InsaneJournal

Who: Rose and Anna Marie (Rogue)
What: Working out together
When: First week of November
Where: Local gym
Rating/Warnings: PG
Status: Complete when posted


Rose was curious to see Anna in a new setting that wasn’t a seedy bar when the two of them had teamed up to get into a brawl. This was a little more structured and Rose felt far more at home at this place. She had finished getting dressed in the locker room and was heading over to where they kept the punching bags and various dummies. She also wondered if Anna would get upset with her about everything going on with Remy. She couldn’t help that he was offering her a good job and she was doing her best to stay out of his personal life since she certainly wasn’t doing anything with him except for protecting him. The thoughts crossed her mind as she sat on a bench by the mirrors and taped up her hands.

Rogue was less seedy than she appeared at the bar. In fact she was pretty much in good shape, although covered head to toe to avoid accidental contact, and all that. Her long red and white hair was up in a bun, as she plunked down across from Rose and offered the woman a smile. Anna didn’t care if she worked for Remy, if there was personal involvements she’d avoid listening about them. He’d hurt her pretty solid and she wanted nothing to do with it all. Although she did wonder why he needed someone to keep him safe when he had that scary lady in his employ. But it wasn’t her business. So she smiled again. “This is so awkward for me.” she laughed softly. “I’m all about breakin’ rules, not followin’ em”

That comment brought forth a smile on Rose’s face, “It’s not really breaking any rules. You’re just learning to fight better. Don’t consider this like a make and break rules kind of place. Just practice.” She could sense that Rogue hadn’t really done anything like this before, but sometimes learning something here was better than attempting it for the first time out on the streets. She stood up and handed over her tape and some boxing gloves to Rogue, “Here ya go, tape up and we can get to warm ups. What do you want to do today? I just want to make sure I’m making you learn something lame and you get mad at me about it later, haha.”

Rogue laughed softly and took the tape and gloves, taping herself up carefully. She had to remove the gloves to do so, but she was going to be covered. It’d be okay. Rogue fought in the streets, or in bars, or in underground fight clubs where rules and form weren’t important and kicking ass was. “Fair enough. Girls’ gotta learn a bit more anyways, especially if things follow from my dreams, might as well be ready for them.” then a wince, she hadn’t been ready for him. But she wiped her forehead and finished taping. “I don’t even know where to start, so please, treat me like an idiot.” she grinned.

“Being ready for things from the dreams is a great reason to do this. I have to deal with evil vampires in mine and I reallllly hope they don’t actually cross over into this world,” Rose answered her with a grin before laughing at Rogue’s next comment, “Alright, I’ll treat you as a beginner and not an idiot. Let’s get to doing a little bit of stretching and then we can go to the sand bags. I’d like to see what I’m working with.” It was a good thing that Rose had a degree in training and this felt so good to her. As much as she loved fighting she also loved helping teach people how to better themselves and Rogue was bringing it out in her right now.

“Already had to tussle with someone from the dreams, then well you know.” she waved her hand lazily. “I don’t want some of the guys I went against there to come here. It’d be a nightmare.” she smiled a bit. “Beginner good.” she laughed as she got up to head out and stretch. To be honest, Rogue could hold her own, but she was unrefined, really unrefined. She relied on her size and strength to get her through, not skill.

She had seen Rogue fight already so she had a basic idea of how to get things done, but they could definitely refine things. There were so much easier ways to take a man down if you knew how. They finished stretching to warm up and she made her way over to one of the punching bags, “Alright. Do you want me to show you or do you just want to show me your punches? I’m thinking about hooks and uppercuts to start and then we can expand from there. I’m pretty sure they’ll catch on pretty quickly.”

Rogue moved after her and smiled. "I can show you what I got then we can go from there, yeah?" She nodded lightly then settled into an awkward looking stance, before hitting the bag a few times - a couple uppercuts, hooks and jabs. They were strong but not controlled very all.

Rose watched her with a critical eye and then once Rogue was done punching she walked over to her, “Alright, not too bad. You know how to put power behind your punches, but you tend to go all over the place with them. Alright, let’s fix your stance and I’ll help you punch. Do you care if I touch you? Or else you can just try to copy me.” She wasn’t sure what everyone’s feelings were on that and Rogue was covered head to toe, so hopefully it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

"Just avoid bare skin and you're fine. Adjust as you need to" she said as she relaxed. "Yeah no formal training, just tussling with family then on the streets when I got here." She looked at Rose, indicating she could adjust her as necessary.

“We’ll get you to be even more badass than you are right now,” Rose commented and took the warning to heart. She shifted Rogue around so that her stance was much better and then positioned her arms so that she was able to cover her face as well as punch at the same time. She demonstrated by extending out Rogue’s arm on how she should be punching and how to keep control, “Alright, now show me how you punch.”

“I love the sound of that.” she grinned wickedly at Rose. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, on accident. I mean, if I punch them in the face okay, but if someone brushed my skin, well… I feel awful and I hate it.” she sighed softly. Then let Rose move her around. She settled into the new stance and focused on remembering it. Then she’d punch, trying to follow how Rose had shown her.

Rose didn’t actually know what Rogue’s deal with her skin was, but she wondered if it was dream related. She knew it would probably be kind of rude to just flat out ask her at the moment, so she could always wait until after the session. When Rogue moved into stance and Rose kept a critical eye on her, “Alright, not too bad. You’re definitely getting the hang of it. Just tuck your elbow in a little more when you go to extend. It’s just something that’ll come with time and practice, it feels weird at first.”

Rogue would probably tell her at some point. She wasn’t shy about it anyways. She adjusted a bit and smiled. “That better?” Then she’d punch again, trying to mimic what she was being told. It wasn’t easy, and it felt weird, but if it was the right way to punch, well better for it. “It feels weird.” she laughed.

“Haha, it will, but you’ll be happy when you land an amazing punch,” Rose pointed out with a laugh and moved to stand beside her and showed off her form when it came to punching. It came fast and hard, “Your muscles will thank you as well. You might think I’m the craziest person ever for this, but your body will be much happier. Less likely to hurt yourself in the process.”

“I bet. It’ll be nice to lay out the hurt without breaking my own body in the process.” she laughed softly. “I’d say this was crazy but I get it, trust me. I used to ride around bareback and would get thrown and get back up and do it again. That was so long ago.” she said with a sigh. “I miss being in that kind of shape.”

“Alright, you look good with your punches now, great job. Do you like to kick? That’s like one of my favorite things,” Rose loved how unexpected it was when you roundhouse kicked someone in the face. She also thought it exerted a little less energy when she was fighting, gave more of an impact, and didn’t hurt as much, “we can work on some of those if you want.”

“I don’t know. I generally just barrel through people, throw punches and bar stools.” she said with a grin. “And occasionally I’ll kick out a knee but it’s nothin’ fancy” as she slowly got tired the more that Louisiana accent peeked out. “So why not?” she grinned wickedly. “Could be good to add to the ole’ resume as it were”

“Oh goodness. You are missing out. Being like Chuck Norris is a lot of fun. Alright, I’ll keep it simple today so I don’t overwhelm you. We’ll do a basic roundhouse kick, so watch me,” Rose chuckled as she moved so Rogue could watch her properly. She slowly explained how to stand, aim, how to kick, and where her foot should hit. She repeated it a couple of times before she decided Rogue probably had a good idea, “Alright, now you try.”

Rogue watched with focus. She was really curious about all this. She brushed hair out of her eyes then tried to imitate what Rose did, it was awkward and weird and definitely not pretty. "Oops!" Was said as she wobbled off balance.

Rose rushed forward to help try and keep Rogue on balance. Luckily she remembered not to touch skin and she grabbed her around the waist with a laugh, “Alright, let’s get you back up. Do you want me to help balance you while you kick? It’s going to take some getting used getting balanced. We could try just perfecting your balance by standing on one leg.”

“I’ve got a weird balance - like I can stand on the edge of a roof and be fine, but apparently ask me to kick and I get all wobbly.” she shook her head laughing at her self. “The things you learn. Sorry about that” she’d caught the half second of near missing skin to skin but smiled. “Remind me to tell you why to be careful.”

“It’s totally something that happens when you’re not used to it. It takes some practice to get really good at balancing. Alright, now that you’re right side up try lifting one leg up and let’s see how long we can get you to balance on it. You can use my shoulder if you need to,” She offered, “And yeah, I’ll have you tell me once we’re done.”

Rogue leaned on her, lightly, and balanced carefully. She let go of Rose’s shoulder to try to stay on her own. She even wiggled her foot carefully to help keep her balanced and it worked. Rogue had good natural balance but she hadn’t used it in that way before now so she was a bit of a clutz. “It’s an interesting story, I promise.”

“Haha, interesting stories are always the best. And look, you’re doing pretty well. Now hold onto my shoulder and try lifting your leg up like you’re going to kick. Your center of balance will be slightly off, but I want you to get a feel for the motions. Just repeat as long as you need to until you feel comfortable,” Rose explained as she stepped closer to provide a steady support for Rogue.


Rogue did as she was instructed until she felt a little less like an awkward duck and more balanced in the motion. She grinned a bit. “Okay I see now, that’s a little different but workable.” she smiled brightly. “This is kind of fun, Rose.” she laughed softly, she was actually sweating which was weird for her, she never really worked out, just randomly got in bar fights.

The admission of fun earned a laugh from Rose and a big smile, “Exactly! It’s a lot of fun. Okay, so when you feel comfortable you can let go of me and attempt an actual kick to the bag without a balance. And then we’ll probably wrap up for the day since I’m sure you’re going to be sore tomorrow. Using all sorts of new muscles today, missy.”

Rogue nodded a bit then tried her hand, well, foot at it all. She let go of Rose and tried, and it was better than her first try. She landed it, a little wobbly but a lot better than the first try. She settled back, laughing softly. “Well I’ll get it and I’m sure i’ll be sore but nothing wrong with that. Want to get some water and I’ll tell you about the no touching rule?”

“Sore is good. You want to be sore, but hopefully not too sore,” Rose pointed out with a soft laugh as she went over to grab her water bottle, “But yes, let’s grab water and you tell me about this.” The no touching rule was one she could handle, but she wanted to know exactly what was going on with it so she could be more diligent in the future.

Rogue settled down with her water and kicked her feet out to relax. She felt good, she liked working out, she was more used to it in a bar-brawl or back alley fight sort of way, but this was nice too. She took a sip of water then sighed. “You know the Dreams and all right?” she assumed she probably had. “if not this will be crazy but… in my dreams I’m a mutant, a human that’s evolved or whatever, we have a gene that makes us more. Well my power .. it’s complicated, but my skin’s dangerous. I touch people and I can get their memories, their energy, their powers and skills, knowledge, and if I hold on too long people drop into a coma or die, it’s not fun and I don’t have control over it here. I guess some time I get control so I’m no longer a walking danger. If you don’t believe me I can touch you for a second, you’ll feel it, it’s weird.”

Ah! That explained a lot. The Dreams had a weird way of changing people and she listened carefully as Rogue explained everything. “That makes sense. We have vampires in our world, so I understand having different kind of abilities than you do here. And no, I don’t need you to touch me. There’s something like that going on in my dreams where I’m linked to my friend. I can hear her thoughts, see through her eyes, and feel her emotions through the bond. It freaks me out, so I’ll make sure to exercise caution with you until you get it under control.”

She laughed softly. "It's awful, I've got people's echos in my head, the longer I've touched someone the longer they linger. I've got a couple in here. It's like hearing voices. I thought I was going crazy before I knew what it was." She sighed. "But it's only skin to skin so if I'm covered you're okay."

“Wow, that’s gotta suck. I’m sorry you got stuck with a shitty mutation. At least you’ve got an explanation on it and you’re not going completely crazy. But ugh, the damn Dreams. They totally mess with things,” she commented with a little bit of a sigh as she spoke. She did hate the Dreams for how they changed people and wondered if that would happen to her or Lissa.

“Yeah it does a bit. It’ll get there in the end, I suppose.” she smiled a bit. It didn’t even matter. It was safer just not touching people, even if it was controlled. She could still lose it. “In my dreams I put the first boy I kissed in a coma. I mean, talk about suck.” she laughed a bit then got to her feet. “I really should shower huh? I bet I stink to high hell.” she grinned.

“Oh my god. Talk about a crazy first kiss experience. God, I can’t even imagine how you reacted after that,” Rose felt bad for Rogue - her mutation really made it difficult. At least Rogue seemed to have a good head on her shoulders about it. But then she was being distracted by the shower comment and laughed, “We both stink. Alright, I think we’re done here for the day. Let’s go shower it up.”