who is 'Rocky' and why is his montage music playing

[bashfulshifter]

Characters: Rick and YOU
Setting: November 22nd, multiple places - Floor One Dorms (morning), Floor Thirty-Nine (early afternoon), Floor Twenty-Seven (mid-afternoon), Floor Twenty-Six (mid-afternoon), Floor Twenty-Five (late afternoon)
Format: Starting in brackets, will match as always!
Summary: Rick's typical Tower routine now includes attempting to get in shape with Reno. Let's watch and see what happens.
Warnings: Probably none?

Floor One Dorms - Morning - Obligatory Cat Patrol

[It's very unusual for Rick to sleep in like this. It probably doesn't seem so out-of-the-ordinary for most others--nine o'clock isn't exactly high noon--but it's late enough to throw the man off his schedule and make him more harried than usual. Or as harried as he can be, given that the whole reason he couldn't drag himself out of bed was that he ached.]

[It's been more than a week since he and Reno started training like they agreed last month, and it hasn't taken long for Rick to start feeling its more unpleasant side-effects. The increased energy and svelte physique will have to wait on his legs, he supposes, which is what he would remind himself after every extended walk up the Tower stairs to convince himself that he could wait. But now he's made someone a promise--someone who appears quite invested in working with him--and Rick is determined not to let him down.]

[...Which only makes running late worse.]

[For as sore as he is, the blonde man goes about his morning routine very quickly, almost leaping from his bed in 1-16 to shower and dress--but no amount of convincing can persuade Rusty the cat against patrolling his floor. Somewhat reluctantly, the orange tabby cat makes his rounds in a nervous, almost frantic state, rubbing his face on just about anything that gets in his way.]

Floor Thirty-Nine (Gym) - Early Afternoon - MONTAGE

[Rick is already out of breath by the time he gets to the gym, which probably isn't the best way to start things out; but then again, he's not sure what he's supposed to be doing here, anyways. The man has never been to a gym in his life--he has no idea how to work any of the equipment, nor does he trust himself to try, and he's certainly not about to walk up and ask someone...]

[...Well, there's a track, at least. While he waits for Reno to show up (taking his breakfast on the run has made up for a lot of lost time!), Rick busies himself by walking the outer ring and seeing if he can spot anyone he recognizes. This is an unfamiliar part of the Tower, and it's been in his experience that new places bring interesting insight to the lives of his friends.]

Floors Twenty-Seven and Twenty-Six (Lab/Morgue) - Mid-Afternoon - More Standard Tower Affairs

[Following his run in the gym, Rick still has many other things to attend to in his daily routine. His jobs, as usual, take priority.]

[Collar research with the Clear Team is what he typically ends his day with, but this time Rick finds himself in the lab first. For one thing it's a straight walk down the stairs; for another, he's somewhat hesitant to go to the morgue. He hasn't been since his fight with Sephiroth a few days ago--since Veronica watched him die--and he hasn't had the chance to talk with her.]

[...No, not the chance--the nerve. He doesn't even know if she died as well. Either way, he feels that he's failed her on a fundamental level, and the idea of confronting her is...daunting, to say the least. Though the lab, too, isn't entirely safe; they have a new helper, someone related to Edgeworth, and while Rick was present for the initial meeting where she was introduced, he was quick to make a quiet escape before she whipped him like she did Lancer. A very intimidating woman, to be sure! Hopefully he's working at a time when she isn't around--save him some embarrassment before hesitantly making his way to the morgue to face his fate.]

Floor Twenty-Five (Meadow) - Late Afternoon - Napping

[By the end of lunch, what frantic energy Rick had at the start of the day has long been expended. He decides that now would be a good time for a nap.]

[The meadow's tranquil atmosphere has yet to let him down on this end. Blanket and cleaning supplies in hand, Rick settles into the tall grass and prepares to drift off in the pleasant, sunny chill of autumn, even as the frost collects in the foliage around him. This is probably the last time he'll be able to do this until spring, and he plans to enjoy every moment of it.]

[Assuming he doesn't catch cold or something.]

Comments

[bashfulshifter]

[What is his deal indeed?]

[This isn't at all what Rick was planning on prying about upon first seeing Waver in the lab, if the polite smile and wave he gives are any sign of what he's thinking. As it happens, it takes the oblivious blonde man several passes of the table during his busy tidying-up before he notices that Waver hasn't actually been doing anything since he arrived, and that is most unusual.]

...S-Something wrong? [A beat as Rick ponders--he does seem rather distracted by something, so he takes a guess: ] --I-I'm not b-b-bothering you, am I? If I'm b-being too l-loud--I m-mean, I can c-come back l-later.

[fionnuisce]

[Waver blinked and looked up as though he hadn't been aware of Rick's presence--or in fact his surroundings at all up to that moment.]

Oh...sorry. Did you say something?

[bashfulshifter]

[Yes, that is quite alarming. Rick stops in his work and peers curiously over the table, eyes narrowed in concern.]

...Waver...A-Are you okay?

[fionnuisce]

I'm...alive, so I suppose that's something.

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick is very confused, so he thinks back to the more pressing matters of the past few weeks and starts grasping at straws. Starting with the most obvious: ]

...Is this...a-about the f-f-fight?

[fionnuisce]

...Somewhat. I'm...really just not feeling quite like myself today.

[bashfulshifter]

[...It was an easy guess, he has to admit.]

...I-Is there a-a-anything I c-can do to h-help?

[fionnuisce]

You're kind to offer, but I don't really know if anything would help.

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick frowns and looks away, clearly disheartened. He hates knowing that his friend is in distress, and he hates even more that he can't make things better...he can't just leave Waver like this. What would really help to ease his nerves...?]

[The blonde man scratches his chin, pondering for a moment before glancing over the table at the lecturer's notes.]

...What are y-you w-w-working on?

[fionnuisce]

At the moment...nothing actually. I was hoping to be able to distract myself, but I'm having no such fortune today.

What were you doing around here, anyway?

[bashfulshifter]

[Yes, distractions would be Rick's first method of therapy as well. Perhaps there's a different route towards keeping Waver occupied?]

C-Cleaning, mostly. [He blinks rather blankly, hit with sudden inspiration.] ...Do you w-want to help?

[fionnuisce]

Sure, I could do that if you wanted help. Where should we start?

[bashfulshifter]

[Oh hey, that worked! Rick grins with an almost comical amount of enthusiasm, giving the lab a quick sweep from behind his glasses.]

Ah...I c-can w-work on c-cleaning tools...a-a-are you okay w-with s-sterilizing the c-counters?

["Sterilizing" is perhaps too technical a term for the soap-and-water mixture and sponge Rick gestures at, but it's clean, right?]

[fionnuisce]

[He glanced over his shoulder, as though evaluating what he'd need to do.] Easy enough, sure I can.

[Strangely, Waver seemed to be on his own today--without even his familiar. Seeming to realize as much, the magus looked back to Rick with a look of distracted thoughtfulness.]

Do me a favor--if you happen to find any liquid mercury in all this mess, can you let me know? Volumen Hydragyrum's kind of...indisposed.

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick has already started for the sink when Waver catches his attention again. He blinks with some confusion; how can that mercury stuff (obviously non-sentient) be indisposed, exactly?]

...I-Is it...l-l-lost?

[fionnuisce]

In a loose sense of the word, yes. More accurate would be 'I made a slight miscalculation and it's somewhere in the ocean.'

[Snark was probably a good sign, as far as Waver's mental state was concerned.]

Fortunately, the mercury in itself wasn't particularly special. What makes it a Mystic Code is the techniques and magecraft that goes into it--in short, I can recreate it given some time.

[bashfulshifter]

[Ah. Well.]

...Oh. I-I'm s-s-sorry. [Rick shuffles his feet as he opens the sink faucet.] I-It's, uh...g-good that you c-can get it b-back, though. I h-hope it's n-not t-t-too much t-trouble.

[fionnuisce]

It's easy enough. [Waver shrugged off his dark green jacket, dropping it over a chair before setting himself to cleaning. In doing so it was a little easier to tell his right arm was wrapped in bandages starting just above his wrist.]

My own fault, really. I needed to deactivate it to finish another ritual I'd been setting up and rather forgot liquid mercury's...well, liquid. Got washed away with the rest of the water before I could remember it was there at all.

[bashfulshifter]

[Still hurt? Well it doesn't seem to be bothering him too severely...Rick hopes he isn't trying to hide his pain for his own sake. As much as it sounds like something Waver would do, which is worrying.]

...W-Washed away... [He ponders for a moment.] ...I-Is that...the c-circle?

[fionnuisce]

You noticed? I didn't think anyone really caught on in all that mess.

[Waver kept his back to Rick as he worked, ponytail falling forward and off his shoulder as he leaned over the counter to clean it properly.]

I was the one that suggested we draw Sephiroth to that floor in the first place. Somewhere with a large supply of water is the only place I could even hope to mount a proper offense against him. Seems a few of you missed it--I essentially called down a waterfall, more or less.

[bashfulshifter]

...I-I h-had a good v-view f-f-from the o-ocean.

[Why yes, that was deadpan. Not intentionally--he really did have a significant amount of time to analyze the battlefield while he was swimming back. Does it count as being deadpan if he's telling the truth?]

S-So that's w-why...huh. [It did seem like an oddly specific location, now that he thinks about it.] I-I d-d-didn't know you c-could do that.

[fionnuisce]

Ordinarily, I can't. Or 'shouldn't', at least. Using that much prana at once could easily leave me an open target or outright kill me.

[Shrug. No big deal.]

But my elemental affinity is water, so coming up with a small ritual for something like that only took a few hours the night before.

Oh...that reminds me. How are you doing after all that?

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick realizes that he's definitely in no position to be scolding anyone involved in that fight for risking their lives although he will later, and especially not Waver. It's not his place.]

...I-I'm d-d-doing okay. [Speaking of his place, though...] I'm, ah...m-more w-w-worried about D-Diarmuid.

[fionnuisce]

...He'll be alright, I think. Probably. I'll see what I can do.

[Waver had gone back to sounding out of it, distracted as he continued cleaning.]

Sorry, but...he wasn't one of the few of us that lived through that.

[bashfulshifter]

...Yeah, I...I thought s-so. I t-talked to him--a-at the p-party.

[And while he didn't say so outright, it was pretty easy to tell from the conversation itself. Although, if anyone were able to tell what was on Diarmuid's mind--if anyone could make him feel better...]

[...huh.]

[After a considerable pause, Rick turns off the faucet and turns around.]

...W-Waver...you a-and D-Diarmuid are...c-close, right?