7645/Bird Flexing

Bird Flexing
Date of Scene:	01 September 2021
Location:	Athletics: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Workouts happen, and the bird (hoho) grouses.
Cast of Characters:	Michael Erickson, Jessica Drew

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Michael Erickson has posed:
    There aren't many areas in the Triskelion that Erickson can go without either a good reason or at least an escort - but he's trying to get to know people, and one can do that by /enormous amounts of physical activity/. Lots of people who aren't total nerds work out here in the athletics wing, and that is what Erickson is up to today himself; sitting on a bench, the man does ferocious curls with...enormous hand weights, solid slugs of metal on grips that look like they might be better employed to death-punch bears.

    He is not, of course. But he's also doing two-hundred-fifty-pound curls and looking as though he might not be breaking a sweat yet. So either he's just getting started or they're special balloons. Or he's more ripped than he's suggested! Who knows in this maddeningly exotic world of mighty meat and superpowers?

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica spiders in for want of a better description. She springs lightly between the climbing ropes and jumps to the wall silently, hangs for a moment, watching Michael pump some serious iron then descends. The fact that she drops from fifteen feet and springs to her feet is her version of showboating. She made sure no one was looking before she did it.

"Hi. Am I stalking you? Yes." After eyeing the weights, she whistles soundlessly, "Have you always been able to press that much, Michael?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Spider lady doing spider things - who would have imagined? Whilst Jessica flits about Michael keeps and eye on her, making note of all that brilliant dexterity and physical puissance; when she alights upon the mats and walks over to where he's flexing away, he cracks a faint smile. "It's the gravity," he explains with a chuckle at her query. "My people can lift about a ton on this planet. Most worlds with Earth-normal gravity, anyway." He isn't just tossing it around like paper, mind; he sets the heavy weight down upon the gym floor with a soft clank and a grunt, and he then moves to pick it up in his other hand to start sets on that arm. "You move like you were one with gravity, as it happens. I'm seriously impressed, Agent."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica lifts a shoulder dismissing the compliment, shaking her head at him. "All in a days work?" The words sound as though she is testing them herself. Holding her right hand in her left, she thoughtfully turns it over to lightly rub the inside of her wrist.

"How high is the gravity on your home planet then?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Not /that/ much higher," Michael replies, wrinkling his nose. "I'm not sure /why/ it's like that. Not that we're weak at home, mind, we're still stronger and with much more stamina than the average human." He shrugs, and begins to start his curls, grunting through the first repetition. "Still just as fragile, though, bodily speaking. Yourself? We've actually never discussed your...abilities. Besides what I've observed, of course."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"There are groups of humans that are stronger or have more endurance than others. It's related to the type of cells in their muscles. High concentrations of white muscle cells which can burn energy anaerobically make a person stronger and gives them an extra kick at the finish line when others are starving for oxygen." She shifts weight, grabbing a toe to stretch her quads while they talk. "Our scientists will look for what makes you stronger if you consent to being poked and prodded a bit."

She lowers her leg, shifts weight and lifts the other, "I don't talk about it. One doesn't. I suppose it's the unspoken code of people with abnormal powers." A frown accompanies her last words and deepens as she adds, "I was exposed to terragenesis. Have you heard of that?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Mmmm." He makes a faint face. "I can't say that I have. Sounds dangerous, though." Michael pauses in mid-repetition, stooping to put his barbell down, and shakes out his arm. "I'm sorry to touch on a rough subject, Agent. Please forget I asked if it makes you uncomfortable."

Jessica Drew has posed:
After a quick glance around her, "We've just gotten into territory that might be better saved for another time. Clearances, you know? I'm sure you do having done this line of work for sometime."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Quite." He gives her a fast smile, but then pauses, clearing his throat. "I'm finding myself having some trouble fitting in, actually. Perhaps we might change the subject with that."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Right." Jessica sits on a nearby mat, stretches her legs into vee-shape to work on her hamstrings. Leaning forward, she flattens her forehead to her knee with the effortlessness of long practice.

"Agents can be a tough group to crack, you know. I think the best way to integrate is to be out in the field, be out on ops. You'll need clearance for that. Likely, I'll have to be along. Agents want to know /who/ you are. Not /what/ you are."

She looks up, lips pressed together in a faint smile. "Make sense?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "But that's just it," Michael points out. "I realize that I am still an unknown quantity, but I came to SHIELD, not the other way around. I've run into situations where people basically demand my equipment, or demand that I tell them things - and I can't say that I've acted very cooperatively in return." He frowns, now. "I've had at least one agent point out my lack of legal status in this country thanks to my origins when I resisted. This...well. I understand curiosity. But this approach makes me worry that I might have made a mistake in coming to SHIELD, when it happens."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica shoots him a troubled look and switches to her left leg. Before making the stretch, she asks reluctantly, "Who talked to you like that? That sounds...well. I won't comment on it. Your status is as a consultant. If you were an agent you would be on a different footing. Your status legally is difficult to determine in the US but to use that as leverage strikes me as wrong."

She pauses to sit upright, her gaze fixed on him now. "If we face a crisis and you have vital information that could help us but withhold it. Who would be in the wrong then?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Agent Lewis," Michael says. "But I was...well. I am in a transitional place. I think that I might sound a bit more holier-than-thou than I really mean to. In fact, I don't mean to at all." He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Such is the curse of my people. I worry about passing on intact examples of my peoples' technology to the technological department, though. Not that I don't trust you all individually, but I've been around, you know? I know how governments might utilize it. I guarantee you it isn't going to be to revolutionize life on the planet for the everyday folks. If I were a scientist, I could converse with the technical authorities on a more even level. But here, I just sort of have to...give things over. And that bothers me."