[open] pump up the jam (a.k.a the fitness mingle post)

[galactically]

Who: Sheryl (galactically) and YOU!
What: Exercise classes (see the class schedule)
When: April 11th/13th/15th, from 3:30 to 5:30 PM
Where: Menrva's temple @ the ballroom
Warnings: Fanservice, possible violence, and Genos

Notes: Feel free to make your own top-levels! Threadhop to your heart's content. c:

[Sheryl doesn't attend classes too often nowadays due to her work schedule, but she always makes sure to be on time once the clock strikes three thirty — or at least be fashionably early. Even teachers like herself have to look her best, especially in simple but flattering gym clothes. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon, the ballroom is open for all things fitness, and Sheryl plans to give her students one hell of a workout.

Don't let her vibrant smiles fool you; she turns into an enthusiastic yet merciless drill sergeant should you ever fall behind on your exercises. The microphone she carries around has a built-in cord that she uses as a whip — definitely not for show! A certain assistant will also be by her side, and he's just as tough if not more so.

To all slackers... abandon hope all ye who enter.]



Outside the Ballroom
[Nothing brings more prospective students together in one place than good ol' promotion, and Sheryl is not above using whatever is on her disposal to gain more members. She already made a BBS post announcing her classes, so now it's time for another tactic: food.

With a charming smile and a wink, she gestures at a small platter of turkey and cheese sandwiches on a nearby table right next to the sign-up sheet.]

Want to get in shape? Gain some extra muscle on your arms or legs? Build up stamina? Then you've come to the right place!

Exercises
[Congratulations, you're now part of the exercise class — whether you're only just stopping by for one session, visiting out of sheer curiosity, or who knows what else. There is plenty of sweating, stretching, fat burning, and muscle building to be done. Mats are on the floor for people to use, and various equipment such as exercise balls, dumbbells, jump ropes, and hula hoops can be seen. There's also a radio that Sheryl is using to turn up the volume so to speak.

So, what can a typical student expect from Sheryl's class?]

Yoga: A whole lot of stretching limbs, balancing acts, and dramatic poses. They start out as simple as lotus positions and cobra poses, but slowly progress into the intermediate positions such as downward-facing dog poses and tree poses. And then... the dreaded plow pose. At least there is music to relax to.

Pilates: Core strength training, breathing, and more stretching through special moves. Feel the burn as you stretch your limbs while squeezing your stomach at the same time!

Other Exercises: Sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, playing with jump rope and hula hoops, etc.

Muscle Training: Want to be super buff? Grab some dumbbells and go to town! They are available from small (about five pounds) to large (about twenty).

Running: Enjoy your laps around the ballroom while catchy music plays in the background! Go race someone! Or you could be a turtle...

Break Time
[Sheryl may be stringent, but let it be said that she's capable of mercy. Everyone should get a break or two now and then, hence why there are healthy snacks and drinks on the table. She's actually taken the opportunity to make small bowls of pot-au-feu, which smells and looks incredibly edible... and some fruit bars, which look lumpy. Sheryl may excel in certain skills, but baking is not one of them — much to her chagrin, coming from a woman who's usually very confident.

Take this opportunity to socialize, eat some food, sneak out of the ballroom, fool around, hide in the corners, etc.]

Comments

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos notices that one runner who keeps gaining speed as opposed to dropping it during extended period of time. Curiously he will use his stop-watch to measure her time. Eventually, he joins in and catches up to her without breaking the sweat. He will offer small bottle of water as he's not here to compete, just to assist. ]

Try keeping your hands loose. Clenching them will tighten your muscles and make it harder to run in longer distance. [ he assumes she's here for a long distance, since it's been few laps already ]

[noli_oblivisci]

[Psyche didn't notice the presence of the other, at first, until she heard someone else clapping up near her. She blinked, surprised, at the proffered water bottle and at the tip. However, she took both with a grateful nod and says around a pant]

T-thanks... I'll keep that in mind. [She frowned in thought, slowing her stride a little.] You mean like this?

[Keeping muscles loose when you were suddenly aware of them was trickier than expected. Habit made her want to close her hands while over thinking it made the rest of her arms range from loose to limp. However, she was trying, at least.]

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos nods and doesn't answer for a while, to not provoke further conversation. Talking while running isn't best idea. Besides she has good posture and everything, there isn't that much he could comment on. He clicks on the stop-watch, in the moment they pass starting point and congratulates. ]

You've beaten your own record. Try to slow down for this lap, to converse energy.

[noli_oblivisci]

O-o-okay....

[She looked like she needed the cool down period anyway as she slowed to a walk. Her long hair was starting to stick to her skin from the sweat and her feet were twinging a bit when she walked (likely due to the boots). She took a moment to down part of the water bottle before saying]

I...didn't notice you were timing me. [There was a touch of curiosity in her eyes.] How was I looking?

[scrap_metal]

You kept improving your speed, which is exactly opposite of what usually happened. I would guess you have good endurance. [ Genos on the other hand benefited from his augmentations, and didn't show any sign of being tired. Not getting tired might be a perk, but also makes it impossible to improve some aspects. ]

I can note down your time for you, if you want. Then you can keep record if you continue the practice.

[noli_oblivisci]

Oh. Really? I guess I used to do a lot of running then.

[She wasn't out of shape, at least. Which was a positive, even without the ayakashi thing. With a smile]

Thanks, that'd be great. [She fiddled with a hair strand.] Do you have any other tips? I guess I was mostly looking to refine the 'basics'.

[That was how Sheryl put it, at least.]

[scrap_metal]

It's important to exercise regularly. If you set a schedule, stick to it.

[ He might sounds like he knows stuff but... he just researched the basics when Sheryl asked him to help, really. ]

Getting good eating habits helps enormously, but it also depends what you want to achieve. If it's just "keeping in shape" it's going to be a lot less intense than "I want to get stronger/faster" or "I want to lose weight".

[noli_oblivisci]

[It might just be the basics but Psyche nods anyway. After a moment's thought]

What if I do want to get strong and faster?

[There was always room for improvement, if the battle against the ayakashi was an indicator.]

Like...what do you do? I mean, you don't seem to have worked up much of a sweat or anything during that run.

[scrap_metal]

There are different kind of exercises for that. You want to build muscles to get stronger, and work on stamina to go faster. As for me..

[ He touches his metal bicep. ]

I don't sweat. I have set of internal fans, and vents for cooling off any heat build up. [ Instead of explaining that his body is mostly artificial, he's going for the most literal answer. Never change, Genos. ]

[noli_oblivisci]

Oh.

[Right. It was....kinda self-explanatory at that point, even with the parts of him that looked more 'normal'. She thought about it, for a moment, eyeing him more closely and curiously]

What do you do then? To improve yourself, I mean.

[She knew Prism had droids and humans with advanced prosthetics. She didn't recall anything about cyborgs.]

[scrap_metal]

I study, mostly. I've been trying to learn as much as I can about this place. [ He can't train to improve his muscle mass. But he could absolutely train something like martial arts, to get better at controlling and using the body he already has. Not that it crosses his mind. ]

Someone with engineering knowledge commented how my body is seemingly made to be customizable. If I had specialized set of limbs to some kind of task, it wouldn't be hard to just swap them. [ Bettering himself = getting upgrades. ]

[noli_oblivisci]

I guess that makes sense. You make do with what you can, I mean.

[Especially if you needed to have those parts to 'easily swap' to begin with.]

I've mostly been trying to figure this place out, too. It was how I accidentally wandered into this place in the first place.

[She says, it with a trace of amusement. And that was part of it...along with the lure of food and a good sales pitch from Sheryl.]

[scrap_metal]

[ New gods and shinki seems to stick together. It's always a big deal if someone from the older gods showing up and talking. ]

One of the new arrivals? If you need pointers, just ask. Most people here are quite helpful.

[noli_oblivisci]

Yeah, I am. I was in the batch who appeared during the incident at the school?

[Based on how others talked about it, it sounded like that's how people had been appearing.]

That's the impression I've been getting. People have been pretty nice. It takes away from the brunt of...a lot of things.

[Strangely the 'dead' part was pretty low on that list of things compared to things like this world being inconsistent with the one she 'knew'. Or not knowing what kanji read.]

[scrap_metal]

During that crisis? [ He wasn't aware some people arrived then, his expression goes even in more serious than previously. That must have been rough ] Right into the fray, huh.

[ He's been through three "arrivals", not counting his own, it's starting to be enough to start forming a statistics. But that can happen later. ]

[noli_oblivisci]

Well, I don't think it was that bad...except for the end.

[At least, now that she had a while to digest it, it didn't feel like an extreme or a crisis. Suspicious and startling and exciting and draining, but it wasn't like anyone had died. A bit more seriously, though]

That was when the ayakashi appeared and went after the students. But that seems like that sort of thing just happens here.

[scrap_metal]

I'm not here long enough to judge. But the amount of cooperation ayakashi shown during that event did surprise me.

[ It might be more of a normal occurrence for all he knows. A month isn't much in comparison to those who were here for decades if not centuries ]

[noli_oblivisci]

Really?

[However, when she thought about it, ayakashi that wandered around usually didn't seem that big or powerful. She thought about it a while longer]

Though I guess that makes sense. Most ayakashi that wander around usually aren't that big...or wander around in that many groups I don't think? At least from what I've seen.

[In what little time she'd been there.]

[scrap_metal]

They don't communicate, although I have heard that it's not that unusual for them to speak.

[ Genos didn't experience a talking ayakashi before so it was very surprising for him ]

[noli_oblivisci]

Maybe it's something animalistic? I mean, just because most of them don't communicate verbally doesn't mean they don't have some way of talking amongst themselves. Even if they don't exactly seem like they have heard mentality.

[Like ants. Or something. Either way...]

That's interesting to hear, though. The school incident's sort of been a loose end in my mind.

[Even if that was another thread to pull at.]

[scrap_metal]

I don't think we learned exact details on what caused it. [ Genos can only agree, that ayakashi attack wasn't like the other, regular ones. But what can they do about it now. ]

Are you going to try another round? [ Of running ]

[noli_oblivisci]

No, we haven't... It does sound like more than a few are interested, though.

[At least she was. At his question though, she thinks on it, before shaking her head and unconsciously slowing to a cool down walk.]

I think I'm good, for now. I've got something to aim for next time, too. [With a small smile, she says, genuinely] Thanks for helping out, though. I don't think I would've noticed some of that on my own.

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos nods, his expression stern, but he's pleased to be of help ]

If you need assistance again, do not hesitate to call me. [ That's his job, being assistant, providing assistance. ]