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Gaius couldn't suppress the chuckle at Oz's reaction. It wasn't that he felt malicious, but the guy really did look embarassed about the whole thing and Gaius could even see himself in that position.

"I dunno about 'double costumes,' but don't worry, I was, uh, mistaken about Nita too." His smile turned sheepish and he arched his neck down, remembering how foolish he'd felt. "I thought I was more 'with her' than we actually were... but it's okay. We've worked things out now." Glancing up from his bent position, Gaius flashed the big guy a small smile. While he wasn't mad at the guy, it was nice to know he felt bad about the thing. "Still, thanks for the apology. Just hope you have better luck with women than I seem to!"

"Yep! And, uh..." He paused in his weight-lifting and rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm terrible at remembering names... You're..." he frowned, thinking hard, "...Otto, right?"

Instead of continuing, Gaius figured it was a good point for a break, but then he realized as he looked around... He'd forgotten to bring his water bottle. And his legs were shakey from the workout. Looking towards Oz hopefully, he gestured towards the water cooler that sat over on the far side of the gym. "Sorry, can you, uh, get me some water? I forgot my bottle and my legs need a chance to recover..."

Gaius winced. Not the first time he'd gotten a name wrong. "Oz. Gotcha."

Taking the bottle gratefully, Gaius uncapped it and stuck it in his mouth. He couldn't exactly just tilt it back, seeing as how his neck would get in the way of that, so his method of drinking was more a combination of tilting the bottle itself and squeezing out what water he could. Now, anyone who's seen a guy gulp anything knows how the throat bobs - imagine that on someone with a neck like a horse. That'd be what Oz got a glimpse of.

Gaius, however, was unware of these subtle 'quirks,' and sighed as he finished off half the bottle. He'd noticed Oz's scarring before, but now he gave it a closer look, raising an eyebrow at the guy. His build and general rugged appearance definitely reminded Gaius of some of the guys he'd seen in college, namely the ones in a particular sport. "You play football at all? Just wondering, since you look like the kind of guy who'd make a solid fullback. Definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a tackle from you!"

Luckily for Oz, Gaius heard the exclamation, but didn't connect it with anything relating to himself in his mind, and Oz was quick to divert his attention back to more interesting things. Namely, sports and the discussion of such manly things.

"Rugby?" His face held a look that spoke of mild impression. "I knew a guy who was really into following that... watched the Australian stuff an all. Closest I ever got to that was playing tackle football in the rain, back when I was in college. I think someone lost a tooth during that..." he chuckled, shaking his head. He'd never been much of a guy for sports himself, at least organized ones, but that Oz had been professional definitely raised his esteem in the horse-man's eyes. "What did that anyways?" he gestured at the messed-up knee. "Had to have been pretty nasty to end your career..."

The mention of the nose made Gaius feel odly self-conscious. He had to resist the urge to rub his own flattened thing, that and the widened mouth the only facial 'tells' he'd had after his first change. Now they were hardly what anyone would notice first.

"Ah geeze, torn muscles? That's... ow." Gaius gave a visible wince. Pulled muscles were never fun, let alone full on tearing them.

"Well, who knows, maybe you could just say 'screw the doctors' and do a little rugby around here. After all, who's going to know, aside from the labs? Though don't go hurting yourself or anything! I wouldn't want to be responsible for encouraging that!"

Gaius grinned back, knowing a challenge when he heard one. "Maaaaaybe. I bet even a couple of cripples like ourselves could be a fair match! Though it'd be fun to get some others in too..."

His ears suddenly perked up as an idea struck him. "Aha! Hey, Oz! I don't know how busy you are, but I'm actually starting some work on a construction project of sorts... A pretty big one, and I could use some help with hands and muscle. And you, well," he smirked and gestured at the guy's obvious physique, "seem to fit the bill. Would you like to help out a bit? We're trying to build an outdoor theater kind of thing... Or at least I am. Once it's done, it'd be great for doing plays and skits and performances on. And hey, not like there's much else to do around here?" he grinned knowingly.

"You'll do it then? Great!" Exuberant, Gaius clapped Oz on the shoulder. "My first worker!"

Shifting his legs around, Gaius slid to his feet, holding onto the machine for balance until he got his hands on the walking stick. His legs were getting better, but he still didn't trust himself without some kind of support.

"If you can get that rugby thing organized, drop me a note. I'm over in duplex sixty-two!"