Joe Hardy hates this plan (ihateyourplan) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-02-25 12:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, joe hardy, rosemarie hathaway |
Who: Joe Hardy and Rose Hathaway
What: Random encounter at the gym
When: Recently
Where: Local gym
Rating/Warnings Pretty low; some thinly veiled sexy innuendo at the end
Status: Complete!
There were a few perks that came with being a “former” MMA fighter was that gyms still wanted to give you free memberships so you can be seen there and they could potentially use it for promotion. Rose was a little hesitant to go back to her usual gym after disappearing for a year, but she had eventually made it back to say hi to people and there was no awkwardness. However, another gym asked her to come by and give their place a try for a couple months, which she was more than willing to do. Squeezing in workouts took a bit of scheduling due to someone needing to watch Jill, but thankfully that’s what she had a small team for.
Today was a pretty quiet day and Rose was more than willing to step out for a while to get a workout in. Gotta make sure you stayed fit so you could take down any would-be assassins. Poor Princess Jill didn’t get to live a very easy life at the moment, but hopefully things would settle down and she wouldn’t need the guard service. She had just finished her round of squats in the rack and was going to do bench press, but needed someone to help her out.
The closest person she laid her eyes on she called out to him, “Hey, can you spot me?” Well at least her eyes had good taste because he was a pretty attractive man and didn’t look like the roided out douche-bros that frequented the gym and tried to prove they were stronger than her.
The fact was that Joe Hardy didn’t need to prove that he was stronger than anyone. He knew he was a tough fighter and so what if he wasn’t the strongest person in the room? That had never stopped him before, and it would probably never stop him. Just ask Carolina, she’d been there when Joe had challenged (admittedly stupidly) an entire bar to a brawl.
Joe didn’t work out to improve his strength or even maintain what strength he had. Joe worked out to clear his mind. He worked so much better with things he could get his hands around. The Dreams were also keeping him in pretty good shape, having him run around all over creation solving all manner of crimes.
Or at least they had. Since moving just out of Orange County, the Dreams had stopped and with them all the grief they had brought along with them. Still, it was a lot more convenient to continue to attend this particular gym in the county. It was close to where he worked.
He had just finished his own round with the free weights when he heard someone call over to him. He smiled when his eyes fell on a brunette by the bench press. Now she looked strong. Not muscled out, but very capable. It was attractive and Joe never said no to a pretty woman.
“Sure,” he nodded before joining her at the bench press. “Glad to be of service.”
Rose was blessed with good genetics to start with and then when she started dreaming about being Dhampir those genes had kicked in as well. No one had ever seen a fat Dhampir out in the field. It only enhanced her strength and pushed it to another level when she continued to fight and now she had figured out how to embrace that side of her and use it to her advantage. She could take down anyone that got her in her way unless they were magically enhanced as well.
But, that wasn’t something to worry herself with at the moment. She had to get some lifting done and there was currently an attractive guy that had promised to help spot her. “Thank you,” she commented with a smile as she loaded up the bar with 45lb weights on either side. This was going to be her warm up and she would gradually increase with each set. She slipped onto the bench and adjusted herself underneath the bar and looked up at the man, “I’m Rose, by the way.”
That was all she had time to say as she put her hands on the bar and flexed her fingers a couple times to get a good grip. When she finished her introduction she pushed up and removed the bar from the uprights and began to do her set of 10 reps, her breathing even, and barely struggled. Once the bar was re-racked she relaxed and looked back up at the man.
135lbs was a respectable warm-up and Rose looked as though she could handle it easily without a spotter. However, she had asked him to spot for her and it was only good spotting etiquette to keep one’s hands at the ready as the person did their reps. Joe’s hands followed loosely as Rose lifted and lowered the barbell and when she was finished, he was able to get it racked again for her, allowing her a breather before she started again.
It was also good etiquette to not distract the person you were spotting with chit chat, so Joe waited until Rose was finished before he introduced himself in kind. “Nice to meet you, Rose,” he said, smiling down at her. Rose was a pretty name and not one you heard often these days. “I’m Joe.”
At least Rose had picked a good spotter. She saw how he followed along carefully and she was able to complete her warm up easily. She smiled back up at him once she finished when he told her his name, “Nice to meet you as well, Joe.” There was a pause before she made her way out from underneath the bar so she could add 25lbs to each end of the bar. She would increase the weight with each rep.
“If you want to jump in at all to do some sets, you certainly can,” she wasn’t against sharing the equipment if her spotter wanted to work out as well. She wiped her hands off on her workout pants as she waited for his reply. Removing the weights would be easy enough if he wanted to step in.
Technically it was leg day today, but...eh, what the hell? May as well get the work in. Plus, it’d give him more of a reason to hang around and get to know Rose a little bit. Hopefully. “Yeah, thanks,” he agreed. As she added the additional 25lbs to the bar, Joe fetched his hand towel and water bottle from where he’d left them. Then he laid down on the bench and got a firm grip on the bar.
“Welcome,” Rose commented with a smile as she moved back around to spot him properly. Apparently he must be lifting what she was because he didn’t back down from her putting the new weights on the bar. It was always fun to see who could lift more. She was at a slight advantage with her Dhampir powers, but she usually didn’t tell people about that. Standing above him she was pleased with the opportunity to just watch him without seeming like a stalker because he was pretty cute.
Joe was stronger than he looked, but he was human through and through. No special powers on his side. He was unable to make lifting the additional weight look as easy as Rose likely would have. The muscles of his arms and chest flexed and contracted with each rep, tightening and releasing with the work. Each breath taken in while at rest, and pushed out when he lifted the weights. The repetitive motion, the work and strain against his muscles was exactly what Joe needed in order to clear his head. Some people meditated, or took a yoga class. Joe wrapped his hands around a couple of dumbbells, or even sparred.
He had a pretty good view too. Usually while lifting he only had the gym’s ceiling to look at, or occasionally the mug of another lifter, uttering unneeded words of encouragement, cutting into his calm. Rose was an excellent and a welcome alternative to either of those. His face was set in concentration, but as soon as the bar was racked again, that charming smile was back. He pushed himself off the bench and wiped it down so Rose would have her turn. His grin turned a little sheepish, “you come here often?” He said with a little laugh.
Really? That was the best line he could come up with on her? She let out a bark of a laugh, catching herself quickly so she wouldn’t seem too rude to him. Rose’s smile never left her face though, “Not this particular gym. Haven’t gone to this one. I usually go to the gym a couple town overs. That’s where I used to train for fights.” She didn’t usually flaunt that she was an MMA fighter, but some people happened to know her face, so it didn’t seem pertinent to do it at a gym.
“What about you, Joe?” she drew his name out, trying to figure out if she liked how it sounded on her tongue as she moved to go onto the bench. She didn’t wait for his reply as she lifted the bar up and started to do her reps. The burn of her muscle was enjoyable and she made sure to time out her breathing so she didn’t burn out as fast. Soon enough she hit 12 and set the bar down on the rack.
Hey, it was an honest question. It was cliche and corny as hell and Joe couldn’t help but laugh either. “Yeah, that was pretty terrible, wasn’t it? Still an honest question. I don’t think I’ve seen you here before, that’s all.”
He was quiet while Rose did her next set. Once she was done and the bar was back in place, he continued, “As for me, this is my regular place. I work a couple of blocks away,” he said, “so this is convenient.”
“You fight?” He asked as he got ready to do his own set. No new weights were needed, it was technically leg day after all. This was just an excuse to talk to a pretty woman, who also just happened to be a fighter. He watched MMA, but he didn’t follow it closely enough to be able to pick out individual fighters. He was intrigued.
“Oh don’t worry, I fully understand, it was just really amusing,” because it sounded exactly like a pick-up line to Rose and she had to tease him a little. His face looked far too serious and she couldn’t help but grin at him. It had been quite a while since someone had even attempted to flirt with her.
“Oh, that’s gotta be nice,” if Rose ever decided to get a desk job she would probably look for one that was near a gym. Might as well vent your frustrations from the day with a punching bag, “And I did. I still sort of do, but not as often anymore. I do more body guarding type work at the moment.” It felt a little odd to not be fighting on a regular basis, but she still did it from time to time if she was able to have someone else keep an eye on Jill.
Joe smiled back at her warmly. It was admittedly a corny line, but it was good enough to break the ice. And at least Rose was smiling at him rather than rolling her eyes and giving him the brush off.
His expression turned curious, brows furrowed together slightly over blue eyes. Body guarding? Joe had never met an actual body guard before. He’d met his fair share of overprotective friends or family members in his previous line of work, but never a bonafide body guard. He didn’t even know that was an actual thing anymore.
Then again, this was California. Hollywood was figuratively in his backyard full of movie stars and pope singers. With paparazzi lurking around every possible corner, it would make sense for at least a few of the rich and famous to employ at least one bodyguard. Right? Joe was curious about who it was Rose protected, but thought it probably best not to press his luck and ask. “Do you miss it?” He asked, “the fighting?”
Rose wasn’t a typical body guard- she never really thought that she fit the stereotype in any way. It was just easier to explain that then say she was basically protection detail. Jill was a pretty easy person to protect and Rose didn’t really have to flex the muscle much - hopefully it was just something she had to keep an eye on and the situation would sort itself out. “Sometimes I do. I have to admit it’s nice not having to ice my body all the time and wake up with a million bruises,” she would never miss that part of it. There was something beautiful about fighting, but it took such a toll on your body that you would never be able to keep it up for long, “what do you do?”
“I’m a mechanic,” Joe answered. “I wrestled in high school and a little bit in college. Sometimes I miss it.” Fighting was what Joe did, what he was good at. Apart from taking cars apart and putting them back together again, it was really the only thing he felt that he was good at. In a place like Orange County, it came in handy. At least with the physical stuff one could fight. It was the stuff that was intangible, the things that Joe couldn’t pummel into the ground, that seemed to always get the better of him.
“You could probably do something as an adult if you wanted to. If you want to do some fighting then I can hook you up with some places that you can train at,” Rose was more than happy to help someone out if they wanted to get into that, “And a mechanic. Must mean you’re good with your hands. You’d be a good person to have around.” Rose was awful at knowing anything about her car, so she wouldn’t be upset to have a mechanic she could call up. And she totally meant the hands comment in a flirtatious way and flashed him a small smirk.
Oh, Joe was very good with his hands, even if he did say so himself. He’d gotten no complaints so far. He smiled back at Rose. He had picked up on her flirting and was very open to it. “I’ve been told I’m pretty skilled. I could show you sometime,” he grinned at her teasingly, “you know, on your car.”
Somewhere during their conversation they had forgotten about the free weights, which was alright as far as Joe was concerned. Rose was interesting and he was enjoying the turn their conversation was taking.
“Oh definitely, my car could use a tune up or whatever it is you mechanic people say,” Rose couldn’t help but let out a bit of a laugh. It was very weird to try and turn sex into car innuendos when you knew nothing about cars. But she knew tune up was a thing and her body could use one as well and Joe was proving to be game for it, which Rose was happy to go along with.
“I think I’m basically done with my workout, if you want to get out of here soon,” whatever they could do in the bedroom together would be just as good of a workout as she would get here at the gym. And she could always come back to the gym later if she really wanted to. She was barely concerned about that.
Oh yes, Rose’s car needed a tune up. Well, for all Joe knew, her car really did need a tune up, but he knew an innuendo when he heard it. It wasn’t easy to make oil changes sound sexy. He had to applaud Rose’s effort. And he was only too willing to “check her oil” for her.
He laughed as well and gave her a playful smile. “I’m pretty much done here too,” he agreed, pleased that she wanted to leave with him. Work-outs with weights were all well and good, but whatever Rose had in mind was bound to be better. “Let’s get out of here.”