[ Conner ] x [ Reg ] Working Out

[Aggy the Awesome]

Conner x Reg

 

[Clam the Calamitous]

Regine was unsure of how long she’d been in the gym, but that didn’t matter so much. All she knew was that she wasn’t leaving until she was too sore to do anything but drag her exhausted body to the showers, and then to bed – it felt like a good way to spend her Saturday evening. She wasn’t opposed to having fun – but after a training session in which she’d had her a** handed to her on a silver platter by Jessica earlier that week, she was ready for a change. So she’d forgone a day trip with Gwen to go running instead, working on her endurance and stamina – which, in all honesty, were the least of her problems. She could take the abuse, she just wanted to learn to dish it out in return. But to do that, she had to be able to keep up.

So after her run, she’d taken a break – but only to go over her day’s plan in her head over lunch. That had only been a warm up. Up until now, she’d been working hard on agility and coordination training. She headn’t picked up a weapon today – it had been solely reserved for testing herself out. And while she was thoroughly confident that she could hold up against some of the other dragonets, and was miles better off than she had been a few months ago, wandering the Wastes, she still wasn’t where she wanted to be. And for Reg, that just wasn’t quite good enough.

She was glad that, as it was a Saturday, the room was more or less empty except for the stray session here or there. Even the older riders seemed to enjoy their days off, and the bronze riders and dragonets were busy. She’d learned from Elan that they did their workouts inside the caverns in the morning, and had chosen that time to take her run, tagging along after Paris instead. Today was her alone day, and she wouldn’t have anyone tainting that unless it was her choice. Call it pride, but she didn’t want anyone else around to see her struggle – she’d rather lie in the middle of the trail and gather her breath and bearings than seek out a hand to help her up.

And that was how the typically outgoing, hardly ever alone Regine Bohlen wound up all by herself in the gym on a Saturday evening. Even Hemileth was off in another direction, playing dragon games with a few of his siblings in the forests. But that suited her just fine – cheeky little b*****d wouldn’t have given her any peace, and she doubted she’d have been able to get through her weight sets with him there. Taking a deep breath, she willed her legs to cooperate, and rose from the seat of the machine she’d been working her upper legs on, and absently tightened her ponytail before wiping her face with her towel. Needless to say, her legs could carry a whole load more weight than her formerly malnourished arms – but swinging around practice swords, lifting, and general training had toughened them up a bit. Just not enough.

Turning, Reg made her way to the charts, scanning them for guidance. Unfortunately, lacking companionship also rendered her devoid of knowledge that a partner might possess – like how much weight she should be loading her bar with – so she moved away with just the suggestions of a piece of paper, the bar waiting for her over the bench, and a load of weights dying to be implemented. Approaching the bench, she vaguely recalled something about lifting the bar to test the weight first, but she was aware of how much the bar weighed. She just had to find the right amount of weight to add to it.

 

[Aggy the Awesome]

Conner Donelly

Conner was a little disappointed. Training with the Captain had been cancelled early that day due to Dominic being called off for business, so Conner and Elan were unexpectedly given another day off. However, Conner didn't want a day off. He had Sunday for that - even though he used it just as much for training as he did any other day - and he couldn't bring himself to take Saturday too. So where did he find himself on such a clear and beautiful day? . . . Up bright and early, going through the same routine as every other Saturday.

He had already done a morning training flight with Elan to which Turkish was present since an older rider always had to be there with beginning fliers just in case. They hadn't lifted off of the ground yet, but they were getting used to the feel of riding on a dragons' scaled back and where the best holds were. Nogarth and Conner were becoming much more in tune with each other and were able to exchange thoughts fluidly. He looked forward to the day where they were practically one mind. Right then they were just two separate beings operating in the same space.

The morning flight training ended with Conner spending a little more time with Nogarth, meditating and practicing their communication. It was a short session that they did as Conner stretched and got ready for his workout; he planned for a long session in the gym to finish right before dinner where he would eat as much as he could to regain all of his lost energy and needed calories. Sword training would be saved for Sunday.

After changing clothes and grabbing a small towel, Conner headed to the gym by himself. He hoped most of the other dragonets would be out having fun at the river or pool or doing something aside from training as usual. He liked having his peace and quiet in the gym on the weekends; most people were taking their rest days then, no matter how hard they normally trained. It was normal for people to take a least two a week, but Conner was far from normal when it came to over-working himself. Already since Conner had been at the caverns, the Captain had to order him several times to slow down and take breaks. Hard work was beginning to be a bad habit.

When he entered the gym, he only saw a few people off on their own, but it was generally quiet. The only person close to where he would be working out was Reg; she was using one of the benches. He walked past her without saying anything, not wanting to disturb her since he knew that some people didn't care to talk during workouts. Conner was one of those people.

He went to another bench close by and hung his towel over the middle of the bar before starting to count out the weights he was going to need. Over the past month, he had built up some more muscle and was starting to look a lot healthier than he did when he first arrived in Zion. He could lift just over a hundred pounds on the bench and it was showing.

He slid the weights on the bar, making sure not to go overboard since he didn't have someone there to spot him. He had noticed Reg piling on the weights and wondered if she could actually lift that much, but he decided not to say anything because he knew that nothing might anger a woman more than to be told she couldn't do something.

Instead, he kept to himself and started in on his sets.

 

[Clam the Calamitous]

Her luck had been far too good to be true, Reg realized. She thought she’d have the gym all to herself, but that wasn’t the case anymore. She’d seen him enter from her peripheral, wandering right over to the bench beside her. Nevermind that there weren’t really that many places to choose from. He was in her space. She’d chosen this time on this day specifically not to have any company – and he was ruining it. Didn’t he have important bronze-y things to be doing? Why couldn’t he fraternize with Elan and have one of those grunty-grumbly-nodding conversations that had developed to become a veritable language between the two of them? Not, of course, that she was so opposed to his presence as a person – the guy just never said anything. Unless he was required to. He didn’t talk because it struck his fancy, didn’t let anything on – he was stoic, unreadable, bordering on creepy.

Reg almost huffed out loud – but managed to refrain. Keeping her eyes on her task, she managed to ignore his presence thoroughly. She would go about her business and, like usual, he would go about his.

She was overestimating her own strength. Eighty pounds was a lot – but she should be able to lift at least half of her body weight, right? And what was another five pounds or so? She could do this. Just a couple of reps – and then she would be done for the day. Eyeing the bar and the weight she’d loaded it with, Reg pressed her lips together in a hard line. But she wasn’t about to be discouraged by the appearance of it.

With a step forward, she sank down onto the bench, placed her feet flat on the ground on either side of it, and looked up at the bar. Directly above her, it looked intimidating as usual, and the thought that she was supposed to have a spotter flashed vaguely through her mind – but she ignored it. She’d be fine. What was the worst that could happen? After a deep preparatory breath, she reached up, grasped the bar as she was taught, and curled her fingers tightly around it to lift from the rack.

For the briefest moment, the set balanced in her hands, and she almost felt victorious. Save for the fact that her arms quivered, and the victory lasted only a fraction of a second. Before she could lower the weight with any amount of dignity, her elbows caved, and the bar dropped right onto her chest, arms giving in to the pressure. A heavy grunt escaped as the wind rushed from her lungs on impact and she squirmed, trying to rid herself of the burden – to no avail, of course. She couldn’t hold the damn thing up for more than a second, much less lift it to replace to the rack where it belonged. She shifted, but didn’t bother to glance around. Her face was already flushing to match her hair – she wasn’t asking for help.

 

[Aggy the Awesome]

Conner Donelly

Conner started his sets slowly, making sure to take it easier than usual since he didn't have someone to spot him. He might have asked Reg if he felt more comfortable around her, but he always got the vibe that she didn't like him very much. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to pry to get an answer from her. If she wanted to keep her distance from him, than she had her own reasons and he wasn't going to bother her by asking her to explain. Instead, he kept to himself as usual, deciding that he was going to take a break after ever set so his arms wouldn't give out on him.

It wasn't until he heard a clink and a grunt to his right that he even glanced over at Reg. He immediately realized she needed help when he saw the bar pressed heavily into her chest and she couldn't lift it up off of her. His response was quick and he set his bar back up to hurry to his feet and rush over to help her. He snatched her bar up with both hands and pulled it up to set it on the rack above her. Poor girl had taken on more weight than she could handle; even Conner needed both hands to lift it.

"You alright?" he asked, moving to stand next to the bench rather than behind it so he wouldn't be towering above her.