Max lowered himself into the hot tub, wincing as his sore muscles protested his movement. The water was that perfect temperature where if you moved, it would be almost too hot to tolerate, but if you held still, it would soothe the aches and pains away. Max settled into the curved seat, submerged just past his shoulders, and settled his head back against the nook which served as a headrest. He closed his eyes and let out a breath. After an 18 hour shift of solo work, this was exactly what he needed, especially when said shift had ended with him getting punched into the ground by a giant cyborg yeti. Or was it a sasquatch?
Oh, what the hell was the difference? Either way, he'd gotten pounded through six feet of steel-reinforced concrete before being left for dead. Fortunately, Max, aka "Max Out" was tougher than that, and had proceeded to pull himself out of the small crater, leap onto the creature's back and smash away at it, until its robotic parts were in pieces, and its organic parts were black and blue and bloody.
It had been a nice comeback, but didn't change the fact that Max felt like a tin can that had been left on the railroad tracks. Of course, it was only then that a fellow superhero had finally gotten over to Max to lend a hand. You would think a massive team like the Centurions would always have plenty of people to spare, but there you go. Apparently, today had just been one of those days where a few dozen things decided to go wrong at once, and the whole team had split up to handling multiple crises.
Now back at the base and finally able to grab some r-and-r, Max was trying to boil the aches out of his muscles. He lay soaking for a good ten minutes, eyes closed and breathing calm, before he decided he was good. About to step out, he opened his eyes and jumped when he saw someone sitting directly across from him. He fist was reared back ready to strike before his eyes fully focused on who it was.
"Fucking hell, Rain," said Max, lowering his fist. "Give me a freakin' heart attack why don't you."
Rain, the slim, dark skinned woman across from him had raised her eyebrow at Max's sudden defensive jolt. "Sorry, Max," she said. "You looked so peaceful I didn't want to disturb you." She watched Max catch his breath. "Are you okay?"
Max nodded. "I've just had a really long day and a rough night. Got hammered into a street."
"Ah," said Rain. "You okay?"
Max shrugged. "Feeling a little better." He settled back down into the seat. "How about yourself?"
Rain shrugged. "Long day as well. We had to drive a bunch of shark mutants back to the ocean."