Atlas Gym, Saturday Morning

[hatesparadise]

So maybe being signed up for yoga of all things was maybe a sign that he did need to do something about the stress. And, god help him, he didn't have a freakin' lanai to hang out on to decompress here. Or surfing. Not that he would ever admit that it was sorta relaxing. And a guy could only watch so much bad sci-fi in a depressing hotel room until he went a little nuts.

Hence going to the gym.

And once there, hence beating the ever loving crap out of a heavy bag until his muscles ached and burned. But hey, it was something!

[open gym, yes!]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

God help him, Duke could actually maybe use the expertise of a cop right now. But he was not about to go to the station -- he loved Octavia, but there were limits -- so he had to figure out where one might be hanging out instead.

There weren't any at the donut shop. Or the coffee shop. There wasn't an "oppress the populace" shop, so the gym was the next spot to look.

"Yep," he said, watching Danny beat up the heavy bag. "This makes sense."

[hatesparadise]

Hateful and rude, Duke!

"What makes sense?" Danny asked, throwing his hands up and looking at the ceiling like it could grant him some serenity here.

[betterthanaplan]

Yes, that accurately described police in Duke's experience. Good job, Danny's narrative!

"That you'd be here." He pointed to the bag. "Doing that." Danny specifically. At least Rosa hadn't actually arrested him.

[hatesparadise]

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is my presence here and infringement on something?" Danny asked dryly.

[betterthanaplan]

"Here in the gym? Or just . . . in the world generally?"

Duke, you were going to ask for his help, maybe ease back the snark a little.

[hatesparadise]

Danny just put his hands on his hips and gave him a look. "Yes, here in this gym, you schmuck. I'm pretty sure I know the other one."

[betterthanaplan]

"And yet you persist." Duke shook his head and let out a little groaning sigh. "But -- I kind of need your help."

[hatesparadise]

Did Danny's eyebrows have to go up and he have to look like he was about to break out in a grin? No. Not at all. But that was what's happening because this was a precious moment to be treasured right here.

[betterthanaplan]

"Yeah. This was a mistake." Duke turned to go, then stopped and rubbed his forehead.

Fuck.

"Look, finding missing people is one of the few actually good things you people do, right?"

[hatesparadise]

"Us people meaning cops?" Danny asked, at least having the good grace to look more serious about it now. "This about what they were talking about on the radio? Still creepy, by the way."

[betterthanaplan]

"Yes," Duke said through gritted teeth. "You people meaning cops."

Wow, he really hated asking a cop for help.

"You remember Octavia? Scary chick, big sword, looked like she wanted to stab you with it after you arrested me? She's . . . AWOL."

[hatesparadise]

Yeah, kinda hard to forget. The sword thing stuck out.

"How long she been missing?" he asked, immediately slipping into police-mode.

[betterthanaplan]

“Last heard from her on Monday. She and her brother headed out for a camping trip on the preserve. Already checked out there.” As best as two people could check the whole preserve, anyway. “Her apartment too.” He scraped his hand through his hair. “She left her sword. It’s her favorite weapon. If something happened to her. . . .”

[hatesparadise]

"I understand," Danny said, soft and empathetic. "I'll check out the preserve myself, okay? See if I find anything you missed."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke gave Danny a skeptical look. “. . . Do you know how to look for people in the woods? Preserve’s bigger than it looks on the outside.”

[hatesparadise]

"Done it more lately than I ever did in Jersey," he replied dryly. "But yeah. I've picked up some things from my partner back home. He's crazy, but..."

Danny shrugged like, what can you do.

Steve must never know that Danny was learning things from him. He'd be unbearable.

[betterthanaplan]

“Alright,” Duke said slowly, still not looking like he believed it. “I’d appreciate that, thanks.”

The more people looking, the better, right?

[hatesparadise]

Danny shrugged because it wasn't like he'd turn down helping someone if they were actually in trouble.

"Should I be assuming this isn't an official report?" Because, well, clearly Duke and his girlfriend had some issues with the police.

[betterthanaplan]

Noooooo, how’d he figure?

Duke looked around. “Doesn’t look super official to me. That gonna make a difference?”

[hatesparadise]

He was a detective, you see!

"Just gettin' on the same page here," Danny replied. "I'll see what I can dig up and we can meet up to compare notes after yoga."

That Danny was going to. Shut up.

[betterthanaplan]

“Yeah.” Duke nodded, running his hand through his hair. (He’d been doing that a lot lately. His hair was a wreck.) “Yeah, alright. Uh. Thanks, man.”

It felt very strange saying that, yes.

[hatesparadise]

Yes, Danny was deeply concerned for that hair. Maybe he needed to borrow some hair gel?

"No thanks needed," Danny said, waving him off. "Seriously. Go home, get some rest. You look awful."

So caring. So loving.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve stopped into the gym from his gym and was surprised to find someone already using a heavy bag.

He smiled when he realized it was the new guy. "You're still here!"

Not nice, Steven.

[hatesparadise]

"It's a very convincing hallucination." Which, hey, might be a thing here! "Might want to get that checked out with a doctor."

No sympathy for his pain here.

[betterthanaplan]

Not until his trauma haircut! That was a ways down the road, though.

"Rest. Right." Because that was happening right now. "Maybe I'm just giving the rest of you a chance to catch up to my natural adorability."