fandomtownies | Atlas Gym; Tuesday [08/08].

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Atlas Gym; Tuesday [08/08].

There was a part of Summer that wondered if it was somehow wrong to keep up her weekly gym routine under these circumstances, but then again, no. No. This is what Gladio would have wanted. He would have wanted them to squat on, lift hard, break a sweat, and get them gains.

So her usual cute workout outfit was a little more somber than usual, and when she came in, she left an offering of gold stars and protein powder at the alter of the Cup Noodle claw machine, and then breezed in with a coy little finger-waggling wave over at Sonja before hitting those weights and maybe spending some time with some punching bags as well.

After all, if Gladio hadn't just been portal-napped back home and something else was going on, she wanted to make sure she was in good fighting form for it and that she was really ready to seriously punch a bitch if necessary.

[[ and, of course, open for all your gym-related needed! ]]

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Nell was here and even though she knew Gladio want going to be here still her heart hoped. And fell when of course he wasn't here.

She was too tired to want to try any of the equipment today, so it would be a form day.

She waved to Summer as she came in. At least she wasn't the only one carrying on.

"Hey, Nell," Summer returned the wave with a little bit of a sympathetic smile. "How're you doing?"

She didn't look great, but, like, Summer wasn't going to just come out and say that, ohmygod.

"Tired," Nell admitted. "I didn't sleep all that well, but I figured at least I could come and do my forms and that might perk me up a little."

"Or if anything," Summer suggested helpfully, "wear you down enough that you just sort of....pass out from exhaustion."

She waved her hand dismissively, as if this was a common and reasonable solution.

"If you need a spotter or something for anything, though, let me know, I'd be happy to help!"

Nell chuckled softly. "For when I keel over from exhaustion mid form, you mean?"

"If it works," said Summer, shrugging a shoulder but giving Nell a faint grin, "it works, right? There are mats there for a reason!"

"Hopefully I won't need them for that purpose today," Nell said, "but at least you made me smile. How are you doing today, Summer?"

There was maybe a small moment of pride and a little mental pat on her own back for having made Nell smile, at least, but, well, levity in most dire situations was kind of her jam, she was kind of an expert at that kind of thing.

"Pretty good at the moment," she said, "which, you know, feels a little bad when other people are kind of going through some shit."

She still hadn't worked up the courage to go check in on Liz, which she knew she should do, but, look, none of you all had to deal with her quite like she did the first time Prompto disappeared, she was still recovering from that, but at least now Liz wasn't (presumably) pregnant, so she wouldn't feel bad if she needed to just shake the hell out of her this time.

Gladio would want everyone to continue getting those gains. Right?

Stark was here because there was no reason to just not come in and maybe Gladio would just be here just as mysteriously as he'd disappeared. That wasn't likely and it wasn't the way these things worked but you never knew.

He paused at the door, not sure where to head first.

Maybe, if he did show up as mysteriously as he disappeared, he'd have gone through another time jump and return as one of those big buff anime old guy sages packing mega muscles, no hair, and a long ass beard! That'd be cool, right?

And maybe Summer could help you out a little bit with that decision, Stark.

"Stark! Hi! Perfect timing! I was just about to go bug someone to spot me on the bench."

That would be cool. It might also lead to several island residents learning they had another type.

"You never bug me," Stark told her. "I'll spot you. Of course I will."

"Good," said Summer, with a smile that suggested she was being nice by not taking that first part as a challenge (as if she didn't, deep down, already know that that was a challenge she would lose). "Thanks. And I can return the favor. Unless you're planning on working on something else?"

She might be able to bug him but not in any way that mattered.

"I didn't really have a plan when I got here. Taking turns spotting sounds good to me."

Maybe he could show off a little? Just a little. It wasn't like he'd gotten all that many gains. Or maybe he just hadn't really noticed.

"I think we can use all the happiness we can get," Nell said. "I say enjoy the good times while you have them. You have the right to that happiness even if other people are having a hard time "

Good gains could sneak up on you!

Summer's hadn't, because she was paying very close and specific attention to them, but when you weren't constantly thinking of ways to reach or grab onto things to better show them off, they could show up completely unexpectedly!

Although she had had good reason and opportunity to notice Stark's, too.

"I was going to hit the punching bags a bit after, too," she offered, maybe tossing her ponytail a little extra after cocking her head toward the weights before heading back over. "Just to kind of brush up my form a bit, you know?"

Summer smiled a little at that, but it was definitely a pat on the head kind of smile.

"That's very nice of you to say," she said, "and I'm a little inclined to say that it's a bit too nice of a sentiment, but then again, at the same time, no, you're so totally right, I've dealt with enough hard times myself to definitely not take the fact that what's going on right now doesn't personally affect me much beyond mild annoyances for granted."

She was definitely going to miss the eye candy, though, and a whole-ass employee for ~~her~~ the store. Like, she didn't care what Apu said, Prompto was a good worker, dammit.

"We're hoping it's some kind of Fandom thing," Nell said, "especially since Ignis is still here and there are rumors that other people have disappeared as well."

She sighed. "At least it's possible that they're not back home with no way to let us know."

Though she was still determined to make herself be happy Gladio got to be with his sister again if it did turn out to be the case.

Stark sometimes did not like to be noticed. He'd spent a lot of his life trying not to be. He did enjoy being noticed by Summer.

"Planning on hitting people soon?" he asked. Yes, he saw that ponytail flip and he enjoyed it. "Or just need to work off energy? Sometimes I hit the bags a lot when I need to stop thinking so much."

"You must be hitting those bags a lot then," Summer noted, because, well. Hi. She'd met him. "And I don't know. I figured it wouldn't hurt, you know? If this whole Gladio and Prompto disappearing thing isn't just their shit luck with portals and Fandom starting to do a thing. Especially with Ignis still here, kind of throws a wrench in the whole Eos theory, you know? Might as well be ready to kick some ass if I have to."

"Yeah," said Summer, "I think, at this point, we can conclude they're at least somewhere with no way to let us know, it's just a matter of figuring out where or what or maybe how, which, you know, we'd probably have better luck putting up a bunch of ideas on a wall and throwing darts at them to even know where to start, at this point."

"Sometimes I do," Stark said. "But Gladio showed me how to wrap my hands so I don't hurt them again."

He offered a smile. "You seem like you're always ready for that."

The smile that Summer hit Stark back with was practically beaming, chin lifted slightly, like, ohmygod, how nice of him to have noticed.

"Well, yeah," she agreed, "obviously, but you know how they always stress the importance of being good and warmed up before any... strenuous activity."

Of course Stark noticed. Stark observed Summer very carefully. Very respectfully.

"I wouldn't want you to injure yourself by not being properly warmed up," he said, nodding a little too seriously.

"Well," Summer stated, still looking far too pleased with herself and the apparent noticeability of her eagerness to just throw down, "if this is amping up to something, it usually comes to a head on the weekends, so we've got some time to really prepare."

And now that she had also drifted over to the weights area, she set to picking out some weights and figuring out just how much she did want to put on the bar to bench today. After all, she could probably get away with doing less than she might usually go for; Stark would probably be impressed at her for just handling the bar itself, so she didn't have to play the delicate balance of figuring out how much weight would still be impressive without earning disapproval by clearly pushing past a limit like she did with Gladio.

Stark was continuously impressed by Summer.

"We can hope," he said with a sigh, "that either there's time to prepare or we need not prepare at all. I'd rather we didn't have to do anything. Not have to fight anything at least. Although that's the whole reason I started coming here, to the gym. So I wouldn't be such a liability the next time."

He had followed her to weights, of course. "Just let me know when you're ready," he said. "I'll be right here."

Nell sighed. "Gonna try to search in a little different way tonight. Who knows, maybe we'll have some luck."

"I hope you do," said Summer, giving Nell a small, encouraging smile. "And if you need any help, just let me know..."

She trailed off a little, but then firmly added, "Unless it's about a portal to Eos, because I have tried, and it's still not happening, and I highly doubt pestering me about it is going to change that."

That was less directed at Nell as it was to the general direction and concept of Ignis.

"Think it's been working out for you?" asked Summer, who finally settled on her weights and secured them onto the bar before taking a seat on the bench and then lying down to position herself under them. Took in a deep breath, bolstering herself and psyching herself up to get started. "The getting better at fighting thing?"

She would not comment on how, on the plus side, at least the only way he could go was up on that front.

"I don't think I could do much worse," Stark said wryly, stepping forward so he could position himself behind the bench to support the bar if needed.

"But I haven't needed to do any fighting. I try not to need to. I can throw a better punch, at least?"

Nell was caught off guard by that and couldn't help the laugh that slipped out. "I promise you," she said, once she'd caught her breath, "that I will not bother you about a portal to Eos."

Summer grinned up at Stark a little. "Glad you said it," she stated, lifting the bar with a faint grunt and holding it up a moment, "not me."

And then she lowered the bar, lifting it again, so on and so forth, the effort smooth, but with some of the strain in her voice as she continued talking while pumping the iron.

"But it's getting to be that time of year. There's almost always something."

"Good," Summer snorted wryly. "Because it didn't work before and it's not working now, either. But anything else? I'll see what I can do."

"I'll be sure to let you know," Nell said. "I just hope there is something we can figure out to do."

Stark shook his head just a little.

"There is. But not always something that needs hitting. I'd rather stay back, in any case. I'm better at shooting than hitting."

With his gun that was a perfectly respectable size, thank you!

"But I'll hit if I need to."

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Atlas Gym; Tuesday [08/08].

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