Something in the Air (D9EM)

[Axel Ward]

Axel nodded. "Yeah, that's all true. Especially the part about the beard. Beards are cool." He nodded, scratching his own beard with one hand.

He shrugged. "Well, okay, I'll talk to him. See what he thinks about you. Really, sounds to me like you two should just hang out sometime. Go somewhere together. I dunno." He shrugged again. "We went hunting with Riza. You and he could do something like that."

[Phoebe Wren]

"I dunno... if he doesn't like me because he knows my parents were on the Saxon-side, well, I don't wanna be around that. Honestly, I don't." Phoebe shook her head. It would hurt if that was the case, because she respected Coryn that much that it would hurt. And it would hurt because it seemed like it was something she wasn't going to get away from. Even in this new clan.

"It sucks because if it's because of my parents, there's nothing I can do about that."

[Axel Ward]

Axel shook his head. "Not gonna happen. Coryn's a good guy. He mighta been caught off guard, but he's not gonna hold something like that against you."

He scowled. "And even if he did, you could just show him how awesome you are. Anyone would be lucky to..." Wait, right, she wasn't admitting anything, "-y'know, hang out with you sometime."

[Phoebe Wren]

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, as if she knew what he had been thinking about. Her tongue poked the side of her cheeks from inside her mouth as she was thinking over the situation.

"... Jesus Toboga, this seems like a really terrible idea right now." Phoebe sighed again, because she was being a kriffing coward.

[Axel Ward]

Axel casually studied the ceiling for a few moments.

He laughed. "It's not terrible. Don't worry about it. I don't know much about families, but I do know about being in a unit. Sometimes you just gotta talk it out, or fight it out, or even bang it out. Whichever way, it usually sorts things out."

[Phoebe Wren]

The eyebrows rose again as she seemed a bit taken aback. "... I dunno, wouldn't things get weird in the group then?"

She cleared her throat. "You know, with the... mm, intimate relationships?"

[Axel Ward]

Chuckling, Axel shrugged. "Less often than you'd think. I mean, there were already bonds between them, and a quick roll in the sack wasn't gonna change that. I guess it was just a way of blowing of some steam."

He reddened a bit, glancing away. "So, y'know, if two people thought the other was hot, well, it would be okay." Geez, that outfit... it must be the outfit.

Axel tugged at the collar of his t-shirt. "Environmental controls must be out of whack." He muttered.

[Phoebe Wren]

"Yeah... that must be it," she agreed awkwardly, averting her gaze from the briefly exposed collarbones of Axel.

"Guess I never thought about it that way. I mean, the... casual... hookups." Phoebe cleared her throat once more, and figured she might as well pick up her water bottle now with all this throat-clearing. "But you're the more experienced one of the two of us it seems."

[Axel Ward]

Clearing his throat, Axel shrugged. "Well, I guess you could say that." He scratched awkwardly at his head.

He blinked. "But, I mean, you've got some experience... don't you?" He tugged at his collar again. Wow, it really was hot in here.

[Phoebe Wren]

Phoebe cast a glance at Axel over her shoulder as she got her bottle of water, before turning away again as she fiddled with opening container. "... Is that really a question to ask a woman, let alone one you're calling your 'sister'?"

[Axel Ward]

"Uh..." Axel considered this for a few moments. Slowly, he reddened. "No. I guess not. I guess it's better not to know some things. Leave them as mysteries."

He smiled gently. "Well, don't worry, Phoebe. You'll always be a bit of a mystery to me. And that's probably a good thing."

[Phoebe Wren]

"Exactly." She said firmly, mostly to cover over the thoughts from earlier. "And it's not like I wanna know that about you. I... mean, not like people wouldn't want to know, because you're handsome and all, but it would be very awkward, yes, to think that about you if you think of me as a sister and I think of you as a brother. Right."

Figuring she might as well use her mouth for something better than spewing stupid words or filling it with her foot, Phoebe poured some water from the bottle and into her mouth. There was a little bit spilling down her chin and neck, that went down to her pink t-shirt.

[Axel Ward]

Axel nodded. "Yeah, right. That's what I mean. Some things you just shouldn't think about, no matter how much..."

He trailed off, watching the water run down the skin of Phoebe's neck. Watching it soak into the fabric, making it noticeably wet...

Axel turned and bent, retrieving the gloves he'd dropped earlier. Straightening, he held them carefully in front of him, just below his waist. "Well, I should probably head out." He said roughly. "Hit the showers. I've worked up a bit of a sweat." As if to demonstrate, he lifted his shirt, just a little. Indeed, the tight muscles of his abdomen did appear to be glistening, just a little.

[Phoebe Wren]

The sight did cause her to cough on some of the water, which caused a bit more spillage as she quickly pulled away from the bottle.

Jesus Toboga... it's not like I haven't seen muscles before. Or Axel's muscles before!

"Right... probably a good idea. Uhh... by the way, you feeling ok after that beating you took? No more pain or uh, swollenness?"

[Axel Ward]

Damn. I don't know if I can take much more of this. Axel's eyes widened as more water splashed on Phoebe's front. "I'm fine. Great, in fact. Just a little swelling." He growled. "Nothing you can't handle."

A beat.

Axel grimaced. "I mean, nothing I can't handle. I don't need you to handle..." He shifted his weight, wincing in mild discomfort. Even thinking of naked Admiral Ackbar wasn't helping.

[Phoebe Wren]

Wiping her mouth and chin with the back of her hand, Phoebe looked down as the awkwardness from before was really coming in in full.

"I see. Well, rubbing it down should do the trick." One second of weird silence. "With lotion, I mean. Of course. Do reduce the swelling, obviously, right. Haha."

She laughed nervously and turned around. "Uhh... I'll let you hit that shower. Your abs--- I mean you look like you need it!"

[Axel Ward]

For the first part, Axel just stared at her.

"I do." Axel said, his expression bland. "I really, really do." A cold one, in fact.

He cleared his throat. "You gonna take one? Uh, I mean, later?" At the same time seemed like a really, really bad idea.

[Phoebe Wren]

"Uuh... yes. I will. Later! Later, that is. I mean, we're not that many people here on this ship, so you'll get some alone time. In the shower."

Closing the bottle, Phoebe tossed it back to its spot. Damn, she had nearly been tempted to say she'd join him.

"I think I'll continue here. Stretching, and... stuff."

[Axel Ward]

There was a brief hesitation, and then Axel nodded. "Yeah, okay. Later." The water running down her neck to her shirt had certainly put ideas in his mind. But perhaps better not to explore them.

Axel smiled. "Well. See you around, Phoebe." With a casual wave, and still carefully holding his gloves he headed for the door, albeit with a bit of an awkward limp.