Slayer-Training For Dummies Who: Gabriel and Kayla Where: The Sugar Shack When: Tuesday, April 13th
Mm, Sugar Shack. Kayla was in desperate need for a pick-me-up after a barely passable day at school. Thank God Gabriel suggested that they met here; otherwise she might have passed out on the poor guy. She arrived a good twenty minutes before the suggested meet time, and ordered herself a coffee from Mouse and then looked around. She was clad in waist high jeans, a black tank-top and red suspenders, which she hooked her thumbs in to. She idly wondered if it was appropriate attire, but… he’d probably tell her if it was, right?
When Gabriel did walk in, he noticed Kayla straight away and headed in her direction. He actually wasn't much for coffee. Call him a stereotype, but he much preferred a cup of tea to coffee any day as a way to wake up, and he certainly didn't trust any place that had the word 'shack' in the name to make a decent cup of tea. He sat down at the table with her. "Hello," he said. "Having a good day so far?"
"Oh, not really." Kayla sipped her delicious coffee. Ah, as soon as she was done with it she'd be bouncing off the walls. Fantastic! "What about you?" She grinned and ruffled the hair at the back of her head, as she already began to feel the caffeine start to take effect.
He arched an eyebrow. "Bad day then?" he asked her. His day had gone fine so far, but now he was curious about her day and how it had gone.
Her mouth moved to the side thoughtfully, "I'd say moderate-to-bad. It wasn't like there was any event to set it off, I just get moody sometimes." She shrugged.
Lovely. "Hopefully you can work that out a little bit with some training," he said. "I'm glad that something didn't set you off, though."
"Yeah, the world ends when that happens," she replied, smirking over her cup. "So, speaking of training: where exactly do we start?"
"First I suppose we should see exactly what you can do and move from there," he said. It was how he had started out before, after all. Then again, best not to think of that.
Kayla chuckled, "I think we've already established that I'm a runner." She had been thinking of picking up parkour recently, if only to run more effectively if need be. "I did ballet when I was a kid? But beyond that, it's like starting from scratch."
Gabriel nodded. "We need to do strength tests and such as well. Just because you couldn't do much before doesn't mean that you can't now."
She wrinkled her nose. "This is all sounding very clinical. Don't tell me I have to study for it, too?" Not that she wouldn't, but the thought of more work on her plate didn't put her at ease.
"Well, there is some study, but it's more demonology than necessarily how to break a board with your head," Gabriel explained to her. "What I have to teach you is a little more practical than that."
"Right," she murmured, before taking another sip of her coffee. "Are you... Do you get nervous? I'm nervous. I'd say the shaking was nerves, but I think that might just be the sugar content of the coffee." She wrinkled her nose.
"I do get nervous," he said to her. It just took a lot for him to get nervous, and he expressed it in different ways than literally shaking out of his own seat. "Just not that often."
She smiled at him then. There was just something about his nature that was just... calming. "Good," she cleared her throat. "That's good. My evening's free, if you wanted to do some of that now."
He nodded, standing up. "That sounds like a good idea. To the basement then?"
"There's a basement?" Kayla chuckled. She knew that, right? She sipped the last of her coffee and set it down on the counter, before following him down to the basement like a good little student.
"The basement is set up for us, actually. Well, watchers and slayers, that is," Gabriel explained as he headed downstairs to the training area. "Mr. Giles has a set up with the owner here."
"That's pretty handy," Kayla murmured as she looked around. "Some girls might get a little enthusiastic if they get to the sugar first." She chuckled weakly and took off her suspenders, since they were more for aesthetic value then actual... holding up of the pants.
"For some reason, I suspect that lots of girls drink tons of coffee and then head down here just for that," he said with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, 'cause that's not dangerous," she replied with a grin. "Sooooo, strength test?"
"Yes, strength test," he said, gesturing over to the bench press. "Let's see how much weight you can lift."
"Oh," she replied, coming close to facepalming. For some reason she thought it'd be something horrible, but that? She could do. She set herself under the weights and lifted them, "oh hey, this is fun!"
He sort of figured that she'd find it fun for some reason or another. He started to place more weight on the bar to see where she'd max out at.
"Okay, now I'm starting to think you're mean," she said after a few minutes, followed by a grunt. "Mean mean mean." Of course, she was just teasing him.
"And yet you keep being able to lift them, so I can't be that mean," Gabriel pointed out to her.
"You're not allowed to use logic against me," she replied, before glancing at the weights. "Holy crap on a cracker, that looks heavy."
"Just give it a try," Gabriel said to her. "And logic is one of my few weapons, so you can't deny me of it."
She lifted the heavier weight, although her arms were a little wobbly this time. "Well, you're not allowed to use it when I get pouty then. I want to be illogical sometimes."
He could see that she was getting a little wobbly. They were getting close to her max. "OK, now try this one. If you don't think you can life it, then don't."
She re-gripped the bar and lifted the weight slightly, but was quick to set it down again. "She-Hulk has reached her limit."
Gabriel nodded, taking a small notebook out of his pocket and writing down the weight she had gotten up to. "That's very good for just starting out," he said to her. He walked over to the mini fridge they kept down there and pulled out a bottle of water, handing it to her.
She sat up on the bench and rested her elbows on her knees. A little flush in the cheeks, but grinning from an adrenaline high. "Oh, thanks," she said cheerfully, taking the bottle and uncapping it, before taking a long gulp.
"So, now we've tested your strength, what should we test next?" He was thinking out loud, trying to decide what to do next. "Speed? Endurance?" He turned back to her. "What do you think?"
"I like running," she admitted with a dreamy smile, before looking around. "I guess while I'm here, we should test endurance." She liked that he asked, though. That meant something.
"Endurance it is," He said, walking over to the treadmill that they had. "We don't have the equipment to measure things such as breath intake and such, so we'll have to do it the old fashion way. We can start you off at a light run and see how long you can keep at it. Is that good for you?"
She followed him, setting aside her water before stepping on the treadmill. "Sounds perfect," she assured him, before giving him a cheeky grin, "When can we test you?"
A small smile crossed his face. "Oh, I was tested a lot just to be here with you," he said to her.
Awr. "Well, I'm glad I'm in such capable hands," she replied before giving her task her complete focus.
He set the treadmill to a steady running pace. Not a full sprint, but a little more than just a jog. He stood back and, timer in hand, waited to see how long she would be able to do it.
A good twenty minutes later she started to pant, feeling her muscles constrict in her side. "'m sure I mentioned that I'm not all that fit," she chuckled weakly.
He clicked his watch and wrote the time down. "Yet you still have done much better than the average person," he said to her. "Endurance is something that can be worked on easily enough."
"Sure," she agreed, slowing down and eventually coming to a stop. She wiped a hand across her sweaty forehead and let out a throaty chuckle. "Don't listen to me if I complain about that. Something tells me it's the easiest part."
He nodded. He grabbed a towel off of a stack that they had down there for when the girls worked out and handed it to her. "I will tune out your complaining then," he said.
"Domo arigato.*" She smirked and took the offered towel, patting down her forehead, oddly thinking that Deanna would likely be turned on seeing her sweaty like this.
"Douitashimashite*," he said back to her. He actually knew Japanese, along with a dozen or so other languages.
"Well now, aren't you just full of surprises," she said with a laugh. It was nice, though.
"All you have to do is ask and I'll tell you about them," he said back to her.
She rubbed a hand through her short dark hair, "so, we're going to be open and honest with each other, huh?"
"That seems to be the better way of doing these things," he said to her.
Kayla smiled then, "Good. I don't like secrets. So! What's next?"
"Secrets are bad," Gabriel said. "Which is why I should tell you something about myself. I'm a half demon of the Byblos lineage. I wanted to wait a little bit before telling you, to get to know you a little first. Does it bother you?"
Kayla moved her mouth to the side thoughtfully, and then shrugged. "I don't really know much about demons, but you've been nothing but kind to me, so no. It doesn't bother me."
"My race, or half-race if you will, is peaceful, so you have nothing to fear from me," Gabriel said to her. "I'm glad to hear that, though."
Kayla smiled faintly, "Maybe that's why I like you so much. You have a... Well, calming way, I guess. It's nice." Stabilising. "Do you think we can call it a night?"
He nodded. "Calling it a night is fine," he agreed. Testing her limits had probably taken it out of her.
"I know you're probably not used to this, but," she threw her arms around his shoulders and gave him a brief hug, "thank you."
He did startle just a tad when she hugged him, but then managed to hug her back. "You're welcome."