We Are Men?..! (closed)

[Mason McQueen]

Two nights after the day he accidentally told Levente about Jennifer’s colossal crush on him – it’s a miracle he survived that day really, considering how sharp those piercing stares Diana gave him – he promptly went back to the facility and looked for Josef, signing him and Levente up for his Wednesday evening class. He was lucky the man had an adult class on that day really; while he’s available on any other day, Mason has tons of commitments other days of the week on a regular basis. Heaven knows Levi won’t take him ditching him well. (He’ll probably tease him to death, like, much more than he does already).

For a change, he simply drove up the older man’s house and decided to hitch a ride this time. Hopefully the truck won’t give up this time though. “So, how’s Huck doing?” he asked, making sure his seatbelt’s fastened properly and holding on to the handle above the windows firmly, “He hasn’t been jumping on your bed when you’re asleep or randomly humping furniture, right? If he is, then I may have to tell Chowder that he can’t quite meet his favorite dog-friend at the moment. Chowder’s a bad influence, I’m sorry.” He’s considered getting the boy neutered like Ella suggested it, but every time he tries to talk to his dog about it, Chowder simply licks his nose and all his resolve to get him cut is thrown out the window. Oh how sneaky those dogs are.

Mason let a sigh of relief escape him when they finally reached Josef’s gym in one piece. “Dude, you should drive like that more often,” he teased, throwing his bag over his shoulder as he casually slung an arm over Levi’s shoulders. “Hey Josef!” he waved as he opened the doors, “We’re not late, are we? ‘Cause if we are, I’m totally blaming it on the older guy right here. And his worn out truck he should’ve replaced eons ago.”

ooc:
HEEEEH! FINALLY. <3
- Jam

[Levente Cohen]

Levente was excited when Mason told him that he’d signed them up for a Wednesday karate class with Josef. Not that he minded yoga classes all that much, but karate seemed a bit more like something he would actually enjoy. Teasing Mason endlessly was about all he looked forward to for yoga classes.

He was also excited about getting Mason in his truck again. It had taken him a whole day to get it working again after it broke down the day he got Huck. He wanted to see if he could scare Mason a little more. It really cracked him up to see a grown man cling to his seatbelt like Mason did. He was already standing outside when Mason arrived, so he hopped in the truck and started it up quickly, almost afraid that it wouldn’t start again. “He’s doin just fine,” Levnete said as he pulled away from his house. “He jumpes up on my bed all the time, but only cuz I told him he could. I swear, whoever raised that dog was a good trainer. He don’t do anything unless I give the okay.” He grinned at Mason as he pressed his foot down on the gas, heading into town. “You should bring Chowder over sometime. If you’re lucky I’ll throw something on the grill for ya both.”

After a few daring moves to get into town and a few close calls with stop signs, Levente parked the truck outside of the gym. “You ain’t seen nothin yet,” Levente joked. “You should let me take you on a highway sometime.” He punched Mason in the ribs as they walked through the doors. “Don’t listen to a word this man says. He’s just jealous because I could be a stunt driver.”

[Josef Muller]

Josef’s adult evening class on Wednesday had never been his most popular. He was used to that. He’d once told Harmony that he worked ridiculous hours, and he did, but it didn’t always mean that he was busy. Wednesday evening had a few adults who tended to rotate through every other week, but so far there hadn’t been much interest. So when Mason and Levente had signed up for the class, he’d been more than willing to take them. He knew them a little. He’d attended their yoga class for a while, because with his power and his job, the last thing he needed was to lose flexibility. To him, there was nothing wrong about yoga. But then again, self-doubt hadn’t ever been in Josef’s vocabulary. Ever.

He was sitting at the desk by the door, feet up on the top—just because it was his building and no one was there to tell him no—and a pair of tiny reading glasses perched on his nose when the two men came in. There were other people there, but only one or two, and they were stretching.

“No,” he said, eyeing them with some concern. They sure had come up quickly—but that was explained by Levente’s “stunt driving” skills. Right then. He was going to make a note not to never drive with him, but realized that the opportunity probably wouldn’t come up, so dismissed the worry. “We were just stretching. You two aren’t feeling particularly…rambunctious, are you?” He’d liked the adult students because they usually didn’t cause that much trouble. But he was a little worried about these two. They’d probably hurt themselves more out of clumsiness than overeager energy, but he still didn’t want them to get injured. Really. “You do have to be careful with this. That’s why we’ll start with stretching, so you don’t pull anything, and then, ah, you can tell me your experience with self-defense and we’ll see where you’re at.” Seemed like a good start. He swung his legs down and removed his glasses, then walked over to the main mat on the floor and began his stretches, starting by touching his toes. “So!” he said conversationally, glancing up with a slight glint in his eyes, “why’d you pick my class? The company’s not so pretty here, but that could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your view.”

((I apologize for the total crappiness of this post.>>))

[Mason McQueen]

“It’s a good thing then. Heaven knows you’d make a crappy trainer,” Mason teased, nudging Levi as he grinned. He feels it’s rather true though. Levi’s quite the softy, despite his supposedly rough manly exterior. Mason thinks he’d just indulge Huck and let him have his way. Then he’d get a very spoiled dog. Not unlike Chowder.

He let out a small gasp when they went over a hump, his hold on the handles near the windows instinctively getting tighter. He could’ve sworn his heart fell out of his body for a second or two. “That was close,” said the man as his pulse returned to normal, “Chowder’s not picky. I, on the other hand, have very refined tastes. So that better be good.” He would’ve laughed loudly, had they not passed another hump that had him clutching on his seatbelt for dear life. “Oh god. Levi!”

-xxx-

“Stunt driver? Pssh. The only stunt he’ll do is get him, and his passengers, off a cliff.” Had this been their first meeting with Josef, he’d be worried that they’re giving the wrong impression. And though they haven’t been under him yet, they were students alongside him so Mason figured that the man had a feel for their antics. More or less anyway.

“Don’t worry, we’re not teenagers,” he assured Josef, winking and giving him a thumbs up, “If anything, I know how to easily pull Mr. Cohen here into place. I promise not to let him be the beast he was never meant to be.” As if that made Josef anymore confident about their behavior. “Mind if I excuse myself and change for a bit?” He was wearing his work clothes still after all. While he doesn’t mind it, he’s fairly sure denim is frowned upon in the gym (or is this a dojo?).

Soon he’s back, wearing what he think is appropriate karate attire and a goofy grin on his face. “Where are we at again? Oh self-defense experience?” Hrm. Would non-existent be a suitable answer? “Well, I don’t know about Mr. Stunt Driver here, if you could the random fisticuffs I never wanted to be involved in back when I was still in high school (no thanks to my prankster roommate), I’d say I’m pretty much an expert,” he chuckled, thinking his response has been rather witty. “But formal training, nope. Zilch.”

He promptly followed Josef on the mat and stretched. Thank goodness he took some yoga beforehand else he would’ve been really dismal. (And Levente wouldn’t let him hear the end of it. At all). “Not pretty? Why?” Did Josef think he and Levi the reason behind them joining is that because they’re ‘sight-seeing’? “This is the only one that fit both our schedule, I think. Levi’s a busy man.”

“If I do fail at this, please don’t tell Harmony. She won’t let me hear the end of it.” The girl’s really adorable, but her mouth’s just too much at times.

[Levente Cohen]

Levente had laughed all the way to the gym. Scaring the wits out of Mason with his driving skills had just become his new favorite activity. Right next to fixing his truck.

He hoped his and Mason’s entrance into the gym didn’t worry Josef too much. The man should know by now that although the two friends had a habit of acting like hooligans, they knew when to cut it out and be serious. “Don’t fret Josef,” he said as followed Mason so that he could change as well. “We’ll be good.”

He returned wearing a pair of paint-splotched sweats and a sleeveless T-shirt. He shoved Mason slightly as the two joined the rest of the class. “Me? Busy?” he joked. “Never. I’ve only got about a million things to do, instead of my usual two million.”

He started to stretch out his arms and legs, actually getting a little excited about some real exercise. “I’ve never taken any actual self-defense classes,” he said to Josef. “Unless you count my older brother showing me how to win in a playground fight.” He laughed. “But that was more offense and less defense.”

He turned to Mason, smiling. “If he can’t tell Harmony, then can I tell your brother?”

[Josef Muller]

Josef didn’t quite know what to say to Mason’s assurances that he and Levente would actually behave themselves. Well, at least he didn’t have to worry about any power malfunctions. That was a blessing. He just told himself that he was fretting like a mother hen instead. They’d be fine, and it was time for him to learn to have fun again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that. He’d become exactly what Harmony had accused him of being—a boring workaholic. Other than the mirrors—which Josef had put a plastic layer in front of anyways—there wasn’t anything breakable in this whole building, so why worry?

“There’s a locker room in the back,” he said. That had been his first renovation to the building, although it hadn’t taken much, just expanding the bathroom into the janitor’s closet. “Have fun, but try not to break anything.”

While they were gone, he set most of the students to the punching bags while he settled down in a rather extended stretch. Flexibility wasn’t an option for him. He glanced up when they returned and motioned for them to join him in the current stretch—toe touching. Not the most original, but hey.

“Fistcuffs and playground fighting counts,” he told them with a slight grin of his own. “Every little bit count, and the reflexes are half the battle. And I was talking about the relative lack of women.” This was to Mason, who had asked. “It was a bad joke and in even worst tastes. Sorry.” His smile had faltered a little at the mention of his niece, but he did his best to shrug it off. So they didn’t get along. That was no different than anyone else, right? All families had issues.

"Let's have no tattling, though," he added with a grin, to try and lighten the mood.

He kept the men doing stretches while he went to correct the rest of the class and, once he’d set the class to doing pushups, waved them over to the bags.

“All right,” he said. “Let’s start with the basic guard, okay? Fists up.” Of course, he also had to show them how to fold their fists properly, one finger at a time with the thumb pressed to the top, and then to hit with the first two knuckles—although that was more Isshinryu than general accepted practice. “We also have gloves if you want them,” he said. Most schools charged for them, but as Josef happened to have a lot of them from when he’d been serving as a personal trainer, he didn’t see the point. Not enough clients yet. “And what are you looking more for—self-defense or actual karate training? Or even just a workout, like them?” he nodded to the others doing pushups.

[Mason McQueen]

Mason promptly returned the shove Levente gave him, biting his lip so his laugh wouldn’t reverberate through the halls. Something tells me this isn’t the proof Josef’s looking for when he asked for assurance that the two won’t act like complete kids.

“Oh it’s not. I’m just rather slow,” said Mason, consoling Josef and flashing him a wide smile. “And besides, I don’t think Levente’s looking at the moment. Isn’t that right, Mr. I-don’t-like-Jennifer-and-yet-I-can’t-take-my-eyes-off-her-one-evening.” At Josef’s no-tattling recommendation, the man quickly turned to his side and gave Levi a smug grin, even going as far as to stick his tongue out for good measure. My apologies as Mason apparently never really grew up from sixth grade.

Case in point: the moment Josef turned around, he gave Levi a little push in the middle of his stretching, hoping it’ll topple the man over. Unfortunately for him, the deed demanded a little bit more from him, making him tumble and roll over the mats just seconds after he gave that less than imposing push. “Gosh,” he muttered when he finally stopped rolling, looking at Levi then at himself before breaking into quite the laughing fit. Oh how dignified he’d look in front of his students right now.

He did manage to get back in place before (he thinks) Josef noticed, and so when he called them towards the punching bags, he simply walked casually, as if nothing particularly embarrassing or disappointing (even both if you want) happened.

After looking at Josef for a sign if he’s doing the whole guard thing right, he promptly tried to give the punching bag a blow. It wasn’t that hard, but he did manage to make the bag wobble. “Oh no, I think I’m good without the gloves.” At least if Levi’s not using some anyway. His knuckles hurt a bit, but if it meant being teased by the older man, no thanks.

“I think it’s a little bit of both.” Though mostly for the latter than the former, since he has a tendency to get wide really quick. He could always use his hair as extra hands in ‘real’ fights anyway.

[Levente Cohen]

“Playground fights count?” Levente asked with a grin. “Wonderful. I should be close to getting a black belt then.” In truth he wasn’t even sure that there were even belts in this type of class. He hoped Josef wouldn’t be offended, or think of him as totally egotistical. He would have been much more quiet and shy without his buddy Mason to pick on. “Just because I’m not looking, doesn’t mean I can’t take a glance now and then.”

Speaking of Mason, Levente was in mid-stretch when he felt a shove. Fortunately, Levente had his feet spaced apart, so he just wobbled a bit instead of falling to the ground. He did however almost fall over from laughing as he watch Mason tumble across the room. “Nice try, pal,” he said, still laughing. He glanced over at Josef, wondering if the man was considering throwing the two trouble-makers out of the class.

Levente took a few jabs at the punching bag, looking to Josef for approval or input on his technique. “I’ll be alright without ‘em,” Levente said. Mason would never let him live it down if he used gloves. Besides, his hands were pretty rough anyway from constantly working with them.

[Josef Muller]

“No, it really was a bad joke.” But Josef returned Mason’s smile with every sign of good cheer. He rolled his eyes at his statement and grinned back at Levi at his comment on being a black belt. Why would he be offended? Oh, once, maybe. But Levente didn’t seem to mean it with any real malice or frustration, so why should he be upset? Besides, there were no belts in this class, or in most of them. Belts encouraged a lot of arrogance in Josef’s opinion, and he was here to help. Sure, you got bumped up levels when you got better—not that he had that yet, as he had a lot of starting students—but he was trying to keep everyone at similar levels.

Josef did notice what Mason and Levente did. He was a self-defense teacher. Of course he saw. Mentally, he revised their age to about five and changed his tactics. If they wanted to have fun and play with each other, then he’d let them do so. Away from the rest of the class. So once they were at the bag, he decided to encourage…a little bit of practicality.

“If you’re sure,” he said, then fetched some of his own gloves and calmly slipped them on as he watched Levente and Mason. “Not bad. But stand closer to the bag. If you overreach, it’s very easy for someone to slip into your guard and hit you right where it hurts.” He tapped his stomach to show where and grinned. “And then you can also move in to knee them. But that’s more dirty fighting than anything. Still, if you want to try…” He leaned forward, grabbed the bag, and showed them how to bring it toward the knee. “That was a favorite playground move I had when I was a kid.” Josef had gotten into a lot of fights. A calmness of temper had only come when he was older. “You two don’t mind being sore in the morning, do you?”

[Mason McQueen]

“Wait, you hold a colored belt?” Well that was something new. Made him feel just a tad bit jealous since he wanted to take karate lessons when he was a kid, but they could never find a close enough school/dojo for him to enroll to. It also surprised him, considering how Mason never expected Levi to be that serious about the whole self-defense thing. Or wait, is he even serious?

If he is, then Mason’s doomed. He’d look like a total amateur amidst him and Josef for sure.

Realizing that he’s looked enough like a kid (at least to Levi; he didn’t know Josef saw them), Mason reined himself and simply consoled to huffing and sticking his tongue out to the man. He’d get him later, when the lesson’s done and they’re on their way back. If he doesn’t get sick of the man’s driving anyway. “Meanie,” he chuckled, trying to look slightly serious about all that’s happened.

When he saw Josef put on some gloves himself, Mason brightened. “On second thought,” he grinned as he promptly walked over and grabbed a pair. Not like Levi can say anything about it anymore, since Josef’s using them too.

Not one to be outdone, he promptly gave the punching bag he had a few solid blows. At least in his eyes they’re solid anyway. “Betcha’ that’s the only way Levi’ll win a fight,” he teased when Josef showed them the whole kneeing thing. “That’s why we came here in the first place anyway. Does that mean you’ll be sparring with us now?”

“I volunteer Levi to go first.” What a friend right?

[Levente Cohen]

Levente couldn’t help but laugh at poor Mason. “Just a joke, my friend," he said, patting his back. “I’m not up to the kicking-your-butt-to-the-curb stage. At least not yet.” He smiled, to show that he wouldn’t really hurt him. Although sparing was a different story all together.

He gave the punching bag a few more hits, trying his best to land with more force than Mason was. “Hey, I can fight fair,” he said, in mock astonishment. “I can’t help it that the situation doesn’t always call for fairness.” He smiled when Mason accepted the offer for gloves, but didn’t comment. He would save that for the ride home.

“Hold on just a minute there partner,” Levente said, raising his hands. “I’m not going up against the teach on the first day.” He turned to Josef. “Am I?” He was starting to wonder if Josef was considering punishment for their childish actions. He couldn’t say he would blame him though. He and Mason were acting like two-year-olds. But that didn’t mean Levente was ready to stop.

[Josef Muller]

“No one should ever be up to kicking butts off curbs,” Josef said, a little dryly. “For one, you can never know what your opponent is going to do. And for another, there will always be someone better than you or someone who has an advantage that you don’t know about.” His example with Stephan came to mind. But that probably wouldn’t be a good example for this class, when he was half-trying to prove his superiority to them to stay on top of the situation In more advanced classes, maybe, or if he started teaching classes to the security personnel, then he’d start sharing those more personally-damaging stories.

Okay, and maybe it was just his pride. No one wanted to look bad in front of a couple of attractive—and they were attractive, and very likely straight—men who he was supposed to be impressing. At least Mason had grabbed gloves—he didn’t have to worry about lawsuits from that one. Not that he was too worried, but…best to be careful.

“No sparring today,” he told him with a grin. “And definitely not me. You don’t have gear and I’d need to fix you up some mouth guards so you didn’t sue me. But we’ll doing some falling, I guess. Mostly practicing throws. Do you know how to fall properly? You don’t put out your hands to catch you because those bones are fragile, and you try to fall on your butt, because it’s meant to take it. I really don’t want to have any broken bones in the class. Which means…” he eyed them. “Try not to fool around too much, all right?”

[Mason McQueen]

“Spoken like a true master,” said Mason with a smile, after giving the punching bag a few more blows to subtly tell Levi that he’s no pushover. (He did send Levi a smug grin soon after too). And no, he’s not sucking up to Josef. What made you think that? “But isn’t that the point in training? To be able to predict an opponent’s moves and all that yadda yadda about using their strength against them?” Mason tilted his head in confusion. “Or was I just watching too much action movies?”

If Josef wants to shut Mason up, telling him that he finds him attractive would be one risky, yet surefire way for the man to behave. Despite living for a little over three decades already, compliments are something Mason has yet to learn how to handle properly. Doesn’t matter if it came from a guy or a girl; he’ll blush profusely, say a soft (almost squeak-like) ‘Thanks’ then be silent until he’s sent off. A little pathetic really.

“Oh Levi won’t sue. I assure you,” nodded the man as he slung one arm over Levi’s shoulders. “Levi’s awesome. He won’t need too much gear I tell you. He can handle almost anyone.” His eyes and smile brightened, his tone almost patronizing. Indeed, despite it being very obvious already, he’s still denying the fact that he wants to see the older man get owned. So he’ll gloat about it on the way home. “Well, anyone except Dylan. I don’t think anyone can handle that boy anyway.” He gave Levi a not-so-soft punch-pat on the stomach. “See. No recoil. He can handle it. We can learn about falling after? Please?”

Still finding them attractive Josef?

[Levente Cohen]

Levente agreed with Mason’s thought about training should equal becoming a true master, predicting moves, and all that. But he wasn’t about to complain about anything Josef was willing to teach them. Just punching a bag once a week would be better than yoga. Although he did agree that yoga was a more attractive class, he felt a little odd telling his older brother and other friends where he was going every week. Karate class had a much better ring to it. At least in his book.

Speaking of attractive, a room full of sweaty guys wasn’t exactly what would come to his mind when thinking of that word. But he’d take a compliment any way he could get it.

“Yeah I’m not really the suing type,” Levente added, giving Mason a little shove for his patronizing tone. He was about to tell Mason that he could take Dylan any day, but A) he didn’t want Josef to think he was an egotistical macho man and B) he wasn’t really sure if he really could.

Levente rolled his eyes as Mason started to plead with Josef. “Don’t pay any attention to him. Just give me the word and I’ll throw him into the wall for ya,” he said, grinning and shoving Mason again, a little hard this time.

[Josef Muller]

“It is the point of training,” he said with a shrug. “But there are a lot of forms of hand-to-hand combat, and an untrained amateur is just as bad as a master, or worse, because he has no predicted moves. But yes.” He smiled. “Using your opponent’s strength against them is certainly a plus.”

And like he would tell either man that he was attractive. Once, maybe, just to have made him uncomfortable, but that was when he was a much younger man and didn’t care so much what other people thought of him. So Mason and Levi were both going to be safe from him and any attentions.

Josef looked significantly…unimpressed by the two men’s assurances that they could handle it. “Fine,” he said after a moment. If it would just make them stop shoving each other into things…well, he’d be grateful. “I’ll get you some waivers to sign, and some gear, and we’ll take it slow.” He went to fetch the promised paperwork, and then the gear. He didn’t put any on himself. He would later, maybe, but right now…well, he suspected these men’s bark was worse than their bite. Much worse, so he wasn’t going to worry about it.

“Suit up,” he said. “And then we’ll work on some swings, right? And try to pull your punches, will you?”