Coming to a Head [Day 9, EE]

[Riza]

An emptied bottle of Zeltros wine lay out on the floor, along with an assortment of clothes and gear. Tossed aside in the careless manner of needing it gone in a moment of carelessness. Before the tornado hit the room was spartan, in half, and then Phoebe's things lay around her bed.

Some of Riza's wardrobe had been removed, tossed aside if needed, and some fewer even haphazardly pushed back into the drawers. As she searched for this.. or that.. that she wished to make use of.

Shifting to the side of the bed her blue feet made contact with the floor, curling her toes as she stretched and rose from the bed. Walking about she got some more blood flowing back through her legs.

[Axel Ward]

Axel, on the other hand, was not up for moving just yet.

Lying back on the bunk, he groaned, more pleasantly than not. Although he was pretty sure there were parts of him that were going to be sore in the morning. Maybe his head, although at the moment, the mixture of Zeltros wine, endorphins, and whatever was in the atmosphere made a pleasant combination.

Grunting, he managed to sit up, stomach muscles flexing visibly until he propped himself against the wall. "Hey. You moving around already?" His voice was as deep as ever, if perhaps a bit softer.

[Riza]

Raising her right arm toward the ceiling she linked her other onto it just below the elbow. Anchoring her left arm against her head as she stretched once more, up on her toes, reaching toward the sky. Coming back down in a graceful drop before searching around the room for nothing in particular.

"Does that surprise you?" she asked, glancing back over to him over a deep-blue shoulder.

[Axel Ward]

Axel smiled as he watched her. It wasn't just admiration of her beauty, although there definitely was that. But her manner put him in mind of a wild animal, patrolling after waking up. It fit.

He shrugged, the muscles of his shoulders working. "I guess everyone's different after. I'm not up for walking around just yet." He chuckled. "But if you're walking around and I'm not, makes me think you might've won this round."

[Riza]

Grabbing a few of her things, those that were removed from the wardrobe and merely cast aside, she began tiding up. "I aim to outlast most of my opponents," she said, with a smirk.

"When I was a spotter, well, it was most of my job. Laying in wait for hours on end, needing to be perfectly still otherwise you might miss something important. It's a skill that comes into use in many places. Learning to operate despite the affects that such use, or disuse, of the body changes how much strain feels like a strain on the body," she thought aloud, and shrugged.

[Axel Ward]

Axel snorted, laughing. "Yeah, well, I'm a fast learner. You better watch yourself, Riza. We'll see about next time." He smirked back at her. He pushed himself further upright, still leaning back against the wall.

He nodded, listening to her talk. "Spotter's kinda like pointman. That was Kairi's job with the Rebels." He regarded her curiously. "Were you in a unit? Spotter needs at least one other."

[Riza]

"My partner, he was a marksman," she paused picking something up, held a moments thought. Pulling the shirt up she moved across the room to her wardrobe. Putting her gathered things away.

[Axel Ward]

"Oh." Axel said. His dark brown eyes continued to follow her. One hand clenched, then relaxed; he knew better than to try to help clean someone else's room, even if he had helped wreck it. He'd just put everything back wrong.

Well, maybe he could tidy up some of the obvious things. Grunting again, he rose to his feet, tucking his shirt around his waist for a bit of modesty. "When was that?" He asked, his tone very gentle indeed. He'd already suspected a missing partner in her past.

[Riza]

In silence Riza collected some more of her garments, shooing him back onto the bed in the mess of it all. "Years ago," she said, and thought for a moment but relented. Just a little more... maybe, she shrugged to her own thought, exhaled, and continued with her work.

[Axel Ward]

Grumbling gently, Axel let her have her way, sliding back into bed. Well, that was about what he figured, anyway.

"Yeah?" Again casual, gently curious, and definitely without pressure. Easy enough to back off if she didn't want to share, even if he did want to know.

[Riza]

"Yea," she busied herself with more of the garments. Separating those that were dirty, pushing them aside and folding them neatly. Holding the quite for a moment while she contemplated.

"My partner, my only friend, died on a rooftop on a planet we never knew or cared about in service of the Ascendancy. Or maybe it was just someone higher up, I don't quite know. We were betrayed, I know that much. We both should have died that day, maybe marked as criminals in wake of our deaths, on that rooftop on a planet that doesn't even matter. He sacrificed so that I did not have to, he didn't give me a choice."

"Our mission changed the moment we realized, our targets became those who betrayed us," she said, focusing on the folds of her clothes as she reorganized herself. Sobering herself to the realities of her life once more. "Until they're dead the job isn't done, I'm not done."

[Axel Ward]

Axel listened, his expression impassive. But while he wasn't educated, Axel wasn't stupid either, and if Riza looked, she would be able to see when he made the connection, his brown eyes widening.

"Oh. Kriff." He said. "So that's what you were talking about before. Not just going up against a crime boss, even a big one. But a chunk of the kriffing Ascendancy." He grimaced down at the bedsheets, his brows drawing down noticeably. It was almost a visible thing as his mind work, sorting out implications, possibilities.

[Riza]

"Now you know," she said, finishing up with her current load of clothing. Seeing it away and turning about, leaning against the closet where she'd seen away her clothes. "And now you know why I don't tell people my business, because it is my business but.." she glanced away for a moment, her expression dark.

"I can't have anyone getting in my way, from some sense of valor or otherwise. Chances are, I'll not live past my revenge but I owe my partner for the life he never got to finish. I've accepted that, if that's my fate I will die satisfied that I gave as good as I got."

[Axel Ward]

For the first part, Axel just nodded. He had things that were just his business, too.

For the second... "I get it. And if that's what you want, to go it alone, I'm not gonna get in the way." He grimaced. It was hard seeing someone go off to die, especially if you kinda sorta liked them.

Axel looked at her, his brown eyes intent. "But I'll back your play either way. Way I see it, we're in the same unit. You get me?"

[Riza]

"Don't be ridiculous," she said, pushing herself up off the closet. "You would be signing your death onto a cause you don't have a stake in. You'd just be throwing your life away needlessly."

"I won't have anyone else die because of this, just them."

[Axel Ward]

Axel scowled. She could be so aggravating, so.... so... damn, he wanted her again. Well, maybe later.

"Hey, I get it." He raised his hands. "And like I said, if that's what you want. But being in the same unit means something. Maybe I don't have a stake in it, but..." He shook his head. "I'll always have your back."

His lips quirked. "And I'm not so easy to kill. A lot of people found that out the hard way."

[Riza]

"Neither am I," she said, hitting a harsh not at that. For her, that was the end of it, and if he didn't catch the meaning in it then she'd decided not to develop the thought further.

"But we have somewhere to be, best you get prepared for that while I finish up here," she said, moving over toward the bed and standing over him.

[Axel Ward]

As fierce as Riza was, or perhaps because of it, Axel couldn't help but pause to admire her statuesque form as she stood over him, an appreciative sigh escaping his lips, and a noticeable glint in his brown eyes.

"What, are you throwing me out, Riza?" Axel chuckled, shaking his head. "Hey, after you put me through my paces like, I need at least another few minutes. C'mon. Keep me company while I recover." He scooted over to make room for her. If she so chose.

[Riza]

Looking down on him she rolled her eyes, reached over him, and picked up her bra. "You getting soft Axel? Dangerous," she chided. Looking down toward the foot of the bed where she expected to find the other half of her undergarments.

[Axel Ward]

Axel smirked. "Yeah, right."

He shifted, his own feet finding the floor. And one hand brushing across the curve of her hip as she leaned over him; as attractive as he found her right then, it was the least he could do. "I don't need you to cuddle me or anything, but we've got time." He said as he searched for his own articles. "I'm just gonna be hanging out in my bunk." A shrug. "I'd rather spend it here, but it's your room."