It was a fluke that he'd ended up there at all; the gym had never exactly been Rick's ideal hangout. It had always been Shane who'd dragged him there, from high school right on through their years in the academy. There'd been those odd few evenings, left with nowhere else, he'd taken refuge there when things were on the rocks with Lori. Working out was usually pretty far from his mind, and with how things had been since the turn, that wasn't likely to change. Living life, surviving day to day, he was as fit as he'd ever need to be.
In the end, the draw had been the assortment of weaponry, for as much use as it would prove within the bounds of the city. The Peacekeepers weren't fool enough to leave them anything that might tip the scales - for however many Rick managed to take down, he'd wind up dead and their forces would be none the worse for it. Still, it was something to mentally file away as he continued his exploration of the tower, as it shouldn't be too hard to slip out something small.
He'd been considering the smaller blades when the noise of the baton had become too much to ignore.
It wasn't the first time he'd seen Nick, though Rick couldn't really claim to know him. The arena wasn't the place to get to know anyone, and given the events leading up to their brief encounter, they were lucky things had ended on a peaceful note at all; whether Daryl had been right, wrong, or completely out of line in attacking Luke, Rick would have had his back had they tried to escalate things.
He knew he ought to let it go. Involving himself with the other tributes would just complicate matters; at one point in his life, there wasn't a force on earth that would have held him back, ever one to charge in to help those in need, even at the cost of himself and his own group. It had been a lesson hard learned, the way paved with loss and betrayal. Randall, Andrew, Axel and Oscar. Now, with the Capitol pitting them against one another, the odds of things getting twisted were higher than ever.
"Might want to ease up a bit." He'd given him a fairly wide berth, if only so he didn't get caught in the crossfire.
Perhaps it was because he'd been down that road. He had an intimate understanding of what it could do when you bottled your aggression, and how lethal it could prove when you broke that seal. When he'd first arrived, he'd barely contained his own ineffective rage, torn yet again from his family and thrown into another new world. If anyone could understand that sort of violent frustration, it was Rick.
... I'm sorry. I am the latest ever.
In the end, the draw had been the assortment of weaponry, for as much use as it would prove within the bounds of the city. The Peacekeepers weren't fool enough to leave them anything that might tip the scales - for however many Rick managed to take down, he'd wind up dead and their forces would be none the worse for it. Still, it was something to mentally file away as he continued his exploration of the tower, as it shouldn't be too hard to slip out something small.
He'd been considering the smaller blades when the noise of the baton had become too much to ignore.
It wasn't the first time he'd seen Nick, though Rick couldn't really claim to know him. The arena wasn't the place to get to know anyone, and given the events leading up to their brief encounter, they were lucky things had ended on a peaceful note at all; whether Daryl had been right, wrong, or completely out of line in attacking Luke, Rick would have had his back had they tried to escalate things.
He knew he ought to let it go. Involving himself with the other tributes would just complicate matters; at one point in his life, there wasn't a force on earth that would have held him back, ever one to charge in to help those in need, even at the cost of himself and his own group. It had been a lesson hard learned, the way paved with loss and betrayal. Randall, Andrew, Axel and Oscar. Now, with the Capitol pitting them against one another, the odds of things getting twisted were higher than ever.
"Might want to ease up a bit." He'd given him a fairly wide berth, if only so he didn't get caught in the crossfire.
Perhaps it was because he'd been down that road. He had an intimate understanding of what it could do when you bottled your aggression, and how lethal it could prove when you broke that seal. When he'd first arrived, he'd barely contained his own ineffective rage, torn yet again from his family and thrown into another new world. If anyone could understand that sort of violent frustration, it was Rick.
"You alright?"