I Whistle While I Workout -Lucas-

[Ann Hudgins]

The saying goes, 'do what you love and you never work a day in your life.' Ann had been in a dojang most of her life. She enjoyed learning the martial arts immensely and after getting a good handle on her power, she took the hobby back up, in this very gym. Somehow she managed to get herself hired on in the gym as well, making good money. She taught a small and intimate traditional Taekwondo class that she enjoyed greatly, last week she had just held her first belt testing and advanced a few of her students. She taught self defense segment every couple of nights to both women and men. She had a pretty popular kickboxing class she co-taught with Mr. Muller on Saturday mornings. She also had a few thirty minute breaks between scheduled classes for private lessons.

Or if no one wanted one, then she de-stressed on the punching bag. Or ate snacks.

Today was an eat-snacks sort of day.

She was in light work out clothes, a black tank top and dark green shorts, and barefoot like always. She had a granola bar in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. She was slightly out of breath from the burnout at the end of the last class, but it felt awesome. She was in the best shape of her life and her problems of a few years ago just didn't seem to exist anymore. She was happy, she loved her fiance, their apartment was quaint, and she was set to graduate with her bachelors in psychology in December. Life was perfect.

[Lucas Blacke]

Lucas had been thinking, what was the best way to combine the things that he liked most, working out and girls? Hell, trying out some gyms of course, maybe even one that did real martial arts stuff. He worked out like that the most anyway, so why not? Might get him to pick up another martial art why he was at it, or a girlfriend. Either would do, assuming there was even such a thing as a cute girl around there.

Thing was, he wasn't sure how to go about doing things there. Would he be able to smsh up a dummy like he did in his own spare time, or would he be able to train with someone else? He needed to admit that he enjoyed the idea of training with someone else, and especially martial arts people since he could no doubt surprise them with his 'talent' for picking it up as he went along.

But what to take with him? He could take his own lose clothing, or work out gear but that consisted out of a pair of sweatpants. No shirt, no shoes since he totally assumed a martial arts school would have padding on the floors and no protection for any part of his body as he wasn't used to having to protect himself. That new dummy of his did introduce the hitting back mechanic, but nothing urged you to improve as much as being hit. That his body knew how to respond didn't mean it had fully bled through yet, he was still too slow for his own good unless there was someone around to mirror, like a movie of Ip Man or something.

Still, to improve on that stuff was the reason to get over to a school for martial arts and seek out someone willing to spar with him. Preferably in what he didn't know yet. In all honesty, he was mainly looking for someone to make him forget his issues for a moment; shit had been haunting him and shit did not leave him alone. Shit was the only thing sticking around, it seemed. Shit was the only constant in his life. And disappointment.

Bringing his bag with him with stuff in it he wasn't even sure he needed he made his way to this place called Mullers Self Defense. He would rather use his skills to beat up people, but still.

Opening the door and entering the building he looked around first and foremost, his eyes falling upon quite the cute girl just standing around and.. doing what, exactly?

''Oi, hotness. Can ya help me? 'M new 'ere.''

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann's work philosophy didn't entail sitting on her butt for very long. She was on the clock so she wasn't on 'her own time.' She was paid to be there to be an instructor and to take care of the place. That meant that when she had down time, her responsibilities still existed. She had cleaning responsibilities, the filing cabinets constantly needed updating, the floors could always use a good disinfecting, and outside of those sorts of physical things; she always had room to improve to be a better instructor.

This work philosophy is also due to the fact that her father was and still is an Active Duty U.S Marine. Her room was spotless. Her homework was perfect. The dishes were always clean. The yard was cut. Her father never ran out of things that needed to be done--now don't get Mr. Hudgins wrong. He let his little girl have fun with the neighbor kids and they had a family Game night, but Ann definitely learned that rewards had to be earned. Good behavior was rewarded and bad behavior was punished. She still had this sense of appropriateness to this day and that was why that after she finished her granola bar and water, she threw them away and got up.

The first thing she cleaned was the windows. After those were done, she moved to the mirrors that lined the wall. She had just put the Windex away when the door bell jingled. She immediately drew in a deep breath and reinforced her nerves to be near someone. She turned with a smile on her face.

The half naked man threw her for a moment, but that ring hanging from her necklace weighed very heavily. Sure Ann saw the physical attractions that this boy had, but he had never been there for her like Alex had. She loved that boy with every inch of her being, and then some.

This guy was just half naked, is all. She'd never look twice at him.

"My name is Ann, how can I help you today?" She asked in her 'business' professional voice.

[Lucas Blacke]

Him entering the dojo or whatever was made known by the chime of a bell, most likely to let people know he was there and that some professional humpadump would come over to see to his wishes. Not that he needed a chime after just calling out for help, still, the added sound of the bell added some sense of professionalism to the joint. But he wasn't there for just the pretty sounds though, or the colors or how clean the place looked.. beating stuff up was why he was there. Or even a sparring partner, he'd been longing for one of those since Axelle, and maybe this time he'd find one that wouldn't punch a hole in his gut when angry, nor drag him off like a puppy who just ate a book.

The minute someone approached him though he had a target. Whoever she was, he had to spar her. The lewd comments shot around in his mind and bubbled to the surface, urging to get out as his mouth tried to open and let them out like a police officer guiding people through a tight spot one by one.

He inhaled deeply and gave the woman in front of him the quick one-over, which he did to pretty much every woman ever, but moreso if he saw a certain.. appeal. Which he did. Two of them right off the bat which he knew would be his main focus for a while. He did notice the necklace but paid no attention to it, what it could mean and why it was there. People had rings, and wearing a ring in a dojo was a no-go, so what?

''I was lookin' fer a place ta train, an' I think I once heard someone say somethin' 'bout this place.''

[Ann Hudgins]

As she approached him she started picking up a bit of his emotions and not that she was a big invader of privacy....she dissected what she was picking up. There was confidence there. Purpose. He was sure of himself about something. She never had the wheres or the whys, but hey. At least she didn't lose her identity to him like the old days. God her first few years at Hammel sucked.

She smiled, "you definitely came to the right place. We off a lot of different classes that span a wide range of martial arts and cardio work outs. Here, let me get you a schedule," she turned then and went to the desk and extracted a schedule. When she returned to in front of him she presented the piece of paper. "What exactly is it that you would like to train in?"

She pointed to a few of the classes on the schedule," Mr. Miller teaches the more...difficult and intense classes. He incorporates a lot of like Brazilian Ju Jitsu and full body stuff. I teach a couple of self defense classes, the up close and personal alley stuff, as well as AAU Taekwondo. Throughout the week we also have open periods of private training." She wasn't about to say that Josef had assumed muscle memory and could teach literally anything he wanted. His personal training classes were amazing. They didn't train together as much as they used to when she first started working, but damn did she learn a lot. She was so lucky to work there. Whenever she came up to something that she didn't understand or couldn't quite grasp, all she had to do was tell Josef and he'd set aside the time to dissect what it was she was having trouble with and then he could take it her through it, step by step.

"There's nothing scheduled for another thirty minutes, so if you have any questions I'd be happy to help." Aaaand then she was standing there with her hands limp at her sides while she let him look through the schedule. The business part of the job she still didn't have down perfectly. She always felt painfully awkward.

[Lucas Blacke]

What he would like to train in? Really? Did he look like he was looking for a specific training? Well, he supposed it was a standard question though, so many damn people wanting to train and not having any idea with what. Well Luke did, always had. Martial arts was his thing because not only could he pick it up as fast as it was show but it was also a full body workout. Maybe even moreso with a body to wail on instead of a dummy. ''I did 'ave an idea on what I wanted ta do.'' He said as she gave him a schedule of what they offered. It looked all pretty fun to try out, maybe the place would even become his go-to place. The pair of boobs in front of him just being a plus.

The thing that did haunt his mind though was that there were people to choose from, teachers to choose from even if there were only two. But.. Luke being Luke he had his mind set on training with the girl instead of the Miller guy and perhaps getting a feel or two in. ''So basically, I've been trainin' at one of the arts meself an' wonder how it'll hold up 'gainst someone who has had actual trainin' in one.'' Now, if she knew Wing Chun it'd be amazing, but that specific art was versatile, so no matter what she threw at him he would be able to counter it. He hoped.

The awkward part was when he raised his head from the schedule and looked at the girl in front of him once more who stood there like a lump of salt. Bit of a downer, but okay. ''I guess I'm interested in some of those private lessons then.'' He said with a smile. Lord help him if she was the kind to ask what, where and how instead of just confirming. That happened way too much around him, where he'd make up his mind and still get millions of questions thrown at him. As much as he felt he would enjoy talking to her he wasn't there for that.

''And specifically with ye,'' He added. ''seein' as I don't work with men. Nothing against 'em, I just don't like 'em.''

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann sometimes wished she had the power of Josef, for a few reasons. Mainly, she wouldn't know what people were feeling nearby and she could touch her fiance without worrying about it, and she'd also be able to learn whatever sort of style of fighting that she wanted to. She knew a great swath of techniques thanks to Josef, though she would be able to learn even more on her own. They had both practiced in different styles of Taekwondo, as well as Wataru Karate, Ishinru Karate, Kung Fu, Small Circle Ju Jitsu, Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Muai Thai, and some military self defense techniques that were long ago influenced by karate and Russian street fighting.

Ann wasn't particularly acrobatic, but she could do some of those silly spinning kicks. They aren't practical in a fight, but fun to do.

'I did 'ave an idea on what I wanted ta do. Ann waited for him to elaborate on what it was he wanted, but he never did. She almost raised her eyebrow at that, but didn't. For someone as buff as him, and to have strolled in here like he was comfortable, she would have expected him to be up front with his skills but he kept all of it to himself. This gave her nothing to go on. She had no idea of anything she knew would help him out, or if he knew more than she did.

''So basically, I've been trainin' at one of the arts meself an' wonder how it'll hold up 'gainst someone who has had actual trainin' in one.'' At one of the arts? Ann smiled faintly to herself and nodded. He was one of those guys. The guys that think they are tough shit and know everything. She's heard it all before about how impressive someone's training background is and how advanced they are in their respective belt systems and yada yada. She'd believe he had been training when she saw it.

If he ever showed up again--usually they don't.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders a bit. "I have a bit of diversity in what I've trained in and have been recently working on some new stuff as well." She wasn't surprised at all when he said he was interested in the private training. She wished Josef was here so she could hand him off, but he wasn't and she couldn't. "Alright well I have some free time right now, if you'd like to get started. I'll need to assess your skills to find a good place to start."

"Before that, there is just a little bit of paperwork we have to do, you understand." She walked to the desk and went behind it, pulling out the release waiver and one of the NEW MEMBER pages out of the file. "This is the release waiver in case of injury, and this is your information for a follow up. We offer one class for free and after that you can decide which training schedule works best for you." She set a pen on top of the pages she needed and while he was busy with that she went onto the mat to warm up and stretch out.

(Sorry about the wait.)

[Lucas Blacke]

Paperwork.. Fuck paperwork. He had enough of that at school. Yeah he'd told Karalie he'd got to college and he knew that would mean more papers to work on, but still. This, whatever was handed to him wasn't something he could fake, not that he'd get graded on it, but still. He mumbled a bit as he took what was handed to him and started to write the answers to the questions. ''One class fer free, huh?'' He whispered as he watched her get up and got to stretching on the mat. Lucas was going to hit that in more ways than one. Luckily he was wearing loose pants, wouldn't wanna scare her off by showing himself off, right? The guy nodded as he took the pen along the questions and reviewed them one last time. When everything seemeds right he gently put it back on the table with the pen on top of the paper as was handed to him and he took her example to getting up and getting to the mat.

The closer he got to her the more he enjoyed watching her stretch, moving all the right things in the right ways.. instantly he was urged to joke around and do the same things she was but instead went to jump in place a bit, loosening his arms by looking like on of the inflatebla dummies. He threw his head to the side as his neck cracked and he did the same with his fingers, his legs didn't need that much of a stretch but he did remember all those bendy moves girls had pulled on him in the past. With some minor issues he managed to throw his leg behind his neck briefly, to lower it a bit and smirk as he remembered all those action movies. Practical or not, it was show off material.

''Wanna spar first or wanna look at me answers to yer chest- test!''