[OOM: The Gym]

[mnt_raph]

*The first door on the left as you leave Milliways and head down the Staff Hallway leads to a gym.
The room contains a collection of various and sundry pieces of sporting and exercise equipment. Weighted bags hang from the ceiling, one wall is lined with mirror, while the floors are covered in a layer of mat.

At one point in time this room was the home of a punished ex turtle.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Raph is currently jumping rope.*

Comments

[mnt_raph]

*He leans forward, looming down at her. Normally she'd be taller than him by a good three inches, but not today.

It's a gamble that always ends with him on the wrong side.

His voice is no more than a low growl.*

Drop it.

[slayer_fray]

Come on, Raph, just hit the bitch.

"Not a rutting chance."

[mnt_raph]

*Rules or no rules.
Fuckbuddy of family or not.
Her response is unacceptable.*


I. SAID. DROP. IT.

*The heel of his hand goes straight for her sternum.*

[slayer_fray]

That's partly what Mel wanted. His temper out in the open, where she can see it.

She doesn't try to block it or dodge. She takes the hit full in the chest and rides it, rolling to the ground.

She's taken a stone lance full in the sternum. it can cope with a hand.

She jumps straight back on to her feet, waiting.

"That's all you've got?"

[mnt_raph]

*One. That's all it usually takes. One hit and coils of tension begin to unravel. Raph blinks his eyes, and it's like someone else is there. The bravado he once had is fading.

She brought up Mikey. She brought up his fall. And then she pushed him.*

F'you? Yeah....yeah.

*He turns and with full force takes out the rest of his frustration on the wall.*

[slayer_fray]

No. No, he can't stop there. She's so close.

She's seen his temper. She knows what he could have done to someone who wasn't her. She knows the wording that set him off, she knows what he's capable of, and she knows that Mikey doesn't remember what happened.

And she knows she came close, and now he's shut up again.

Angry, bitter, frustrated, she spins and plants a side kick on the nearest weighted bag. The thing rips from the hook suspending it and goes flying across the gym, hitting the far wall with a heavy thud.

Mel turns to the door.

[mnt_raph]

*His arms rest against the cool of the wall. He hears her leaving. He knows she knows, he just doesn't quite know how.*

'm not a monster.

[slayer_fray]

Mel stops. She doesn't turn to look at him.

"I never said you were."

[mnt_raph]

don't gotta. i can tell.

[slayer_fray]

"You're wrong, then."

And now she turns back to him pushing her hair out of his eyes.

"I know monsters. You're not it."

[mnt_raph]

*Raph turns back to look at her. Instead of the bluster, she sees him for what he is, a young man out of control. His hands are still shaking. The knuckles on one hand are cracked.*

then why?

[slayer_fray]

She steps towards him now.

"Because you hurt him," she says gently. "Because you hurt him for what I'm fairly certain was a stupid reason and then did something to make him forget and convinced yourself that that made it all OK."

[mnt_raph]

*Raph shakes his head, and the anger wells up again. The walls are being rebuilt as she speaks.*

You're wrong. An' I think we're done here.

*Raph grabs his weapons belt, and heads for the door.*

[slayer_fray]

Shit.

"You gonna correct me?"

She has the key in her hand now, flipping it across the knuckles of her hands.

Right now? She's probably about to cry.

[mnt_raph]

*Gods, he knows that tone. The heavy way the words come out, as if they have to fight through the salt water to be heard.

He stops, sighs, and then kicks the door with all his might, breaking the lock in the process.

That done, he turns back to Mel.*

I don't know what you think. I don't know what you've heard. But I love my brothers. And I try to do right by them.

That's why I'm here.
And that's why I don't go home.

*An admission he makes by choice, not because she has the key.*

[slayer_fray]

"How," she asks, looking right at him, "is this right?"

[mnt_raph]

Everyone's breathin', an' I'm outta their way.

[slayer_fray]

She shakes her head, thinking of Erin.

"S'not right. They need you."

[mnt_raph]

no. they don't.

'M sorry I hit you. Wasn't right. You're just tryin't do do right by him.

[slayer_fray]

"Family, right? They need you," she repeats.

"S'OK. I was askin' for it." Which is, of course, true.

[mnt_raph]

*He totally skips that first part.*

Bet I didn't even leave a bruise, did I?

[slayer_fray]

She prods the area probingly.

"Will it make you feel any better if I say yes?"

[mnt_raph]

Nah, 'specially since I tagged you first. Don't usually swing at the first pitch, you know?

[slayer_fray]

"Huh, I usually do. Ends things quicker."

[mnt_raph]

I like to see what I'm up against. Plus it rattles their cage.