Wassup brah?

[Anonymous]

He loved this ship. It was so awesome and the crew was great and the ship purred for him. He could feel the easy rumble of her engines through his bare feet. Alexis was ready for a workout, he hadn't had much chance too since he arrived and his abs were suffering! He needed to get cut again so he could impress Nathan.

He had been trying to catch Nathan's attention, but so far the short Captain didn't seem interested. But he had a plan. Gonna get ripped and blow his mind. He was a little worried about his tan though. Gonna get pale if he wasn't careful and that would be bad.

"This is gonna be totally sweet brah!" Alexis grinned at Nathan, tugging his shirt off before taking a seat on the bench and settling down for some serious lifting.

[Tally]

Ah, male bonding.  Lifting weights, talking about chicks, all that good stuff.  Except the chicks part, cuz who would they talk about?  There was Willow, Papillion, and Travertine, and they sure couldn't talk like that about any of them.  That'd be weird and cross lines you didn't want to cross with people you were stuck inside a giant metal container with.

But that was fine! He'd still get his down time with someone he could relate to. He loved having Alexis on the ship, and not just because he was a killer mechanic. Nathan finally had someone to hang out with who not only wouldn't be tempted to set their surroundings on fire, but who also predominantly wore clothes. Finding both of those qualities in one person had proven surprisingly difficult these last few months.

"Yeah, we better get started. You're starting to lose some definition there."  He grinned up at Alexis and patted his abs, which were certainly not losing definition.  They were hard and well-formed beneath Nathan's lingering hand. It was just fun to tease.  It was fun to have someone to tease again.

[Anonymous]

"What?!" Alexis's face fell and he jerked his head up, "I am?! I knew it! Totally lame brah! I gotta get cut man! I can't be pale and flabby!" There was no way. If he was going to lose his glorious tan, he was keeping his rock hard shape.

With a look of determination, Alexis settled back down and gripped the bar, "Load me up brah. Gonna get serious now."

[Tally]

"Take it easy."  Nathan added on as much as felt right.  He didn't want to overload him just because of a joke.  "How much do you want?"

[Anonymous]

"Easy? Nah way brah! I gotta get cut!" Pale was bad enough! Plus, he had to step up his game if he was gonna get Nathan to notice.

Alexis glanced at the weights Nathan put on and laughed, "Naw brah. I can take more than that. I'll be careful, but that's for babies!"

He worked out regularly and being a wolf gave him a bit of an edge on the strength scale.

[Tally]

"Alright if you say so.  You know I was just joking right?  You look great!  Don't, y'know, pull anything."  Nathan added more weight, way more than he could ever hope to lift in his lifetime, and stepped over to spot Alexis.  Doing things like this, everyday things that they enjoyed, it always made the ship feel more like a home.

"Go ahead.  Whenever you're ready."

[Anonymous]

That was much better and Alexis settled back, and started to pump the weights. It felt good to be active again, feel his muscles start to work.

"Man, it might have been, like a joke, but it was totally true. I gotta be cut man. When we gonna like, land someplace with a tanning bed brah?"

[Tally]

"Not anytime soon."  Maybe it had just been too long since Nathan had worked out with anyone, but damn Alexis was benching a lot of weight there.  More than Nathan would have thought possible, even for a big guy like him.  "If you want to buy one that's your business but you'll have to find a place to put it."

Diva wasn't a huge ship, but if Alexis could find a place for the thing, he'd let him have one.  He could bet they'd be one of the few starjumper class ships out there with a tanning bed.

[Anonymous]

"Really? Sweet!" Not that he was going to be able to afford one anytime soon, not with his pay. But it was a nice thought and he might be able to move some things around. Hell, he could make his own now that he thought about it.

Alexis kept benching the heavy weights, his heritage giving him an edge on Nathan for how much he could lift, pondering that for a moment, "Man, we can like, totally tan together brah! Get some color on ya!"

[Tally]

"Oh sure.  Your wages, you can spend them how you like."  Nathan didn't see the point of a tanning bed but if he had a body like that he'd maybe be more inclined to mold it to perfection.  He settled on being fit.  So long as he could aim and he could fight he was happy.  One of these days he'd have to ask if Alexis wanted to go one on one with him.  See if he could still take down guys so much bigger than him.

"You pay for the tanning bed, I'll lie in it," he said.  "But...isn't that bad for your skin?"

[Anonymous]

"What? Nah brah! Just gotta like...use sunscreen and stuff." Alexis really didn't know, he just cared about being tan and fit and hot. It wasn't even really because he wanted to impress girls, though he liked to say it was. He just liked being good looking, pleased him on some intrinsic level.

Though, he wouldn't mind impressing Nathan, "That's totally a deal man. Though, it'll be a while. 'Sides, I look hot with a tan, right brah?

[Tally]

"Uh huh."  Nathan was just fine being pale.  He was mostly just humoring Alexis.  He'd always thought that kind of long term radiation was bad for your skin sunscreen or not.

It also struck him as pretty funny that someone would have to lather on sunscreen in space.

"I'm sure you'd be just as hot without one."  He nearly cringed after he said it, but stopped himself.  Seemed like an inappropriate thing to say to a crew member, especially a new one.

[Anonymous]

"Really! You think I'm hot then?" Alexis perked up, wishing he had a tail to wag then. Tails made happy things feel so much happier, "Man, like, maybe it wont be so bad to be pale then."

He had been pumping for a while and he was starting to feel it. Hooking the bar back onto the stand, Alexis sat up, breathing a little heavy and sweating, "Your turn brah!"

[Tally]

"I should have gone first," he said, pulling his shirt off.  "I'm going to feel so inadequate after seeing you lift that much."

He couldn't handle near as much weight as Alexis, but he could handle quite a bit more than most people would guess upon seeing him.  He would never be bulky, but he worked out like a machine, on an iron schedule that he didn't deviate from.  He set the weights himself and started lifting.

[Anonymous]

Watching Nathan was distracting. Really distracting. He hadn't expected him to be so ripped and then glistening with sweat, he wanted to just pounce on him then and there. But he managed to restrain, though he couldn't not stare at the muscles bunching and moving under his skin, "Aw, what? Well, don't worry, ya know? It ain't like were on like, the same level and shit, ya know?"

[Tally]

"Ain't that the truth."  He didn't talk again until he was finished with his set.  When he worked out he had a goal, and he went after it with a rigid focus.  It had never exactly been a social activity for him before, and for the longest time he'd been the only one to even use the equipment.

"Thanks for the spot.  I could get used to having someone to work out with."

[Anonymous]

Alexis didn't like the silence much, but he also knew that some people needed to focus, so he just hummed a perky, upbeat song under his breath.

"Totally cool man. You got some rad abs goin'! It'll be wicked working out together!" Alexis wasn't ready to quit his workout just yet and now that Nathan didn't need a spot, he moved away to do some squats.