eunoias | Can't Hide From the Truth

Can't Hide From the Truth

Who: Varon and Resa/Esmerelda Vanuatu
What: Varon closed himself off and he needs his shell cracked.
Where: Doma Stronghold
When: After Mission: Greece and when Varon and Resa return from Europe

Varon didn't stay for his debriefing. In fact, once the plane landed and his bike was secured in the garage, he didn't speak much to anyone and had gone straight into his room. Raphael and Amelda didn't receive in so much as a greeting from the Australian.

This form of anti-social behavior was something that the others had gotten used to once they understood that Varon needed time to collect himself from any mission like this. Soul snatching wasn't his idea of fun. He hated it and it was wearing him down.

Once he reached his room, he slammed his door and dove onto his bed. Sleep always made the pain go away even for a little while. At least his dreams didn't hurt him.

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With his hands on his feet, he looked to Resa with a slight tilt to his head. "You mean how I got ya in that hold or the other thing? I'm a lot more limber than a look. See, I guess it's from gymnastics." He shrugged.

He's been made fun of about it before, might as well add one more to the list. "Yeah, yeah, it's sissy stuff, right?"

Gymnastics, huh? Resa never would have thought that he'd be in to that, but it was really cool!

"Actually, not really. I find it to be really neat. Guess it's helped to get you out of a few binds, eh?"

"More than that." Varon removed his other boot and tossed it aside. "Keeps me from breakin' bones in a fall. Ever heard of free runnin'?"

The obstacle courses that he often ran during training exercises were not average and could put the military to shame. His team of duelists were specialized infiltrators. One was a hacker, the other was a strategist and then came Varon, the Jack of All Trades in his group and the smallest often meant he did a lot more than his other teammates.

To that, Resa shook her head. "Not really, no. What does that entail?"

Her own group consisted of people that could do their jobs and do them well - one was a bodybuilder who definitely didn't lack in intelligence, the other was a former CIA agent and with her? Due to her split personalities, she had more to bring to the table with her dueling and everything else. For that reason alone, she was a valuable asset to any team.

"I'll show ya sometime." Varon grinned. He liked the thrill seeking part of the job. Soon, his worries about the incident on their mission was pushed aside.

"I can't explain it other than it's a method t' defy gravity an' it feels like I'm flyin'. Roof runnin', jumpin' from one roof to another, jumpin', flippin', dodgin', it's all part of the trainin'."

"Huh." Resa grinned back at that and knew that stuff like that would definitely help Esmerelda out to protect her when she gave up control.

"Say, do you think that it'd be beneficial to Esmerelda? I mean, you've seen her in action loads of times."

"Maybe. It's not somethin' that happens overnight. It takes time an' tons of practice t' get right or you'll break bones or worse. Still, I'll show ya the course. It's set up on the roof. The wind offers resistance. Think she's strong enough t' take it on? Ya know, let's give it a go at the park." Varon got up from the bed to grab his boots once more and sat at the edge to put them on.

"She's gonna need a good warm-up an' I know just the place for it."

Resa nodded as she grinned happily. "Of course she's ready," she said as she held her finger up to show that she was going to give up control to Esmerelda.

Soon enough, her eyes opened once more as Esmerelda looked around. "If she's not in any danger, why did she bring me out here?" she asked Varon, eyes hardened and cold.

"Training." Varon said as he finished putting his boots back on to look over his shoulder. "You're comin' with me t' learn a new trick."

"As if I need training! That good for nothing Mask!" Esmerelda protested before she sighed. "Whatever, let's do this."

"Not what ya think." Varon responded with a grin. He walked toward his bedroom door and opened it to reveal the hallway.

"No worries. You'll either like or hate it. Still, it's good t' know other stuff, right?"

"Whatever," Esmerelda grumpily replied, crossing her arms over her chest before deciding to follow him.

"Make this worth my time or else."

He needed to blow off some steam anyway from their shared trip and what better way than a run through the parkour course.

The set-up was on one of the basement levels to keep other people from watching or other agents, workers or visitors from being tempted to watch. It was on a protected floor just below the parking garage.

Metallic doors opened with the chime of the elevator. Various mats, springboards and bars were scattered throughout the floor that spanned the entire length and width of the building above.

Varon stepped out of the elevator and already two more teams were starting in on their training. Varon grinned at the sight and began his stretching.

Esmerelda followed Varon, keeping an eye out for anyone who might have got funny ideas. Though, not everyone knew about her and that was how she wanted to keep it. She kept note of every action that was going on and nodded a few times.

"Impressive," she said, deciding to stretch a bit herself.

Down in a straddle split, his nose touched the floor with his hands straight out with the palms flat against the floor. "Better get in a good stretch an' warm up 'cause this course is a bit of a killer."

Kill? Oh, that was one of her favorite words. With that said, she brought her leg up all the way and held her ankle. "Don't need to tell me twice," she said, focusing on an imaginary dot on the wall.

Varon didn't seem to pay too much attention to the display. He didn't need to hold his leg, but that could be seen another time. Two of the other team members recognized the smaller Australian and knew they were going to be in for some competition. Varon was the one to beat when it came to street free running and acrobatics.

With his palms still flat on the floor, he sat up and dragged his hand along the floor before he brought himself up into a handstand into a back handspring. He performed another handspring to the front in a quick warm-up before he took off running toward the wall.

Esmerelda noticed what Varon was doing, smirking after his display. She cricked her neck side to side and rolled her shoulders a bit to loosen them up. She then tied her hair into a high ponytail, similar to the style that Resa had her hair in.

She then jumped in the air and moved her body into a handstand, landing right on her hands. Then, she quickly got out of the position, only to somersault after it.

As he runs, he jumps up onto a spot on the wall that contained just the opposite side was another partition. In a zig-zag jump, he manages to reach the top, grab the ledge then push off to the other side in a twist to catch the other side.

On the rail, he balances and calls down to Esmerelda. "Oy! Whatcha doin' down there?!"

Two other runners tried to imitate what Varon did and one fell on the mat while the other slid down the wall.

"Just getting warmed up, flea!" Esmerelda taunted as she watched the displays the other two runners attempted before cracking up at their failure.

A handy trick she learned from the insane asylum was that she was better suited running barefoot than she did in heels, so she took off her shoes and socks, tossing them over her shoulder to where they landed in another area of the room.

She rolled up her sleeves next and then ran like a gazelle, moving to do several cartwheels before staying for a few seconds at the wall in a handstand. She kicked off against it and started to kick against the walls, getting pretty high up with just her feet.

"Good enough for you?"

"Eh. That'll do." It took him over fifty hours of practice to get where he was able to scale walls without using ropes or hooks. He backflipped off the landing and rolled on the moment of impact. Upon standing, he kicked off the wall in front of him and flipped in a sideways, aerial cartwheel over the side and grabbed the ledge. With a strong solid lift, he pulls himself up from the side and stands. "Can ya do that?"

The one thing that no one ever wanted to do was to challenge her. Mainly because someone's pride would be hurting in the end and she wouldn't claim responsibility for it at all. She studied Varon's moves and just let a cruel smirk come out, her eyes becoming just a bit dilated.

Upon her own dismount, Esmerelda backflipped and rolled her body into a ball, only to end in a similar roll. She kicked off some of the equipment to stand and then jumped into the air, cartwheeling a few times before grabbing on the ledge itself. Her nails dug into the ledge as she stood, panting slightly.

"Next time, Mask, make sure to lift some damned weights," she mumbled.

A chuckle escaped Varon and he gave a slight tilt to his head. "Maybe you should be th' one t' do it." He picked up Esmerelda's wrist with his thumb and forefinger. "Yeah, ya got noodley arms. Might be good for a full body workout." He backflipped off the platform and landed in a roll.

"Better come on down. It's better t' get the workout done first. Ya need strength trainin'."

Esmerelda gave Varon a confused sort of look when he touched her. She shrugged her wrist back before glaring defensively at him. However, she was the one who followed him and sighed.

"Gee, I hadn't noticed. Thank you so much for your keen observations, Captain Obvious."

"Would it really matter?" He yelled up. It seemed that Varon had no fear when it came to heights or anything that dealt with it. He has had his moments where he thought everything was so cut and dry. He shrugged. "Or would ya want me t' call up Raph? He's not so nice."

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