fandomhigh | Phys Ed; Thursday, First Period [09/07].

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Phys Ed; Thursday, First Period [09/07].

Call him crazy, but Gladio was thinking it felt pretty good to be back in the gymnasium again. Maybe it was just the promise of another semester of subjecting hapless ~~victims~~ students to at least an period's worth of physical activity each week. Maybe it was just that persistent aroma of plastic mats and stale sweat and the promise of squeaking tennis shoes on the gym room floor, but he was feeling pretty psyched to get started.

He'd even gotten a shiny new whistle for the occasion, but that wasn't all that was new, as was to be revealed as soon as everyone in the class was there, and Gladio gave a little nod (and maybe just faint extra grin directed at no one in particular, really) before getting started.

"Alright," he said, "hey, everyone. And welcome to this semester's phys ed class. I know you all know me because I know all of you, so we can probably skip the introductions and get right into the good stuff, and that's the first day physical challenge and assessment."

Oh, and that was a rare grin from Gladio, one that unabashedly stretched from ear to ear.

"But before we get to that," he said, gesturing toward the neatly stacked clothes on a fold-out table beside him, "your gear."

He figured that would be a more appealing word to use than uniforms, but, really, providing neutral-colored shorts, tanks, sweats, and cover-ups for the students had been an elegant solution to the wide variety of clothing people would be rolling in on, although everyone was on their own for footwear. If it helped, too, Gladio was already kitted out in the new FU branded sweats, and, hey, at least you knew they were brand new, too, right, and hadn't been just sitting in a storage closet somewhere for who knows how long.

"So suit up, stretch out, and we'll get started with some standard drills to see where everyone's at."

Considering the class roster? This could get interesting.

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And, well, if Gladio was going to then come on over to that mat and lower himself onto it beside Nell (whether or not the faint grunting that went along with the action was performative or incidental might be anyone's guess), then what of it?

"Good work out there," he said, offering over a bottle of water before he settled in, leaning back with his hands behind him for support.

Nell accepted the bottle and smiled over at him before taking a long drink. "Thank you. It was fun, though I'll have to practice more on those chin ups."

"I've got a bar," Gladio reported proudly, "installed in the hallway in the apartment, so anytime I pass by, I just jump up, do a quick set, and carry on. Iggy's worried it puts too much stress on the framework, but it's been holding out just fine."

Edited 2023-09-07 14:55 (UTC)

Nell looked over at him and grinned. "Of course you do. And won't you feel silly if Iggy turns out to be right and one day you jump up and the while thing comes down on top of you!"

Still, she did like the mental image of him randomly hopping up to do a quick set of chin ups every now and then.

"If by silly," Gladio said, with a snort of a laugh,"you mean damn strong and powerful for having brought all the walls down, then you're right. That's exactly how I'd feel.

"Good thing I don't think there's too many people up on the floor above us."

Poor Eddie and Nancy, though!

Eh. They'd dealt with worse.

That made her laugh. "Oh the poor people above you! But you know Iggy would never let you live that down. Every time you met someone new he'd say, "And this is Gladio. Don't let him near your walls because he'll pull them right down on top of himself despite all warnings to leave them be."

"Your Iggy," said Gladio, with a sound that seemed suspiciously like a snicker, "is pretty much spot on. Except for one thing. I'd be just as likely to bring it up as he would be, really. Be a pretty good ice-breaker. 'Name's Gladio. Don't bother hiring that demolition crew, I can handle it all by myself.'"

Nell looked him over considering. "I'd hire you for a demolition crew," she said innocently. "But I'd prefer it to be a planned thing, not just an, oh dear, well, I guess we're fixing that next, sort if thing."

"Yeah, but," Gladio countered, grinning over at Nell, "where's the fun in that?"

"Mr. Amicitia," Nell said with mock sternness. "You may not randomly begin demolition work in my shop or house. Such things will be planned."

"Well, there goes all my ideas for weekend, then."

Leaning back the way he was, Gladio couldn't really nudge Nell with his elbow, so he did the next likely option, nudging the side of her foot with the toe of his own.

Nell laughed and nudged his foot back. "I guess we'll just have to sit around and stare at each other then. So sad."

"If I'm going to be stuck just sitting around and staring at something," Gladio pointed out, "I'd be pretty glad it's you. But I'm sure, if we put out heads together, we could probably come up with something a little more engaging than that," here, his grin went a little more crooked, "don't you think?"

Class was pretty much over now. They could have a little bit of shameless flirting. As a treat.

"Staring at each other... outside?" she teased. Then smiled at him. "I'm sure we can think of something to do. Indoors, maybe. Or way in the woods because it's supposed to be really hot all weekend."

Nell stretched to let her foot rub against his. "I can handle the heat and humidity, lived with it most all my life, but air conditioning is nice to."

"Heat never bothered me too much, either," Gladio said, after having taken a moment to just sort of appreciate that Nell had gone and initiated that little foot rub and flexing his toward her a little to make it a bit less of a stretch. Maybe marveling a little that they were two grown ass adults playing footsie on the mats after gym class, but he kind of liked it, really. "Wanna go camping? I gotta drag Iggy out for that Three Minute Dates thing on Saturday, but other than that...I bet you're even nicer to just sit and stare at with the glow of firelight thrown in there."

"That... sounds nice," Nell said. "I'd like that. I do like sitting outside by a fire under the stars, so if I have to just sit and stare... At least I'd have a nice setting and someone handsome to look at."

She tilted her head. "You're doing the Three Minute Date thing?"

"I'm just going," Gladio assured her, lifting a hand as if to halt any wrong ideas, "to make sure Iggy does them and doesn't just claim he didn't make it because he got lost or something."

Granted, Gladio was going to find out that Tino was rarely going to let someone just show up and supervise, but at the moment his intentions were completely non-participatory.

"I think it'll be good for him. He really does need to get out more."

And what with all the time Gladio had been spending with Nell....he'd never admit to it, but Gladio knew the poor guy got pretty lonely.

"It's okay," Nell said, though she wasn't quite sure it was, which was a strange feeling. "You can do them if you want. I did last year, just to meet people. Or, you know..."

She shrugged, then smiled shyly. "But I'm glad you're just bringing Iggy. And he does need to get out more."

"Yeah," said Gladio, smiling faintly back, "I'm feeling pretty good on that front right where I am, but he's definitely going to need the moral support. I got Prompto on back-up, too. I can't really blame him, I guess, I just know it's been hard for him to put himself out there again after everything with Goose..."

There was a pause, and a realization that Nell probably didn't even know the first thing about all of that.

"His, uh, ex. They were together before....well, before everything happened, and when he got back...Well, he'd changed so much, and Goose hadn't hardly at all, and...it was hard on him. Still is, really, that things didn't work out..."

"Oh," Nell said, thinking about it. "Oh. Poor Iggy. After all you've been through and then to find - that must be so hard. I didn't realize, I'm sorry."

Nell didn't know from being dumped by an ex, but she could imagine how she'd feel if she'd been seeing Gladio before she'd gone home and when she'd returned he thought she was too different to still care about. It was a terrible feeling.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Gladio shrugged a shoulder. "You already help," he said. "He really enjoys talking to you, and it's good for him to be included in things."

"I enjoy talking to him," Nell said. "And I don't get to talk about cooking with people very often."

She sighed and lay back, turning onto her side to face Gladio. "I guess maybe I'm so happy I just want everyone to be happy too."

And it would seem Gladio had gone and gotten a head start on that who sitting there and staring thing, although, really, it was more just watching her with a fond smile as he appreciated just how comfortable she seemed right now.

"Not just going to try and hoarde it all for yourself?" he asked.

"Me?" she said, looking shocked, then laughed when she realized he was teasing her. "No, no hoarding. Happiness is like love - plenty to go around."

And that she could still think that way after all she'd been through, too...

"Definitely the better way to approach it. One of the many things I really admire about you, Nell."

Phys Ed; Thursday, First Period [09/07].

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