Busy Work
Busy Work
Summary: In the gym, the illusion of normalcy is strained.
Date: PHD #4
Related Logs: None.
Players:
Kai..Roubani..Fenris..Eddie..

Kharon - Gym

The gym is deathly quiet, just a few soldiers here and there taking out their anger on punching bags and each other. On a treadmill a ways from the sparring ring is Roubani, in his sweats with the dull gray jacket still on and zipped. The belt moves at a swift walking pace, which the Ensigns handles with a steady, almost hypnotically regular stride.

Kai's forgone the standard-issue sweats this evening, for the more functional fatigues that some navy favour. He's got a bag slung over one shoulder and his head habitually down as he threads a path through the bustling warmup area. Lost in thought perhaps, he spares barely a glance for the marine coming down from one of the treadmills, who accidentally shoulderchecks him — and apologises — before jogging off.

Roubani hits a button on the treadmill, slowing it further into a cooldown pace. Sweat dampens his hairline and the collar of his T-shirt where it's visible above the jacket's zipper. He's chosen a treadmill a extra space away from the nearest person.

Kai is headed for the weights, it seems, instead of the treadmills. He ditches his bag onto the floor when he reaches a free warmup mat, and begins peeling out of his jacket slowly. It's tossed atop his bag, shoulders given a bit of a roll to work the kinks out of them, and only then does he spot one of his pilots treadmilling nearby. He watches for a few moments while stretching out his biceps.

A minute or so of slower walking and Roubani taps the button to turn the treadmill off. While not quite out of breath, he had clearly been running for quite a while before the slowdown. Stepping off the belt he shakes his feet out as he takes a couple deep breaths through his mouth, then through his nose. Finally pulling off his jacket, he shrugs it off his arms and ties it around his waist. The back of his left elbow has an uneven burn mark on it, dark and flat with years of age. Letting go of the treadmill bar he stretches his arms up over his head and finally turns around, his eyes meeting Kai's once he does.

Fenris arrives from the Hallway - Deck 3, Fore.
Fenris has arrived.

Kai is onto his forearms by the time Roubani looks over. One hand clasped over the other, and drawing it back against his wrist. There's no smile when the Ensign meets his gaze, just a small nod. Eye contact is subsequently broken as he bends forward to stretch out his back; it gives a few small cracks, and there's a jingling of dogtags spilling forward.

Roubani is standing by the treadmills, not far from Kai. His arms are lifted to stretch over hair that's a bit matted from sweat, and as Kai nods he lowers them. His hands move as though to seek out pockets, but the jacket is around his waist and so they automatically fold instead. He simply nods back, and kneels down to get the bottle of water sitting on the floor.

Around then, the lithe figure of Fenris makes it's way into the Gym, keeping near the walls and moving at a steady, if unhurried gait. A set of prayer beads is held within her left hand, opposing the wall, and her expression, as ever is the alert side of dead. She looks around the chamber, spotting her quarry, and begins to approach those who feel the burn.

Roubani sits down on the metal sides of the stilled treadmill belt. He fishes a small towel up from the floor and tips the bottle into it, wetting it. A brief wring and then he wipes it across his forehead and the bridge of his nose. His skin is still slightly reddened from running, making the scar on his jaw and throat stand out.

"Captain, Ensign." Fenris greets as she continues her approach, lifting her hands before her to cup the prayer beads within them as her course refines itself toward Roubani. About close enough, she draws to a stop and offers the beads to him, "Thank you." she intones.

Roubani looks up, his eyes appearing from the white of the towel. He crumples it in hand and stands up respectfully, leaving the towel on the edge of the treadmill. "Sir." He watches the beads and his hand opens under hers so she can drop them in his palm. "I am glad to see you on your feet."

Kai is, apparently, absorbed in his pre-workout stretch. Which has turned into a set of crunches now, shoulders coming within an inch or two of the mat on each repetition. His eyes flicker toward Fenris as she approaches, but he doesn't interrupt the pilots' conversation.

"Thank you." Fen repeats, allowing the beads the slide gently between her hands into Roubani's. There is a moment's thought after the transfer is complete, and she closes her hands around his for a moment, without a word spoken, then releases them.

Roubani flinches back from Fenris' hands, jerking his hand out of the Lieutenant's as though she'd tried to break his wrist instead of gently clasped. "I'm sorry," he says quickly, on the tail of the forceful reflex. "I'm so sorry, I…" Flustered, he steps back and clears his throat, scratching his eyebrow with his ring finger. "…if you ever need them again, just say, sir."

Kai is breathing a little quickly by the time he finishes the crunches, one hundred of them, and pauses for a few moments with his elbows resting on bent knees. There's a scuff of boots then, a slap of one hand then the next as they seek the mat, and he starts on pushups. Maybe he's eavesdropping, maybe not.

Fenris's hands retract on his recoil and return her her sides, "Understood." is her nonplussed reply. She looks over toward the Captain, then, "If you have anything that needs doing, sir?" she asks in the same tone.

Roubani clears his throat softly. His face is red as he sits back down and picks up the towel again. The ring of beads is slipped onto his right wrist, above his watch.

Kai's workout doesn't abate, even as Fenris starts speaking to him. "Not.. right at the moment, Lieutenant." Another two or three pushups before he adds, "..unless you want to play.. towel boy." His eyes flicker toward Roubani, then down to the mat again. Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two..

"While within the duty restriction, sir, I'm not certain it will last long." Fenris returns. If she's upset with the other man's reaction, with the underlying situation, at all, she's ungodsly at concealing it.

Roubani's composure returns as quickly as he lost it. Within a few seconds he's just sipping at his water, and watching the handful of people sparring on the mats.

Kai looks between Ensign and Lieutenant from beneath his brows, forehead touched with a light coating of sweat that causes his dark hair to curl. At fifty, he stops, gathers his feet under him, and straightens with just a bit of effort. "If you're looking for something to occupy you, Valasche, I've got plenty of paperwork that needs doing." His manner is even steelier than usual, and he looks distinctly lacking in sleep. "How are you feeling?"

"Nothing intolerable, sir, the occaisional dizzy spell is the most troubling." Fen replies, "I can begin at once, sir." She considers the Captain for a few moments and begins to approach him, leaving Roubani to study the unarmed combat in relative peace.

Roubani stays out of his superior officers' business, even if he is close enough to be listening. Whether he actively is or not is hard to say; he doesn't stare.

Kai ducks away briefly to fetch his towel, and makes a swipe at his forehead, his throat. Blue eyes remain steady upon Fenris as she approaches. "I recommend coffee," he murmurs, deadpan. The towel is rifled through his hair next. "I've got reports from the LSO to collate, and a new sim program the CAG wants me to put through its paces. You can drop by the ready room later, to pick both of them up."

Fenris nods slightly, "Yes, sir. Twenty-thirty hours?" she returns, then, "Shall I get out of the way, then?" since it seems she's interupting valuable grunt-and-sweat time.

While the Captain and Lieutenant talk, Roubani is sitting on the edge of a treadmill nearby, watching some sparring going on some distance away. A set of prayer beads is around his wrist and water bottle in his hand, which he occasionally has a sip from.

"Twenty thirty hours," Kai confirms. He starts to move off for the weights, pauses, and turns slightly toward the Lieutenant. "You're not in the way. If you'd like to talk, Valasche, my door's open." His proverbial door, that is, since he's not important enough to have his own office. There's a flicker of concern marring the severity of his features.

Eddie slips in to the gym, once more wearing her set of heavy sweats that cover her from ankle to wrist. A water bottle dangles from her fingertips, and her knuckles seemed cracked and red. She pauses just within the hatchway, choosing her course to swing wide of the majority of people, heading towards the line of treadmills.

"Ditto, sir." The Lt. replies, stepping back so he can return to his business without her being underfoot. She turns, looking folk over, it seems, then begins to make her way toward the exit, drifting near potential supports along the way.

Eddie skims along the wall, giving Fenris a nod as she passes but not greeting her formally in an off duty area. As she passes by the machine Roubani sits on, her wather bottle extends to clunk against it in a quiet way to acknowledge him. Her eyes flicker over the others as she steps up onto a machine, spotting Kai then actually gets two fingers ticked off her forehead before she smacks a few buttons to start the machine's belt.

Kai watches Fenris go, for a few seconds, then turns away and heads for the weight machines. Dropping down onto the bench, he leans over to start adjusting pins. "Evening, Morales," he offers up in response to the two-fingered salute. His voice sounds a bit scratchy, like he'd been shouting not too long ago.

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