work it make it do it makes us harder better faster stronger [ open ]

[aregulargirl]

Who; Max Guevara and anyone else awake at the hours she is.
What; Testing herself in the gym.
Where; A gym! In Residential Zone 01, let's say, it makes sense.
When; A day or so after the mistletoe shenanigans, late night/early morning.
Warning(s); Nothing I can think of, maybe mentions of her background (harsh military grade training from very

Comments

[accidentalspark]

There's only one reason to be at a gym: training. Exercise, too, technically, but Katniss's first thought always goes to training. The one she's found today is lacking her usual pings, so she has every intention of sneaking out just as quickly, but she stops at seeing the girl resting against the wall.

She's probably been spotted, and in the second she mulls what to do over, pauses awkwardly, not sure if she should say hi or not. She's finally removed the Mockingjay armor, at least, so Max is face to face with a skinny, casually clothed Katniss, complete with all the dark circles because guess who else hasn't been sleeping well here? Not that she realizes it's Max yet, since they've only spoken over audio.

"Sorry." She settles on a short apology at potentially interrupting.

[aregulargirl]

Max's thoughts regarding gyms and exercise follow a similar path to Katniss's. It's why she doesn't typically do things this or work out. It reminds her too much of her own training and aside from that, she doesn't really need to work out to stay sharp.

She spots Katniss in her peripheral and straightens, giving the girl a subtle once over as she adjusts her own clothing and shakes her hair loose. "It's fine, I was just about done here." Her eyes narrow as she places where she's seen her before - on the network, not too long ago. "Katniss?"

[accidentalspark]

"I'm not going to stay long anyway." Her eyebrows furrow for a moment in voice recognition. She doesn't do much else, just looks at the other girl quietly to commit the face to memory as well.

But she nods, confirmation of her name, and adds, "Max, right?"

[aregulargirl]

"Yeah," she confirms with a nod of her own. There's a stretch of awkward silence before she speaks up again. "Couldn't sleep, either?"

[accidentalspark]

She shrugs. Nightmares make sleeping difficult, combined with the whole being on a space station thing.

"It happens." What, you expected Katniss to share that? Not yet.

[aregulargirl]

"Yeah," she says again, nodding. Nightmares are one of the reasons she doesn't like sleeping unless she needs to herself, and she can go pretty long without. She wonders if that's been affected, too, and if that has how much else of her biology is different here. (If this means she no longer goes into heat, she might be more okay with it.)

[accidentalspark]

Katniss fidgets. She's horrible at small talk. And she does not want to be asked about her inability to sleep.

"Do you... do stuff like this a lot?" A vague gesture to the room they're standing in and all the equipment inside it.

[aregulargirl]

Max wouldn't ask anyway, but Katniss's question makes her think for a while about her answer. She typically doesn't because she doesn't need to, all her training is ingrained in her mind and body as much as she'd like to pretend otherwise. Going back into it, even though she'd been free from Manticore for years, was like riding a bicycle.

"When I have to."

[accidentalspark]

When I have to. That triggers a flash of training for the Games, twice, which isn't as bad as a memory could be, and she manages to push back thoughts of what followed it.

"Isn't that usually the case? Although I guess some people do it out of want." Among other reasons.

[aregulargirl]

Max has never been involved with anything quite as brutal as the games - she and her unit were trained in the fine art of assassination since childhood, but it was meant to be used on the enemy, never on each other.

"Or for fun." Max snorts with humorless laughter. "Those people need new hobbies."

[accidentalspark]

"Fun. Oh yeah. Loads." She's dripping with deadpan. Never once had any sort of training been fun for her, and it'll always baffle her when people legitimately enjoy it.

Katniss subconsciously rubs her arm, where the number 451 was still stamped, although hidden under a sleeve. That'd been training, too, but of a different sort. It makes her wonder how Johanna's doing. And then before she can stop it, another remark slides out. "Makes you think what kind of life they lead that it's fun."

[aregulargirl]

Max shakes her head, unable to provide an answer. There are times when exercising provides clarity, helps her to block out the thoughts and doubts that trouble her mind, but it's never something she particularly enjoys.

"One with a lot of downtime, I'd imagine." Not all of the wealthy decided to use their downtime to become freedom fighters, after all.

[accidentalspark]

"Too much downtime," she mutters. Training for fun? Never something that had crossed her mind, even when she had time for herself. There was never anything fun about it.

[aregulargirl]

"My thoughts exactly," she agrees, nodding. "I guess it's productive in a way, but it's not something I'd choose to do."

Pause. "Except in this case, apparently."