Aug 29 18:50:08 105 PA

From Chronicles

The current game time is: Sat Aug 29 18:50:08 105 PA.

Weekend evenings are typically busy for gyms and this day is no exception. The sound of multiple voices and the clink clank of equipment fill the building as people go about their pursuit of physical perfection apace. In the area devoted to weight training, Desmond has found himself in the midst of several other men, all talking animatedly while he looks between them with a bemused expression. "He can lift it, I tell you," a particularly vocal one declares, giving the big cat a pat on the arm, indicating who 'he' is. "Seen him left way more than that around here. Just look at 'im!" The argument continues, with Desmond looking between the men with that lingering thoughtful bemusement.

Initally after having wandered into the gym for his usual run through to stay in shape, Kesslan's attention is drawn by the small comotion over by the weightlifting area. Though soon enough he sees the reason for it and cant help but be mildly ammused by the spectacle. None the less he makes his way over towards Desmond, giving the other feline a nod in greeting. "How are you this day Desmond?" he inquires.

Desmond looks towards Kesslan when he speaks, a sense of relief washing over him as he sees the familiar feline. "Kesslan," he rumbles in greeting. "All is well, but.." His thought is paused as the louder of the group gives him another pat and states, "C'mon, Des. Show em what you can do." Pointing then at a nearby set of weights that is sitting nearby. The strengthened bar is supported by four large, thick slabs of metal, one of them with a visible 250 stamped on the side, all the same size and composition. Desmond frowns faintly and shakes his head slightly. "This is hardly necessary, can they not take my word on such things?" Given the response from the others, they don't seem about to accommodate Desmond in that.

Kesslan shrugs slightly "Humans like spectacles. Look at the Arena Desmond, people go to see juicers fight each other in games. Rumor even has it the Arena once had a fight involving a dragon. They do have their so called 'Unlimited League' here afterall. Supposedly the only place in the world that does. Anyone whoc ares to compete in it can do so, and certainly Mega Juicers and Titan Juicers do on a regular basis."

Desmond breathes out a deep sigh, looking between the humans slowly, then to Kesslan. "Very well," he acquiesces simply, which gets him a few more companionable pats from the more vocal of the men. Not one to delay once his path is set, Des turns and moves over to the set of weights, the gathered guys moving with, but not crowding in too closely. A few others nearby glance over curiously as Desmond dips down into a low crouch, casually gripping the bar. With 'ease' he pulls the weight upward smoothly, a deep breath taken as he sets it, then smoothly rises from the crouch. Muscles tensed, tested some by the feat, though he doesn't seem to be under great strain. Not near his limit. But he still goes about the lift carefully, rising the bar over his head in a slow, smooth push. "See! NO sweat at all! Hell, I bet the guy could press double that!" the vocal fellow belts out. Desmond looks at him with a stricken expression as the others start to talk on just that potential.

Kesslan grunts at the response the feat gets from the nearby humans "You know there's no reason you need to cater to their fancies Desmond." He points out "Especially when their not exactly paying you to do it." the practical minded pantheran points out. Still, he does move away from Desmond just a little on the off chance that massive weight gets dropped. Not something he'd like to be in the way of armor or not. The current description is now 'Gym'.

Desmond seems to have a good handle on the weight, emitting an annoyed huff as he slowly lowers it, dipping down once more to lay the weight down with a soft thud. "Perhaps I can, but I am not here to entertain you," he states. Protests are cut off with a lifted hand from the big male as he rises back to his feet and a deep rumbled "Allow me to return to what I came here to do." It doesn't stop them from protesting again, but Desmond turns his back, approaching Kesslan. He shakes his head slightly. "The loud one works at Pro-Tech. No doubt he has seen me lift far more than that," he explains in a low rumble. "Much is the physical labor I do there.. and why I was fatigued the night before."

Kesslan nods understandingly "People like showing off to their friends, even when it does not directly involve them. Certainly Gishra got more than a few stares when she pulled off some similar feats durring the war. I'm still not certain if you two would have been evenly matched or not. I've never seen the true measure of your strength, or hers. To be honest I've allways hoped I'd not have cause to."

Desmond cants his head slightly and muses. "For you I would test such a thing, as you are one whom I can see battling with in time. For you to know my capabilities is more a practical matter than one of boast," he rumbles. "And I have never truly tested myself in a measurable way. Though when a partially constructed vehicle did slip free of the assembly line, pinning a fellow, I did lift it enough for others to free him. That is likely what prompted him." His hand lifted back towards the loud man, who continues to talk animatedly to the others, occasionally looking towards Desmond's back. "I know not how much it weighed, but it did tax me to keep it held aloft.

Kesslan nods "Truth.." he wiggles his ears in ammusement "Reminds me of when I was new here. Caliopa was looking at my hoverbike and had asked me to 'turn it over'. Meaning to say she wanted me to run the engine so she could listen to it. I had assumed instead that she ment for me to litterally turn it upside down." he pauses "A think you would likely do with ease but a considerable strain for me. It was a thing that was spoken of for a time, but soon enough forgotten. Perhaps because there is allways a new thing to take the place of the old in this place."

Desmond nods his head thoughtfully at that. "Perhaps it is so." He considers Kesslan, then lifts a hand to slip his arm across the smaller male's shoulders, casually leading him back to a nearby bench where he'd left his own things. "I am not surprised you could do such a thing. That time before, I could fee your strength. It was not as mine, but you are still quite strong. In a way it is favorable that I know so intimately your own strength."

Kesslan shrugs slightly but allows himself to be led "True perhaps, and these things you do here, as just a moment ago. They supprise me not for I've felt a good measure of your strength in many ways. Stuble, but telling. Even so, I am not sure I know in full my own strength for there is a mesure of it well beyond the physical. Physical strength alone cannot allways save you, though I'm sure it's quite handy to be as strong as you are."

Desmond nods his head once. "Considerable that my power is, in most battles it factors little. When a weapon can cleave or burn away flesh with ease, no matter the power of the wielder, battle becomes more a play of skill and speed." He pauses at the bench, having not been there too long by his lack of sweat. He turns and settles himself down, lifting the barbell he'd been working before. Though he starts to make use of it, he keeps his attention on Kesslan, wondering, "What sort of strengths do you speak of? I would understand your thoughts on this."

"Much the same as you mention. Speed, strength, endurance. The mind too holds power. The strength of will, the control of magic or what the humans call psionics. Those such as Ordo hold great power in these matters, more powerful still would he be if better his control and acceptance of what he is had he." Kesslan says, pausing to look over at the nearby weights, moving to pick up some considerably lighter no doubt, than those Desmond is using now. "There are many such things, it is what you do with them that truely decides how strong one is. The sum of the whole."

Desmond is using one of the larger barbells, but nothing too excessive. One suitable for maintenance, rather than a deep test of the self. He continues to do smooth curls as he considers Kesslan's words. "I have not known the abilities of that man.. have barely spoken to him. But yes, the powers that some hold are a curious thing. I have my own.. but they only extend my senses. Inward in focus, where most seem outward in focus. It would be a favorable thing if I had, as some do, the ability to guard their bodies from attack with those internal powers."

Kesslan nods quiet in consideration as he starts up a similar routine to Desmond's. Only speaking again after a moment of silence "Perhaps, but one must make do with what one has. I have no such abilities to speak of. There is nothing special about who I am or what I can do, though for what ever reason some seem to occasionally think otherwise for reasons I do not understand. Spirit touched though my path may be, I myself am only normal. No doubt all I ever shall be. And yet I've done things many others would go their whole lives without even thinking about. Perhaps do even more that I can not even immagine myself."

Desmond cants his head slightly as he considers, eyes subtly loosing focus for a few moments amid that internal debate. "I know not," he rumbles after those few moments, his attention fixing again. "Perhaps it is a matter of destiny. The path you are likely to walk in time. I have only heard of such a thing occasionally, but some believe deeply in such things. Considering the sudden arrival of your kin, such thoughts are given strength. Unlikely as it is that they might come, more so is it that it would be mere minutes after you had come to be there."

"And we know spirits to be real Desmond. They came because I asked the spirits to help. Of that I have no doubt. There are things out there greater than ourselves. The guide us, shape our paths, but in the end it is we who chose what we do, or do not. Those that merely allow themselves to be led are rarely led to greatness. But those that would forge a path of their own? PErhaps. ANd while it may be a path of your own it can still be.. directed, curved as the river towards an intended goal of another. But one still has the power to turn away, to change in unintended ways. Yet it is not allways best to do so."

"To be honest, I do not think of such things," Desmond rumbles. He trades the weight to his other hand, shifting his posture to favor it before he resumes his work. "As you have described such things, it seems that most guidance is discreet and indistinct. For such things, I find it easier not to dwell, for one can hardly tell if they are being guided to a proper path or if they are mistaken in believing this."

"Perhaps. And yet I know something now of what is ment for me. Though if it will come to pass I belive is more uppon what I do to aid or hinder it." Kesslan replies his ears flattening back slightly "It is not a thing I asked for. Not a thing I wanted. And yet it seems a thing I would do gladly of my own if given the chance anyway. If only perhaps, because I understand what there is to loose."

Desmond nods his head once to Kesslan, musing the other feline quietly for a few moments. "Something you would not ask for, but gladly do?" His brow furrowed slightly as considers this. "Is this to do with the gathering for your people or something more that we have not yet spoken of?" There is a subtle note of concern in his expression, his eyes lingering intently on Kesslan, as if to seek silent answers in the set of his posture and expression.

"What I could do here, for I have no doubt they will find a way back in time now that they have been and returned. Could help set my people free. The rest of the fight would be theirs to make. But what I do here could... change things." Kesslan say softly, slowly setting down the weights back into their cradle "Give them a better chance. And in the worst case, help them find a place of safety to flee to untill they could recover. While some would perhaps stay on this world, they would seek a new one of their own again if such was needed. And this world, from what I have seen, from all the races not born of this world such as mine. I have no doubt one of us would find such a place in time."

Desmond listens thoughtfully and bobs his head towards the end. His working has slowed, thoughts turning away from action, towards the possibilities of the future. "There is, I have been told, much land that is unclaimed on this world. Finding a place to settle is not likely to be difficult. It would need be defended, but I do not see that as a challenge for your people. As to what lies beyond.." He shakes his head. "That is beyond my understanding. Though I do hope there is no need for you to give up your homeland. Such things are important, I understand."

"Important? Yes. But survival is the most important of all. Sometimes sacrifices, great ones, must be made. One can allways hope for the best, but the best does not allways happen. What if for example, the worker you spoke of, had not had you there to help save him? To lift the fallen vehicle off?"

Desmond considers that possibility quietly for a moment, seeming to take a greater than average significance from the spin given to it. "I know not, but it would have been more dire. I know not if he will walk well again," he replies after that pause to consider. "But I believe I understand. Had I not chosen to work there, the man would not have seen aid so swiftly as he did get. His situation would have been more dire." He glances down to the weight and rises, taking it to the nearby rack to be dropped off. Not out of earshot, returning immediately after.

"Yes, he could have died from his injuries instead of being disabled. Perhaps he sees it not as a gift, but a curse. And yet, with the technology this world offers, he may yet walk again. Perhaps not on his own legs, but those of steel. Still, there is hope for him in one form or another. Life will go on." Kesslan says softly "Many trials he may face, many hardships. Yet the gift of life is still his. Such a simple thing, often taken for granted. So often squandered. Time must be taken to enjoy it, but sometimes too sacrifices must be made to preserve it. If not for yourself, then others."

"Things I have come to consider more and more as of late," Desmond replies as he settles back down on the bench, hands on his knees. "I have considered often what path my life will take in the future. There is Aimee and the nightclub we shall eventually see made, but after that is settled, I wonder what challenges I might come to face in time. Even if it is not a challenge in arms, to meet and best a challenge to my ability is something which I ever seek. I am unsure what challenges there will be for me to seek, as I move further from the more martial path."

"No doubt the next challenge owuld be to make it a successful buisiness Desmond." Kesslan says with a simple air to his tone of voice. "There are many other clubs in this city, what you will need to do once it is built and open, is to convince others that it is better than the others. Or at least as worthy of their attention as the others. Or perhaps in some way present itself differently, offer something the others do not."

Desmond nods his head once. "Perhaps, but to be honest I don't know that it will be mine to do so. Without knowledge, it is hard to face any challenge and in that I have no experience." He considers quietly for a moment before a slight shake of his head is given. "I suppose I will see what occurs in that, but it will be shared with Aimee. I am more considering what personal challenge I might face. I suppose time shall tell for such things, as it often does."

"And yet there is a challenge for you is there not Desmond? To learn these things, to become as good at them as you are in combat. Or, if not as good, at least as comfortable with it. Aimee cannot, I think, do it alone. Certainly she woudl do better with it than we, it is the sort of thing she knows. But she cannot do it alone." Kesslan points out, pausing to sit on a workout bench. "As with the money, she will need our aid. In one form or another."

Desmond frowns thoughtfully, his eyes dipping as he considers. "There is wisdom in your words," he admits after those moments. "But I am uncertain.. I would not wish to give false aid for my ignorance. I do plan to give what aid I can, I would do no less for her, even in those things that I know not."

Kesslan nods, slowly standing once more as his watch goes off, looking at it with a touch of sadness "Well, it seems it is time for me to go to work Desmond." he says with an appologetic flattening of the ears. "We shall speak of this more some other time I am certain."

Desmond lifts his head as Kesslan rises, rising himself as his fellow feline speaks. "It is well, Kesslan." He steps forward to offer an embrace and a gentle nuzzle. "No doubt we shall speak of many things. Be well, be safe until we meet again, my friend." Taking a slight step back after the embrace and words of parting, all given with an easy warmth.Tags:desmond, kesslan