Welcome to Gaia! ::

Levi had gotten accustomed to the early morning hours. Forcing himself up and out of bed was the first step in taking control of his day, even if that meant he was a sulky grouch at 6:30 AM every time his alarm shocked him awake. Today was different though. Today was a day of reckoning that both excited him and made him anxious. When his long fingers shut his phone off, he swung his legs from the bed and stood without his usual grimace once his skin touched the cool wood. Any other day and he would have wasted time scrolling through emails and convincing himself it was really worth it to go. He hadn't missed a day though, not yet, and he definitely wasn't planning to mess that up today.

He was dressed and down the stairs of his townhouse apartment in record time. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't excited, because he was, but he was doing his damned best to keep that hidden even if Jade hadn't even arrived yet.

[Text to Jade: Just let yourself in, it's open.]

He abandoned the phone on the counter top as he started pulling a variety of things out of his fridge; fruit, greens, followed by protein powder and a number of other things meant to boost his vitamin and energy intake without tasting completely like garbage. He had wrangled his sweet tooth in for the sake of his health but he would be damned if he could drink a smoothie without some kind of sugar in it.

By the time he heard the door crack open, he was measuring protein powder into a blender chocked full of everything a foodie could imagine but he seemed to know what he was doing by now.

The tall man's finger paused just above the power button as Jade rounded the corner and came into view. For a moment he stared, eyes a little too wide and his mouth hanging open, before he smiled and waved back. Then he jammed down the button and the kitchen filled with the unsettling grind of fruits and veggies being pummeled down to a liquid state. A few quick, short pulses later and he was reaching for a glass to pour the green mush into.

"I feel like the answer is probably no," he offered, "but do you want any of this? It's very good for you."

The smirk on his face suggested he knew he had chosen a very particular phrasing but for what it was worth, he didn't even bat an eyelash as he brought his cup to his lips and swallowed a gulp down. The glass was settled back on his counter top and he rounded the island, showing her a simple black beater that more than hinted at the definition underneath and a pair of unassuming, grey gym shorts. Unlike Jade, he didn't care much about what he looked like in the gym no matter who was going to be there. He brushed past her long enough to grab the hoodie he had tossed over the back of his couch, showing her his exposed shoulder blades and the hint of what seemed to be a tattoo along his left side.

"Are you working out too?" he asked as he turned to look back at her, pulling his hoodie over one arm and then the other. "Or are you just here for the oogling?"

In truth, he just wanted to know if the yoga pants had a purpose or if they were for his benefit; he did really like them. He went back to the kitchen and picked up his glass again, apparently not intending to leave until he was done with it.

There was a smile on his face at her retorts and he had just lifted the glass to knock back another fast gulp when she moved over and began pulling at his half-on hoodie. The glass was settled, again, back against the bar as he sighed dramatically and wiggled the jacket back off of his arms.

"I would tell you it's none of your business, but I think you'd probably just undress me," the mumble was good natured and teasing as he reached for the hem of his shirt and began to tug it up. Inch by inch, pale, toned back muscle came into view until he could pull the beater up and over his head, leaving it stretched across his chest and arms but offering up his back for her to see.

"I started it right after I got back, it took a couple of sessions," the flesh was newly healed, with that slick shine to it that suggested it was fresh but no longer raw. It took up most of his shoulder blade, a mermaid (a siren) whose body conformed to the curve of his scapula as he shifted to show her. "I honestly forget its there sometimes since I can't really see it."

There was no missing the symbolism in it even if it was layers of different meanings. The woman it depicted looked more like a wicked temptress than the gentle, music-loving mermaids that Disney portrayed but it suited his hard angles and, well, his life.

"Let me know when I can put my clothes back on."

As Levi bowed forward a little to expose the flat of his back to her, his face was as well hidden as her own was behind him. He heard the gasp, barely more than a soft intake of her breath that made his smile widen, but not much else. Instead, of a sudden, there were gentle fingers spreading across his skin and tracing the lines of ink that marked it. Whatever s**t-eating grin he had been wearing faded and his eyes lulled as chills crawled down the length of his spine and peppered his exposed flesh with goose bumps he couldn't stop if he had wanted to.

How long had it been since she had touched him like that? It took a lot of willpower not to turn around and catch her off guard, to sweep her up in his arms and hold her close against him. But he was good, and obedient, and simply pulled his shirt back down as she instructed him to.

When he turned, he was only a little disappointed that she looked so playful; whatever she was feeling went unnoticed in the turmoil he had storming in his heart and he dropped his gaze long enough to pull his hoodie back on and down the rest of the 'nasty thing' as she so eloquently put it. One hand wiped across the back of his mouth and the other grabbed his keys where he had left them on the counter the night before.

"Alright, alright, Ms. Impatient, let's go then."

The tall man led the way out of his townhouse and out the front door, stopping only long enough to lock it before he hit the 'unlock' on his key fab. The Tesla came alive with a purr as the door handle ejected from the flat of the door panel. With a playful smile on his face, he went to her side and opened it.

"After you."

"I guess that's one way to put it," he countered, leaning down to offer her a smile as she slid in to the passenger seat. "I'm mostly just trying to prove I'm not worthless."

It was a shock of an insult to himself but his smile didn't waiver. He just shut the door gently behind her and rounded to the other side, sliding into the driver's seat with a familiar ease. The car purred to life and he back it out of the slanted parking space in front of his apartment, then turned the wheel and headed out the front entrance toward the open road.

"So," he began, as if he had never said anything about himself, "I work out for about an hour and then head home to shower. I'm not sure how interesting it's going to be to oogle me for that long, so to speak." He shrugged, but his eyes were on the road as he switched lanes, calm and easy. With turn signals, in fact, which seemed to be such a growing rarity these days.

"I work from home today and I have, well, I have an addicts meeting at 6 but if you want to stick around that long we could have dinner after, maybe? My day isn't that exciting so I don't know how long you'll make it before you change your mind on me but..."

He trailed off then, because having boring days without needing something more was sort of the point of his existence now. His eyes flickered sideways to her as they came to a stop at a red light, watching her in profile as his head leaned back against his seat. "I appreciate you caring at all, though."

Levi laughed at her comments and pressed his foot back on the gas as the light overhead flickered green. It was strange to be doing this with her again, especially under such different circumstances, but it was nice. It reminded him how easy it had been to simply exist with Jade before all of this exploded around him and even if he was in danger of getting much too attached to her again, it was nice while it lasted.

"Well, I hope you feel that way in twelve hours." He did have a few tricks up his sleeve to try and keep her entertained but in truth, this was going to be a long, distracting day with her.

In minutes, he was turning off of the main road and into a strip mall complex that had been built probably not six months before. There were all manners of businesses that dotted the store fronts but as they pulled up into a free space near the end, the last several suites had been dominated by a gym that looked fresh and none-too-crowded this early in the morning. He pushed open his door and climbed with only a small smile in her direction, before hanging around and waiting for her to join him.

"If you get bored, I won't be offended, even if you are the Queen of Ogles. There's got to be one of these shops here that would be more interesting."

The lanky man wanted to comment on how much of today was going to go without a plan for her but he knew what she meant; women needed to map out a store and block off exactly how much time they were wiling to allow for browsing each section. It made him want to roll his eyes a little but in the end he just smiled and shook his head, causing lock of his mossy hair to come unsettled. There was no point in using gel before the gym, after all.

"Alright, alriiight," he sighed dramatically at her, though he was already heading for the door to let her walk in ahead of him. All it took was a quick flash of his membership card to let them both through and the girl manning the front desk just nodded and went back to reading whatever teentrash magazine she had scrounged up. Probably checking horoscopes, he thought to himself.

In truth, the gym wasn't that entertaining of a place. Today he had forgone the headphones he usually wore so that he could banter off and on with Jade as she followed him through his routine. The treadmill had eventually disrupted that as he focused on his breathing, drawing himself tall and perhaps pushing his limits a little more than he normally would just because she was watching. By the time the machine chimed at him and he stepped down, his skin was covered in a sheen of sweat and his chest rose and fell in heavy, deep breaths.

For a moment, he considered reaching out to touch her with his sweaty hands just to get a reaction but he resisted; he just grabbed his water bottle and chugged it back as he pointed across the gym at the weights and bars. As much as he wanted to stop and banter with her, he knew if his pulse fell too quickly then he would lose the profitability in this routine. He set his water bottle down at his feet and began pulling on a pair of gloves meant to separate his skin from the gripping metal bars.

With a small, playful wink he reached above him and grabbed the bars, flexing his fingers to get comfortable, and slowly pulled himself up with more easy than his lanky form would have suggested.

Jade's voice was a welcome back drop as he slowly lowered himself down and pulled his weight back up, trying to keep a steady pace so that he didn't burn himself out too badly. The words did make him smirk, even if it was too difficult to speak to her while he hung there with his legs crossed at the ankles and his biceps groaning at the motion. Chin up, arms down, chin up - he repeated, again and again, before he lowered himself a last time and settled his bright eyes on hers.

"Probably not enough to impress you, Argent."

It wasn't really about how many times he could do it so much as it was about the repetition. Maybe, another day, he would let her challenge him to earn her affections. That was, well, if she gave him another day.

His legs uncrossed and lowered to the ground and he moved on, cycling through weights and exercises that were on his agenda for arm day. The lanky man never hit the gym as hard as other men around him; it was hard, after all, to put on too much muscle with a metabolism like his own. He'd been doing everything in his power to build the weight up enough that his muscles might benefit from it. By the time he settled his last weights back in the rack, he was sore, but with a small edge of adrenaline that made his muscles sing with pleasure.

When he turned back to her, he definitely looked a little more tired, but it was a good tired. Not the kind where he hadn't slept in three days and his blood was more caffeine than cells.

"You bored yet?" he chimed playfully, stalking to where she had settled herself on a mat not too far from him. A towel around his shoulders was used to mop at his forehead for a moment before he began peeling off the fingerless gloves, one at a time.