fandomtownies | Atlas Gym; Tuesday [11/28].

This were pretty quiet and...well, normal at the gym that Tuesday. None of the equipment seemed to be malfunctioning or missing, the gremlins were keeping to themselves in their aerobics class, the Cup Noodle^TM was well-stocked, and Gladio didn't even have a whole lot of administrative work to take care of that kept him more in the office. So he figured he could squeeze in a little workout in the afternoon, too, although there was always something a little unsettling about when nothing weird was going on, so he was asking around the staff to see if there was something he missed, but they all reported business as usual, too.

"...well," said Sonja, after a moment, having apparently thought about it a bit, "Dan has been planking in the break room lately because he figures that's a good way to make the remaining minutes seem like a lifetime. Does that count?"

Gladio considered it.

"Yeah, sure," he said, "that counts."

So he was just going to go and give Dan a gold star sticker mid-plank and let him know that if he really wanted a longer break, all he had to do was ask, not try to bend space-time via planking.

Atlas is open!

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And after both a Thanksgiving and a Friendsgiving this last week, Summer knew that skipping the gym was not an option, so she was here to work today, dammit! And look cute, of course, but that part went without saying, didn't it?

"Good morning!" Nell said cheerfully. "My... long time no see!"

"Morning," Gladio greeted back with a grin that was clearly far too proud of this alleged gap since they'd last seen each other. "And right? Feels like it's been ages. What've you been up to these days, anyway?"

"Morning, Gladio," Stark said when he walked in. Before he took the time to look for any gingers, even!

"Oh, you know, the usual." She waved that off with a casual flick of the hand. "Good breakfast."

Had she set a pot of oatmeal, a large bowl, and every fixing he could imagine in front of him and then sat back with chin resting on her hands? And then gotten a smaller bowl for herself and shoved that over for him to fix as well? Oh, yes, she had!

Before looking for any gingers? Wow. Were Stark and Summer fighting or something?

"Morning, Stark," Gladio greeted back with a nod. "How's it going?"

Not as far as Stark was aware but you never could tell what might have happened off screen. He was just trying a new tactic. For the moment.

"It's going well," he said, nodding back. "And you?"

There didn't seem to be anything too odd happening in here but it was early yet.

"Did you have a good holiday? I know it isn't yours but it isn't mine either."

"Cardio today, brah," Steve said with a wave. "Danny's family shows love through carbs."

"Oof," Gladio snort was sympathetic, "but, hey, I bet you were still eatin' pretty good. Worth it, right?"

"Worth it," Steve agreed. "And his family can really cook."

And had Gladio loved every second of that pointed spread and then fixed up for Nell what had to have been, in his never humble opinion, the best damn oatmeal she'd ever eaten?

You're damn right he had, and even though it hadn't been all that long ago, he had to grin at the memory.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked. "Smart way to start the day." His chin lifted, grin quirked a bit more. "What'd ya have?"

"Some really amazing oatmeal," she said with a grin. "All doctored up and fancy."

"Now that's a good breakfast," Gladio said, nodding with approval. "Oatmeal. Good for getting the day started. Maybe not as good as Cup Noodle^TM, but, then again, what is? You doctor it up all fancy yourself?"

"Not bad," Gladio answered, with a little bit of a grin surfacing. "Great holiday. Nice and quiet, just spent it helping Nell with all her cooking, which meant also helping with all the eating, and it's hard to not like a holiday that focuses mainly on good food and being thankful for stuff, especially when you've got a lot to be thankful for. How about you? Do anything good for it?"

"Which, for Thanksgiving," Gladio noted, "I hear is the important part. The engagement was probably a pretty hot topic of discussion, too, probably, right? They pretty excited for you guys?"

"Oh no," Nell said. "I wouldn't dirty myself up by doing that. I had someone wait on me and attend to my every little need. Barely even had to feed my ownself."

She probably shouldn't give him ideas, but she couldn't resist saying it.

"They were very excited," Steve said. "And loud. So loud." Steve grinned. "Danny has a lot of relatives."

"On the actual day I was going to go to the dinner at Hannibal's, with Summer, but I called home. To Moya. And we talked for a long time and I ended up not going to dinner. But it was good to talk to my friends. I go too long not doing that. Talking to some people."

Some people Stark saw on a regular basis though and that was great!

"I went to the Friendsgiving on Saturday. That was good. Raiden made so much food!"

"Mmm." The grin on Gladio's face as he hummed out a deep rumble of approval suggested that, no, she really probably shouldn't. "Sounds pretty nice. Well-deserved, too. I know if it were me, I'd definitely make sure you didn't even have to lift a finger."

"I was thinking of dropping in on that," Gladio admitted, "but the day kind of got away with me."

There was a good chance that a book had been involved, actually.

"But that's good, that you got to call home." His smile went a little rueful there; he was much more settled here now than he was a year ago, but there would always be that little tug of loss in his chest when remembering how home wasn't really an option for him anymore. What he wouldn't give to actually even just call Iris....but he tried not to think about that, focusing instead on Stark's response. "Anything exciting going on back there?"

"You'll fit right in, I'm sure," Gladio noted with a snort. "How's that compare to your family?"

"Mine is...more complicated," Steve said. "Let's put it this way: when my little sister adopted a baby, she told me by putting her on my doorstep with a sign that says 'It's yours!' and rang the bell, then took pictures of my face."

Stark couldn't possibly have disappointed Summer by failing to appear at 2 different dinner events.

"I don't talk to them often enough... but they never call me either. And it's been quiet there, for them. Not too quiet but no wars no coups no kidnappings. Much better than the last time I was there. And the baby is doing well. Not so small now. He's not a baby anymore."

He was a very slow aging toddler for...reasons!

"Chiana told them about her visit. I'm not sure Crichton believes Summer is real."

"Really?" she said a little impishly, "How interesting. I do believe something like that was mentioned."

Atlas Gym; Tuesday [11/28].

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