WILD

[Leo Stanton]

It was too long til the weekend rolled back around much to Leo's disappointment. Monday's were hardly his favorite day of the week, but he figured that he was not alone in those feelings as there were plenty of people who had a deep-rooted dislike for Mondays. It did not help that work was all over the place as his department was dealing with a several project none of which were turning out the way that they had hoped. As if to added, even more, bitterness to his mood he had over indulged this weekend thanks to an old friend blowing in town which had consequences. He was now forced to add thirty more minutes to his workout regimen. Dressed in a black wife beater, a terrible name that he did not like that much but tank top sounded just as bad coming from a gay guy, and a pair of track shorts and sneakers he had walked into a local gym in the harbor. His bag slung over his shoulder contained a fresh pair of clothes, his phone, and wallet, as well as his wand which was locked away in a special case that only he could open.

While he did not expect anyone to steal it, one could never be too safe with a powerful magical item. While he believed that tit was infinitely harder to steal anything from a wizard or a witch, he knew that it had and could be done if the thief was determined enough. Luckily the gym was a magical one in that only wizards or witches could see it all together. A muggle walking in and seeing a giant part lifting weights could be a bit of a shock not to mention an infraction of various magical laws. For some reason when thoughts went to working out it was hard to put wizard and free weights in the same sentence. Due to media stereotypes, wizards were often fragile beings who devotion to magic ruled out the need to improve the body as a whole. Leo understood the reasoning but in his eyes, as most European wizards needed wands to cast magical spells, if a wizard or witch found themselves without their wand then they were somewhat defenseless. So for that reason, he dedicated several hours a week to working on his body so that it was as strong as his mind was in matters of magic and knowledge.

He nodded to the receptionist as he made his way to the locker room where he locked his things up in his assigned locker. Once he was sure his things were secure he headed back out into the main part of the gym and made his way over to the treadmills. Today was a leg day for him, but he did thirty minutes of cardio with every workout to help get his muscles warmed up and his blood pumping as he was taught by his school instructors. Given that it was a magical gym there were no televisions to watch, only the radio that was played overhead. Muggle technology did not work all that well for wizards or witches, who found such things as an oddity and something they rather not deal with as a whole. When you could do just about everything you needed with a wave of a wand, there was little need for modern technology. He, of course, was a new age wizard and through his dealings with muggles, he was familiar with computers, cell phones, etc. He had family that were muggles and so he learned from an early age how to play the part of muggle when in the right company. He knew some people who were a bit estranged from the muggle world and rarely interacted with muggles, even in their family. He did not judge, but he did wish that the two communities could have learned to meddle better, but he understood the need for secrecy more so today than in days of old. He turned the treadmill on a brisk speed that forced him to move into a light jog as he took a deep breath and practice taking even breaths so he would not become winded five minutes into his workout.

With no television around to occupy him, he took to his second favorite hobby which was people watching. While it was more interesting to see people in other situations or doing anything else but working out he had to make due with what he had in front of him. His eyes gazed around space as he watched people in different states of their routines, he often got the most inspiration from what other people did as he was able to incorporate things that he would not naturally think of in his routine. The glistening muscles and shouts of encouragement from lifting partners were just as interesting. Not that he would want anyone to look at him as he worked out and think about how hot he looked, he could like to let his imagination make fantastical backstories for the strangers around him. It was an entertaining exercise to think guess at what people looked like or what they did for a living based on what they looked like and did in the gym. It was in the middle of this little exercise that he sensed someone get on the treadmill beside him, which caused him to take a sideways glance at his new neighbor. A handsome man, who was vaguely familiar, stood a few inches taller than him his neighbor was classically good looking. His dark brown hair and unforgettable eyes screamed the boy next door type, the high school sweetheart. His grooming was impeccable, and there was something about his posture that was a bit confident. Leo's mind worked furiously to catalog everything and came to the conclusion that he had to work in the department of magical cooperation or something closely akin to it. Maybe he was in finance of some sort. He did have that executive look about him. Leo, of course, would look away if the man took notice to his gawking. For now, he would create a how life in his head in which the man would live out his days in a storybook like existence.​

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

The duel had been fast and furious, and Jeremy's entire body was sore. It was a good sore though, the kind that let him know that the workout was a good one. It was a tough one, but the kind that would help his body grow. And, it had a done a world of good for his mind as well. Jeremy had enjoyed exercising his magical ability, getting to use both offensive and defensive spells as he worked to try to best his friend, a fellow healer. The two had been doing this for a few months now, meeting once a week to duel with each other. They never tried to do any permanent damage, but they pushed each other, and it wasn't uncommon for them to leave with bruises or a few scrapes. It was a far cry from the duel he'd had with Yehveniy when for a moment he'd been convinced that Yev meant to hurt him, thinking that it might help him somehow. Jeremy didn't think he'd ever understand what Yev had tried to explain to him in the moments after, that he'd been trying to help him somehow. The healer was glad that they'd broken off whatever it was that they had. He'd been upset about it at first, but he knew knew that it was better that they'd broken things off when they had.

"Good match" Jeremy stated as they stepped out of the dueling room together. He used the towel wrapped around his neck to wipe a few beads of sweat from his forehead, a grin growing on his face as the man related a particularly good spell that Jeremy had cast during the match. "Yea, I've been working on that one. It was great when you..." he continued as they walked to the main area of the gym. It wasn't particularly crowded, but there was a good amount of people there on the treadmills and other machines. As his friend headed for the locker rooms, Jeremy shook his head, stopping at the fountain for a quick drink. "No, I'm going to stick around for a while. Hit the treadmills" he stated, giving the guy a friendly clap on the back as he headed off. "See you tomorrow" he added, giving the man a wave before turning his attention to finding a free treadmill.

After a moment, he spotted one and headed for it. Jeremy enjoyed running. It was one of his favorite forms of exercise. In fact, he'd trained and ran a few 5Ks and 10Ks in the past, though never anything beyond that. The man enjoyed running outside more than treadmill running, but he figured he'd be able to watch the people around the place for a bit. He wasn't looking to do anything serious. Just a few minutes as a cool down from the intensity of the dueling and then he'd be off to grab a quick bite and head to his apartment to catch some sleep. He had a long day tomorrow so he really wanted to just get home and unwind with a good book.

 

[Leo Stanton]

Leo had been staring. That much had been established by this point. The funny thing about staring was that when someone did it, that meant they could not be focused on something else. As was the case with Leo, because hew as looking at the stranger out the corner of his eyes he was not focused on the fact that he was supposed to be running. The treadmill was a new model with all the bells and whistles. One of the features was that the treadmill would change speed, and angle to mirror real life terrain being magical meant that it could do these things a bit more realistic than typical treadmills. This particular one had the ability to create small bumps and ripples that could emulate rocks or bumps in the road. It was thanks to one such bump that Leo hit at an odd angle causing him to trip forward somewhat. To add to what was turning into a hazardous day at the gym, in a thrown off balanced forced to him to fail about and swear under his breath as he lunged forward and tried to catch himself from falling face first. The ending result was a less than perfect safe and a bright red blush coloring his face and neck. As he tried to save himself further embarrassment, he changed the setting to normal at a speed that was little more than a brisk walk. Given his display several others in the gym were now laughing at him though playing it off as everything but what it was exactly. Not only that but he apparently jammed the fingers of his left hand pretty bad in his flailing that forced him to cup them awkwardly against his chest

"Wonky machine." He thought out loud as he turned to face the charming man running smoothly beside him. He realized that by looking at the guy that it could be misconstrued that he had been trying to hold a conversation with the blue eyed man. "I was not talking to you. I was talking to myself." He said with a smile and a nod as if that statement made him look any less weird than what he already appeared. "I mean I do not always talk to myself. I am not crazy or anything." He said with a laugh that turned into a snort causing his cheeks to brighten more if such a thing was even possible. "I mean I am not saying that people who talk to themselves are crazy or anything. I just do not want you to think I am some creepy guy. I am not making a valid case for myself, sure, but then again I was never much for being a lawyer. I would make a terrible lawyer. When I get nervous or excited I tend to ramble on and on--" He snorted again as he kicked himself internally, "--like I am doing right this instant. I am sorry. I have had a really long day at the office. Not only that but I think I broke my fingers and now I look like I am out of mind. Who I am kidding? I am utterly out of mind, and you should move down a machine or two unless you want it to rub off on you." He said dramatically as he stopped the machine and jumped off.

Standing nearby he looked about the gym a bit lost and flustered as he sighed to himself. There was an ache in his hand that was a bit annoying and he would likely need to get some ice but being as it was a new gym he had no clue exactly where anything was in the place. The thought of using his wand to fix it had not crossed his mind, in part that he had adopted a somewhat muggle approach to such things that it merely slipped his min altogether. "God I hope I did not break them. The last thing I need is some stupid finger cast for the next week or so at work."He mumbled to himself as he saw a nearby bench and sat down with a defeated look on his face. He took a swig from his water bottle water as he let out a deep sigh and ran his good hand across his face. He needed a moment to gather himself, or else he would go into meltdown mode and end up making things worse. At least now he could relax a moment and catch his breath long enough to think rationally about what he needed. He was not sure if the stranger ran off or not but he hoped the guy had not been offended or disturbed by his spastic spewing of the mouth. He did not often talk to himself, but it did happen at least once or twice a day. Typically when his mind was working faster than his thoughts could up, wich caused him to ramble out loud in hopes that by doing so, he could someway slow everything down. As an unspeakable he had to be thinking of a thousand things all at once in order to determine the risk and reward of every action. Some unspeakables died in the pursuit of the unexplained due to a simple miscalculation. Being on the side of caution, he did not want to share the same fate which was why he allowed himself moments of insanity so that every other second of the day he was both sane and level headed. It just so happened that his moment of crazy had to take place in a crowded room next to an attractive wizrd. Fate was cruel and his timing was rather terrible but that was what he had come to expect in his life, as simply a given.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

When Jeremy did most things in the gym, he kept to himself. He already had a gym partner, if his co-worker could be considered that, and he rather appreciated his alone time. Jeremy was often surrounded by other people and had learned to find solitude in even the most crowded places. So, he didn't really notice when the guy beside him stumbled. In fact, had it not been for the guy's next words, he wouldn't have known it had happened at all. He barely realized that it was another man beside him. That's how little attention he'd been paying to his surroundings, his thoughts already having shifted to how he was going to refuel his body. But he knew there was no reason to call the machine wonky. They were top of the line. He'd looked it up after his first run on one of them.

Turning his head slightly, Jeremy gave the guy a friendly half shrug point to have the guy tell him that he hadn't been talking to him after all and then continued on, an increasingly odd monologue as Jeremy was unable to get a word in edge-wise. He couldn't decide if it was amusing or exasperating. As the guy spoke about rambling, Jeremy's blue eyes were filled with amusement. At least the guy was self-aware. That was something. Before he could even reply though, the guy was finishing in a rush, mentioning broken fingers and rushing off before Jeremy could even respond. Jeremy hit the button to stop his treadmill, thinking he was going to have to chase after the guy. He didn't though. The guy hadn't left the gym at all. Instead, he'd dropped down on a bench, looking utterly upset.

The Healer strolled over to the man, stopping in front of him. He'd taken an oath, after all, and he didn't even think of just ignoring the man. Broken bones were an easy enough fix, if not painful for the person whose bones needed to be fixed. He'd at least try to help anyway. Not wanting to draw any more attention to the man, who seemed to do well at getting attention on himself all on his own, Jeremy settled in beside him and started talking before the guy realized who he was and continued to ramble on. "I'm a Healer. You should let me take a look at your hand." Jeremy continued, "If it's broken, I can fix it here. It'll hurt like a mother-" he admitted, "but it's better than the alternative." At least he thought so. For all he knew, this guy wanted to remain with broken fingers. "I just have to get my wand if you want me to. I could do it wandlessly, but it might not work as well, and I wouldn't want to put you through any extra pain unnecessarily." Jeremy stretched his legs out in front of him, not having done a proper cool down. "What do you think?" he asked gingerly. "I'm Jeremy, by the way." The Healer was using his best bedside manner, friendly and unassuming.

 

[Leo Stanton]

"Lovely to meet you, Jeremy," Leo said with a quick smile as he offered his hand out to be shaken. Of course, he quickly pulled it back as he realized that it was not the smartest idea to shake hands with someone with potentially broken bones. The pain would be unbearable, so it was wise to avoid contact for the time being. "Now. If you are better with this sort of thing with a wand, then I would rather that then the wandless route. Europeans are always more skillful with wands after all." He said as he thought out loud about the choices. He could perform wandless Magic, but he was nowhere near as skilled at it either. Though in his studies and travel, he had found that there were communities that excelled at it. In fact, he had once met a voodoo woman in the French Quarter of Louisiana that had a rather impressive knack for it. His new companion did not seem all that confident in his skills or maybe there was a con to going wandless that Leo did not quite know, so it was best to play it safe for the time being.

"If you help me with this, I will buy you lunch," Leo said with a small start as he beamed at the charming man. That seemed a fair exchange for services rendered. He was not one to take things without in some way paying for it in some way. His parents raised him not to be a mooch and to pay it forward, as the muggles would say."I mean if you are interested. I do not know exactly how to pay you back for your kindness. I mean you have saved me some galleons in medical expensive, so it seems only fair that I spend a little on lunch in exchange." Leo said as he smiled at the man his own blue eyes scanning the man's features and putting them to memory. It was only after all of this that he realized that he had not introduced himself to the kind stranger. "Oh! And by the way, the name is Leo, like the lion." It was a silly way to introduce himself put it was something that he commented on every time he introduced himself. Most people inquired about his name or commented on it in some manner or another. Most assumed that it was a shortened version of a longer name like Leonardo or Leopold, they were often a bit let down when he informed them that that was not the case. It was a romantic notion to meet a dark haired man with an exotic name. He, while dark-haired, was the furthest thing to sexy or exotic. In fact, he believed himself to be quite plain though that was because he did not think rather vainly about his appearance. He was not disgusting losing by no means, but he was far from being this exquisite beauty. It was something that he accepted a long time ago. Some thought it was a characteristic of low self-worth, but he found that there was something comforting about being normal. He did not care for the attention that came with being on one end or the other of the spectrum. The middle was safe and familiar. Normal was where he would build his life.

"Oh, well. If you need to finish your workout first, then you are more than welcome to as I think I will be okay for a moment or two. It is not like I have anywhere I need to be at this particular moment. Besides no point in you postponing your work out short for a complete stranger." He said with a fake mask on his face. While he would love to have, his fingers taken care of sooner rather than later he did not want the man to waste his day fretting over him. It had not crossed his mind that the man might have things more important to do than to deal with a complete clumsy fool like Leo. Just because the unspeakable had not social life to speak of did not mean that the man was in the same boat. For all Leo knew, Jeremy could have a wife and kids at home waiting for him at home. Of course, he had checked the man's hand to see if there was a ring on it as the man saddled up beside him. It was a knee-jerk reaction he had when meeting new people as it served several purposes. First, it established boundaries. Leo was not a homewrecker, so he was not going to flirt with a married person. Two it provided a talking point, whether it was to inquire about a potential spouse or the lack there of. If the conversation ran stagnant he could often make a comment about the appearance of a ring or lack there of, to open the door to a different kind of conversation topic. So it made sense for Leo to scope out the handsome man to in case he was single and showed signs of being interested. The only trouble that Leo ran into was in the rare case that a companion had a girlfriend or boyfriend as they rarely wore ring so it could be a bit more tricky in that case. Of course, this was merely an observation and basic approach he took, all of which had little to do with the fact that he his afternoon plans rested solely in Jeremy's hands.