ArchivedLogs:Memories

Memories
Dramatis Personae Akihiro, Anette, and NPC-Harley
In Absentia	2017-10-16 "I have more memories of killing than I do of anything else"
Location <BOM> Training Center - Main Lodge - Ascension Island
Down a short flight of stairs off of the common room, this room is a departure from the homier stone and wood upstairs. Its bare concrete walls are clearly basementy in feel, though its floor has been refurbished in gleaming synthetic flooring marked out like a basketball court. This spacious gymnasium includes a variety of punching bags -- of several compositions (for normal strength mutants or mutants on the high end of the spectrum) -- a boxing ring, a wall for climbing, several lengths of rope, and many, many training dummies for people to practice their powers on. Someone's dressed up one of the training dummies as a police officer, and scrawled a dopey smiley face on it; the sign on his chest declares him to be 'OFFICER SHITS-HIS-PANTS'. Officer Shits-His-Pants has seen better days; by the look of him, he's been set on fire and lost at least one of his limbs. In the back room is more training equipment -- everything from boxing gloves, medical tape, sports equipment, and even some unusual customized equipment for the more 'physical' mutants. The infirmary door stands near the stairway leading back up. It's in odd hour in the training room. Too late for the morning people, too early for the afternoon workouts, so the training center is unusually quiet. This may be intentional as not only is Anette down here but so is Harley. While Anette is dressed for a workout and is currently busying herself with the climbing wall, Harley is placed nearby but out of the way in a bouncing chair, a colorful mobile dangling above her head for entertainment. Harley's mostly quiet, an odd coo or babble escaping periodically between naps. Anette, as focused as she is on her workout, breathing hard with a thin layer of sweat coating her forehead and arms, continues to glance Harley's way every few minutes, ensuring the child is still here and needing nothing. The next time Anette checks on Harley, her father is standing over her. After making sure she's fine he heads further into training area and offers Anette a wave. "Hey love, good to see you out and about." He's dressed to work out as well, sporting a pair of black basketball shorts and a dark gray Bob Marley t-shirt. Pausing his attention moves around the room, clearly not sure where to begin this morning. Anette pauses on the wall when Akihiro makes himself known, watching him briefly before ticking her head in greeting and resuming her climb up. "Yeah. Newborns make it hard to get out." She reaches up with her foot and stumbles a moment, hanging by her arms for a second before she can regain her footing and pull herself back up. "God I'm out of shape." When Anette slips Akihiro moves over to the wall, just in case. "That'd be from sitting in jail so long." Not helpful, but not wrong either. "She can stay the night at my place too, you know. I don't have to sleep as much as you, and I'm not doing anything other than sitting around anyway." "But it was such a nice vacation," Anette says bitterly, stretching out her wings and with a quick push from the wall, lets herself coast to the ground. She walks over to Harley and gently tickles the child beneath her chin before reaching beside her for a towel. She begins mopping at the sweat on her face as she turns to face Akihiro. "Yeah, maybe. Don't think I could sleep without her though. Even when she's sleeping, I can't. Always got to check that she's..." She leaves the sentence unfinished, turning to glance down at the newborn again. "I know." Akihiro steps over and places a quick kiss on Anette's forehead. "I wish you'd both stay over more. Or have me spend the night." He sighs quietly but doesn't push it any further. "I'm just glad to have you both on the island." Anette's smiles softly as Akihiro kisses her forehead. "Sorry. It's just been...hard, trying to figure everything out." She ignores his next comment as Harley begins fussing. "She's hungry," she says, reaching down to remove Harley from her chair. Facing away from Akihiro, she adjusts her shirt and places Harley against her breast. Once the child begins feeding, she turns back around, cradling the baby in her arms. "It is nice being back. Even if not everyone missed me." "Half of 'em don't like me either. But it's not like we have anywhere else to go." Akihiro sighs quietly and looks past Anette to the different dummies set up. "Hell, I don't even really like them. But I signed up on the west coast. They got shit done over there." His lips press into a thin line as he thinks back on his time before New York. "Here we are though. Might as well make the best of it." "Sometimes I'm surprised they haven't offed us in our sleep," Anette muses, carefully adjusting her hold on Harley. "At least you can leave the island. I'm starting to get cabin fever cooped up here. I'd drink but," Anette says, flicking her eyes down to the baby feeding from her body. "Fucking sucks." "Can. But I don't." Akihiro reaches up to scratch at his chin. "Not even sure what I'd do. Get into a few more arguments, maybe fight, I don't really know." Truth be told he was doing everything in his power to stay sane and not drown himself, but some things were better left unsaid. Harley detaches herself from Anette and, this time without turning away, she removes Harley and covers herself back up. Now she holds Harley to her shoulder, gently bouncing the child and patting her back. "I'd like to just...sit down with a cup of coffee. Pretend I don't piss everyone off, that I'm a normal human being and not a wanted felon with a child that keeps me up all night." "You're telling me. I have more memories of killing than I do of anything else." Akihiro's stare goes distant again and he simply falls silent. It wasn't often he got like this, but it wasn't ever a good sign. It was at times like this he oten found himself back in the middle east, or worse yet back in Canada. They'd started to get more spaced out, but with Anette's arrest he began moving backwards. "Sorry.. what were we talking about?" Anette watches Akihiro as he zones out, her bouncing of Harley slowly coming to a stop as she focuses more on the man before her. "You alright?" she asks softly once Akihiro seems to return to the present, yellow eyes focused on him with concern. "Yeah." Akihiro nods slowly. "I'm fine." His knuckles crack as his hand balls up into a fist. "I don't think I've ever said it.. but sorry. You were better off with that piece of shit dog. At least you were happy when I saw you." He turns and starts walking toward the dummies he was focusing on earlier. "What the hell are you talking about? Are you serious?" Anette's eyes widen as Akihiro turns to leave and she quickly follows after him, not letting him walk away. "Fuck, you should know by now I'm never happy. But I've been pretty damn close with you. What the hell brought this on?" "Just...you could do better." Akihiro says, grabbing a bow and quiver. He doesn't start shooting, rather he looks at the weapon itself. It was different from what his father had taught him with, but it brought back memories regardless. Three more corpses on the pile. "I'm just tired of not being able to be there for you. You got arrested while I was here. They rescued you without me. Hell, I only get to see you and Harley if I'm at your cabin or you two come over." That seems to do it and he draws an arrow, pulling back and letting it fly. There's a solid thud as it buries itself between the eyes of the dummy furthest away. "I can do better? Last I looked, you weren't the one in and out of prison for stupid ass decisions, an on and off cocaine addict, borderline alcoholic, and massive commitment and trust issues. Pretty damn sure if any one of us could do better, it's you." Having decided Harley is settled, she places the child carefully back in her chair before she makes her way back to Akihiro. "Do you want me to come by more often? To leave Harley with you some nights? Is this what this is about?" "No, I'm not in the business of making you do anything." Akihiro fires another arrow, splitting the first one in half. Apparently he's been training even more than usual since she'd been away. "Yes, you can do better. I'm a piece of shit who's literally murdered all the other people he's been in a relationship with, started wars, and wrestles with suicidal depression. If I can even die." "Well, you haven't murdered me. You haven't even murdered my exes. That's a start." Anette pauses a moment as if she had a sudden though. "Least...I don't think you have. I haven't seen Killian in ages..." She turns back to Akihiro, walking up behind him and wrapping an arm about his waist. "We're both fucked up. We're either perfect for each other or absolutely horrible. Honestly, I'm not sure. But I can't fix what you want me to if you don't tell me what's wrong." "If he died, it's because he's a piss poor assassin." Akihiro puts the bow down and rests his hands on Anette's. "It's just a lot of different things. Usually do a good job of keeping them burried, but every now and then I slip up." "Or you could actually talk to me and stop trying to hide everything," Anette says, laying her head against Akihiro's arm. "I might be shit at showing it but I do care about you and I don't like watching you mope over the place. I already have Vader, he's pissy enough."" "You've already heard most of it." Akihiro assures Anette, bending his neck so he can kiss the top of her head. "Also Vader isn't pissy, he's just waiting to eat you. Or really anybody else. That cat is probably darker than both of us." "He seems to like Harley. So either he has a soft spot...or she's Satan." Anette straightens herself and makes her way back towards Harley and begins packing her things up. "How about Harley and I come over? We can watch a movie or something..." "Sounds nice." Akihiro allows with a slight nod. "She very well might be Satan too, she is our daughter after all." He picks the bow up and returns it where he got it from, along with the quiver. "Got a few new ones you can look over, see if there's anything you like."