(Untitled)

[heretofight]

He fucking hated rehab and physical therapy and all that shit. It didn't matter how many times he'd had to go through it, feeling like he was building his body back from the ground up was the kind of frustrating he just wasn't patient enough to deal with. But he gritted his teeth and he took it, 'cause ending up with a bum arm for the rest of his

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[prettywithawill]

Valkyrie wasn't the type of person that you'd normally find lifting weights in the Rec Center. Or maybe considering the island, it wasn't all that unusual. The guy that was there when she got there though, he looked like the kind of guy that frequented places like this. Big. Tattoos. Gruff.

And curling something that Valkyrie would use for a warm up. Maybe he was injured. Or from some weird planet where muscle mass worked differently. How did Occum's Razor even work in a place like this?

Valkyrie did a few stretches before grabbing some weights and doing some shoulder exercises. Halfway through the set though, she couldn't help herself.

"You look pretty upset. Did you just hear we don't have a theatre troupe on the island?"

[heretofight]

Setting the dumbbell aside, he flexed his hand, rotated his shoulder just to get an idea of how it was feeling, then he turned his head slowly toward the voice, one scarred brow arched.

She was tiny, and just a kid, but with plenty of attitude to spare, and he couldn't help having just a little bit of a soft spot for that.

"Real broken up about it," he drawled, rolling to his feet and walking over to choose a heavier set. "I'm a real theater buff. What gave me away?"

[prettywithawill]

"You just have that delicate, theatre flower look," she kidded, smiling just a bit at him before going back to focusing on her set. Once she was done and racked her weights, she turned back to him.

"The masks," she said, pointing to where they were barely visible on his chest through his shirt. "Thalia and Melpomene, Greek muses for comedy and tragedy."

[heretofight]

"Right," he muttered, shrugging before settling into a set of shoulder lifts. It wasn't like people hadn't said the same thing to him, before, though they rarely knew the actual names of the muses.

"I dunno, maybe I just saw it and thought it was pretty." It was an obvious lie, but he felt no remorse for it. He'd gotten into Ancient Greece and mythology in seventh grade. For Christmas, that year, he'd asked Ma for one of those big, illustrated encyclopedias that had whole sections on all the gods and goddesses, and the olympics, and even theater. He'd read it all 'til the pages were worn, and that's where he'd gotten it in his head that he was going to be a great warrior, like those mythical Olympians. He'd never been an actor, never wanted to be, but he'd always liked the duality of the masks. Anyway, the words scrawled around them were the important part, anyway.

Laugh now, cry later.

[a_real_viking]

No longer on Berk and no longer an anomaly among the people of the people of this island, Hiccup didn't really think as much anymore about what he looked like with his scrawny limbs and metal leg. Then, once in a while, he came across someone like this guy, who was obviously tough and strong and built to show it. He was someone who would have fit right in on Berk and Hiccup had a pretty clear reminder that he was basically built like a toothpick. He might have been a toothpick with a dragon at his back, but Toothless couldn't make him anymore muscular.

"Must've been a lot of hard work, getting that strong," he said awkwardly, aware that he must've been staring for too long.

[heretofight]

It was a little impossible not to notice the kid. And sure, the staring might've gotten under Tommy's skin, but there was something undeniably endearing about being stared down by a kid that scrawny. He was mostly fine with ignoring it, putting the puny ten pound weight back on the rack and picking up something a little more substantial.

When the kid spoke, Tommy shrugged and said, "Not feelin' so strong, these days." He knew it wouldn't have been obvious to anyone else, and he'd never bothered to stay bulked up between fights, but he could feel little differences in his own strength, his endurance and dexterity, and that was enough to push him to keep at the therapy, however tedious it might've been.

"But yeah, sure. It's work," he admitted, turning his focus fully on the kid, "Why? You lookin' to train?"

[a_real_viking]

"I don't think I could," Hiccup replied. "Unless you needed a new weight to bench press. I'd be pretty awesome at that." He reached his hands up and flexed his arms, unsurprised when nothing rose up. He could swing as many hammers and forge as many shields as he wanted, nothing would ever stick.

"Besides, I just don't think there's any building muscle on this leg," Hiccup swung his metal leg forward, laughing.

[heretofight]

"Maybe not," Tommy said with a breath of laughter, "I seen plenty of amputee vets trainin'. Don't sell yourself short. Anyway, I couldn't bulk up for shit 'til I was about seventeen."

Middle school and junior varsity high school wrestling didn't have anything to do with muscle mass. Pop might've put him on one of his diet regimens before puberty hit, but that was mostly for show. The pro circuit is where they expected a certain look to the fighters. Plus, all that weight does make for extra power.

[seeyousoonthen]

Savannah didn't do lessons on the weekend. The children who came in on the weekends got to paint and draw and build and such, but they also got to play games. Savannah did her best to come up with games that all age groups could play together. She had decided that the game of the weekend needed a ball and so she went to the rec center to see if there was anything other than a basket ball or a baseball she could use.

It was impossible to miss the man with the dumb bell. He looked like he had spent years sculpting his body into something solid and powerful. What really caught her eye was his tattoos. Fearless and bold, Savannah abandoned her quest in favor of going right over to him.

"Oh, your tattoos are just wonderful," she said. "Do they mean something special?"

[heretofight]

It was really weird, how the people on the island would just... come up to you and start chatting, like you were old friends or something. Tommy wasn't sure it was ever something he'd get the hang of. Maybe when he'd been a kid, but he'd spent the last year building up that don't fuck with me persona, just to keep a little distance, and having it effectively shattered on the island was just a little nerve-wracking.

Still, she was young and pretty and so damn pregnant she looked ready to pop, and if she wanted to ask him questions about his tattoos, he wasn't gonna be a prick about it.

"Uh, yeah. Some of 'em, sure," he said, putting the dumbbell aside, "Got others that just mean I was off base with my buddies and too buzzed to give a damn about catchin' Hep C. But uh, thanks."

[seeyousoonthen]

Being haunted by John's ghost was something that she had gotten used to to an extent, only to have the specter of him come to her once again with every soldier she met. Sometimes it was demeanor, sometimes dedication. Now it was as simple as plain words and a bit of ink.

What does that one mean?
I don't want to tell you.
Why not?
It's a swear.

"They're real nice," she said after a moment of hesitation. Just a moment to shake her memories off of her so she could be in the moment.

"I'm Savannah. I didn't mean to interrupt your work out. They're just so, well, so big."

[heretofight]

"Hey, no problem," he said with a polite smile, and even though he noticed her hesitation, that faraway look in her eyes, he didn't comment. Wasn't his business.

There was no way doing a couple reps with a ten pound weight was going to get him sweating, but he still wiped his palms across his thighs before offering a hand. "I'm Tommy."

[shewaswarned]

There's something Ellen likes about the rec center, and maybe it has something to do with the completely retro decor, the wood paneling and the carpet that she'd sooner rip out than tolerate having in her own apartment. It makes her feel like she's stepped back in time, for however long she chooses to stay there, though today she isn't planning on staying for a while - just the span of a shower, more specifically

[heretofight]

"Shoulder's healin' up," he told her, and while he couldn't remember if they'd talked about it, he was sure she'd noticed the way he'd favored that one arm when they'd met.

"Finally. Was about to go outta my head." It had only been a few weeks, but that was more than enough.

[shewaswarned]

"Is that all it involves? Just strengthening the muscle again?" she asks, folding her arms as she takes a few steps closer.

She's not going to ask how he injured it to begin with. If he wants her to know, he'll tell her. It's that simple.

[heretofight]

"Yeah. And uh, range of motion," he said, pushing to his feet so he could trade the weights out for another set.

"That one's more important. 'm not trainin' for a fight, right now, so alls I'm worried 'bout now is keeping the joint from locking up."

[arrownomore]

The compound was really closer to get to from either the Treehouse or her and Cassie's hut, but Cissie liked to change things up sometimes to keep from getting bored. She'd packed some clothes in a backpack and gone for a run that would take her right up to the rec center when she was done.

By the time she pushed through the doors to enter through the gym, she was flushed and dripping with sweat but it had been a really good run. She caught sight of the guy doing some lifting and though she was sure she was being totally rude, she couldn't not stop and stare. He was huge and she didn't think she had ever seen that many tattoos on someone before.

"Uh hi," she said sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you or anything."

[heretofight]

He was used to an audience, but not like this. It was one of the perks of a gym like Colt's. In a room full of fighters, a guy like him didn't stand out, 'til he got in the ring. In fact, a good amount of the time he was one of the smaller guys in the room. Which was something that had always worked to his advantage.

"You're not. No worries," he said, pushing to his feet and walking over to set the weights back on the rack. She looked real young and he thought she might've been blushing. Pretty little blonde teenagers were another thing you didn't see often a Colt's.

Switching to the twenty-five pound weights, he walked toward the middle of the workout area, then he nodded back toward the equipment and said to her, "You wanna use anything, you're not gonna be in my way."

[arrownomore]

Cissie nodded, not quite convinced she wasn't getting the way of something but he wasn't glaring or yelling so that had to count for something. "Thanks," she said, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I was actually on my way to the showers. I've been running most of this morning and I'm pretty sure I don't smell so great right now. I'm also pretty sure I'm babbling so I'll kind of stop now."

[heretofight]

She was nervous. He couldn't be sure if it wasn't just a normal thing with her, or if it was 'cause of him. It wouldn't have been the first time.

Coughing out a laugh, he said, "That is a lotta information, before I even know your name."