The Gym, Wednesday Morning

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra had been combing through books on magic and the island itself for days. No solution had presented itself, and it was starting to get on her nerves. So she had decided to pick up her training again so at least she wouldn't be falling behind while she was trapped here.

It was the first time she had realized that her current compliment of clothing - her armor, her linen underclothes and her underwear - were not sufficient if she were to be staying here for longer than a few days. She had left her armor in the room. Out of sheer practicality, upon reaching the gym, she had also stripped off her undershirt. It was not ideal, if simply because it left all but her bust uncovered, but it would have to do.

She strode past the strange machines the use of which she could not divine, and paused only when she reached the dumbbells. Strength training, first. Then she would put her armor back on and go to the salle to practice her swordfighting.

But for now, she would be lifting weights, putting good strain on her muscles. It was the first thing in days that had her feeling she was doing anything productive; it put her in a good mood.

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Comments

[flickofthewrist]

"New face in the gym," Flick commented when he wandered in towards the heavy bag. "Morning."

She looked pretty intent on her workout but he could try and be polite.

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra grunted a reply as a placeholder while she ran through the last of this set of exercises.

She put the dumbbells down. "Good morning," she replied. "This is your training hour?"

[flickofthewrist]

"It's everyone's training hour," he said, reaching for the heavy bag and giving it a light push. "No set schedule here. It's all about the sharing and the caring in this place. I try and come down when I don't have classes."

[seeks_truth]

"'Classes'." Cassandra let out a huff. "Nothing I have seen to this date makes me believe they have any right to the title. But... that is good to know."

[flickofthewrist]

"What's wrong with your classes?" Flick wondered, rubbing his hands a few times before taking a few practice swings at the bag. "You get into a class with the talking pony?"

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra made a disgusted sound that should answer that question quite clearly.

Yes, yes she had.

[flickofthewrist]

Flick snickered because he remembered feeling like that. Very, very vividly.

"What and you didn't enjoy that?" he wondered. "She's so happy! She spreads joy and you look positively optimistic over there."

[seeks_truth]

"She is infantile and ridiculous," Cassandra replied, "and I struggle to understand how anyone could think it responsible to put a pink pony - quite possibly an abomination of some kind - at the head of a class."

[flickofthewrist]

"Abomination?" he repeated, squinting over at her. "Because she's a pony? She's harmless. The only thing she's gonna do is throw you a party. Lighten up."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Morning roomie," Kathy said, giving Flick a wave as she wandered past him towards the mats. "Still not giving that poor punching bag a break?"

[flickofthewrist]

"Please, you know me," Flick told her, giving her a smile. "I wouldn't want the bag to miss me or anything."

[spin_kick_snap]

"True," Kathy mused. "If you didn't come down and visit it, it might start to think you didn't love it anymore."

[flickofthewrist]

"What're you doing down here on this cold day?" he asked her.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Trying not to freeze to death," Kathy said, making a face. She did not appreciate the East Coast weather and three weeks back home in LA hadn't helped that dislike in the least. "Plus, I have the same kind of relationship with the mats as you do with the bag. I bet they missed me over break."

[flickofthewrist]

"How was your break, by the way?" he asked her. "Have a good time wherever you went off to?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I went home," Kathy said. "It was good to see my family again, even if my little sister was a complete pain in the ass the whole time." She couldn't stop the affectionate smile she wore when she said it, though. "She says hi, by the way."

Cue the epic eye-roll. Sarah was thirteen and had a crush on pretty much every cute guy who talked to her. Especially if they were older guys. Flick? Both.

"And, you know, my parents were my parents. Typical parents." Kathy had no idea her smile faded when she mentioned them, and a few seconds later it was back in full bloom. "And you? How did you spend your break? Have fun?"

[flickofthewrist]

"I took Isabelle to see my mother in New York," he told her, slowing his blows against the bag. "First time my mother's really met anyone like that and first time for Isabelle too. It went okay. It was quiet."

[spin_kick_snap]

A new kid! Kathy had missed the picnic, so other than the unfamiliar faces in class, she hadn't gotten to see any of this term's newbies.

"Hi," she said, giving a smile at the new girl from her place on the mats, halfway through her yoga routine. At least she was in a position relatively facing the girl, rather than trying to talk from between her legs or something. "You've probably heard this a million times already, but welcome to Fandom."

Maybe it would set Cassandra at ease to see that Kathy was also only wearing a sports bra, at least up top?

[seeks_truth]

"I have not," Cassandra said, "But thank you."

She had received very little in the form of formal welcome so far. Quite possibly because she always kept interrupting people before they got to that point, but oh well.

She looked towards Kathy for a moment and frowned. "What is it you are doing?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Good on Kathy, then, for jumping right in with it!

"You haven't?" she asked. "I'm really sorry to hear that." At least, she would be until the next time she ran into Anders or something. "Oh, this? It's yoga. A kind of exercise for mental and physical discipline. I mostly use it to stretch before I move into my gymnastics routines. It keeps me limber and flexible, you know?"

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra set down the dumbbells. "I am Cassandra Pentaghast," she said, with a curt nod that was somewhat formal, at least. "And I have never heard of it. Where did you study?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Kathy Li," Kathy replied, giving Cassandra a friendly smile. "Well, technically Katherine, but no one calls me that except my parents."

It would just be weird hearing it from anybody else.

"Oh, my old gym back home in LA used to offer weekly yoga classes. My gymnastics coach suggested I pick it up to help me focus and train for future matches. They don't offer classes or anything on the island, but I keep in practice anyway."

She glanced at the dumbbells that Cassandra had been using. "Are, you training for anything?" she asked. Because people did not get Cassandra's physique just by weightlifting three times a week in a gym.

[seeks_truth]

"Yes."

That wasn't sufficient, Cassandra, and you knew it.

"I am an apprentice Seeker of Truth," she said, "we are, among other roles, warriors. Since I am currently unable to return to Thedas, I feel it is prudent to resume my training here."

[spin_kick_snap]

"A...Seeker of Truth?" Kathy asked. "I'm afraid I have no idea what that means. But, if you're looking for truth, wouldn't it make more sense to be a scholar, not a warrior?"

[seeks_truth]

"The truth rarely lies only within dusty tomes and scraps of paper," Cassandra said, with a snort. "One must often pursue it and interrogate what one finds. And when one has uncovered truth, one must act by it. These acts are not always without violence."