Fandom Island and Town

As happy as Dimitri should've been to return to his apartment, today was his last official day opening the gym and it was casting a sad glow over the front desk.

Or maybe that was just ( Tracy weeping. )

And he would be at the desk, preparing things for the new manager.

After one night sleeping in his office, and one night on a cot that simply wasn't meant for a person his height, Dimitri deserved a drink.

Sadly there was no Chuck there for him to chat with, just a too-happy Tino.

Dimitri didn't want to ask why Tino seemed so happy. He was certain the answer would involve TMI. It was better to listen to the zombie's rendition of music that was NOT Celine Dion. It would work out.

It was quiet in the gym after Dimitri worked through his usual routine. The staff seemed to be giving him a wide berth, which was unusual on Jessi's day. Perhaps she'd seen the dangerous gleam in his eyes as he assaulted the heavy bag. Or maybe it was the intensity and sheer number of sit ups he performed. Whatever it was, Dimitri was fine with Jessi keeping away. He would have to hold his tongue, and as it was, that was going to be a difficult feat if the reason for his ire showed her face. Perhaps her most recent lapse in judgment proved permanent.

In an effort to regain and maintain his sense of inner and outer calm, Dimitri now sat poised on the thick, plush mats, legs crossed with his hands resting on his knees, palms open to the ceiling. Meditation was the key. Deep, even breaths in and out. No thoughts, just a singular focus on his breathing.

How long the quiet lasted would depend on the company, but Atlas was open for business.

After so many months, Dimitri really thought he should be immune to Jessi and her special brand of whining.

"Seriously, she just hangs out and then wanders off for an hour and comes back with shopping bags! Not fair!"

It was going to become obvious soon that he was only pretending to be focused intensely on order forms for yoga bands and so Dimitri reached into the desk drawer and surreptitiously put in earplugs. Sometimes having a gun range as part of the facility was useful. "Go shopping if you want, but clock out when you leave," Dimitri told her. Again.

"You so don't care if I'm here or not, do you? Did you forget that we used to have a thing?"

It was like being underwater. Jessi's mouth moved but the sound was drowned out. The quiet was bliss to Dimitri. He swapped the order forms for his book and propped his elbow on the desk to get some quality reading done.

"Um, hell-o? Talking to you over here?"

Atlas Gym was open and strangely quiet.

Something about the previous day had Jessi insisting on remaining in one of the classrooms, and Dimitri was certainly not complaining about her choice. If he'd known her reasoning, there would be a whole brood of ducklings living in the back room by the afternoon.

With the radio tuned to some old school music, Dimitri took up residence at the desk and ( checked his email. OMG SO THRILLING. )

Clearly he was going to need some time to write back without symbols depicting how he felt about all of this.

When Dimitri arrived at the gym, he was greeted immediately by a high-pitched scream emanating from the back room. The keys in his hand hit the floor as he raced across the main room, leaping over equipment rather than wasting time going around. Bursting through the door, he came to an abrupt stop, unsure if he should succomb to the urge to laugh or leave.

Jessi sat on the stool in front of the laundry counter, body wrapped in what appeared to be a huge cocoon of towels...dirty towels if Dimitri was judging by the stench. "Oh thank God it's you! They wo--" A towel jumped to cover her mouth and the muffled eww-ing was made more evident by the look in Jessi's eyes.

If the towels hadn't seemed to be tensing (or looking tempted by the new arrival), Dimitri might not have looked around for a solution to this living whites issue and noticed the conveniently prepared washing machine bubbling with suds. Fandom was always so giving with these things. "Are you rethinking the choice not to do any laundry while Rose and I were gone last week?" Dimitri inquired, already prepared to attack the towels regardless of her answer. Luckily, Jessi's head moved a millimeter against the strain of her bindings.

The movement was enough and Dimitri reached and quickly peeled a towel from her side, causing the thing to immediately wrap itself around his forearm and begin squeezing like a boa constrictor. He'd hoped to toss the terrible towel into the washer, but with it clinging on there wasn't much choice. He plunged his arm into the soapy water and the towel seemed to sigh, sinking happily to the bottom.

Dimitri eyed the fifty or so towels still writhing around Jessi. "Lather, rinse, repeat," he murmured, setting to work at this new task.

Have no fear, he left the towel covering her mouth to the very last. It was a strategy to keep Jessi from invoking the rage of any more linens. Really.

Now Showing:
McLincock!

He likes his whiskey hard...his women soft...and his west all to himself!

When he heard what the theater was showing, Dimitri had decided a classic Duke film was just what Rose needed to see in order to better understand why Westerns were not romance novels. And while he could easily rent his favorites anytime, this was on the big screen and that made a difference somehow.

He hadn't gone inside yet with the hope that his message had gotten to Rose in time and she was feeling available enough to let him take her out in public. It was a small step and if she was still concerned about rodents even after all the weirdness of the week, well, he'd simply take the heat. There would be no bribing.

But there might be popcorn.

[McLintock! is a horribly racist and sexist Western with an exclamation mark in the title and available online! Meta name due to typo that stuck. MST3K is open but free from OCD.]

If Dimitri was speaking about it to anyone, he'd have to admit there was nothing very interesting about his tasks at the gym, other than when he was working out or when people stopped in for their own training. This day was no different, but rather than be bored, he set himself to the task of refitting the training dummies with an extra layer of padding in their chest cavity.

Rose could consider the enhanced dummies a special surprise for when she resumed her training. Thinking of Rose, Dimitri realized he'd not seen a certain feisty bobcat in quite a few hours. A glance toward the doors had him wondering for a fleeting moment what she was up to out there, but given the things he'd witnessed the bobcat doing over the last week, Dimitri felt he could be better off not knowing. So he resumed his task, humming along with the overhead music.

Clearly engineering dummies called for an 80s soundtrack.