Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was hot. Even with the AC the gym was outfitted with nothing could completely take away the heat of the day and the mass of sweating bodies. The humidity alone in the warehouse would be enough to be stifling to those who weren’t use to it. Of course, those who were regulars, the ones who didn’t miss a day or at least made it a habit to attend most days, didn’t seem to flinch at the pressing heat, humidity, and the stench of human sweat.

A jab to her core was side stepped as she responded with a kick to her opponents shoulder. Wearing a sports bra and short, black spandex shorts showcased the two large scars that riddled her body. Unfortunately the attire did little in the sense of keeping her much cooler.. Sweat dripped from everywhere, but Gwen relished the feeling of it all. There was nothing quite like it, sparring herself into a good sweat, especially when he partner happened to be the well versed owner of the gym, Mathias.

Another punch. Jab. and she felt the contact on her shoulder as Mathias landed a hit. She stepped back at that point. Her breath was heavy as she sucked in air. Running a wrapped hand over her forehead did little but smear the perspiration around, but it at least stopped it from dripping into her eyes. “Win for you.” She said as she walked over and grabbed her bottle, sucking down the water greedily.

They had been warming up for a bit now and truth be told, Gwen was pretty sure they’d pass warm up and conditionally agreed to go a bit further. But, seeing as she had the man’s attention she had a nagging question that she wanted to throw at him.

“So... you’re like, the master at hand-to-hand.” She said good naturedly, an obvious tease, after tossing her bottle back to it’s resting spot on the floor off the mat. “But I was wondering if you have any experience in self defense with weapons?” Gwen attempted to be as casual as possible with her question. After all, she couldn’t outright say why she was looking for training in weapons. And of note, a specific weapon that would be...a bit odd to most people.

Gwen smiled before reaching up to readjust her pony tail which had loosened during her spar. With the length her hair was at now, she really ought to just plait it for working out, but she didn't always think of it before starting. So, instead, she was forced to re-tie it frequently.

"Oh good. I was hoping I wouldn't have to go find someone else to teach me things." She reached down, grabbed her towel and wiped her face off before ditching it next to her water bottle and moving towards Mathias. "So, I know it'll be a bit odd, but, what about dealing with weapons that are...a bit unnormal? I mean, I am pretty sure I could handle something like short pole or bat but...well..." Weave this story well, Gwennie, girl. "I didn't have much in the sense of useful things around me last time I was attacked, but there was a long metal pipe." She held up her fingers to show the diameter of it was no more than about an inch. "The problem was, I had no idea how to really utilize it and it ended up slowing me down than being useful."

She shrugged. "I know people use staves or polearms in other forms of fighting. If I actually knew how to reasonably use something like that maybe I could keep an attacker at a distance if I needed?"

OK. That wasn't that odd to ask right? Too late now. Either that fib was going to pass muster or it wasn't.

It was like Christmas. Mathias agreed to teach her and she couldn't help the little victory chant that chorused through her mind. She knew she'd need every little bit of knowledge she could eek out of the man when it came to learning about staff work. After all, it was now her weapon, whether it was of choice or not. She wanted to be effective with it since her magic was far from useful inside battle.

"Thank you!" She smiled. "And I don't mind waiting at all. If you need help getting anything just tell me. After all, I am the one asking for the help and I know it's not something you tend to teach. So going out of my way to get things is not a problem." If offering to grab things would speed up the process, all the better, but if she needed to wait, well...a week really wasn't terribly long. And until then she would just continue to do her best with what she could manage.

"Oh, um, I can also pay some more. I mean, considering this isn't your normal realm of teaching and all." That was something she had thought about when the idea of asking Mathias had popped up. It would be....tight, but she knew that learning these skills would be well worth eating ramen every night for a few weeks... or months.

An extra $10 was really...well, Gwen knew it would be tight but she wasn't going to complain. Mathias could have easily charged her more for the request considering he needed to get a few supplies on top of factoring in the specialized lesson. No, she certainly wasn't going to complain. Gwen knew when she was getting the better half of a deal. "Sounds perfect." She said with a smile.

Following Mathias, Gwen began to stretch and cool down her own muscles.
She crossed an arm over her chest, the other pulling to stretch the muscles across her shoulder blades and in the arm itself.

"Thanks, Mathias." She said with deep sincerity as she paused momentarily in her stretching "Really. I know this was probably an odd request and all. So, thanks."

Gwen smiled and chuckled. "Well, I am certainly glad you're so dedicated to your customers and don't treat us all like numbers."

And it was true. There were many places around DC that would have probably given her the oddest look and brushed her off for such a request since it wasn't the norm. At best she would have had to go find somewhere the specialized in that sort of thing and it would have cost her an exorbitant amount of money. Something, she probably wouldn't have been able to afford.

"Alright then. I'll be back in tomorrow same time. Just let me know when the supplies get here and you're ready to get started?" She went back to stretching her arms out as she spoke. The last thing she wanted was to let her muscles cramp up.