2022-01-26 - Pumping Weights And For Information

It's pretty outside, the snow coming down just thick enough to prevent dirty slush. For now, it's a white blanket, but it is also HECKA COLD, which may explain the woman in the gym who's trying to lift weights in several layers of clothing. The most visible layer features a red 'ugly Christmas sweater' that has a beSanta-hatted wookie in its center. Paired with that, she's got on high-waisted sweat pants in a dark grey, and a pair of hot pink sneakers. Beneath that layer, it's clear there's more, but what is anyone's guess. The woman lifting weights looks downright miserable, and keeps muttering to herself. Expletives, mostly.

The woman that walks into the gym now is also dressed in several layers, but these are quickly cast aside and shoved into a locker as soon as she's inside. Vittoria is left instead in a simple black sports bra and spandex shorts that show much of her tall, muscular frame - though that doesn't seem to be her main intent here. She's quick to move into the weight room before plopping down at the bench press and loading it with an obscene amount of weights and sitting down.

But then she sees the woman wearing a Christmas wookie sweater in the gym. In January. Her eyes widen and an amused smirk curls her lips upward as she sits and stares, just watching her lift weights angrily.

At first, Diana doesn't even seem to notice the other woman. Nope, she's too busy cursing the weights in both English AND Spanish, and then calling down a pox on the house of 'whoever made these stupid things,' mutter mutter. She's almost certainly just about to launch into another tirade when she spots the woman watching her-- and her eyes widen when she spots how much is piled on Vittoria's weights. "Hooooooly shit," she says simply, and then shakily returns her weights to the bar above. "I mean, I've seen braggy guys come in and try to impress women with their bro-lifting, but that is a truly and naturally impressive stack you've got going on, right there. Very nice!"

Vittoria lets out a surprised laugh when Diana compliments her "stack." "I am used to being flirted with at the gym," she says, her words lightly accented and sing-songy, "but this might be the first time I have ever had someone call my stack impressive. Thank you." She winks and grins before taking a closer look at the other woman. "I must say - I don't think I have ever seen someone work out in a Christmas sweater. How do you do this without sweating to death?"

Diana sits up incredibly slowly, wrapping her arms around herself. "My poor arms," she laments, and then perks up at the question about the sweater. "Oh! Yeah, I sweat some, but mostly I just don't work out very hard, and then I can wear whatever I want!" She grins broadly, and then smirks at the talk about 'stacks,' shaking her head. "If I can't be impressed at others' stacks, the world is going to become a very boring place, very quickly." Another grin, and she extends a hand. "I'm Diana, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Vittoria snorts and rises to her feet, stretching out her broad frame like a big cat. "That is very smart of you. Maybe I should try to not work out very hard." She takes the extended hand and shakes it firmly, though thankfully not too hard. "Vittoria. A pleasure to meet you as well. I am new to town, so I do not believe we have seen each other before today." Her accent makes it pretty clear that she's not from around here - it's distinctly European. "I am glad that you're helping the world be less boring."

"I don't recommend emulating me under any circumstances," Diana says with a laugh, shaking Vittoria's hand in a way that seems practiced to be not-too-weak, not-too-strong. Though honestly, could she shake a hand too strongly? It doesn't look like it. "Nice to meetcha, Vittoria... and welcome to town! It's... a very unique and ... lively place. People tend to either love it, or hate it. I'm in the 'love' category, but I think I might be in the minority." She grins. "And thank you! I do try to spice things up, now and then."

"What do you do here?" Vittoria asks, leaning against a nearby wall and looking Diana over again. "For work, I mean. I work security here." She pauses. "I am not sure if I love it or hate it here yet. The weather? I hate. The place? Might be good." A snort. "And are you from here? Or came here from somewhere else?"

"I'm not one of this place's locals, no. I came here a few years back, and didn't really plan to stay, but... life had other plans." Diana doesn't look at all disappointed about that. "And agreed, about the weather. I was in Santa Fe for awhile just before here, so you can imagine, I'm not exactly used to how cold it can get here. Hence the sweater!" She tilts her head then, considering the other woman for a moment. "Security? That seems like a potentially very boring or VERY eventful job. Me, I'm a paranormal investigator, and I write books about it. Well. A book. But I'm working on a second!" She says this like it's totally normal and she somehow isn't expecting to be looked at strangely.

Vittoria shakes her head with a grimace. "I am from southern Italy. It never gets this cold in the south. Or snows." She shivers a little just thinking about it before snorting and rolling her eyes a little when Diana talks about security. "I am security for the strip club. So more often than not, it is too eventful."

Then Diana says she is a paranormal investigator and Vittoria's eyebrows rise. "You wrote a book about this. I am sorry, my English is still rough. Paranormal is like -- ghosts, correct? This is what you investigate?"

Diana winces at hearing about the level of eventfulness she faces. "Yeah, I bet. Sorry to hear that! I'm sure they keep you on your toes." She shakes her head, though, to the last thing Vittoria says. "Oh, it's not just ghosts! I mean, it is ghosts, but there's so much more out there. Just... if all that there were, were suddenly made manifest and took up physical room-- well, let's just say it'd be more crowded than you can imagine. It's ESP, it's beings from beyond, it's all the thin spots between our world and-- and everything else out there. Er. Sorry. I get a little excited. Anyway, yes, I wrote a book about it. I'm not saying it's deathless prose, but mainly I just want it to be more accessible for your average person."

Vittoria's eyes widen as she listens to Diana describe the paranormal. She seems to be...serious. And this isn't the first time she's heard people talk about this here. "Huh," she says, leaning back a bit and folding her arms over her chest. "That is very interesting. Why did you come here to write your next book?"

The weight of that question hangs in the air between them. Vittoria knows why Diana has come, but she still feels reluctant to acknowledge and accept what she's already been told.

Diana's eyes light up at that question, like she was just waiting to be asked. Without a pause, she says, "Well, see, the thing is, is that there are... well, 'thin spots,' between what you might call 'normal' reality and ... everything else out there. For your average person in an average town, if something weird happens, they won't even remember it later. The Veil protects itself in that way, I guess you could say. But in some places, the spaces between 'normal' reality and the Beyond, well. They're thinner. More easily permeable. I encountered one of those spots in Santa Fe, and I started researching them and looking into it. The truth is, there are thin spots all over the world, and in those places, well. That's where the magic happens! But, to answer your question as concisely as possible: I got a lead on a thin spot, and I followed it here. And... this place has the largest thin spot that I have ever heard of, let alone seen."

Vittoria nods, a little of the tension in her tall frame draining out of her. "I understand, I think. Someone told me once that this place has a strange...connection to the strange. I've experienced some strange things myself." She shakes her head and smiles lightly over to Diana. "I love your enthusiasm for this. Your...passione. Passion? It is endearing. And cute." A wink.

She steps a little closer and sits at the machine next to Diana. The bench press is temporarily forgotten. "I must say, most of the people I've met here haven't been as...upbeat as you."

Diana smiles warmly in return, nodding her head. She pauses, choosing her words thoughtfully as she says, "A lot of people here... they grew up with the strange, and they didn't have someone to tell them what was going on. They thought they were crazy-- or freaks. Terrified of themselves. I... was lucky. I was mainly clued in through observation over time. I saw the Shine before I knew what it meant, and it was a long time after that, that I had any access to the ... sorts of things that tend to make people think they're going off the deep end. I was let in easy. So for me, it never held any... sense of malice to it. So the enthusiasm is real, the passion doubly so. There have definitely been scary, terrifying things that've happened since. But there's so much good to go along with it, and so much WONDER to it. Every time some new strange thing happens, it's fascinating even when it's horrifying. We're living on the verge of discovering SO MUCH more of our world!" She blushes slightly. "Sorry. I tend to... monologue."

Vittoria still looks a little surprised when Diana speaks about these things so openly. "Do not apologize," she says, absently toying with the hem of her shorts and looking at the ground as she thinks. "No one else has been so...open about these things with me. I appreciate your perspective." She looks back to Diana and smiles nervously. "I thought I was the only one who knew about...the Shine? Yes, this, for a long time. So I kept such things to myself. You know so much - perhaps I should read your book."

Diana gives a soft smile, and then teases, "Well, to be fair, I only started talking to you so I could talk you into purchasing my book. I'm glad it worked." She grins. "And... there are reasons people are hush-hush. I just... refuse. But there are real risks in talking. I don't honestly know a lot about the KINDS of risks-- it's one of many things I need to look into. But at its base level, people are also afraid of being scoffed at, told they're imagining things, losing social credibility or even their jobs. Since my job is to look like a quack, I'm all right with that. And yes, the Shine. Though a lot of us also call it Glimmer. That tends to be the proper term. I just like the sound of the Shine better. It's the name I first knew it as. I started seeing it in people when I was completing my residency, and I didn't know what it meant. I started looking into it-- I did wonder if I'd gone 'round the bend, but... it's worth looking into things before deciding, is how I think of it."

Vittoria lets out a snorting laugh and shakes a finger at Diana. "You need to stop this - or else I will be pre-ordering your second book, too." She grins, though it fades a little as the other woman talks about risk. "I met a Danish man shortly after coming here. He warned me about...dreams? Bad things happening in my dreams. Coming because of my -- Shine." Her brows furrow. "Do you know anything about this?"

Diana smiles at the 'warning,' and lifts higher at the mention of a Danish man. The rest has her growing more serious. "This is a somewhat small town, so I do have an inkling who this Danish man might be. But-- yes, I do know about that. Dreams happen with a certain regularity to those with the Shine. I know it has something to do with Them, but I don't really know who They are-- only that They feed on our light, and our abilities. They eat pain, and they want to eat ... whatever power you may have. They love when you use special 'abilities,'... and the more often you use them, the more likely you are to be dragged into a Dream that's meant to force you to use them and give them something to feed off of. The Dreams-- they can be anything, really. Sometimes you know you're 'you,' and you have a little more control, but sometimes you're part of the scenario, and it all seems to make sense to your sleeping mind." She frowns, deeply. "I've never seen anyone die from a Dream. I don't know whether or not it's possible. I think the important thing to know, if you find yourself in a Dream... is that you should use your abilities sparingly, whatever they are-- but don't be afraid to fight back."

Vittoria shudders. "I remember Ravn telling me this. I have avoided using my -- Shine, since coming. To be safe. To avoid such dreams." She shakes her head and laughs nervously. "Sorry - this may not be very fun to talk about. I am probably not making a very good first impression." Something nags at her, though, and she resists the urge to change the subject. "Do you -- do you have the Shine? And have you seen one of these Dreams?"

Diana shakes her head, gently smiling. "No no, no need to apologize. These things are a fact of life, especially so close to the thin spots. You're making a perfectly fine good impression. I'm glad you've managed to avoid the Dreams thus far." She pauses, and then answers, "I do have the Shine, yes. I had it before I had any of the abilities that can tend to come with it. It's how I first started clueing in that more was going on than I'd been previously aware of. Some people had it, some didn't... and I started trying to figure out what the difference between the two was. It wasn't until some time after my book was finished, and I'd come here, that I first started to manifest anything more." She pauses at the mention of Dreams, and then nods her head. "Yes. A fair few times. I've found that getting through it means teaming up with any other Dreamers who are a bit awake, like yourself... and often it does require usage of abilities to get out safely."

Vittoria rises to her feet and frowns, eyebrows still scrunching together as she thinks. "Hmm. Thank you for telling me about all of this. It's clear that I am not prepared for what might happen here. And that isn't good." She chews on her lower lip and brushes hair over her shoulder. "Can -- may I have your phone number? There is so much that I need to do. To be ready. I may need some help."

"Of course. I'm more of a theorycrafting and studying person than a 'be prepared' type, but I'm game to help!" Diana smiles, pulling her phone out of a nearby yarn bag. It looks like a hundred balls of yarn exploded, or maybe threw up, all over that bag. It's very colorful. She enters the phone's code, and then holds it close enough for Vittoria to see the screen, and the number on it. "I'd happily take your number as well. We Shiners gotta stick together."

"Your bag might be the most colorful thing I've seen since arriving here," Vittoria notes dryly, pulling her own phone out of a nearby camouflage gym bag and typing Diana's number in. A quick text is sent ("Hello!!") and she soon stows it away again with a smile. "It has been a pleasure to get to know you, Diana. I appreciate your willingness to help."

"Oh?" Diana says, glancing down at her bag before looking to the other woman again. "I'm glad you like it!" That may not be at all what Vittoria said, but apparently that's how Diana interpreted it. "The pleasure is all mine. And I'm happy to help, anytime." She checks her text message and returns it ("Hi hi!") before slipping her phone back into her bag. "Have a good night, Vittoria." She smiles warmly.