Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Good, then the transition should be much easier for you," he noted as he pulled back the profile, folding it up and setting it in a pile to his left. He leveled his gaze at her and paused momentarily, before continuing. "You will become our Shuriken master, Aurora. Your duty and responsibility is now to the ShinRa, and your friends are your comrades.'

'We are Turks, and thus, we must hold ourselves to a standard of excellence. Excellence in our performance, our appearance, and our dedication to one another. Anything less is unacceptable. Understood?"

"Then, welcome to the Turks," Tseng stood, offering his hand once more as a sign of both acceptance and the end of their brief meeting. "You should head into some of the common areas of the building and get to know some of your colleagues. Developing a strong relationship with your fellow Turks is of the utmost importance. These are the people who will be watching your back in the future. Remember that."

Kano glanced down at the timer on his treadmill, cursing his decision to jog twenty minutes. Sweat ran down his cheek and dripped from his chin, his pace faster than most who frequented the machines. Still, he knew there was a long way to go, and that his physical conditioning must be top of the line if he were to stay on his game.

'9:48, 9:47,' he watched as the seconds ticked by, his pace remaining steady throughout. He could feel his heart thumping inside his chest as he ran, reminding him of the taxing effort he was putting forth into his workout. He let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his dark hair to keep it from his eyes. Grey eyes went back to the timer on the treadmill, '8:59, 8:58.'

After his time on the treadmill, he would do some crunches on a nearby bench, before grabbing an energy drink from the center's machine, and then change to head up to Tseng's office to discuss his next mission. Still...

He might have to take a nap, first.

'4:23, 4:22...' Kano rolled his eyes as he glanced down at the timer, unable to believe that he still wasn't finished with his workout. 'Seems like I've been at it for hours,' he sighed, his body still churning in that same, repetitive motion. Maintaining a constant speed, exerting such an effort, and watching the never-changing scenery around him had grown painfully boring. Where was Roka when you needed him? That overly-serious bloke was always good for a laugh or two...well, at least he would be laughing. He could just imagine Roka.

'Why can't you ever be serious, Kano?' he might chide him, or, 'Damn it, you're such a kid, Kano.' The two-gun specialist smirked. 'Yeah, that'd be Roka all right.'

His eyes shifted back to the treadmill, where to his relief, the time was finally winding down. And not a moment too soon, either...if he was thinking about hanging out with his partner, he knew he was WAY beyond bored!

'0:20, 0:19,' he watched the final few seconds ticking away and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. 'Now for some crunches...'

The treadmill slowed finally after the long jog, and Kano stepped down with an appreciative sigh. What a boring workout that was! He'd have to remember never to go that long on the treadmill again...Roka probably wasn't patient enough to do twenty minutes on a daily basis.

'Now for my hot date with the mat for crunches,' he smirked, sopping up the sweat with his towel as he headed over to continue his workout. It was late, so the facilities were relatively empty...that was how he liked it. There was nothing flashy about this part of the job, and so, it was only out of necessity that he ever came here. Kano despised the monotony of it all, but tried to make a game of it to maintain his interest. He laid back on the mat quietly, curling into position to begin the next phase of his workout.

'500 crunches, here we go...' he let out a breath and began, sitting up on his mat and bending at his center. He could feel the tension in his abdominal muscles, and the rolling beads of sweat as they continued to travel across the tense lines of his body. Kano was feeling the proverbial burn...at least, he figured that's what it was...but there was still a long way for him to go.

It would be over eventually...

'435, 436, 437,' Kano counted, his teeth clenched painfully as he ground through more and more crunches. The workout had been intense, and the sweat was dripping from his chin and soaking his dark black hai, which stuck to the outlines of his tanned skin. God, how he hated these things. '465, 466, 467...'

His white tank top and black sweatpants had long been soaked through with sweat, sticking to him as he bent his body at the midsection once more. The burn grew more and more intense...he gasped as he reached his goal, letting out a pained sigh and laying back against the sweat-drenched mat.

'Finally,' he thought, relieved to be through his workout at last. He knew he could have...and probably should have done more types of exercises, but his last mission had been a particularly boring one. That meant that Kano was in the mood for something fun. The Turk stood from the mat at last and lifted his towel, drying his forehead and eyes of the result of his efforts. His eyes scanned the room momentarily as he threw the towel over his shoulder, spotting the vending machine in it's permanent location near the locker room wall.

He smirked, drawing a damp bill from the pocket of his sweats.

'God, I'm freakin' thirsty,' the Turk laughed to himself, hoping the machine would still take his gold. Sure enough, his prayers were answered and it went into the machine automatically. Kano pressed the button for one of the ShinRa-made energy drinks and drew it from the machine post-haste. His fingers undid the seal mechanically as he brought the bottle to his lips to moisten his parched lips.

It was heavenly, the feel of the cool liquid sliding down his dry throat. His eyes closed for a moment as his head tilted to the side, enjoying thoroughly the feel of it all. Nothing hit the spot after a hard workout quite like one of these babies...

His eyes opened a moment later, peeking over in the direction of the pull up bar where a woman he had not seen before was executing a rather strange set of exercises. A dark eyebrow raised curiously, as the last of his drink drained from the bottle into his body. He crushed the can in his hand and tossed it towards the waste bin, already feeling a bit refreshed.

Kano started towards the locker room with his workout routine finally complete, but paused before the door. He shouldn't...should he? The two-gun specialist smirked. Maybe he'd flip a coin on it, he decided, as he made his way through the locker room door to change.

Kano shuffled through his locker, dropping his sweaty clothes on the bottom and making sure his suit was still hung neatly on the hook. He probably should have cleaned the rank smelling storage compartment a while back, but he hardly had time. Besides, the smell didn't really bother him...

The door opened and closed behind him, and moments later the sound of running water alerted him to the presence of another employee in the room. He wondered idly who might be joining him this evening...perhaps the new girl he had seen? Kano smirked...like he'd be so lucky. Nevertheless, he withdrew his towel from the top of his locker and dropped his drawers, heading to the nearest open showerhead to wash away the residue of another exhausting workout.

His fingers turned the knob quickly, and the warm water burst out in a rush over his tanned skin. Black hair matted to the sides of his face, and he couldn't help but let out a bit of a laugh at it all. The water was always warm in this place...the courtesy of the ShinRa at work. He closed his eyes, not even sparing a glance at the area around him, and reveled in the feel of the water rushing across the taut muscles of his body...his mind already wandering to what he would do after his meeting with Tseng.

'Maybe get a drink at Gren's...that is, if he doesn't send me straight out onto a mission,' he thought with a sardonic grin. 'That'd be just like that b*****d, Tseng...'