howard wasn't hard to find. No one was here. All you had to do was ask Stacy and she pretty much blurted the answer out at you.

Diana stood, leaning against one of the ladders. She played about with something in the palm of her hand until Howard's course brought him close.

Her gaze flickered upwards and she slipped the object into her pocket, putting her usual pretty, sly smile on her face.

"Hey, Howie~"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Don't call me that, Little Miss Soren." Your feminine wiles don't work on Howard, Diana. He's far too socially maladjusted for such shenanigans.

"What's in your pocket?" Being a petty thief, he notices those sorts of things. Thankfully, he's not nearly dumb enough to think trying to take whatever it is from Diana is a good idea.

[keep-suriving.livejournal.com]

Maybe not, but it's hard to break a habit.

"Don't be so uptight, Howie. Don't you know too much stress will kill you?" Her eyes glinted knowingly. Of course, they'd both had enough stress to kill them 10 times over.

She'd come to check up on Howard. If only because she knew he'd come to see her sooner or later, if only to check she'd not died. She didn't particularly want him knowing where she was staying so she'd beat him to the post.

"A gift~" She replied, tone mockingly sweet. "Some people are just so nice."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Diana, if we live long enough to worry about high blood pressure and heart disease, we'll be too busy celebrating our victory over fate to care about death."

It's not as if he won't still find out where she lives. It's just not a pressing concern. Yet.

"Oh, God, don't tell me you got someone to propose to you already."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya had come to the hydroponics to see Zhin, somethings he had started doing each day so the space dog wouldn't feel neglected by her owner. Of course, it was weird to think of Zhin that way to begin with: Zhin was her own creature, and chose to be with Kaya. She thought of her as a friend, and was more than happy to come here and play.

But just as she was leaving Zhin to her own devices, she sees someone rushing past, a certain familiar someone. Having missed their usual talks, Kaya caught up with him, adjusting her speed so they were at the same pace.

"Howard, hi!" she said through huffs. "I didn't know you did this!"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard's a little more out of breath than her, so he doesn't answer her until they cross the hatchmark in the tree to signal the end of the route. He leans against a tree and pants.

"Hey, Bubbles. Where you been lately?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Once they get to the tree Kaya does slow down, and, just so he has something to refresh him, hands him a thermos of water.

"Don't worry: got this on the vacation trip and its separate from my bending water. I've been...well, bouncing around really. Watching over a friend of mine, spending quality time with Nokosi, and studying in my spare time. I keep pretty busy, and I miss your shifts. How are you?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Thanks." He takes the thermos and drains it in one long series of gulps. Rationing water is still something he has trouble doing naturally.

"Whatcha studying?" Howard would make some snarky comment about how pointless studying is, but he only begrudges gaining knowledge when it's for school.

[fireforger]

Howard wasn't the only one working - Daja had decided to practice her staff work in hydroponics today, and nearby Howard's obstacle course she was running through a few sequences, her muscles easily remembering the well-practiced movements.

In the corner of her eye she saw a flash of movement, and she paused her practicing to walk over to investigate. When she arrived, she was mildly surprised to find Howard. She hadn't expected him to be the kind to do much physical exercise - but she certainly approved.

"Howard," she said by way of introduction, inclining her head to him.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard skids to a stop and tries to pant for breath as inconspicuously as possible. This is his third time running the route this morning and he's sufficiently winded, but Daja is not the person he'd like to look weak in front of.

"Daja," he says, a little bit warily. He still remembers getting the short end of the stick in their first trade, although he's continued to deliver scrap metal to the Forge. "I didn't expect a blacksmith to work with a staff. Figured you'd make a sword or something."

[fireforger]

Typical boy behaviour - assuming that anything less than peak physical condition would be viewed as weakness. Entirely silly, in Daja's opinion.

"I am a blacksmith, not a warrior," Daja said simply. "What reason would I have to use a sword? I carry a staff, as all Trader's do, and it is more than adequate for my own self defense."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

And unfortunately, also fairly true, where Howard's from.

"I don't know. I just thought it'd be more in keeping with your craft." He zips up his jacket some. "So what's this Trader deal? Is it like a club or something?"

[beyondgotham.livejournal.com]

The Hydroponics had only just opened to the crew when Terry had first been on board the ship, and he hadn't ever spent much time in them. So he was taking his time to explore. He'd never in his life seen anyplace so green.

Since his meeting with Tim, he'd taken to once again wearing the batsuit almost all the time. It gave him a sense of purpose, even when he was just wandering. He'd taken the cowl off, though, to better appreciate the plant life.

He happened to walk down near the obstacle course, passing it in the opposite direction that it was supposed to be run. At first he didn't notice Howard, though when he did, he furrowed his brow a little.

"Oh, you." He said. It wasn't necessarily in a mean way, but it was clear he hadn't really expected to ever run into the guy again.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard slows down and leans forward against a tree, catching his breath. He hadn't really expected to see Terry wandering around either. He assumed, given Terry's almost single-minded focus when they first met, that Terry would be busy doing Command sorts of things and focusing on the war effort and all those things Howard couldn't care less about.

Well, he does care about the war effort. He cares very ambivalently.

"Hey. You lose the attitude since earlier?" Which is ironic, coming from Howard, but as much as he gives lip he doesn't like to feel it returned.

[beyondgotham.livejournal.com]

Terry leaned back against a tree opposite from Howard, crossing his arms. For a moment his expression was straight-faced, that same sort of seriousness as when he'd first woken up.

But then it suddenly split into a grin.

"Never. If I loose the attitude, there goes the bad-boy rep," he joked.

[itslikeimhappy.livejournal.com]

Working for Security normally had Amy running all over the ship on seemingly useless missions, and she had realized not too long into her first few shifts that she hadn't been exactly strict in her exercise regiments. Without all of the running and jumping and everything else that normally came from adventures with the Doctor, sitting at home with Molly is beginning to catch up with her, and she knows it. Right now it isn't an issue, but Amy knows as well as anyone that it could be later on, and that it is better to start getting back into top condition sooner rather than later.

Hydroponics is a nice enough place to run, at least. It provides brilliant scenery, and enough obstacles to give her something to hurdle over if necessary. She is on one of her morning (or whatever time of day it was, she really couldn't tell sometimes) jogs when she spots the course, and slows herself enough to spot Howard. She's only ever seen him once or twice in passing, but Rory has pointed him out to her on more than one occasion.

Amy slows and comes to a stop a few feet from the edge of the course. After a few seconds she gives a hesitant wave toward Howard. Now is as good a time as any to break that ice...

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard slows down and stop about ten yards away, looking Amy up and down before he approaches. As wary as he was around Rory, his sense of trepidation is even stronger around Amy - she's on Security, after all, and who knows what kinds of things Rory's told her about him.

It's weird how she looks barely older than he is. Not even a decade, probably. Then again, Rory's only in his twenties too.

Howard looks a little bit like a wild rabbit, about to bolt at any sudden movements. But instead, he gives a little wave back. "Hey. So."

He scuffs his shoe a bit. "I didn't realize moms of little babies had time for exercise."

[itslikeimhappy.livejournal.com]

Security or not, when it comes to Rory's million adopted children, Amy is more likely to slip into Young Mother role than Strict Security. Both are strange for her, but being a mom isn't all that different from babysitting the Doctor, so it works well enough for her.

"Hey," she replies, completely unsure of what she's actually supposed to say or do now that she has his attention. He's a skittish one, if what Rory says is true.

He gives her something to work with, at least. "Normally I don't, but Molly's getting better, and Victoria agreed to watch her while I came out here. Do you do this often?"

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Cassie walked up slowly, eying the interesting looking obstacle course. She hadn't expected to stumble across something like this while exploring Hydroponics. It was a clever idea though to set up a track here. There was more then enough room for it and it was out of the way enough that you wouldn't have to worry too much about being interrupted all the time.

Walking a bit closer to the track, Cassie noticed a familiar looking figure standing nearer the track. Without thinking, she moved forward towards the person and smiled when she recognized him.

"Howard," she said happily as soon as she was close enough to speak with him easily. It had been too long since she'd last seen him. "How are you and Emergency Rations doing?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He skids to a stop and, after a few seconds bent over and catching his breath, gives Cassie a wave. "Hey, Hallmark."

His face breaks into a wide, almost childish grin. "The cat's good, she's good. We moved over permanently to the Inn and she's been driving the bird and fish crazy." It's evident that he shares Emergency Rations' feelings on the other animals in residence.

"Oh, and I heard her purr the other day." He presents this fact to her almost as a child would report an A plus to their parents. He's just brimming with pride and glee over it.

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Cassie smiled at hearing the nickname, taking it as a positive sign. Her eyes lit up at hearing his report on how he and Emergency Rations were doing. She clapped her hands together, sharing in his excitement. "That's wonderful, Howard! I'm so glad to hear that!" She was thrilled to hear that his relationship with the cat had improved, but even more pleased to see how happy this seemed to have made him. It was nice to see.

Chuckling softly at the implication in Howard's tone, she added, "We might want to try to see if we can get all the animals to get along at some point. Admittedly, given the animals in question, that's a bit more difficult, but we might be able to discourage Emergency Rations from going too close to the other two. It might make the Inn a bit more peaceful and pleasant to live in for everyone involved." As well as safer for other animals. She wouldn't make any promises about being able to succeed though. Cats could be taught, but some could also be quite stubborn, especially when they got older and more set in their ways.

Looking around at the obstacle course, she asked, "Do you come here often?"