Training Day (Pregame MM, OPEN)

[Axel Ward]

The punching bag hadn't done anything to deserve the treatment it was getting. But it was made to get punched. That really was it's lot in life.

Axel grunted as he slammed his gloved fist into it again. And again, short sharp breaths accompanying each blow. He'd been at it for some time now, as any onlooker could tell; sweat made his long dark hair slick, and darkened his already dark undershirt. Perhaps soon he would slow, and stop.

But not just yet. One last burst of energy, both hands working the bag with solid blows. Axel's breath came as a growl, long and low, lips pulled back as he pummeled the bag harder, faster...

And then stopped. Breathing heavily, Axel took a few steps back, letting his gloved hands rest on his knees.

[Rose Sorenn]

Rose had wandered in during Axel's attack on the punching bag, watching with an amused smirk. She was wearing the dark grey body glove that went under her armour, black webbing strapped over the top. She had twin blasters holstered low on her hips, belt pouches across the back of her waist, a gap between them over her spine.

When Axel stopped his beatdown, she cleared her throat, quietly, politely.

[Axel Ward]

Axel looked up. For a moment, it looked like he was about to speak, but his breath was still a little too ragged. He gave a vague wave with one hand as he drew deep breaths, until finally his chest began to heave a little less irregularly.

Straightening, Axel gave the woman a nod. "Hey there." His voice was rough. "Axel Ward. It's a pleasure." After a moment, he pulled the glove off his right hand. He offered the hand to her, apparently unconcerned with cleanliness.

[Rose Sorenn]

"Rose, Rose Sorenn," the redhead flicked a lock of hair off her forehead and accepted the offered hand. With an eyebrow raised, smirking, she glanced around Axel to the punching bag, "holding a grudge?"

[Axel Ward]

Axel's grip was firm, but not uncomfortably so; he wasn't especially interested in dominance games. Well, not yet anyway. "Sorenn." He nodded again as they shook.

He snorted. "Yeah, well, you shoulda heard what it said before you came in. I couldn't let that go." He ran a hand back through his own hair, brushing it back from where it stuck to his face. "If you wanna take a turn, I promise it deserves whatever you can dish out."

[Rose Sorenn]

Rose laughed, she had a pleasantly low-pitched voice, and her grip was firm in a way that suggested she experienced more than a few limp fish handshakes in her life, and resented it. Holding her hands up, she wriggled her long, slender fingers, "oh no, these hands were not made for punching. Besides, you look like you have that covered."

[Axel Ward]

Axel snorted again. "Yeah, you got that right." He shrugged. "Still, I'm gonna give it a few minutes." His breath was still pretty heavy.

As he waited, he stretched, pulling one arm across his chest with the other. "So if they're not made for punching, what are those hands made for?"

[Rose Sorenn]

With fluid motion, clearly well practised over many years, Rose flipped the straps that secured her twin blasters in their holsters, smoothly drawing both, index fingers on the trigger guards. "Pew, pew," she mimed shooting each weapon, winked at Axel, and dropped both blasters back in their holsters. The entire routine took only seconds.

"Among other things," she smirked.

[Riza]

Meanwhile, entering the room as part of her daily routine Riza was dressed in a simple workout attire that showed off her arms and midriff, azure in color. Jet black hair tied back into a tail that kept the her hair away tucked from her face. Attention focused on finding a machine to which she promptly placed herself on, a cardio machine.

As she began, in slow precise steps that became stronger but maintained their measured quality, each movement practiced and sure.

[Axel Ward]

For a brief instant, as Rose drew her weapons, the tension in Axel noticeably increased, as adrenaline surged through his body, visible even in a flash of his brown eyes. A moment, and he realized there wasn't any danger, and then another moment, and the weapons were holstered again.

"Yeah." Axel chuckled roughly. "Pew pew. Alright." His eyes narrowed, studying her. "That was pretty damn fast." He grunted. "How long did you have to practice before you could do that?"

His brown eyes tracked the newcomer, his expression neutral. "Hey." Axel called, giving her a nod of greeting. "Axel Ward."

[Rose Sorenn]

She clipped the fastenings again, securing the matching blasters once more. “Truthfully? I’ve been practicing since I saw it in a Dantooine Jones holovid when I was six.” If Rose noted his tension in response to her drawing her weapons, she didn’t acknowledge it.

When the chiss entered, Rose tracked the tall woman with her emerald green eyes.

[Axel Ward]

Axel laughed roughly, crossing his arms. "Yeah, I think I remember that one. Don't think I saw it when I was six, though."

He cast another glance over to the Chiss, then back to Rose. "You think you could show me again? Really slow this time?"

[Riza]

Riza, for her part, just continued running. A friendly acknowledgement was what she was given l, perhaps, but she was working. Working on keeping herself in shape so that the next beastie she came across didn't prove the better.

[Axel Ward]

Perpetually scowling, Axel's scowl grew a bit deeper. "I said 'hey'." He called over to the Chiss again, a bit of growl entering his voice. His eyes narrowed as he studied her, frowning. He'd met a few Chiss. They always seemed to think they were better than everyone else.

[Riza]

This, the growling nature of the man's voice, gained enough of her attention that she turned her head in his direction and glared at him with those deep red eyes.

"Yes, you did," she returned.

[Axel Ward]

Axel's arms crossed. "So, that's how it's gonna be, huh?" He shook his head. "Alright. Well, if you wanna come meet your shipmates once you're done doing your thing over there, we'll be right here."

Grunting, he turned back to Rose.

[Riza]

Upon that notion, she returned her focus to running. Closing her eyes as she found her gait again, bringing herself back to pace and soothing her mind with the rythemic motion of it all.

[Rose Sorenn]

Amused, Rose shrugged one shoulder and turned her attention back to Axel’s request. “Normally, if you need to see it again, I’m not doing my job right. Watch closely now,” a confident smile curled one side of her mouth and she turned her hips a quarter so he could better see what she was doing.

The redhead’s hands hovered near the guns for a long moment. First, her thumbs released the safety fastening, a slide switch on the rear of the holster. Her hands landed on the custom grips that had been made to fit her small palms and long fingers. Drawing the blasters, she turned her shoulders as well, aiming at the corner of the room, away from Axel or the Chiss. Again, her fingers were on the trigger guards.

[Axel Ward]

Just as she said, Axel watched very carefully as she slowly went through the motions, doing his best to follow each little bit of it.

When she finished, Axel shook his head, chuckling. "All that, and as fast as you did it. Okay." He gave his own shrug, broad shoulders rising and falling. "Next time I'm in the shooting range, maybe I'll give it a try." With half a smile, he raised his right hand, curling his fingers into a heavy fist. "Don't know if these hands are made for that, though."

[Rose Sorenn]

Holstering her blasters, Rose reached out and took Axel’s fist, turning it as she examined the rough knuckles and masculine fingers. “Maybe, maybe not,” she passed her judgement, “I’d guess you have decent coordination, based on your interaction with the bag over there.” The redhead’s fingers fluttered away again, “try not to shoot your own feet, though.”