Modoc Gym Boy's really obnoxious...
#1

@raylee



Work work work! It wasn't Jimmy's favorite thing anymore. Like, yeah dude, yoga classes! Edification and helping peeps chillax while also strengthening their cores! It was good stuff, def, but there was also all the, like, maintenance and kinda boring noise. And, well, money'd been tight lately so he'd picked up a few more shifts than normal. Which made him care more about all that boring noise 'cause he had to deal with it more. Alright, so, specifically he had to deal with other people not really dealing with it in what he—or management— would call a super ideal fashion.

And it wasn't like he straight up volunteered for this kinda mission, but it was more than a little possible Jimmy had never once said no when asked to do something? Which had worked out okay so far! So heeeere we go.

"Heyo Teyo!" The greeting hadn't ever gotten a totes positive response, but that applied to his every greeting at this particular coworker, so he actually had no reason to think this itself was annoying. That disarming Jimmy grin that absolutely worked on everyone all the time always. Maybe. "So, aiight, here's the thing, bro. The kickboxing gear wasn't, like, stowed properly? And someone, I dee kay who, said you were the last one using it? So, like, no sweat, but I need to show you how it all gets put back, cool?"
#2
This motherfucker.

Mateo liked to think he could tolerate people pretty good. He tolerated a fucking lion in his brain. But there were some people he couldn't fucking stand. Jimmy was one of them. He was relatively harmless, but every thing that came out of this gringo's mouth managed to find its way right through he cracks of whatever outer armor Mateo thought he'd built up.

Mateo regarded the spew of words coming out of the dude's mouth with a dubious look, paused in his task of wiping down a bench. Someone up in arms about the kickboxing gear, and sending fucking Jimmy over to... teach him. Was this some kind of joke? Really? Mateo glanced around, searching for whoever it was that sent him over. No one obvious. With a wall-faced glower, he looked back to Jimmy. Really?

He clicked his tongue, straightened up and set the spray bottle of disinfectant and rag on the bench before them. "Yeah. Sure. You go ahead and show me." He agreed with a sharp wave of his hand to lead the way.
#3
Dude had what Jimmy had decided was just a severe resting bee face. Just kinda heavy brows, maybe? Made it look like he was glaring all the time. Weird.

But it was definitely possible he was just, like, a justifiably unhappy person. Totes no idea on his background, what he'd dealt with in his however long life. Longer than Jimmy's, def. By probs a lot. Mind your business, Jimmy. But also try and help!

"Cool, cool cool cool!" he grinned, trying to be extra friendly like he could forcibly drag Mateo into cheerfulness. "Know there can be a lot, yeah? Some parts of training can slip through the cracks easy." Nevermind that Teyo had been there for... a while. Aggressive benefit of the doubt! "But bro, you were crushing that bench cleaning!" Positive reinforcement! He flashed an exuberant thumbs up as he led the way over to a storage closet near the heavy bags.
#4
He wondered, idly, how far down this dude's throat he could get his fist. How many teeth could he knock loose? Outwardly, he crossed his arms over his chest and let Jimmy talk at him, giving a lift of his brow in response to training slipping through the cracks. As for the compliment about his bench cleaning, Mateo couldn't deny the click of his tongue and exhale through his nose as he trailed behind the dude. "Sure you don't got tips for that, too?" He questioned.
#5
Well, maybe. Like the disinfectant was super key these days, but so was getting the thing good and dry after. You didn't want those puppies slick! But weighing his audience a little, Jimmy elected not to toss that gem out. "Nah dude, you're perfect." Bright grin.

Approaching the storage closet for the sparring gear, Jimmy tossed the door open a little more carelessly than he'd meant. The pads were... Well, they were on the shelves, so it wasn't awful. Just... kinda all thrown together instead of organized by size and color and body part the way they were supposed to be. Jimmy didn't say anything more at first, just looking at them, then back to Mateo, then back to the pads.

Kinda hoping the dude would see the problem and just... maybe fix it?
#6
Perfect, ah? He swiped his tongue along the inside of his cheek, eyebrows emphasizing an internal scoff. Sure, kid.

At the closet, the door swung open, revealing... what? He didn't see anything wrong. Yeah, maybe a little disorganized, but they were up and out of the way. He just wanted to go the fuck home. His shift was over in five minutes. And yet, here he was, being pestered by some dude he was sure had to be on some kinda drug half the time. Wordlessly, he nodded, then moved to lean against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest still.

When nothing was said, he looked to Jimmy expectantly, "Said you'd show me." He prompted.
#7
Ooookay, full on hand holding. Kinda a bummer, but it do be like that sometimes! Swallowing the bit of annoyance he felt, Jimmy nodded with more enthusiasm than he really felt. "No, yeah, totes!" Stepping into the closet, he snatched two random pads that were right next to each other. A shinguard that was royal blue and a helmet that was bright red. Oh hey! He'd used these with Ingrid! Man, she'd kicked the crap outta him.

"Aiight, so like, these don't go together, yeah? We want the staff and clients both to be able to quickly grab what they need, so it's important—"no, it wasn't important and Jimmy knew that but the rules!"—that, like, the matching sets are all together, yeah? And then organized by size and color."

Setting those two back farther apart to try and begin the organizing process, he grabbed another shinguard and one of the chest pieces. "And then... wait, was it size then color, or...? No... Dangit."
#8
That first bit; no, yeah, totes; made absolutely no sense to him. They were more like sounds, than anything meaningful. But, Jimmy stepped inside the closet, so he figured they were agreement. Mateo maintained his spot at the door frame, watching with a deadened gaze as the kid went over rules he'd been given the run down of over a year ago, but had learned by now that it barely fucking mattered. People had eyes. They knew how to use them.

Either way, here he was, watching Jimmy reorganize the closet senselessly. And. Incorrectly. It was color, then size. But he liked this new development, watching him second guess. Feigning worry with a half assed effort, Mateo raised his brows, "Need me to go grab someone else?" He prompted.
#9
Heck, now he'd confused himself. Okay, definitely by body part first. then...

"Nah dude, it's good, I got this." Pausing as he started just knocking things off the shelves to try and start the whole process from scratch, he looked to his older colleague. "I mean, we got this, right? It's a team building exercise! Get in here, buddy!"
#10
He got this, but he was making more of a mess than when they'd gotten here. Clicking his tongue, Mateo gestured to the equipment being piled on the floor. "Ey, now you're just making it all worse, kid." He protested.
#11
"Team building!" he repeated, picking up a black shinguard and... Yeah, you're all in now, Jimbo. Just chucked it right at Mateo's chest. Wore a big grin while he did it.

"Maybe I need you to show me how these are supposed to go." Spontaneous kickboxing pad fights were fun for everyone! Maybe not management. But legit, this was Jimmy reaching out! Threw a second pad at him.

"Or you can go get, I dee kay, Ingrid or someone, but when they get here I'm telling them you did this." That was pretty definitely not true, and he hoped his enduring grin would say it clearly.
#12
Team fucking building... He caught the pad thrown at his chest with both hands, maybe moving a little too quickly to do so. But heat washed up his spine, and he inhaled heavily as the lion roused at the irritation, interested now where it hadn't given two fucks before. This tiny human was throwing shit at him, they could grab his head and pop it like a fucking grape. But as cathartic for the cat as that would be, it'd be a mess he didn't want to even think about getting out of. Plus, it was fucked up, or whatever.

Still, he was being forced into doing this, wasn't he? Cleaning up a mess he hadn't fucking made. Hey, he was pretty fucking used to that. Dealing with problems he hadn't made for himself. He batted the second one away, spiking it to the floor as he loomed inside, fixing Jimmy with a cold stare. The line was drawn with Ingrid. Like hell he'd fucking get her, or let this shithead pin the blame on him. He didn't know the depth of the chasm he was walking a tightrope across, but that didn't make Mateo any less defensive.

"You're not telling nobody shit." He informed him. "And you're helping now that you made it worse." He added as he reached back to shove the shingaurd back against Jimmy's chest before reaching down to snatch up a helmet from the ground.
#13
Jimmy was pretty hard to intimidate. Not, like, for bravery reasons, although some of that, maybe, he liked to think. Part of it was just being a decently large, strong athletic dude? Like he didn't stress too much about night jogs. Privilege of his, but that wasn't important right now. He also naturally and deliberately both tended to think well of people. So even as Mateo stepped in, swore a bit, and shoved the pad back against him which absolutely forced him to take a step back, it only partially dimmed his grin.

'Cause, like, Mateo was a rugged dude, yeah? Rough and tumble or whatev? It was hard to picture the guy ever getting involved in a tickle fight. So this could easily just be him playing back! Reasoning that would hold even if Jimmy'd gotten punched in the face! He was glad that hadn't happened though. Grizzled! That was the word for Mateo. Dude was grizzled.

Anyway. "Pfft, yeah dude, obvs. It's not team building if you do everything." And he stepped right back where he'd been. And gave a single bounce. "Aiight, so I'll get the legs and chest pieces, you get gloves and helmets, cool? So cool."

But as he started to sort through for the shin matching the one he held... "Oh! Bee tee dubs, how much you bench?" Dude pushed hard!
#14
Right. Team building. Jimmy devised a plan, which Mateo was happy to let him do. Just get the shit done and be over it. He nodded at the direction, but hardly gave him more than a glance as he bent to start collecting more gloves. The question came at random, but her straightened up with two pairs of gloves clutched between his palms, and gave Jimmy a critical look. "How much you weigh?"
#15
So maybe that was meant as kinda dismissive? Jimmy didn't totes miss that, he just... didn't much care. It sparked an exciting thought! "Like two oh five," he answered with a conspiratorial grin starting to grow. "I've gotten up to two fifteen, but bulking was easier when I was still in school and didn't have to buy my own food, you know?"

Not the straight up bouncing he tended to fall into, but he did start hopping back and forth a little from one foot to the other, completely ignoring the pile of pads on the ground. "So think you could bench me, champ?" How hilarious would that be?
#16
He wondered if this dude had the ability to answer with less than five words. Didn't need his whole fucking life story about his weight gain, but he got his answer. Barely two hundred. Mateo puffed out a laugh through his lips at the challenge. "I look like I couldn't bench 205?"
#17
This was going really well! He thought so anyway. Lookit them heckling each other and just about butting heads! Bromance in progress! Jimmy was growing pretty glad he'd been tossed this assignment. He'd failed to connect much with Mateo in the past, but this was turning things right around!

"Two oh four maybe," he fired back with a glinting grin. Dude burns! Get it! "On a good day."
#18
God dammit, just one fucking punch in the teeth was all he wanted. Dude didn't know what he was saying, though. Mateo was pretty sure he could bench a fucking Chrystler. But this kid didn't need to know shit. "Aight." He said with a low huff. Don't think about chunking this kid against the wall. Just.. he stacked the gloves he had in his hands in the right place, glanced to Jimmy. "You having trouble lifting those?" He questioned of the pads he'd stopped collecting.
#19
Aaaand the dude fires back! Cool, cool, we were drawing it out. Be relentless, kid! Bending to pick up an armful of pads, Jimmy strained to stand as though they were made of lead. "Hnnnnngr!"

Shaking his head and standing, he let out an overly dramatized "Phwoo," of weariness and shook his head. "Yeah." The grin that had never really gone away crested high once more. "About as much trouble as you'd have benching me."
#20
Mateo watched from the side of his eyes, not amused at the display. Fucking sarcastic punk. He stacked the gloves neatly, then moved to start scooping more as Jimmy went back in about him benching him. Mateo clicked his tongue, straightening up, "Keep it up, I'll put you through the wall." He warned with a grousing tone, mostly not serious. Mostly.
#21
Wow! Dude was killer at the deadpan routine! Not a hint of a laugh in that way-too-absurd-to-be-real threat! This was fun!

But... Like, aiight, Jimmy was super down to bro around, but he also wanted to be sure, yeah? Check in. Did actually go ahead and grab that armful of pads he'd been playing with. Started organizing. A little.

"So, just to be clear, you don't wanna prove me wrong and just wanna keep picking these up, yeah?" Delivered with his same grin, still a little bit of teasing.
#22
Oh, now he was wanting to slack off. And for what? Some stupid challenge. Did he actually want to be fucking bench pressed? Mateo looked him over a second, weighing if he actually was willing to stop doing this shit for the sake of watching him bench a fraction of what he knew he could.

"Tell you what," He decided, dropping the gloves in his hands, "I bench two oh five, and you finish this for both of us." He gestured around. Worth a shot, right?
#23
Jimmy wasn't an excellent negotiator. Not for himself. He could mediate pretty okay! But also, there really wasn't a downside here; agreement meant he'd get to experience this hilarious thing, and if it panned out, what, he'd have to clean up his own mess and not have that awk feeling of tryna supervise someone he didn't even, like, outrank? Sold!

"You're on, bro! But here's the thing." The pads all fell back to the floor and he put hands on his hips and grinned. "Not some two oh five barbell. Me."
#24
Course it couldn't ever be easy, could it. He eyed Jimmy with a sagging frown, the shadow his brows cast over his eyes deepening as he took it in. He wanted him to actually bench him. The fuck? Did this dude want him to touch him or something? That was shit you did with chicks that wanted to feel small and cute. He took a second to recount why the fuck he'd followed this kid into a closet. Eurgh. Was it worth it to get out of work? He did want to go home.

Eyes narrowed as he pulled his lips back, he sighed as he conceded, "Fine. But no one fucking hears about it." He warned with a finger jabbed his way. What the fuck was he even doing?
#25
Aww, what? Half the hilarity was in the story, yeah? What a bummer to not be able to tell anyone...

Anyone who was... What had he said? No one _______ hears about it. Oh, dude. Dude! When did Jimmy ever talk to people while they were doing, you know, that? Not since... Well not anytime recently and that wasn't looking to change, so in the clear!

Jimmy grinned and nodded. "Deal! Let's do this!"
#26
He was really doing this, huh?

Mateo regarded the kid with a stare for a moment longer before clicking his tongue, and exhaling in a low sigh. Turning, he gestured for the dude to follow him as he stepped out of the closet. It was out of the way enough from the rest of the gym's populace that it would do. He was only gonna to it once. Wouldn't take long. Just one press and he'd be home fucking free. Really, he coulda just said fuck it and left before any of this, but here he was.

Begrudgingly, he parked himself on the floor outside of the closet with enough space for the dude to be horizontal. "You better not make me drop you on me." He warned, shaking out his hands before he lifted them up. God, was he about to have to touch his ass? He'd rather drop him.
#27
Jimmyyyyy really thought this would be better on a bench. The ground gave so little elbow room, you know? Couldn't really get all the way down. Really bad form. Personal trainer stuff wasn't super his gig here, but he knew Ingrid would disapprove.

But whatev, this wasn't anything but a hilarious lark. Lark? Was that British slang? And wasn't it, like, a bird? Which was also British slang!

Anyway.

"You'd better not drop me on you." Come the heck at me, bro. Gosh it was actually super fun butting heads with Tayo. They should do this more often.

"Arr dee why, bro?"
#28
He wouldn't drop him if he didn't wiggle around like a pussy. The next words out of his mouth sounded as foreign to him as when he'd first learned English. Something he'd never heard before. Just fucking gibberish. But. "Yep." He agreed to whatever it was. Just get his over with. He was ready to drive a palm into the middle of his back, and grip hip righ under the knee cap if he got brave enough to lean back into it.
#29
Go time! There was no super graceful way to go about this, but Tay had his hands up and Jimmy did his best to ease down, kinda squatting right over the dude's chest, one of those hands tucked behind his knee. Bit of a trust fall, yeah? Leaning back and hoping strength and balance in both men was where it needed to be that as his weight came off his own feet it would be caught and held by the hand at his back. That was cool though; Jimmy loved trust falls!

Assuming that didn't go terribly and end in an angry lion eating his arm off or something he'd cross his ankles to center weight more on the one leg. Then just prepare to be wowed!
#30
Alright. He'd say it. This was the gayest thing he'd ever done. Which was telling, if anyone wanted to read into it.

He didn't.

Instead, he made sure he had the guy's weight at least somewhat evenly distributed. He was heavy, yeah, but it wasn't nearly enough to do more than just register as that. Heavy, but not impossible. So, he took a deep breath, then lowered his arms as much as he could, before pushing up against the resistance on his palms. His muscles strained, but it was mostly similar to pushing a couch up some stairs.

More awkward, than heavy. He barely made more than a tight exhale of noise. Once his arms fully extended, he dropped the arm beneath the kid's knees, and pushed up with the one on his back with enough force to send him staggering back to his feet.
#31
Wow! Arms had crossed over his chest, palms flat like he was dead or something. Tried to keep still, core tight, holding himself as rigid and balanced as he could but knowing the lion's share of the effort was all on Mateo. And the dude. Didn't. Disappoint!

Jimmy had the dumbest of grins as soon as he began elevating again, and it didn't go away as he found himself pretty effortlessly back on his feet?! Tiny stumble of surprise and awe, but he turned back around pretty immediately.

"Daaaang, son! Lookitchu! All the strength of a raging fire! Tayo!" He stepped closer, hand extended to pull the dude up from the floor. That. Was. Amazing!
#32
Immediately, he wished he'd just thrown him through the wall. Tayo. Knew it was a nickname, but it just sounded like a shitty white dude version of tio. Fucking weird.

For the sake of just getting this done with, he clasped him by the foreharm firmly, and hoisted up onto his feet. Knew it was probably impossible for him to have so easily done that, but he was determined to keep a straight face about it. Just prove him wrong, and profit. "Yeah, well. Hold up your end of the deal, or you'll get burnt, Jaime." The fuck was he doing, giving the kid a nickname?
#33
Jaime! He'd been hit with an obviously not derogatory nickname! Bro. Mance. Established! Jimmy grinned, nodding fervently. "Yeah dude, don't worry about the pads. I gotchu!"

Some part of him wanted to pester the dude after possible superpowers and maybe a team-up down the line, but for now, yeah, he'd keep to the agreement and just revel more or less privately. "Unf, that was awesome!" He turned away, heading back into the storage closet to arrange the kickboxing stuff. Like, by color then size, right?
#34
God. What a fucking weirdo.
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