doctorxreed:
Davis had seen the guy in the gym during his workout. Undoubtedly in shape, his workout had seemed pretty intense to Davis, though he supposed anyone who was in shape as him would have to work hard to maintain that. And that was something Davis understood - his workouts were the same. Today’s had been especially rough since it was leg day (seriously the worst day in existence), and he felt wobbly by the time he was done. Afterwards in the locker room, Davis had looked for the man, not for anything uncouth, mostly because he was intrigued by the man (and yes, he was hot, but Davis wasn’t one of those guys who would make the locker room uncomfortable). He seemed mysterious in a way, and Davis had planned to introduce himself, wanting to know where he’d come from. However, the locker room had become crowded by the time Davis arrived, not realizing the man had beat him there, and it just hadn’t felt like the right time. So Davis had showered and changed, putting on a pair of sweatpants and zipping up a hoodie over his bare torso, and then he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed outside.
It wasn’t even that late, though it was dark, so Davis was surprised when he realized someone had been trying to break into his car. He’d seen everything from a distance, including a dark figure stopping the would-be thief. As Davis rushed there, he realized his car’s rescuer was none other than the man who had caught his attention in the gym. “Holy shit, did that just happen?” he asked, amazed and honestly a little shaken. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he told the man. “I just…I can’t believe that happened. I thought that was something I’d left behind in the city.” Looking at the man, Davis nodded and told him, “Yeah, I’m fine. Are you? You’re the hero of the hour, after all.”
Andrei dismissed this with a wave of his hand, “Ah, degeneracy transcends all that. Location, gender, race... doesn’t matter. Anyone can be a piece of shit.”
The stranger’s inquiry into his wellbeing gave him pause, and made him bristle. He was more accustomed to (and comfortable with) being shoved back on his feet, emboldened to go, go, go. Andrei begrudgingly accepted that eventually, he would have to rub elbows with at least some of the fellow townsfolk. At least there appeared to be some that shared a fellow interest.
Stepping forward, Andrei gave him a crooked, awkward smile, rubbing the back of his neck, “Hero? Don’t know about all that. Am I still a hero if I enjoyed knocking that scumbag’s teeth down his throat?” He held out his hand for the customary initial handshake between two men, and found his counterpart’s grip firm and sure. A nice guy, then, “Name’s Andrei, man. Say, maybe you can repay me: do you know where someone can get a decent meal around here?”
