billie-brogan

[billie-brogan]

“Okay. Okay.” Billie nods, processing. She doesn’t blame Mo for telling Ezra; Billie has a sensible, healthy fear towards him but Morrigan is petrified. She’d never ask him to lie to Ezra, or to do anything to protect her. Billie is the one that protects Mo, not the other way around. “Uhh… shit. Fuck. Should we… I dunno, leave? I know we wanted to catch up to Trent, but Ezra being here… complicates things.” She can talk a big game with Ezra, or with anyone really, because Billie knows how to put up a front. But Mo gets to see the truth, the raw fear that he elicits in her. Subconsciously, Billie runs her left hand up her right arm, pinching and prodding to check for muscle, as if checking if there’s enough, if she is enough.

Morrigan desperately wishes he could lie. That they could play pretend and there’d be no way for Ezra to let Billie know he lied! Instead, he has to face the facts. And the growing weight in his chest. It’s similar to anxiety, but he knows the physical tug at this point. The table creaks. Billie catches herself before he can do anything to help. Instead, all Morri can do is frown at her, at the table. “I did.” He pauses to clear his throat, the heavy weight still sits in his chest. All anxiety, no gravity. “I mentioned it before he even said anything… Was rushin’ to explain is all. I’m sorry.”

[billie-brogan]

He sounds pretty unperturbed at the idea of doing some of the legwork himself, for improving accessibility. Which, Billie feels bad for, because he shouldn’t have to. But he makes it sound like not a big deal, so Billie won’t linger on it. He came looking to work on his strength, after all, not to discuss the accessibility of the facilities. “Alright, sounds like a plan. And in the meantime, I’m here. Best to have a little guidance while you’re learning the ropes anyway.” Usually, obviously, she charges for training sessions. But a hands-on tour of the facilities is different, and Billie is generally of the opinion that since she’s here anyway, she might as well lend a hand to curious newcomers.

“How’s about you take a few bits of kit for a test drive, then? I’ve not got any clients for a while, and theory’s all well and good but the gym is really the sorta place where you learn by doing.”

He happily agrees for Billie to move his hand. Her hand is calloused, clearly from working hard at the gym. Her heavy tread and the general volume of her voice has him thinking she must be somewhat built. It’s a comforting thought. He’d been afraid of being given a male guide and had expected almost solely masculine energy to the place. The thought is almost embarrassing but he lets himself feel that relief. He’d not met good men out in the desert, he can have his private relief all for himself. Tammy hums in response to the mention of braille stickers. Something he could easily figure out with the university, help the gym out in labelling equipment he’s likely to use.

He can’t help the laugh, “Don’t worry about it, I catch on quickly. There'll be something to help me figure it out.” Sliding his fingers over the weight, he can feel the indent sof words and searches out something indicating numbers, just in case. He can't intuitively read letters like this, but he could learn.

Given that she sounds genuinely put out, he decides to offer up some help, “I can bring some stickers and if I could get a copy of instructions, get some tactile diagrams made. We’ve got the equipment for my office and classes, anyway.” It’s easier to offer practical, tangible solutions. What he really wants to suggest is some more one-on-one help, but the idea of taking up her time (and what sounds like low-level stress from not being prepared) feels more daunting than before.

[billie-brogan]

“In moderation.” she agrees. “You need consistency so that you can track results and progress, but it never hurts to shake it up and work new muscle groups, new parts of your mind.” It’s so typical that they get right back to talking about training, even at the Faire. Both of them are probably too focused on training. But at the same time, it’s still a fun thing for Billie! So she’s not going to hold herself back from speaking about it with someone who is equally as enthusiastic. “You interested in boxing specifically, or is there anything else you’ve been thinking about?”

"come on, billie. you've got to give me something to look forward to, even if it is just delusions." but adrian does perk up when she mentions boxing. "you know, i've been meaning to ask you about that. my old routine is good, but there's nothing wrong with changing it up a little, yeah?"

[billie-brogan]

“If the delusion that you can some day beat me will get you taking your proper rest days, then by all means dream on, my friend.” Billie grins. “Maybe we can even work a bit of boxing into your rotation. Not exactly my specialty, but could be fun.” Billie thinks immediately that she might regret that offer, but she’s made it now.

"a write up?" adrian gasps in pure horror. "here i thought i was being a good teacher's pet!" not that it's his... only reason for going. it's been rough lately and working out has helped to keep his mind off the bad. even being aware that it's not the healthiest way to handle his issues hasn't stopped him. it's not like he's abusing alcohol or drugs! it could be worse! "i'll make sure to take a few rest days. but only because i expect to beat you the next time we compete!"

[billie-brogan]

[billie-brogan]

"Hey, a routine's a routine. Walking and body weight are as valid as any other type of exercise. But yeah, if you're looking to get your strength up, adding some weights is a good call. Most of our equipment has the same sort of systems for weights. So like this seated row machine-- okay if I guide your hand here?"

With Tamiel's consent, she guides his hand to the weight stack so that he can feel around it. "If you feel your way down the plates, there's a pull pin. Each of the weights has a hole in it, you just pull that pin out and move it to whatever weight you want to lift. Hm-- are braille stickers a thing? We don't have anything right now but I can get something like that set up as soon as possible so you'll be able to read the weights without having to worry about asking. There's also picture instructions on all the equipment, we should have braille on that too." Billie frowns. "Sorry, that's something we should have set up already." She's not been here long enough to have made any major changes, but she does feel bad that there's such a glaring accessibility failure and she'd never even thought about it.

She barely breaks her flow to give him simple, helpful warnings as they navigate the space. Perhaps through sheer neccesity, his 'visual' memory is excellent. A map forms in his mind, the same way he recognizes the shapes of braille, a path to follow. It's an uncomplicated enough space.

The light digs at men and their routines gets a laugh from him. An excellent start: she's kind without being condescending. A rare feat it seems. "Seems wrong to call it a routine. Only really ever done walking for cardio and exercises that rely on my own body weight." He's new to equipment, essentially. "Spending more time in my office, marking papers than anything active so... I want to get my strength up." Even if there's truth to it, most of it feels like a lie. He won't analyse why he has a newfound interest in working out alone, god forbid he'd tell a stranger more than he'd admit to himself.

[billie-brogan]

Someone so surreal must be either the absolute best, or the absolute worst, person to be around right now -- Billie's not got the mental capacity to work out which, but she does exhale a shaky laugh at the you go girl! little speech. "Don't think I've got the strength to influence the sun." she says, managing to hold on to the joke, still searching this woman's too-perfect face. "Kind of a shame. Imagine how beautiful you'd look in the brightest sunlight." See, there, she's starting to come back to herself, though her shaky voice might not show it. But her shoulders unknot a little, and she manages to let go of just a touch of that heavy, heavy gravity she has imposed upon them.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. I mean, I'm real and not real. I'm a lifesize walking and talking doll. I can remove parts of my body, but I have organs and blood inside me. It's complicated, and not even I understand it fully." Dolly hasn't tested how far she can go with her mutation. She's pulled off her arms and legs, but that's as far as she's willing to go. Maybe she could pop her head off if she really wanted to try. "I also start to melt when I'm too close to sources of heat, so please don't pull the sun towards us." She smiles at Billie, giving the back of her hand a gentle, reassuring pat. "I believe in you, girl! You've got this."

[billie-brogan]

"Ah well, that's your problem. Need to sprinkle in some rest days, that's when your muscles actually build." Billie uses the ears of her newly obtained oversized teddy bear to shake its fuzzy little head in disapproval. "I kick your ass when you're in the gym so that you can take your rest days in between, you know. Don't make me write you up a timetable specifying your days off -- you've been such a good teacher's pet up to this point!"

adrian's brows shoot up as he watches billie's hammer come down, her own score surpassing even his own. it's certainly not an easy win, he thinks... but it's a win! more than he thought she would get, at any rate—he's been doing really well with his weights recently. it's just another reminder that he can always, always be better. and that he should know by now not to doubt her! "i must have been in every day this week, and i still can't beat you. i'm starting to think it just can't be done."

[billie-brogan]

"Not sure Mo would've quite phrased it like that." Billie grins, amused. She's heard about Joey, naturally, but their chaotic sort of energy is clearly difficult to adequately put into words. The feline grace, leaping up onto a wall like it's nothing, is impressive. Kind of beautiful, really."But yeah, that's me. D'you sniff everyone you meet, or am I special?" She's not sure how she feels about it as a greeting. It feels almost invasive? But it's also hard to feel offended by Joey. They immediately seem totally harmless, just goofy (which goes to show what a not-great judge of character Billie is.)

closed starter // @billie-brogan

Joey slinks towards Billie, giving her a not-so-discreet sniff. Their tail stands to attention, and a soft purr rumbles in their throat. This is Morri's person. "Buff arms, and you smell like my grave-digging pal. You must be Billie!" They leap up, now on top of a wall, sitting on their haunches. "Don't s'pose ya know who I am? I'm the gravesite chief prankster! The fiercest of alley cats! The one who puts the purr in purrfect! I'm Joey."

[billie-brogan]

"Oh, I bet you can." Billie grins. She's not actually feeling confident, though her expression might bely that, but it's fun in an anxiety-driven sort of way. Like, she thinks she could probably ask Kei to go home with her, and they would. Billie won't ask because she's not in the right headspace for something like that, but it's pretty fun thinking she could. It's a rare feeling: something Billie has learned since coming out is that women are far pickier and more reserved than men when it comes to hooking up. "Why don't you come by tomorrow and show me how tough you really are, then? Unless you're worried the booze is going to make you too easy for me."

God, her face is hurting from all the smiling. Is this what normal flirting was like? Her version usually happened within the squared circle, involving a lot of blood and bruises. And even then she had completely misread the situation! Turns out, this kind of body language was a lot easier to understand when you don’t have to focus on fighting for your life. Kei can’t help the stupid grin on her face, nor can she help the way her eyes trail from her smile to her neck, then further down before Billie’s voice snaps her out of it again.

"Yeah?" She echoed, grinning from ear to ear at this point. "I'll have to stop by then. Make our own little girls club maybe." Kei props her elbows on the table, "Can't say I've gotten any formal gym training or the like but don't hold back, yeah? I can take it." She wore a smug expression on her face now as she teased. She had no doubt in her mind that Billie was more than capable of tossing her around, which wasn't an easy feat in itself, but she also knew that rough-housing isn't really for everybody.

[billie-brogan]

I could be a better boyfriend than him I could do the shit that he never did Up all night, I won't quit Thinking I'm gonna steal you from him I could be such a gentleman

[billie-brogan]

"Oh." Oh is all she's got for a second. Chest tightening, Billie can feel the world growing heavier, hears a creak as gravity begins to pull the table inevitably down. Shit. Christ. She screws up her face, focusing hard on releasing the gravity. "Did you tell him? That it was me?" She has to imagine that Ezra is going to be pissed off that she stole his glory or some shit. As if she wanted to do it, as if she'd taken pleasure in it.

Morri knew the mood would shift immediately. Ez never brought good news with him. Even Daddy Shaw sometimes seemed afraid of Ezra, but that could be easily explained by Morri finding everyone mildly terrifying. "Nothing." He answers immediately. It's a lie but not really. "He didn't do anything. He said a lot. You know, not happy to see me." Morri shrinks in on himself, the same way he would when his father would yell at him and Billie would try to pry details from him. So he gives her a little bit, enough to distract. "He thought he'd killed dad."

[billie-brogan]

"Sure." she nods, touching a steady hand to his elbow to guide him. It sort of makes her sad that he even thanks her for asking; must get exhausting people just assming they know how best to help you, and grabbing at you. Billie can be hands-on with clients because it can be the best way to correct form, but she'd never do it without asking.

"Two rooms, we're in the main one right now with all the equipment, and there's a studio space where we do classes, or you can take dumbbells or whatnot for a quieter space if there isn't a class. Watch your step, we're about to walk on a mat. From the entrance, if we go left the first thing you come to is the water fountain. Just the one button on it, make sure you stay hydrated but don't take the mick -- water don't grow on trees. Then the treadmills here - they tend to be the busiest. You got much of a routine or anything currently, in terms of weights, cardio, etc? Most men tend to suffer from the male issue of not believing in leg day, but I won't cast aspersions." She says this last bit with a hint of cheekiness. The gym tends to be a male dominated space so she's not shy about roasting men here, and Tammy is no different!

"Arm. Thanks for asking." He offers his arm, waiting for a hand on his elbow. It's not his preferred mode, but in a tighter indoor space it's much more helpful and it helps a shit tonne more that Billie offered rather than assuming. "How big is the space? One room or more?" he begins, hoping once he gets a few questions out Billie will be able to take the lead.

[billie-brogan]

The woman's gaze is intense, those warm wide eyes too penetrating. It makes it hard to shrug and laugh things off as Billie is prone to doing. "Wasn't easy. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive, though, you know? I had people to protect." Morri, she means, mostly. But also herself. Killing Morri's dad had been easy, to protect her best friend. But in a way, she means herself, too. Her own father frightened her too much, she could never have killed him. Shaw senior was in some ways an effigy for Billie to pretend she could be brave for herself, too.

"That must have been difficult," a million thoughts runs through Odie's mind as her brain, as it is prone to do, attempts to fill in blanks, "killing, being imprisoned, and then having to leave behind a home..." she takes a deep, steadying breath, gaze still penetrating the stranger's, searching and curious.

[billie-brogan]

And the three eyed rabbit is well deserved, as far as Billie is concerned! She can't take all the credit -- none of her clients are going to make progress without their own hard work -- but she's certainly proud, and she can take a little bit of pride in herself too. She's the one that's been pushing Adrian, after all! Taking her own turn, Billie picks up the mallet and weighs it in her grip before bringing it down hard with a grunt.

The bar shoots up, further even than Adrian's had, and Billie takes a bow. "And that's how it's done." she says, clearly thrilled. It's a point of genuine pride when she is stronger than men. "I will accept your biggest plushie in exchange for my efforts, thank you very much."

not that his first thought is ever that someone is fucking with him ( in the mutant sense ) but adrian feels like he does a pretty grand slam with his score. he even gets some praise from billie, which for him is like water in the desert is an added bonus. "i told you i've been taking it seriously," he half-jokes, stepping aside so that she can have a go at it. "and for my trouble, i'll take the three-eyed rabbit." he snags the little plush in question, just shy of laughing at it. it's certainly cuter than anything he sees out in the wastes. "go on, then. see if you can beat that!"

[billie-brogan]

"He what?" Billie can actually feel the blood drain from her face. That guy's like a fucking cockroach, and they'll never be rid of him. "What did he do?" Because it's Ezra, and he'd always treated Mo like shit, Billie assumes he must've done something. Ezra would be incapable of a nice, or even just a neutral, reunion. Billie's voice has gone stony, eyes glazing over, like she's already preparing to have to do something awful.

The blip of seriousness is expected, Billie's protectiveness something he cherishes greatly. He only wishes he could do the same for her, sometimes. The mention of Trent makes his mood falter. Not because of Trent, exactly. He begins to fidget with a paper towel. He\s given up on trying to lie to Billie. Even holding it in a for a few more seconds would be pointless. She'll see the way he begins to destroy the paper and can't quite make eye contact. "No luck with Trent, but..." he begins, before looking up with a squint, a wince, "Ez is here. He's a tram driver."

[billie-brogan]

"That'd be me," Billie jogs the last few steps up to him, towel draped around her neck. It was a pretty quiet day at the gym so she'd been taking the chance to get a few reps in. But she's always happy to drop it and help out a new customer. "Sure, can do. Want me to take your arm or are you good walking beside me?" She feels kind of bad already because immediately she knows there's a few things that are less than ideal for a blind person in this gym. She can address them now, but they should've been addressed before it became necessary.

@billie-brogan

"I'm looking for Billie?" he calls out, slightly louder than would be usual for conversation but he's unsure exactly where in the gym she could be. When he gets a response, he begins to explain himself, vaguely looking towards one of the few moving shadows. It's easier to be forthright, and he hopes a gym would be the right place to get that sort of no-nonsense attitude. "Front desk said you could help me out? I'm blind, so I need a hand setting up the equipment and figuring my way around till I memorize the layout."