Atlas Gym; Tuesday [05/09].

[sword_chocobro]

One of the staff members had come to Gladio about putting a few motivational posters up in the lobby, but Gladio was a little skeptical at first.

"What, you mean like those cheesy ones they have in counselors offices with, like, the cat on the branch and it says something along the lines of 'Hang In There!' or a bunch of quotes under pictures of rainbows or mountains with HOPE and PERSEVERANCE underneath?"

"No," they said, pulling from....somewhere....an example. "Something more like this."

Which Gladio read, and Gladio laughed and said, "Yeah, okay. That I could do."

And it seemed to fit a not insignificant percentage of Atlas' demographic, anyway.

Atlas is open!

Comments

[somethingwithturquoise]

Excuse you, Gladio, that poster was clearly very correct, and therefor rude. But, whatever, Summer was clearly flouncing into the gym with another exciting new outfit, her usual cheerful greeting to her trainer on her way to cutely warm-up before it was time to delve into the actual work, which would not be cute, but ohgod, was it always worth it.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc came in around his usual time. He spotted the poster and smirked. Apt was apt.

He then tried to decide what he was in the mood for that morning.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell was rather bruised up, but very happy today. She'd had a wonderful time with the warrior women on Lana's planet, which Marc might already know about since Steven - and possibly he, as well - had been there. "Morning!"

[hasaknightjob]

"Hey," Marc said. "How's it going?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Very well," Nell said cheerfully, "It's a lovely day. You?"

[hasaknightjob]

Marc was a morning person but not that kind of morning person. Though to be fair it was not like that much cheer was the sort of thing that he'd be down for at any other time of day either.

"You're in a good mood."

[mylandmyrules]

"I am," she agreed. "I had a wonderful day yesterday and I feel sure today will be another good day."

"After all," she teased. "I get to see your smiling face!"

[hasaknightjob]

"Uh huh," Marc said. "Well good for you I guess?"

Nell deserved to have good days after all. Even if this was making him wonder if she'd had extra caffeine that morning or something.

[sword_chocobro]

"Marc." Gladio, as one might expect, greeted him with a nod, and another silver moon sticker headed his way. "How you doing?"

[hasaknightjob]

The sticker was accepted and placed on a free spot on his water bottle. At some point here he might have to start thinking about layering them on top of each other.

"Can't complain," Marc said. Then, wryly, "others are doing it for me for some reason. You?"

[sword_chocobro]

Or just get another water bottle! Hydration was important, Marc!

"Others complaining for me has never stopped me from complaining plenty all my own," said the man who could actually stand to be complaining a lot more, really, or at least to more people than just his favorite bartender, but, you know, he'd done more than enough to make up for it in the past. "But I'm doin' alright."

The invasion a bit ago had swung the ever-moving pendulum back over to 'not completely hating everything about being stuck here' side of things for a good while now, which almost made him wonder when it would find its way back to the other side, but no point in worrying about that now.

"What's all the noise about?"

[hasaknightjob]

"Usual," Marc said. "Well, slightly different. Now it's not just that I don't get out enough, I need to enjoy it more. Or something."

[sword_chocobro]

That was earning Marc a bit of a side-eye, one that made a marginal effort to not be faintly amused, but didn't quite make it there.

"Oh no," he said. "Enjoying things. Ugh. The worst..."

Then he snorted, any attempt at a straight face vanished. "Should I be offended? Here, I thought what we had was something special, Marc."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell wandered in, a bit bruised, but happy, after her training with Venda and the warrior women on Lana's planet. "Morning!" she said brightly, not even considering what people might think of the way she looked.

[sword_chocobro]

It definitely made for an interesting juxtaposition, didn't it? One that Gladio himself could relate to, and one that brought to mind their talk of scars last time with a faint grin. Intrigued, he lifted a curious eyebrow as he gave her a critical look-over.

"Nell," he then greeted with a nod. "You're in a good mood."

You loved to see it.

[mylandmyrules]

"I am," she said. "I had a wonderful time yesterday!"

Nell wasn't quite bouncing at the memory, she was a little too sore for that - in a good way- but she was certainly cheerful. "Had a fantastic workout with the warrior women from Lana's planet. I've gotten so much better than the last times I was there."

[sword_chocobro]

And with the reason for the good mood and (presumably) the bruising now revealed, Gladio had to let out a laugh, maybe a little a little triumphant, over his first impression having been, more of less, the correct one. If not the details, then just recognizing the feeling when he spotted it. "Yeah," he said, "that's usually what happens when you keep at it! Were they impressed, these warrior women? You running circles around 'em yet?"

[mylandmyrules]

Nell scoffed, "Around them? I hardly think so! They spend their whole lives on it."

But she scouldn't help her smile. "But they were impressed at my progress. And I told them how you'd been helping me." Was she blushing a little? She might have been blushing a little. "They were disappointed you weren't there. I think they wanted to check you out for themselves."

[sword_chocobro]

Modesty didn't really suit Gladio, so any attempts at what might have been a modest shrug just sort of came off as exactly what it really was, and, knowing this, he figured he might as well just say it, too.

"Well," he said, "who could really blame 'em? I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed I wasn't there, now, too. I'd've loved to have check them out for myself. But maybe you could at least show me a little of what you guys worked on, just to, you know, sate that curiosity a little."

[stykera]

Stark was back. Two weeks in a row!

Alas, unlike some other gingers he did not have a cute new workout outfit to show off. Maybe his stylist could/would fix that.

"'Morning, Gladio," Stark said when he walked in.

[sword_chocobro]

"Hey! Stark!" Gladio grinned a little, lifting his chin in greeting. "Good to see you back! Didn't scare you off too much, then, huh?"

[stykera]

"I'm not that easily frightened," Stark said with an answering grin.

"I thought I'd try again. Last week seemed to go fine. I think. Maybe even try something different?"

[sword_chocobro]

"Variety's always good," Gladio said with am approving nod, "especially if you're working out a lot, several days in a row, things like that. It's important to let your muscles rest in between, to build better growth. Plus, it might take a while before you really find what's going to work best for you, so the more you try, the more you'll know what that's gonna be."

[stykera]

"I don't know that I'll be doing any of it a lot," Stark said. "But I think trying new things is good. Maybe there's something I'll really like. Yesterday I was hammering things with Amaya. So this arm," the one he was currently raising up to illustrate "had plenty to do, at least."

[sword_chocobro]

"Yeah," Gladio snorted faintly, "blacksmiths don't mess around. Amaya's probably one of the few people I won't be badgering to get in here, and not just because she's the best one around here to keep me in absurdly large swords. Although, really, I'd worry about her skipping some leg days.

"Could always get a good routine to balance things out with the other arm so you don't end up unbalanced, right?"

He was...mostly joking.