the gym ; tuesday afternoon

[flickofthewrist]

Spending time in the gym was a weekly ritual that Flick didn't really want to ignore. It gave him an outlet for a lot of his anger, got him a good workout and helped him with all the stress that seemed to be crushing him. Forgetting the gym would probably mean having a good cry or something in the bathroom and he didn't want to be the guy that did that.

Today, he didn't really have the need to viciously beat on the heavy bag. He was still punching at a quick and hard clip but nothing where he thought his knuckles would split and he'd end up sore and achy. So, there was that. There hadn't been much communication from home and, besides the confrontation with Jude, Flick's week hadn't been terrible.

So, the other shoe was sure to drop pretty soon. It always happened so Flick was taking some time to actually enjoy himself before he had to go back home and face Mandel, face Joi and face the rest of the Wolves. They were out of sight and out of mind.

For now.

[Open for all your gym needs]

Comments

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle was a frequent visitor to the gym. Daily, even, most weeks. She wouldn't have known what to do without the routine. Seeing Flick when she came in was a rare thing in the grand scheme of things, but far from unheard of at this point.

"Here again," she noted without any surprise.

[flickofthewrist]

"I get here as often as I can," he replied, glancing up at her. "If I'm here, it means I'm not playing the part of a hermit and hibernating in my room."

[seveninchmotto]

"I don't think this gym gets enough use for it to qualify as not hermiting," Isabelle replied as she made her way in. She had her whip with her, coiled at her hip with the handle tucked into her belt, but no other weapons this time.

None visible, anyway. "But definitely not hibernation, either."

[flickofthewrist]

"And I don't think I have enough of a beard to qualify as a hermit," he countered, stopping the heavy bag with one hand and rubbing at his chin with the other.

Just stubble.

"Though, I don't disagree with this gym not getting enough use. If I don't see you down here, I usually see your brother."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle shrugged, and smiled. "We're used to not sharing with many people anyway." There weren't too many people at the Institute. "So it works for us."

[flickofthewrist]

"Sharing is caring, Isabelle," Flick said, not really meaning it. He gave the heavy bag a few lighter punches, sending the bag away from his body again. "Isn't that a commandant or part of the Bill of Rights or something?"

He knew it wasn't. He was just...in a good enough mood to joke around, apparently.

[seveninchmotto]

"It's not part of Covenant law," Isabelle replied flippantly. Hey, Covenant law was the most important thing! She was mostly joking too. "So it obviously doesn't concern me."

[flickofthewrist]

"Covenant law?" he repeated, pushing the heavy bag away from him and then stepping away from it for a moment to rub his hands idly. "Never heard of that one."

But, different worlds, different people, lots of things he didn't know.

"Besides, even if it was in your Covenant law, I still couldn't see you as a big sharer. You'd be the kid who takes your toys and goes home so you don't have to share."

[seveninchmotto]

"If it was Covenant law, I'd adhere to it."

Since she was kind of sworn to do just that. She took leisurely steps closer, circling around him and the bag.

"I'd even get to punish the people who didn't. But no one where I'm from would make such a silly, stupid thing into a rule."

[flickofthewrist]

"Hey, I don't even think people here would make something that ridiculous into law either," he replied, watching her step closer to him. He stood his ground, still rubbing his hands just for something to do.

"But, I bet you'd be good at punishing people," he said, smirking at her. "Probably the best."

Such a high compliment!

[seveninchmotto]

"I'm pretty good at it, yes," Isabelle replied, without even trace of a smirk. That was a part of her job, was it not? Even if it was mostly punishing demons for daring to exist in this dimension.

[flickofthewrist]

"I don't doubt it," Flick told her sincerely. He crossed his arms across his chest, still staying where he'd been standing. "You're pretty good at it."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle wasn't advancing, either. Just sort of slowly circling. Deceptively lazy, or as lazy as she could look. There was a pretty inherent sharpness to her demeanor.

"Comes with the territory."

[flickofthewrist]

"Heard that before," Flick said, standing still but keeping his eyes on her and watching for any clues on what she might be doing with her superficially lazy looking circling around him.

He'd considered moving but didn't.

"Congratulations," he added after a moment, nodding. "I'm sure 'punishment expert' looks great on a resume. Microsoft would most definitely come calling."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle wasn't really planning on doing anything. Or at least nothing she was giving any clues about. She was just... moving. Yep.

"I don't know what that is."

Of course she didn't.

[flickofthewrist]

"Big computer company," he said casually. She kept moving, he kept standing there, eyes on her. "Home to the richest nerds, geeks and dorks you will ever meet. Naturally, you'd fit right in."

Of course, that was a joke and his tone said so. He licked his lips once and shifted his weight from one foot to another.

[seveninchmotto]

"Of course." You just wait until she started dating a geeky vampire. "I fit in everywhere."

She really did not. But that didn't matter. She was watching him too. She didn't have a reputation for being the most observant person in the world, but she was pretty decent at reading physical cues.

She was mostly just seeing how he was reacting to someone stalking around him.

[flickofthewrist]

"In this case, you'd probably be worshiped," Flick told her, almost amused with the stalking. He'd taken a severe beating from a guy who'd stalked around him just a few months ago so this wasn't unfamiliar.

Before that, his father had done similar things right before he or Jude ended up getting smacked around. The concept was familiar. If he'd been younger, he might have cowered but he wasn't young anymore.

"I'm actually not bad when it comes to computers and coding," he continued. "Done some hacking in my time. Teach you a word or two and you'd slip right into the company, I'm sure."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle wasn't even intending on attacking him without warning, or anything. It just came naturally to her to slip into having a vaguely menacing physical presence. She was in a gym and still wearing boots with impressive heels. Helped with the added looming effect.

"None of that means anything to me," she drawled, and while that wasn't strictly speaking a hundred percent accurate, it was true enough. "I am failing to see what use computers would ever be to me, just in general."

[flickofthewrist]

His experience with stalking just tended to come with an attack. Such was his life. Well, unless it was Gwendolyn who stalked in a somewhat similar way to what Isabelle was doing right now. Not that he'd ever reveal that comparison but it was true. They both knew how to do it and do it well.

"Maybe not but I could smear your name or anyone's name if I got a hold of a computer," he pointed out, shrugging. "Did that to a teacher back home. A lot of people believe what they read on the Internet. If they read controversial and possibly illegal things, people will start asking questions, authorities will open up investigations and lives will just generally be miserable."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle snorted. "And where exactly would you smear my name?"

She was just a shadow to most of the world, whereas most people who knew her name and would care about information about her happened to also not use computers or the internet or any of that Muggle mundane stuff.

"That doesn't work on the people who aren't in your computers to begin with."

[flickofthewrist]

"The last time I did it, I used Facebook," he shared, rubbing a hand through his hair and down to rub the back of his neck. "Big website, lots of people post there to tell you exactly what they're doing at that exact moment."

He shrugged, unaffected by the challenge of smearing someone's name who didn't have a trail. "You'd be a challenge. But, I'd find a way. If anything, people here know you and I'd make sure I'd put it somewhere where they'd see it."

Not that he thought she'd care but she'd asked. He wasn't actually stupid enough to try and smear her name though.

[seveninchmotto]

"And I would be supposed to care what a bunch of mundanes think about me?"

She was just checking, like she was sincerely curious. Like the concept was foreign to her.

[flickofthewrist]

"Oh, I don't think you'd care," he said, shaking his head. "But, a lot of them would possibly start bothering you. Depending on what form the smear campaign took, they'd find you and talk to you. Maybe knock on your door and ask questions. You know, kind of like that one kid did on Thanksgiving."

Before she'd put the fear of some deity into him, of course.

"Then, you'd just be annoyed by being bothered, I bet."

[seveninchmotto]

"I'm already annoyed by random mundies on a regular basis," Isabelle retorted, as she stopped moving, though only once she'd stepped a bit closer to the heavy bag. She reached out with one hand to run her fingers down along its side. "Nothing new there."