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Atlas Gym, Tuesday Mid-Morning

Sarah had been slacking on her workouts lately; she still ran, she'd go nuts if she didn't, but she hadn't hit the gym nearly often enough. So she was there this morning, putting herself through her paces on the weights circuit and eying the punching bags. She'd need to get in some work on them, too.

The TVs mounted over the treadmills were tuned to the Yule log station, and she noticed them with mild surprise. It seemed early for it, but it was still almost soothing.

[OOC: Open gym.]

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Linz was not one for working out, usually. Generally she preferred to keep it limited to a brief jog with Martha but after dealing with the police department and having a strong desire to smack Tony in the head, she needed to work off some aggression at the gym.

Nodding at the other girl in the gym, Linz started off on the treadmill wondering why the heck the TV was showing a yule log and switched it to CNN. "Is everyone on this island obsessed with Christmas here?"

"It seems that way," Sarah said, as she adjusted the weight on the lats machine. "The water company is in on it, too, all I could get from my tap yesterday was hot chocolate. I missed my shower."

"Yeah," Linz said frowning. "Brushing my teeth was a bit of an experience as well. Does that kind of stuff happen all the time here?"

"That is what they tell me," Sarah said, sounding a little displeased by it. "One of my employees said pretty much anything that happened in a comic, could happen here. I'm just going with that, though so far, most of the strange things have been low-level."

"Oh."

Suddenly Biff's claiming about the whole weird time difference thing was starting to seem a little more credible.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Okay, the comic book thing I hadn't heard of. Some guy the other day was telling me about arriving here from eight years ago. I thought he was just nuts."

"I talked to someone Sunday who wasn't even from Earth," Sarah volunteered. "And I think there are talking animals, too. I gave a job to a frog. Made out of felt."

Somewhere between "talking animals" and giving a job to a "frog", Linz completely forgot she was on a treadmill. When Sarah mentioned "felt", Lindsay stopped walking and the treadmill sent her backwards making her jump off at the last second and stumbling.

"Okay," she said when she recovered her balance. "Is this some kind of prank people play on the new girl?"

"I wish," Sarah said, unable to entirely bite back her chuckle as she went over to help the woman if she needed it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she groaned as she straightened her outfit. "I'm just wondering exactly which circle of hell I ended up in."

"It's not exactly hell," Sarah promised. "Weird, but not in threatening ways." She thought of the kidnapping the week before and added, "Mostly."

"Where are you coming from?"

"San Francisco," Lindsay replied. "I thought moving out here would be a fresh start and a chance to move on and-"

She stopped and facepalmed. "And I'm babbling to a complete stranger. Hi. I'm Lindsay Boxer."

"Sarah Walker," Sarah supplied, with a tiny wave of her own. "Hi. I've only been here a little over a month myself. I still kind of feel like the new girl."

"Been just over a week for me. It all kind of happened in a flurry and next thing I know I'm being flown out here for an interview," Linz said shaking her head before pausing for a second and looking at Sarah. "Really? A frog?"

Sarah just nodded. "He's about three feet tall and made out of felt. Nice kid, actually."

She tilted her head at Lindsay. The woman read as some kind of cop to her, maybe ex-military, maybe just a personal trainer. She didn't carry herself like a civilian. "Where are you working? I run the comics store."

"I work for Stark Industries as their new chief of security. Before that I worked homicide for the SFPD," Linz said looking Sarah over with curious look. "Aren't you... Well too tall blonde and female to be a comic store owner? Not to feed a stereotype but I would have expected someone more-"

She paused a second trying to think of a nice PC term to use.

"Dweebish."

Totally failed at PC.

Sarah flashed a smile. "I definitely don't fit the stereotype," she agreed, bending over to fiddle with a shoelace and give herself some time to think. She didn't trust corporate security, but she knew a homicide detective would see through her if she wasn't good and careful. And, after what had happened with Loki the week before, she was going to have to be careful.

"No, I kind of fell into my job. Nothing was working out right in L.A. and I knew someone who set me up here. I'm trying to learn to be one with the dweeb side." She straightened.

Linz was watching Sarah a little more closely now. Weird. Something about her seemed off. She didn't seem like a business person, which she admitted but...

"So what we're you striving for out in LA?" Linz asked.

"A little of everything," Sarah said with a tiny smile. "Acting, but, you know, there's not exactly a shortage of pretty girls who want to act out there. Mostly I worked foodservice."

She noticed the closer scrutiny and made herself keep her body language soft, gentle, nonthreatening.

Food service. Huh. It didn't seem to add up but then again this whole island was throwing Linz off.

"Food service, huh?" She asked. "I did that part time at the police academy when I was trying to make ends meet."

She did a comical shudder and grinned. "Not my cup of tea. I'm not exactly a customer service type."

"It's definitely a job, not a career," Sarah agreed, and that was even the truth. "As long as you don't stab the stupid people, you're fine."

That got a chuckle out of Linz. "Stabbing wasn't my problem. Sarcasm and the occasional punch usually got me in trouble."

She gave Sarah a grin. "I got fired a lot."

"I never actually stabbed a customer," Sarah said, mock-indignant. And yes, that was true. People Chuck flashed on weren't customers.

She grinned at Lindsey. "I did some self-defense training. Being able to throw a good punch is a nice skill to have." (And by "some," she meant "hours a day for years.")

Edited 2008-12-02 20:54 (UTC)

"I wish more women took the initiative to do that and learn to protect themselves," Lindsay agreed. "And for the record: stabbing is completely justified in California if the customer gets fresh with you."

Sarah was getting an idea. "I wonder if there'd be any interest in a seminar for students," she said, almost idly. "I know there's a self-defense club, they've mentioned it on the radio."

"That's not a bad idea," Lindsay mused. "Wouldn't know where to start though around here. Plus... Well I'm not that great with kids."

"They're high school," Sarah said sympathetically. "Not really kids."

"Yeah. But they're young. And probably mouthy," Linz said shaking her head. "I don't like the competition."

Sarah laughed at that. "If we did it, we could make the class a no-mouthiness zone," she offered.

"I like your way of thinking," Linz chuckled. "You ever teach a class like that before?"

"I've done some teaching," Sarah hedged. "Nothing official, more showing friends some moves."

"Yeah, I'm not one for teaching people," Linz admitted. "Unless bossing people around is considered teaching."

"I'll call the head of the self defense group and find out what they're doing," Sarah suggested, smiling. "And then get in touch with you."

"Cool," Linz said and reached into her bag where she pulled out a business card. "You can reach me here at this extension."

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Atlas Gym, Tuesday Mid-Morning

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