Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was one of his infrequent days off, a time to Oliver had been sleeping when that soft knocking. Not deep sleep, it was the kind of lazy nap one accidentally takes when they are reading a dull book. When he sat up, blinking stupidly, the book fell off his chest onto the floor with a soft thud. No, there had definitely been someone knocking...

He slid off the bed, and couldn't help but smile when he heard Harland's greeting "Good morning!" He chirped in reply as he opened the door. If Harland was doubtful about his own appearance, the sight of Oliver's mussed up hair would do wonders for anyone's confidence. It only took a couple quick brush-throughs with his fingers to set the unruly strands straight again, but it was quite the sight while it lasted.

"Did you need help with something?" Oliver asked, those bright, pale eyes searching for any sign of discomfort on the former patient's face. He had completely forgotten about their training discussion, and as one prone to worrying, he immediately began to worry.

Despite the big smile, Oliver was still slightly intimidated as Harland made attempts to fill the door frame with his presence. He couldn't help it, after being picked up and tossed into uncomfortable places twice now, he was well aware of how easy a target he was.

"Um..." He stepped backwards in a very Canadian 'yes come in if you would like' gesture as he processed the request. He nervously combed his hair once again with his fingers, it was now unruly in a more acceptable manner. "A-are you sure you want me to come too? I d-don't know much about the gym..."

Oliver looked away, and then nervously busied himself with picking up the book that had dropped earlier. His page had been lost, but he could probably find it again...

Oliver blushed sheepishly, not sure what to do as his hair was ruffled. It was the sort of gesture he knew of only from movies and books, and maybe a faint pleasant memory from before his accident six years ago. Certainly on the island he experienced more friendly back-slaps that would send him sprawling. He didn't know why the hand on his head was so reassuring, but it helped him relax.

"I-I'm s-sure you are very good..." He stammered shyly. Harland certainly had his work cut out for him, attempting to teach Oliver the ins and outs of strength training. But the boy was willing, if not eager, and pulled on an old-looking pair of sneakers so they could go.

"Um... I d-don't know where the gym is..."

Sometimes in his current situation on the island, it was easy for Oliver to forget that the others around him were just people too. Behind the weapons mastery, bad tempers, confidence, good looks, whatever... Harland's unintentional gesture made him seem more real in the kid's eyes, and less like an unreachable ideal for being successful, or at least comfortable, on the island.

The Life trainee smiled shyly, and closed the door behind them. "Ah... Pardon?" Oliver asked, unsure whether the words he didn't recognize were simply misheard, or if it were something else entirely. He didn't want to look like an idiot or anything. But if Harland had gone this far without being put off by his awkwardness, there might be some hope for him yet.

He began heading in the indicated direction, his pale eyes mostly cast downward, bangs falling into his face. His hair was getting long, emphasizing his shy nature, and making it easier to avoid eye contact. "I-is it often busy? The gym?" Oliver asked timidly.

"Y-you can speak gaelic?" Oliver asked, light eyes wide with awe. So much for that pedestal idea. He was a little shy about having Harland's arm around him, only because the close presence of others was entirely unfamiliar, but the talk of languages got him to open up a little. "Where I live- uh, lived... A lot of people in my town and across the river spoke Cree. B-but I could never pick it up, not even reading it. It has different characters than english... A-and pronouncing the words was really hard too..." It was remarkable just getting the kid to say so much all at once.

When they arrived at the gym, Oliver's hesitation became much more obvious. It was one thing to say 'nevermind them', and another to actually do it. Stretching... Free weights... It was a completely different world for the little trainee, and that shy part of him was already embarrassed, and didn't want anyone else to see him so out of place.

"Um... o-okay," he stammered in a little voice. "Can we do, um... something easy first?"

Oliver shook his head. "No, ah... I really used to mangle it very badly. But I did okay in French, in high school." He smiled sheepishly, Harland's optimism was more than he had come to expect from most hunters, but in this case it was entirely unwarranted. His self-depreciation sometimes crossed the border into truth, and this was one of those times.

The corner they had ended up in was better than the main area, but Oliver still shot a nervous glance around. Nobody was paying them any mind just like Harland had said. Finally he nodded. "O-okay, just show me what to do."

Oliver was pretty quick about following along, mimicking Harland's own motions. He was certainly flexible enough, most of the stretches seemed to be too easy for him. Except when balance was involved. He almost fell over several times during the session, not what one would expect from a kid who had grown up on ice and snow.

Even with his challenges, Oliver seemed much more comfortable by the end of it. "No, I'm still good," he replied, offering up a pleasant smile. Cycling machines sounded easy enough. Unless there were tricks involved, Oliver could probably handle that much. "Are those like riding a bike?"