@DFA@Gikel@Kiroue@Jake@rivaan@AmbraNormally the feeling of cool water running down his body after a workout would have been relaxing for Liam Schwer, if it wasn't for the goddamn migraines he had. He rubbed his temples as he felt another stab of pain shoot through his brain, before closing his eyes and dropping his hand and let his forehead rest on the cold tile of the shower.
He had been up for nearly three hours, and the sun had risen for only half that time as Liam prepared for his day. He had woken up after a late night of gaming when he had his first headache. Thinking it was just from the hours of playing League of Legends, he had taken some medicine and had gone for his morning run.
Of course, it hadn't gone so smoothly. Halfway through the run, he found himself feeling ill and began dry-heaving over a trashcan. Even stranger was his new-found aversion to the streetlights that illuminated his path to the gym he worked at, his instincts screaming at him to avoid the artificial lights like the plague. Forcing him to stay on his path, he eventually made his way to his workplace.
Champion's Gym and Training Center was a three story tall brick building that was situated in the downtown of Darkwater City. The name was proudly shown on a large, vertical neon sign, which Liam thanked God was off. The red brick interior sported a number of large Industrial windows which offered a view into the interior of the building. Jogging to the back of the building, which was noticeably less attractive than the front, Liam ran up a small flight of steps and began unlocking the employee entrance when the second migraine hit him, making him nearly drop his lanyard of keys. The pain was quickly followed by another surge on unfamiliar instinct, and he turned his head to see one of his fellow employees approaching. It wasn't until Liam let go of the breath he hadn't known he was holding did he also realize that he had gone into a defensive stance.
Shaking off the strangeness, Liam awkwardly opened the door and held it open for his colleague before slipping in himself. It was then he also noted that there was only a single pair of footsteps clicking off the linoleum floors of the gym's office space. His own feet were silently gliding over the polished floors with nary a sound, unnerving him even more. Throwing the strangeness to the side, he threw himself into his morning workout.
And that was where he found himself now, naked in the shower with a splitting headache. With his eyes till closed, and his ears covered by the sounds of the shower engulfing him, he was still aware of the new group of people entering the changing room. He could hear their mumbled conversations, the slight squeaking of sneaker on tile, and the scritching of clothes being removed and replaced over the roar of water. He felt the movement of people moving past his stall, as he counted the amount of footsteps they took to make it from one end of the room to another.
Turning the water off, Liam felt his headache subside as he was once again alone in the locker room. As he dried himself, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell was happening to him.
Liam sat behind the receptionist desk, having been assigned there since none of his classes were scheduled until later in the day. He hadn't had anymore migraines since his shower and was prepared to act as if nothing weird had happened at all that morning. He wore the black t-shirt uniform of the gym with a pair of grey and black splotched wrestling shorts and had on a pair of old, but well maintained sneakers. The morning was slow, as expected since the majority of people were at work, and Liam was silently reading a gaming magazine he had found laying around. The other employees were milling around, taking advantage of the lack of gym-goers to exercise or chat.
With the formless noise of the gym in his ears, Liam found himself engrossed with an interview with one of the developers at Riot explaining the reasoning behind the controversial round of nerfs, most of which were centered on Irelia. Snorting to himself, he stopped as he felt another migraine coming on and his mind racing as he spun in his char, with the magazine suddenly rolled into a club and-
Oh, wait it was just one of his co-workers, the same one who was in the alley with him that morning. She was one of the new hires, a yoga instructor if he remembered correctly. She was standing in front of him, wide-eyed at the magazine poised to smack her. She let out a small eep of relief as the improvised weapon was lowered and Liam began to awkwardly and profusely apologize.
"Gah, I'm so sorry, umm you surprised me. I was really engrossed in this article and you surprised me, and...I'm so sorry. I didn't hurt you did I? This doesn't happen normally, well I say normally, I mean never." Liam could feel himself rambling and mentally facepalmed himself, but he was still shaken by his actions. He had begun mentally plotteing out a chain of attacks that would have incapacitated his co-worker and left her spasming on the ground with a crushed wind-pipe before he had realized who she was.
As Liam was quietly being horrified with himself, the woman found her voice again and began addressing Liam, "Umm, Mr. Schwer? I have a foavor to ask of you." This directed the young man's attention back the young woman, who shivered when he looked at her, which surprised Liam more. "Umm, ummm, I forgot my purse at the diner I had breakfast at today. I have a class soon, so I can't go and get and since you're manning the desk I wanted to ask if you were wiling to go and get it for me. I left in the Darkwater Cafe."
Liam smiled at the young woman, before replied,
"Sure, I know where that is. Give me a minute to find someone to watch the desk and I'll head out soon."Getting out of his chair, he brushed past the shivering young woman, he really needed to learn the names of the new hires, he approached one of the table set up in a corner of the gym next to the vending machines. Seated at the table was a singular man who was nursing a small cup of coffee. He was older than Liam, and had a slight beer-belly ad thinning hair. His brown eyes glittered cheerfully as he saw Liam approach.
"Hey Parker, I need to head out for an errand, mind taking over the desk 'til I get back?" Liam asked the seated man.
"Sure, sure." Parker replied lazily as he finished the last of his coffee and got up.
"Kay, owe you one man."
Liam entered the diner and noted how busy it was. He could feel another headache building, and his wariness increase in close proximity to large number of people in the room. His eyes drifted calmly over the occupants of the establishment, noting the two waiters, a punk chick chatting with a sleepy looking guy, and a older man talking with a younger woman.