trans_9 | But Sooner Or Later God'll Cut You Down [Open]

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

'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.

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"Oh! ...I see," Daja said, making sure to keep her tone polite. That sounded much like something they did in her world - but standing on street corners and calling out to people about a particular store's wares had always been a job for the poor, and one with little standing.

Howard's family must not be very well off, if that was the only kind of work they could get.

She was much too polite to make a fuss over it, though - and clearly, whatever was upsetting Howard wasn't something he wanted to talk about. "Do you practice this course regularly?" she asked instead, changing the subject.

Howard gets the impression that maybe Daja doesn't see what he's talking about, but he's not about to spend the whole morning explaining marketing to her. He never really paid much attention when his mom talked about her work anyway, and his own trades, both here and back home, ran through word-of-mouth more than anything else.

"Every other morning. I read in a book somewhere that you're not supposed to work out consecutively or your body doesn't get a chance to build up muscle. What about you? I haven't run into you none here, but I may just be on a different schedule."

A wise choice, Howard - it probably would have taken an entire morning. Daja wasn't an unintelligent woman, but there were still many things that baffled her about the home worlds of the crew.

"I don't always get the chance to practice my staffwork," Daja explained. "The forge keeps me busy." Not to mention fit - Daja didn't really need to do any extra exercise in order to keep in shape. "And I don't always practice here - sometimes I use one of the parks in the city."

She peered at Howard, curious. "Are you aiming to build up muscle specifically?" she asked.

"Got any cool projects going on at the forge? I saw this movie in the media library where there was this enchanted guy made of metal."

He shakes his head. "No, here building speed and stamina. I've already come to peace with the fact that I'm never going to look like a body builder."

Besides, if it came down to being fast or being strong, Howard would choose fast any day of the week. "But it's just supposed to be better for your body to take a break between days. I'd rather do it every day, but I hear there's this crazy new thing called sleep and I'm supposed to check it out."

"Mostly the usual projects needed for the Departments. Smithing isn't all swords and armour," Daja said, with a wry smile. "And an enchanted metal man...the mage who created something like that would have to be very powerful. Creating life is no small feat - although sometimes unexpected accidents do happen. My sister's student managed to create a glass dragon once, before he learned to control his magic."

Daja nodded, approving. "Looking like a - body builder? Well, looking like someone who has lots of muscles isn't everything. The important thing is to know how to use them. Although I've never heard that taking a break between days is better." Normally the attitude back home for warriors and the like to train every day, and at long hours. "But rest is certainly important."

"Well, it was made by Norse gods. I think they rank pretty high on the power scale. Possibly on the fictional scale too, but who knows with this place?" Yes, Howard found Thor in the media library. He's been watching it during his coffee breaks at medical, spread out over the last however-many-weeks.

"Besides, muscle mass metabolizes faster, so you need more food. I'd rather not." He straightens up entirely, having fully caught his breath again. "So do smiths not take weekends or anything? I mean, I know you said you practice in the park, but I've never run into you outside the forge before. It's like we're all repping Team Workaholic here."

Daja nodded, finding the possibility of it being created by gods entirely plausible. Gods were, after all, capable of much more than mere mortals could ever aspire to. An enchanted metal man would be simple for them.

"You dislike eating?" Daja, frowning. "And what is a 'weekend'? But if you wish to know, usually when I am not working I am looking after Winding Circle Temple, or spending time with my sister."

"It's not that I dislike it, it's just that I don't like having to. It's hard to explain." Howard's gotten used to the fact that explaining his weird mentality about food tends to get more blank stares than anything else.

"And weekend's like at the end of five days of work, you get two days of rest to run errands and catch up with your friends and stuff. Not like that really matters here, though, right?" He raises his eyebrow and whistles. "Stacy brought you your sister? Lucky. All she brings me are people I can't stand for more than ten minutes at a time."

"If you want to explain, I will do my best to understand," Daja said politely. She wouldn't press any further, but she would listen if Howard wished to talk.

"Oh, a rest day, I see," Daja said, nodding. "And yes, I am very lucky. For a long time I was alone from my world. It means a lot to me, that she is here with me."

Sandry was one reason why Daja wasn't working as constantly anymore - if there was anyone Daja could count on to nose into Daja's work hours and make sure she was getting a break, it was Sandry.

Howard pauses for a second, then decides on honesty. "We starved back home, for almost a year. Not just like hungry starving, but cannibalism and eating garbage starving. So it's not practical to need more food, in case it happens again."

He doesn't say 'in case I have to go back' because he doesn't want anyone thinking he'd sabotage the crew's efforts to restore their world to spare himself a second round with his homeward. He wouldn't, but it would be a bald-faced lie to say he doesn't bounce the thought around in his head at night. "And anyway, eating in front of other people is just weird. It always feels like a performance or something."

He tilts his head a bit, subtly appraising Daja. He supposes she does look a little more relaxed than the last time he saw her, but it could just be that she's not at work, and not in a business setting at the moment.

"I never had any siblings. Are you two, like…?" He links his middle finger over his index finger, the gesture for 'close' or 'tight'. "Because even though I don't like the people Spacey Stacy brought over from my home, I think it helps just having them around. It's nice not having to explain everything all the time to anyone."

And then realizing he's spent the last few minutes explaining advertising to Daja, he catches himself. "I mean, no offense."

"I see," Daja said, her expression kind. She still wasn't sure if Howard was someone she liked, but she could feel for him, with what he's been through. "My brother faced the same thing, you know. He used to live on the streets. Although he never tried to eat less food. He actually hoarded quite a bit of it, in case one day it wouldn't be there anymore."

Briar had eventually learned that he wouldn't have to worry about where his next meal would come form anymore, but it had taken a while.

"Yes, we're close. All four of us are - we aren't blood siblings, but we are family. Although we have had times we're we've been at odds," she said. At Howard's quick apology, she smiled wryly. "Of course," she said, amused. "It can be tiring indeed, not having anyone who understands your ways."

Howard flinches a bit at the comment about hoarding. He's not about to mention that he engages in such behavior - that just means that if things go sour, people will know he's the one to rob. Even if Daja doesn't suspect that Howard's guilty of it, she's familiar with the behavior of people who've starved.

"It's not about eating less. It's just about needing less, in case. I eat plenty here."

He smiles and gives a quick nod back, glad to have not inadvertently offended her. "If you aren't blood siblings, why?"

Considering that her own brother had done the, Daja certainly couldn't be one to judge even if he had hoarded. But she decided not to comment on the way he'd flinched - Howard had his pride, she could tell. He didn't need her to make an issue of it.

"They are my foster siblings. When I lost my family, I was sent to Winding Circle Temple to live, and we all ended up living together."

It's strange how the more he talks to Daja, the more he's finding in common with her, rather than different. Sure, she doesn't come from a world with advertising or World of Warcraft, but she comes from a place where starvation wasn't unheard of, and where entire families are things that can be 'lost'. Not that these things don't happen in most worlds, but usually they're things you hear about, not see up close and personal.

At the same time, Howard can't imagine getting close enough to anyone to consider them 'family'.

"Was that like, some kind of orphanage?" It sounds religious, which Howard fins dumb, but Zouichi's already pointed out that Howard can be a little harsh when it comes to spirituality.

It wasn't frequent, but starvation and death wasn't uncommon in Daja's world. Every city housed people like the poor, in the slums and the lower parts of town. For her world, that was just the way things were.

"An orphanage? No, it is a temple of the Living Circle religion. Some of the children are sent to live there because they have no family to care for them, yes, but many go to Winding Circle to receive an education, particularly in magic. That's why I was, although at the time I didn't know I had magic at all."

"Wait, so you opted into an education?" Not that that's entirely different than Howard opting into learning medicine, but he's picturing the temple as a schoolhouse now, and the idea of ever voluntarily attending school is absurd to him. "What for?"

"Why would I not?" Daja said, looking at Howard like a little bit odd. "Everyone needs to learn. Especially with magic - if you don't learn how to control it, it can be very dangerous."

"Because formal school is like..." Howard pulls a face. "I don't know, I hated every minute of it. I learn better on my own, or from watching other people do things and figuring out what they do. I just wouldn't ever want to go back if I can help it. It's such a slow, weird way to learn things."

"I never said Winding Circle was a normal school," Daja said, amused. "They did offer classes, of course, but Winding Circle is no Lightsbridge. Ambient magic such as mine is more...practical. It's not the kind of magic you can learn in a classroom."

Lazily, Daja drew a circle in the dirt with the end of her staff. "Winding Circle is where I learned smithing," she added.

Howard doesn't understand part of what Daja says - Lightsbridge? - but he nods anyway. "What...is ambient magic, anyway? Because I've run into a lot of different magics around here and never heard anyone call it that before."

"As far as I can tell, ambient magic is unique to my world," Daja said. She had yet to meet anyone from another world who understood the term, so it was the only conclusion she could come to. "Unlike academic magic, ambient magic is rooted in ordinary and natural things. For instance, my magic is rooted in fire and metal, and the strength of my magic comes from not just myself, but from the fire and metal itself. It's like...when I use my magic, I don't just place a spell. My magic becomes a part of the metal. Do you understand?"

He doesn't, quite. He doesn't understand how that's different than enchanting an object itself, but he doesn't want to come across as slow, so he nods. "Yeah, makes sense. So that's why you went into smithing, right? Because that's the marriage, I guess, of your two elements or whatever."

"I didn't actually know I had magic when I started learning," Daja said with a smile. "But my magic is a part of me. Having learned how to use it, I couldn't imagine living my life without using it."

Howard bites back saying something extremely pessimistic, about how you should never get so used to something you love that you don't have a plan for what to do if you lose it. "Man, all you guys and your magic and superpowers. It kind of sucks being baseline. The most special I can do is build things and I'm still nowhere near Engineering's level on any of it."

"Don't you think being able to build things is special?" Daja inquired. "Magic can do much, yes, but so can human creativity and ingenuity. And even with magic like mine, the strength of my magic depends on the quality of my blacksmithing. Magic is a tool, like any other, and just one of many."

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