The Gym: Wednesday Afternoon

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

Dipper decided today to do something healthy. Like work out with the weight machine to try to perform a bench press.

It wasn't working well. He could barely push the bar up.

If one listen closely, they could hear him mutter "Stupid. Noodle. Arms."

Hopefully no one else would be around to witness his humiliation.

Comments

[dwarvenswagger]

They were indeed noodle arms if Thorin had ever seen them.

"Are you well?"

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"Fine!" Dipper grunted as he continued to push against the bar with a valiant effort. "Just. Exercising."

He quit for a moment to catch his breath. "I'm just not used to this amount of weight."

And it didn't take much to see that there was a minimal amount of weight on the machine.

[dwarvenswagger]

"...yes. I can see that."

It was almost adorable, really.

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

Dipper took a moment to sit up on the bench and let out a sigh of exhaustion. "I'm Dipper by the way," he said flexing his arms slightly to release the tension. "Have we met yet?"

[dwarvenswagger]

Yes, those couple of pounds deserved a break from all the work he put them through.

"Thorin, son of Thrain. At your service," he replied with a slight bow.

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"At my service? You're not some kind of butler are you?" Dipper said with a small laugh that diminished quickly as he realized that it wasn't funny. "Sorry. Bad joke."

[spin_kick_snap]

Sorry, Dipper. It just wasn't your day at all. A little after lunch, Kathy sauntered into the gym, preparing to work on a new routine. No, her powers made it impossible to compete (well, impossibly unfair anyway), but that didn't mean she had to give up on the sport entirely!

And, hey, at least this time she got to choose her own music and moves for whatever routine she was creating. That was cool.

"Hey!" she said, veering away from the mats when she spotted Dipper at the weight machine. "Dipper, right? The Ratman fan!" Of course she was going to remember the kid who liked comics!

[spin_kick_snap]

Oh! Newbie Kathy had somehow failed to meet, though she recognized him from Drivers Ed. Thorin was a source of some spectacular crashes, after all.

"Hey," she said, when she paused her routine to get a drink. "Thorin, right? From Mr. O'Conner's class?"

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"Kathy! Hi," he replied, his voice cracking on the last word. "Yep. That's me. Ultimate Ratman fan, right here."

Was he doing a little arm flexing when he jabbed his thumb at himself. Maybe a little.

[dwarvenswagger]

"It's a traditional greeting among my people."

It was possible that Thorin was messing with the poor kid now.

[spin_kick_snap]

Wait he was? Kathy...couldn't tell. Oops. Sorry, Dipper. But--noodle arms.

Kathy settled on a mat nearby, deciding to talk while she did a few warmup stretches. "I'll let you take that title," she decided. "I like some of the stuff in the Ratman franchise, but I'm a much bigger fan of the comics on the other side of the great divide. Give me Y-People or give me...well, I guess Revengers or meta for-Miss Marvel or a bunch of other titles I'd buy instead." She grinned up at him. "Have you been to the comic shop in town? I have a handwavy box there."

[dwarvenswagger]

His were the crashes that action movies dreamed of.

"That would be me," he replied, in clinic his head politely. "You are...?"

Look, you met a million new people When you got here.

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"Oh! Um. Sorry. I didn't need to offend you!" Dipper said in a rush and totally sucked into Thorin's messing. "Who are your people? Do I need to apologize to them as well?"

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"Totally! I actually work there," Dipper said puffing up his chest a bit because, yes, he had a job. "I'll be starting there tomorrow actually."

[spin_kick_snap]

Michael Bay wrote odes to his explosions.

"Kathy Li," she said, not taking offense. She remembered her first few weeks here, when everything and everyone was new. "And genuinely impressed by the size of that fireball last class. Hi."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You do?" Kathy grinned, bringing up her hand for a high-five. "What's the employee discount there. Between my comics and my weakness for Sorcery: The Summoning cards, maybe I should think about working there, too."

Kathy more often played S:tS online than off, but the cards were just so pretty.

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"I think I do," Dipper said tilting his head in thought. "I hadn't asked about the benefits. I was more concerned about being able to pay for stuff around here."

[dwarvenswagger]

"It can be overlooked this time." Being prince if them and all.

[dwarvenswagger]

"The cars are so fragile." And east to flip.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Right!" Kathy said, snapping her fingers. "You and your sister fell down a hole to get here, if I'm remembering right?"

Again, falling down a giant hole into Fandom: kind of memorable.

"Has anyone told you about takeout yet?" she asked. "It's pretty cheap and they generally send over enough to feed a floor. Probably to keep the students from rioting over who ate the last slice of pizza, or whatever. But if you have enough money to order dinner, you'll probably get enough food to last you a few more meals, and I don't think too many people will eat food that's got somebody's name on it."

Unclaimed food left in the fridge was almost certainly up for grabs, though.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Fiberglass and ultra-light steel," Kathy said, nodding. "So, I take it cars aren't the usual mode of transportation where you're from?"

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"Whew!" Dipper said looking relieved. "Are you one of the new students here as well?"

[buzzkillcaptain.livejournal.com]

"Oooo. I didn't know that," Dipper replied. "I've been eating in the cafeteria because I thought the food in the dorms belonged to everyone else."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I did a lot of that for my first semester or so, too," Kathy assured him. "And the cafeteria's cheaper than the dorms are, so it's not a terrible habit. But, no, unless it has someone's name on it, I think the food is pretty much for everyone. It's kind of a mystery, figuring out who keeps the common rooms stocked with with food."

[dwarvenswagger]

"I am. And you?" Thorin asked, giving the weight machine a testing little prod with his finger in case it was some sort of magic making it appear lighter.