Who: Yang and Evie What: Meeting at the gym, then going to lunch When: Day of the big blizzard after Christmas! Where: A gym, then a soup and sandwich place Warnings: Pretty low
Yang’s favorite gym was one that was a little out of the way. The people knew her there and not many people seemed to care that she was disabled, which made it easier for her to focus on improving her form. With only one arm she’d had to relearn her balance, and at least it gave her opportunity to work against her biggest weakness - opponents that relied on leg movement.
Dressed in short shorts and a kind of sports bra that could barely contain the girls, Yang attacked a punching bag with her fist and her feet. Sometimes she had on a prosthetic, other times she didn’t. She wanted to be ready for anything.
The gym was one of the few places where Evie could be on her own. Some days she just needed to beat up punching bags or lift weights instead of sitting home and reading quietly. She was an odd blend of needing to be active and needing to be quiet. Today was a workout day. She had earbuds in with music playing as she lifted weights for a while. Once she finished that, she decided to take a turn on a punching bag. She was dressed in shorts and a tanktop, which showed off her muscle tone quite nicely. She was hiding a four pack under the tanktop. As usual, she wore her dog tags, something she always wore.
Walking up to an open punching bag, she noticed the blonde on the one next to it, watching her style momentarily. The fact she only had one arm didn’t phase her in the least. Lifting her left arm where she had her iPod in an arm strap, she turned the music off and pulled the earbuds out, letting them dangle over her shoulders.
“You’ve got nice form there,” she commented, meaning the way the blonde was attacking the punching bag. It was easy for Evie to tell she’d had training.
The bag shuddered under a particularly violent kick, and Yang bounced back from it on her heels. For how long and wild her hair was she hadn’t pulled it back. Her hair gave her power, and she raked her fingers through it. Yang was unsure what kind of reaction she was going to get. “Thanks.”
Evie smiled warmly at her. Her hair was quite untamed and enthralling, but she tried not to stare at it. “You look like you had training. Martial arts? Mixed fighting? Something else?” She was curious about it. As she stood there, she pulled the tie out of her hair and redid her ponytail, getting some loose strands tucked back in for the time being.
Yang was doing that thing where she was looking without really looking. The abs were noticeable, but then she'd always had a thing for that. Just look at Blake in her dreams. "All of the above. I was on the UCI karate team before my accident."
It was hard to find anything she could do with one arm, most places wouldn't let her fight. There were always cage matches though.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I have seen many people in similar situations.” Evie had friends that lacked limbs. A few of them had lost more than one limb. “It’s highly admirable that you learned multiple forms. You certainly move like a fighter.” She was also willing to bet that this woman had the fighting spirit to go with it. “Evie Frye,” she introduced herself, holding out her left hand in greeting.
Grinning, Yang got a cocky look in her eyes. She held out her hand. “Yang Xiao Long.” Her grip was strong and she was well-built. Chances were she could bench Evie without breaking a sweat. “Fighting is in my blood. My dad did something like MMA and my mom… did stuff too.” Apparently. Not that she ever knew her mom all that well. “Even my little sister is into it.”
Evie had to raise her eyebrows in amusement, but she grinned, giving Yang a strong grip in return. “That certainly does run in your family if all of you are involved in it.” Evie couldn’t say anything about her mother as she’d died shortly after giving birth to her and her brother, but she had followed in her father’s footsteps. “It sounds like you love it as well.” It was one thing to have something like that in one’s blood. It was another to actually like it.
“Yeah,” Yang replied, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. Evie was asking the right questions and in all honesty Yang wanted to impress her. “It’s all I ever wanted. Fighting and adventure. Protecting people. I’ve always been able to take hits better than others, even when I get disarmed.”
Was that a pun? Even if it wasn’t, Evie had to laugh, unable to contain it. “That’s a good one,” she commented with a grin. “You certainly look very strong.” And very well endowed, good lord. It was hard to not notice Yang’s rack. “You could probably kick the arses of a lot of the people in my task force.”
“Yep. One hundred percent buttkick is my other nickname.” She lifted her arm and flexed for Evie, which only gave her a better view of her cleavage in the process. “Are you military?”
“That is an excellent nickname to have.” Evie said with a smile. She saw the bicep that Yang flexed for her and was rather impressed by it. And she tried not to look at the better view of her cleavage, but it was hard not to. “Yes, I am. Or was, I’ve been discharged, but I served in Afghanistan.” That statement alone could tell most people the kinds of things she’d experienced, though that was only scratching the surface of what she’d done there.
Getting checked out was a huge boost to Yang’s confidence, all things considered. Yang dropped her arm and nodded, though she was probably too young to understand that kind of darkness. Or was she? “You made it.” Lots of people didn’t. Yang still had nightmares.
“I did, but several of my friends did not.” Evie’s smile turned sad. “Still, all things considered, I am better off than some considering the things I experienced.” Meaning she didn’t have PTSD like some in her task force did. She’d initially had some difficulty adjusting to life that wasn’t in the middle of a war zone, but she’d managed.
"Sorry." That was probably a rude thing to bring up and Yang felt bad about it. "But that's good. We all have to survive in our own way."
Yang rubbed the back of her neck, stretching as she did so. "Are you new here? Don't think I've seen you around."
“It’s alright, it’s part of life.” Evie had long since accepted these things, and while she was saddened upon remembering her friends who came back home in coffins, she had been able to move past them.
“Yes, I am. I moved here shortly before the holidays.” She was grateful for the change in topic. Talking about her military experience wasn’t exactly one to be had in public like this. And Evie couldn’t help but take another look over of Yang. She swallowed past a little lump in her throat that had suddenly appeared.
“Betcha didn’t expect a white christmas,” Yang said, purple eyes flashing with amusement. “Or the other strange things that happen here. You aren’t claustrophobic are you? Afraid of Santa Clause?”
“No, I certainly didn’t expect a white Christmas at all.” Evie was trying to get her head around that part. And the reports of Christmas decorations attacking people? Those kind of unnerved her greatly. It took her a moment to catch that pun, but she had to smile and chuckle. “No, I’m not claustrophobic, that much I can say.”
“That’s good, because you never know when a Santa is going come out of the woodwork and attack you. But I suppose that makes sense.” Yang rubbed her chin. “We’re near tinseltown and all.”
She wet her lips. “Wanna clean up and get something to eat? Or do you still need to work out?” Yang could hang around. Not that she was lonely or anything.
“Sure! I don’t need to work out, I already lifted weights for a while anyways. I should give my body a rest.” Evie said with a light laugh. She could also really use friends. It was lonely here, and she was still grieving her father’s death. The busier she stayed the less time she had to think about her father or her brother being completely on his own. Which was honestly something she feared.
She fully expected a call one of these days saying Jacob had created a mess she needed to go clean up.
“All right. Lets get cleaned up. Besides, I should get a picture of you. You know, so I can show santa what I want for Christmas next year.” Yang winked, then bent over and picked up her towel.
Evie promptly blushed, her cheeks flushing at Yang’s comment. She cleared her throat and tried to power on through it. “But it’s a whole year away,” she managed to retort a bit playfully. And a little shyly. And of course she got another eye full as Yang bent over and it only made her cheeks flush further.
Wow. Yang hadn't gotten a reaction like that from someone outside of her dreams, it was really.. cute. "I'm not that patient."
Yang fwipped her towel onto her shoulder and turned to go the locker room. Evie was a little stiff and could use a little loosening up. But that could be the military thing. She reminded her of several people from her dreams, in one way or another.
It was probably a combination of the military background and the fact she wasn’t all that in touch with her emotions. She hadn’t had many relationships with people, all of them having come before she’d enlisted in the military. She cleared her throat again.
“Patience is a virtue, though sometimes it’s probably the hardest virtue to embody,” she stated. She kind of sounded like her father. And she knew her brother would say she needed to loosen up and have some fun.
“I’m going to rinse off real fast. We’ll be here all day if I had to wash my hair.” She winked over her shoulder. “I’m patient where it counts but I always did have a problem with sitting still.”
“You do have quite a lot of luxurious hair,” Evie commented as she followed along behind Yang. And there may have been a glance towards Yang’s ass while she looked at her hair. “I can understand that. My brother tends to not like sitting still either.”
“I have a friend who could sit still for hours. She’s the quiet sort.” Was she talking about Blake? Li? Possibly both? The flattery on her hair could get Evie anywhere.
Once safely in the locker room, she peeled her shirt off over her head. Yang’s back was as fit as the rest of her, and there were a few scars here and there that was revealed when she brushed her hair out of the way. “I won’t be long. I’ve gotten pretty good at this. As long as I don’t drop the soap.”
“That takes some effort to sit still for prolonged periods of time.” Even Evie, who liked to sit quietly and read, still needed to get up and do something active after a while. She looked over Yang’s back, noting the muscle tone there, as well as a few scars. She nodded a bit. “Here’s to hope you can keep hold of the slippery bastard,” she responded with a chuckle.
While Yang did that, Evie went to her locker. She could get by without a power shower, mostly helped by the body spray she had in her locker. She grabbed her clothes and went to change, spraying herself with a sweet smelling scent in the process. She came back in her military camo pants, a clean tanktop and a black hoodie. Evie grabbed her hairbrush and went to the mirror, taking her hair out of the ponytail and brushed it out before she put it in a fresh ponytail. Going back to her locker, she put her gym clothes in her bag, along with her hairbrush and tennis shoes. She slipped on a pair of combat boots and was ready.
True to her word, Yang showered fast. She kept her hair tied back to stop it from getting wet and wiped herself down and rinsed herself off in record time. Hey, she was getting pretty good at that! She’d brought a pair of jeans and a yellow shirt with a low neckline. It was long sleeved, but Ahsoka had trimmed the right sleeve and sewn it shut for her before giving it to her as a gift. She had a leather jacket but that sleeve was just rolled up and tied shut.
She stopped and watched Evie for a moment, chewing her lip. She was really pretty and smelled nice and Yang was a bisexual disaster honestly. “Almost didn’t see you, you were blending in.”
Camo joke, she couldn’t resist.
Evie was one of those people who was oblivious to whether she was attractive or not. She was a soldier first and foremost in her own mind. Still she found others attractive, she just hadn’t approached anyone on that level in...years. Far too many years. She looked at Yang blinking at first, then realized it was a joke about her camo and she laughed.
“Good thing I didn’t bring my camo jacket as well. You wouldn’t have seen me at all in that.” She grinned as she pulled on a jacket to help keep her warm while outside. She slung her bag over her shoulder. “Lead the way,” she said.
“Sure thing.’ Yang winked at her, then headed out of the gym. Her boots crunched in the snow and she looked around. “Huh. Starting to snow again.”
Cold didn’t really bother her, she was warm enough for anything. “Snow problem! But eating something warm is probably a good idea.”
Evie followed along, definitely perplexed by it snowing again. “Blimey, how much does it snow here? I didn’t think it was supposed to snow here.” She shook her head a bit, then laughed at the pun. “Agreed, soup or something warm is always good on a snowy winter’s day.”
"Not this much, usually. But sometimes we do get little blizzards." Yang stuffed her hand into her pocket. "I think I know the place, I'm souper excited to see what specials they have."
She glanced at Evie and winked. "Maybe the weather followed someone here."
Evie eyed Yang with amusement. “You are the queen of puns, aren’t you?” That had become evident several minutes ago, but she felt like saying it. “Perhaps it did. I just arrived about two weeks ago or so.”
"What's the point of living if we don't enjoy ourselves?" Yang asked. She got the door for Evie, the long tails of her coat flapping in the snowy wind. "I'll bet the shower gets turned on when you get naked in the shower."
“Quite true.” And despite what Jacob had to say, Evie did enjoy herself. She enjoyed her work, and thus she enjoyed her life because she was making a difference in the world. She was making it a safer place for them all. “If it didn’t get turned on, a plumber would have to come and flush the pipes.” The fact that Evie could fire that back was probably a small miracle. But she’d picked up a lot of such things in the military. They had to entertain themselves during the times they had down time on the base, after all.
Yang barked out a laugh. “That’s a good start, maybe there’s hope for you yet!”
The waitress led them to their seats, and Yang sat down, deciding that it really was amazing what socializing with other humans could do for a person. “My treat.”
“Any hope I may have, I credit to my brother and those in my task force.” Evie said, bemused. She took a seat across from Yang, shrugging out of her jacket and unzipping her hoodie. “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out or anything.”
Yang's own jacket ended up draped over the back of her chair, and she leaned back. "No no it's totally okay. The last time I tried to treat someone out it didn't end so well."
She thought she was still friends with Callisto, but it might be a bit awkward for a bit.
“Thank you,” she said with a nod, more than certain to make her gratefulness clear from the beginning. “I’ll endeavor to be a better outcome for you.” Evie didn’t know why it hadn’t ended well for Yang, but she wasn’t going to pry and she was simply going to try and be pleasant company.
Yang appreciated that. She pushed her hair out of the way and leaned on her arm, smiling at Evie. “You are already, trust me.”
“Glad to know I’m already pleasant company.” Evie said with a smile. “So Yang, what do you do? Are you in school or do you work? Or both?” Because it was only natural to start to get to know someone, and Evie could really use the company.
“I’m in school. I’ve kind of lost a lot of focus though. I keep thinking about changing my major.” She shrugged. It was hard to face the fact she’d pretty much lost all her motivation with her injury, but she really had to. Yang excelled at more than just fighting, and she just needed to apply her smarts again.
Evie wondered if the lack of focus was due to the loss of Yang’s arm. “What is your current major? And what would you change it to?” She asked curiously, not passing judgement at all. She of all people didn’t judge people on what they looked like, it was what they did.
It definitely was. Despite all her progress it was still easy enough to fall back. Yang was trying, though. “Well I can’t major in punching people, so I was majoring in journalism. But I think maybe I should do something else. As long as it involves helping people, anyway.”
“Journalists can still help people. Though that type of journalism sometimes involves putting your life in danger.” Evie was thinking of going to war zones or places like Aleppo to expose the injustices against humanity being done there. “Though there are many ways to help others. There’s undoubtedly one that you would enjoy.”
“I’m not risk adverse,” Yang was quick to reply. “But I was thinking maybe something like psychology. Though maybe that’d help with journalism too.”
She could always go into comedy too. People needed to laugh. Hell, she’d made miss stuffy Brit laugh.
“Psychology is certainly good to use. You could always use it in journalism as well, depending upon who you are doing the journalism on and where you are doing it. I could always suggest good places for you to cut your teeth on, so to speak, if you were interested.” Evie suggested.
“I...really?” Yang tilted her head. “You’d do that? I know I don’t exactly look smart. I get blonde, brawler and boobs jokes all the time, but I’ve always gotten straight As.” As if the full level of her intelligence was in her breasts or hair. To be fair she made those jokes too. And knocked in the head jokes. But that was different.
“Of course! Appearances aren’t everything, and I don’t judge based on looks. Whatever someone wants to do, I believe they should be encouraged to do it. Besides, I’ve been in places most people haven’t. I know some places where people need the most help and what needs more worldwide attention.” Evie obviously couldn’t get into the classified details of her current job or her missions in Afghanistan, but she’d seen atrocities. She’d seen suffering. She definitely wanted to help expose that sort of thing and attempt to get people to move to action and help others who were in need.
Being sent overseas to shoot at people probably meant Evie had seen some shit. And fighting Grimm was pretty terrible considering the death and destruction they could cause but that was still different than people. Grimm were mindless creatures, monsters. People were people. Yang tried not to think about the White Fang fighters who’d probably died on that train they’d fought on. It was an uncomfortable truth that the ones they’d knocked off or out probably hadn’t made it. Either killed when the train broke through into the city and exploded, or killed by the Grimm that were chasing the train into the city. Which was the White Fang’s entire plan.
But that was different. Probably.
“You already got the gun show so it’s probably harder to judge.” She winked, retreating to lightheartedness as a defense mechanism. “But that would be...really, thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” she said with a smile. Evie liked helping people herself, regardless of whether that was on a battlefield, behind a computer screen or sitting one on one with someone else. Yang was still a virtual stranger to her, but she was more than willing to help her however she could. “Whenever you want the help, simply ask. I obviously can’t give you classified information, but I can give you enough of a direction to go in.” Depending on what Yang wanted to know, of course.
“I wouldn’t ask for anything like that, though any tips would be useful.” Yang winked. “Ever take a gun to your watch to kill time?”
“Those I can certainly give,” she responded with a smile. And then she laughed. “Maybe once, but it’s highly inefficient. Unless I took everyone else’s watches and shot them all.” She chuckled.
“They might be okay with that, after all it’s about time.” Yang cocked her finger, then settled down to actually order something warm. She wasn’t sure how she’d get home in this weather, but it would be easier if she had a warm, full stomach.
“With the year coming to a close, I rather think it certainly is time to do away with them.” Evie chuckled. She ordered one of the soups of the day in the large bowl. Evie could definitely eat like a horse when she wanted to, but right now soup sounded like the best idea. She could worry about eating more once she managed to get back to her flat.
“Definitely.” Yang started to tuck her hair back, then caught herself. Because why was she bothering to flirt? That never worked out for her anyway.
Evie smiled. “So what do you do in your free time? Aside from punching people, that is.” It was light and teasing. Evie was getting to know Yang more than she was offering up information about herself, but that was potentially something that would eventually be rectified. If Yang was curious about her and Evie wanted to answer certain questions, that is.
“Train. Video games. Board games. I really enjoy games like Risk.” Yang was really good at strategy games. Maybe not as good as her sister, but still. “Luckily my roomies are into that kind of thing too.”
“Risk is definitely an excellent board game.” That alone told Evie that Yang had a mind for strategy and tactics. Not everyone was gifted with that. “That’s good they’re into that as well. I do enjoy a good board game myself. Even a good game of chess.”
Too bad Yang didn’t carry any around with her. It wasn’t often she met people that saw past the brawn and the breasts. Not that she minded that Evie had clearly been staring. Being kept up at all hours lately made a girl lonely. Though she wouldn’t ever actually tell them to stop. “My dad and I used to play chinese checkers a lot. And I’d do Go with my Uncle Qrow.”
“It’s been years since I played chinese checkers. My father and I used to play chess a lot.” Saying that brought about the pang of remembering her father was gone now. However, Evie did what she did best and shoved those emotions back down inside of her.
“We could play a game sometime?” Yang sounded a little hopeful. Which was a weird feeling for her, all things considered. She’d been in dark places for awhile now and had mostly hidden them from her friends. At least she was trying to hide them.
“I would love that.” Evie responded with a smile. She didn’t have anyone to play those kinds of games with here yet. She didn’t even really know anyone. It had been her first Christmas that she’d spent truly by herself, and New Years was looking to be the same.
Their soup arrived, and Yang felt better than she had since she’d kissed Callisto. As much as she hadn’t wanted to upset Callisto or admit it had affected her, it had. But a new year soon, maybe she could move forward. “Wish I had something today.”
“Perhaps I should start carrying travel sized board games like chess with me for these sort of times.” Evie said and she picked up her spoon and stirred her soup a bit, letting some of the steam come out before she attempted to eat it.
“That would be a good idea.” Yang laughed, then tasted her soup. It warmed her all the way down and she really liked it. But if they did get stranded, they’d have to find some way to pass the time.
“Next opportunity, I’ll pick one up at the store.” She smiled, then tasted her own soup. It was definitely good and warmed her up. “This soup is really quite good. I’ll need to remember this place so I can come back in the future.”
It was snowing really badly, so Yang checked the charge on her phone. So much for using it to play some kind of game, she was sure there was a chess app. She texted Li to let her know where she was, then slipped it back to her pocket. “Me too. But it’s kinda dangerous. So close to the gym. Or maybe that’s the point!”
“It probably is the point. Go to the gym, burn a bunch of calories, then get them all back with a meal here!” Evie laughed. Nevertheless, it never hurt to have some options for food. She wasn’t the best cook, but she could make edible food, but some days she just didn’t want to cook.
“Or eat here then burn them off at the gym.” Yang’s metabolism was kind of scary. Or maybe it all went to her breasts. “Or in a nice jog, there’s a park nearby too.”
“Both are viable options as well. And that is good to know. I jog often, so it’s nice to know where good places are to do that.” Evie liked to have some scenery other than just jogging down the street.
“I’d suggest we go for a walk but I can’t exactly walk on snow. I got the wrong kind of shoes.” Yang licked her lips, then went for her water. “Besides punching bags, what kind of things do you like to do?”
She wasn’t going to be the only one talking about themselves.
“This is definitely not the weather for walking in, either.” Evie commented. It was the kind of day where one stayed inside and waited for the weather to pass, only venturing outside if it couldn’t be avoided. “I like to read and research. I’m actually rather boring considering my job tends to be a non-stop one. Or at least my brother would say I’m boring and never have any fun.”
“Not sure how I’ll get home but I’ll figure that out later.” Yang scratched her jaw. Ahsoka could maybe fly in her fighter but that would be cramped and how did you explain ‘my roommate is an alien with a starfighter’ to the cute British woman? “You’d get along with my roommates. Li plays the violin and other than music stuff she’s pretty quiet. Her girlfriend meditates a lot and does that whole buddhist thing. They can get loud though.”
Wait.
“I mean for game night and hanging around.” But other things too.
“I’d like to say I could give you a lift, but I don’t drive here, so I can offer to call a cab?” Evie said. She’d work on the driving here thing later, like maybe once she adjusted to the whole driving on the right side of the road thing. “Most people do have their loud moments, but it sounds like you are fortunate with your roommates. There are those who are loud all the time and don’t respect personal space.”
That was assuming any cabs were available right now, but Yang would accept the offer if that was the case. “I like to think I’ve learned to respect that for people. Most of the time. Sometimes friends need a little nudge to loosen up and relax. One of mine was obsessing over something and it was unhealthy. I’ve been there.”
“Indeed, obsessing and fixating on things is never healthy. Hopefully you were able to help them move past it?” So said a woman who tended to both hold onto things longer than she should and seemingly brush others off without batting an eye. “Though pretty sure my brother would say I need to be taken out, shaken and made to relax and loosen up now and then. But it’s difficult losing the army edge.” But it wasn’t just the military edge that made Evie so rigid. She adhered to her father’s teachings like many adhered to religious teachings. He’d instilled in her that emotions tended to get in the way of doing one’s duty. And being in the army, she had to put her emotions aside in order to properly do her job. That wasn’t an easy skin to shed, and thus far no one other than her brother really tried to break her out of it.
Though Evie hadn’t really given people that chance to do so either.
“Not entirely. But it was the kind of thing that you shouldn’t forget about. What I reminded her to do was give herself time to sleep. To relax. To have a little fun. To not let it consume you. Like...My mom left, when I was really little. And I nearly got myself and my sister hurt because I was obsessed with finding her. I’m still gonna find her but I’ve learned to be balanced about it.”
Yang tucked some hair behind her ear. “Your brother is right though. Sometimes you do need to step back and take care of yourself. That’s what family and friends are for, reminding us to do that.”
“I am sorry about your mother, though I am glad that you’ve learned to be balanced about finding her.” Evie said with a little nod. She was envious in a way. Evie had never known her own mother. All she had were some photographs of her. But she wasn’t going to let that hold her back.
“Indeed they are. I suppose making new friends here is even more imperative considering my friends and family are nowhere near here to help with that.”
Ruby’s mother had ended up being the one that raised them and for a long time Yang had thought she was her mother too. But after she’d found the truth she’d...just had to know why Raven had left. It took her that incident (in both worlds no less) for her to calm down about it.
“Well you’ve got a friend here if you want it.”
Evie smiled. “I definitely want it. I like having friends.” And she did. While she was fine being on her own, she still liked having people to interact with at times as well. Plus she was feeling exceptionally lonely, and she missed the hell out of her brother, but she would never admit it outloud.
“Good. I like having a captive audience.” Yang leaned forward, chin on her hand as her purple eyes twinkled with mischief. Getting out was turning out to be a good thing.
“Oh no, does that mean I’m going to be assaulted with your latest puns on a regular basis?” Evie asked as she looked at Yang. By the tone of her voice she was obviously teasing. She was also amused by it.
“Whether you like it or not.” Yang said. She got a smug grin on her face. Captive audiences were nice, though her friends might rib her about it. Especially as she was likely to talk about Evie. A lot.
“Well then, I should just brace myself for it.” She laughed. Evie had to say she hadn’t felt quite this good since before her father had died. Sure she laughed and had her lighter moments, but perhaps having thrown herself headlong into work after the funeral hadn’t helped. Being around other people seemed to be doing the trick.