Log: Tabitha and Morgan, Sunday Morning
Jun. 8th, 2008 07:19 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
x-plosive.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsTabitha and Morgan have similar morning habits, it's a miracle they've not encountered each other before now. If Morgan has her way, it won't happen again.
She couldn't sleep, so she went down to the pool. She could put in a few extra laps with her time. As she walked through the locker room, her reflection gave her pause. She stopped in front of a sink and turned on the cold tap. She splashed the icy water on her face a few times and looked back up.
The dark, bruised-looking flesh under her eyes didn't look any less awful. She sighed and wondered if a long-hot shower would make her feel any less achey. Tabitha toweled the water from her face and closed her eyes.
Sometimes she was so tired.
Morgan had woken up at four in the morning like usual. It was really starting to weird her out that she was up before the sun was when she'd normally sleep past noon after getting in after the sun came up from it's evening reprieve. Her routine was like clockwork. She was up, teeth brushed, a quick shower and then she padded barefoot down to the pool wearing only her bathing suit and an oversized tee shirt. Most people figured she was the type to wear a bikini but she liked function over form and you couldn't swim decently in one of those things without them falling off. She favored the sort of cut that competitive swimmers wore even if she was a recreational and fitness user only.
Usually no one was in the locker room or the pool when she showed up but today there was a blonde staring at her own reflection. Morgan shrugged to herself and pulled the tee shirt off so she could shove it into the usual locker she appropriated along with her towel. Morgan easily could see herself in the mirror over the head of the blonde so she didn't bother to wait for the woman to move before pulling her white hair into a high ponytail. "Sleep is your friend," she commented before heading out of the locker room and toward the pool.
Tabitha scowled after the blue-skinned woman, Morgan she thought her name was. She didn't look THAT bad, she thought to herself as she turned off the tap. She was just a little tired. She threw her pajamas into her locker and shimmied into her suit. The butt of the suit was getting really worn, she noticed as she stuffed her hair into a nylon cap. It had a significant sag.
She threw her towel over her shoulder before she trailed behind Morgan to the pool area. She just wanted to get into the water and lose herself in the rhythm of the exercise. Maybe then she could forget about the persistent ache in her knee.
By time the woman Morgan was fairly certain was the librarian entered the pool Morgan had already dived in and was starting her laps. She was considering pushing her usual mile in the pool to two. Normally she didn't get a chance to exercise this regularly. She was always on the move or potentially impersonating someone lazy. She was relishing in the fact that she could keep herself in shape regularly rather than just running around a city or sneaking runs through the woods or spending half the morning running up and down flights of stairs because she had to pretend to be someone's housewife.
Morgan's stroke was controlled, measured and seamless. You couldn't hang out with guys who were required to swim well for their military service without being taught proper technique. At least you couldn't if those guys were the ones who pretty much raised Morgan from the age of seventeen on. The whole runaway whore thing didn't lend itself well to being raised, or doing anything aside from just surviving. When she joined the guys they saw to raising her to be exactly what they wanted and needed her to be. Her stroke, as it turned out more than once, was part of that.
Conversely, Tabitha was a bare step above the dog paddle. She splashed through her laps with very little efficiency, but loads of enthusiasm. She'd had swimming lessons, once upon a time, but then her mother had fallen into her alcoholic decline and all the spare money went into her bottle.
At one point Morgan actually had to stop in the middle of a stroke when she'd turned her head for air and spotted what looked to be half struggle and half swimming from the librarian. Morgan was pretty convinced there was some sort of deep seated grudge going on between the librarian and the water that she maybe shouldn't get in the middle of. However, she did end up treading water in the deep end staring at the spectacle.
Tabitha stopped for a breather, clinging to the ladder in the deep end. Logic said she should take her breaks where she could touch, but she considered it incentive to get back to work that much quicker.
When she saw Morgan watching her with what could only be described as comical horror, she couldn't repress a snort of laughter. "Yes, I know I'm horrible, but I don't drown so that has to count for something, right?"
Morgan's eyebrows went up just as fluidly as her limbs moved through the water to keep herself afloat. "Not really. At least if you drowned you wouldn't be wasting all your energy on essentially nothing. If you learnt to swim properly with something even vaguely resembling a stroke it'd do you some good. All you're doing is exhausting yourself." And with the lack of sleep the librarian seemed to have Morgan couldn't imagine that would really work out too well for her.
Tabs wiped the water from her face. "I'm not looking to win any medals, just burn some calories," she replied. She sank a little deeper into the water, trying not to be seen too clearly. "Making up for two years of academia. Went a little soft while I was in school."
The look on Morgan's face was unimpressed and disbelieving. "You realize if you do it the right way you'd accomplish more in the way of burning calories than if you flail in the water, right?"
She snorted. "Swimming 101 wasn't exactly the top of the library science curriculum. I don't even think it was offered. Who wants to teach people my age how to swim?" Her voice edged on challenge.
The challenge was clearly heard. Unfortunately for the librarian Morgan wasn't biting. Challenges she liked, hopeless causes or anything having to do with someone she hadn't decided she liked, on the other hand, she didn't. "Nice excuse, practice it often? There are people called swim instructors. You pay them and they teach you to swim so you can accomplish something other than splashing around like a drowning rat."
Tabitha visibly bristled, feeling challenged. She turned her back on Morgan, reached for the ladder to pull herself out of the water. "You're right," she said with a glance over her shoulder. "I could be back in fighting form twice as fast if I was doing it right." Wet footprints followed her across the concrete.
Morgan watched her go and just shrugged. "Someone's been inhaling too many chemicals working with the really old books," she muttered to herself. A moment later she was back to doing laps.
She couldn't sleep, so she went down to the pool. She could put in a few extra laps with her time. As she walked through the locker room, her reflection gave her pause. She stopped in front of a sink and turned on the cold tap. She splashed the icy water on her face a few times and looked back up.
The dark, bruised-looking flesh under her eyes didn't look any less awful. She sighed and wondered if a long-hot shower would make her feel any less achey. Tabitha toweled the water from her face and closed her eyes.
Sometimes she was so tired.
Morgan had woken up at four in the morning like usual. It was really starting to weird her out that she was up before the sun was when she'd normally sleep past noon after getting in after the sun came up from it's evening reprieve. Her routine was like clockwork. She was up, teeth brushed, a quick shower and then she padded barefoot down to the pool wearing only her bathing suit and an oversized tee shirt. Most people figured she was the type to wear a bikini but she liked function over form and you couldn't swim decently in one of those things without them falling off. She favored the sort of cut that competitive swimmers wore even if she was a recreational and fitness user only.
Usually no one was in the locker room or the pool when she showed up but today there was a blonde staring at her own reflection. Morgan shrugged to herself and pulled the tee shirt off so she could shove it into the usual locker she appropriated along with her towel. Morgan easily could see herself in the mirror over the head of the blonde so she didn't bother to wait for the woman to move before pulling her white hair into a high ponytail. "Sleep is your friend," she commented before heading out of the locker room and toward the pool.
Tabitha scowled after the blue-skinned woman, Morgan she thought her name was. She didn't look THAT bad, she thought to herself as she turned off the tap. She was just a little tired. She threw her pajamas into her locker and shimmied into her suit. The butt of the suit was getting really worn, she noticed as she stuffed her hair into a nylon cap. It had a significant sag.
She threw her towel over her shoulder before she trailed behind Morgan to the pool area. She just wanted to get into the water and lose herself in the rhythm of the exercise. Maybe then she could forget about the persistent ache in her knee.
By time the woman Morgan was fairly certain was the librarian entered the pool Morgan had already dived in and was starting her laps. She was considering pushing her usual mile in the pool to two. Normally she didn't get a chance to exercise this regularly. She was always on the move or potentially impersonating someone lazy. She was relishing in the fact that she could keep herself in shape regularly rather than just running around a city or sneaking runs through the woods or spending half the morning running up and down flights of stairs because she had to pretend to be someone's housewife.
Morgan's stroke was controlled, measured and seamless. You couldn't hang out with guys who were required to swim well for their military service without being taught proper technique. At least you couldn't if those guys were the ones who pretty much raised Morgan from the age of seventeen on. The whole runaway whore thing didn't lend itself well to being raised, or doing anything aside from just surviving. When she joined the guys they saw to raising her to be exactly what they wanted and needed her to be. Her stroke, as it turned out more than once, was part of that.
Conversely, Tabitha was a bare step above the dog paddle. She splashed through her laps with very little efficiency, but loads of enthusiasm. She'd had swimming lessons, once upon a time, but then her mother had fallen into her alcoholic decline and all the spare money went into her bottle.
At one point Morgan actually had to stop in the middle of a stroke when she'd turned her head for air and spotted what looked to be half struggle and half swimming from the librarian. Morgan was pretty convinced there was some sort of deep seated grudge going on between the librarian and the water that she maybe shouldn't get in the middle of. However, she did end up treading water in the deep end staring at the spectacle.
Tabitha stopped for a breather, clinging to the ladder in the deep end. Logic said she should take her breaks where she could touch, but she considered it incentive to get back to work that much quicker.
When she saw Morgan watching her with what could only be described as comical horror, she couldn't repress a snort of laughter. "Yes, I know I'm horrible, but I don't drown so that has to count for something, right?"
Morgan's eyebrows went up just as fluidly as her limbs moved through the water to keep herself afloat. "Not really. At least if you drowned you wouldn't be wasting all your energy on essentially nothing. If you learnt to swim properly with something even vaguely resembling a stroke it'd do you some good. All you're doing is exhausting yourself." And with the lack of sleep the librarian seemed to have Morgan couldn't imagine that would really work out too well for her.
Tabs wiped the water from her face. "I'm not looking to win any medals, just burn some calories," she replied. She sank a little deeper into the water, trying not to be seen too clearly. "Making up for two years of academia. Went a little soft while I was in school."
The look on Morgan's face was unimpressed and disbelieving. "You realize if you do it the right way you'd accomplish more in the way of burning calories than if you flail in the water, right?"
She snorted. "Swimming 101 wasn't exactly the top of the library science curriculum. I don't even think it was offered. Who wants to teach people my age how to swim?" Her voice edged on challenge.
The challenge was clearly heard. Unfortunately for the librarian Morgan wasn't biting. Challenges she liked, hopeless causes or anything having to do with someone she hadn't decided she liked, on the other hand, she didn't. "Nice excuse, practice it often? There are people called swim instructors. You pay them and they teach you to swim so you can accomplish something other than splashing around like a drowning rat."
Tabitha visibly bristled, feeling challenged. She turned her back on Morgan, reached for the ladder to pull herself out of the water. "You're right," she said with a glance over her shoulder. "I could be back in fighting form twice as fast if I was doing it right." Wet footprints followed her across the concrete.
Morgan watched her go and just shrugged. "Someone's been inhaling too many chemicals working with the really old books," she muttered to herself. A moment later she was back to doing laps.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}