Olivia Jensen is on her way to ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ғᴀsᴛ (sprinted) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-12-18 13:13:00 |
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Olivia scanned the list of 'prescriptions' she'd written out for today's session, double checking to make sure they'd hit every single one, then set her clipboard down as she turned her gaze back to her patient. "That's it for today. How does everything feel?" she asked curiously, bringing her hands up to her waist as she studied his leg and knee. Four months past the accident and everything seemed to be going according to plan; while she hadn't expected to have her own client this soon, it wasn't like Nick had meant to get hurt, either. “Feels like I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” Nick replied with a half smile. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you liked seeing me wince in pain.” He added teasingly. Truthfully Nick was pleased that Olivia felt comfortable enough in her role to push him to the point where he had to work and would be sore the next day, it was the good kind of sore though, the sort that let you know you did something. His knee really was healing up well, and Olivia had a lot to do with that. Even if he was walking her through some of the aspects of hands on training, she had taken to it quickly and Nick found as the months had progressed he did less and less instructing and more of simply being the patient. To say he was proud of that fact would have been an understatement. "The pain was just some payback for earlier this year," she told him airily, her tone undercutting the actual concern that was at the back of her mind. Her own rehab had hurt like a bitch, and it hadn't even been as serious an injury as his. Part of her worried she'd pushed him too much, but the smarter part -- something she hadn't really known she'd had until just recently -- knew that he wouldn't have let her do that. It didn't matter that she went through this whole series of doubt every time they held a session, either, but it was admittedly getting better each time. “Uh huh, sure it is,” he replied with a ghost of a grin. Despite her words, Nick didn’t believe for one second that Olivia was trying to get him back for her own rehab. He knew better than some that pain came with recovery sometimes. He also knew that he would always end up with “proud dad” moments when it came to Olivia, it was just the nature of their relationship. “To answer your question seriously, everything feels good Minny,” he paused. “And I have you to thank in large part for that.” While Nick knew all the things he needed to do to rehab his knee, he was well aware that his progress would have taken twice as long without Olivia’s help. So while he still hated the fact that he had been injured, the silver lining was that it had given Olivia some real hands on trainitng and Nick could be entirely honest in saying that she had a knack for this. "Oh, well." Olivia blushed, which was stupid, and turned to busy herself with the clipboard. Despite her self-talk regarding her not totally breaking him every time, it was something else altogether to have him praise her out loud. Not that it was rare -- Nick was way too positive to not say good things all the time -- but because it meant something. She was smiling, though, from the safety of looking the other way. "I just don't want to listen to you complaining all the time, anymore." After years of knowing Olivia, Nick knew she had busied herself to better handle his earlier compliment. He didn’t draw attention to that fact though, he didn’t need her looking at him to know that she appreciated the praise, even if it flustered her. “My complaining is getting kind of out of control, isn’t it?” Nick joked and followed his words up with a chuckle. “So I can’t say I blame you there.” He tacked on for good measure. “Just think when I’m one hundred percent healed you can lay claim to saving the world from my endless complaining,” Nick continued, a smirk pulling up the corners of his mouth. “Maybe the City of Austin will even give you an award for your Humanitarian efforts.” "Yeah, probably." After she decided she could trust herself, she turned back towards him so she could pick up the equipment they'd used during the session and put it away in its proper place. They didn't have anyone else on the schedule after Nick's appointment and Olivia was eager to get over to the gym in a little while to start her second job. Life was all kinds of hectic these days, bouncing around from school to the clinic to the gym, but she couldn't help but enjoy it. "Savannah already told me that they got the award engraved for that and everything, because you're so annoying." Nick chuckled. “Hopefully they spelled your name right, Minny,” He was pleased to see her play along with the joke, even if it was at his expense. “Maybe it’ll even match the one I got for helping, or should I say surviving, teaching you how to drive.” Nick wondered then if he should duck out of Olivia’s reach, but chose not to. "Ha, ha. Very funny." She fixed him with an undeniably sour look before she reached for the clipboard again once the clean-up was done, scanning it as she considered what to write up for him. There would have to be two sets of notes, one for Nick the patient and one for Nick the boss, but she'd finish it at home that evening. No need to worry about that now. Even while he was cracking jokes, he watched her with a careful eye as she continued the post appointment routine. Notes on the appointment would come later Nick knew, ones he would no doubt be impressed with because Olivia really was taking every aspect of learning this craft quite seriously. "Any plans for the evening?" she asked as she finished up, turning to face him once more. “Nothing major,” Nick started. “Probably just going over to Lita’s and making dinner.” It wasn’t anymore out of the ordinary than what he had done in months prior with Lita, but it felt different because they weren’t just friends with benefits anymore. So far they hadn’t fucked up their attempt at a relationship and Nick was damn proud of that fact. “And then I’ll continue wracking my brain for a good first date idea,” because yeah, they hadn’t actually done that yet. He offered Liv a half smile. “You don’t really want to hear about my relationship crap though, do you?” Nick paused a beat as she shook her head, confirming his suspicions, before he asked. “How ‘bout you, any big plans?” "No, not really." She stepped back, gesturing for him to lead the way out of the examination room, before she followed after him, the clipboard tucked under her arm. Really, it wasn't that she was uninterested in what was going on between him and Lita; it was just that they'd never really talked super deeply about relationships, and it was still kind of weird to think about doing so now. He also clearly had never wanted to make a big deal about it, so she was doing the same. "Just homework, honestly, after I head over to the gym for a couple of hours." Olivia barely had any free time these days, hadn't for a couple of months by this point, and she still wasn't sure how she felt about it. Despite the fact that Olivia was clearly an adult -- she ran her own gym after all -- Nick couldn’t help the way he immediately worried that she might be running herself too thin. “You’re not pushing yourself too much are you?” He asked gently. “I know that school, interning here and running the gym are all important to you, but you’re not over doing it, right?” God, could he sound anymore like a parental type in this moment. “Sorry, sorry, I know you didn’t answer that question so that I could fuss about your wellbeing,” Nick continued as he offered Olivia a sheepish smile in response to the almost-instant reproachful look she shot his way. “Still, how are things going at the gym?” He had been by a couple of times but to be honest Nick was trying to ease into how often he showed up there -- he didn’t want Olivia thinking he was trying to keep an eye on her or something. "It's going okay. All of it is." She crossed her arms into an obvious defensive stance, then shrugged one shoulder. It was hard to verbalize just what she felt, though that wasn't a new struggle for her. "It's just, you know. I had a lot of free time before, and I definitely don't anymore -- but I like all the stuff I'm doing, so it's not as though I want to stop any of it. And I don't really feel like it's too much. It's just a change, and I'm getting used to it." It meant less movie nights with Savannah and Maizie at home, especially since Maizie was juggling work and school too, but she was happy and everyone else seemed happy, too. Nick didn’t take offense to the obvious defensive stance Olivia acquired, he knew it well after all. “Welcome to adulting, Minny,” he replied with a ghost of a smile. “Although, some people can’t say they like what they’re doing, so you’ve got a leg up on them there.” Or maybe most people liked what they were doing now, but back before the outbreak Nick had known his fair share of people who were working simply to survive, not because they felt any kind of passion for what they were doing. "Shut up." Maybe Olivia was all of twenty two now, which was super weird to think about still, but she didn't feel like an adult. At least, not entirely. "It's really not a big deal, okay? I mean, I know it's cool to do stuff I like and not stuff I have to do, but. It's just something to get used to. I never got to figure out this stuff earlier, I guess, so." “You’d barely be out of school right now if things hadn’t happened the way they had, so yeah, I mean it only makes sense you’re figuring this stuff out now,” Nick said, effectively not shutting up about the topic. “I won’t say anything else about adulting, though, promise.” He did think it was a big deal though, all the things Olivia was doing. There was a fine line a person could walk with Olivia and Nick knew it well, which meant he knew when to let a topic go for the time being. Olivia watched him for a moment, dubious about this supposed silence, only relaxing visibly once nothing more was said. Nick's concern was always welcome, but unlike Savannah, who didn't push too hard, he'd always been so… intense about it. "Thanks." “I’ve heard really great things about the gym so far,” Nick added, again trying to keep any kind of “proud dad” tone out of his voice. “If you weren’t kicking my ass in these rehab sessions, maybe I’d sign up as a client so you could kick my ass in training.” He chuckled and offered her a grin. “After all, you like to remind me I’m old.” "Thanks," she said again. Olivia looked over at him with a guarded, proud expression on her face. "It's going pretty well, so far. So maybe once you get out of that thing, we can give that a shot, too." Olivia paused, then added, "Besides, I bet I'm a better coach than you ever were." Nick turned and leveled a “you’re kidding, right?” look at Olivia in reply to her last remark. “Now, I don’t know if I’d go that far,” he started as a ghost of a smirk started to pull of the sides of his mouth. “I was and I bet still am a damn good coach.” And yeah, there was more than a little pride in his tone in that moment. Nick had never quite reached his goals when it came to running, but he had managed to help more than one runner reach theirs. “Now I think we definitely need to make this happen once I’ve been cleared to ditch this thing,” Nick motioned down to the brace he still wore. “After all you can’t make a remark like that and not try and prove it’s validity,” he paused. “I mean, unless you’re afraid to be proven wrong.” He couldn’t help but grin as he said this, which tarnished the effect Nick was going for a little bit. "You're on." Olivia had never been able to resist a challenge, especially when it was also an opportunity to get the upper hand on Nick. Something about how long they'd known each other -- or maybe it was the fact that she'd just been a kid when they'd first met, as opposed to now when they were sort of on more equal footing -- always seemed to bring that side out of her. "I mean, we could probably start upper body stuff now even before it comes off." Nick laughed. “Are you trying to imply I should work harder on upper body stuff?” He asked teasingly, amusement clearly written across his features and easily clued Olivia into the fact he actually had not taken her words that way. "I mean, you said it, I didn't." The jokes were helping her relax; she even cracked a smile as she looked back at him once more in the middle of gathering up her things. "Pretty sure I have bigger guns than you, though." “Just name the time and we can start,” Nick said, more than game to step into this friendly competition with Olivia. “You know, prove who’s the superior coach that much sooner and all that jazz.” He added with a sly smile. Moments like this one were the moments Nick enjoyed most, when they could tease and joke with each other and he didn’t feel like that big brother that was making sure Liv was staying out of trouble. Sure, he didn’t dislike those moments. Nick just knew that sometimes he could come off as a little intense when it came to looking out for Olivia. Maybe it was because he had known her so long or she was basically his family, he just wanted to make sure she was was okay. It was just how he was hardwired and Nick had felt responsible for her, or more aptly protective of her since the moment she had set foot on Texas soil and likely always would. "Day before New Year's Eve?" Maybe other people didn't spend this much time with their bosses, but Olivia had been friends with him first before he became her coach or her boss. Nick gave a nod. “Yeah, that day works for me,” For him it wasn’t odd to spend this much time with Olivia, because at the end of the day he didn’t see her as an employee or as someone he used to coach, Nick saw her as a friend and as family and it wasn’t strange to spend time with family. “You’ll need to be prepared to be proven wrong.” He tacked one, though the grin lessened the seriousness of his words. Satisfied that everything was in order with his PT and the cleanliness of their clinic, she turned towards him, her expression softening as she took in his familiar face. Seven -- almost eight -- years had gone by in a flash, and now they were nowhere where she thought they'd be by this point. Still, she didn't think she could've made it without him no matter where she ended up. "Ready to close up?" It was surreal some days to think that Olivia was the one handling his physical therapy, if only because Nick had never pictured this for her. But then again life had thrown them all a curveball with the outbreak and if he had to evaluate how they were doing, Nick would have to say they hadn’t done half bad for themselves. With everything they had been through, he was just grateful they had made it through together, that they continued to make it through together, actually. As he pulled himself out of his thoughts, Nick smiled back at Olivia as she looked at him. “Yeah, I’m ready to close up.” |