Box Clever [Cooper & Costa]

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]



Costa started with her thumb, looping the wrap around it and then pulling it around her wrist in a counter-clockwise motion. She tugged it tightly, her face a grimace from the extra pressure she was putting on the joint. It didn't really need to be so unyielding really, she was just in the mood for some rough. Three times around her her wrist, three around her hand, then she focused on the fingers, counting each rotation as she worked.

It was methodical, it was detached, it was Costa. The grimace lapsed into a blank expression gradually, and she turned her attention to her other hand. This one, she didn't have to worry about so much. It was neither flesh nor bone. It wouldn't break on impact, it wouldn't shatter when she met a hard surface. It gave her an unfair advantage, and in the boxing ring, she hated it.

Despite that, she couldn't give it up. It was one of few healthy outlets she had for anything, and she'd missed it so much when she'd stopped. Having undergone strength and agility tests, all based around the addition of her synthetic arm, she'd been deemed unable to legally compete. Not wanting to be seen as someone who would use her enhancements to an unfair advantage, she decided to keep her training just as that - training.

Dressed in black lycra leggings, gym sneakers and a gold sports crop top, she stepped up to the speed bag. Her preference was always to work on her rhythm and coordination first, while her mind was fresh and sharp. She began the familiar beat with her fists, and slowly the room fell away for Costa. Her mind cleared of faces, of annoyances and all of the reminders of how her life had turned on this Starbase, and she just hammered that bag.

[Fells Halgerdur]

[NPC Cooper gym]
The previous two missions had given Brody more opportunities to get out of the lab than ever before in his life. Despite the obvious danger, he had tasted the thrill of it and wanted more. Of course he was bright enough to know that a geologist wasn't made for that kind of world, especially one who had no special training or even physical abilities. His routine consisted of going to work, maybe for a little walk, perhaps to a pub, sometimes a holo or a game of with colleagues. He'd swim some rounds and very rarely go to the gym. Brody just wasn't a gym rat or a fighter. Not that he was a great lover either. He simply had no great ambitions beyond rocks.

The latest experience and the added bonus of dislocating an arm twice had brought him to the conclusion that a little training could be beneficial.

He had been in pain for the first few days back until he finally went and got his ribs sorted at the base sick bay. Now it was more wounded pride than anything. For some reason the girl, he had fancied, decided to rescue him and then not talk to him anymore. For Brody this wasn't usual. So while he was on one of the treadmills he mused about his lost chance.
Costa wasn't the girl to talk about stuff or simply swallow whatever was bugging her and Brody had no idea how to approach her.

Sweat was starting to run down the sides of his face as he increased speed.
After ten minutes he slowed down and started using some of the machines.
On his way to the free weights he had to pass the area where the speed bags and sparring ring was located.

Brody had to do a double take when she saw who was working out back there. It came natural to greet her before he remembered that they didn't talk anymore. "Hi Costa, good to see you."
Momentarily he didn't know how to take that back...plus he didn't want to.

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]

She'd fallen into the familiar rhythm of motion as she stood at the speed bag, lost in it as she thumped. She didn't notice anyone approaching anywhere near her, and almost missed her name. She glanced over toward the source of the voice, meaning to discern whether or not it was addressing her. Her eyes almost slid off Brody Cooper, but when she recognised who it was, they returned, glued to his familiar form. Her hands stilled, stopping mid-air for a few moments as she stared.

Costa hadn't seen him since the stint on the Phoenix, and she hadn't been keen to seek him out, either. She'd categorised him as another one and done... or in this case, a two and done. She'd been pissed, mostly at herself, for allowing herself to get more invested in someone else's well-being than her own. And what made it worse was the power he'd had over her on that ship; enough to make her feel hurt at his dismissal. That wasn't something she wanted to deal with.

"Cooper."

Her voice was a little strained, but she managed the greeting anyway. Then she stepped away from the speed bag and toward one of the hanging heavy bags. She kept him in her eye-line, however, her eyes fluttering from the bag before her, to him, surprised to see him in the gym but unable to completely look away.

[Fells Halgerdur]

[Gym]
He wasn't great with words or girls. Both seemed to be beyond his grasp.
When he saw her again he knew she wasn't someone he wanted to give up on so easily, though. He had a feeking Costa was a difficult person but maybe that was what attracted him to her.

All he got was his last name as a greeting. Not very warm, not very friendly.
"Okay..." He followed her to the heavy bag and grabbed it to hold it.
"Why are you avoiding me?"
There...it was out. Pergaps she had a good answer to ir. If not he simply did not get women.
"How about a friendly hello?"

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]

She stared at him as he approached and took hold of the bag. Instead of punching, she reached out, her splayed hands on the bag on her own side as she continued to watch. Costa had no idea why Cooper was following her now, she hadn't exactly been welcoming. She looked at him with surprise when he asked why she'd been avoiding him.

"Not seekin' ya out and avoidin' ya are two different things."

Then she frowned and looked away, raising her arms and shuffling into position to begin her work out. She was about to throw her first punch when he said something that really pissed her off. Her stare turned into a glare, her brown eyes flashing toward him, the corners of her mouth turned down with unhappiness.

"How 'bout a friendly 'thanks fer savin' me Costa, sorry for bein' such a tool afterwards'?" She shot back, and aimed a strong blow to the bag with her clenched synthetic fist.

[Fells Halgerdur]

[Brody Cooper gym]
"Splitting hair." He commented on the 'not seeking him out statement.
Brody had no bad conscience or any sort of knowledge of doing somethibg wrong so her obvious anger surprised him.
Especially when she hit the bag quite hard while he was still holding it. His body received the vibration and velocity of the blow  on the others side as he processed her words.

Silently he wondered whether he really hadn't thanked her.
"I think I did thank you....if not I should definetly do so. Thank you....and I mean it for getting me back on the Phoenix. I'm not sure what would have happened without you."

For now he ignored her comment about being a tool but kept holding tge bag to stop her from pounding it.
"Can we talk?"
Her face clearly said no, so he added.
"....while you work out?"

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]

She in turn ignored his 'splitting hair' observation, mostly because he was technically right. There was a fleeting satisfaction when Cooper took some of the blow through the bag. Costa had realised how angry she'd been at him back on the Phoenix, but now she didn't really understand why it hadn't dissipated. Why did she care? Normally by this stage she'd have forgotten his name.

She felt a bit uncomfortable with the thanks, but she only showed it by avoiding his eyes. The truth was she was pretty sure herself that he'd already thanked her at the time. "S'fine." She shrugged and picked back up the rhythm of her blows again. Of course she knew what would have happened if he'd been left out there, turning in space. Something twisted in her gut.

When he asked to talk, she grimaced. When he added that she didn't have to stop what she was doing she paused for a moment. "Wha's there ta talk abou'?" Costa asked, genuine confusion flitting across her face for a second.

[Fells Halgerdur]

[gym Cooper]

"What?" Now it was him who was confused because there was obvious need for a conversation, which she didn't get. Was she already done with him? That quickly?
"You're pissed off because I was a 'tool' afterwards...whatever that means. I'd like to find out and somehow settle this."
He stared at her with less anger than she was displaying but still with a lot of intensity.
"Or are you done with me....that's it. For some reason you rescue me and then decide that I'm too much of an asshole to be around?"
He could feel anger rise in his chest as well but was still very much in control.

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]

Her anger at being called out, challenged, was obvious. Her cheeks began to redden and her already tense shoulders stiffened exponentially, ruining the form of her stance. "Ya got it, pal," Costa confirmed, feeling as though she was being backed into a corner and as always, she favoured fight over flight. She'd come out swinging.

"Shoulda left ya there, hangin' in space, thinkin' 'bout ya bloody rocks while the oxygen ran ou'. But no, Stupid Costa didn't do tha', brought ya back instead an' got nothin' but dismissed."

In the heat of the moment, the normally quite collected boomer said things that she did not mean. But in the heat of her anger, she didn't stop to consider that she was so angry with him because she liked him, and she didn't want to like anyone. The muted sound of a decently-measured punch meeting the bag reached her ears over the sound of her own heartbeat.

"So bloody arrogant!"

[Fells Halgerdur]

[gym Brody]
He was still holding on to the worn artifical leather of the heavy bag when she started ranting and blowing off some steam in the form of angry words.
They stung. Nobody wants to hear that they should have been left to die.
Yeah, rocks were important to him but not that important. The issue was a different one. For the second time he heard that she felt 'dismissed' and felt the impact of an angry punch on the bag.
He also didn't fancy being called arrogant.

So he let go of the bag, that swung away, stepped around it and stood in front of it to stop her from swinging.
"I'm arrogant?" His tone got angrier now, too.
"I was only half conscious! Who knows what the hell I did..." He had no idea what words she had taken offense to but he simply stated how he saw it.
"I was in fuc*ing pain and they told me to go to the sickbay so I did....I have no idea why you'd call that arrogant? As far as I recall I thanked you for saving me and gave you the opportunity to go save more people."
He stared at her to let that sink in before he lifted his own arms to protect his face from potential 'training blows'. "C'mon....you got more ?"

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]

She pulled a punch just as he let go of the bag, but she caught the heavy hang with her knuckles at a bad angle and let out a curse. Costa stepped out of the way of the swinging bag and tried to shake out her hand, glaring at Cooper all the while. "Got an answer for evrythin' dun ya!?"

Half-conscious, in pain... there was always something with him. Florence bloody Nightingale she'd turned into. And why should she care? What happened to him was his business. The only person she should be looking after was herself. She'd gotten very bad at that since settling in on-board the Columbus though, and that was becoming a problem.

He stepped in front of her and lifted his arms to protect his face. His opinion of her was obviously so low that he thought she'd hit an unprotected person. That just pissed her off even more. She stepped up to him, right into his personal space, her eyes afire. "Ya've no idea how much more I got."

[Fells Halgerdur]

[gym NPC Cooper]
Her behavior, glare, stance...every thing was aggressive. Brody had no idea how he deserved this much aggression. Solely for going to the sickbay when he was in need?
He didn't get it but he figured there was more to it. Some personal story or life experience that had triggered her anger.

But he wasn't completely sure whether she was absolutely serious or whether there was a hint of game or challenged to it since she was now in his personal space.
It was either retreat with your tail between your legs and give up, or keep your head held high and accept the challenge.

Brody decided to, against his usual instinct, not back away.
He raised his chin and kept his face neutral.
"....I'm ready for whatever you've got."
He put that out there to see what she'd do.

Obviously talking wasn't something both of them were good at.

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]

He didn't move. He presented himself as an immovable force in front of her, even looked down at her, meeting her challenge. When he raised his chin her eyes flickered down toward his mouth, and stayed there for a few moments, before returning to his eyes. She was still glaring, but to her, the tension between them seemed to spark and change to something else.

Costa narrowed her eyes. "Oh, are ya?" She asked, her voice smooth with a little sarcasm when he said he was ready for what she had. To stop herself from doing something she shouldn't, she stepped back away from him. Not breaking eye contact, she gestured behind her toward the training mats.

"Three rounds." She began to re-tighten the tape around the hand that had taken the grazing blow from the bag a few moments ago and waited for him to respond to the gauntlet she'd stupidly thrown down.

[Fells Halgerdur]

[gym NPC Cooper]
For a second he wondered why he was ready for to fight for this one (or with her) and not simply go back to training, have a beer and watch a movie, which would be much easier.

There was a slight change in her gaze when she kept looking at him and then let her eyes linger on his lips for just a split second too long. It crossed his mind that she might kiss him but that moment passed just as quickly as it had come and she backed away.

The tension became less, too, but then she threw down a challenge he hadn't anticipated.
"Three rounds." He repeated knowing full well that he was not a boxer and had to experience in as much as a bar fight....well. except for one.
"Okay." He answered much more firmly than he felt.
"Wait, I need gloves...warps."
Thankfully there were some nearby and he very awkwards wrapped his fists as well as he could.
Then he joined her on the mat and raised his fists.
"I should probably tell you that I don't have a whole lot of experience."
As he had seen from others, he started moving his feet.

[Alexa Costa]

[Lex Costa - Gym, Deck 227]

Costa moved off to grab a couple of headguards and once she'd located two of a suitable size, she stepped onto the mat and waited. She watched him wrap his hands with a detached air, then when he joined her in the training area, she tossed a headguard to him. "Protect tha' big brain o'yours," she said tersely.

Her cheeks still flushed, she shook her head when he claimed he didn't have a lot of experience. "You an' evry other man I've ever met." She'd muttered it under her breath, some of the fire fueling her earlier anger fading, replaced by some lingering irritation. She eyed him as he put his hands up and started moving, and had to force herself not to stop play to fix his wraps.

Instead, she sucked in a steadying breath, and focused. She began moving around him, circling clockwise, eyes running over his body, stance, form with a practiced eye. He didn't look all too bad, she had to admit. But everyone had weak points; especially amateurs. She'd find it.

She took a short step forward and took an experimental jab, aimed for his left side. The force was minimal as it was a move designed only to gauge his response and defense. Costa would lightly step backward once the blow was delivered or safely blocked.