-- float like a butterfly and sting like a bee ★ [lorielle]

Oh the things Lorielle could be talked into. She would have to learn how to say the phrase “no thank you” at some point. Then again, she learned this was for someone she knew, and it could always be a way to say hello to him again and it was not like she had to do anything. Anything to take her mind off of recent events. Walking through Shibakuzoi, she would soon come across the gym she had come across in her many travels through the city. She recognized it well enough, though she had never been in. The gym also seemed to have loud enough speaking coming from the inside, which would be audible even from outside. She did not particularly remember it being so loud. ‘Then again, I do not go around here often anyway…’ she thought. The tournament was coming up soon, so Lorielle could always go say hello if she did not end up going to the tournament itself. She probably would have time to, but she at the moment was far more interested in the mystery behind the red doors, what they mean, why they are here, and so on and so on. But who knows, maybe it will be fun, Lori was always for fun.

She would walk in, the speaking even louder, revealed to be mostly inspirational speaking when Lorielle took a moment to think about it. Makes enough sense in the gym atmosphere. She did not wear much that day, since it had just now began to be spring, and the heat coming back in full force. On her was a normal red T-shirt and knee-high beige shorts. She even wore her flip-flops that day, not easily adjusting to the warmth well. She did not know if she looked a bit bigger in the bust area, vaguely recalling being a bit “flaunting” with herself when she first met him. The jacket seemed to mask a decent portion of her. Either way, Lori would not dwell on the matter, catching sight of Mr. Barbados, currently jump-roping in the middle of the completely empty gym, for how well-known it apparently was. She would take a seat near the middle, and wait for him to finish, as saying something out of the blue would mess him up most likely. She would lean back against the seat she sat in, crossing one leg over another, and watch with decent interest, her scarlet eyes observing the area around him just as much. It looked like a proper boxing ring, this gym.

Lorielle would continue to watch him until he turned. Cole seemed to be very much into it, and it showed when he downed his water like a madman in a desert. The third year would then pull out a remote and turn off the music and noise. The first thing Lori did was laugh when he told her she scared him. ‘Did he jump? New goal: startle him as much as possible’ she thought. She would give him a grin back still in her seat. “Wasn’t my original goal, but I am glad I did.” She said. She would then slowly get up and walk closer to the ring, getting a better look at the training man. Though she would snort on the way there when he asked why she was there. “Weights? Don’t make me laugh Barbados. I have a hard enough time picking up full garbage bags,” she joked. Well, not completely untrue. She was not very strong. Sure she could wield a polearm in battle, but she was nowhere near big and buff like Cole was. It had not even occurred to her that it was his name until she saw the rumor board at school. Maybe she would have to try and find him at school one day. “I stopped by cause I wanted to say hi. I heard about the match you had coming up. Wanted to cheer you on. Maybe I will work out with you!” she said. In spite of her inability to do any sort of exercise, maybe if he was there she would do it. It would probably be less boring.

“I actually expected more people here. Isn’t this place supposed to be fairly well-known?” she asked. It was a large area. Maybe even one other person would be fine. But there was nothing here. Quite weird to see. “But I guess it’s no matter. Just means we get to be alone,” she said, making a small wink before giggling. She assumed Cole would take it as humor, and he was right, it was half humor, half an obvious flirt. Lorielle enjoyed being a flirt when she wanted to be, and it would normally work in helping the mood. At least, she cannot recall when it did not work. Maybe one day she would commit to a flirt, but for now, she was going to revel in the fun of it all.

Lorielle did get a laugh out of that comment. Did he mean that or was he joking? I guess the fun is in the mystery right? “Nah, I am more of that kind of girl you would see in short shorts at volleyball games. I hate the heat, but I will enjoy that kind of sun,” she said giving a smile. She wondered if that would give a call to her attire. It was not often she did not wear a jacket, yet at the same time, she did not want to wear it in the heat. She would give a half smile when he punched the bag as hard as he did. “Impressive. Maybe if I had boxing gloves I would give it a shot,” she said. Her friendly demeanor would diminish slightly when he said he usually hung around here alone. She did not look in pain, but she did give a frown. “Oh, sorry. Now I feel a bit bad for startling you,” she said sincerely. She did not want to joke around like this, as it was better to be serious and have the person just admit to the joke, than joke and it turns out they were being serious.

Hopefully he was not too upset. She would remain with the slight frown if he did not say much else. Though no matter what, she would give a sly grin when he made his fabulous boast. The man was clearly caught off guard, or so she assumed. Unless him being loud and outrageous was always his thing, which could be a possibility. Though, she did learn of his hobby that he apparently took very seriously, so she did not have a solid grasp on how he felt at that moment, at least not yet. “Careful Cole,” she said wagging her finger out at him before tapping her temple. “Apart from the club, you know little about me. Which is partially why I came here. Or was it? I daresay I cannot remember anymore. Maybe next time I will remember my number to give you,” she said holding her grin. It was such fun trying to toy with the guy. He probably would see her flirt coming though. But no matter. She would lift her foot, and climbing up over the ropes around the ring, vaulting over them with ease. She may not be physically buff, but she was certainly agile, and knew how to “walk” as it were. She would lean back on the corner of the ring. “Maybe I can just sit back and watch. Don’t mind me, I will coach you on,” she said. She was feeling fairly relaxed today. Maybe that contributed to her calm demeanor.

Strength:

“What? I can totally do it. Not well, but I can do it,” she said in response his sudden outburst. She would watch him soon leave and grab some old tattered down gloves. The challenge he made would only bring a sincere grin to Lori’s face. “Alright, I’ll take it,” she said, taking the gloves Cole held out for him. The flirting had stopped, her smile had dropped slightly, and Cole and even Lorielle had a semblance of seriousness to her face. But in the back of her mind, he better not be expecting her to take him on. The guy was a walking skyscraper that just happened to be loud. Her smile would return when he suggested helping her put the gloves on. “Oh I am just fine. Girls have to dress themselves of course,” she said putting on the gloves with little struggle after all. They felt fitting to her hands, and certainly could stay on once she started punching. She would look towards the hanging punching bag and nod. “I am sure I do not have to tussle with you. At least I don’t want to. This will be an easy target,” she said turning to the punching bag and walking to it.

She was not really nervous at all. If anything, her hands might have gotten better since fighting in Limbo and using her weapon in battle and kendo. At least that was the assumption, since she did not know how heavy the bag was, but presumably it was heavy enough, or Cole was very strong…or both. Stopping enough distance from the punching bag, she would turn sideways and lift up her hands putting them into a fist. She would then throw a right-handed swing at the bag, sending it a bit away from her, not much, but pretty much what you would expect from a beginner. Though she had been using her naginata for so long, air must have been building in her bones, so when she punched it, you could hear the cracking of her knuckles against the bag. Lorielle would shake that hand, not really feeling much pain, as it wasn’t broken, just a bit loud. Putting her hands back to where they were, she would strike the bag with her left hand on the way down, but instead of stopping it, she would slow down the bag and instead get hit by it. “Oof!” She would stumble back a bit, regaining her footing easily with grace. It did not hurt her, but it did surprise her. She went back to it, giving one more right-hand punch and sending it back more or less the same distance before nodding at it, and turn to give Cole a slight grin. “This thing is heavy as hell!”