A Steamy Moment

WARPOLE:
*A moment alone, a few minutes to himself... a luxury these days. He undresses in the locker room, towel around his waist only accentuating his perfect build. Perfect, because you can mold what you make any way you like to. And the doctors had said /perfect/. The epitome of physical health and appeal, not too bulky, but large, very large, barrel-like. His chest. Not that he didn't work hard for his physique, not all of him was machine. He was a cyborg and that meant both mechanical and organic. And, praise be to God, he had more organic THIS time around, his body a clone, not the original, very ruined one that had been pulled from the wreckage and rebuilt.... Pole looks in the mirror briefly. His own face, not some holographic or magnetic projection. His /own/. He didn't have to wear his mask now if he didn't want to. But VERY few knew that... knew that his face had never been his face, not really. Oh, it looked like THIS, but... and he never showed his face before. Projection was placed over his mask, even to Toshi he didn't show his face, not except to very very VERY few, mostly the doctors. But it was back now, his face was back. Would anyone understand what this meant to him? That more of him than before was now organic? Did anyone know the truth behind his ego, his vanity? He hoped not. He didn't want anyone to know. Past thoughts flitter through his mind as he turns to the sauna, opens the door, and steps in to the steam-shrouded heat of the room. And no mask... he can /feel/ this on his face... feel this.... and, relaxed, he just melts against the wood after throwing more water on the coals and simply... sighs*

VENIN:
...147...*the count is grunted out as she once more hoists herself up to the bar then pulls her knees up to her chest ... seems she was spending a lot of time here, here and the wreckroom...more time spent training than sleeping, but then again, isn't that how it should be...* 148...*besides, here she could loose herself in her own world, her mind sharply focused on each action, each muscle..and nothing else interfered, nothing..she didn't have to think about what had been done to her, what she had become*...149*...she only had to think about what she was, what she was doing...* 150...* once more she pulls herself up to the bars, only this time she doesn't pull her knees up, this time she pulls herself around, flipping around the bar like a gymnast before flying off and landing in a half crouch on the floor mat...after a few brief seconds she is on her feet stretching as she walks towards her towel... Sweat drenches her clothing and hair, plastering them to her body like a second skin, she turns towards the showers, then stops and turns towards the sauna instead...she quickly rinses off in the shower there, then with a towel around herself steps out into the already hot steamy room...a small frown crosses her face as she notes a figure across the room, steam obscuring the features....she walks over and throws more water on the coals, the hiss of the water echoing loudly in the quiet room...the veil of steam parts briefly revealing the other figure, one she recognizes and knew well....one she knew she would have to encounter again, she just hadn't expected it to be here*

*Pole hears the door open, but doesn't unclose his eyes to look... his own tensions of the day are melting away with the steam, his own hard workout having left its mark, veins swollen, muscles cut and primed, body glistening in the heat and moisture of the room. He has one leg propped up, forearm draped over it, head back against the wall, his blonde hair (/His/ blonde hair) damp and clinging to his face, his neck. He has a handsome face, very handsome. It smacks of something ultra-American like Varsity Football Captain, or Wrestling, or all that and more. Blonde hair, blue eyes, great body... the boy next door, that perfect HighSchool jock all the girls swooned over. Maybe a dime a dozen, maybe a dying breed, it doesn't matter. That was all in the past, and its the past that clears itself from the screen of blackness behind his eyes now as his cybernatics, almost against his wishes, picks up the heartbeat... the weight of the steps... compensates for height, weight, scent spectrum... information he doesn't care about not want flickers in place of his memories, and he knows who it is before she can pour water on the coals. Damn all that anyway... eyelids crease open to reveal a slit of lazy, tired blue, but he's saying her name even before that...* ....Yvette... *soft little murmur*

*Her eyes roam very briefly over his perfect body, his muscular form...much had changed, but does she dare comment on it? does she have that right..instead a brief flicker of a smile plays on her lips and she settles for what could be taken any way he wishes* Your looking good *she sits down and leans back against the wall the distance between them enough to afford each their own privacy if it was desired, but not so far as to avoid conversation*

*He smiles faintly at what he percieves to be a compliment, and his eyes open a bit wider, boldly looking her over. His brows raise as he inclines his head towards her, eyes now on her eyes as a courtesy* Thanks. I could say the same about you. *he inhales deeply and straightens, leaning forward on his knees, hands clasped and folded, but eyes narrowed now, very narrowed, like scythes of cobolt. He wasn't acting towards her as many would expect, and maybe that's because they're alone, no one to showcase for... he cuts to the chase* The hell are you back here for, anyway? *he brushes errant strands of gold hair from his eyes and keeps his attention fixed on her. This was odd, to say the least... it was the first time he's seen her, been this close to her, since her betrayal, since her abandonment. The memory rankles him, forcing a crease to his brows, a deep one. But he doesn't say anything more for right now...*

*she merely nods at the compliment....well this conversation was off to a good start...she watches him for a while then leans into the wood....one hand reaches up to knead the taut muscles in her shoulder..she might have a dynamite healing factor, but that didn't keep stress form knotting her up, and she had been under a lot of it lately...for long seconds after he asks the question she just continues on, as if she hadn't heard him, then gradually she stops, her arm coming down to her lap, her green eyes fastening on him...* I came home, where I belong

*Silence... steam and heat and utter silence, except Pole, so focused on Yvette, can hear her work her own muscles. His fingers itch to assist her with it, so he laces them together, still leaning on his knees, a strangely earnstwhile expression, almost incongruous with how most knew Pole. And her answer... its stings. But he can't place /why/* You came home. You think you still belong here? Do you really? *he bites down on some very malicious and inappropiate words that come unbidden to his tongue, and instead says...* Even if you were manipulated, Yvette, do you think anyone will trust you again? Do you think anyone wants to? Do you realize how dangerous you are now? *he shakes his head and leans back, looking away* You had your time, and fault or not, you should've known better than to come back here. *he spits the last out as if her presence were a personal affront*

I don't know where I belong anymore, I just know its not with 'them' *venomous hatred fills the word, she hates RUNners, detests the fact that she ever thought herself to be one of them* Where else is there for me? *she melts back against the wall, her words seeming to melt with her* This is where I grew up, this is my family *her head turns slightly, her emerald gaze holding yours for a brief second* and my friends......*slowly she stands, stretching each muscle in the process then walks over to the coals, throwing more water on them...the hiss almost hiding her next words* If they don't accept me back, I'll live with it

..... *He doesn't say anything for a long time. Its hard to imagine anyone would be acting like a puppet for so long. Especially Yvette. When did it happen. Did he know her anymore? The woman he'd faced on the battlefield, or wanted to face, his reasons his own, who was that then? He'd known /her/.... who was this?* It's been... an awfully long time, Yvette. *he pauses as she throws more water on the coals and the temperature of the room rises, steam thick and shielding. He can still see her clearly enough* I /trusted/ you... *he says it accusingly in the tail end of the angry steam as it hisses. And the look on his face is fairly evident, he doesn't mean that she left the GUARD, but something far more personal. She betrayed /him/, so he believes. He wants to say more, but is ever careful of the walls having ears*

*She keeps her back to him, her gaze fastened upon the water droplets dancing along the hot coals as they evaporate....she knows it had been a while, a long while for many things....but they say time heals all, but does it?...she closes her eyes and feels the steam bath over her, but it is no use, it doesn't do its intended job of relaxing her stressed muscles...with a sigh she opens her eyes and turns back to you* I know *she walks back over and sits down, this time a little a closer* I'd say I'm sorry, if it helped *she shakes her head* but it won't. *She rolls her head on her shoulders, feeling her neck muscles crack* Nothing will change what happened

*Her words are true, and he knows it, but the way its stated... so... devoid of anything. He scowls deeply, looks away, then rounds his gaze back on her, fierce* That's all you can say...? *he hisses the words so only she, so close, with keen senses, could hear it over the steam* How many years did you run? How many times did you ask for my help? How many times did I give it? You KNOW what I laid on the line for you... so you were manipulated, you STILL came to /me/. And then... then you dropped communication. *and that's what bothers him. Not the aid, the almost getting caught, what would have happened if he HAD been caught... but she suddenly just /stopped/ contacting him. And he was confused and angry and felt used* Why? He's been wanting to ask this for a very long time now, his hurt having translating into emotional and verbal abuse whenever he saw her, maybe to help cover other things, keep anyone from suspecting, but it was still there. Oh the pain was much less... /much/ less, but they'd shared a lot in the years they knew each other, small years that seemed much more. Almost inseparable these two, back then.... then she Ran. RUNner. Traitor, betrayer, backstabber, user... wasn't she?*

*She feels the intensity of his gaze a like branding iron red hot from the forge, she knows where hes coming from, what he means, what he feels.....she had known him too well not to know these things..* I....I thought it would be easier, safer...for both of us *Her calm cool gaze meets his* You were the last, the one I held on to longest *she breaks the look and glances briefly at the ceiling, then the door* Perhaps I shouldn't have, maybe you would have helped me break this barrier sooner...none knew me better, maybe you would have seen it

*Pole listens, weighs the words.... knows them for what they most likely are... truth. At least, a version of it. Dangerous to do what they'd done, and they both know it. He sighs heavily and leans backwards, running a weary hand over his face* I know. I figured as much, but you could have told me, could have said something. As for the barrier... I dunno. You.. you just left, no warning, no... nuthin'. *he starts slipping more into his lazy language, formalities set aside. It means he's becoming comfortable again, at least with this situation* I don't even know what I see before me, Yvette. *his gaze raises to catch on her face, slender, cut form in a GUARD issue towel. She was still beautiful* I don't who you were now. I don't know what you became or what was freed, or... when people start messing with heads, it gets damn hard to untangle it all. Do you know who you are? Are you the same woman who was my battlemate, or are you the one asking for help, or both? I just don't know. *and it bothers him, obviously, a deep frown on his fine face* C'mere. *he pats the bench before him, invitation to sit down, receive a /good/ back rub. One of his specialities as she might remember*

*A sigh leaves her body as she hears the tension leave his* I know *she watches him, listening..knowing what hes thinking, she too wonders the same things...how is she different?...she simply shrugs* both I suppose, I dunno *A brief smile dances in her eyes as he pats the seat in front of him...his backrubs ....she hadn't exactally forgotten them, just pushed them aside...but her body remembers, remembers them well....She hesitates, but after a brief contemplation, she takes the indicated seat, if nothing else it symbolizes a truce between them..she turns to look up into his blue eyes* Only time will truly tell who I am now.