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 Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:23 pm
After weeks of having been stuck in a wheelchair and then with crutches, Izaya was enormously relieved to have been freed from all his casts. Due to his lack of exercise during the time his bones had been healing, however, the grunt had been advised to hit the gym. Or, as the base's equivalent was known, the 'Exercise Facility'.
Normally, the parkour-user would have opted for a good venture out into Camphoreon to stretch his legs, but his last encounter with his arch nemesis not too long ago had him re-think that idea. He hadn't at all liked the look of pity in Shizuo's eyes last time he'd caught Izaya in crutches. The Exercise Facility was the next best option, since the grunt wasn't too fond of the idea of getting sweaty and dirty out on the training field. Not to mention there would probably be the company of the newest recruits to tolerate, along with whatever laughter and jeering the sight of the skinny man might have elicited.
However, as happy as Grunt Nakura was to have full use of his limbs back, he wasn't so enthusiastic about having lost his voice. The day before he'd gotten the final cast off, his twin purrloin had given him hell to make the most of his hindered state while they still could. He'd spent so much time an energy yelling at them that by the end of it all, his throat was ravaged and his voice was gone. The man doubted the pokemon had planned it, but he couldn't help wondering. Without his words, Izaya felt even more vulnerable than when he'd had his casts.
It was because of this that the usually company-loving Rocket chose a late afternoon hour to exercise in the facility, hoping no one else would be around. He didn't want it getting out that he couldn't speak; at least not until his voice had revived enough to deny the rumors. Upon entering the room, however, he spotted a vaguely familiar figure - the toned, mesomorph body structure of the Rocket known as Agent Aulus. It was Hayes' partner - the one who had accompanied them during the mission to destroy the Machine.
Izaya blinked, considering whether or not to back out. As he wasn't sure if Aulus had yet noticed his presence, though, he didn't want to take the risk of ruining his reputation. The last thing the grunt wanted was for the muscular man to think he was so intimidated that he couldn't stand to be in the same room with him. Thus, Grunt Nakura sucked in a breath and chose a piece of equipment not too distant but not too close to the other Rocket. Weights.
With what he hoped was a dignified air, he gingerly attempted to pick one up - only to stop immediately. Good lord, who lifts these things...? Maybe he was doing it wrong. After all, he wasn't too familiar with the proper use of exercise equipment when he had the obstacle course of the city to sharpen his skills. Anyway, muscular strength had never been his strong point. Better start with the treadmill. He cast a wary glance at Aulus out the corner of his eye, hoping the man hadn't noticed his embarrassing attempt.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:55 pm
Aulus did indeed notice the door open but he didn't bother to turn and see who it was right away; out of the corner of his eye he could tell it wasn't somebody he knew well so he saw no reason to bother with them while he had more important things to do, namely leg presses. Forty six. Forty seven. Forty eight. Forty nine.... Aulus snorted as he took in the identity of the newcomer, and said newcomer tried and failed to pick up a weight. Fifty. Taking the headphones out of his ears and pausing his music player he got to his feet and wiped the leg press machine clean of sweat with his towel.
"Alright there squirt?" he asked rhetorically, perhaps a little mockingly, as he sauntered over to take a treadmill next to the other red-eyed man. Clad in tracksuit bottoms, trainers, and a vest top that showed off his arms and fitted close against his torso he was definitely feeling superior. What kind of twit wandered into a gym not even knowing how to pick up a weight? Seriously?
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:06 pm
Name-calling wasn't usually a thing that bothered the grunt, but the pitying nature of the question rather than the mocking quality of the voice asking caused Izaya's face to darken. It was a good thing the agent's question was rhetorical, because he wasn't about to answer anytime soon.
The informant considered ignoring Aulus, but as soon as the man made his way over to his treadmill, he knew this would be impossible. Even the agent's clothing seemed to attest to the grunt's obvious inexperience in exercising when compared to Izaya's own long-sleeved V-neck shirt, black dress shoes and dark, skinny jeans. He frowned irritably.
As if to convince Aulus that his sculpted physique didn't daunt the informant in the least, Nakura pressed the button to start the treadmill at a nice, easy pace, perhaps tilting his nose up just a bit as he faced ahead. Maybe the agent would go back to his work like a good agent would, rather than stand around picking on a subordinate.
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:23 pm
Aulus stepped up onto the treadmill next to Izaya, a grin tugging at his lips as he studied his clothing. "We're in the gym, not your emo record store: first time you do a squat in those you'll sodding split 'em, and running any significant time in those shoes will bugger your feet... are you planning to run a significant amount of time? Nakkra isn't it? Try not to knacker your ankles."
Rolling his shoulders Aulus turned on his treadmill, just a shade faster than the one next to him. Skinny people, fat people, just out of shape people coming to exercise wouldn't usually get (as much of) his scorn, but this guy coming dressed so stupidly and clearly not having a clue what he was doing had definitely earned it. Seriously, how could anyone get to the age of twenty...howeverold without knowing you wore sodding trainers and a tracksuit to exercise? Berk.
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:26 am
"..." Turning his head slowly to meet Aulus' similar gaze, the informant exhaled sharply through his nose. Retrieving his Rocketdex from the back pocket of his pants, Grunt Nakura continued to stare hard at the agent as he typed in a reply. He may not have been able to talk, but at least he could defend himself this way. Provided the muscle man could read, of course.
[It's 'Nakura',] he began, not bothering to add the title of grunt. If Aulus had any sense of awareness or any prior knowledge of his teammates, Nakura figured the man would already have known his rank. He certainly acted like he was superior, at least. [And excuse me for not sharing your blatant fashion sense, but I have a limited wardrobe and a limited budget to spend on it.] He held up the screen to the scarred-man's face, not bothering to determine whether the proximity of the object was too close or not.
When Nakura noticed the slightly-faster speed of his treadmill companion, he frowned, wondering if it was meant as unspoken challenge. Surely his pants couldn't split if he just increased his speed a little faster, right? It wasn't as though he was going to be ripping any muscle fibers and expanding the thickness of his limbs within the time-span of one workout. [Would you rather me be naked?] he typed casually into his 'dex before holding it up once more. [I'd ask to borrow some of your clothes, but I don't want to think of what kind of sweaty, rigorous exercise you've put them through.]
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:49 am
What the?... Aulus frowned, rather bemused by the smaller man's actions. "What's the matter with you? Meowth got your tongue?" Nakura, right. "Why don't you request some from storage, Knackered? They do supply basic sports wear I believe, after all they want fit strong troops not little wimps." Aulus said causally once he'd finished reading the messages, which was a little difficult when you were jogging.
"As for my clothes," he gave a smirky sneer, "Elasticated or not the trousers would slide off your ten year old girl hips and the shirt would flop about all over the place. If you're concerned about how clean they'd be I refer you to my butler, he'll be along shortly with a fresh bottle of water for me. Oh, and you can get naked if you want, I really don't give a s**t either way but if you do and you use any machines I hope you give them a bloody good wipe down afterwards." Humm, faster was it? Aulus increased the speed of his treadmill and shot Nakura another smirk. "Why did you ask if I wanted you to be naked? Does that say something about you?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:50 pm
The shorter man rolled his eyes. He'd known the question was coming, but he'd forgotten to address it - partially because he wasn't so sure he wanted to answer truthfully. Would it be more dignified to say he lost a bet, or that he'd spent the day prior yelling at his pokemon? Neither excuse seemed very promising, and would likely encourage more ridicule.
There didn't appear to be much more of a way out, so he decided to stick with the truth. [Sore throat. Nothing too serious. Thanks for the concern.] Though it was a shame that typed words couldn't exactly convey a sense of sarcasm, Nakura decided he'd leave it up to Aulus to get what he wanted from the statement. He'd realized the text would be difficult to read while one was jogging, but he'd also half-hoped it would discourage or deter the agent from reading his messages properly.
Blinking, the grunt considered the agent's suggestion. He hadn't realized it was possible to do such a thing, particularly because he was so fond of his own clothes and hadn't looked into the matter. Still, it sounded like a reasonable solution; especially if it would get Aulus to stop commenting on his choice of clothing style. His eyes widened at the mention of his 'ten-year-old girl hips' and he nearly tripped before catching himself on the treadmill's railings. No way he was going to change out now with the mental image of sports wear sliding off his body and getting in his way.
When he had managed to right himself, he smirked at the agent. The guy seemed to like to talk. Once Nakura got his own voice back, he made a mental note to have a proper conversation with Hayes' smart-mouthed partner. For now all he could do was continue texting short messages, which couldn't convey half of what he wanted to express. Not in language, clarity, tone, nor the dozens of other things that were lost in the use of typed text.
[I'm guessing you mean Char,] he answered at the mention of Aulus' butler. [Some butler he must be. Must be desperate if you need a pokemon doing your chores.] Nakura knew he sure as hell wouldn't have trusted any of his own pokemon to do anything for him - particularly not if it involved them fetching something for him to consume.
Huh, so it is a challenge, he thought as Izaya caught the smirk. Instead of matching Aulus this time, though, he raised the mph number just a tad bit higher. Possibly nearing pant-ripping speed, but the informant wasn't about to back down just yet. He'd performed a good number of parkour feats in that very pair of pants, so he trusted them more than most and found them to be more durable than the average pair. One of the most durable pairs he owned, in fact, hence why he wore it to the exercise facility. His long-sleeved V-neck, on the other hand, was starting to feel a little warm.
[I asked because your answer would say just as much about you as my question would about me,] he typed with some difficulty. Setting down the 'dex for a minute, he continued to jog as he began to pull off his top up over his skinny arms and chest. Ectomorph or not, he wasn't going to allow himself to soak in his own, sweat-drenched shirt.
He was fine with his body the way it was, regardless of how much less impressive than usual it appeared alongside Aulus' mesomorph build. Draping the shirt across the railing of the treadmill, he picked up his 'dex once again, glancing every now and then at the way the agent ran. [What do you think it says about me? Besides that I don't mind being naked.]
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:18 am
Reading what the stick-man was typing was a real pain in the arse. Once he'd deciphered it all however he snorted. "Desperate? Hardly, just smart enough not to judge a book by its cover. As to what it says about you?... I think maybe you like flaunting, getting a reaction out of people? What other reason could you have for offering to get naked in front of a stranger, unless you're hoping I'll be overcome with lust and jump you. Pro-tip Knackered, you're not my type, not even when you try to blind me with the bright whiteness of your flimsy torso."
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:30 am
Frowning at Aulus' reply, the man finished typing one more thing on the 'dex and set it down. [Maybe I just like you.]
Seemed this guy wasn't Hayes' partner for no reason. The mention of hoping he'd jump him earned a roll of his eyes and he stuck out his tongue at the agent. So much for not judging a book by its cover.
Though Izaya had been slowly increasing his speed, the lack of warm-ups he'd done prior to the treadmill and the lack of muscle use while in his casts finally caught up with him. He should have listened to the doctors when they'd said to take it easy for a while, because now his pride and determination to match Aulus was costing the grunt. His eyes widened before he collapsed, falling on his side and clutching his calf, which had suddenly gone tense. Whoops. Muscle cramp...
Sliding off the still-running treadmill, he ignored whatever laughter he expected to hear from Aulus while trying not to move, waiting for the pain and the tautness in his leg to subside. It had been a while since he'd experienced a cramp as bad as this one, and he wasn't sure what to do to relieve it. Izaya shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, realizing what a fool he'd been. He'd let his pride get the best of him yet again.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:27 am
Woops, well that was that for their little race. Aulus jogged a few more paces before turning off his treadmill and reaching over to switch off Izaya's too. "Knackered yourself have you, Knackura?" he asked rhetorically with a hint of smugness once he'd assured himself there weren't an broken bones sticking out or anything. "Or, don't tell me, this is just an act to try to get me to sweep you up in my strong manly arms? Sorry, but that's not going to happen until we turn into an organization of genuine honest to Arceus philanthropists."
Looked like something was wrong with his calf, more likely cramp than a torn muscle unless he was seriously out of shape and he didn't look that bad. "You should have warmed up better," Aulus said conversationally, "probably need more electrolytes too, or failing that a salty banana and a long drink of water. Oh, and 'in before salty banana innuendo' by the way."
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:04 pm
Once he'd adjusted to the worst of the pain, the grunt cast Aulus a forced smirk at the agent's pun. Ha ha, very funny. Really, though, if you had actually planned on touching me, I would have had to bring out my blade... He looked away, hiding his disgust at the idea of being 'swept up' in the muscular man's arms.
Nakura waved his hand dismissively at the brunette, indicating his injury wasn't all that bad. Yes, he knew he should have warmed up better. It was just that much more humiliating to hear Aulus have to tell him, though. Sitting up and trying to stretch out his leg, he raised a brow at the 'salty banana' comment, not quite understanding. Innuendo...? Did I miss something...? Nevertheless, he smiled slightly at the agent's mention of innuendo being implied at all.
Well, not that there were any bananas just lying about, but there was a water fountain close enough. Pushing himself delicately up to his feet, he limped toward the fountain. If he worked the muscles in his calf some more, maybe the cramp would go away. Heh...I guess it's times like these that pokemon butlers can come in handy.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:50 am
Stretching causally Aulus sauntered after the injured rocket. "Good start," he said with a snort of derision, "but I think you'll have to call it a day on your little fashion parade run there."
Further mocking was halted for the time being by the door swinging open to reveal a lanky brown charizard holding a sports bottle and, yes, a bannana. Aulus smirked and took both items from his pokemon before tossing the latter towards Nakura. "There, that's the extent of my generosity," he said with a grand gesture to the yellow fruit, whether Izaya had caught it or it had bounced off and landed on the floor made little odds to him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:18 pm
Glancing over his shoulder, the grunt was surprised to see the agent following after rather than returning to his own exercise routine. In truth, he was grateful to the man for switching off his machine and helping him out, though he couldn't have voiced it even if he'd wanted to. After a long drink from the fountain, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and tied the sleeves of his removed shirt around his waist.
By that time, a newcomer had arrived, startling the grunt into a fighting stance with his flick-blade out. He wouldn't have been so quick to draw his weapon had the intruder been of a human-shape, but after one too many encounters with Jerome's mutant pokemon, Hirss, he could never be too careful. Even after regarding the fire-type, however, it took Nakura a minute to put his blade away. He was used to char as a Charmeleon, not a full-grown Charizard. Right...he'd evolved sometime during or after the last mission.
Catching sight of the projectile thrown toward him, the informant snatched at the banana, fumbling a little before gripping it securely. Oh. There was the innuendo. What the salty part had to do with it, he wasn't sure, but a plain banana was better than nothing. He nodded in thanks with a half-hearted smile, holding up the fruit. Peeling the yellow exterior back, however, he gestured to Aulus meaningfully. What about you? Don't you need some?
Recalling that the agent suggested calling it a day as far as exercise, the prideful grunt took a bite of the banana and carefully made his way over to an arm ergometer. that looked promising. If his calf was injured, at least he could work out his arms, right? Right after he or Aulus finished the banana so that his hands would be free.
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:55 am
When the knife came out Char lowered his head until he was on eye level with Izaya and treated the pale-skinned man to a Look. he said reprovingly; his words wouldn't be understood of course but he hoped his tones would be picked up on.
Aulus raised his eyebrows as the banana was waved at him. "What? No I don't want any, I didn't ask him to bring it but I suppose he thought I might be hungry. I will be just fine with my sports drink thanks...." Oh, this should be funny. Aulus took a swig of his drink and lent back against the wall, watching Nakura with a smirk. "You know it's impossible to use one of those things without looking utterly ridiculous, right?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:20 am
The grunt blinked dumbfoundedly as Char lowered his head, staring back at the intimidating fire-lizard in puzzlement. Was the creature actually trying to tell him something? Ridiculous. Pokemon were brainless servants that only did what they were trained to do when commanded by their owners. The Charizard was probably just reacting to the knife, which Nakura quickly closed and pocketed. Char was one well-trained servant, though, he had to admit.
At Aulus' mention of his pokemon bringing the banana without request, Nakura cast him an incredulous look. Seriously? He expected him to believe that the fire-type had just brought the thing like a thoughtful mother packing an extra snack in her child's school lunch? There was no way Char could have been capable of such consideration. He was only a pokemon, after all.
Finishing the banana, the skinny man tossed the peel into the nearest trash bin and sat at the machine. That was, until he noticed Aulus' smirk and frowned in response. True, he'd never used one of the things before, and it seemed simple enough - like pedaling on a bicycle, but with your arms. If Aulus was going to stand there and watch him for his own amusement, though...
Twisting to face the man, Nakura crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head. He glanced about the room at the various other machines and waved a hand around at them. Fine. What would you do for upper-body strength? He hoped not the weights, as that was something the grunt doubted he'd be able to achieve, but it was more than likely considering the agent's build.
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