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

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"If that were the case, you would have a girlfriend by now," Kaya said. "I've looked at the women on the ship, and they're pretty..attractive. I just think you're not that interested in that. Believe me, someone, I care about is definitely a casanova."

Dance Dance WHAT?

"Really?" Kaya said, looking at his fists. "Well, give it a shot. Show me. I want to see how you would come at me."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"No. You're right. I'm just not interested in girls." He shrugs. "Yeah? Who?"

He shakes his head. "There's no way that's going to end well. Either I hit you and bam, that hurts you and probably hurts my hand, or you counter it and I end up discouraged and on the ground. No thanks."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya shrugged. "Huh. Most guys are usually, at your age. Not that there's anything wrong with that, what with you having to worry more about the FAYZ and all. But I'm talking about Julian. He...sort of has this tendency to juggle girls every now and again, which is aggravating, but he's a really good guy. Still, no denying he's a smooth one."

She sniffed. "Is either option really a big deal? God Howard, you think too much. I just want to see your stance! This isn't a battle to see who's stronger or who can embarrass who!"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Yeah, I know most guys are at my age." He sounds a bit defensive, like he's frustrated with himself that he doesn't fall in with that. "I haven't met Julian. He sounds kind of like a tool, to be honest."

He crosses his arms and shakes his head again. "Still no. Whether or not that's the point of the battle, that's going to be the result."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"I'm not saying its a bad thing, just a rare one," Kaya said. "It bothered me a little, how Julian could juggle girls like that. I don't know what you mean by tool though. I mean, he's an ensign and all, but does that make him a tool?"

Kaya shrugged. "Suit yourself. But you can only run so far before something catches up with you. It would make me feel better to know if that happened, you'd have a fighting chance. Luck doesn't always last forever."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"A tool. Like a jerk. A meathead. A douche. My mom always told me someone who womanized like that was someone you should avoid. I mean, not like I listened to her about stuff, but you know."

He shrugs. "I'm doing self-defense stuff. I just don't want to show you. But it's cute that you worry."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"I never approved of that about him, but even I know there are only some things you can change about certain people. He;s still a decent person in a lot of other ways."

Here, though, she looked flustered, and annoyed. "If making sure that you don't get killed is 'cute' to you, maybe you and I have a very different idea of what constitutes being safe is. But keep your secrets. I'll know better than to show concern."

That actually made her a little mad. Excuse her for showing concern!

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He looks a little confused and concerned for that. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, it's nice, having people around who care if I'm okay. It's just...new."

He jams his hands into his pockets. "Anyway, I wasn't insulting you."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Oh!" Kaya blushed. "I thought you were mocking me, sorry. I've had people do that before, so I was a little defensive about the word choice."

That was awkward. "So have you met any new friends since the pod pop?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I was mocking you. But not in a mean way. When I mock you in a mean way, you'll know." And for the most part he likes Kaya. Her optimism and goodness can get grating, but it's nice to have someone to talk to.

Ah. The f-word. Howard shrugs. "I don't really do the friend thing. At least, not with new people. I guess with the ship in general there's Zou and Karis and maybe you."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Howard was definitely exasperating, but it could be worse: he could be MARCO, who she wanted to drive into a wall one of these days. Why Howard felt the need to tease though, she didn't really get: a defense mechanism maybe?

"Well I do the friend thing. It just so happens I met a really interesting guy here that is from the same world as a friend of mine that was pod popped. You ever heard of Cedric?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Definitely a defense mechanism. Tease, aggravate, prod, hold people at arm's length so you don't feel anything when they leave. He made the mistake of caring about Anwei and Stacy repodded her. Easier to hold people back and push them away.

"Yeah, I met him. Kind of a dweeby jock, but a nice guy. He invited me to ref for his sports team."

ANWEI?! NOOOOO!

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Dweeby jock? Him?" Ok, you and Kaya definitely have different ideas of what constitutes a jock. Kaya would think general meatheadedness, ignorance, the option of crush things over using actual sense. How was Cedric any of those things? "I don't see it."

A referee? "You mean you don't actually want to play? It;s flying on broomsticks! Its really fun!"

I know ;_;

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"You know. Really big into athletics and all. The kind of kid who'd beat me up in school, except Cedric seems too nice and wide-eyed and kind of naive for that." And had they gone to the same school together, Howard probably would have stolen Cedric's stuff and cheated off his test answers.

"You did hear the part about those enchanted balls trying to knock players off their brooms, right? At least the ref has a protective spell. Are you gonna be on one of the teams?"

Re: I know ;_;

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"I think Quidditch is the only sport they have though," Kaya said, "Because I don't remember him mentioning beating up anyone. He's definitely too nice for that."

Kaya laughed. "Well, you could be one of the beaters yourself, or the keeper. They're less likely to get hit. He wants to start of a team, but if he does, I might have a chance to play a Chaser! He says I show promise."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"No, I just mean, back in my world athletes tend to be the biggest, strongest kids, so they push people around." Howard leaves out the key detail that he allied himself with another one of the biggest, strongest kids so he could push people around too. As far as he's concerned, that was just prudence.

"I'm still saying protective spell sounds better than being in the game. Besides, I like to criticize people. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you if you're a Chaser."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Well that I know," Kaya said, rolling her eyes. "Even in my world, you had people like that who felt the need to walk around with swagger and make other people do things for them. But I don't see Cedric being like that at all."

Julian, maybe.

"Suit yourself, but the idea of playing a game where I can ride on broomsticks, really get my blood pumping and narrowly avoid obstacles? That sounds like a lot of fun to me! But if you like criticizing people so much, why don't you be one of the commentators?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard keeps almost conspicuously mum on that. Then again, his bullying tendencies have mostly fallen by the wayside. He was a kid, and it was a school environment, and he's chilled out some.

"See, it's the narrowly avoiding obstacles part that scares me senseless." Ironically, he chooses that moment to hop over a hurdle in their path. "Maybe you're just an adrenalin junkie."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

She could tell he was hiding something, but she figured it would be a better idea to let him keep it to himself. Howard was a private person, and there was little point in trying to get him to talk about what he didn't want to.

Kaya, taking the run with him still, jumped over the hurdle easily. "I don't think that's it. The theory is interesting, but I don't go out of the way to put myself in danger or anything. I just think [playing a sport on brooms, which you can control and fly on, is pretty neat!"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"The flying's neat, but didn't Cedric give you a talk about all the injuries that Madame Pumpy had to heal on him? Isn't that a little bit of a red flag?" Excited to be racing someone, Howard picks up the pace. "Obstacle!"

He slides into a tunnel and starts crawling.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

She shrugged. "Anything that's fun is bound to have a little bit if risk though, right? And maybe I like at least a little bit of risk." Kaya matched his speed: she was actually very fast, and had only been matching Howard's speed.

Now that he was actually making a game of it, she slid into a tunnel near his, crawling with ease but still going slowly.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Oh, it's on now," he says, noticing her pick up speed. He's pretty fast, too. He isn't as tall as she is, but he knows this route, and he's always been good at running. He crawls out of the tunnel and sprints into the reeds, hoping to lead her off-route.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya, however, was not new to the Hydroponics bay: it was where Zhin, her space dog, lived, and really the only place that she could play freely with him. While he sprints to the reed she follows him swiftly, moving with relative ease, although there is a hint of something mischievous on her face.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard makes sure she followed him and then doubles back, hoping to lose her in the heavy reeds. He can make out where she is, but he should be short enough to be hard to see, even if he keeps zigzagging.

Of course, he's kind of giggling while he runs. So that may give away his location.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Even if she couldn't see him Kaya could still hear fairly well, even before the giggling. What was more, Kaya was actually starting to get into this, and so she increased her speed, moving through the reeds and even leaping a little in the air to get a better view of where Howard was headed.

A moment later,s eh was at his heels, grinning at him.