A soldier on my own, I don't know the way

[sirnyxalot]

Who: Nyx Ulric and YOU
Where: Nyx and Luna's house, Crossbones Boxing, around town, etc
When: Late April into May, dates applied where necessary
What: Open Catch-all for various non-plot going ons
Warnings: Blanket warning for potential Ibaraki, but other than that we should be good. [Thumbs up.]
[Open]

A. Papa War Chicken has arrived!

[He knows there are chocobos in town. He isn't sure how they got here, since there don't seem to be any wild nests, but here they are. They're small, adorable, and only a minor handful all things considered. But current digs aside, Nyx has lived all his recent life in a city. He hasn't owned so much as a cat since he left Galahd. And apparently a small child or two if his fake memories were any indication.

So why is he stepping outside one morning to see a fully grown, green chocobo trying to dig up all the grass around their mailbox?!

Nyx stops short, not yet comprehending just what he's seeing. The bird is huge, clearly big enough to ride,
and seems momentarily content to remain tethered. He steps back into the house, closing the door behind him. He needs to make some calls.]


B. For all your ogling needs~

[Five days out of the week, sometimes six, Nyx spends hours working for Rumlow. It's not nearly as exciting as being a Glaive, what could be? But he's hauling weights, wiping down bags, and maintaining equipment, and in his off moments he gets to use it all. It's enough. Most days.

He'd had to adjust some old habits: learn how to tape his knuckles and turn his body into armor in the absence of leather and steel. This wasn't bar brawling by any stretch of the imagination. It was a focused style of combat that resulted in him on his ass more times than he'd like to admit, but there's a thrill in his blood every time he gets up in that ring that isn't tempered by a quiet knowledge that death could be around the corner.

Even without a partner to fight with, Nyx works out hard; pushes himself to regain what strength he'd lost coming out of the hospital. Making sure he's ready, but for what he wouldn't be able to say.]


C. Why bother locking the door when no one pays attention to it anyway?

[Before Luna arrived, Nyx had done very little with his house. He'd taken the main bedroom and then spent the majority of his time there when he was at home at all. Couldn't remember why until he started getting his memories back and realized he missed his stupid apartment in Insomnia. The house was just too big for him.

Now, though... now it's practically lived in. There are flowers decorating tables, and new things on the wall, and most of the rooms are even used for one thing or another. Nyx still spends most of his time in his room, but the rest of the house no longer feels empty. So he keeps the kitchen stocked with whatever gets put on the list on the fridge, keeps a list of numbers for whoever needs to be called if something goes wrong, and somehow manages to carve a life here.

It's weird, and somewhat wrong, but it reminds a part of him of Galahd, and every day it's just easier and easier to fall into an old routine that the soldier in him had long forgotten. He's even getting used to the regular company he gets, so whenever he's home he ends up just leaving the door unlocked so that he doesn't have to worry about someone parkouring through a window.

And sometimes, when the nightmares get too bad, one can find him sitting on his front step, staring up at the stars in the middle of the night.]


D. Choose your own adventure!

(ooc: Feel free to ambush him anywhere about town or use this to establish specific threads that might not fit into the above prompts. Otherwise, please question him about his overgrown green chicken or catch him working out in the very very rare times he's ever close to shirtless in public. Or hell, just walk in and say hi and steal his hot pockets. He'll only complain a little.)

Comments

[sirnyxalot]

Enough that I'm being paid to know all their names.

[It's a tease. He has nothing against the ladies that come in here. It's more revenue and honestly it gives him something to do besides punching a bag for hours on end. Most of the regulars that come in here to train don't really need help and Rumlow handles most of the classes.]

Not a fan of boxing?

[otrazhenie]

I've done a bit before with a friend, just some basics, but I think learning something else would be... [ Better for the things she might have to face, either here or back home? Probably best not to mention vampires. ] More my style.

[sirnyxalot]

[Nyx bites his lip thoughtfully, considering. There's no reason to, but...

He looks her over, shifting gears momentarily to a combat eye. She's small. Would be more suited to speed than force anyway. And could he really complain if she wanted to learn? It would only mean she'd be able to protect herself if he...or either of the brothers weren't there.

(God knows Crowe had a pretty deft hand at handing him his ass, so he has some experience.)]

How do you feel about knives?

[otrazhenie]

[ Frowning for a moment in contemplation, Elena ponders how she does feel about knives, and she assumes the prospect of fighting with them. She doesn't remember all the times she and her friends and family have been stabbed, so that probably helps her to shrug and accept the idea. ]

I'm guessing they're pretty effective if you know what you're doing.

[sirnyxalot]

Moreso than if you don't. Give me a minute.

[He disappears into the locker room to fetch his bag and the sheath he stores in there while he's working, then brings it out to the front.

Nyx pulls a beautiful curved blade from the leather, symbols etched into the metal as well as the hilt, and holds it out to her.]

This is what I learned to use.

[otrazhenie]

[ Elena waits patiently while Nyx is gone, looking around what she can see of the gym from her current position. And when he returns, her eyes go wide at the blade he pulls out. ]

Wow. [ She takes it from him carefully, one hand on the hilt and the other using her fingers to support the flat of the blade, the long curved edge facing away from her. ] This is... I don't think I've ever seen something like this before.

[ Not that she can actually remember, of course, but she just a feeling about it. ]

[sirnyxalot]

It's called a kukri. One half of a custom made set. My...unit all had their specialties. This was mine.

[He doesn't know how much she knows of his fake life's military, or much more beyond what he's gathered from his own memories. This place seemed to rely a lot heavier on guns than he's used to. But it's irrelevant to the here and now, and maybe she won't ask about it where the cameras can see.]

It's not an easy style, and I won't be able to teach you everything, but I can teach you enough.

[Awkward hesitation.]

I-if...you're interested.

[otrazhenie]

[ Something tells her that his specialty isn't the sort of thing you would learn in an average military setting. There are people here from different places, she's starting to put that together, but unfortunately she can't ask him about his life before. Not now, not here. ]

I am. [ It's said without hesitation, and there's a steel of determination in her gaze when she looks up at him. ] I'd like to learn, if you'll teach me.

[sirnyxalot]

[There's a swell of pride in his chest. No hesitation at all. He'd like her even without the familial ties.]

You'll get hurt.

[otrazhenie]

That's okay. I've been hurt before.

[ She remembers that, training with someone and it not being all that gentle. And she knows that people have hurt her before, even if she doesn't know the specifics. She won't learn if he goes easy on her. ]

[sirnyxalot]

It'll make you stronger.

[There's no irony in that. It's how he was taught: get faster to avoid being hit, learning to take an impact and get right back up. Cast properly so that it doesn't kill you.

He takes the blade back, flipping it in his hand with a smooth, practiced move.]

We'll figure out what kind of weapon suits you best. Maybe someone here will know how to make it. But before that we'll see what you've already got.

It'll be...nice to spend time with you. [Shifting gears back from soldier to brother is harder than he'd like, but he wants to make that effort.]

[otrazhenie]

[ She knows she'll never be able to physically overpower someone larger than herself, that just wasn't in the cards for her, but there were methods of fighting that would help her work around that problem, and that's the sort of thing she wanted to learn. Finding the right weapon that would suit her style and needs? Even better.

It surprises her a bit how excited and determined she is for this. She wants to learn, she wants to be good at it, and... she wants to make her brother proud. ]

I think so too. [ She can't help the broad smile that grows at his words. ] I'm really looking forward to it.

[sirnyxalot]

[Congratulations, Elena, you're one of the few people who gets to see an almost sheepish, pure smile on his face. Joy without any of the other trappings that he thinks about day in and day out. He can't help it. He sheaths the knife again so he can pull her into another hug, lifting her momentarily off her feet.]

Do you have plans for the rest of the day?

[otrazhenie]

[ It's the best smile and an amazing hug, one that she could easily get lost in for hours, just holding on to her beloved big brother. He's so strong and so caring, the best big brother a girl could ask for. Hopefully one day she'll be able to tell him that. Even if it isn't real. ]

Nope, we can do whatever. [ A pause, then a nervously added-- ] if you were serious about taking off early.

[sirnyxalot]

Dead serious. I'm yours for the rest of the day.

[It's kind of nice, he supposes, having an actual schedule. He worked too often before the war to spend time with Selena, and then once he became a Glaive his time was largely spent training and deploying for war. He didn't know where he'd be from one week to the next.

Here he could actually makes plans, and despite the danger, despite the suspicion, he can't help but be grateful for this.]

[otrazhenie]

That's the best news I've had all week.

[ And it's so very true. Her first day in the town had been... challenging, and overwhelming in ways she was still trying to cope with. Without her original memories, being around Damon had been... nice, but hard, because she wanted so desperately to remember him and what they'd shared. And now that she's starting to remember Stefan from this life, everything is getting twisted up in her mind and her heart. Even Katherine--

No, there's nothing wrong with her relationship with Katherine. They loved each other and were best friends as well as sisters. They just haven't gotten to spend much time together, that's all. ]

And since I'm still trying to remember pretty much everything, I think you should choose what we do together.

[sirnyxalot]

Let me finish up, get changed and I'll think of something.

[It's still difficult to let her go, but he's not going to go out in the clothes he was working in, and his bag is still in the locker room. He's quick about it, at least, straightening up the room he'd been in so that he's not leaving equipment anywhere it shouldn't be, and while he gets his stuff he tries to think of something to do.

Part of him wishes this were Insomnia. There was always something to see, somewhere to go, something new to try no matter how long you've lived there. Wayward Pines reminds him a little of home in that you had to get creative in finding something fun to do. A lot of hours swimming, or causing trouble. But, he supposes, he doesn't think it matters what it is, so much as whatever they do they're going to be together.

He returns again, bag over his shoulder and blade tucked neatly under his flannel at the small of his back.]

Have you ever heard of a chocobo?

[There's something to his smile that says he knows just how weird that sounds out of nowhere.]

[otrazhenie]

[ It's still strange to think that she's so excited to spend the day with someone she just met. They know nothing about each other except for the shared memories that are trickling into their minds, and yet the both of them seem desperate to have that connection, to strengthen it and... make up for lost time? Time they'd never had to begin with.

And she doesn't care at all how they spend that time. They could sit in a coffee shop for hours and just talk. They could walk through town, go to a movie, anything, and she would just be glad to share that time with him.

The look she gives him at that question is both amused and perplexed. Because ] What's a chocobo?

[sirnyxalot]

[Oh boy, is this going to be fun. He holds the door open for her as they leave, grinning broadly.]

Imagine a chicken that's big enough for you to sit on.

[otrazhenie]

[ She loves seeing him smile like that, it feels like he doesn't do it often enough. ]

A chi-- [ What?! She laughs before she can even properly try to visualize what he's describing. ] Okay, this I need to see.

[sirnyxalot]

Come on, it's at the farm.

[Big as his house is there's really no place to keep a horsebird unless he clears out the garage. Which is a possibility. He still hasn't taken the bike in to get it fixed. It's not like they're using the garage for anything else.

Although sorry, Elena, that means they're walking through town. They're going to have to talk to fill the time or something. Gosh.]

[otrazhenie]

[ The farm. She hasn't been there yet, not since her accident, but she does recall that it's quite a ways out there. It will be nice to walk around and catch up with him, though, so she doesn't mind. ]

So what's it like, working at the gym? [ Let's start somewhere easy. ]

[sirnyxalot]

Different from what I'm used to, but it keeps me busy. Better than being idle.

[It wasn't at all like the drills he went through as a Glaive, but there's really no comparing that to anything he could emulate here. It's enough to keep in shape for now.

Just in case.]

[otrazhenie]

I don't like not having anything to do, either.

[ That's part of why she'd gone out wandering the town that day. She couldn't just sit around Caroline's, waiting for her memories to come back. Getting out and doing something was so much better, and look where it's gotten her now. ]

[sirnyxalot]

On the bright side: as long as you like being active there's plenty to do. Jogging, camping, swimming, rockclimbing...

[He ticks each one off his fingers like a man who knows full well that there's only so much of that one can do in a month before wanting something intellectual to pursue.]