[Aegle Verdant]

It was her fourth visit in just as many days, and Aegle felt like she might actually be learning her way around Haven's training facilities. She still focused her efforts on the heavy bag, as she had her first night at the Academy, but she'd even tried her hand at the free weights and some of the complicated machines scattered throughout the many rooms that made up the facility's gym. It was her wont to arrive early and leave late, as had been her habit when she was still in therapy, but it was good to mix up the routine a little bit, to give her body a well rounded workout. That night, she found her way into one of the smaller rooms that abutted the large chamber with free weights and the heavy bag that Braun had lowered for her. Having already worked up a bit of a lather, beating the bag, she decided to work through some forms while she was still fresh. Forms were both the trickiest and the easiest part of her training. Though less physically taxing than her usual regime, they required much more precision and focus. They were also far from Aegle's favorite; She didn't like them, necessarily, but had found her mind and attention easily wandered while doing them. That was why she picked the most empty room she could find, and they didn't come much emptier than this one.

One wall was mirrored, and a bunch of mats were piled up in one corner, and that was it. Nothing else but Aegle and the door. She lugged in her duffle, the bag hanging heavy from one crooked shoulder, tossing it down near the center of the room. The sound of the thick canvas hitting the floor resounded back at her from the three unadorned walls; A strangely satisfying sound, she thought, as she faced her reflection. She might have made do with a less empty room, even a room with other students using it, though there was few enough of those this late at night, unless they were stretching after a work out. She might have made do, just so long as she had the mirror. The mirror was the most important part. Aegle stared at her reflected twin, standing a room away. A bald girl in a ratty orange hoodie, a size and a half too large, stared back at her, looking at her with wide emerald eyes, sunk deep into dark sockets in a ghostly pale face. Her head hung to one side, tilted just the same as her crooked shoulders, one of which was higher than the other, while her hands twitched restlessly at her sides. She looked half a corpse, staring out from beneath her hoodie's ragged hood.
"Pretty thing, innit ya?" she asked. The girl in the mirror grinned, and Aegle grinned back, showing off a mouthful of white teeth.

Whirring quietly, Aegle stepped into mixed guard and watched as her reflection did the same. She held her lead hand up, knowing how her hunch always tried to bring lower than it ought be, and examined her pose. The girl in the mirror trembled slightly, her fingers fluttering in half clenched fists, and Aegle nodded approvingly. She tried a punch and a parry, swinging at ghosts, then stepped quickly back into guard.
"Too low." Aegle said, growling the words the way Aaron would have, and her reflection hastily twitched her lead hand up. Next she swayed, stepped, jabbed, hooked. 
"Faster."
The girl in the mirror copied her, and Aegle watched the combo a second time.
"Faster."
A third time...
"Too low!" She twitched up her lead hand, and the girl in the mirror did the same, "Faster!"
A fourth time, and then a fifth, and a sixth, faster and faster, until the whirring beneath her clothes had risen to a dull, ear piercing whine.
"Dodge!" 
Aegle dodged, weaving back and low as she could.
"Punch!" 
Then she swung forward, beneath an unseen blow, and watched her reflection spear the air with a straight armed jab. Then, together, they stepped back into guard and rolled their shoulders.
"Not bad," Aegle said in her big brother's voice, "For a beginner."

Next, came high guard. Aegle raised both hands, and the girl in the mirror did the same. This had been her routine for three days and four nights. The gym never closed, so she had visited it as often as her classes and other needs would permit. She'd woken up early and come to the gym first thing; Since the gym had lockers and showers both, that was where she'd done her bathing and her changing. Each time, she'd stayed until her first class, and had returned after supper, when most of the other students were leaving. Then she would go for as long as her body could manage. It had been an exhausting few days, and her face showed it, but Aegle was determined to make the most of her time at Haven.

The girl in the mirror was looking tired, so Aegle dropped out of her guard.
"Take two." She said, waving her hand at her reflection, before stooping down to grab towel and bottle from the bag at her feet. Her arms trembled as she unstopped the bottle and brought its spout to her lips, so she reached under her hoodie and twisted the dial on her hip. Some of the weight eased off of her, and the girl in the mirror stood a bit straighter, though the whirring that accompanied her movements grew louder to match. 
"Alright," Aegle said, tossing her water bottle back into the bag, "Let's see peak-a-boo next!"

words - 946

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1505 TAG: Aegle Verdant NOTES: The smolest workout jam. HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS The gym, eh? Carmim pinched at her arm in disapproval. Yeah, okay, she hadn't really been home in a year, and in Mistral, there was hardly anything to keep her occupied before she got to Haven, but that ended today! She was getting flabby. Flabby! Well, okay, no, her arms weren't very flabby at all. Years of manual labor and lugging around a hefty drum all day took care of that. Even so, she was not about to be a lazybones, laying around all day- she was a Huntress, for crying out loud! It was time to act like it, especially with the big mission coming up so fast. She gulped a little at the prospect. Now, certainly she was prepared for this. She had the skill, or they wouldn't have even let her join, right? But this was real field work, and she'd be up against dangerous criminals and possibly even Grimm. One wrong move could be her life... So it was time to get ready, starting with her body. She actually hadn't really gotten out to the gym much, since leaving Vacuo, and even then, her setup was paltry compared to this massive facility- just a bench and a set of weights, passed down from her older brother when he outgrew them. And at her uncle's place, he didn't have a gym, and neither of them made enough Lien for a gym membership in town. This gym was free, though, and 24/7! She'd be a fool not to take advantage of the opportunity. Stepping into the gym, she took in all of the gear and equipment. It was an athlete's dream! Weights and busted punching bags littering the floor, with shiny workout machines towering above them. She scratched her head, wondering what some of them even did! "Huh... Maybe someone will be around to teach me all of t'e complicated t'ings... For now, no fancy stuff! Time to get in gea'!" She set her gym bag against the wall and threw her hair back in a tiny ponytail- it wasn't long enough for a full pony, but she didn't need it in her face either. And, of course, she set Storyteller down next to her, slipping the drum's rope sling from her shoulder. On top of that, she set her Scroll, and managed to turn the volume up without accidentally ordering a three hundred pound bag of grape seed. Again... God that was an angry delivery guy. Scrolls are hard. They're hard, and nobody understands. Admittedly, getting used to the technology of the big city was still taking a lot of time. Back home, it was so easy! Nobody ever needed to call anyone because everyone was always within walking distance, and if they weren't, that's what letters were for!! But never mind that, she had a workout to accomplish. Hitting play on her Scroll's music app, she got started with some quick stretches, to warm up. She'd be needing that- if there was one thing she was better at than anything else, it was her stamina. She could go for hours, and love every minute of it. Stretches done, time to hit the ground running. Literally. Legs were first, as Carmim took off around the gym, sprinting laps like her life depended on it. Grimm wouldn't wait for you to get a head start. Bandits aren't going to sit still while you try to evade them. Speed was important. And endurance was importanter- just being fast isn't going enough, not if you can't maintain it in battle. That was on her mind when she started running. By the third lap, it had wandered from her upcoming mission to easier things. For one thing, she was really starting to get curious about the girl who lived with her. You'd think she'd at least know her name, and what she looks like- all she knew was that she had one, and she'd never met her. Wait, was her roomie a girl? Were there co-ed dorms at Haven? Huh. No idea. All she really knew about this mystery girl was that she apparently had a thing for hitting stuff, based on all the bloody hand wraps everywhere. God, her first morning after moving in was... Intense, to say the least. Waking up to find your new desk covered in blood rarely made for a good morning. Actually, maybe she wasn't even into fighting (well, no more than the average Huntress, of course.) What if all the bloody wraps were from uh. Butchery? Maybe she went hunting in the evenings? Ooh, maybe she moonlighted as a nurse! That would explain all the needles and the health books. Well, no- there were other books, about boxing, so it seemed her first hunch was pretty accurate. Come to think of it, maybe her roomie was a gym rat? (Oh god, hopefully she's not an actual gym rat! That would probably be a pretty derogatory term for her hypothetical faunus roommate.) Her mind buzzed about her missing cohabitant for a good couple of laps, but by nine, she'd hit her zen, and wasn't thinking of anything but breathing and running. Perfect. Three laps to go. She slowed to a stop after the twelfth round, and stretched out a bit more. Earlier, the gym was pretty crowded, but now it seemed like everyone was dwindling out for the night, bar a handful of the more athletic students. Wimps. She rolled her eyes. What kinda work ethic was that!? Showing up to throw down, and throwing in the towel!? It wasn't even ten o'clock yet! Well that had her a bit annoyed. It'd be such a nicer world if everyone would just put in more effort. So, to counteract those quitters' apparent disinterest, she made a point of hitting her next task as hard as she could! Again, literally. Sizing up the punching bag, it should have been a forgone conclusion that the larger adversary, the punching bag, should prevail. But, size advantage be damned, that would not be the case! For what she lacked in verticality, she definitely made it up in ferocity. Maybe it was just the seething hatred for slackers and quitters, maybe it's the drive to get stronger and be the best she can be. Maybe it's Maybelline? Whatever. She had fire in her eyes, burning hot and crimson. Left. Left. Left. Right, left, right. Right, left. Dodge, left, right. It felt good showing the bag who was boss, especially with one of her favorite workout songs bumping in the background. "Rahh!" Forgetting she was in public for a second, she let fly a mighty battle cry (well, "mighty" may not be the most accurate descriptor.) that caught the attention of a few nearby students, who gave her a bit more space. After a good little while, she figured the bag knew what was up, now. A worthy adversary, vanquished. All that work really called for a break. She sat against the wall, by her bag, and pulled out a jug of water, a tomato, and a big hunk of cheese. Smoked gouda. Mmm... Maybe not the protein shake or whatever that she was probably supposed to be eating mid-workout, but if making them gains meant not snacking on delicious cheese and the objective best fruit, then she would have no part of it. Downing half of the water, half the tomato, and the entire block of cheese, it occurred to her that the gym was presently deserted. Huh. When did that happen? Well, no use worrying about that! It was time for arm day, so she wrapped her half-eaten tomato up in napkins and stuck it and the water back into her bag, as she headed for the nearest bench, stretching while walking. Only... Something was missing. As she racked up 180 lb on the bar, and hefted it over the bench, she just couldn't place her finger on it... Until... Well, until a rather striking girl with just the faintest stubble on her head popped out of a nearby room, looking ready to conquer the world, starting with the gym. And was she... Was she also ridiculously small!? What!! And here she'd thought her and Eva were outliers- seems like they were in the majority here at Haven! Wild. She gave a huge friendly wave and a big smile. Hopefully the other girl wasn't too busy with her own workout. "Hello, my friend! I am sorry to be bot'ering you, but I was wondering if you could spot for me? It won't take too long, I promise, and I can return t'e favo' if you also needed someone to help you wit' you' wo'kout." Filled with hope, and excitement at the prospect of meeting another new friend at Haven, Carmim beamed at this stranger from the weight bench. "My name is Carmim. It is nice to meet you! And here I t'ought t'at everyone else had wimped out and left t'e gym, haha. A little company is always nice."

LAIKA OF GS!

[Aegle Verdant]

There was a roaring in Aegle's ears as she shuffled back into the main hall, so loud that she almost didn't hear the mechanical wheezing that accompanied her plodding footfalls. Her arms hung leaden at her sides, fingers twitching, and it was just about all she could do to keep their weight, and that of the duffel slung across her back, from dragging her to the ground. Twice more, she'd upped the gain on her brace, and each time it had eased a bit more weight from her twisted shoulders, until reaching the device's maximum intensity. At its highest setting, it would have been enough to make her about as strong as a normal person; Not a huntsman, or even a huntsman in training, but sufficient certainly to living a normal life. But the brace was not a substitute for strength, it merely amplified what was already there, responding to her movements as she made them, and all the strength had leached out of Aegle long before she'd begun her final form. Now she could scarcely lift her arms, and it was only by brute stubbornness that she kept her feet moving one after the other. 

She heard nothing as she limped into the gym's main and central room, save the persistent hollow thrumming that filled her world. Even her watch's occasional trill fell on deaf ears, so full they had become with the weary beat of her heart. The voice, however, managed to pierce through the veil of abject exhaustion which surrounded her. 
"Hello, my friend!" Aegle raised vacant green eyes towards the speaker and blinked blearily, in an effort to see through the haze that marred her vision. Little white motes danced before her eyes, flashes of light that moved with her gaze, so she couldn't look directly at any of them. There was a shadow encroaching at the edges of her vision too, squashing her world down to a narrow tunnel of whatever was before her. This had happened the night before, and that morning as well, and Aegle knew what it meant. It had happened sooner tonight though, than it had the previous day, but she was too tired to be all that concerned.

She had been looking at the stranger for a few seconds before she actually saw her; Aegle examined the girl, with her laughing, blood red eyes and equally bloody hair, doing so with as much interest as she could muster. It wasn't much, honestly. She'd spent her last few days at Haven eagerly meeting and greeting so many new faces but, just then, she couldn't quite muster the enthusiasm for it.
The red haired girl made some more noises at her, speaking words Aegle only half-heard, but the weary atlesian gathered the just of what was said. Taking in the bench, and the bar and the weights hung from it, Aegle understood well enough what the stranger wanted. It made her smile a little, to have such a task requested of her, though Aegle held no illusions; Doubtless the girl would have asked someone else, had there been anyone else to ask. A glance about the hall showed few enough alternatives, however, so the red haired girl must make do with the twisted, shambling thing before her.
Before she'd even given it much thought, Aegle found her feet carrying her towards the stranger and her bench. Apparently, tired or not, she actually meant to do as she'd been asked. Aegle grinned despite herself, and shrugged her duffel off with distracted disregard. It crashed down with a heavy 'thwack', quickly swallowed by the cavernous space which surrounded herself and the redhaired girl. 
"My name is Carmim." Said the girl at the bench, beaming at Aegle as she approached, "It is nice to meet you! And here I t'ought t'at everyone else had wimped out and left t'e gym, haha. A little company is always nice."
"M'a bit surprised to see someone still here," Aegle admitted, with a dreamlike glance around the room, "M'usually the last t'leave." Not tonight though; She hadn't been strong enough to tackle her evening exercises with the same dedication as she'd shown the last couple of days.
She didn't mention that she'd actually been about to leave. Instead, Aegle rolled her shoulders, each making a sad whispery whir, and tried to shake a bit of life back into her arms. Pins and needles crawled up her fingers and forearms, and her hands twitched. Her emerald eyes moved to the weight Carmin was pushing, and she had to wonder if she could even lift such a weight at her prime, let alone dead on her feet. She raised one hand to rake her scalp beneath her sweat sodden hood, and decided Carmin would still be better off with her as a spotter, instead of no spotter at all.

Stopping before the bar, Aegle's eyes moved back to the girl on the bench. A kind smile, bright and full of life, with a body to match. She wasn't big; Doubtless Aegle, in her oversized and baggy clothes, looked bigger, but she had strong muscles, toned and tough, plainly visible beneath her workout clothes. Aegle eyed the exposed flesh for an unseemly stretch, then remembered herself and looked Carmin in the face instead.
"M'Aegle," She said, squashing the two words to make one, as she leaned against the bar that stretched between them, "S'a pleasure t'meet'cha." Even tired as she was, Aegle's broad accent and manner of speaking made her words seem impatient to escape her mouth. She didn't recognize Carmin's accent, but that only meant she wasn't from Solitas; Aegle had heard all sorts of accents, most of them unfamiliar, since arriving at Haven. 

Pushing herself back from the bar, she eyed the weights again, and her grin twitched a little wider, showing every tooth on the left side of her head, "Dunno how much help I'll be, tryin' to lift all this." She said. Then she shrugged, an act requiring some significant effort from her crooked shoulders and one accompanied by a querulous whine from beneath her clothes.
"I'll do m'best though; S'just best y'don't drop 'em at all, yeah?"

words - 1,028

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS:889 TAG: Aegle Verdant NOTES: Let's split up, gang, and look for clues! Like, zoinks! HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS In retrospect, maybe if Carmim hadn't been working out for the past few hours herself, she might have been not-tired enough to notice how much more tired Aegle was. As the other girl approached, though, it definitely became a bit more clear- the poor thing looked like a zombie up close. She at least seemed pretty content, though, with a not-too-weak grin on her face. That was good. At least she wasn't actually a zombie. Or, well... At least, she'd never heard of a smiling zombie before, so presumably, Aegle wasn't a zombie. Right? Right...? Right. She was being spoken to, so it was time to bring her mind back into focus. No more zombie thoughts for now, those could wait. And oh boy, was this a treat- not only was this new friend as short as herself and Eva, she also had some sort of foreign accent! Whoa! Cool! (Err. Well, pretty much every accent Carmim heard in Mistral sounded foreign, actually. But that was beside the point!) She gave a little laugh and nodded. "Yeah, I figu'ed I would get a little training in tonight, wit' the big mission coming up." She sat on the bench and went about stretching her back, shoulders, and arms out as she took a moment to get a more focused look at her workout buddy. She wasn't just short- she was just an inch or so taller than Carmim, if that, and while she couldn't get a good look at her frame through her baggy clothes, her face looked just a bit more gaunt than it had from across the gym. But despite her weary expression, her bright green eyes radiated inner strength, and Carmim couldn't help but stare at them for just a second longer than she'd meant to- she blinked and resumed getting ready to lift. She smiled as Aegle introduced herself. While she wasn't quite certain whether she'd said "Aegle" or "Meagle," she really was glad to have the company. It got a little lonely in the gym, all alone. And in general, actually- her mind wandered back to her roommate situation as she leaned back and wrapped her hands around the bar. Presumably, whoever the mystery girl was, she had to be either perpetually busy, or a ghost. Granted, it had only been a few days since she'd moved in, but she should have at least seen her roommate by now. Huh. Maybe it was normal around Haven for people to live together without interacting much? Her mind was pulled away again for a second as Aegle commented on the hefty weights, with a big toothy grin. Carmim returned the grin, with a little wink. "Aw, no need to worry, my friend- I am a bit stronge' t'an I look." Which was certainly the truth- years spent outdoors, hauling lumber and fetching huge stacks of goat skins from the butcher certainly gifted her with peak muscles for lifting. She hoisted the bar up with just a soft grunt, and eased into her first set of fifteen reps. Her breath held steady as she pulled the weights down, just above her chest, and held it there for a second, before extending her arms to the sky. Another second or two, and she pulled it back down, repeating this cycle another fourteen times. As she got to the last rep, she held out the pauses a bit longer, and went for an extra two reps at the very end. Satisfied with the first set, of four or five, she dropped the weights back onto the rack and sat up again to stretch out. While stretching, she turned to look at Aegle again. Maybe she'd be able to help figure out this roommate mystery. Her roomie did seem like the type who'd be at the gym all the time, and her new friend had mentioned that this was her own regular haunt. "Hm. Hey Aegle, I wonde' if you might be able to help me figu'e t'is problem out wit' me." Err... Well, hopefully she wouldn't mind helping a total stranger figure out her life problems. But they weren't total strangers anymore, right? That's how friendship works, yeah? Instant, and complete? Sure, let's go with that. She leaned back for her next set, but continued talking. "So I moved into- 2- my room here not too long ago, but I haven't actually met my- 3, hn- roommate yet. I know t'at I- 4- have one, because her stuff is t'ere. 5. 6... She has a lot of- hng, 7- gym stuff. Maybe you have seen her around? 8. 9... 10. I t'ink she must be pretty tall, her clothes are way- 11- bigger t'an mine. And she seems like she does a- oof, 12- lot of work on her weapon, t'ere are a lot of- 13- tools on her desk, so I imagine it must be pretty- 14- impressive." Hmmm. 15. She grit her teeth and went for an extra two reps. 16... 17.18. With that last one, she set the bar to the rack again, and stood up to stretch out fully, reaching for her water from her bag on the ground. "Whew... I am out of shape... Good t'ing we have t'is gym here, huh?" She shot Aegle a grin between pants.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Aegle Verdant]

"Aw, no need to worry, my friend," Said Carmin, her smile stretching her cheeks, as she assumed the position, "I am a bit stronge' t'an I look."
Aegle wasn't so sure, though; Carmin looked plenty strong as she wrapped her sure and steady hands around the bar, and worked her trim, level shoulders into position beneath the weight. Aegle felt shabby by comparison, her fingers fluttering like frightened birds as they hovered restlessly beneath the bar, her shoulders crooked and drooping. It was an effort simply to match Carmin's pace, and keep her hands from interfering with the red head's pace. With nothing else to do but stand there and watch, Aegle spent some small time admiring the other girl's form. The weight was in her control at all times, from when it left the hooks until when it was returned, and each piston movement of Carmin's arms was slow and methodical. The muscles along her biceps bulged, deeply toned, as she lowered the bar, while those across her collar and chest grew taught as tensioned wires. Her breathing was in time with her lifts too, in for the descent and then out for the push. She looked as though she could have done it all day.

Then she replaced the bar and sat up, and the muscles seemed to ripple beneath her skin. Aegle dropped her shaking hands from beneath the bar, stuffing them into her hoodie's pockets with a sharp, mechanical whir. She'd been as much help as a grass helmet; It was obvious, even to her, that Carmin needed a spotter like she needed someone to breathe for her. Stretching now, Carmin glanced up at her with that bright smile. Aegle's eyes moved from where they had laid, burning emerald holes into the redhead's back; It was just as well built as her front.
"Hey Aegle," Carmin hummed, "I wonde' if you might be able to help me figu'e t'is problem out wit' me." Her eyes were sharp as ruby's beneath her tangled hair. She sat up straight too, back curving in an agreeable 'S' shape.
'S', for Scarlet, Aegle thought inanely, and her grin twitched a tiny bit wider. She tried to straighten up as well but, even with her brace complaining beneath her clothes, she soon slumped back down into her usual hunch.
"More help than I'm already givin' ya?" Aegle asked, with a soft titter, as Carmin sank lithely down beneath the bar once more, no less flexible for the effort she'd already put in.
"Sure, what'ya need?" Aegle took up her own position, hands poised beneath the bar once more. Perhaps Carmin was not the strongest person she'd seen at Haven's gym; More than likely, she was not even the strongest Aegle had seen that day. She was too small to be properly powerful, too light to be truly strong. Yet she well on her way to being as strong as girls their size could be. Aegle watched her work through her second set, eyes dull, lips quirked in her absent grin; Try as she might, she could keep her eyes off of Carmin's arms and chest as she exercised.

Carmin told Aegle of her problem, grunting out bits and pieces of it between reps. Aegle, tired as she was, found it hard to really hear the words said, but she gathered the just of it. Carmin had moved into a new room, and had yet to see her roommate, save for signs of her obvious existence.
"Big, yeah? And with all sorts of tools?" Aegle thought back through her last half-dozen visits, and twitched her head in a faulty shake, "I keep in here, mostly." She glanced towards the heavy bags, hanging beside one wall, and felt the throb in her knuckles that came from their use, "I don't really go out into the yard where they do the weapons trainin'..." 
"Whew," Sighed Carmin, sitting up again, "I am out of shape... Good t'ing we have t'is gym here, huh?"
Aegle watched as the red haired girl stretched a second time, and felt something fall out inside. Her smile twitched a little wider, and she hastily turned her thoughts elsewhere, onto the subject of Carmin's little problem. She had seen plenty of big people in the gym too, it seemed like half of Haven was two meters tall, but she couldn't think of any especially brawny girls. There had been a girl in the cafeteria who was really tall, and she'd had four cybernetic arms. That could certainly have accounted for the tools. 
"There's this four armed girl I saw, she's pretty big," Aegle offered.
As soon as she said it though, Aegle knew she was wrong, "Except, they're cyber arms. Y'don't gotta work out cyber arms. And besides, I've never seen her in here late, and I'm usually one've the last t'leave."
Carmin was having a drink of water, and so Aegle took a moment to rest against the bar. Her back was screaming, and her shoulders felt like they might soon fall off, arms and all. She wondered why she was doing this. Was it guilt at having to stop early that kept her here, pointlessly trying to guess the identity of some stranger's roommate. Aegle had only been at Haven three days, the odds she'd even see this mystery giantess had to be astronomically tiny. 
"D'ya know anythin' else 'bout her?" She asked, despite herself, "Like, I dinnae..."
Aegle yawned into her palm and pushed herself up straight, or as straight as she got at least, to the sound of wheezing motors.
"S'gotta be more, yeah?"

words - 937

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 780 TAG: Aegle Verdant NOTES: s m o l g a n g | m y s t e r y | s q u a d HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Completely oblivious to Aegle's reservations about spotting, (and equally oblivious to her sneaked peeks at her mid-workout form.) Carmim was mostly just thankful for conversation. With her admittedly unabashed shamelessness in working out, she'd kinda scared off all the other students in the gym earlier, so none of them seemed too interested in striking a conversation, funny enough. Maybe it was the growling at the punching bag? Eh. She'd given up on those wimps earlier; who goes to the gym to toss in a token effort and leave? Shameful! Sad! No, she could never associate with squishy folk like those, with no work ethic at all. Even her most fragile friend, Eva, took her physical training seriously, from what she'd heard! She was proud of her for that- it's one thing to be diligent in one area, as the blonde girl was with her studies, but it was even more impressive to work hard at your faults! Which reminded her- she'd have to stay up a bit late to catch up on her own studies... But gym first! More important! That yanked her mind back over to her newest friend, who was speaking to her. She cracked a grin of her own at Aegle's joke- true, she was imposing a bit on her, come to think of it. But Aegle wasn't (non-jokingly) complaining about it, so she figured she couldn't be causing too much fuss. Hopefully. Regardless, she laughed lightly as she slid back onto the bench, and listened for the other girl's reply. She chewed on those words for a minute or so, trying to think of who fit that description... Huh... Oh! "Ooh! I t'ink I may have actually met somebody like t'at earlier t'is week, at t'e mission briefing. Her name was uh... Ruqa, I t'ink? Very tall- I must have looked like a small child next to her!" She laughed, ignoring the fact that she looked like a small child next to most people she met. Really, meeting Eva and Aegle was refreshing. Of course, it didn't seem like it could be Ruqa- as Aegle said, she would likely have spent more time in the weapons area, if anything, plus Carmim had already met her- surely, if she was the mystery roommate, she'd have spoken up, yeah? That, and while the clothes seemed pretty big, they didn't seem quite that big. Hmm... She leaned back down for her third set as Aegle asked her for more details about this deeply intriguing mystery. "Well- 1- Hmm. I did see a bunch of comic books on t'e desk. I am not much of a comics person, t'ough- 3- so I would not know which ones t'ey were, unfortunately... Oh! 7, oof..." She faltered for just a second, to catch her breath, before continuing with her remembered thought. "I did see a few empty dust cartridges- I t'ink t'at's what t'ey were, anyways. 10, hng. 11... T'ey were uhh... Lightning, I t'ink? I'm not sure if t'ose are helpful- 14- descriptions, sorry." 15... 16... Hnnng. Come on Carmim, you've got t'is... With a more noticeable grunt of effort, she brought the bar up one last time, setting it up on its rack again, with a barely audible whisper of 17. She was determined to finish each set out. No halfway work here! She pulled herself up again, and flexed her arms out, letting them cool down a bit before the penultimate round of reps. Then she set her crimson eyes on Aegle's bright emerald ones. She really did have such beautiful eyes... She blinked and stretched her arms skyward, looking up at the ceiling as she did. "Pshoo... It is a good t'ing I brought my workout snacks- t'is is really working up my appetite!" With a slightly weary smile, she dipped her hand into her bag and pulled out the remaining half of her tomato from earlier, which she thoughtfully split in half, extending one of the halves to Aegle. "Hungry?" She smiled up at her friend, then set upon her own half of tomato like a (very small, and very hungry) ravenous beast, (and if Aegle doesn't take the other half, it can be safely assumed that that half was also swiftly devoured. While she ate, she contemplated this situation. Hmm. "You don't suppose maybe my roommate is just not very social? Hmm... What is your roommate like, if you don't mind me asking? Do you two talk very much?" Maybe a little more light shed on what exactly the roommate situation at Haven was like could be helpful here. Certainly couldn't hurt. Of course, now she was curious about what Aegle's roomie was like... LAIKA OF GS!

[Aegle Verdant]

"Well," Carmin said, laying back for a third set, "I did see a bunch of comic books on the desk." 
That piqued Aegle's interest, and she was about to ask what sort when the redhead admitted she didn't really know much about comic books, leading the bald girl to assume she hadn't given them a really close inspection. That and a few empty dust cartridges wasn't much to go on, least of all lightning dust carts. 
"My brother used t'lend me his comic books." She confessed, reminiscent. Her eyes wandered over Carmin as she went through her reps, watching for bad posture or anything that might compromise her strength. She found nothing, of course; Carmin seemed as comfortable on the bench as she was strong. It was quickly becoming apparent that strength, even the small sort reserved for smaller people, was not all the redhead had to offer however. Even into her third set, she was making it to seventeen reps; Carmin had stamina to spare.
Leaning back as Carmin stowed the bar for the third time, Aegle raked her fingers back through the thin stubble on her scalp, thinking. The roaring in her ears had died down to a soft pulsing, and her watch was showing amber instead of red, but she knew better than to think that meant she'd only needed a short break. Even the simple act of following the bar left her arms feeling leaden, and there was an ache in her shoulders that no amount of stretching would relieve. She admired Carmin again, with her strong arms and straight shoulders, and the discrete but notable network of muscles that spanned her collarbone and back. That was the sort of body a huntress aught to have, she thought approvingly. Strong, flexible, and full of energy.

As though she'd felt Aegle's gaze, Carmin looked back. Though she flicked her eyes up quickly, Aegle did not think she'd been quite quick enough. Carmin's face wasn't especially pretty, at least not when compared to some of the truly beautiful people she'd met. Eva was lovely, with her delicate features and incandescent smiles, while that highborn girl from the restaurant had been almost painful to look on for how radiant she was. Carmin was not radiant, though neither was she homely. Her's was a plain, fair face, not unpleasant to look upon. She smiled easily and often, and her eyes were full with life and activity. It was a healthy face, joyful and unaffected. Aegle glanced past her, to the mirrors that lined the opposite wall, and saw her own face. Her smile was as crooked as the rest of her, and seemed to split her gaunt face like a sword cut; She could show off all of her teeth, if she tried. Her eyes smoldered like two emerald fires in dark, sooty pits; Both were sunk deep into her fleshless face and surrounded by dark circles, with bags beneath them. Her hood hid her baldness, but it did not hide the shape of her head, nor the thinness of her neck, which had every appearance of a balloon on an especially narrow string. Her smile twitched, her shoulders ached, and Aegle wondered what she was even doing at Haven to begin with.
"Hungry?"
Aegle looked back down at Carmin, and found her holding out one juicy half of a tomato. Blinking, Aegle took the proffered fruit in one trembling hand, and examined it with a bemused grin. Everything about Carmin was red, she reflected, even the foods she ate.
"Thanks." She took a bite of the juicy, slightly sour flesh. Doing so brought home just how hungry she was.
"You don't suppose maybe my roommate is just not very social?" Carmin mused around half a mouthful of fruit. Aegle could only shrug, then wince from the effort.
"Could be," She allowed, "but maybe she's just busy, like y'said." Aegle hadn't even spoken to her own roommate yet, who was always asleep when she started or ended her day.
Carmin hummed and then, as though she'd read Aegle's thoughts, asked, "What is your roommate like, if you don't mind me asking? Do you two talk very much?"
Aegle shrugged again, brace wheezing beneath her hoodie, and winced again as spasm pulled the cords in her neck tight. She rubbed out the spot, grimacing around her grin.
"Nah, not really. I've only been in Haven a few days, and I don't really wanna bother her." Aegle said, leaving half the truth unspoken. She wouldn't have said she'd been actively avoiding her roommate, but neither had she made any especially effort to meet the girl. There were showers and hygienic facilities here at the gym, as well as work benches to making adjustments or repairs to her brace. And if she arrived early enough, no one need see her as she went about her ablutions and daily maintenance.  Aegle's grin shrank a little; She couldn't tell Carmin that. No part of her wanted to explain why she'd sooner be alone and unseen in the early mornings. Looking over the redhead, strong and comfortable in her body, Aegle rather doubted Carmin could relate.
Aegle tried to change the subject, "Lightning dust carts can be used as powercells." She would know; Her own brace ran on lightning cartridges. "If she's leavin' 'em lyin' 'bout, s'probably cause she's got somethin' that runs on 'em." That suggested prosthetics or augmentations of some sort. Aegle thought of Eva again, with her life-like prosthesis and colorful eyes. 
"My first day here, I ran into a girl with a fake arm. She was here pretty late..." Eva came in late most nights, leading Aegle to suspect she might schedule her workouts for reasons not entirely dissimilar to Aegle's own.
Aegle frowned, reconsidering, then shook her head, "But she's smaller n' I am." She looked at herself in the mirror, her skinny neck and skinny frame, with clothes hanging off like those on a scarecrow. 
"Well, she's shorter 'n me, at least." Small as she was, Eva still probably outweighed Aegle by half again her measly weight. Looking back at Carmin, Aegle affected a sheepish smile.
"Doesn't really seem the sort t'read comic books neither."
She chopped down the last of her tomato, then scrubbed the juice from her chin with a linen swathed palm. Noticing her hand in her reflection, Aegle sighed and turned her knuckles up for inspection. Sure enough, there was a bit of red bleeding through beneath the wraps; Her knuckles had split again. She tucked her hand into her pocket, so Carmin would not see; Another thing she didn't really care to explain.

words - 1,107

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 933 TAG: Aegle Verdant NOTES: Strongboi Traumaparty HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Hmm, so Aegle was a comic books fan too? That was interesting- maybe her and whoever her roommate was could share their collections. That was always something comic book people did, right? Of course, she'd have to find out her roomie's identity first. In the meantime, she pulled her mind away from that ever pressing mystery. She had a workout to finish, and a new friend to talk to. Speaking of said friend, she thought back to Aegle. There was just something distinctly different about this girl, from everybody else she'd met at Haven so far. Carmim couldn't quite place her finger on it, but there was something special there, something beyond surface-deep. She mused thoughtfully as Aegle reminded her that there was probably a more reasonable explanation than her asocial ghost roommate theory. Yeah. Made sense. She nodded along, a bit lost in thought as she finished her tomato. Tomatoes always reminded her of home. They were a perpetual staple at her home, and she ate them every kind of way they could be prepared. Stewed, with herbs and spices. As soup, with warm, fluffy, bread. Sliced and fried, with fresh butter... They even sun-dried them, so they would last between harvests. But her favorite way to eat them was always fresh from the garden, raw, and plain. Simple food. She wasn't a very complicated person- she came from simple roots, and ate what many would deem peasant food. But that was fine by her- she understood that not everyone would really get her way of living, and that was fine. But, seeing Aegle chow down on the other half of the tomato, she had a feeling this was a person who could understand that feeling, the comfort in the simpler things in life. "Oh, okay, t'at makes sense," she replied, as Aegle spoke about her own limited roommate interactions. "So you have only been at Haven for a short time, t'en? I am new here, myself, actually. How have you been liking it so fa'?" She had to admit, she was fairly curious about this awkward girl before her. I mean, curiosity and cats, and all, but she was just as interesting as the current mystery they were solving. Speaking of which... Hmm... Girl with a fake arm? Huh... And smaller than Aegle?! Well that was certainly impressive- Carmim was an outlier, of course, but Aegle was still pretty short, so for someone to be shorter than her...? Well, there was Eva, but she didn't have a fake arm. Did she? If she did, she never mentioned it. Hmmm. "Huh... T'at could maybe be her... I only know one other student here t'at could be t'at short, t'ough..." She was distracted for just a moment, mid-thought, as Aegle swiped her hand across her face. While she wasn't really observant enough to catch that the wraps had been bled through, the tomato juice now on them reminded her of one more thing, prompting an excited "Ooh!" as she turned to share this new information with Aegle, sliding back down into her lifting position as she did so. "Oh! One more t'ing, now I t'ink about it! T'ere are always a bunch of bloody rags and hand wraps around t'e room. Maybe she spends a lot of time fighting una'med?" That would make the most sense. As she waited for Aegle to respond, she went ahead and picked up the bar again for the next set. 1... 2... 3... Up to about twelve, she was going strong, but when she got to that twelfth one, the bar slipped just a bit, and for a second, she felt it drop. Fortunately, she had both a spotter, and pretty quick reflexes (likely, more of the latter) so she caught it quickly and paused for a good few seconds before continuing the set, noticeably a bit more strained, and sweating a lot more. But she was a fighter, and she had the grit and stamina to finish this workout. 15... She considered very briefly ending her set at the actual finish point. But that was what weak-willed quitters did. That was what lazy good-for-nothings did. That was the kind of slack that got people killed. People like her Uncle Jabari... She lingered, bar halfway lowered. If she'd only been stronger, then. If she'd only known how to help him, then... She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 16... She hoped her family was okay, back home. She hoped there hadn't been any more bandits. No more Grimm attacks. She prayed for their safety. 17. She prayed she'd be able to help people like her family. People who needed it. 18... 19... She prayed... She wouldn't... Let them down... 20... 21... Let herself down... She thought of Aegle. Eva. Hell, even Nik. 22... 23... 24... 25. Let down the ones she cared about. She barely had the strength to slam the bar back onto the rack. She just lay there, panting, and disoriented, as she snapped back to reality. Yeesh, that had taken a lot out of her. She'd just gotten so stuck inside her head there for a minute, that she just completely tranced out on the bench... It was a good thing Aegle was there- that could've gone a lot worse... She could hardly move, but managed to twist her head around just enough to see her friend standing behind her, and flashed her a weak smile. "Heh... Heh... Sorry, I t'ink I... Got a little... Unf... Carried a-... away..." Now there was an understatement, for sure...

LAIKA OF GS!

[Aegle Verdant]

armin eyed her thoughtfully for a moment and, for that moment, Aegle thought she had seen. She was just getting ready to shoot down whatever concern the redhead was about to send her way, when Carmin's eyes slid off her again, blithe as could be.
"So you have only been at Haven for a short time, t'en?" She asked, "I am new here, myself, actually. How have you been liking it so fa'?"
Aegle smiled, but her weariness showed through. How did she like her time at Haven? This was a question Aegle didn't know how to answer. She wasn't even sure she had liked her time at Haven, such as it was. Less than a week, she'd been at the academy, and she'd spent most of it in the gym or in class. She'd spent some time out in the city too, exploring the Cloud District around Haven. She'd even had a terrifyingly expensive meal with a girl she was pretty sure was some kind of royalty.
Had she liked all that? Had she been enjoying herself?
"Yeah, I guess." Aegle answered limply. Haven hadn't been at all what she'd expected, and exploring the Cloud District, while it was breathtaking and beautiful, had cut into her training time. She was lost in most of her classes, having come into the course a couple months late, and she was less than useless in exercises. Did she like it, the occasional strange look she got, or the exasperated sighs she sometimes earned. Had she liked feeling awkward in the cafeteria, as she pushed against the tide of students and searched for a place to sit? How about when she'd been speaking to the big man, and she'd gotten all weird just because he'd asked about her weapon? Had she liked that?
Aegle's drew her hands into fists. Slowly, like to crush something in her palms, until they were so tight in her pockets that she could feel the effort of it burning all the way up to her shoulders.
"S'been great." She said, grin twitching wide, slashing her pale face from ear to ear, "S'like bein' in a different world. So much new stuff t'see and people t'meet."
So many things, so many opportunities; A new life, if only she could make it her's.

Aegle fought down the urge to ask how Carmin liked her time at Haven so far. Doubtless she had already made a friend or two, had her training regime figured out, and probably even doing well in her exercises, if not her classes. She seemed so happy, carefree, ready to seize this opportunity in both hands, and strong enough to drag it to victory.

"Oh! One more t'ing," Carmin chirped, as she lay back for another set. This would be her third, not that Aegle was keeping count...
"Now I t'ink about it! T'ere are always a bunch of bloody rags and hand wraps around t'e room. Maybe she spends a lot of time fighting una'med?"
Aegle's heart froze. She watched, that grin still stretching her cheeks, as Carmin took up the bar again, and slipped it free without even waiting for Aegle to get her hands in position. She wondered if it was all a coincidence. Aegle wasn't the only one who used the punching bags, and she wasn't the only one who wrapped up before hand. But she was one of the few who didn't use gloves, and she used them harder and longer than anyone else she'd seen since coming to Haven. Nor was she big; She was smaller even than Carmin. But the spent powercells, and the comics, and just the timing of it.
And so what if she was Carmin's missing roommate? What did it matter anyway? She liked Carmin, and Carmin was putting up with her. Would it really be so bad if they had to share a room together?

Except...

Carmin wasn't looking for Aegle. She was looking for a tall girl, a strong girl. A girl who worked out, who was always out doing stuff, who liked comics and got into fist fights. Aegle felt the cuffs around her wrists and ankles, the buckles around her waist and chest. She felt the weight on her back, hiding beneath her hoodie. Carmin's roommate had a weapon she worked on every day, and fed lightning dust by the cart load. Carmin's roommate was a badass, living a badass life.

Aegle was not.

Looking at it that way, there was no way Aegle wasn't Carmin's roommate. It was just too random, too funny, too terribly disappointing to not also be true.

Carmin's face was flushed near as red as her hair. Aegle blinked, plucked from her reverie, as she watched the redhead pump her arms savagely up and down. All the smooth timing, the control, vanished in a sudden frenzy of movement.
"H-hey?" Aegle croaked, hands still in her pocket, but Carmin didn't seem to hear. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and her arms were beginning to tremble. Having not been counting, Aegle did not know how many reps Carmin was on, but it seemed she was at her limit. And yet she tried for another and another, raising the bar with ruthless determination. Until... The bar seemed to stop, halfway back to the top. It was a small thing, but Aegle knew what it meant. She took her hands from her pockets, preparing to take hold of the bar. Only then she remembered the blood. Panicked, she stuff her hand back into her pocket and seized the bar with the other. It was heavy, terribly heavy, and she was so tired. Even with Carmin pushing from below, she did not think they could get the bar back into place before the redhead's arms gave out. Aegle seized it with her other hand, felt the sting in her knuckles as her fingers closed about the bar. Despite her efforts, it felt like Carmin had done all the work, by the time the pair of them wrestled the weight back into place.

Carmin's arms flopped down, and Aegle sagged against the bar, her whole body trembling.
She was panting heavily, her vision spotted with light and blurry at the edges, while her watch beeped shrilly by her ear. She almost didn't hear the giggling over the roaring in her ears.
Aegle opened her eyes, and found Carmin looking up at her, with a contrite, and strangely pretty smile on her flushed face.
"Sorry," she wheezed, chest rising and falling like a ship on a stormy sea, pushing out words in between shallow panting, "I t'ink I got a little carried away..."
From the way the stars were dancing before her eyes, it almost made Carmin's face seem like it was ringed in light.
"No worries," Aegle whispered back, "Should'a been payin' more attention."
Then she remembered her hand. Aegle let it slip off the bar and, with an effort, got it back into her pocket. She did so as nonchalantly as she could while on the very edge of passing out.
"Y'alright?" She made herself stand, pushed away from the bench and, after a moment, was able to stagger around the weight. She offered her hand down to Carmin, to pull the girl back up. Then she noticed the blood, where it showed through bright as Carmin's hair across all four of her knuckles. Had she hid the wrong hand? Aegle stared at the blood, baffled, then wondered. Had she felt something tear, when she was trying to lift the bar?
Aegle almost pulled her hand back, not wanting Carmin to see. Instead, she grit her teeth in a broad grin, slashed crooked into her gaunt face.
"I reckon I'm done for the night." She said to Carmin, "And so are you."
Somehow, Aegle made her grin twitch even wider, and she tittered, "Y'look like y'might have a heart attack if y'do that again."

words - 1,322

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 761 TAG: Aegle Verdant NOTES: k a w a i i a f HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Carmim smiled as Aegle described her experiences in Mistral so far. She had felt the same when she first got to the kingdom- it was a far cry from the deserts of Vacuo, after all. It brightened her spirits to know that she was possibly a part of Aegle's "new stuff/people" that she was enjoying so far. The other girl was definitely part of Carmim's Haven experience so far. Granted, she'd known her for maybe twenty, thirty minutes so far. But Carmim was a person who made friends at an alarmingly fast pace. Friendship was both guaranteed and immediate from her. And she liked Aegle as a friend- she seemed nice, had an interesting way of talking, and that grin of hers was cute as all hell. And a good heart- why else would someone stop to help a total stranger, with no other incentive? ... The struggle to put the bar back was just another example of that. Okay, maybe anyone would've done that- and as her spotter, it was technically Aegle's job to help catch the bar, but that wasn't the point. Carmim might be oblivious sometimes, but she wasn't dumb- she could tell that Aegle was just as worn out as her, presumably from her own training, so the effort it took to lift up the bar had to have been pretty great. Frankly, if she was being honest with herself, she had loaded up her bar with too much weight. Here she was, three sets in (well, three and half...) and completely exhausted. A whole two sets left on the docket, and she couldn't do it. She moved to grab the bar again, but quickly lowered her arms with a wince. Nope. Not tonight. Damn. Seems there's a limit to even her indomitable stamina and force of will. "No worries," she heard, as she turned back to Aegle. Her stare lingered for just a bit longer than she normally would have intended, but she was so tired and delirious from the adrenaline, her eyes just stayed fixated on Aegle's face. For just a moment in time, she found herself lost in those shining emerald eyes. As if she were in a lush, beautiful, forest, breathing in the trees and the wild grass around her. A hint of motion from lower down drew her gaze from her eyes to her hand, catching another glance at it. Tomato juice wasn't that dark... She angled her head back up to Aegle, with a slight tilt and a half-raised eyebrow. When did that happen? She almost asked her about it, but was cut off by her new pal's voice. Hnnnn... Carmim scrunched her face up, just a little, as she took Aegle's hand, and weakly sat up on the bench, leaning against the rack for support. She hadn't finished her workout... Her scarlet eyes turned lazily back to the barbell. Maybe if I just... Drop back to less weight? No. No, Aegle was right. She opened her mouth to argue, but Aegle's crooked little grin stopped her cold, and she just smiled instead, and shook her head. "Yeah... Yeah, I t'ink I am.." The heart attack comment got a little giggle from her. Yeaaahh... She might have overdone it just a bit. That couldn't happen again, not with this mission coming up. She needed to stay focused, keep a cool head. There was no sense in getting so worked up that she blacked out. That was dangerous. She couldn't afford dangerous. With quite a bit of effort, she managed to hobble to her feet, but she didn't stay there for too long- almost immediately, she stumbled and fell to the side, catching herself on Aegle's shoulder. "Ahh! Oof... Hnn. I guess I stood up... A little too fast... Huh...? Sorry." Not wanting to be a bother, she tried to regain her balance again, but it was no use, and she just ended up slumping against Aegle once more. Hmm... Her hoodie was soft. "Hmm... Aegle, I am very sorry to have to ask you t'is, but... I don't t'ink I can walk back to my room by myself. Would it be too much trouble for me to ask you to walk me back? I know I have already asked you for a lot tonight..." She adjusted herself, trying not to put too much of her weight on the poor girl. Not that there was much weight there to begin with... She smiled and tilted her weary head to look at Aegle. "You a'e a good friend, you know. T'ank you."

LAIKA OF GS!

[Aegle Verdant]

Carmin looked at her strangely for a moment, red eyes seeming both fixed and distant. Aegle didn't know what that meant, but half expected the other girl might refuse her help; She wouldn't have been surprised to have Carmin ignore the offered hand, or even shove it aside as she sat up on her own. That was unfair, and she knew it; Carmin had done nothing to suggest she was that sort of person, and Aegle felt ashamed even to have thought it. Yet, not until Carmin reached up and took hold of her hand, could Aegle fully believe she would. It was sorta funny after all, a girl like her offering to help a girl like Carmin.
She curled her fingers around Carmin's hand, but relied on the redhead's grip to haul her upright rather than her own. It was an effort for them both. Similar in size they might be, but it was obvious to Aegle that t'other girl was half again as heavy. Weight was near as important as might, when it came to contests of strength, and Aegle had little enough of either. 
She was panting again by the time she muscled Carmin up to sitting, and sagged down, bracing her hand on her knees, even as the red haired girl leaned against the arms of the bench. Spots were dancing in front of her eyes again, bringing a dizzy faintness with them. Tugging her offhand out of her pocket, Aegle eyed the watch on her wrist as its face strobed red and black. If she had the sense the gods gave a gnat, she'd have sat down with her head between her knees until the world stopped spinning. Instead, Aegle made herself stand up straight. She tilted her head up and pulled her shoulders back as far as they went, and put both hands behind her head. It was a bandaid on a slashed throat, she knew; What her heart needed was rest, not a few deep lungfuls of air. Slowly, the roaring died back down in her ears, and the room around her no longer seemed to rock and tilt.
She'd overdone it, she knew, frustrated. She'd thought she could handle the rigorous regime she'd set herself but, as with so much else, Aegle knew she'd been wrong. Tomorrow, she might not even be strong enough for a morning exercise.

Aegle should have excused herself right then. If she hurried, she could get washed up and changed before Carmin, or whoever her roommate was, got back. What then, she wondered. If Carmin really was her roommate, leaving now was just going to invite more questions when she got back, and if she wasn't... 
Before Aegle could finish that thought, Carmin had lurched unsteadily to her feet, only to lose her knees and stumble right into the bald girl. Aegle caught her on reflex, but what she should have done was let the heavier girl fall. Instead, legs trembling beneath her, Aegle spread out her feet to provide firmer foundation for the redhead to hang off of. 
"I guess," Carmin breathed weakly, "I stood up a little too fast, huh? Sorry..."
"S'alright," Said Aegle, through gritted teeth, "I gotcha." 
Despite the reassurance, Carmin tried to push herself off. Aegle, just barely keeping her up, made no effort to stop her but, when Carmin swayed and looked like her legs might give out again, she caught the redhead a second time. This time, Carmin slumped more bodily against her, draping herself over Aegle rather simply hanging off of one shoulder. It made her even heavier. Lights popped and sparked before Aegle's eyes, and her ears filled with the roar of blood once more. A quiet whine was coming from beneath her clothes, barely at the edge of hearing, as the brace Aegle wore tried vainly to interpret its wearer's intentions. 
'She's so heavy.' Aegle thought, eyes squeezed shut, chest tight. She made herself breathe. Carmin smelled of sweat and activity, with the faint hint of tomato. Her head was full of those scents, as she drew shuddering breaths to match the shuddering effort of holding the stricken girl up. Shortly, she had straightened both of them back up, till they were no longer in danger of falling into a heap together.
"Aegle, I am very sorry to have to ask you t'is, but..." 
Aegle could have laughed at the absurdity, if she hadn't been so focused on holding Carmin up. She managed a soft giggle instead.
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Aegle knew what Carmin needed, and gave her ascent before she was even done asking the question. 

The redhead shifted, taking a bit of strain off of Aegle's burning back, and the two engaged in a few steps of a very awkward dance, each using the other to remain upright, while simultaneously trying to keep the other from falling.
In the end, Aegle had Carmin's arm across her crooked shoulders, with her own arm around the small of the redhead's back. Aegle did not need to take all of Carmin's weight, thank the gods, but even what little support she provided had her vision going dark after only a couple of steps. She did her best to control her breathing, to keep the shadows at bay, but she was beyond her limit and had been for quite some time.
'What a way to go,' she thought, then, 'At least I'll die helping someone.'
Aegle giggled thinly, and held more tightly to Carmin, even as the sense of her extremities grew grey and muzzy. She could feel the warmth of the red haired girl, as well as the firmness of her muscles. She wondered what Carmin could feel; Was it all bones and wasted flesh, or was her hoodie thick enough to obfuscate how little there was beneath it. She must have felt the top of the brace at least, if not right that moment, then at least when they were getting into position. She supposed it didn't really matter what Carmin could feel however. If they were roommates, as Aegle suspected, she'd soon learn all about the brace, and why Aegle needed it. 

"S'this way, right?" Aegle asked as they crossed the quad, towards the dormitories. Her words came out tight with effort. Her feet were blobs at the end of wet noodles, while her head practically rang with each step. She could no longer hear her blood in her ears, but that was because it seemed like all the blood had drained out of her head. She lead them, without even thinking, towards her own room instead of Carmin's, the question of whether those were the same place seeming irrelevant in her dazed mind. 

She had to stop at the stairs though. Determined though she was, Aegle thought she might actually die if she tried to carry Carmin up them without taking a moment to rest. Gently as she could, Aegle lowered Carmin onto the second to last step, before promptly slumping against the hand rail as soon as the girl's weight was off her shoulders. She wasn't even breathing heavily, that would have required far too much effort. Her breaths were little more than quick shudders, bellowing little gusts in and out of her open mouth.
Acutely aware of how terrible she must look, face gaunt, hollow, and pale as milk, Aegle made herself smile, but did not shut her mouth.
"Y'kinda heavy, y'know?" She breathed, grinning. She wasn't though; Aegle was just surpassingly weak, "Reckon I'll just leave ya here. Come back for ya in the mornin, yeah?"
She was joking, of course, but part of her knew that would be the wiser course of action. Aegle glanced down at her watch, where it wrapped around one dangling wrist. Red and Black it flashed at her, as if she couldn't tell. Her fingers twitched a little as the feeling came back into them, accompanied, it seemed, by a hundred-thousand pins. Without the extra weight, her blood-pressure was normalizing.
"We really friends?" She asked abruptly; Not even Aegle knew why. She looked at Carmin, her plain face flushed as red as her hair. Then she giggled and shook her head, playing it off like another joke. 
"Come on," She said, leaning down to pull the redhead back up, "Lets get y'in bed 'fore one of us passes out."

words - 1,394

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 833 TAG: Aegle Verdant NOTES: w8 a minit- wots this!? we... live in the same... building!?!? g a s p HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Mmmmm... Well, she certainly hadn't expected to be in this position. Hobbling back to the dorms, hanging onto a girl who, while an inch or two taller, definitely felt a lot more lithe and somehow smaller than herself, for dear life. She nestled her head into Aegle's hoodie, not having the strength to hold her neck up on her own. Mmm. She smells nice... Probably not a thought she'd have had, were she a bit less delirious, but she couldn't deny it- Aegle smelled like sweat and the gym, but there was also a sort of smoky scent there too. Almost like oil? It was nice, in its own unique way. She smiled to herself. She was fading in and out of consciousness herself, just a bit, from the sheer overexertion of that last set. Note to self: don't do that again. For a moment, as her vision blurried and darkened, she could only pick out Aegle's laughter, as if that was the only thing that was there. It was a musical laugh, but not in the way that Eva's laugh was musical- Evangeline laughed like a flute choir, in high, sonorous tones that chirped like birdsong. Aegle's laugh was almost rustic in comparison; more percussive than melodic, like an agogo bell. It had a vibrant rhythm to it that Carmim liked. Her vision slowly faded back into reality, and she felt the arm around her grip her torso a little tighter, pulling her up against the other girl's body. From that vantage point, she could definitely feel past the thick hoodie that Aegle was rather thin, and a bit lumpy where her bones pressed against her skin. And she could feel something hard and rigid- no clue what that was, and she was far too tired to wonder about it. Curiosity could wait for once. S'this way, right? Aegle asked, and Carmim gave a small nod. In truth, she had no idea where they were, or where they were going, but she trusted the bald girl to guide her there. Although, she didn't remember telling her where her room was... They stopped at the stairs, and she attempted to lower herself down with Aegle's help, though most of the work was being done for her at this point. She took a second to catch her breath and look around. Yeah, this was her dorm building, for sure. It took her a second to catch Aegle's playful jab at her, but she managed to muster the strength to stick her tongue out, before cracking a big grin and a tired laugh. "Heh heh... I t'ink t'at's the first time anyone's ever told me t'at." Hm. A bit more feeling was trickling through her limbs now. Wouldn't be too long before she'd be able to pick herself up and get to bed. She turned to look at her friend, who was definitely having a rough time of her own. She wasn't sure if she looked paler or redder, but either way, she looked like she'd been hit by a train. Of course, Carmim knew she couldn't look much better, herself... "We really friends? It caught Carmim by surprise, frankly. She just stared at Aegle, her mouth slightly agape in the formation of a smile. "Well of course we are." She said it just as plainly as she could, as if it were just an undeniable fact of the universe. You couldn't just walk someone home, both stumbling like drunks, without being friends, right? She beamed brightly at Aegle, in spite of the pain and lack of energy. It was time to brave the stairs now, so she took Aegle's hand and rose up onto her feet. She felt a lot better, and this time, she figured it was her turn to offer a bit of support as they made their way up the stairs, putting most of her weight on her own feet, and holding Aegle a bit closer, to help her up the stairs. Taking it step by step, they made their way up to the floor Carmim lived on. At this point, she really hadn't given much more thought to who her roommate might be- she'd gotten too caught up in the whole matter of making it back to her home okay. But now, the thought crossed her mind again, as they slowly, inch by inch, approached her room. Whoever it was, she wondered if she'd be in the room when she opened it. Hopefully, she wouldn't wake her up... Of course, she hadn't seen her in the room quite this early before, so maybe the room was empty. Finally, after what felt like hours of trudging towards home, the pair arrived at her doorstep. She glanced at Aegle. "Alright, I t'ink t'is is my stop. Are you okay to walk back to you' room? If you aren't, I could make some room fo' y-..." Huh. Was it just her, or was Aegle making a funny face...? Was it something she'd said...?

LAIKA OF GS!

[Aegle Verdant]

It was easier going after that, though not by much. Aegle needed more than a brief breather to put herself right, though it wasn't just her heart that was working overtime as they climbed the last few steps to their floor. She was also thinking about what Carmin had said, who had apparently taken for granted that the two of them were now friends. Aegle worried at that thought with each plodding step, with each wheeze and grunt, turning it this what and that in an effort to make sense of it, and determine how and what it made her feel.
She'd never agreed to be Carmin's friend; Until learning they might be roommates, Carmin had been no more significant to Aegle than had the half a hundred other faces she'd seen since coming to Haven. Her encounter with the red haired girl was just one in half a dozen which had seemed worth remembering. There'd been nothing special about it, save some freak of coincidence that had them sharing the same room, and that, only a suspicion. A strong suspicion admittedly, but one held by Aegle alone. Carmin had not apparently connected the dots, she did not have something like serendipity to justify the title of 'friend'.

Aegle thought about what it meant to be Carmin's friend too. Was she just being weird? Was it really so easy? They stumbled down the corridor, and Carmin said nothing. With each door they passed, they drew closer to the absurd. Approaching, with each step, the furthest credible extent of coincidence. In a random world, anything was possible, but Aegle still could not believe it was true. It wasn't just unlikely, it was contrived, seemingly manufactured by some deliberate will. That she should just happen to meet Carmin today, that she should just happen to talk about her mysterious roommate, that she should just happen to make Aegle her friend, and ask that she carry her home. How many random chances had gone into this meeting, how many half-considered decisions? How had the world conspired, that they should meet one another this way?

She was no closer to knowing how she felt about Carmin, nor the circumstances of their meeting, when Aegle stopped before her door. She waited, not daring to say a word, for Carmin to either recognize their destination or else direct her on. Even now, standing before the door, it was too unlikely, too absurd, to believe it was true.
"Alright," Carmin said, not seeming to realize she held Aegle's heart on a string. Their eyes met, Carmin's red and Aegle's green, one face absent and exhausted, blissfully unaffected, while the other was almost rigid with anticipation.
"I t'ink t'is is my stop."
Something inside Aegle broke. Her grin stretched tight across her face, and her eyes screwed up, and her whole body started to tremble. Carmin was asking something, but Aegle could not hear her over the roaring in her ears. Aegle eased herself out from under Carmin and, braced against the door, hid her face beneath her hood. She stood like that, hands at her side and head bowed, shaking uncontrollably. 
After a few moments, she found the nerve to look at Carmin, a brief glance from under her cowl. When she did, her breath hitched, and she muffled a sound with one bloody-bandaged fist. Carmin looked confused, or perhaps surprised; There were tears in Aegle's eyes, blurring her vision, and she couldn't tell the difference.

How crazy she must have looked, breaking down like that. And for what? A bit of coincidence? A bit of random chance? Aegle muffled another sound behind her hand, and thought how she'd better explain herself before Carmin thought she'd lost her mind, but she hadn't the words.
'My heart,' she thought deliriously, 'It's making me silly.'
"S'too funny..." Aegle finally croaked, as she shuddered against the door, "S'just too funny..."
That was no explanation, and she knew it, but how to convey what she felt? No words existed to share this feeling with Carmin or, if they did exist, Aegle did not know them. She stood there, shaking.

At last, Aegle tugged her key from her pocket and, with difficulty, pressed it into the lock. She all but fell through as the door opened, staggering and stumbling past the bed she now knew was Carmin's. At last, all her trembling and shaking was given a voice; She took the end of her hand wraps in her teeth and peeled them off, laughing all the while. She let they unravel off her arms, to fall into a heap right beside yesterdays wraps, and those from the day before, and then she fell as well, into her bed.

There were no words, and it was so very funny.

words - 796

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 623 TAG: Aegle Verdant NOTES: youtu.be/Fkk9DI-8el4?t=26 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Uhhhh... What? Carmim watched as her new friend just completely split at the seams- her face was fixed in a maniacal grin, and she was very visibly shaking, as she just sort of fell into the door. The poor redhead didn't even have time to wonder what was going on, or how to help- she just stood there, frozen, big red eyes blinking in confusion, hand limply outstretched as if to offer some kind of assistance, but what help, she had no idea. Was it something she said? Maybe all the strain from the workouts? Or from carrying her back to her room? Oh boy. Well, tired as she was, herself, she definitely needed to get Aegle to her room, once she figured out where that was. While she tried to think that over, the bald girl glanced up at her, and she caught a glimpse of tear-streaked eyes, before Aegle could pull her face away again. What could have possibly upset her so much!? And here Carmim stood, completely incapable of reacting to any of this- it was just so much. All at once. So she just stood there, like an idiot, hand halfway out, mouth hanging slightly open, eyes wide. Funny? Aegle's rambling between laughs caught her attention, but it wasn't making much sense. What was funny? Something was funny...? "A-Aegle? Are you feeling okay...?" She managed to hesitantly get the question out of her mouth, which allowed her the free will to lower her hand. Now unfrozen, she took a small step closer, to check on her friend, when said friend turned toward the door, and drew a key from her pocket. Eh? Before Carmim could chime up and mention that this was her room, and that key wouldn't work, but she could let her in if she needed to lay down- the key worked. And Aegle fell right through the door, shambling zombie-like through the room to her roommate's bed. As Aegle's bloody hand wraps joined the collection of hand wraps on the floor, it all clicked. And it was so very funny. She just stood there, watching this scene unfold for far too long, before she felt a little bubble rising up in her throat. It came floating up to the top and slipped through her lips as a little stifled giggle. A giggle that became a chuckle, that became a laugh. Then, from a laugh, to an outright fit of cackling laughter, as she leaned against the door frame, slumping weakly against the wood with her arm. She'd spent all day trying to find her roommate. And had recruited Aegle to help her. And all this time... She didn't even figure it out, until now. In retrospect, it all made sense: the baggy clothes, the bloody rags... Aegle had mentioned she read comics, and seemed to be familiar with the lightning dust cells. And lived in the gym. The boxing manuals, everything- it all hit her at once, and suddenly, she understood what was so funny. It was hilarious. All this time... She stumbled into the dark room, not even bothering to pull the door closed behind her, her own laughter mingling with Aegle's as she stared at her own bed, before promptly face-planting into it. With the last of her energy for the night, she turned her head to face Aegle's bed, and grinned, fighting back the laughter for just a moment. This was way too funny. But even beyond that, she was just excited. She had hoped her roommate would be someone she could get along with well, someone she could be great friends with. This was just too perfect. "Good night... Roomie." And then she was out like a light.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Wolfe]

XP Distribution

Aegle: 75

1 + 75 = 76 new total

Carmim: 63

78 + 63 = 141 new total