Early Start (D1 EM Gym)

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Oh god DUCKY! That is so cute just like you, it's perfect!"

Mei was only half aware as Butcher ran through the instructions, she was too busy looking at him glowingly.

"Uhuh, sure."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

Hrafna blinked once. Then again. Then one.more think before a big smile spread across her face. Her clapping echoed through the gym before she caught herself and calmed down. "Yes! I'll keep that name in my back pocket juuuuust in case. You never know, you might need to be callin' me in that radio and that call sign is the first thing that comes to your lips. Hey now, Hrafnhildur will have you covered." What she didn't say, surprisingly, was that she hoped that something like that would happen.

"Pushups. Right. These I can do. Very important for an arm wrestler in training." With enthusiasm she got down to fire off her pushups. "What do you say Big J, we add a fish farming set up to that farm of ours? Hmm...let's put that idea in the maybe pile."

[John Slaktare]

"Don't need to be over the radio... Ducky," he says.

"Did ya get lost already?" he asks Mei-Ling. "Here, up on the bench." He offers to guide her through a couple, spotting her waist for balance.

While doing so, he agrees with Hrafnhildur, "Fish farming could be good. Though, the more we add we either expand and need a lot of farmhands or small numbers and just subsistence."

He moves to do a second set of pushups.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"Did ya get lost already?" he asks Mei-Ling. "Here, up on the bench." He offers to guide her through a couple, spotting her waist for balance.

"Oh yeah, thanks."

"So you want to start your own farm, not go back to the family farm Ducky?"

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Fish farmin' might...be fun." The words came between each pushup. "I'm thinkin' we...don't go too big...rightly so. Just enough to...start with.". To her credit Hrafna started out strong but soon her arms began to shake and she switched to her knees.

"Big J and I were talkin' about years from now. We both have some know how when it comes to farm stuff so we made some plans about a farm of our own. Could be that, it sounds nice. Could be I go back home and pick up where I left off. Could be a number of things I'm thinkin'. Though those two things are good and all."

[John Slaktare]

Getting up from his second set, he takes a water break, offering the bottle to the two women.

"We'll figure it out. But I'd rather go back into farming with someone I know and like. Better than tryin to do it myself or with a stranger."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"No chances of a return to the arena John? At the very least I hope you two will come and watch my debut if it's possible." She laughed. "Best partner I could ask for and the best tech on the ship are right in front of me and they both want to farm, bad luck for me."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

Hrafna's cheeks went rosey and she looked away. "You two are too nice to me. If you feel like you want to slow down you should join us Mei Mei. Oh! You can pop into the arena every here and there and we'll come to watch you, cheerin' all the while. I'd love to watch a match and I'd live to watch either of you. But hey now, maybe we can get together and watch a match or two if we can get a video. I'll watch anything to be honest, didn't do much watchin' of anything back home. Didn't have anything to watch it on if I'm being honest. But I think it will be fun, make it nice and cozy and you both can tell me all of the tricks of those trades. Yup."

A few more pushups wouldn't hurt, so Hrafna got down and pushed through as many as she could before her arms gave out.

[John Slaktare]

"Not likely to return to the arena, but not impossible. Works better for me to be in a company. When I don't got people giving me orders I cause more problems."

He looks to Hrafnhildur. "So you're gonna have to give me orders on the farm."

"And I wouldn't mind a watch party sometime. Would be okay. Just let me know and I'll attend. Assuming it ain't a big party like new years. I don't like that stuff."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"There is a fight coming up and I have plenty of old recordings so any time you two wanna watch something we can pile into the break room or chill in someone's room if you think that would bring too many people in."

Mei turned to John. "So what's next boss?"

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Orders you say? Just so. I'll be out there chorin' and look up and tell you to pick up those hay bails. Then the straw bails. Then the clover bails.
Then you'll be looking at me like you want to dust but then I'll be tellin' you about this day. Come to think of it I'm not so good at givin' orders but I'll practice until then. Right, right. I got you covered, Big J."

At this point the talking was helping her take her mind off the push ups but her arms were quite noodly nonetheless. She stopped and let her arms hand at her sides. "I think it's a date Mei Mei. I've always wanted to see a mech donnybrook, one of those big dust ups in the arena, you know. Hoo boy, imagine me sittin' there thinkin' up all of the ways I would need to be fixin' them up again. I can picture it now."

[John Slaktare]

"Yeah. Could squeeze in someone's room. Even if it was more uncomfortable, it'd feel more comfortable to me."

He moves to grab some weights, a little heaver than she was walking with. He demonstrates dumbbell split squats for Mei-Ling, then guides her through a couple. "Three sets of ten again."

Next he moves to Hrafnhildur, giving her a lighter set of dumbbells. "Lateral raises for us," he says before demonstrating.

"This'll be the last exercise, then stretching. So put all your effort in. You're both doing great. An awesome workout. I'm proud of your effort."

Even if he doesn't smile, his energy and tone suggest he's totally pleased with their performances.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

"More squats? And to think someone recently told me I don't need a bigger ass." She said with a giggle beginning the routine.

"But yeah, we can squeeze into someone's room so time and watch some classic action from Solaris. Maybe on Sunday, everyone brings a pillow and I make some popcorn? Oh...wait shit...most of my recordings are in Chinese. Umm, well, I mean I guess it could still work we could make our own broadcast sort of. John can explain the strategy of the fights and maybe any personalities he remembers, Hrafn you can tell us all about the damage they are taking and how bad the repairs would have been and I can translate all the nonsense the Capellan government added to make it fit the state narrative."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Ladder all raises?" Good thing John demonstrated, otherwise Hrafna would be wondering were the ladder was she needed to pick up. When it came time for her turn she followed the movements as best as she could. "We had...a good...coach.." The words came out in between reps.

"I'm liking this idea. I share with three other people on accounta me not being too high up in the hire...hireark...rankings around here. They're quiet enough when it comes time to saw some logs, but one of them seriously saws some logs. I've gotten used to it." She put the weights down and shook out her arms. "Just need to see the mechs in action, I'm thinkin' that will be the funnest part. We can add in what we know with our words, I'm really likin' that. Who knows, maybe I'll leave having picked up some Chinese. Might be nice actually."

Her eyes went to Mei's backside then she tried to get a view of hers in the mirror. "Looks like with all that box liftin' and settin' down I've been right along side you doin' those squats. Figured this thing musta come from doing that." Pantomiming the moves of both picking up and setting down what looked like a heavy box, Hrafna tried to mirror the squats that Mei was performing. "Yup, looks like it. Looks like I was right about where this caboose of mine came from." She couldn't help but laugh at that.

[John Slaktare]

"Sounds like a plan then," he agrees on the fight night. Then they started talking about and comparing butts.

"Yeah. I don't think you need to work on your glutes. But that's just my opinion. If it's something you want then I'll help you get there. We should be happy with our bodies as they are, but that don't mean we can't work to be happier with em," he replies.

Looking to Hrafnhildur, "Yeah, lifting boxes is working for you. Labor at work does more for us than we think."

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

Mei continued through her sets but her eyes followed John's and something like a low hum came from her when she saw what Hrafn was doing.

"You uh..ahem...sorry, you ever been for a ride in a mech Ducky? It's a tight fit for two people but I bet it could be done with you. You should be able to experience all your hard work like we do."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Sounds like a plan indeed. I'm lookin' ahead to it already. And if my arms come back to life here soon I'll even give you two a shake on it." She'd definitely feel this workout tomorrow and probably the next, but it would be a good kind of hurt. And who knew, Hrafna might even become a regular face around the gym. "Glutes? Those the caboose muscles? Look at me soundin' like a pro. They'll ask what I worked out in this gym and I'll say a bit of arms and a drill bit of glutes. Mei Mei and me got our glutes goin' in this very gym." Again she laughed as she shook out her arms.

"Me? No no. Never been in one of those mechs before. I bet it's fun though, all kinds of lights and switches and buttons and controls. Gets hot in there though from what I know. How would that work with two people's heat? Gonna have to dress real light if I ever get the chance. I wouldn't mind goin' out one time to feel what's it's like way up there too. Imagine that, little Hrafnhildur being way up there. Yup, that would be somethin'."

[John Slaktare]

John nods at the conversation, but doesn't interject for the moment. Instead he does another set of lateral raises.

Afterwards he helps either of them if they are doing any more sets.

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

Mei stared straight ahead at the wall, trying to hid her devilish grin behind a pleasant tone.

"Oh it can work, hell it's cold enough here we could probably run with the cockpit open so you could feel the wind in your hair. If it's just a few laps around the camp it shouldn't be an issue even with it closed, you would just have to sit on my lap, no real room to stand in those things but since the stick is on the side rather than in between my legs it shouldn't get to awkward."

At least not for that reason.

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Hey now Mei Mei, you got yourself another deal. If the chance does come up I'd love to ride with you in that mech of yours. Better bring some layers just in case. Oh! Maybe catch a photograph too to remember it by. Hoo boy I'll put it right by me bed. Good good. Cockpit closed, tarps off. Cockpit open, jackets up. I hereby reserve that lap of yours. Don't worry, I don't weigh much. You'll hardly know I'm there." There was much more she wanted to say but she kept it in for now, though the big smile on her face said more than any words.