worthallthis | The Last Voyages: IC Inbox

What's your most gruelling course that won't turn a mere mortal into a pancake, and can you cue it up in the Enclosure?

yeah of course

do you need "think hard about what you're doing" or "exhaust me completely" style grueling?

[Because that'll change which course he pulls up.]

The second one.

[Which isn't her usual preference. At the moment, though, she's looking for sheer exertion, maybe some more bruises, and not having to think.]

can do. meet you there in 10.

[He has just the place in mind. He'll be there on time, so hopefully she's not too early.]

She has enough sense to stop to refill her water bottle and drop off her gym bag in her cabin before heading up, so while she's there when he arrives, she hasn't been waiting long.

"I hope I did not interrupt your morning too badly," she says, and while there's definitely anger simmering there, it's probably an honest statement.

"Nah. I have coworkers for a reason, after all, might as well make them work for a little," B says, shaking his head. He heads up to the console to select the program he wants, and the doors open to a small, white-marble lobby with a red carpet runner, a single potted plant, a single chair, and two open doors.

The long hallway beyond loops around from one door to the other, and there's a variety of obstacles to clear, and they're moving already, some in a pattern, some randomly. "Okay, this one has obstacles to go over, under, around, and through. You're gonna hafta hit some of them to break them down or keep them from hitting you. It's set to high human ability, so you should have a good workout."

"Oh, good," she says, baring her teeth in a savage little smile. "I definitely want to hit something."

Mostly, she wants to hit someone, but breaking inanimate objects that might hit her back isn't a bad substitute. Her gaze sweeps the lobby, and the portion of hallway visible from where she's stopped in the entranceway.

This run is basically meant to mimic the iconic MCU "hallway fights" so there should be plenty of things for her to hit. They don't look particularly human, they're clearly some kind of mechanical in nature, but some of them do mimic human actions of grabbing, tripping, and punching. No projectiles, at least, but everything else you might run into in a crowded hallway can be expected.

"I'll spot you from out here," he says, motioning to the single chair he programmed for himself. "You can do as many runs as you need."

Yelena nods, and sets her water bottle down before taking off.

It's several runs before she finally drops down against the wall back in her lobby, and uncaps the bottle to take a long swallow. There are several red marks on her exposed skin that will darken over the course of the day to match the ugly purple bruise and split lip she was already sporting from her encounter with Dreykov's ghost.

"That's gonna be some pretty colors," B predicts. "Want the chair?" He's been sitting all this time, after all, and it's more comfortable than the floor. He intentionally made it comfortable, after all, because he could.

"No. The floor is nice and cool." She tips her head back against the wall, and forces herself to breathe evenly past the throb of bruised ribs. After a moment, she takes another swallow of water, then presses the bottle against her forehead.

"All right. Let me know if you need another one of those." He settles back into the chair, if he's not getting up from it yet. He looks her over, noting the careful breathing, looking for whether the previous tension's been replaced or if it's still there. "Feel a little better?"

The tension is muted, but not entirely gone. Still, she cracks one eye open to look up at him and replies, "I feel less like stabbing someone."

And then, with a small quirk of her lips, "Mostly because I am not sure I could get the knife where I am aiming, but it is better than nothing."

"Even a slight improvement is an improvement," B says. "Want to talk about it at all?" He's not even sure what brought this particular fury on, yet. He'll let it be if she doesn't want to say, but if she does, there's the opportunity.

"About my last owner deciding to make an appearance yesterday?" Yelena asks. "Or about the idiot who killed me deciding that the most important thing is how he feels about it?"

She rolls the water bottle to rest against her temple, where her pulse still throbs faintly from exertion. "I do not think talking about it will fix either thing."

"I mean, I've already had my own moment of rage over yesterday," B points out. "And I think we both know why that would upset you. But you didn't need an obstacle course yesterday when it happened. So I'm gonna go with the second one. Vash came to talk to you? Do I need to punch him, or did you already do that?"

"No, I needed a punching bag. Which is where he tracked me down." She gives him a wry little smile, suppressing a wince as it tugs at the split in her lip. "I did not want to give him the satisfaction of hitting him. I am still not completely sure that was the right choice, but it is the one I made."

"I think Vash is kind of an idiot," B admits. "I'm not surprised he managed to piss you off, honestly. I am actually more surprised you didn't punch him, though I guess maybe that's why you needed the course. Got to put that urge to damage something somewhere."

"It is," Yelena confirms. "And it is like I said, I did not want to give him the satisfaction. He is exactly the kind of idiot who would decide that me punching him means we are even now, and that everything is fine and there is no reason for me to not want to be anywhere near him."

"Or it might make you feel better, and remind him that actions have consequences," B comments airily. A pause, then an only slightly more serious, "But I shouldn't advocate for violence. Being a warden, and all."

"You are giving him too much credit," Yelena says with a little snort. She takes another swallow of water, smaller this time.

"But you are not wrong. Maybe I am losing my edge."

"Eh, you've still got more edge than most people on this ship. I'm probably biased, anyway," B admits. "I like you a lot more than I like him."

"Yes, but you have to say that," Yelena says, and there's a faint edge of teasing there. "You are my warden, it is your job to take my side when someone kills me. Or...kills a different version of me. Do you know, she was a warden in her memories?"

"I'd do it even if I wasn't your warden," B promises. "And you know, that doesn't surprise me at all. Wasn't she a doctor, too?"

Yelena nods slightly. "A pediatric surgeon. She worked in the infirmary, on her Barge."

She rolls the cap of the water bottle back and forth between her fingers, staring down at it. "The Snap happened in her world, too, only she survived it. Her husband and her little girl did not. So when the Admiral made his offer to her, she jumped at the chance to fix that. And then she died because even a different version of Vash is a self-absorbed, self-righteous idiot who does not have any problem executing people he looks down on."

She stops, rolls the cap the other way. "And I do not know if she was real, or just a delusion the Admiral made up to mock me. I do not know if me having the death toll is proof that it was all just pretend, or if it was bad luck, or it it means that if she was real, then dying here meant really dying, and everyone back on her Barge will just assume she is another person who vanished back to where she came from."

Which is a question that would always have weighed on her, but weighs even more heavily now in light of so many disappearances.

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