3837/Not doing too badly!

Not doing too badly!
Date of Scene:	17 October 2020
Location:	Thea's apartment in NYC
Synopsis:	Slade comes by with a new training session. Worst part doesn't seem to be the high altitude. It's the 'getting up at 0230' part.
Cast of Characters:	Thea Queen, Slade Wilson

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Thea Queen has posed:
Evening in New York. It's cold, wet, rainy, the October chill is most definitely in the air now. There are few people driving the streets of NYC, with even fewer walking it. While a popular hotspot in the public portion of the HFC, the numbers are possibly slightly down due to the weather.

Thea is actually at the apartment; a rarity in terms of time spent in different places. While she hasn't slept in cold, hard floors with leaky roofs, she hasn't slept in what she considers 'normal' for her, what others would ascribe as 'the lap of luxury' in terms of appointment. She hasn't really spent time home. She's checked on the Verdant, but her mind is slowly changing as to what she wants with that.

Mostly?

Her heart (mostly) and body (more than mostly) has been spending time in training. Good nutrition, constant activity has kept her mind away from the things that would do absolutely no good whatsoever. There have been no bouts of drinking, no drugs, and while hints of 'old' Thea do creep through in the desire to just sneak off somewhere, that has been held in pretty good check.

It doesn't mean things are rainbows and sunshine in the training. Can't learn new things without making mistakes, and some of those mistakes can be painful. Bruising. Nothing that can't heal, of course.

That includes ego. Pride.

All in all? Perhaps Slade may not have noticed, being close to the younger of the Queens, but she has changed. She's toned. She's quicker than she had been. The 'softness' around the edges has been shaped, and it's a slightly different woman there. One that isn't quite as prone to emotional outbursts. One that had actually strugged with the entire idea of killing vs wounding, the hows, the whys... and back on LianYu?

She'd killed. What was the difference to her sending the arrows as a kill shot versus the others knocking their targets out? In the end, everyone knew they were going to die. No one could have honestly believed otherwise, right?

Now, Thea is actually seated comfortably on the floor, legs tucked up in a half-lotus with a small candle contained in a yellow glass burning, flickering in the hints of air flow. She's leaning over to blow out the candle with a gentle puff of breath before untucking herself, shifting instead to something of a more familiar 'cross-legged' position, leaning back on her hands. She's not dressed for the outside, no. Midriff shirt that shows the delicate muscles built, and yoga pants.

Slade Wilson has posed:
Evening visits are not unheard of from Slade. Often they are accompanied by "surprise" training, which usually ends up being...well less than pleasant because who likes running on the City streets in the rain at night? On rooftops? In the rain? With random "weapons" being thrown at you from the darkness? USUALLY not all of these things at once, but...that's not unheard of either. But given he's in civvie attire and doesn't look to be carrying any implement of sadistic deviltry. Which may be a ruse! He's known to spring such surprises.

But for the moment he's just outside the door, and he even knocks and waits patiently to see if she answers.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea's run.

And after that? Run more.

It's not the running that gets to her? It's the stopping, the feeling that one has to fight for one's life after exhaustion has taken hold, and then?

More running.

She's been to LianYu. She gets it. Not, perhaps as deeply, intimately and/or viscerally as Slade and her brother does, but she's got a fairly good idea. Ish.

The rap on the door gains her attention, her face looking up and at the portal before she leans on a back hand and pushes herself up and off the floor. Even yoga still makes her sore, the moving of muscles that don't always find expression in other activities. She opens the door, hand on doorknob, the other resting on the edge of the door by her face. Slade would recognize the 'pose', as it were. Something she's learned along the way; the easiest way to slam the door with no little force. She doesn't really get visitors. Not here.

To see who it is, however, brings her head up and canting to the side so her short, straight bobbed hair falls slightly, and she smiles before taking a step back to open the door further to allow entrance. As if that initial position had never happened, or wasn't meant in any other way but 'just happened to be that way'.

"I really hope tonight isn't a surprise night. You know, a little, 'Which form of pain would you prefer?' sort of night? It's cold out there."

Slade Wilson has posed:
"No." Slade's eloquent reply comes as he steps through the door, giving the place a once-over as he always does. Not so much inspecting as looking for the shapes in the shadows that spell trouble. He's not expecting it, but he's played this game long enough to know that when you let your guard down is when they hit you the hardest. But satisfied no ambush or explosion is coming, he looks back to Thea and notes, "I'm just here to tell you to pack up your cold weather gear and cheat on your meal plan tomorrow if you feel like it. We're going on a field exercise. Wintergreen will pick you up at 0230 AM, day after tomorrow. Won't be a long trip. Three days, two nights."

Thea Queen has posed:
For the moment, Thea still sees Slade as the man who has truly changed her life. Ollie's not happy with it, to say the least, but it's become something of an unnoticed elephant in the room. He won't forbid it, and she? Well, really wouldn't matter if he did.

Thea will be Thea.

She watches as he comes in, the smile falling slightly as she closes the door behind him before it's locked once more. Her head tilts once again as her hands drop into her slim pants pockets, bare feet padding on the floor.

Brows rise, and as she straightens up, it looks as if she may not have heard correctly? "Cold weather gear?" Well, the season is changing, and it's not sounding like it's a vacation to a tropical island. (As if?) And, there's the padded suggestion of 'cheating' on her meal plan, which means, to her, it may be a little while before she sees her sweet potato fries again.

"Where're we going?" Though, she should know by now that it's not always a 'we' thing.

Slade Wilson has posed:
Slade looks at Thea with a flat expression, almost as though he doesn't understand the question, before he replies in a tone as dry as the Sahara.

"Someplace cold."

Is there humor there? A little? He hides it exceptionally well, but he doesn't seem annoyed, at least.

"You'll get a packing list on your phone. Don't need EVERYTHING. You'll be training at altitude for a couple of days. Helps with endurance. Longer stints will come later."

Thea Queen has posed:
Cold. From the sound of it, maybe colder than a chilly camping experience in a cabin in Vermont.

"At altitude?" Right now, Thea seems to be stuck in parrot-mode as she works to digest the next bit of training. It's not hard to see those wheels turning behind blue eyes. She's no genius, not someone that graduated at the top of her class in school (barely finished school, much to the family's chagrin), and the thought of 'at altitude' is sinking in. Less oxygen, and more..

Thea leans against a wall, her arms rising to cross before her, her expression setting. "I thought I was doing pretty good."

Slade Wilson has posed:
Slade cants his head, leaning against a counter and folding his arms over his chest. All told about as close to an expression of open curiosity as he usually gets, "Your performance hasn't been unacceptable. I'm hardly shy about telling you went it is, so what makes you say that? This isn't a punishment. It's another layer. You don't stop when you get good, you keep going until you're better than good, and then you keep pushing further still. This trip doesn't have an endpoint. You may eventually no longer need whatever I can teach you, but if you want to be the best, or even playing in the same league as the best, you only stop pushing when you're dead."

Thea Queen has posed:
She doesn't stop watching him as he wanders to find a spot to lean, her head tilting again. Thea offers a smile and straightens again before pushing herself from that same wall to wander to her little cafe table. "Okay," and while it's an acceptance and agreement, there's more there. It's a tacit understanding that is coming with the months of practice, the training, the difficult situations that she's learned from. "I really want it." She shakes her head quickly soon after, her gaze set on him, "I don't want you to stop. Or.. or.. give up on me." Not that she's given him reason to.

Already, though, she's got an idea that she'd give her brother a run for his money as it were in a sparring match with Ollie. "I saw Ollie a little while ago. I know he's not happy with me, with.." and she gestures with a hand, "...this. But I think he gets it." Another smile comes, and it turns a touch lopsided, "He wants to see how much I've learned. I'm pretty sure he sees a difference between the old me and the now me."

There's a breath taken, and she straightens out; it's a pose and posture he's seen more than once. It's the outward sign of that acceptance within of what is, what she wants and how she's to gain her end. There's a touch of humor that hit her eyes, however, as she offers up,

"I'm going to complain about this once, though. I really hate early, early morning."

Slade Wilson has posed:
"Nobody particularly likes them under normal circumstances, at least not anyone that's up to any good. But if you can't get over that low hurdle you'd have a hell of a time trying to get over the rest. We're not even halfway to the really hard parts yet." Slade's turn for the faintest of wry smirks there, almost like he's looking forward to it. "But look at the bright side. Once you're done I doubt any of the little hangups you have like that are going to be anywhere to be found. You may still not LIKE things. There's a lot of shit I don't like, but you put up with it if that's what the job requires."

"Though I suppose 2:30 AM was likely closer to your semi-regular bedtime during certain segments of your life."

Thea Queen has posed:
There's a soft, if perhaps not a little theatrical of a groan there, particularly at the news that they're not even 'halfway' to the really hard parts. And those 'really hard parts' are undoubtedly, well, hard. There are times when Slade really can be the master of the understatement. More than once Thea's come to the conclusion that it's probably due to all his times in service.

She crosses the small kitchen to grab a water from the refrigerator, offering one to Slade in the form of closing the door once more, holding two in hand. She's ready to hand it over, should he want it.

"Well, I've figured out that it doesn't work to put a pillow over my head in the morning," she returns. There's that rueful nod in agreement to his words, however, "That was usually the time I was sneaking back into the house. Or, getting driven home by Tommy." Her.. half-brother, though she never knew it at the time. She looks at Slade again, and rocks her head back slightly, "Or, having a quiet talk with you at a party." Which started all of this.

"I think, when all this is done, and I don't mean 'done', done," she clarifies, "There aren't going to be many hangups left."

Slade Wilson has posed:
Slade accepts the bottle with a slight nod, uncapping it and taking a sip before capping it off and keeping it held in one hand.

"Well, that's the plan anyway. Or at least part of it. So you got your one complaint on this one. Consider it duly noted and promptly ignored." There's a thin smile that almost reaches his eyes...well, eye anyway, before he moves up from the counter, "All right. You've got your marching orders. Tomorrow is yours. 2:30 AM the day after? That's my time. Don't make Wintergreen have to wake you up. He's less merciful about "layabouts" than I am."

Thea Queen has posed:
Once the water is taken, Thea unscrews the cap from hers and takes a couple swallows from hers. She doesn't have any alcohol in the place, or she'd offer that. One day at a time. Keep it away and it's hopefully less likely she'll think of it on her own. Not when her attention is focused elsewhere, towards attaining a goal. She's never been this fixed for this long- including working with the Verdant.

Thea barks a soft laugh at the 'duly noted and promptly ignored' comment and exhales in a soft but audible sigh soon after. There's a hint of a residual smile after the laugh and she lifts a shoulder in a light shrug. "I tried." There's a moment before she adds, "Wait.. I only get one complaint? That's not fair." She's still in good spirits, and soon after, she shakes her head before taking one more swallow of her water.

Bringing the small bottle back down, she cradles it in two hands, she's back to watching him, watching him move. "Okay," she acquiesces, though her eyes narrow. "Two thirty. Don't make Mr Wintergreen wake me up." It's hard to imagine the other man being harsher than Slade in terms of... expectations. Then again, he'd said that he was Slade's best friend. So...

Still, she'll be waiting for the list of items to come across her phone so she can gather what she'll need. "Means early bedtime."

Slade Wilson has posed:
"That's up to you." Slade replies, fishing out his own phone and hitting "send" on the message. "And not until tomorrow evening, anyhow." He shrugs, glancing towards Thea briefly and chuckling just a touch, "I have a low tolerance for bellyaching. You want something, you take it, and you don't let minor discomforts and inconveniences get in your way." He inclines his head slightly, "Guess you can call that another lesson." And with that he heads towards the door....