Welcome to Gaia! ::

When word got back around to Taym that the training courses were up, he met it with a combination of relief and apprehension.

He'd been told repeatedly now to go and complete the Life course, which was particularly hellish for him. At least this time, he thought dimly as he trudged towards the underground bunker, he could participate without the hindrance of an audience.

Theatrics, he thought, remembering the sniper lasers and the sharpies and the Jenga tower itself. Not good enough to give them something practical to do. All about the melodrama, the ridiculous.

Well, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. He'd just--

Or not. He became aware, as he drew up to the bored-looking techs manning the doors, that someone else was looking for a way to fill up an empty afternoon, and had settled on the Life training course.

For a second he considered turning away. Instead, he grimly bent to stub his cigarette out on the ground, field stripping the butt as an excuse to avoid meeting anyone's eyes.

"Unfortunately," he said, his voice deadpan and much thinner, much quieter than one might expect from his face, which suggested a voice full of gravel instead. He looked like he needed a really long nap and a stack of sandwiches.

Clearance granted, he headed for the doors and held them open for her, with an absent air that suggested this was more out of habit than chivalry. A return glance over her coat, and then up to her headgear with an inexorable lifting of his eyebrows. Taym frequently felt left out of the wear-strange-things-on-your-head trend on Deus.

"You done this before?" he asked, gazing into the room )with its sweeping lasers and its patrolling piranhas and its damned wooden tower) with quiet, funereal despair.

"In that case: pre-emptive congratulations on your inevitable victory," he said flatly. The door banged to behind them and he set off down the walkway with a cringing, slinking gait reminiscent of an oft-beaten tomcat. "Obadiah Thompson, by the way," he added, half-turning to extend a hand for her. Right on cue, it shivered in the wake of some kind of tremor.

No wonder he hated this course.

Wrong dice neutral

Claiming her own seat on the opposite side of Taym, the woman gazed at the tower in front of her. So.. she had to be careful and not let this collapse, right? That was it, right? What happened if it fell..?

Nodding to Taym as he spoke, she watched with bated breath as he reached for the first piece. Wincing, she could only watch as the tower collapsed. Okay, so you had to be really ******** careful trying to remove this. Great. Patience was not one of her strong suits, and she was likely to screw this up for trying to rush things.

Helping in reconstructing the tower, she flashed him a quick smile. "Oh, thanks." Sarcasm or not, she loved her goggles. "They do come in handy though, you know. Especially in locations like the Sahara." Getting sand in her eyes once was bad enough, thank you very much.

With the tower rebuilt, it was time to got at it again. This time, she started in, hesitantly plucking each piece off one by one.

Pausing a moment, she cast a wary glance in his direction again. Normally, she didn't like to butt in to other people's business, but this guy really looked like he good do with a good meal. Should she invite him back to the cafeteria after for a bite? Something? Anything?

Motorcycle helmet - she hadn't seen anyone walking around wearing that at Deus. Though, Mark was fond of his pilot goggles. One of which she had swiped from him before. Trying to hold in her laughter, she reached for another piece. "Well, if you really want some goggles or something, Christmas is just around the corner, maybe I can get you a pair." Half joking, half serious, she sat back and waited for him to take his turn next.

"Seriously though. Goggles are a good investment."

Snickering quietly on her side, she peaked around the tower, questioning herself on which part would be the safest to remove. Any time now, she would be making this tower come crashing down on them both. It was only a matter of time.

"Well, you never know~" Finally deciding on which block was safe to remove, Kat pulled it from the tower, loosing a sigh of relief when the tower held. Sitting back as she allowed Taym to make his next move, she shook her head. "Being completely honest - this would actually be my first time offering to buy anyone gifts for Christmas." With the whole pod thing the first year she was here, and the exile her second year; she hadn't really had much of a chance to do the whole 'gifts' routine for Christmas yet.