Gobstopper (D4, MA)

[Phoebe Wren]

Her brow was furrowed and each lift had a heavy grunt to go along with it, but she was holding her own for now, even if it was not with the same pump and pace as Axel had in his lifts.

"Never been to Ord Mantell." A grunting pause. "What's it like there?"

[Axel Ward]

Axel grunted approvingly. "Looking good, Wren. Maybe you don't need those tricks after all." He still kept a careful watch, ready to help her ease the bar back onto the rack when she needed.

"It sucks." Axel said flatly. After a few moments, he shrugged. "I dunno. There are bigger scumholes out there, but not many. Tattooine. It's not even a good place if you're a criminal."

He chuckled. "You better give me something, too. I'm gonna feel like an asshole if I'm the only one talking about where I grew up.

[Phoebe Wren]

It was a mix of a laugh and a grunt, and with Axel's help the bar was back on the rack. "Huh... guess you're right. Well..." she sat up, leaning against a knee and wiped sweat from her face.

"Concordia's... I don't know what it's like now, but it's one of Mandalore's moons. Lots of forests and mountains. Then almost all the forests got wiped out for mining operations - that was before I was born, by the way. Coryn might remember what it was like during that time." She gave a brief chuckle. "The forests were growing back when I was a kid."

She took a deep breath and looked over at him. "Not a bad place to grow up, all things considered."

[Axel Ward]

Axel grunted as he helped her guide the bar back into place. "Nice." He said with a nod.

"Huh." He crossed his arms over his chest. "So you spent a lot of time in forests and mountains and stuff?" He shook his head. "Some jobs took me there, but I grew up in a city. Maybe I'd have liked a forest better. Fewer gangs."

"Yeah." He met her gaze. His dark eyes were actually gentle, at times like this. "Sounds just fine to me."

[Phoebe Wren]

"No gangs from what I know of Concordia... just Mandalorians. Guess you could call different clans and families their own gangs, but it was nothing like what I've seen of the gangs on Nar Shaddaa." She rubbed her neck as she talked. It was odd to open up a bit like this.

And meeting his gaze almost felt awkward, but somehow it seemed to be doing them both good to talk about this. "Yeah, it was nice. A good place to raise Mandalorian family, since parents are supposed to teach their kids to hunt and how to survive in the wilderness. Can't do that on city-planets."

[Axel Ward]

Axel nodded. "Right, like in the Resol'nare." His pronunciation was getting better.

Wincing, he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "You, uh... your..." He grimaced. "Well, that sounds alright." Had he known her thoughts, Axel would have agreed; the talk was doing them good. But parents were a touchy subject, for him, and he knew for her as well.

"Guess I might have liked to learn some stuff like that." He finally said.

[Phoebe Wren]

She leaned back down on the bench, readying herself for another set. "You mean you want to learn to hunt and survive in the wilderness?"

Once Axel helped her with the bar, she began pumping another set, although slower and with more grunting than the previous.

[Axel Ward]

Axel eased the bar into her hands again, watching a little more carefully this time as Phoebe exerted herself.

"Uh..." Not really. Whatever. "Sure, why not?" He shrugged. "Seems like something a Mandalorian should know how to do, right? And it's not like my mom taught me, so..." He shrugged again.

[Phoebe Wren]

"Mind if I..." she grunted, panting a little harder as she pushed herself to the last limit and with Axel's help placed the bar back on the rest, "... ask what she taught you? What it was like with her?"

[Axel Ward]

Axel chuckled softly. "Kriff, Wren, you did better than I thought you would." He frowned. "That's a compliment, by the way. Good work."

His frown deepened. "Uh... not much. She was at work a lot..." Axel spoke slowly, carefully, considering each word. Clearly hiding something. "Sometimes she took me, but not when I got a bit older..."

Axel shrugged. "I left when I was pretty young. But... we were all right, her and me. Coulda been a lot worse." He gave her a curious look. Someone smooth like Coryn might have been able to ask what went down with her parents without making things awkward. Not Axel, though; inwardly he winced.

[Phoebe Wren]

"Thanks," she gave a short chuckle at the compliment, heaving a couple of times for air from pushing herself so hard.

As Axel spoke, her mood darkened slightly, as she imagined she could fill in some of the pieces he didn't say. "Yeah... could've been worse," she nodded slowly. "Leaving on somewhat good terms is nice." She had not had that luxury.

"Clan is a lot like family though. For some, this can be a new start."

[Axel Ward]

"Yeah." Axel grunted, nodding. He was silent a few moments, frowning, his expression deeply thoughtful.

His expression didn't change as his eyes shifted, looking at Phoebe. She was good to talk to. A friend. But he knew there was more that they hadn't talked about. Not today, but maybe soon.

Axel smiled. "Alright, my turn. Spot me for the next one, huh?" He jerked his head over to the next weight station. "Still got a workout to finish, and can't do that sitting around talking."

[Phoebe Wren]

She let the silence hang between them for a good moment. It was nice to just enjoy the silence too, and Axel wasn't too bad to just hang out with. Even if she did tease him a lot.

In response to his smile she chuckled and nodded, getting off the bench. "Yeah, sure. I'll spot you. Like a proper drill sergeant, I'll put you through the grinder in hopes of getting an even stronger Axel out of it," she said with an almost devilish glee that gave the impression she probably could've made a hellish personal trainer - or sergeant.

[Axel Ward]

Axel chuckled. "Oh, okay. I see how it's gonna be."

As he moved to the next station, he flashed her a quick, wolfish smile. "But be careful, Wren. 'Cause it'll be your turn next, and I give as good as I get."

He grunted as he sat. "Okay. Ready when you are."

(/fadetoworkout?)

[Phoebe Wren]

"Bring it on."


/fade to work out
/scene