(Untitled)

[likesthestooges]

The heavy bag made a satisfying sound as he hit it. The sound was solid, almost tactile, letting him know that the punch he threw had scored true. Aidan hit it again and again, each strike hard, fast, and true. He could feel the anger coursing through him, making him wonder if all of the blood lust he had felt in his former life was due to being

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[starchilde_lost]

Tuesdays were easy days for Rachel. She didn't have classes so if she wasn't drowning in homework, her time was her own and she usually spent it at the beach or working out. But she'd been lazy today, hanging around the Compound and reading until she realized that she needed to have at least a partial work-out or she'd feel off tomorrow.

The work-outs were still the one thing she had that was normal, that felt like home.

But when she got to the boxing ring, she stopped, standing off to the side. If there was one thing she recognized it was a stress-workout, one fueled by rage or hurt instead of the need to tone or be sharp.

"Need someone who can fight back? Or are you hoping the bag surrenders?" She didn't feel like she owed Aidan anything, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little concerned by his ferocious focus.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan glanced over at the voice out of the corner of his eye, even though he already knew who it was. He and Rachel hadn't exactly spent a lot of time together, but it was memorable. It was surprising that she was talking to him though, since she usually avoided him.

"I don't know," he said, giving her a small smile. "I might not score a hit, what with all the practice you have avoiding me."

[starchilde_lost]

"You didn't really need me around, did you? Seeing as you had a girlfriend and all."

There wasn't malice in the statement, but she had felt a little whiplash seeing him with another woman, a pregnant woman, even. And it had been soon enough after her afternoon delight that she had some unpleasant suspicions about it.

Climbing into the ring she circled behind the bag, holding it steady, considering taking a swing of her own.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan paused for a moment and look around the bag to face her. He could understand her concern and her implication, but he didn't necessarily like it. Still, she merely hinted around at it instead of yelling at him or calling him a cheater.

"I didn't have one that day at the waterfall," he reassured her before turning back to the bag. Hell, she hadn't even been the last girl he slept with before going steady with Martha. "And had is the correct tense."

[abettermonster]

"If it could, I'm sure it would have sent up the white flag by now," Josh commented. He knew it was silly to feel sorry for an inanimate object... especially one that was only fulfilling its rightful purpose, but Aidan really was laying it all out on the thing.

"You... okay?"

[likesthestooges]

Aidan glanced over at Josh, glad that his friend was here. Josh was a solid reminder that things got better, that people could and would accept what he was in the past and not let it be a barrier to being friends in the future.

"Martha... decided that what I used to be was something she couldn't get over," he said. Aidan reached out with his left to gauge the distance to the bag before hitting it hard with his right three times in quick succession.

[abettermonster]

Used to be being the operative words. Or at least it seemed just that black and white to Josh.

"Pardon my French - or, you know, don't - but that's bullshit. Martha is aware that what you used to be hasn't changed since the two of you got together, right? You're human now." And wasn't that supposed to mean something? Back home, they would have given anything to be able to say that again. "Whatever you did before was... in the nature of what you were. Instinct."

No, none of it was pretty, and Josh wasn't making excuses for him because Aidan was his friend; those were just the facts. And if this supposed 'blank slate' came with any kind of exceptions or stipulations whatsoever, then they should really consider changing the name.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan sighed and turned to Josh, lowering his hands. It was good to hear someone who believed in him, even if things weren't that simple. That was one thing he appreciated about Josh, even if he constantly thought things were going to be horrible, he believed in friends.

"It's not that simple, Josh. Yes, it sucks that we broke up, but she's not being irrational about it," Aidan said. "Think about everything you've seen and experienced since becoming a werewolf. Now imagine experiencing 225 years of that and how that might affect you. Even if you suddenly became human, who you are is shaped by what you did and saw."

[girlsolo]

Kate's hands are taped for a session of her own. She's wearing a tank and low riding sweats. But she's not swinging at the heavy bag or any bag. She's standing nearby, leaning against the ropes, watching. Two minutes ago, it was for the pleasure of watching. Now...

Now, she recognizes the rhythm of those blows. Aidan's working out demons, not his body. She watches awhile longer then arches off the ropes and wades into it. "Hey. Pick on someone your own size," Kate tosses off. He's good, bigger and better than she is, but she's small, light, and fast and he knows she can take a beating.

[likesthestooges]

"Thanks, but I don't think my ego can take the beating tonight," Aidan joked, offering her a small smile. He's not sure what Kate is capable of, but he knows it's a lot, and he knows she's had more practice at being capable while being human than he has.

Really though, Aidan wasn't looking to spar with someone right now. He didn't want to compete against someone, just himself. That was something he understood, that was familiar territory. In one way or another, he'd been fighting against himself for nearly two hundred years.

[girlsolo]

"It isn't your ego I'm looking to beat, hotass." She catches the bag on her hands and pushes it up toward him. There's more than a challenge in her eyes, too, when she stares him down. She gets this. Knows what it looks like. Knows what it feels like. But she'll give him a chance to talk before she asks.

[likesthestooges]

"I just want to hit the bag," he said, locking her gaze for a moment before he swung a hard and fast right at the bag. He didn't want to fight anyone right now. Aidan wanted to vent his anger physically, but he didn't want to direct it at anyone. That was an instinct he couldn't or wouldn't let go of right now, he had to fight too hard for control in the past and he still wasn't sure how much of his former blood lust lurker under the surface.

[provincialbelle]

It was something almost otherworldly to Belle. She was aware that men fought because it was something Gaston espoused entirely, but she had never witnessed such a thing. To see it in action was an entirely different thing than the imagined events that she put together in her mind and so, for a while, she did nothing but stand there and watch with mild trepidation.

Eventually, she felt like she was intruding and cleared her throat to announce her presence. "What did it ever do to you?" she joked softly.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan glanced off to the side, unaware that someone was watching him. He was somewhat disappointed in himself for letting someone sneak up on him like that, but he'd been more than a little distracted and he still wasn't entirely used to the loss of his vampire abilities in that regard.

"Belle," he said, giving the woman a surprisingly genuine smile. "Would you believe it questioned the honor of my mother?"

[provincialbelle]

"You know what?" she said, smiling with a whimsical air to her thoughts, "Where I come from, that wouldn't even be the craziest thing I've heard. I hope it wasn't too offensive," she went on, mock-seriously as she stepped closer. "Hi Aidan," she greeted him properly, as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "Are you okay?" she asked, unsure as to whether he felt comfortable sharing with her.

[likesthestooges]

"Hi, Belle," he said, smiling a bit more. Belle was one of those people that seemed to radiate goodness, just a few words with her and Aidan already felt a bit more calm. Either that, or endlessly punching the bag had finally drained him somewhat.

"And I'm just... working through some things right now."

[frakkup]

It's not unusual to come to the boxing ring and find it already occupied. It'd pissed her off, those first few weeks. The thing was hers, after all, her present from the island, a shamefully meager gesture of good will after all the ill the place had visited upon her, and for a while, Kara guarded it jealously.

These days, with her endless schedule, she's just glad the frakking thing sees regular use. "You know," she says, leaning hard against the ropes. "You break my bag, I'm gonna make you sew it up again."

[likesthestooges]

"I promise I'll fix it up like new if it happens, but I haven't been able to do anything like that since coming here," he said, stepping back from the bag.

He hadn't known the ring had actually belonged to someone or he would have gotten permission. As badly as he wanted to punch something right now, if this was her ring she had every right to use the bag first.

[frakkup]

"Don't stop on my account." Kara pulls herself into the ring, apparently not content with her view from the ground, gloves hanging loose over her shoulder. "You were hitting that thing like it insulted your mama."

[likesthestooges]

"It said she was a speed bag," he said, turning back to the bag and giving it a few experimental taps to judge the distance before giving it five fast, hard blows. He'd seen the woman around before, but he didn't think he'd ever caught her name. Fortunately she seems easy going enough, which is nice.

"And I don't think it meant it as a compliment."