Vigilante Shape-Up (Sloane)

[Josef Muller]

It was a quiet day. Josef was caught between gratefulness for that and mild irritation. Irritation because business paid the bills. Gratefulness because it was quiet for once, and that meant he could finally work on his fifth degree for his black belt in Isshin-Ryu. Specifically, the techniques required: six more katas than he had already learned, knowledge of vital points, and other such things which he didn’t look forward to. Like a paper. And an oral test. And students thought school ended at college. Still, if he acquired this, and then his sixth degree, he would have made it to as high as he was likely to get. And there was something very reassuring about being the best you could be.

So it was time to practice katas. He was in a formal karate gi with his four-striped black belt, standing in front of the mirror, settled in the horse stance while preparing to practice. His breathing was controlled and steady, and he seemed more coiled and tensed than relaxed.

All right…now into the first steps. He inhaled, then moved.

And stopped, because the damn bell had rung, announcing someone had entered. He let out the breath, rolled his eyes heavenward, then straightened up and turned to the person who had disturbed him.

“Hello,” he said with a slight bow from the waist, no sign of his irritation on his face. Customers, right? Politeness was needed. “How can I help you?”

[Sloane Deveraux]

Rolling her neck as she sorted out the bills at her dining table, Sloane realised she was getting tired more often lately and that was not good. Everything hurt too. And she was starting to feel flab grow in the oddest of places.

She wasn't a health freak by any measure and she did like to gain a few extra pounds but she found that feeling flab was just not that fun. And she was tired of running [as proven a week ago, running did not bring in good results. Just a lot of bad bad luck] so she trolled the town dailies on the web for where she could go to for working out besides the gym.

There seemed to be a new self-defense clinic open just around the block. It looked nice-ish. It was worth a look-see. So Sloane packed a gym bag with an extra set of clothes, a towel and a filled water bottle in case the place was stingy and didn't have a water cooler.

The walk over was a short one and Sloane walked in, looking up at the bell like it offended her or something. She turned at the greeting and raised an eyebrow at the tall pretty good-looking man in full karate gear. "Sorry, is this exclusively for karate or can I just have a regular workout as well?" She asked, looking down at her Lycra t-shirt and pants. Clearly she was dressed wrong.

[Josef Muller]

Aha. Clearly this woman was not here for a karate class. His eyes took in her frame, the workout clothes, and he mentally shifted gears. Okay, no more fifth-degree katas needed. Now he had to actually focus on workouts. But that was all right. He’d been a physical trainer for a very long time before he’d started this.

“It’s not exclusively for karate,” he said with a calm and hopefully welcoming smile. “I just was practicing some moves. I do a lot of workout classes too. Here.” He removed his belt and hung it up on the wall, then moved to the desk to pull out a few papers. “If you could just sign these waiver forms for me, then we can get started. I’ll get changed while you do.” He smiled at her again, hoping he wasn’t giving off the creeper vibe, then went back into the locker room. He returned in a couple of minutes, this time dressed in his usual black exercise attire, and leaned forward to offer his hand. “Josef Muller. You can just call me Josef, if you want. How about we start some stretches and you tell me what you were looking to do, some of your goals, and so on?”

[Sloane Deveraux]

"Okay." She nodded, not taking in his attempt at being zen. As she was presented with a waiver form, she rummaged through her bag for her hair band and tied her hair up in a ponytail after he left. She looked through the waiver form properly and saw nothing out of the ordinary so she signed it and looked down at her jeans and rolled her eyes before moving some place a little less exposed to change into her loose yoga pants.

When the man came back, Sloane accepted his hand and handed him the signed form. "Sloane." She replied curtly as they walked in. She looked around and took note of his question. "Just here to get rid of unwanted flabs." She snorted lightly. "Haven't been out doing much and work's been sort of slow so I just need to be active. You're open every day right?"

[Josef Muller]

"Nice to meet you, Sloane." He shook her hand, then took the form away to put into his messy files, which he would have to fix. One day. This business thing wasn't just hard in getting customers, and that was a shame because it was the only thing he'd planned for. Ah, well. He'd adapt.

"Ah. Sounds like a good goal. And yes, we're open every day." Unfortunately. He resisted the urge to sigh and instead settled down on the ground to start the stretches. He'd wanted this, right? She was awfully brisk, though. Most customers who came in to lose weight talked a lot more. "What do you do for work?" Maybe that would get her talking more, and he could figure out what paces to run her through.

[Sloane Deveraux]

"Good to meet you too, Josef." Sloane nodded curtly, giving him a brief handshake. It was really a shame that Sloane was so abrupt. She would have had more friends if she weren't so. And people would be more comfortable with her.

...Nah. She preferred it due to the nature of her job. She didn't need to make friends with potential offenders.

She extended one leg out and folded the other before leaning her body forward to wrap both hands around the sole of her foot.

Josef's question forced Sloane to look up from her position. "I'm a cop." Sloane answered before going back to her stretching.

The poor guy was just barking up the wrong conversation tree. Sloane hated silence more than anything but she was still so socially awkward that cues such as that just fly right over her head.

[Josef Muller]

She really was abrupt. Josef’s brows rose as she gave a three-word description of her job, and then stayed there. A cop had come into his clinic? A cop?

Yes, the man was having some issues processing. Give him a moment.

It was a short moment, because he soon returned to stretching, but his glance at Sloane was much more thoughtful now. “Are you? Huh. Well then, are you looking for an actual workout or more of a hand-to-hand practice? I’ve got a couple of classes you can take. One is kickboxing, another is an intermediate workshop, and the other is just a workout. Do any of those interest you?” Personally, he’d like to spar with her himself out of curiosity, but he doubted she’d appreciate that. At all. C’mon, she was a cop—the last thing she would want was spar with someone, right?

Shame.

[Sloane Deveraux]

Josef's question struck Sloane in a way that she was only just thinking about it. It was a good question! She had only come here in search of a workout. But now that she was given options, she would be stupid not to choose.

Kickboxing sounded way interesting. And Karate was also obviously another solution. As she mulled over her choices, she continued stretching, letting her body warm up. "You have fixed rates and classes?" Sloane asked as she weighed her options.

"Kickboxing might be more up my alley." Sloane said. It could definitely help with her work. Of course, her work sort of came with the added bonus of actually knowing how to defend herself but it wouldn't hurt to know other forms of martial arts.

[Josef Muller]

“I do.” He shrugged. “Fifty dollars a week for two classes, one seventy a month for three classes a week. Although…” he hesitated, then shrugged. “If you want to come in every day for the same rate, I don’t see why you couldn’t. I don’t have large enough classes yet where fitting you in would be a problem.” And that was true. Besides, someone skilled usually paid for themselves by helping the other members of the class.

“I also have a chart of times,” he added. “Of all my classes.” And at the moment, he was still teaching them all. Well, he couldn’t get anyone to officially take over for him until one of them had a black belt. That would take a while.

“Then let’s start with that.” He climbed up to his feet and went to roll out a bag, then turned to her. “Got any gloves, or need some? And do you have any experience with kickboxing?”

[Sloane Deveraux]

"Three times a week sounds good. You conduct classes at night right?" Sloane asked, already feeling the pleasant burn on her stretched leg. She stood up as he mentioned a time chart and she nodded. He was a planner at least, she was sure she was in good hands.

Stretching her arms up, Sloane turned when Josef asked if she had any experience. "I need some and no. Well, I have experience kicking people." She shrugged before reprimanding herself for that stupid joke.

She looked on as the man started to set up. Rolling her neck and shoulders, she felt herself getting warmed up. This should be a good exercise. A start at least. "I'm a fast learner," she stated as an afterthought.

[Josef Muller]

""Late as nine to ten," he said wryly. And then up at seven. What a schedule he kept...he could have had earlier classes, but he had decided not to. Being a complete not morning person like he was meant that mornings were a failure at the best of times. "That good enough? I can do private classes as well, but those are more expensive."

His lips twitched upwards at her joke, and he nodded. "Do you kick down doors, like the stereotypical cop? I've always wanted to try that and never had the nerve."

He tossed her a pair of gloves, then motioned for her to stand by the bags. "Hands up in a boxer position," he said, modelling as such. "Curl in slightly, so you can't get hit in the stomach, and try to hit with your top two knuckles. Following so far?"

[Sloane Deveraux]

"Yeah, I can-" she stopped herself when he offered private classes. "Yeah, that sounds okay. I don't mind paying extra." She shrugged. If it meant she won't make a fool of herself in public, she was okay with pretty much anything.

She smirked at Josef's question and shook her head as she dipped down to let her fingers touch her toes. "Not so much now." She grinned. "It helps when you have custom made combat boots that could splinter steel."

Catching the gloves easily, she slipped them on to her hands and moved into position, just like he instructed, bringing them into her body while one leg slid slightly to the back. She made two successive jabs into the air before looking to him for confirmation.

[Josef Muller]

Josef nodded. “All right.” That would be more like his personal trainer experience, then. That was fine with him. More money and a more relaxing experience. Plus, Sloane seemed amusing. It’d be nice to spend time with a person he could actually get along with for once.

He grinned back at her joke, then looked over at Sloane. “That so? Steel-toed I’d bet. Mind passing me the name of your shoemaker? I’ve always wanted to kick down some doors in my time.”

He got his own gloves to pull on and watched the jabs, then nodded. “Good. And you’ve got the guard down too. Very nice.” He smiled at her, then nodded to the bag. “All right. How about knees and kicks? Show me what you know first, and then we’ll work from there.”

[Sloane Deveraux]

His desire to kick down doors had Sloane shaking her head. "Let the professionals handle door kickings." She said with a grin, though her tone betrayed any warmth the grin was supposed to portray. All kicking doors did was destroy property. And disturb neighbours.

"Knees and kicks?" Sloane repeated before approaching the bag and holding it on the sides before raising her knee forcefully upwards before stepping back and delivering a middle kick to the center of the bag. "Should I show you everything I know?" She asked before sliding back even further to do a roundhouse kick, sending the bag swaying from left to right.

"I can do that with both legs," she admitted, not an ounce of pride in her voice.

[Josef Muller]

In spite of her grin, Josef could tell she wasn’t amused. Like he would really kick down doors. Well…once. When he was younger. But now? No, leave that to the professionals, as she said. They had medical insurance that would cover the broken feet and were young enough not to care.

“If you could, it’d make my job easier,” he agreed, straight faced. “But no. You don’t have to. Looks like you’ve got most of the basic kickboxing moves down. Good. And you’ve got nice technique, which is also good.” He sighed. Kickboxing wasn’t really his favorite, but… “Have a mouthguard on you, or some sparring gear? I don’t think I can teach you much bag work, and I do want to see where you’re at. If not, we’ll try something else.”