𝖑𝖎𝖆𝖒 𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖉.

Aki doesn’t recognise it until it’s too late, he doesn’t pinpoint the shift in the air or the change in Liam’s demeanour until the other is already coming at him. Maybe it’s his own fault, maybe he bit off more than he could chew, maybe he was just too vicious in his own attacks, but Liam’s not holding back anymore, and Aki knows he’s in trouble.

That’s not even the worst part, though. The worst part is - he doesn’t care.

While he can dodge some of the more obvious swings Liam’s newfound attack force is just too much for him - he dodges one hit aimed at his face, takes two more to his body. Barely manages to block another swing, only to take more damage to his head. And the metal weighing his skeleton down just makes it harder to get a grip and bounce back from the situation - coupled with a brief but horrifying flash to the way Weapon X’s team had overpowered him and beaten him down on the street that day, Aki’s helpless and within minutes he’s knocked back. He lands hard on the ground, breath knocked out of him, body aching. “What the fuck..” He groans in pain, rolling over to push up onto his hands and knees, pain radiating through his body.

what had started as some friendly training is anything but now. if he had any level of awareness of what was happening ⏤ fists that might as well not be his hitting and hitting and hitting even after it’s clear aki isn’t posing a real threat ⏤ he would have put an end to it, but he is clueless to it all. locked in a corner of his mind until this side of him ⏤ the monster in him ⏤ has had its fill. 

“Aw shucks Liam, I didn’t realise you missed me that much.” Tobias says with a grin, not at all serious. He and Liam had definitely made the most of the nights they spent together when they were younger, Tobias wouldn’t change their friendship for anything. “Well, you know. You can’t really mess around forever, right? Especially not when the right kinda person comes along.” As much as Liam might insist that’s not for him, Tobias still holds onto hope that the other will find something like that one day. That he’ll find someone he loves and cares for and wants to be with. He deserves that chance, after all. “Even if I am, what’s the big deal? I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

watching him move to pull his phone out, dot nodded slowly. she hadn’t really expected him to know asl at all, but it was something she always tried with people, just in case they did know. leaning over to watch what he was typing, dark curls falling over her shoulder, she chuckled softly. i can’t sign but i can read added a lightness to this conversation that she hadn’t expected. taking the phone gently from his phone, dot typed out a reply underneath, trying to not let the words startle her too much as she typed them: victor creed is my dad.

“So observant of you” he said and chuckled softly, shaking his head as a fond smile formed on his lips. The other could continue to try and make him uncomfortable, but at the end of the day he will only fail. Ares was the son of Edward Nygma for crying out loud. He could handle anything life threw his way. Looking at the dog, flashing him a soft smile, Ares then sighed. “You are not a waste of time”

“I don’t really fight in the light. I fight in the darkness” they said and shrugged. And when the other tossed them down onto the mat, a soft huff left them as they looked at the other. “I am not here to impress a man. I am here to make myself stronger” Zelda simply stated, looking into his eyes. “But I can clearly see that the approval of others is rather important to you. Which is a shame because you truly do seem interesting. But I am not interested in clichés” a smirk forming on their lips, they moved away from him and stood up. Studying the other for a couple of seconds, Zelda then giggled.

“ just everyone and the world , “ gaia shrugs. lately the world seemed to be extra evil to her and she was sick of it. 

“ please just … leave me alone. “

@renegadvs commented for a starter !

they let out a little snort accompanied with an eye roll, “ah yes, job of everyone’s dreams right here,” they spread an arm out to survey they crowd before bringing it back to sip the smoothie. as liam continues, she adopts a rather indignant expression, “hey, c’mon! i was just gunna ask if you wanted to train,” truthfully they liked all the new people at the school that they could train with. back in New York, when cassie wasn’t with the team, it tended to be rather solitary. no, cassie lang preferred to be vocal about kicking butt, “i have a really cool program in the danger room that’ll make you feel like you’re jumping over rooftops in brooklyn,” of course, that was very specific to their own tastes, but it didn’t change the fact company would be fun.

meeting her family was incredibly hard for dot. she hadn’t known any of them had existed, and any tiny semblance of victor creed, even a distant semblance running around was entirely too frightening for her, especially ones that were so nearby; a lot of them didn’t know much, if any asl, which wasn’t their fault, but it did make things difficult; and this was all happening whilst she was in the middle of being caught in a loop of thinking about the horrible life she’d once had. “i don’t know.” she answered, looking a little nervous. “victor creed…” her hands slowed, taking a deep breath before she signed, “… is my dad.”

If it were Laura or Logan or anyone else in the family, Aki knows this would’ve ended long ago. He knows he wouldn’t have been given a chance to really push himself, to let himself go in a fight he knows he probably can’t win. One that should’ve ended a few rounds ago. Which is why he came to Liam, why he sought the other out for this. For someone who might call him out on his shit, but won’t stop him either.

He lands the hit but he knows it’s not enough, watching Liam carefully as he steps back, barely reacting to any pain the punch might’ve given. He knows there’s a risk here - and maybe that’s what he wants. To challenge the odds. To find a way to win when everything says he should lose - he couldn’t do it last time, maybe he can this time. “You haven’t beaten me yet.” Aki says, bordering on a snarl as Liam charges straight at him. He’s quick enough to dodge the fist coming to his face, but not the body shot, feeling Liam strike his abdomen hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He stumbles back, manages to catch his footing so he can spring forward again, going in low and swiping his foot to try and catch Liam’s legs and get him off balance.

he feels a lot of things all at once, his heart rate quickens, bones shifting at their own accord without the usual pain, muscles growing where there weren’t any before. he knows what it means, but by then it’s too late. his thoughts are both too fast and too slow, he’s fighting a lost battle. the physical changes are small and can easily be overlooked, it’s the hidden changes that make him so dangerous. the way his mind slips even as he hears argos barking.

Liam had come along at a time of Tobias life when he needed something - easy. Something that didn’t include any commitment, any possibility of being more than it was. They both knew what they wanted, and they both found that in each other - and neither of them needed more than that, not with each other. He just hoped one day someone comes along that makes Liam feel like he deserves more. “Hey, I know you miss me but those days are long gone buddy.” Tobias jokes easily, nudging Liam with his elbow gently. “You’re not that bad, Liam.” He grins sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. “I dunno, I think I’m the one who’s whipped. And I’m totally okay with that.”

“Such, teaching classes in things the government thought I was qualified for. So next semester I’ll be teaching the methods section of ‘heists with no flair 301‘. I’m hoping to TA ‘how to trick a jury into liking you’.” Sam was meant to resume classes  in a few weeks. Meant to, anyway. “I got lucky, no labor. Just forced back into a chemistry degree.” Which, really, could be used against the greater good the more he learned. Perhaps no one in the decision making room had that foresight. “you?”

“An audience? Oh that is not something I want” he said, shaking his head as a he shuddered at the thought. Dancing infront of people just wasn’t his thing. Dancing was his lifeline, the one thing that was his that no one could take away from him. So dancing for people to see? It just felt odd, it sounded like a nightmare. “The dog can come with us. I do love animals after all” he chuckled and smiled. “I hope you know that I am not giving up on you”

A soft huff left them, not being able to stop the rolling of their eyes when they heard what he had to say. “That would have been too easy and too predictable” they said and shrugged. “I have never been a fan of those two things” a smirk formed before they once again decided where they should attack. “Also my father taught me to always keep my enemies on their toes” they winked before jumping onto the other’s back, wrapping their arms around his neck.

Aki hasn’t stopped to think about why he’s throwing himself into this ‘training’ so hard. He hasn’t considered the fact that he’s waiting, expecting, hoping Liam will let loose and really do a number on him. He hasn’t stopped to consider what that might mean with his healing on the fritz the way it is - he can’t. He doesn’t want to. Right now, all he wants is this fight. This moment, here and now. To stop thinking about anything else but the next attack, the next dodge, the next swing of fists. No claws, though - no claws. He still can’t handle seeing them.

“Shut up, I’m fine.” He hisses as he watches Liam, still ready to attack despite the other’s relaxed pose. Liam’s the only one who seems to really push him, seems happy not to handle him like glass. And he’s going to make the most of that - he needs it. “It’s training, this is what it’s for. Stop questioning stupid stuff and -” His words are cut off when Liam moves - he’s fast, there’s no doubt about it. But he’s worked hard to adjust to the extra weight on his skeleton, doing his best to drag the adamantium around without slowing himself down, and he narrowly dodges the attack no doubt intended to knock him down and end this. It won’t be that easy, though, not with someone who’s been training since he could stand. He spins easily, using the momentum to add to his strength as he aims a punch at Liam’s ribs, hard enough to bruise - but careful to hold back enough not to break if he does make contact.

he doesn’t know the younger one nearly enough to understand why they’re there, fighting in what’s way past what a normal training session would mean ⏤ though it is true he’s still a novice at fights that don’t aim to, at the very least, incapacitate your opponent ⏤, but he can make an educated guess or two. he has been there before, using pain to numb or punish yourself. sometimes both. a lot of times both. liam is in no place to judge so he keeps on fighting. it is the one thing he’s good at and for anyway. 

It didn’t make him uncomfortable but he wasn’t all that used to being complimented and stuff like that. He’s always been someone who was pushed into the shadows and that was okay, some were the observers while others were the observed. And clearly Liam was the one used to being observed. “Yeah I guess I did. But I didn’t know that you were here, now did I?” he asked, tilting his head to the side as he smiled softly. “Ah the dog excuse, I see” a hum left him as he looked at the dog and he couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from his parted lips.