fandomtownies | Atlas Gym

"You realize you run the risk of your face sticking that way if you make it all the time," Dimitri pointed out, frowning at Rose and her attitude. The weekend had not been a cup of tea for him, but he wasn't moping around about it.

"My face is fine," Rose told him, folding a towel and possibly looking like she wanted to beat it instead.

No, no one here had anger issues. "I wasn't aware your job involved scaring away the customers."

She frowned at him before turning half-away. "My face doesn't scare away customers."

"Looking like you want to beat inanimate objects could frighten someone," he said, moving closer.

"It's a gym," Rose pointed out. "Beating inanimate objects is the point."

"So hit the bag," Dimitri told her humorlessly. "Not the desk."

"Like you said," she replied though less pissily. "I'm working. I can later."

"Consider it your new job," he said, giving her a look that said it would be a good idea to follow directions for once.

Rose didn't even open her mouth to argue, just dropped the next towel back on the table and headed out to the gym to start pounding on the bag.

Luckily she'd warmed up a bit earlier because she wasn't stopping for that or to grab gloves, put her hair up, anything. The bag obviously really needed its beating.

Dimitri followed, standing behind to watch with crossed arms. Please, as if he was going to let her just beat the crap out of the bag unsupervised in her current moody state.

It was a good thing that the bag was a bag and not an actual opponent because Rose was paying far more attention to the beating of it than the actual positioning or strategy. In other words, if she'd been fighting for real, she'd've lost hard already.

Reinforcing bad behavior was not a tenant of proper training and Dimitri wasn't about to let it go even if this wasn't about real training or fighting for her. "Your hair's in the way. You've no peripheral vision and you're letting your guard down as a result."

"So what?" Rose asked, not stopping to fix it. "If it were real, I'd wear it up."

"Rose." His voice was at a warning stage. She had the opportunity to make a good choice by listening to direction and stopping to make the needed change to her attack.

The tone grabbed her attention, and she swung around to face him. "What."

He looked down at her, all business. "Unfocused beating on that bag is not going to help you get out of that mood."

Rose avoided his eyes, looking down at the floor. "Dimitri, it's -"

She didn't know what it was really.

Avoiding him was certainly not going to be the answer to whatever was going on with her.

"Rose, look at me." At least his tone was less of an order.

She'd backed up without realising it, and it sounded less like an order, but she still wasn't going to refuse a direct one from him. Rose looked up slowly, her hair falling to cover her face.

He stepped closer, reaching out automatically and having to pause his own hand before it could make contact with her silken hair. Dimitri had to make a conscious effort to stifle that desire and let his hand drop.

Rose slowly let out the breath she'd been holding as he dropped his hand again. She'd been wanting - hoping - he'd touch her hair. She thought he liked her hair, he'd made excuses to touch her more than once, but then the hesitation.

Looking up, she let her eyes meet his finally, the hair falling mostly back off her face. "What?" she asked finally.

He liked her hair too much was the problem. And if someone was going to be the adult about the weird thing between, it was going to be him.

"How's the eye?" Dimitri asked, deciding he could go there and have a good reason to be looking into hers affectionately.

"It's fine," Rose lied quickly. Because of all people, she wasn't going to admit it hurting to him.

"It doesn't look so bad," he said, voice all kindness now. From what Janine had shared he would've thought it should be far worse. "It's healing well."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject