Learning the Ropes Ch. 05

Chapter 5: Fitness Consultation

After performing his "self-care," HR blissfully fell asleep, excited for the next day. That was, until he received a call from an unknown number.

Still half asleep, HR brought his phone up to his ear. "Hel-"

"Hilbane!" A familiar and excited voice emanated from the phone, pounding his ear drum and waking him up instantly.

"Lai Chan? How did you get my number?" While it was entirely pleasant, the sudden phone call was still a surprise.

"Allison gave it to me." How the fuck did she have his number? "Anyway, I did it!"

He wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that but she seemed rather excited to tell him. "Congratulations...?"

"It was hard at first because I'm used to you being here and you aren't but then I used your shirt and everything worked out!" She used his what?

"My shirt?"

"Yeah, you left it here." HR remembered he arrived home with less than what he left with. In his hurry to leave before he did something they would both regret, and to get home to do what he knew she was doing, he left his gym bag in her room.

The endless possibilities of what one could get up to with their lover's garments were coursing through his mind. He wondered what her preference would be. "What, uh, what did you do with it?"

"It smells like you, so I smelled it while I masturbated. It was sorta like you were here with me." She sounded almost proud of herself for coming up with the workaround for his absence.

HR tried as hard as he could to ignore the implication that just his smell could rile her up. He failed.

"Well," he cleared his throat, "I'm proud of you, Lai Chan. Good job." Congratulating someone on something most are ashamed to admit even happens was an interesting feeling. He tended to get a lot of interesting feelings in his interactions with Lai Cha- his girlfriend. There was one now. Lai Chan, in all her glory, was his girlfriend. His goofy smile joined what he could only assume was her own on the other end of the line.

"Thanks! See you tomorrow!" And then the line was dead. Just a quick check in about her masturbatory habits to cap off the night. Nothing weird there. HR took care of himself to the thought of her smelling his shirt before returning to sleep.

---

Awaking from his sweet dreams, HR was excited to make even sweeter memories with his girlfriend. After his workout, of course.

After escaping his mother's smothering love, and a quick brunch, he was out of the house and headed to the gym, trying his best not to skip due to the sheer amount of mirth in his body.

For once, HR was actually looking forward to going to the gym. No longer was it a place he went to get bullied for several hours at a time. Now it stood as a monument to the feelings he and Lai Chan shared. The thought that he wouldn't see her there put a small damper on his smile, but the knowledge that he'd see her after made it a-okay. Even the thought of dealing with his three most active harassers couldn't harsh his vibe.

Once again, he made it all but three steps into the gym before someone called out to him.

"Oh, what the fuck are you doing here!?" The head trainer looked up from watching two more experienced members of the gym spar and locked onto HR. He tucked his clipboard under his armpit and stomped over to the scared elf. HR thought everyone liked him, despite their bullying. This less than warm reception confused him.

"I'm doing my work out...?" He stated the obvious, even more confused at how his honest answer seemed to make the man angrier.

"No you aren't. I told you and your little girlfriend-" Panic rose in him. He didn't know why, but his immediate response was to deny.

"She's not my girlfrie-"

"Oh, blow it out your ass HR. I don't give a damn about what you two get up to outside of our sessions, as long as it's not her using that damn home gym when she should be resting!"

"But you told her not to. She wouldn't-"

"Yes the fuck she would! She's worked out through an injury before and I have no doubt in my mind she'd do it again. Which is why I told you to go with her and make sure she didn't."

"But-but why me? What am I supposed to-"

"For the love of- are you blind? She follows you around like a lovesick puppy. She won't listen to me, but she'll listen to you. Or at least be too distracted trying to get into your pants to work out. I don't care what you do. But make sure she doesn't touch a weight or do even a single sit up. I can't have my best fighter getting sick before a title match."

The look in the trainer's eyes left no room for discussion. And HR understood where he was coming from, slightly. Despite all the pretenses of keeping her healthy for the fight, he really did care for her like a daughter. In his own way. Like teaching her to fight so that she would get hurt as little as possible in the octagon... that he put her in. He cared for her.

Going two for two to making a scene by merely entering the premises, HR turned and walked back out the door, making sure to not look anywhere but the exit for fear of meeting Jazmin's eyes. He could feel the glare on his back as he left.

Having no need for his work out clothes anymore, and the want to look sort of presentable to her family, HR quickly returned home and switched into jeans and an open button down with a t-shirt underneath. He tried not to look too excited as he walked to Lai Chan's place.

He arrived at her place in the early afternoon and was let in by one of the estate's many servants. He felt a bit awkward that they knew his name, but having been there now three times in three days, he figured it would make sense that he'd be known. They, rightly, assumed he was there to see Lai Chan and lead him straight to her.

He found her eating breakfast with her two younger sisters, one of whom wasn't very pleased to see him.

"Oh come the fuck on!" Veronica yelled, almost throwing down the fork and knife she was using to eat her omelet. In stark contrast, Lai Chan shot out of her chair and hugged him, leaving her bowl of cereal behind.

"Boyfriend!" She squealed while squeezing him a bit too hard. While being constricted, HR noticed a pungent yet familiar smell. The smell of the gym. The smell of old sweat and body odor. It was then he realized that she was currently wearing his shirt from yesterday. Some joke about them having advanced to the stage where she wears his stuff already was quickly sidelined in favor of him remembering what she had done with that very shirt. He wondered if the smell of it made her horny right now.

In any case, his moment of introspection was interrupted by her separating herself just enough to look him in the eye.

"What are you doing here?"

"Coach wanted me to make sure you didn't work out. On account of you being sick and all." It was Mai Fan's turn to say something.

"You're sick?" Lai Chan turned around and shushed her with mild panic.

"No... we just had to tell my trainer that for... reasons." Mai Fan gasped and Veronica's mood switched from fury to fully incredulous as she looked from Lai Chan to him.

"No, seriously. What the fuck is your dick made of? You got her to lie!? To get out of training?" Judging by her tone and what HR knew of his girlfriend, he could put together that both of those things didn't happen too often, if at all.

"No - well yes, but we had a very good reason." A reason that he realized he couldn't say out loud. "... a reason that I realize I can't tell you but trust me, it was a good one. Anyway, he's just worried about her being ready for the upcoming match."

That got a rise out of Lai Chan. She snapped out of her panic as if she just remembered she was going up for the title soon.

"That's right!" She removed herself from HR's person, a little too willingly for his liking, and moved to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" She looked at him as if she were worried about his mental capacity.

"To my room, duh. I need to train." She then gasped as an idea hit her. "Since you're here, we can train together!" She moved back towards him, reaching for his shoulder.

As much as personal training with her that he believed would one hundred percent turn into sexy time was appealing, his fear of her coach outweighed his desire to touch her inappropriately. He liked going to their gym and did not want to be kicked out for being too horny. Luckily, he had an idea that let him spend time with her and not go against the wishes of the almighty gym.

He intercepted her outstretched hand, lacing his fingers with hers. He closed the gap between them, her momentum causing her to crash into him. He placed a hand on her hip and used that force to spin them around. Once stopped, they looked, or at least he hoped they looked, as if seconds away from performing a world class tango.

The impromptu move had the effect he desired. It definitely stunned Lai Chan, whose face was now flushed with wide eyes. He was pleasantly reminded of her naturally cool skin as her fingers slowly but firmly closed around his hand. He heard Mai Fan let out some sort of half gasp-half squeak combo as she covered her mouth. The noise of pure disgust that left Veronica was the final indicator that he had done something right. HR inwardly congratulated himself on being somewhat smooth, even if it was as cheesy as that.

Though an equal part of himself sighed in relief. He went into that fully expecting her training to kick in and to eat a hip throw or something from Lai Chan.

"Ooooor..." he trailed off, trying to milk his sudden burst of faux charisma for all it was worth. Lai Chan followed along, almost in a trance.

"Or?"

"We could use this free time and go on a date." He expected her to scream yes and maybe hug him again. Followed by a minute or two of pure excitement. He got exactly one of those things.

"Yes!" The excitement in her eyes almost blinded him just as her scream almost deafened him. She once again separated them and sprinted out of the room, on her way out calling, "Wait here while I get ready!" And with that, she was gone.

Veronica sighed and pushed past HR, deliberately bumping him and mumbling under her breath, "Lame ass..." Mai Fan took off as well, seemingly after Lai Chan. With nothing better to do, HR went to sit in a free chair and ignore their unfinished breakfasts on the table.

Before he could, however, alarm bells rang in his head and every hair on his body stood up. He took a reactionary step forward and spun on his heel, taking up a fighting stance. Just behind where he stood was Ai, disappointed that he moved out of the way. When the fuck did she get there? He didn't even hear her enter the room. She looked disappointed that she couldn't sneak up on him.

She casually looked at his stance while he quickly relaxed. "Am I really that scary? Anyway, what's this I hear about a date?" She wasn't even here, how does she even know about-

While the adrenaline still ran through his veins, he realized what had caused his fight or flight instincts to kick in. It was an all too familiar feeling. The same one he got moments before Jazmin or Allison appeared to bully him, only one hundred times worse, for some reason. He needed to be careful around her.

His processing must have come off as hesitation as Ai continued, "No matter. I'll go see to it that she wears something appropriate for a date, for both of your sakes. Make sure to thank me later." She went to the door and turned her head back towards him. "Oh, and Hilbane. I realized something after you left last night." His blood ran cold at the look she gave him. Equal parts salacious and threatening.

"You said that 'she' wouldn't appreciate us fraternizing. You aren't out of the woods yet." With that, she winked and disappeared off in the direction he assumed Lai Chan's room was.

Now alone in the room full of half eaten breakfasts, he sat down and waited. Occasionally he would pick something off one of the forgotten plates and marvel about how good it tasted and the fact that they got to eat food of this quality every day.

Forty-five minutes later they re-entered the room. 'They' being Lai Chan, Veronica, Ai and Mai Fan. Though HR barely noticed the rest, focusing entirely on his girlfriend.

Lai Chan wore her patented smile, but that wasn't all. As he gave her the once over, her family flanked her and spoke as if they were fashionistas, clearly proud of their work. Though HR mostly tuned them out, to the point where he just assumed their voices were some inner monologue.

"I think the dress's design is a bit obvious. But sometimes simplicity is best." Ai gestured to Lai Chan's main article of clothing. Her sundress was a single shade darker than her skin, a radiant blue as if one was looking at the summer sky. To complete the looks, different sized clouds of white peppered the dress, each flowing and unique in their composition.

"Give us a twirl, please," Veronica commanded her elder sister. When Lai Chan complied HR had to agree with Ai. The dress flowed so smoothly that the clouds seemed to be moving as if they were a timelapse of the sky instead of attached to a person. And with the color being so close to her skin tone, it was sometimes hard to tell where the dress and clouds ended and where Lai Chan began. He could have sworn he saw birds flying in that sky.

"Now if you'd look up here." On her neck was a white choker that Lai Chan absentmindedly pulled at every few seconds.

"And around here..." One of them turned her around to reveal her cloudlike hair to be in a sort of braid. Though it mostly just looked like one long cloud. Woven into her hair were several jeweled birds of different materials. So he hadn't gone crazy earlier. The imitations were as brightly colored as the originals they copied. Vibrant colors of songbirds to break up the white and blue of the main pieces while contributing to the theme.

"And last but not least, as I'm sure you're wondering..." Much to our hero's surprise, Ai grabbed the hem of the dress, and with a swift upward motion, exposed her sister's undergarments for all to see.

HR's mind raced. What could she be wearing underneath? Maybe something to go along with the theme? Perhaps something white and lacey, maybe silken. Or maybe it would go against the theme? Black and bold. Could it be that it would match the dress and match the color of her skin, making it seem as if there was nothing there? Or perhaps most tantalizing of all, combining Ai's influence and Lai Chan's utmost confidence, absolutely nothing. Possibilities continued to race through his mind as his eyes focused.

Lai Chan stood proud and unabashed in her incredibly scandalous... compression shorts? Oh.

"I'm sure you aren't too pleased about this last bit, but neither am I. We tried to get her to wear something a bit more exciting, but she refused." Ai shrugged.

Veronica finished up. "So what do you think? We designed this for her ages ago but never had an excuse to make her wear it."

HR simply stated what was on his mind. "She's perfect." At the compliment Lai Chan left the side of her sisters in favor of jumping into his arms, kissing him deeply. Veronica scoffed.

"I was talking about the outfit, but yeah I guess." Ai patted her on the shoulder before interrupting the two, seeing as Lai Chan's hands had begun to roam a bit too close to below the belt.

"Alright. That's enough from us, for now. Don't you two have a date to go to?"

Lai Chan immediately removed herself from HR's body, still gripping one of his hands.

"That's right!" She dragged him along as she quickly left the room, taking a white handbag also bejeweled with birds from Mai Fan's hands. They flew through the mansion and out the door, headed downtown.

---

The walk went by in a flash. Full of hand squeezes, smiles and giggles, it distracted him from all else in the world until she popped the question.

"So what do you want to do?" The honest question deserved an honest answer.

"I'm... not sure. Didn't think I'd make it this far." But he had to think of something. "Wanna find somewhere to sit and... talk?"

They found a small cafe and ordered drinks. A fruity bubble tea for Lai Chan and a more "mild" bubble tea for HR, after some insistence from his girlfriend. When sitting, HR was faced with a dilemma. Did he sit next to her, or across from her?              

After a few seconds of deliberation, the choice was made for him when Lai Chan dragged him down into the chair beside her, then resumed their hand holding. With her other hand, she happily started gulping down the tea.

"So..." At his words, her attention turned from her drink to him, her plump lips still around the straw as her eyes stared inquisitively at him. Gods, she was hard to look at. In the best way possible.

Anything to get his mind off of taking her right back home and continuing with their 'lessons', he asked one of the first things that popped into his head. Unfortunately that happened to be one of his many insecurities.

"Have you given any more thought about your... attraction?" Lai Chan stopped picking at her choker and faced him fully.

"What?"

"You know. Like when I told you that 'wanting to fight people' was actually you being attracted to them. Have you any thoughts on that?" Her confusion was only rivaled by his embarrassment at what was to come. But he needed, or at least felt like he did, to know.

"No, not really. Was I supposed to?" She took another sip of the tea. Her other hand left his to scratch her neck again.

"Well I was just wondering if you'd... considered your options. Since you figured it out, that is."

"Options?"

"You know, like other people?"

"I don't follow." HR took a breath.

He had hoped he wouldn't have had to say this so directly. "What I mean is... you've obviously found other people attractive for a while now. And now you know what those feelings mean and how to, um... handle them. Have you considered seeking anyone... else to help you manage those feelings?" This time it was him who brought a hand up to his neck, to rub the back of it as his eyes trailed to the side.

"Why would I look for someone else when I have a boyfriend?" Ah. The other topic of discussion. A pang of guilt.

"I wanted to talk about that as well, actually. People tend to rush into things a bit too fast when things get emotional. I wanted to-" he stopped when he finally looked over and saw the fear and sadness in her eyes.

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"No! No, gods no. I would never. I was more wondering if you were having any second thoughts about us being together. Now that you've had some time to think about it." Seeing the confusion start to come back, the words poured out of HR in a jumbled rush. "I mean to say that I didn't want you to feel trapped, you know. Like you felt that we'd gotten ahead of ourselves in the heat of things and now that you've calmed down and had a moment to think, you might have felt like you made a mistake..."

"I didn't make a mistake." The assurance in her voice was real. A silence grew between them. Every passing second only added to the stockpile of anxiety, despite her words having just alleviated a good chunk of it. She seemed lost in thought, trying to piece together her feelings into words. Her hand began to move towards her neck again.

HR reached over and stopped her hand, freeing her from her thoughts as the unconscious motion was halted. He then leaned a bit closer, the distance between their faces shortening. A fact that she was acutely aware of. She then felt both of his hands go up to her neck, brushing her sensitive skin as they looped around. And then she felt release.

His hands and body moved away, and with them came the choker. He reached down a bit and slipped it into her bag, which hung from her chair. The only evidence of his closeness was her breath, ever so slightly heavier with anticipation.