2019-12-13 - Motivation

It's late afternoon, and it's not that crowded, though there is at least one person there working out. It is Lalo, and he's in the midst of running on the treadmill. He has some earbuds in, and it seems as though he's been here for a bit, since he looks kind of sweaty and he's breathing harder than is probably normal for him. Not that anyone in here would know what was normal for him or not, but it bears mentioning.

Beth is nearby being abused by a trainer. The trainer has her doing sit-ups while holding onto a light weight, and her fair cheeks are a rather brilliant crimson in color as she tries for force herself up for what probably seems like the 100th time to her, but is actually only tenth. She sort of just flops backwards and begins breathing heavily when the trainer tells her that's enough. The trainer's finger is jabbed towards the stationary bike, and she heads in that direction with a look of trepidation. She gets on it, and begins peddling. This puts her right next to Laylo. She glances up briefly, but doesn't bother with hello. Instead she just lifts a hand weakly in greeting.

Lalo looks over at Beth when she comes to the bike next to him, and he lifts a hand in reply, smiling as he reaches to take one of the earbuds out of his ear. "Well, hey," he says. "What's up?" He continues to run, and while he does sound a little bit breathless, it seems as though he's going to be capable of carrying on a conversation. One that might be a little bit one-sided.

"You..." Beth puffs out as she pushes the pedals, "...know..." She takes off her glasses to wipe sweat from her brow and leans forward a little against the stationary bike's handlebars. "Same old." She turns her head a little to look at Lalo before she laughs. "You're a nurse right? That's good. I'm going to die."

Lalo laughs, but at least it's a breathless laugh. "Yep, I'm a nurse," he says, and he turns to look at her a little bit critically -- or as critically as one can when one is also running on the treadmill. "So I think I can safely say that you're not gonna die. I've seen people way closer to death than you."

"Oh." Beth says, and her head leans down a touch as she works on pedaling as fast as her long but out of shape legs will allow her. "So I just feel like I'm going to die." She catches her breath a moment, since talking is hard, "Good to know." Her legs are slowing a bit. She asks, "How is Gray Harbor treating you?"

"Pretty much. Feeling like you're gonna die is how you know it's working." Lalo starts to turn down the speed then, perhaps because he's coming to the end of his own workout. Or maybe he's just preparing himself for the conversation. "Just keep it up, and you'll only want to die about 75% of the time." As for her last question, he continues, "Pretty good so far. It's a change, but it's okay. Keeping me busy."

"Cool. Great." Beth lets out a groan before she continues on, "Fantastic. I love feeling like that 75% of the time." She lifts her head to watch the clock like it is mocking her or owes her money. She looks back to Lalo. "Good. People either seem to love it or hate it."

There's another laugh that escapes him, and Lalo brings the speed down to a fast walk. "Right?" he replies. "It's pretty much the best feeling ever. That's why we do it." He glances to the clock, too, before he looks back at her. "Yeah," he says, "I could see that. I keep hearing about weird shit, but I feel like that's always how people talk about small towns."

"I'd blame it on the fact that we don't have crime like LA or Seattle and people are bored so they gotta tell stories, but..." Well, he works at the hospital. He can probably venture to guess that while it isn't LA Gray Harbor has a lot more injury, crime, and deaths than most small towns. Beth reaches behind her to hold her back as she continues to pedal.

"Yeah, I thought that was it, too." But clearly he realizes now that it is not that. Or at least, he's seen a ton of weird crap. "You've lived here your whole life, right? How come you all got almost as many weird injuries and sicknesses as a big city?" It may be rhetorical, but then, who knows? Lalo turns the speed down even a little more until he's just walking, which makes conversing a whole lot easier.

"Fuck. I can't do this anymore." Beth says, and she stops pedaling before she leans forward to catch her breath. When she finally has she looks up at him. "Yeah. I've lived here my whole life. And...well, I don't know, exactly. I've heard rumors but-" She shrugs her shoulder.

Lalo turns off the machine and steps down, taking a step toward her then and clapping his hands together a couple of times. "Come on, you can do it! Never say die! Only think it!" He grins, backing off a moment later since he's not actually a trainer here, nor does he particularly care if she stops or not. The other stuff is more interesting anyway. "Yeah," he says, "who knows? Maybe I'll figure it out one of these days. I don't mind not being the center of whatever weird shit it is, though."

Beth gives Lalo a look that very clearly expresses her distain for his motivation. She dismounts gingerly from the bike, and grimaces ever so slightly. "I need water. Come on." She limps towards the cooler, and as she goes she speaks. "Look, I don't know what exactly it is, but I do know that there are...well..." She grabs her water, and then glances around to make sure she isn't heard, "There are places you can go here that aren't normal. Or real." She twists the cap off, and takes a long drink.

The disdain just gets another laugh, and Lalo shrugs, spreading his hands out as though to say, 'well, I tried.' He gets some water as well, looking around when she does, though he doesn't quite seem to know why they're whispering. When she continues, however, he looks back to her, and his eyebrows raise. "Oh, yeah?" he asks. Does he look skeptical? Possibly. Or maybe he's just tired from the workout. "That's fucked up."

"Yeah." Beth says, and she shrugs a little at his reaction as if to say he can believe or not believe it all he wants. "It's some real Haunting on Hill House type of bullshit." She takes another long drink, and tilts her head back to sprinkle the rest of the water on her face and forehead.

"Pretty soon we're gonna start hearing about tourists who went surfing or some shit and disappeared," Lalo agrees, before he pauses. "Wait, that's Jaws. My bad." He grins, grabbing some paper towels to wipe down his machine. "Good to see you," he says. "I saw you're having a New Years party. Maybe I'll come by. I like the idea of a New Years party at a funeral home."

"Stop on in. It's for a good cause." Beth says as she finishes off her water, and tosses it into the trash. "Anyways, it was good to see you again. Good luck with your nursing." She starts towards the locker rooms then, wiping a hand over her brow.