Daily grind

Posted on Mon Oct 12th, 2020 @ 8:07pm by Ensign Wulfgar Duergar

Mission: Survival of the fittest
Location: Deck 11 Gym 2
Timeline: 3 days after arriving-

Janes pony tail bounced against her back as she jogged carefully around the raised track in gymnasium two. She paced herself for a nice 2k jaunt to help get her blood stirring in the early morning hours. She needed some time to refocus on herself if even for a moment. She had a full day ahead and had not been around to getting much in the way of sleep. There were so many 'crittical' files stacked on her dresser it would take days maybe weeks she didn't have to sort them all out. 'dont think of that just now. Just breath.' she thought to herself as she pushed herself forward the sounds of her footfalls sucking like thunder through the nearly empty space.

Wulfgar walked into the large gym, his white t shirt stretched across his muscular chest and arms. As he placed his gym bag doen, he glanced up and noticed a young woman on the upper track running. He wasn't much of a runner himself but to each their own he thought to himself as he prepped a weight bench. He dialed the resistance to 250 pounds before he laid down as readied himself. He started to lift and drop the bar across his chest, the muscles rippling under the skin.

She flew above him circling the platform at a decent jaunt. She had noticed the arrival of the big man with the dark short hair and confident swagger and noted it mentally as he has vanished out of sight near the area that held the weights. the view was blocked as she ran around a curve. Golly he was big. At least six feet tall she'd guessed. 'Bet he could lift a transport shuttle if he wanted.' she mused as she tried to steal a peek at him as she circled around again. Then as she leaned a little to try and get a better view of him on the weight bench she tumbled and ate the running matt with a hard and cartoonish 'THWAP'. Apparently her minds way of reminding her to focus.

Wulfgar looked up at the sound and in time to see Jane's feet in the air as she went down. He quickly re-racked the weights and after jumping to his feet, quickly climbed the ladder to the upper level. He quickly jogged over to the woman who had taken a tumble as she was getting into a sitting position. "Are you alright? That was some tumble you took." He asked as he offered his hand to Jane.

Some tumble indeed. Jane had rolled a few feet her elbow, shoulder, and knee were raw from the ass over end maneuver her body had elected to involuntarily take. Still all that paled in the presence of her current company. She had no idea how he had gotten up here so fast but she was glad he had. He had a kind voice that seemed to contradict his intimidating size. The note of real concern for her made her embarrassed almost shy smile turn into a deep blush. "Yeah got distracted and Murphys law swooped in like an unforgiving harpy to punish me." She half joked and half explained with a shy chuckle as she looked as the raw patches on her knees and then as if seeing it made it more real they began to sting causing her to flinch.

Wulfgar squatted down next to her. "That's a good road rash you got there. Can you get up or do you need carried? I have some salve down stairs that works great in scrapes like that." He offered her his hand again, smiling.

Jane took his offered hand letting him pull her up' Her mouth was dry when she wordlessly nodded. "thank you tha..that would be great." She said when she was finally able to talk once more.

Wulfgar escorted her to the ladder down. He went down first so that if she needed a hand he was there to help. "Easy does it now." He kept his hands up in case she fell or slipped. He couldn't help but enjoy the view as he looked up.

Jane took her time easing down the ladder. Her left elbow ached and her knees stung like crazy. Not to mention her burning cheeks as she stole a glance at him eyeing her as she climbed down. She was glad he was looking reguardless of the blush. It sent shivers of pride to dance through her veins like butterflies which seemed to gather in her stomach. distracted again she missed a step and lost her footing sending her ample view to come careening down onto the large man beneath her with an astonished "eeeeep!"

Wulfgar caught her easily as she fell. One arm caught under her knees and the other caught her around the back. He smiled at her as he gently set feet on the deck.

Humiliated at her reoccurring clumsiness her cheeks burned more then ever as her caught her and sat her like a toddler to the floor. She glanced at his face, 'was he laughing at her?" she couldn't tell but wouldn't blame him if he was. "Thank you again. Sorry for all this inconvenience. I am not usually like this." She said before all but turning and moving to rush off and lick her wounded pride and succeeded in running face first into the ladder to the running track instead. the impact was hard and rang out with a resonating "PWiiing!" and her head felt like the tea cup ride in an amusement park for a moment as humiliation finally go its point across. She simply wanted to disappear now right into the floor. what a spectacle she was making. She muttered another low apology and tried to excuse herself as the trickling feel of blood tickled her throbbing nose now. She clamped a hand over it quickly and moved to go past the giant man with the friendly face without self harm if fate would allow it. She didn't even know his name, Nor was she feeling brave enough now to inquire about it now neither.

"Wait." Wulfgar said as Jane moved to rush past. He laid a large hand on her shoulder gently. "Let me take a look at that." He removed his shirt and offered it to her. "Place that on your nose and lean forward. He guided her to the bench that he had been on and rummaged through his bag. He pulled out a small jar of ointment.

Jane let him guide her as she obediently put the shirt to her injured nose. Past the oozing blood It smelled like ...oil, lubricants, and an underlying sniff of burn circuitry and ozone that screamed engineering. But under all that was the musky scent that was all its own. It made her shift uncomfortably as she imagined that after her run she probably was not smelling very fresh herself. Glad she was that the shirt hid the pink tint of her cheeks as she watched him with curiosity as he retrieved the jar from his bag.

Wulfgar got up from searching the bag and as he opened the jar, he sat down next to her. "This might sting at first but not always." He said as he applied a small amount to her skinned knee and then her elbow. He then offered the jar to her. "For your shoulder. Use a small amount as it spreads easily." He offered her a smile.

Jane let out a soft hiss as the salve touched her skin. Then it was gone and a cool tingling remained. "It has to hurt if it's to heal eh?" Jane jested, the words muffled and sounded funky due to the shirt she had pinched to her nose. She dipped her fingers daintily in the jar and flinched as she applied it gingerly to her shoulder.

Wulfgar smiled more as she applied the ointment to her shoulder. He gently reached for the shirt and pulled it (and her hand down) to look at her nose. It had stopped bleeding by now and, with a gentle hand on her chin, turned her face left and right. "It's not broken but it will bruise slightly. You should be fine in a few days." He said as he let his hand drop to his lap. "I'm Wulfgar Duergar. I just transferred onboard." He smiled as he spoke.

Jane could not deny the not so subtle increase of her heart as his hand made contact with her chin. It was very intense even though he was not meaning it to be obviously. She chuckled at herself and asked. "So did I." She quipped back. "I am Jane, Uuuuum Jane Doe. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"And a pleasure to make yours." Wulfgar said as he replaced the lid on the jar and placed it back in his bag. "What do you like to do other than run? I am assuming that you were running because you enjoy the activity." he asked with a gentle smile.

Jane felt her lips pull into a delightful smile. "Oh yes I love running. And convenient enough meeting new people." She said. She then looked at the bloody shirt in his hands and the smile lost a bit of its glow. "I'm sorry about the shirt I promise I am not usually so self destructive."

Wulfgar let out a chuckle with a huge grin. "We all are prone to bouts of clumsiness. I have a scar from working in the forest back home. Had a branch break from a tree we were removing fall and hit my back." He said as he shifted on the bench to show a large jagged scar starting on his left shoulder and ending near the middle of his lower back.

She appraised the scar. "That looks like it was painful." Jane said reaching out without thinking she ran her fingers down the stretch of punckered skin. "You know they could heal this in medical if you wanted."

Wulfgar turned back to face Jane. "I kinda like it. It makes a great conversation point." He said with a grin and deep chuckle. "It did hurt. I was down for a few days. My mother tended me after the accident."

"She sounds wonderful. You know if you have some time on your hands,. I would love to go get some coffee with you." Jane offered. "You can tell me more about yourself."

"I would like that." Wulfgar said with a smile as he tossed his shirt into his bag. "I need to go get cleaned up before I get back to Engineering."

Explosions of happiness erupted in Jane's tiny form. She hoped she was looking at a new potential friend to possibly hang around with while off duty. Sure she liked everyone and considered everyone to be a friend. Still it was nice when they reciprocated the feelings.

Then as always the tiny nagging voice of doubt crept in. 'And who says he's just not being polite? Stupid?' Would he even want to be her friend really? She could be overwhelming at times. He could just feel sorry for her for being such a cluts. She didn't mean to be either. Still if he was just being polite she should offer him an out yes? Yes.

"I understand engineering is a bit overwhelmed and all. If you can't find the time I completely understand." Jane said as she shuffled her feet. "I should go and have medical look at my nose to be safe. Thank you again for your help." She said as she turned to leave.

"Aye, the ship has a lot of damage and us Engineers have our hands full." Wulfgar said as he picked up his bag, his muscles rippled slightly. "When I get my next free time, I'll send you a message and we can meet up in ten forward on deck ten. I just hope that it will be soon that we can get together again." He had turned to face her and to stop her from leaving just yet, his bag slung over his shoulder. As he finished speaking, he took her hand and bent down. He raised her hand as he did so and kissed the knuckles gently. He had been brought up to be a gentleman and to treat women with the utmost respect. He lowered her hand as he straightened and smiled.

Jane's heart leaped happily. "Yes of course. I just know we are going to be such great friends!" 'such a chivalrous guy! What a real kindred spirit. He had even kissed my hand. So sweet! It probably smelt like cookies... Did it taste like cookies?' She wasn't about to ask him. They were not at that level of friendship. She was tempted to take a lick and find out for herself but thankfully restrained her curiosity.

"Farewll Jane, I'll contact you as soon as I can." Wulfgar said as he hitched the bag more on his shoulder. He nodded as he turned and headed for the door. He had caught the scent of cookies on her hand and he loved cookies. His mother use to bake him and his father cookies for after work and his two little sisters had helped. He chuckled at the flood of memories as he left the gym.

Jane watched him go with what was likely a dopey grin on her face. Her nose still ache'd but her spirits soared. Then remembering she had an appointment soon she hurried off. Being extra careful not to hurt herself in the process.