Bankor

With that prospect of having to pose for a swimsuit calendar looming over her, Lyseil had steered away from too much sugary treats today (apart from her sugar-infused kaff), and had decided to start excersising more.

Her hair up in a pony-tail and wearing shorts and tank-top, she hit the treadmill with super-determination!

Over in another corner of the gym, Garth was at the chin up bar working hard and sweating heavily.

"Twenty three...twenty four....twenty five..." He hadn't noticed Lyseil, but even if he had, he had a set to finish knocking over first.

Lyseil was certainly side-tracked from her jog on the treadmill. OH MY STARS. Those abs!!

She picked up her jaw, hoping the man hadn't seen. Oh hey! She remembered him from yesterday!

"Twenty nine....thirty."

With a satisfied grunt, Garth drops down from the bar and towels himself off. It's only as he turns for his water bottle, towel draped around his neck, that he notice Lyseil.

"Evening, Sarge." He greets Lyseil as he wanders over. "Did y' hear if those...unfortunate souls were returned to their families?"

"Good evening, ensign!" She greeted with a bubbly smile, still keeping her jogging going. Z should ask him to pose for the calendar. I can imagine plenty men and women will be impressed with that physique!

"I... haven't checked. I know the Resistance had a look at them, but I assume they saw to their burial?" Lyseil had been too occupied with other matters to have seen into that - and there was only so long she wanted to look at such mutilated corpses. "Good work there yesterday, by the way."

Garth nodded in similar hope.

"Doubt they found much peace in their last moments of life, ah hope their souls can find some measure of it now though." He replies as his attention is drawn by the rhythmic pounding of Lyseil's feet on the treadmill.

D6 ME. I'm not a perve, honest. Willpower v average: 3eA+2eD 0 successes, 2 advantage


Against his better judgment, Garth's eyes sweep over Lyseil's form before he locks them onto the treadmill readout. "Impressive." He comments, ambiguously.

"I hope so too..." she wasn't so sure if she believed in much of an afterlife. There were so many different beliefs about it out there in the galaxy, how could she know which one was true? Though there did seem to be cases of ghosts lingering behind, so there was clearly something that happened to some people after death.

"Hm, what is?" Lyseil glanced over her shoulder at Garth, not knowing what he meant.

"Oh...errr your readings. Was never one for th' treadmill m'self. The feeling of running and not actually getting anywhere just messes wi' me head."Garth responds as he moves around, so Lyseil doesn't have to twist around to hold a conversation as she runs.

"Ah hear we might be movin' on to the next engagement soon." Garth continues, changing subject to something less personal. "Any news from the brass on what it may be?"

"Ahh... I see. Well, I much more prefer running outdoors! Especially back on home Alderaan - we got, like, lots of really nice trails out in the nature so you get all the good fresh air and beautiful scenery along with your workout. I try not to think too much about being in one place on the treadmill."

She gave an appriciative smile as he circled around so she could see him when talking. "Last I heard... Viridian sea, it seemed like. There's some monastic order of Force users there that need help."

"Well if ye want a runnin' partner, maybe in a more hospitable climate than the desert though, feel free t' gimme a holler."

But when she mentioned the monastic order, that definitely grabbed Garth's attention.

"Now tha's a coincidence. Found a vendor yesterday who were selling these." He explains as he points to the beaded necklace hanging from his neck and down his bared chest.

"He tol' me it was a meditative trinket from a local bunch o' monks. Ah hope they don' want it back."

"Really?!" Lyseil's interest was piqued, and not only because the necklace had a very gorgeous background!

"Huh..." she pressed the functions on the treadmill, causing it to slow down. "Where'd you find this vendor?"

"Down th' sewers last night. Zane took me there earlier yesterday, an' I went back later t' collect somethin' ah ordered and there was this devaronian; Jo."

Garth's gaze dropped, a little sheepishly, to his feet.

"He din' say how he got it, an ah didn' ask." He confessed, suspicious that some of his goods might have been ill gotten.

Darn, too late to go to the sewers now to see if there's more like it!

"That's a shame, but... hmmm," Lyseil's brow furrowed in thought. "Could, I ah, have a look at it later at some point? I'm kind of really-really fascinated by stuff like that, you see."

Garth doesn't seem much harm, and undoes the clasp at the back of his neck. He's even thoughtful enough to give them a quick wipe down, lest any of his sweat had transferred to them.

"Sure." He replies simply as he tosses the beads to Lyseil. "Take a gander, if ye want a longer look with tools and stuff, let me know an' ah'll make it available for ya."

"Ah!" she flailed a little after the necklace, but managed to catch it as she maintained her slow trot on the treadmill. "Hmmm..."

Now that she had it in her hand, she could see the craftsmanship. It was really pretty! And it looked kind of old, judging by little signs of wear, but otherwise in very good condition. Could be the seller had had it polished and restored for sale.

"I need to keep an eye out for this Jo. I'm very curious where he got something like this. But I hope we get to see more of them where we're going! Maybe they could offer some insights on it!"

"Mebbe, all ah know is that since ah've been wearin' it...ah seem more physically resilient, but a li'l less strong mentally. If'n ah could learn more 'bout it, wouldn't be a bad thing in mah 'pinion."

Garth flashes a cheeky smile. "If y' gimme yer details, ah'll message ya if I find out anything int'resting."

"Really? Huh! That's quite fascinating!" We'll have to do some tests to see if it's true or just placebo. Lots of people think all sorts of doo-das and doo-hickeys make them stronger.

"Yeah? That sounds like a great idea!" Lyseil turned the necklace a few times in her hands before tossing it back to Garth. "Let me get back to you on that when I'm done here? I don't want to stop excersising now that I've worked up a good sweat. Gotta get in shape, you know!"

Not that she was in poor shape, but she was certainly softer than most of the other soldiers here at base with hardly any toned muscles. Probably because she spent more time at a desk that out in in the field.

Garth laughed.

"Y'all's shape needs improvin' like a Harch be needin' more arms." He reflexively noted, before he gasped and quickly turned around to hide his blush at making such a blatant observation.

His fingers fumbled as they tried to reclasp the necklace, showing his embarrassment even further.

"Ehh... what?" Lyseil stopped in her trot... and ended up nearly tripping off the treadmill as it delivered her to the end of the conveyer belt. She grabbed onto the rails in time and pushed herself back up with no trouble.

"I... don't know if that was a compliment or not?"

"Errrr...sorry." Garth apologised hastily.

"Professional pilot perils, act first consequences later. Ah really need to work on that," he mumbled.

"Fer what it's worth it were meant t' be a compliment, but if ya wanna just forget ah ever said anythin', ah'd be grateful. Don' need another black mark on mah personnel file."

Lyseil smiled sheepishly. "Ah... don't worry about it. Girl scout's honor, I won't tell anyone!"

She slowed down a little more in her pace. "I don't know, I feel like I could shape up more? Nothing makes you feel more aware about your own physique than the possibility of being taken pict... heeey, say, there's something you might be interested in! There's an idea to do a charity-thing to raise money for the restoration of Bankor, and morale of the troops, if you're game?"

"Seems ah find mahself indebted t' yer kind nature Sarge." Garth let out the breath he'd been subconsciously holding at his previous misstep.

"What d' ah need to do for this charity thing?"

"Weeeeell..." she flustered a little, murmuring shyly. "Zanebry Varliss had this idea of a swimsuit calendar..."

Garth's eyes widen slightly.

So that's why she's so concerned about her figure. He suddenly realises as he puts two and two together before he self consciously looks down his own body.

"Ah must say ah'm flattered at the offer, but are you sure that I'd meet muster? There's a lot of finely toned individuals aroun' here after all."

Now that was a sticky situation. "I am pretty certain you would meet the requirements, ensign! You seem to be in pretty good shape!" She offered with much enthusiasm without thinking about how Garth might interpret it.

"I'm sure mr. Varliss would think you're a good fit!"