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Lava Alckon
princess
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Izurich
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DClassifiedDaphne & Viktor
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Five Days After the AAR
“But that’s the thing, Cain, it’s what he does…”
Daphne entered the gym and beelined to the boxing area, throwing down her bag with a huff. She took out her hand wraps and started to put them on. She was wearing a matching pink two-piece set, white sneakers, and her hair was tied into two French braids.
“He does something nice to lure you back in. It makes you think that this time he’s finally making an effort. Only to disappoint you even more…”
“I know Daph. I just didn’t think it was this bad. Maybe I haven’t noticed it because he’s been so obsessed with you and his work the last couple of months. He asked me how things were at the car shop. He thinks I’m a mechanic, he doesn’t even remember I’ve been a firefighter for nearly a year now.”
“You know what it is Cain…” Daphne could feel herself getting angry again while putting on her custom boxing gloves. She started hitting the sandbag not really minding her technique. As the conversation continued so did her ferocity.
“We shouldn’t have to explain to him how to be a dad”
“He should just be our dad!”
Daphne threw all of her weight into the next punch. It made her headphones fly out and tumble onto the gym floor. Cain luckily did not catch her swearing. She immediately recoiled feeling a sharp pain in her wrist.
“And you should be less reckless.” A hand scooped up one of her earbuds. Viktor held the earbuds in his palm with his eyes slightly furrowed. “She's fine, Cain.” Viktor commented to the earbud. Viktor was dressed in all black, wearing a tank top, athletic shorts, and a pair of Flash Free running shoes. The light beads of sweat on his face revealed he had already been using the vast gym within Mount Justice.
Daphne disconnected her earbuds and used her good hand to continue talking to Cain while glancing sideways at Viktor.
“Yes that was Viktor….”
“No you can’t….what do you want to say?”
“Can you calm down for a second…”
“No…”
She ended the call and tossed the phone back into the half-opened gym bag on the bench next to her. Sitting down she let out a sigh. With her other hand, she managed to peel off the boxing glove. Her hand seemed fine, slightly red was all.
Both Daphne and Viktor had been in the gym more frequently than usual. Daphne only started to pick up on this after she made the gym part of her routine. No matter what time she would go, Viktor was always there. Either arriving at the same time as her or already mid-workout. He usually exercised daily but since Alisa's departure and Kilamanjaro's incident, Viktor had increased his frequency by five. Something indeed impossible by the average person but due to the young hero's healing factor, Viktor could take advantage of his quick recovery speed. He had to become stronger, faster, and more capable in combat than he had been previously. At least that's how he reasoned it.
Daphne was curious why he did this. It felt more difficult than usual to start up a conversation with him too. She had her suspicions as to what might be going on with him. Deciding to bite the bullet she looked up at him.
“So…you’ve been in here a lot lately…” She said as he took a seat beside her.
Viktor handed her earbuds over while examining her hand.
“I have.” He answered plainly. “Surprisingly, so have you.” He grabbed her wrist and held up her reddish hand and with his other hand, he lightly traced a finger over her palm.
Daphne's skin tingled and she closed her eyes. A foreign feeling came over her. Her heart was beating faster and she felt her cheeks getting hot. At the same time, there was something familiar about this interaction, she couldn't put her finger on it.
She tried to pull her hand back but it was like her body wasn't listening. What she did next surprised her too.
Reaching up to Viktor's head she ran her hand through the front of his slightly damp hair. He nearly flinched, not expecting her to do that.
"Your hair's getting long"
His usual spiky hair was starting to fold down a little. Daphne liked the way it looked but Viktor slightly narrowed his eyes at the stated observation.
“And your hands are callusing.” Viktor gently returned her hand. There was a long silence between the two, yet it wasn't unsettling or a sign of detachment. It was a calm moment that the two didn't think they needed until it occurred. “Why… Why are you training this hard? Th-There's nothing wrong with it.” He was quick to soften his approach. “It's just, I know I'm doing it and I hope you're not doing the same. Trading one pain for another.”
“I want to be stronger.” She replied confidently. With everything that had happened to her and the Team in the last two months, she was now more determined than ever to not be a burden. Her answer being a desire to improve should have relieved Viktor but all it did was make him feel alone on his set path.
However, Daphne was getting better at reading between the lines with Viktor. It wasn’t easy, but she was picking up on his cues, which revealed bits and pieces of his otherwise hidden inner world. Trading one pain for another. That’s why he was here all the time. Alisa was his friend, maybe even….
She glanced to her side. In his own way, he looked downcast, maybe even sad. Seeing him like this tugged at her heartstrings. The pity was all over her face so she resumed staring at the punching bag.
After another short silence, she got up to get something from her bag. It was a water bottle with painted flowers on it. One of the gifts that Alisa gave her when she was in a coma. A gift that showed Alisa always hoped Daphne would recover and she did.
There were a lot of things the teen girls had in common. Most of them were either terrible or traumatizing, usually both.
“I miss Alisa….”
She took a sip and stayed quiet, tracing her fingers over the flowers on the water bottle. Viktor kept silent and his head slightly dipped up on hearing his best friend's name.
Maybe he doesn’t want to talk about it now….
“I miss her too…” Viktor sounded so different, his voice projecting so quietly and weakly. His eyes hadn't even met Daphne's as he spoke. “It's not as bad as when she was destroyed but it still… hurts. Then there's Kila and Ja… I very easily said I wanted them to be benched but I just want them to get better. Until then and without Alisa… I have to be stronger.” His words were similar to Daphne's but he made it seem obligatory.
Daphne shifted closer so she could lean her head against his shoulder. He almost moved but before he could, he realized the comfort was something he wanted as well. It didn't completely take away from how he felt, but Daphne's closeness put him at ease.
“I wish we could just go back to our first week. We didn’t have the weight of the world on our shoulders yet. Everyone would still be together, not caged, comatose, or destroyed. Our biggest problem was me choking Talon by accident.” She chuckled, but it was half-hearted and misplaced. Viktor nodded along with her until he noticed her awkward laugh slowly turned into quiet sobs. It looked like there was no stopping the waterworks. Daphne tried to talk through the crying while getting a towel to wipe her face.
“Da-” He didn't get his words out as he shifted himself so he could look at her. Viktor wasn't sure what he should say or what to even do.
“I…I’m so… ss-sorry.” She sniffed. “This all just sucks…I–I wa–wanted to make you fe-feel better.”
Her chest heaved after taking a couple of shuddered breaths. All the while, Viktor was speechless. He felt as if a precious tree that was Daphne had suddenly started to fall against him. He could move out of the way. It was something he figured he would have done in the past, during the “easier” times Daphne mentioned. However, Viktor wouldn't do such a thing now, even with such a clueless look on his face “I’m sorry I’m usually not like this” Daphne apologized again as he sat ever so still.
“I’ve barely slept this past week and I'm on my period too.”
P-Period?
And now Viktor felt entirely ill-equipped for the task at hand. Lost for words and his mind muddled, he simply acted. Reaching around her, Viktor embraced Daphne with a hug.
“You don't need to apologize, Daph… It takes a lot of strength to be that honest.” Viktor took a deep breath. This wasn't so hard. It was foreign to him but it felt natural to try to put Daphne at ease.
The feeling of two arms pulling her in surprised Daphne.
Viktor is hugging me…..
The firm but gentle way in which he held her, steadied the whirlwind of emotions inside her. His closeness made her feel safe and protected. This moment seemed familiar, but she would have remembered something like this happening….right?
This was a far cry from where they started. He didn’t make her feel like she didn’t belong or that he was only doing this because of a mission objective. Viktor was being considerate of her feelings and he was making an attempt to comfort her.
“We… We are all hurting but… we can get through this. There's no going back, so it's better to move forward the best we can. One day at a time, right Daph?”
One day at a time….
Something connected and a memory came rushing back. It was a mixture of not just images but strong sensory impressions. The skin on her right shoulder and upper arm tingled. Daphne gently moved away from Viktor’s arms so she could turn around and face him. They looked at each other and her eyes searched his. There was so much she wanted to say, but didn’t know how to. Instead, she took his hand softly and guided his finger across her collarbone and her arm, his eyes following as she recreated her resurfaced memory.
“One day at a time…”
“Yes?” Viktor felt lost for a moment, perking up one of his eyebrows before he realized what Daphne was doing. She couldn't have…
“You remember.” His eyes averted from her as he tried to recall every time he visited Daphne while she dwelled as a tree. He reached up to touch his face which was becoming unfamiliarly warm.
Daphne similarly turned away, staring at her hands. Reality started to set in. She quickly let go of Viktor’s hand. She talked while staring at the gym equipment behind them.
“I do. This is the first time I remember something specific. Usually, it’s just……”
“Feelings…” She finished in a softer voice. It was something she still didn’t understand herself, but this memory seemed to explain a part of it.
How or why she didn’t know, but her feelings for Viktor had changed. Ever since she woke up from her coma, seeing and talking to him was different. He still made her nervous, but not in the same way as he did before. A blush formed on her cheeks.
“Apologies.” He sat and leaned forward with a sigh. “I was there a lot. Perhaps too much… Pestering you… every single day.” He whispered the last admittance. “I was cruel in the beginning.” He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “I blamed you. For your state. For the outcome of the mission in your absence. So I apologize.”
She reclaimed the spot next to him on the gym bench. There was a forlorn look on her face.
“It’s okay…”
“I blame myself too….sometimes I think it would be better if….”
“If it was me instead of Alisa.”
Viktor silently shook his head. At this point in the months he's been with everyone on the team, he didn't see any better option for someone leaving the team. It was Kila who truly opened his eyes to that. Links in a chain.
“And…” Daphne played with the ends of her braids, searching for the right words. She was going to admit to something scary. Scared of what it meant.
“I was happy you were there. There were times when I couldn’t tell my own thoughts apart from the Green. I was scared I would lose my mind and not even realize it. It would be like I never existed.”
“I don’t think I would have made it back on my own….”
Not without you…
“Everyone that could, contributed to your recovery.” Viktor stood up from the bench but kept his eyes on her. “And making it back with help, isn't a bad thing. It just means we helped you realize your strength. The Red. The Green. To rein in such powerful things is remarkable.” Viktor reached out his hand to her. “To still be amicable with someone like me after the things I've said and done, is even more so.” There was a slight smile on his face. A smile of reassurance to show Daphne things weren't so grim. The team was lacking the glue that kept them together but the strength of their bonds was not so easily dissipated.
