Atlas Gym, Tuesday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

Today was one of those days where Liam found himself kind of missing his old life. Sure, it had been a constant balancing act between human and alien interests, and possible death if his undercover status had ever been discovered, but there'd never been a lack of things to do.

The restless energy he'd been feeling for the past couple days eventually culminated in seeking out the gym here on the island. Maybe running through some Tai Chi forms would get him focused back on the here-and-now instead of on the what-was.

[ooc: so, so open.]

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[okteiviakom]

Octavia hadn't been in a gym since her imprisonment. So, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But after her visit to the flower shop, she was feeling restless for reasons that didn't really need exploring at this point in time, and she had to do something.

So, time to see if gyms were terrible. So far, at least some of the equipment was looking vaguely familiar.

As did a man. Though, okay, that was much less vague. Octavia gave Liam a brief nod of recognition and greeting as she headed over towards the treadmills.

[ooc: So much SP due to timezones and my headache but I couldn't resist.]

[firstofitskind]

Liam nodded back but didn't give much else in the way of reply, at least until he'd finished the form he'd been running through.

"Octavia, isn't it?" he said, wandering over to where equipment like wooden practice swords were kept. They hadn't really spoken since they'd both first arrived here in Fandom, but it was a small island, after all. Wasn't too difficult to keep track of who was who. "How've you been?"

[okteiviakom]

"Fine," said Octavia, who's learned that was the basic response to give. Whether it was true or not. "This time period is obsessed with holidays, though."

... Well, it was on her mind right now.

[firstofitskind]

"You're not wrong there," Liam had to admit. "People don't celebrate much, where you're from? Or when," he added, since she'd mentioned time periods.

[okteiviakom]

"There was just Unity Day," Octavia replied, examining the treadmill controls as she spoke. "And then we didn't really have the time or the need for holidays."

And she'd never gotten the chance to find out if the Grounders had any of note.

[firstofitskind]

"I never had much time for them myself," Liam admitted, testing out one of the practice swords for weight and balance. "But attending ceremonies and celebrations was a big part of my former job, so I couldn't really avoid it."

[okteiviakom]

This time, Octavia glanced over.

Her gaze lingered on the sword for a moment.

"What did you do?"

[firstofitskind]

"Companion-Protector," Liam explained. "Something like being a bodyguard, but the Companions were aliens, some of whom spent a great deal of time and energy trying to understand human cultures." Ah, there was the sword he was actually looking for, a taijijian. He put his initial selection back and pulled this one out instead. Much better.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia knew nothing about swords. The one she had looked mostly like a repurposed machete, and she wielded it about with the elegance that description entailed.

So, she was a little curious.

But not so much that she couldn't also snort at what he said. "Good luck to them," she drawled. "I don't even understand human cultures." Seemed that way, anyway, most of the time.

Most of her life.

[firstofitskind]

Liam was hardly an expert himself; his interest in anything sword-like was essentially the closest thing he'd ever had to a hobby. Still, he'd noticed Octavia's curious look. If she felt like asking any questions, he'd do his best to answer.

"Not even your own?" he was, of course, assuming she was human.

[okteiviakom]

"I don't have one."

Sure, maybe it was a melodramatic thing to say, to claim she had no culture. But she had kind of an on-going problem with fitting in.

[firstofitskind]

"Because you're the only one left?" Liam asked. "Or because you feel you don't fit in with the people who raised you?" Both of which were perspectives he had personal experience with.

[okteiviakom]

Oh look, the treadmill got interesting again!

Or at least Octavia chose to look at it right now. No reason. Like the way her tone got dry again. "Because I spent the first sixteen years in isolation, then another one in a different kind of isolation, and then had a glimpse at two cultures before I was yanked here."

Even now, though, her hair was braided in the style of the Trigedakru.

[firstofitskind]

"That's rough," Liam said, in a tone that wasn't sympathetic so much as just... acknowledging a truth. "When I was born, it was- a bit of a scandal," he shared. "I was hidden from my parents, given to the next people to come along. They acted like family, gave me a home, but- something was always missing." He hadn't been as physically isolated as Octavia had apparently been during his first few years, but being neither fully human nor fully alien was isolating in it's own way.

[okteiviakom]

There were many, many kinds of isolation, Octavia had learned over the years.

She listened. Then she looked over. Shrugged one shoulder. "I was only a scandal once everyone found out," she offered.