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Atlas Gym; Tuesday [08/29].

Gladio supposed, in a way, that this was almost a natural progression. They had, after all, been invaded by rubber chickens that one time here in the gym, so it was only a matter of time before they were then invaded by regular chickens, too.

He took a moment to observe the chickens clucking around the weight area for a moment before turning toward Sonja to ask, "Prompto again?"

Which would be nice, you know? It would mean the guy was back to feeling like his normal self again.

But Sonja just shook her head. "No. They just wanted to work on their pecks."

Atlas is open!

[[ don't blame me, blame

stykera's sister ]]

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After spending the weekend with some of her and her space mom's old war buddies and getting so many compliments on her gym progress, Summer was ready to show off yet another cute new top and really keep going with all those great gains for her guns.

Only to discover that the weight area was a bit...occupied that morning.

"God," she said, "their form is terrible."

Like, did they even spot, bro?

"They're definitely just winging it," Gladio agreed, clearly just succumbing to his fate. "But, hey. They're trying. It's an egg-cellent attempt."

Okay, he had to grin a little at himself for that one before passing it over and nodding a greeting.

"Summer. How've you been?"

"I've been better," Summer said, "for example, before chicken puns entered the conversation. Guess it's a cardio day for me today after all."

"You're back," Stark said as he made his way over to Summer, taking in the details of that new top very respectfully.

"I am back," Summer confirmed. How nice of Stark to notice! And to notice the new top, which she was more than happy to show off a little by knowing how to work her angles, thank you. "How are you, Stark? How was your weekend?"

"I didn't get kidnapped," Stark said unnecessarily. "It was quiet. I missed you."

He was about 30 seconds from showing her just how much he'd missed her if he thought he could get away with it in here. For the moment he was just going to quickly close the gap between them and stop just short of actually touching her.

"I'm glad you didn't get kidnapped." Summer was also glad that Stark had missed her, too, but, let's be real, the odds of him getting kidnapped were astronomically more likely than those of him not missing her. And the sense of restraint in their current proximity did not go entirely unnoticed, either, as she looked at him and smiled. "And that it sounds like I didn't miss anything too exciting..."

"Nothing exciting for me," Stark assured her. One hand gave a little twitch toward her. It had been days.

"And you? Good trip?"

He took a half-step closer, lifting that same hand again but leaving it hovering in the air just shy of her skin.

"Mm-hm," said Summer, nodding, biting her lip a little against a faint smirk for that hovering hand. And if she just so happened to shift a little, just a small pop of her weight over to one foot that put her right up against that hand, well...

Oops? Maybe she hadn't seen it there.

"It was good to see everyone again, they really appreciated the shots, and Grampa Rick didn't even ping me once while I was out there!"

Which made her now suddenly realize that she should check in to make sure Rick wasn't actually, like, dead or something, actually, because he was usually on that the moment she hit their dimension.

"I got a lot of pictures," she added, "if you maybe want to see 'em later."

Yes, they'd mostly all been posted to her Instragram already, too, but that wasn't the point.

Well if things were going to go that way then Stark was just going to settle his hand lightly against Summer's skin and grin at her a little goofily. Maybe ghost some fingers along the edges of the cut outs.

"I'd love to see pictures." It wasn't like he was going to look at Instagram.

"But first..."

First the other hand was going to come up and pull Summer closer in and then Stark was going to try and show Summer just how much he'd missed her with a very, very thorough kiss.

Summer had been wondering if Stark was going to be so bold as to try something like that, and she had to admit, the fact that he did sent enough of a thrill through her that she was absolutely letting it happen, leaning into it and responding in kind.

It had been a couple of days...

It had been a long weekend worth of days! So many days. Lonely days!

"I missed you," Stark repeated. "Very much. In case you weren't sure."

"I kinda had a hunch," Summer admitted, giving Stark a grin. "It was only a few days, though. It couldn't have been that bad."

"Not that bad," Stark agreed reluctantly. He'd even managed to get some sleep.

"But not that good either. This is better."

He hadn't stepped back yet and he certainly hadn't moved his hands away from all that appealingly accessible skin, either.

The whole sleeping without her thing had been a big part of the impromptu trip, really, so that would have been very encouraging to hear.

And the fingers on her skin was encouraging, too, albeit in an entirely different way.

"Well, I'd hope so," she said. "Otherwise, I'll have to come up with some new plans for tonight."

Because maybe, just maybe, she'd started to miss him, too, but she wasn't going to, like, just give that away. Not right now, anyway.

Stark would have slept better with her there but he'd managed. Somehow.

"You have plans?" he asked, innocently. "I haven't made any yet. You did mention showing me pictures..."

"Mm-hm," Summer nodded, and, almost as if it was feeling left out with all the touching Statk was getting to do right now, she lifted a hand to rest on his chest. "Pictures, stories, and I picked up some...stuff...I'm looking forward to trying, but I heard it's much better to try with friends."

"That sounds very good."

Were they going to get any working out done today at the gym? Hard to say. Maybe eventually.

"I do like trying things with you. All sorts of things."

Look, Summer came here this morning to get a good workout in, and she was going to, but there was no need to just go rushing into things, right?

"Even gross things?"

Stark glanced around the gym for a moment and lowered his voice. "There is nobody I'd rather try gross things with. Nobody."

There was nobody he'd rather try most anything with, really.

Nell came in today and was headed for the mats to work on her forms when she saw the chickens.

"Free range?" she asked. "Is this for better eggs to put in your Cup Noodle?"

"Free range weights, even," Gladio noted with a snort. "We're going to have more eggs than we'll know what to do with once they get started on their squats..."

He then looked at Nell with that pleased, fond grin that was now becoming pretty much default when he was around her these days.

"How's it going, Nell?"

Nell glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, then went up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss.

Then she grinned up at him. "Very nicely now, thank you."

And Gladio adored everything about that, from the subtle check for being unnoticed to the lift up on her tiptoes to have to do it to the fact that she was going to slyly go for a kiss in the first place and test his professionalism, making his grin grow even more.

"Good to hear," he said, the hand that moved up to her side to help her out with the tiptoes lingering a little longer than strictly necessary. "What do you think's on the agenda for today?"

"Forms," Nell said firmly. "I've been neglecting them a little, so I need to get back to them."

Too much hanging out on the roof doing other things. Not that she was complaining!

Well, now, Gladio would hate to hear that he might be getting in the way of someone's hard work, though you probably couldn't tell much by the grin. He did nod, though, with approval.

"I'll do what I can," he offered, "to make sure the chickens don't go wandering over toward the mats and get in your way."

"I could always add a new move," she suggested cheekily, "'Hands Shoving Chickens'."

"Maybe a little Feet Avoiding Feathers?" Gladio suggested right back at her.

"Perfect," she said, "High Step Over Poultry with Foot Swipe?"

"Hmmm..." Gladio stroked his chin thoughtfully as he tried to think of another good one. "Bending Backward Beak Dodge."

Nell was laughing too much by then to find up with another ridiculous poultry inspired Tai Chi move. "I'm sure any of those will do," she finally managed

"I should just let them bother you," Gladio mused, throwing a bit of a wink Nell's way. "It could be a good challenge."

"Might just steal a few and take 'em home for fresh eggs," she said, then quickly put up a hand. "Just kidding! They're a lot of work and not the brightest. They'd prob'ly walk right off my roof."

Edited 2023-08-29 23:27 (UTC)

Gladio was tempted to argue that they were smart enough to figure put how to get into the gym in the first place, but then he glanced over at one perched up on a one of the bars and failing to rise up and lift it with its talons as its wings flapped in effort, and could now no longer stop thinking about all of them just flopping right off Nell's roof.

"Chocobos they definitely are not," he said with a grunt, and followed it up with a snort. "But if they try to pay their membership in eggs, then I'll definitely send them your way."

"Fresh egss are definitely delicious," Nell said. "I barter for them sometimes and they're just amazingin an omelet. But so not worth the problems dealing with chickens on a roof would cause."

Was Stark here for his sticker? Yes. Was Stark here because he actually enjoyed this addition to his routine? Yes.

Was Stark also here to look for Summer? Obviously. And was he heading right for her when he spotted her? Of course!

Which left Gladio a bit in the lurch, really, as he went to get the stickers and offer up a greeting to Stark, only to find that Stark's attention had clearly diverted elsewhere already. So Gladio just snorted his amusement and slipped the stickers back into his back pocket and figured Stark could just find him for it when other, more important things were out of the way.

It had been days, Gladio, and Stark had been trying so hard!

He'd be back. Eventually.

Steve walked in, stopped dead, and went "What."

"They're working on their pecks," Gladio informed him, not nearly as dry as intended, but, come on, it bore repeating, right?

At least Steve seemed the type to appreciate it, anyway.

Steve burst out laughing. "Seriously? That's terrible."

Called it. Gladio's grunt of amusement was both in appreciation that Steve had actually laughed and pride for figuring correctly that he would.

"That's the story, anyway," he said. "And who am I to hold anyone back from their gains goals? We got gremlins and raccoons that pop in every once in a while. Why not chickens, too?"

"Well, hopefully they don't get too jacked," Steve said, laughing.

"I mean," said Gladio, really unable to help himself if there were bad jokes to be hand, "I've heard of jerked chicken before, but jacked? Either way, hope you weren't planning on getting a whole lot of use out of the weights today, unless you don't mind sharing with a bunch of real cluckers."

Steve burst out laughing. "Those are terrible. Have you been practicing?"

"My entire morning," Gladio declared, "has been thinking of chicken puns and waiting for people to come in to use them all."

"Time well spent," Steve declared.

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Atlas Gym; Tuesday [08/29].

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