Atlas Gym; Tuesday [03/07].

[sword_chocobro]

The new surfboard machines had come in, and it was honestly pretty entertaining, watching some of the staff try them out and get used to them (there was clearly a ringer among them who knew exactly what she was doing). Gladio was even playing some chill wave and beach sounds over the speakers today to really hit those tropical vibes (and make him think all over again about running off to live on a hut out somewhere like Indonesia someday). And it was all pretty chill and fun until someone managed to already break one.

Which meant now Gladio had to pull up the instruction manual, scratching his head a little as he tried to make sense out of any of it. Clearly, there was a number to call for repairs, but, obviously, that was only there as a last resort, right? He could...probably figure this out...

He was...definitely making a phone call by the end of the day, wasn't he?

Atlas is open!

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

It was later than the time Marc tended to show up at the gym, but still morning. Was Marc getting some akin to amusement out of how, between him and Steven, he wasn't the one with a little bit of a hangover? Maybe.

But really today Marc wasn't trying to linger too much on any particular thoughts. Instead he was going to hit the weights and do mindless reps.

For him this practically counted as meditation.

[sword_chocobro]

Anyone saying workout reps weren't meditation clearly didn't understand meditation.

But since Marc seemed pretty focused on hitting those reps (and probably getting back into the swing of things), Gladio was mostly just going to offer a lift of his chin in greeting/acknowledgement before flipping a page of the manual to discover that, nope, didn't make any more sense on this side, either...

[hasaknightjob]

Marc could do a nod of acknowledgement. This did get him out of his attempt at a lack of thoughts enough to notice the machines and Gladio reading what Marc assumed was their instructions. He gave Gladio a questioning look.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio met that curious glance with a roll of his eyes and a sighing shake of his head. He sent a disparaging look to the machine in question, before asking, "You any good with mechanical stuff?"

[hasaknightjob]

"Wouldn't call myself an expert," Marc said. "Put an Ikea couch together in my time."

If that helped at all.

[sword_chocobro]

"But probably nothing as hefty as a surf machine, huh?" Gladio guessed with a sigh.

[hasaknightjob]

"Didn't even know there were surf machines," Marc said. Though quietly he appreciated now knowing what the hell he was looking at. Saved him having to ask and admit he didn't know.

[sword_chocobro]

"Oh, they're great," said Gladio. "....when they work. I tried out surfing when the school went to Indonesia, and now I' kind of obsessed. Learned about there things when I was looking into how to bring it to my class, figured I'd bring a few in."

He then grinned a little. "You should try it some time."

[hasaknightjob]

"You tried it once and became obsessed?" Marc asked. Not disputing, just curious about whether Indonesian surfing added something to the mix beyond what Marc pictured. Which was pretty much TV shows and movies about people who surfed while solving crimes or some shit.

[sword_chocobro]

"What?" asked Gladio, his grin growing just that slight bit more. "You telling me you don't believe in love at first surf, Marc?"

[hasaknightjob]

"More of a turf guy myself," Marc said.

Though in fairness he didn't purposefully set out for so much of his life to be spent in the desert.

[grenadesandohana]

"Is that a surfing rig?" Steve asked, eyebrows arching up in excitement.

[sword_chocobro]

"It is," Gladio confirmed, eyebrows arched right back at Steve, though a bit more with interest and hope. "You know much about 'em?"

[grenadesandohana]

"I'm from O'ahu," Steve said with a grin. "We have real waves, but I've been on a couple of these machines before. Is it busted already?"

[sword_chocobro]

"This one is," said Gladio, nudging it a little with his foot ans shaming his head in clear disappointment for its performance. "Thankfully, I got a couple of them, but this maintenance guide," he held up the offending literature in his hand, "is impossible to understand. I might actually have to call someone in."

Said in the defeated tone of someone who generally felt that if he couldn't do it himself, it wasn't worth doing at all.

Well, except for cooking. He'd happily leave that one to Ignis.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve hissed in a breath because he understood that the Bro Code never contracted out. "Is the guide not in English?" he asked. "I'm pretty decent at Chinese and Japanese, if that'll help."

He graduated with a degree in Chinese from the Naval Academy, he meant. And was fluent.

[sword_chocobro]

"Oh, it says it's in English," Gladio reported with a scoff, "but I'm not sure what half of these words are. And I'm pretty good at picking up the differences between your guys' script and ours. But, yeah, there's other languages here, too. Here."

He handed the manual over to Steve.

"Maybe you'll have better luck."

[grenadesandohana]

"I'm hoping that if I can figure out what language they were trying to translate from, I'll have some luck figuring out what they're saying," he said, squinting at the words.

If these weren't surfboards from Klingon or something. In Fandom, it was safer not to make assumptions.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell was here early and a bit surprised that Marc wasn't here yet. Anyway, she got on with her workout, going through her form fluidly before heading over to the weights.

[sword_chocobro]

And when Gladio was really, really needing a break from trying to decipher the gibberish that was the instruction manual on the surf machine and she didn't seem too busy herseld, he offered over a lift of chin and his hand and a "Hey, Nell."

[mylandmyrules]

"Gladio!" she said cheerfully. "How are you this fine morning?"

[sword_chocobro]

"Eh," Gladio grunted, a bit truthfully. "Starting to feel like maybe chucking things into the ocean might be a good work out, but other than that? Not bad. How 'bout yourself?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Now what do you want to chuck in the ocean?" she asked with a grin. "And do you need help? I'm doing well myself. Looking forward to getting in a good workout, then having a bit of a lazy day."

[sword_chocobro]

"Feels like getting in a good workout sort of negates the laziness," Gladio noted with a faint grin, before he held up the manual in his hands. "And I think I'l start with this thing, then follow it up with this." He waved the book toward the machine. "Don't suppose you happen to be a surprise whiz at fixing exercise equipment by any chance?"

[mylandmyrules]

"That's the hope," Nell said. "Though I'd thought to see Marc here." She shrugged. "I'll send him a text later."

Nell looked over at the exercise equipment in question. "I'm pretty good at coaxing along old trucks and farm equipment, but I'm not sure how I'd be with this new-fangled stuff."