Log: Hope and Sarah, Tuesday afternoon

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Hope runs into a post-practice Sarah in the gym while searching for a missing earring, and the two chat while searching for the lost object.


Sarah was just finishing up her exercises in the gym, as per Kurt's instructions, and his routine had really put her through her paces. Sweat was pouring off of her, and she was going to need a nice, long shower afterwards to clean up. It felt good, however, and she could already see the progress his training was having on her, which was a great feeling.

After one more set of stretches, she called it quits, panting as she reached for her nearby towel and a bottle of water. Her muscles ached, and probably would even more so tomorrow, but it was a good aching. At least that's what she was telling herself.

Hope nearly didn't notice the woman in front of her, intent as she was on the ground. She had forgotten to remove her earrings before self defense and one had gone skittering of. Hence why she was currently searching for it. "Oh, I am terribly sorry. I almost did not see you..." she quickly apologized, frowning a little as she tried to remember her name.

"Oh, it's ok, no worries!" Sarah caught herself before she collided with the other girl, stopping short with a smile on her face. "My bad, I wasn't paying attention, I'm a little out of it I think, heh." She picked up her towel and wiped her brow with it, trying to make herself look somewhat presentable. "I don't know if we've ever really met, actually. Sarah, Sarah Vale." Drying her right hand quickly, she stuck it out for Hope to shake.

"My name is Hope Abbott. It's a pleasure to meet you." Hope easily accepted her hand and shook it. "I think we might we have seen each other in the hallways before. Were you just finishing up?"

"Yeah, totally, just haven't had a chance to meet. And now we have!" Sarah smiled and nodded in response to Hope's question. "I am, it was a great workout. Really worked up a sweat, as you can see, heh." She towelled herself off some more, then unscrewed the cap off her water bottle. "How about you, about to start?"

"I am afraid I lost my earring during self defense, so I wanted to attempt to find it. I am not that much into working out." Hope explained. "Did you see anything by any chance?"

"Oh, hmm, I don't think so. But I'll totally help you look!" She took a swig from her water bottle before screwing the top back on and placing it back down on a nearby bench. "What does it look like?"

"It's a small carved flower made from rose quartz with a green backing." Hope described. "I should have taken them out, but I totally forgot." She bit her lip for a moment, looking around to where they had done most of the exercises. "We did most of our exercises over here."

"Ok, that should be easy enough to find, I hope." It sounded pretty distinctive anyway, so depending on how large it was and where it might've falled they should be able to find it. "It sounds pretty. And it's ok, I forget that kind of thing all of the time, heh." Sarah had to stop herself from checking whether she had earrings in herself. "All right, let's check over there then, it should still be there hopefully!"

"It's not that big an earring, but it should stand out on the floor." Hope agreed. "Were you finished with your workout? I hope I did not disturb you."

"Oh, yeah, totally. Don't worry about it, you're not disturbing me, I promise." Sarah smiled and, after wiping her brow once more, flipped her towel over her shoulder. "Let's see... not here... hmm..." She walked carefully around the area they were searching, not wanting to step on the missing item. "So hey, how are you liking it here? I know, weird of me to only ask now after you've been here awhile, heh."

"It took me time to get used to the school, but I have grown to like it here. Very glad I have the chance to attend." Hope replied as she crouched down to check under a bench. "Did you attend school here?"

"Of co-" Sarah had to stop short at telling Hope of course she'd gone there. It had been some time since she'd graduated, after all, even if it didn't really feel like it. "I mean, yeah, I did. I graduated last year." she added. "I'm glad I had the chance too, it's a great place. And I'm glad to hear you like it as well."

"You currently still live here, right?" Hope knew several graduates lived on the third floor and she was familiar with their names and faces, but didn't really know that many of them. But she also knew some of them lived in areas like District X.

"I do, yeah. I figured it'd be better to stay here, for now anyway." She opted not to go into how both her girlfriend and her twin sister both still lived at the mansion, which were fairly significant reasons for her to stay, even if Layla was currently in Attilan. "Might as well stay as long as they'll have me, right?"

"It seems to be home for for many people here, so I understand why people would wish to stay here. It's slowly becoming a home for me as well..." Hope whispered the last bit to herself as she checked under a different bench. "Do you attend a college nearby, like Ms. Jones?"

"Mmmhmm, I do." Sarah shifted positions to search elsewhere as well, pulling up a nearby gym mat to look underneath it without any success. "It works out well, I can still go to college while saying here at the same time. And while working part time with XFI, too." She'd been pretty busy the last little while, and likely would be for the foreseeable future, which certainly wasn't a bad thing.

"XFI..." Hope repeated the letters slowly to herself. "I am sorry. It sounds familiar, but I cannot quite recall what it was."

"X-Factor Investigations. I've been working with them for awhile, part time now while I'm in school and all." Sarah grinned as she spoke about her place of employment. "They're really great, and I really like working there." It had surprised her a little, how much she'd taken to her job, when she really thought about it.

"They are private detectives, right?" Hope continued curiously as she lifted mat to check underneath. "Weird. It really seems to have skittered away."

"Exactly, it's a really interesting place to work." Sarah took one last look around the floor, then stood back up to her full height. "It really does seem that way, huh? Weird." She squinted as a flash of light splashed across her eyes. Looking for the source, she saw the sun reflecting off of something on a nearby windowsill. "Hey, what's that..." She walked over and, sure enough, there was the earring. "Here it is! Someone must've picked it up and laid it here so no one would step on it, I guess." Mystery solved!

Hope's voice broke into a smile as she accepted the small piece from Sarah. "Thank you, Sarah. I was afraid I'd have really lost it." She quickly tucked it away in her pocket. "Would you like to join me for some tea? I think I have a few scones somewhere."

"You're more than welcome, and sure, that'd be nice." Sarah said with a grin. "Just let me get a shower first and I'll come and find you, ok?"

"Shall I meet you in the sun room with tea and scones?" Hope suggested.

"Yes, that sounds perfect! I'll see you there in a half an hour or so?"

"Then I will see you there." Hope nodded. "And again, thank you for your help."