Steve Rogers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
manwithaplan) wrote2013-04-27 11:42 pm
manwithaplan) wrote2013-04-27 11:42 pm
Entry tags:
In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade.
When Steve had first arrived in Darrow, Little Lorenzo's had quickly become one of his favorite haunts. He had been surprised to find that he preferred it even to the gym he had found back in Brooklyn. What he liked most was that no one knew who he was, and so they didn't know to walk on eggshells around him, the way that Fury did to an extent, and the agents at S.H.I.E.L.D. did to the maximum. The owners weren't about to put up with his tendency to go at it so hard that he beat the sand out of the punching bags or inadvertently launched them like heavy, makeshift missiles toward the opposite wall. It was, in fact, out of a need to pay off his debt for ruined equipment that Steve had first taken a job there. They couldn't have known how good it would be for him.
For the first few weeks, they'd had him performing janitorial tasks more than anything else, and while he was happy simply to have something to do, he knew that his talents were being wasted. Soon enough, Lorenzo Jr. realized it too, and within no time at all he was taking over the Saturday beginners' workshop and inaugurating the gym's first class to cater to teenage boys. For whatever reason, those were the students with whom he got on best, though he liked to think he did decent work with the few men he'd met suffering from PTSD who knew no better way of coping than to channel it into aggression. Steve made sure that they managed to exorcise their demons in a way that was productive rather than destructive and that didn't end in a visit to the hospital for either the man in question or, as was more often the case, his opponent.
This Saturday, however, Steve is most looking forward to seeing the woman he met in the café just a few weeks ago. He could tell from just their one conversation that she is someone with whom he could easily get along and something about her suggested that she would make an excellent student as well. Sure enough, she arrives a little early, like she said the would, and he has a chance to gauge her strength and flexibility as they warm up. During the class, he makes sure to divide his attention fairly among all his students, but he keeps an eye out for her throughout and finds himself repeatedly impressed.
Once the class is finished and most of his pupils have dispersed, heaving, to dry off the sweat and rehydrate, he heads over to greet her again. "Hello again," he smiles, reaching up to slick his now wet hair back from over his eyes. "I know I said so earlier, but I'm glad you decided to come. You did a great job. I have to admit, I didn't think you'd be able to keep up as well as you did."
For the first few weeks, they'd had him performing janitorial tasks more than anything else, and while he was happy simply to have something to do, he knew that his talents were being wasted. Soon enough, Lorenzo Jr. realized it too, and within no time at all he was taking over the Saturday beginners' workshop and inaugurating the gym's first class to cater to teenage boys. For whatever reason, those were the students with whom he got on best, though he liked to think he did decent work with the few men he'd met suffering from PTSD who knew no better way of coping than to channel it into aggression. Steve made sure that they managed to exorcise their demons in a way that was productive rather than destructive and that didn't end in a visit to the hospital for either the man in question or, as was more often the case, his opponent.
This Saturday, however, Steve is most looking forward to seeing the woman he met in the café just a few weeks ago. He could tell from just their one conversation that she is someone with whom he could easily get along and something about her suggested that she would make an excellent student as well. Sure enough, she arrives a little early, like she said the would, and he has a chance to gauge her strength and flexibility as they warm up. During the class, he makes sure to divide his attention fairly among all his students, but he keeps an eye out for her throughout and finds himself repeatedly impressed.
Once the class is finished and most of his pupils have dispersed, heaving, to dry off the sweat and rehydrate, he heads over to greet her again. "Hello again," he smiles, reaching up to slick his now wet hair back from over his eyes. "I know I said so earlier, but I'm glad you decided to come. You did a great job. I have to admit, I didn't think you'd be able to keep up as well as you did."