Atlas Health and Fitness Center: Tuesday

[spectre_alenko]

A week full of shocks and emotional gut-punches had left Kaidan's brain far too full for comfort. He threw a change of clothes, some deodorant, and a few other odds and ends in a backpack, grabbed a local map, and headed out at a jog to find the gym.

The gym did not disappoint. It held enough exercise equipment, including a full on boxing rig, to keep him blissfully endorphin high all day. It even had a pool and steam room to relax in after. Speaking with the desk clerk, Kaidan signed up for a membership and a locker.

The jog had warmed him up nicely, so after stashing his gear in a locker, he taped up his hands and headed straight for the heavy bag. The repetitive motions, having to concentrate on his form - left shoulder getting super sloppy from lack of practice; he'd have to work on that - kept his mind cheerfully occupied while his emotions sorted themselves out.

[ooc: Gym is open and mostly OCD-free. Feel free to interact with Kaidan or start your own Broodyman McHairproduct-free thread.]

Comments

Steamroom

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan, after exercising, in the steamroom. He's wearing a towel.

[ooc: post exists almost purely to show off the userpic, but feel free to interact. This is the only OCD.]

[firstofitskind]

Liam's dreams had been... strange. Full of memories that were not his own. Which was not exactly new, all things considered, but unsettling enough given the particular topic of those dreams that he'd felt the need to come to the gym to clear his head.

As he headed over to the equipment room to grab a practice sword, he noticed someone else already in the gym, over by the bag. The newcomer mentioned on radio, he assumed, since he didn't recognize the face.

"Hey," he greeted with a friendly nod.

[spectre_alenko]

"Hey," Kaidan greeted in return, glancing over. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of the sword and he asked, "Uh. Is there a lot of use for swords around here? I only ask because someone else mentioned practicing with them, earlier in the week and now.." He gestured at the practice sword.

[firstofitskind]

"Yes and no," Liam said, after a moment. "If we're talking live weaponry, my preferred weapon is actually a beam gun, but there are a number of people around who do use swords for that sort of thing. This," he hefted the bamboo practice sword, "is just for running through Tai Chi forms."

[spectre_alenko]

"Beam gun? Like a laser weapon, or something more hefty like a Graal spike-thrower?" Kaidan asked with professional curiosity, "Either seems far more reliable than a weapon that gives such poor reach." He looked around, trying to determine where Liam planned to run through in this area of the gym, quickly growing puzzled. This was a really bad area to run in, too many floor obstacles.

Re: Steamroom

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden had been to the gym on a semi-regular basis, and she was surprised to find someone else in the steamroom. Not that she minded. Well, not a lot, although it was nicer to have it to herself. Hopefully the stranger would either shut up or not be a total idiot.

She gave a small nod in greeting, unaware that she had actually spoken to this person though the jungle that had been Coven Garden Flowers on Saturday.

Re: Steamroom

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan nodded politely to the other guy, also not knowing they had spoken previously. Following general steam room/sauna etiquette, he kept his eyes front and his mouth shut after the greeting.

Re: Steamroom

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden could do a short exchange of plesantries though. That was only proper after all, and didn't have to lead to conversation.

"This place is usually empty," she said. "I'm glad to see someone else has found it too." No, she wasn't.

Re: Steamroom

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan glanced over, confused by the difference between word and tone, and trying to place where he'd heard the voice before. "Nice to know there's usually not a crowd," he offered. It seemed like a safe answer. "It's a good place to relax after a workout."

[firstofitskind]

"I'm not quite sure what the second thing is, but a beam gun is energy-based, so I suppose laser weapon is close enough."

And as for where Liam was planning to do his workout, that would be in one of the more open spaces meant for such things, yes. But he'd stopped by to say hi because it seemed rude not to do so.

[spectre_alenko]

"Really big gun," Kaidan explained, "Fires sharpened metal spears that can punch straight through.." He paused, trying to consider an apt analogy, "..an armored vehicle. The recoil on 'em is a straight bitch, so mostly only heavy infantry use 'em."

Still a little puzzled, Kaidan asked curiously, "What part of the gym is the tai chi?"

Re: Steamroom

[1000yearstoolate]

It was politeness.

Seivarden recognised the voice but couldn't place it either. "New to the island or just to the gym?"

She didn't care, but couldn't help being curious where she could have heard that voice.

[firstofitskind]

"Ah," Liam nodded. "We had... nothing like that, that's for sure."

"I think there are classes some days in one of the other rooms, but I usually like to practice on my own," Liam admitted. "Just over there," he pointed to a corner with nothing but a couple of floor mats.

[what_the_shock]

Miguel mostly got his workout back home, thumping heads together. But on their last outing, he'd had a couple close calls, so he was reluctantly heading to the gym now. In actual gym clothes (plus sunglasses). He checked with the desk to make sure the machines were made to handle more-than-human workouts, then headed back to take a look at them.

He nodded at the guy doing the boxing or whatever that was - new face? - then set about trying to figure out how to dial up the machine with the bar on it. Hey, a least it had instructions - he was a geek, not a jock. He could figure this out.

Re: Steamroom

[spectre_alenko]

"Both, actually. Spent most of the last month getting the shop set up, so this is the first downtime I've really had, other than a few quick jogs here and there," Kaidan answered, then inquired for politeness' sake, "Are you? New, I mean?"

[spectre_alenko]

"Probably a good thing. They're heavy and slow to fire. Laser or plasma, much better rate of return," he noted clinically, "Though I'm still partial to good old fashioned lead and copper, when I need a gun."

Huh. Interesting. Kaidan made a mental note: the area of the gym with the mats was called the tai chi.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan nodded back to the guy in shades, while pummeling the bag. He glanced over when he saw the dude pull up at the mun guesses? lifting bench by himself. Danger, Will Robinson. "Uh, hey. You have a spotter?" Kaidan asked politely.

[firstofitskind]

"Sounds like you've got plenty of experience with firearms. Military?" Liam guessed.

[ooc: oops, I misread and totally thought Kaidan meant 'which part is FOR tai chi', not that he didn't know what it was altogether. sorry for the confusion!!]

[spectre_alenko]

[ooc: no worries, this works for me and leads to potential future confusion for Kaidan, so it's all good.]

"Navy," Kaidan confirmed, "Some experience with firearms, but I was a specialist, mostly tactical. You? You're the first person I've met who even mentioned firearms. So far, everyone else's been about the swords."

[what_the_shock]

Your guess is as good as Miguel's, so yes.

Miguel looked over at the guy. "Huh?" Oh, there was the dial for...electronic resistance rather than actual weight, neat. Now what sort of weight range should he even try for?

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan's 'oh shit' mental radar went off. He paused his workout and walked over, explaining, "You're not supposed to use this machine without a second person, in case of mechanical failure, or possibly physical failure, if your arms give out under the weight. Wouldn't want it to drop onto you. I can spot you, if you don't have another?"

[firstofitskind]

"Army Ranger," at least, according to his service record, which was a complicated issue and not one he generally got into in a first conversation. "More recently, though, I was a Companion-Protector." He watched Kaidan's face for a reaction, because it was always possible that someone else from his version of Earth had ended up here, but wasn't really expecting him to know what he was talking about.

[what_the_shock]

"Oh." Miguel eyed the machine warily, as if it were likely to collapse from him looking at it.

"That makes sense, I guess." He held out his hand. "I'm Miguel. Haven't seen you around before."

[spectre_alenko]

Recognition at the military title, none whatsoever at the 'Companion-Protector' note. "Ranger, first in/last out? Or is that the Air Force Rangers? We, uh, don't have that specialization where I'm from, but I've heard the term," Kaidan offered.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan wiped the sweat off his hand before shaking. "Kaidan. I've been getting that 'haven't seen you around' thing a lot lately. Which, I suppose, is better than having pre-made friends or enemies. I'm new," he admitted.