Nick and Kurt, Backdated to 8/23/15
Aug. 23rd, 2015 05:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainNick and Kurt have their first extended conversation in the gym. It doesn't really go how either of them expected.
Funny how, until recently, the gym was utterly foreign to Nick. Now, it was frequented for him just about as often as the pool, during the summer. Wake up, work out before the day got too hot, go for a swim to cool down, then relax, play games, practice guitar, and whatever after dinner, and then go to sleep. It was a great routine, though it was already upset with classes starting.
Still, his gym work, along with squad training and everything else, was looking like it was paying off. Nick was easily doing curls now that he would have struggled with just months before, and would have laughed at the idea of being capable of doing after just arriving at the school. Strange, the progress half a year could make.
While his frame was built for agility as well as strength, Nick knew that he needed to be strong as well as fast. But today wasn't a leg day, so he was doing some curls, since nobody was around to spot him for a bench press. With a 100-pound dumbbell in each hand, Nick was standing on one of the mats, curling each arm separately, mindful of his form, but his ears and nose were more interested in who might be coming in to work out as well.
Kurt came into the gym with his fencing sword tucked under his arm, eager to spend some time with his favorite hobby. He’d didn’t fence as often as he used to and, while a dummy wasn’t the same as sparring, it would still be nice to get some practice in.
“Guten tag,” he greeted Nick, giving him a friendly smile and a wave. “Do not worry. If I poke an eye out, I can teleport myself to the hospital.”
"Hey," Nick greeted back, blinking. Now that he thought about it, it was just a bit strange to think that he hadn't really had a chance to talk to Kurt. He gave his fencing sword a nod of recognition, and smirked a bit. "Y'know, it's funny how I've thought about maybe picking that up, but I don't know if I really have the build for it or not." Nick had been turning kind of broad and bulky as of late, though he had been keeping up with his aerobics and such.
“I do not think there is a fencer’s build. And, even if there is, you should not let that stop you.” Kurt passed the sabre off to his tail so he could pull the fencing dummy out. “There is a lot I was told that I would not, or could not, do but here I am.”
Nick blinked at that, a bit surprised. A deeply philosophical statement for a first conversation, but Nick figured Kurt was full of surprises. "That something you're qualified to teach? The fencing, I mean. I'd be willing to give it a shot." Who knew? He might need to actually use a sword someday.
“I do not have a degree in it if that is what you mean, and I was never professionally trained,” Kurt replied as his tail handed the sabre back to his hand. “But I have been fencing most my life, and I used to give lessons to a friend. I would be happy to give you lessons too. There is also a fencing school in Salem Center.”
"Lessons sound fun," Nick confessed. "Do I need to get myself one of those things? Is that.." He thought about some of the different terms. "Is that a saber or an epee? I know that rapiers are different, and it doesn't look like a foil, either. Or maybe I'm wrong." What Nick knew about swords mostly stemmed from video games, and he knew they weren't always accurate, after all.
“Sabre,” Kurt supplied. “I only have the one, but I could see if there are any extra lying around the school. I am not sure there are though,” it wasn’t the sort of thing generally left lying around. “so you might have to buy your own.”
The odds of an extra one laying around the school were particularly slim, Nick estimated. "Well, if I have to buy one, that isn't a big deal. I've probably spent more money on things that get less use, I'd bet," Nick said, thinking about how much money he'd wasted on his WoW subscription so far. He'd been playing so little, as of late...
Kurt leaned his sabre against the dummy. Practice could wait for the moment. “The fencing school sells them. As does the sports store,” he said. “You can order them online too, but for your first, you should be able to hold it first, so you can feel the grip and the weight.”
Nick cringed just a little bit at the thought. "I'm not sure how well a werewolf going out and buying a sword would go over," Nick said, before he could think about who he was talking to. Open mouth, insert foot. "I, ah, I'm still not used to... y'know. Going out and being seen."
“I was not used to it at first either. It took some time,” Kurt said as he walked over to Nick. “If you are not ready for it yet, then wear your Image Inducer. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“Do not think you have anything to be ashamed of, though. You do not. There is nothing wrong with how you look.”
"I, uh. Mine doesn't actually work, for me," Nick confessed. "My body shape's just a bit too inhuman for it; the muzzle makes my face look real bizarre." He'd tried it once. The face he'd put on was freakier than his own, and so he'd returned it. "I've gone out without one a few times. There's just a small difference, I think, between going to buy video games, and going to buy a sword," Nick pointed out.
As for the topic of whether or not to be ashamed... Nick dipped his head a little bit, suddenly more interested in Kurt's feet. "Yeah, well..." Nick sighed, getting the assumptions out of his head. He didn't know Kurt's past. "I don't know about you, but how I look got me... into some real bad situations." He didn't want to be too much of a downer. "I'm not ashamed." Not really. "I just... don't want that kind of thing to happen again, y'know?"
“I have looked like this all my life. Of course, it has gotten me into bad situations.” An understatement, but Kurt wasn’t going to go into details. They were stories he wasn’t yet ready to share with people he didn’t know very well. “I do not let that stop me, though. I go into Salem Center all the time. I will not lie, some people do stare, some even say things. But I have never felt unsafe.”
“You are not the one who needs to change. They are the ones who need to change,” Kurt added. “The world does not decide if people like us get to have space. Everyone out there who looks quote-unquote normal does not get to choose who is allowed and who is not. The world owes us space.”
"I... I get it," Nick said, though he wasn't as inspired as Kurt might have been hoping. "I just don't think that people are quick to change," he pointed out. He felt like he would be receiving awkward looks for his entire life. There were points he wanted to argue with Kurt, but Nick didn't really have the energy to be quite that depressing. "Don't get me wrong. It doesn't stop me from poking my head out around town." It just made him much, much more reluctant to do so.
Kurt knew people weren’t quick to change. But, he also believed people deserved more credit. And if not, than at the very least, he didn’t think waiting for them to change was the answer. “You do not have to do anything you are not ready to do,” he said and he meant it. No matter what he believed, he’d never pressure anyone into anything. “All I am saying is, if I can buy a sword looking like a demon, you can buy a sword looking like a wolf.”
"Yeah, I know I can," Nick said, feeling maybe just a bit defensive, like maybe he was being lectured. "And I mean, I plan on it. I just don't expect the warmest reception in the store," Nick pointed out. "I mean, when I first showed up, you'd barely even find me outdoors on the school grounds. Now, I'm a little more okay showing up in Salem Center and even in the city sometimes." Mostly to go to Evolution, lately. "I just. Y'know. Keep my head down."
“Which is fine,” Kurt said, not sure where the sudden defensiveness was coming from. The conversation had taken a very confusing turn. “That is how you are most comfortable and I am not going to tell someone how ‘out’ they have to be. I am sorry if it came out that way, that was not my intention. What I was saying is the store has always been very welcoming of me. They do not care that I am a mutant. A lot of the former students go there, actually.”
"Well, good," Nick said, feeling a little less defensive at the moment. "M-maybe that means they'll be a bit more prepared for someone like me." It was a possibility. Nick was just glad that he felt a little less lectured on how he should be and how he should think of people, and also himself by proxy. He was trying to think of himself differently. He really was. It was just tough, and it would take time. "S-sorry for getting defensive," Nick nearly blurted out. "I just... a lot of bad things happened to me, 'cause of how I looked. The only two people to ever really accept me and care for me before... coming here... they're gone now. I don't know how much you heard about the trial, if anything. But that's all... why I'm here now. Instead of with my folks."
Kurt nodded, frowning. “I had heard. I am very sorry for your losses,” he said genuinely.
“I do understand, Nick. I've had terrible things happen to me because of how I look. Remember, I have looked like this my whole life.” He glanced at his sabre and the dummy. “I should get to practice, so I can be finished before I have to be somewhere. I am around if you ever need to talk.”
"Y-yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to hold you up," Nick replied, a bit sheepishly. Of course he'd heard. And of course he'd been through as bad, if not worse things. "Maybe next time you see me, I'll have one of those," Nick said, indicating Kurt's sabre with a nod. He didn't have an excuse to really go elsewhere, but Nick felt like this whole conversation with Kurt had gone poorly somewhere, and was feeling just a bit too embarrassed to really stick around, so leaving so that he wouldn't distract him further seemed fine enough in his book.
“You did not hold me up. Do not worry,” Kurt reassured. He always had time to talk and it was never any trouble. He wanted to be there for the other students.
He smiled. “It was nice talking with you, Nick. If you do end up getting a sabre, let me know if you want any lessons.”
Nick paused in leaving, and gave Kurt a nod over his shoulder. "Will do, Kurt. See you around."
Funny how, until recently, the gym was utterly foreign to Nick. Now, it was frequented for him just about as often as the pool, during the summer. Wake up, work out before the day got too hot, go for a swim to cool down, then relax, play games, practice guitar, and whatever after dinner, and then go to sleep. It was a great routine, though it was already upset with classes starting.
Still, his gym work, along with squad training and everything else, was looking like it was paying off. Nick was easily doing curls now that he would have struggled with just months before, and would have laughed at the idea of being capable of doing after just arriving at the school. Strange, the progress half a year could make.
While his frame was built for agility as well as strength, Nick knew that he needed to be strong as well as fast. But today wasn't a leg day, so he was doing some curls, since nobody was around to spot him for a bench press. With a 100-pound dumbbell in each hand, Nick was standing on one of the mats, curling each arm separately, mindful of his form, but his ears and nose were more interested in who might be coming in to work out as well.
Kurt came into the gym with his fencing sword tucked under his arm, eager to spend some time with his favorite hobby. He’d didn’t fence as often as he used to and, while a dummy wasn’t the same as sparring, it would still be nice to get some practice in.
“Guten tag,” he greeted Nick, giving him a friendly smile and a wave. “Do not worry. If I poke an eye out, I can teleport myself to the hospital.”
"Hey," Nick greeted back, blinking. Now that he thought about it, it was just a bit strange to think that he hadn't really had a chance to talk to Kurt. He gave his fencing sword a nod of recognition, and smirked a bit. "Y'know, it's funny how I've thought about maybe picking that up, but I don't know if I really have the build for it or not." Nick had been turning kind of broad and bulky as of late, though he had been keeping up with his aerobics and such.
“I do not think there is a fencer’s build. And, even if there is, you should not let that stop you.” Kurt passed the sabre off to his tail so he could pull the fencing dummy out. “There is a lot I was told that I would not, or could not, do but here I am.”
Nick blinked at that, a bit surprised. A deeply philosophical statement for a first conversation, but Nick figured Kurt was full of surprises. "That something you're qualified to teach? The fencing, I mean. I'd be willing to give it a shot." Who knew? He might need to actually use a sword someday.
“I do not have a degree in it if that is what you mean, and I was never professionally trained,” Kurt replied as his tail handed the sabre back to his hand. “But I have been fencing most my life, and I used to give lessons to a friend. I would be happy to give you lessons too. There is also a fencing school in Salem Center.”
"Lessons sound fun," Nick confessed. "Do I need to get myself one of those things? Is that.." He thought about some of the different terms. "Is that a saber or an epee? I know that rapiers are different, and it doesn't look like a foil, either. Or maybe I'm wrong." What Nick knew about swords mostly stemmed from video games, and he knew they weren't always accurate, after all.
“Sabre,” Kurt supplied. “I only have the one, but I could see if there are any extra lying around the school. I am not sure there are though,” it wasn’t the sort of thing generally left lying around. “so you might have to buy your own.”
The odds of an extra one laying around the school were particularly slim, Nick estimated. "Well, if I have to buy one, that isn't a big deal. I've probably spent more money on things that get less use, I'd bet," Nick said, thinking about how much money he'd wasted on his WoW subscription so far. He'd been playing so little, as of late...
Kurt leaned his sabre against the dummy. Practice could wait for the moment. “The fencing school sells them. As does the sports store,” he said. “You can order them online too, but for your first, you should be able to hold it first, so you can feel the grip and the weight.”
Nick cringed just a little bit at the thought. "I'm not sure how well a werewolf going out and buying a sword would go over," Nick said, before he could think about who he was talking to. Open mouth, insert foot. "I, ah, I'm still not used to... y'know. Going out and being seen."
“I was not used to it at first either. It took some time,” Kurt said as he walked over to Nick. “If you are not ready for it yet, then wear your Image Inducer. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“Do not think you have anything to be ashamed of, though. You do not. There is nothing wrong with how you look.”
"I, uh. Mine doesn't actually work, for me," Nick confessed. "My body shape's just a bit too inhuman for it; the muzzle makes my face look real bizarre." He'd tried it once. The face he'd put on was freakier than his own, and so he'd returned it. "I've gone out without one a few times. There's just a small difference, I think, between going to buy video games, and going to buy a sword," Nick pointed out.
As for the topic of whether or not to be ashamed... Nick dipped his head a little bit, suddenly more interested in Kurt's feet. "Yeah, well..." Nick sighed, getting the assumptions out of his head. He didn't know Kurt's past. "I don't know about you, but how I look got me... into some real bad situations." He didn't want to be too much of a downer. "I'm not ashamed." Not really. "I just... don't want that kind of thing to happen again, y'know?"
“I have looked like this all my life. Of course, it has gotten me into bad situations.” An understatement, but Kurt wasn’t going to go into details. They were stories he wasn’t yet ready to share with people he didn’t know very well. “I do not let that stop me, though. I go into Salem Center all the time. I will not lie, some people do stare, some even say things. But I have never felt unsafe.”
“You are not the one who needs to change. They are the ones who need to change,” Kurt added. “The world does not decide if people like us get to have space. Everyone out there who looks quote-unquote normal does not get to choose who is allowed and who is not. The world owes us space.”
"I... I get it," Nick said, though he wasn't as inspired as Kurt might have been hoping. "I just don't think that people are quick to change," he pointed out. He felt like he would be receiving awkward looks for his entire life. There were points he wanted to argue with Kurt, but Nick didn't really have the energy to be quite that depressing. "Don't get me wrong. It doesn't stop me from poking my head out around town." It just made him much, much more reluctant to do so.
Kurt knew people weren’t quick to change. But, he also believed people deserved more credit. And if not, than at the very least, he didn’t think waiting for them to change was the answer. “You do not have to do anything you are not ready to do,” he said and he meant it. No matter what he believed, he’d never pressure anyone into anything. “All I am saying is, if I can buy a sword looking like a demon, you can buy a sword looking like a wolf.”
"Yeah, I know I can," Nick said, feeling maybe just a bit defensive, like maybe he was being lectured. "And I mean, I plan on it. I just don't expect the warmest reception in the store," Nick pointed out. "I mean, when I first showed up, you'd barely even find me outdoors on the school grounds. Now, I'm a little more okay showing up in Salem Center and even in the city sometimes." Mostly to go to Evolution, lately. "I just. Y'know. Keep my head down."
“Which is fine,” Kurt said, not sure where the sudden defensiveness was coming from. The conversation had taken a very confusing turn. “That is how you are most comfortable and I am not going to tell someone how ‘out’ they have to be. I am sorry if it came out that way, that was not my intention. What I was saying is the store has always been very welcoming of me. They do not care that I am a mutant. A lot of the former students go there, actually.”
"Well, good," Nick said, feeling a little less defensive at the moment. "M-maybe that means they'll be a bit more prepared for someone like me." It was a possibility. Nick was just glad that he felt a little less lectured on how he should be and how he should think of people, and also himself by proxy. He was trying to think of himself differently. He really was. It was just tough, and it would take time. "S-sorry for getting defensive," Nick nearly blurted out. "I just... a lot of bad things happened to me, 'cause of how I looked. The only two people to ever really accept me and care for me before... coming here... they're gone now. I don't know how much you heard about the trial, if anything. But that's all... why I'm here now. Instead of with my folks."
Kurt nodded, frowning. “I had heard. I am very sorry for your losses,” he said genuinely.
“I do understand, Nick. I've had terrible things happen to me because of how I look. Remember, I have looked like this my whole life.” He glanced at his sabre and the dummy. “I should get to practice, so I can be finished before I have to be somewhere. I am around if you ever need to talk.”
"Y-yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to hold you up," Nick replied, a bit sheepishly. Of course he'd heard. And of course he'd been through as bad, if not worse things. "Maybe next time you see me, I'll have one of those," Nick said, indicating Kurt's sabre with a nod. He didn't have an excuse to really go elsewhere, but Nick felt like this whole conversation with Kurt had gone poorly somewhere, and was feeling just a bit too embarrassed to really stick around, so leaving so that he wouldn't distract him further seemed fine enough in his book.
“You did not hold me up. Do not worry,” Kurt reassured. He always had time to talk and it was never any trouble. He wanted to be there for the other students.
He smiled. “It was nice talking with you, Nick. If you do end up getting a sabre, let me know if you want any lessons.”
Nick paused in leaving, and gave Kurt a nod over his shoulder. "Will do, Kurt. See you around."
