The Camp Gym; Tuesday Morning.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Another morning in the gym. Cal had a thought that if he kept it up like this, he might be overdoing it, especially when he considered the soreness tugging at his limbs with each small movement, but he also figured he had a class tomorrow and work Thursday, so that should make him slow down at least a little bit.

But he liked it. It was a good way to kill time that wasn't slowly killing him; it was a rare time when how his body felt matched the flow of hormones running through it. Simple, repetitive, almost mechanical movements, carefully sculpting out what for sixteen years he had no control over. And the work and the sweat and the physical strain put him in a better mood for the rest of the day.

So he was there. Another morning in the gym.


[[ open gym is open *pats the little obsessive one* ]]

Comments

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

Rubbing his chest absent-mindedly, Seely made his way into the gym, nodding to the new kid as he stretched. "Morning."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal jerked his chin slightly, working his bench presses again with concentration and focus, wondering briefly if there was any merit to his theory that people might not be as likely to work out in the evenings. "Morning."

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

After finishing his stretches, Seely started with his lateral pull-downs, then, since he wasn't going to get many more chances to mess with newbies "What do you think of the island so far?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

One might think that, for the long moment that stretched out after the question had been asked, where Cal managed to fit in a few more slightly grunting presses, he was going to come up with someone almost intelligent and deep. Or at least something a bit more than, "Well. It's different..."

But, unfortunately, that was all Cal seemed to come up with. That he felt like sharing, anyway.

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

"Just wait until the gremlin bites start happening," Seely said cheerfully. "Keep an eye on Gavin and you'll see what I mean."

Seely was such a good friend.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Gremlin bites?" Cal asked, quirking a cool eyebrow at the bar of his weights. "That any worse to the random changing into animals thing? And, what? Is this Gavin guy particular susceptible to them?"

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

"They make you think you're not yourself," Seely said. "Usually in the most embarrassing way possible. Gavin manages to get bit pretty often."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"I'll have to keep an eye out, then," Cal muttered. "For both."

Because he was having a feeling that, perhaps, where Gavin dared to tread, Gremlins were sure to follow, by the sound of it.

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

He probably wasn't wrong there.

"You can usually find footage of him too," Seely added, because it was just wrong not to bring that up.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She... had... been hoping that the gym wouldn't be occupied. Or, if it had to be occupied that it'd only be someone that she recognized.

Hinata hesitated in the doorway. "A-ano..."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal might have seemed pretty heavy into his reps when the girl edged in through the doorway, but he did notice her, and couldn't help but make a comment to himself about the irony of the fact that he, who spent so much time worrying about feeling awkward around other people while being here, was potentially making someone else awkward.

"It's a big gym," he pointed out after a moment. "Plenty of room. Unless you wanted to use the bench?"

Far be it from him to make assumptions about a person based on how they looked, but she didn't exactly strike him as a weights sort of girl.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She flushed at his words and shook her head at his question. The bench? Hinata didn't think she'd even seen one before. "A-ano, are y-you sure I wouldn't be a bother?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Positive," Cal assured her, steadily continuing his set as if to show that not even communicating with her while he worked was disturbing him. "Although, if you want a bit of privacy, I don't mind cutting it short."

He could pretend to not be bothered well enough, but he couldn't pretend to not be bothered if he was potentially bothering someone else.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata bowed, a flurry of apologies coming to her lips, and her being left to try not to say them when she knew that she hadn't done anything wrong. "A-ano, I-I don't m-mind you h-here. P-please don't leave o-on account of me."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Rare was the occasion when Cal could actually feel that he was bold and brazen in comparison to someone else. He settled his weights in the bars for a moment as he felt himself almost wanting to gawk at the shyness coming off of this girl. He wondered, idly, how old she was, because she was reminding him an awful lot like himself not too long ago. Just give her longer, rattier hair to hide behind, and it would be Calliope Redux. He looked at her for a moment before shaking his head; he sat up, careful to pull with his stomach muscles, and then reached for a simple ten pound hand weight, one he could easily continue to curl as he talked to her a little.

"Don't worry; I won't. What's your name?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She stepped further inside the gym, finally, light on her feet and her movements graceful despite her hesitation.

"A-ano, I am Hyuuga Hinata," a long pause there as she considered other meetings with people, "Hinata's m-my first name. A-and you are?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Cal Stephanides," he said, with a small, warm smile; it was a little surreal, imagining that he might be making someone nervous. "And Cal's my first name. It's nice to meet you, Hinata."

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

Cassandra came straight from a long morning run to the gym, so she was already sweating as she walked in the door. Her breathing was only slightly heavy from the exertion as she paused in the doorway to take a look at Cal.

Hmm... new face.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Trying not not let it sway the pace of his sit-ups, Cal's eyes drifted slightly toward the door, feeling eyes drifting toward him, too. So much for his thinking that no one would want to work out much in the morning during summer camp. Hell, back when he went to summer camp before, they all threw fits at the mere idea of getting up before noon for a nature hike. "Hey," he muttered, with a jerk of his chin, before trying to throw his focus into pulling up, rolling back, pulling up...

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

He got a quick nod back before Cassandra moved into the gym to do some arm and torso stretches. "Hi. You're new."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"And you're observant," Cal said, because while he did realize that he was indeed new, it got a little old hearing it over and over for the past four days. "Name's Cal," he offered, because that wouldn't give her the excuse to keep calling him new.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

She finished her stretches and moved toward the heavy bag as she answered, "Cassandra."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal made a note in his head that quite a few of the girls seemed to favor the bags for their workout. Well, he was perhaps qualifying a little over the margin of excess. His evidence was Cassandra here and Jaina yesterday, but it was a steady streak, and an observation to consider keeping up through subsequent workouts. "Good to meet you," he said, steadily through his crunches.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"You too," Cassandra returned before she threw a quick punch combination at the bag.

"How did you end up here?" Whether the here in question was the gym or Fandom itself wasn't made clear.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Got in a plane from Michigan and then a taxi from Virginia," Cal answered. "Somewhere in there, lost about...thirty four years and crossing an entire ocean, but, hey, what can you do?"