[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Kt0PZhZ.png[/img]

[sub][@Fabricant451] [@Universorum]
Location: All over the place
Featuring: [color=a52521][b]Owen “Who Are You?” Lyon[/b][/color], [color=f4dd2e][b]Zachary “Flower Boy” Webb[/b][/color], and [color=7fffd4][b]Samantha “Sam Assiter” Lassiter[/b][/color]
Time: After School[/sub][/center]
[hr][hr]
[indent]Zach had no idea what he was doing. Usually, he was pretty confident in himself, because he kept to things he knew. Stuff like comic books, academics, painting miniatures, and the lore of video games. Stuff like that. Stuff that made sense at a basic level. Not stuff like women. He’d been nothing but awkward and cringey in his interaction with Sam, but he still wanted to do [i]something[/i]. He hadn’t know what exactly he should do, so he talked to his mom, and his mom made a pretty solid suggestion: buy her flowers. So, Zach had done exactly that. He’d skipped tabletop club, under the grounds that nothing ever happened there anyway (Paul and Cedric had begrudgingly accepted this sentiment), and went to Hummingbird Creations, where he’d had a bouquet of brightly colored flowers put together. From there, he’d left to the only hint he had about where she might be: the 365 Combat Club. And here he was! Zachary pushed open the glass doors with his free hand, holding the bouquet in the others, and looked around for the tall woman.

As the bell dinged that another person was coming in, Owen dropped the bar he’d been using to deadlift, and its weights hit the ground with a loud bang. His head whipped over to the door, expecting to see someone he knew, but he tilted his head slightly when he saw the young looking kid standing there with… flowers in his hands? Owen shook his head and walked over, his headphones wrapped around his neck, [color=a52521][b]“who are you?”[/b][/color] He asked, and the younger boy seemed to physically retreat. Great, a pussy.

[color=f4dd2e][b]“Uh, I’m Zach. I’m looking for Sam.”[/b][/color] Zach spoke in a quick voice and Owen shifted his weight, staring at the kid as if he wasn’t making any sense. Then, Owen noticed the flowers. 

[color=a52521][b]“Those for her?”[/b][/color] Owen asked, and the kid nodded, [color=a52521][b]“this oughta be good. She’s over there.”[/b][/color] Owen said, and pointed. Zach smiled his thanks and headed in the direction he was guided in, with Owen following. He didn’t want to miss the show.

Joseph Shivers was born in New Jersey in the year 1920. A textile chemist by trade his claim to fame was in the invention and development of spandex as an alternative to rubber. Spandex, of course, being a synthetic fiber known for its elasticity and being more durable than its contemporary. It was introduced into the world in 1962 and revolutionized the clothing industry. Even today the effects of spandex are continually felt. While not technically the inventor of perhaps the greatest use of spandex known to mankind, Joseph Shivers deserves a considerable amount of praise for opening the door for the show that awaited Zach further inside the 365 Combat Club. 

Given the nature of spandex and how form fitting and flattering it was, what awaited Zach in the middle of a bout of shadow boxing was not up to the imagination. It was curved at a perfect sloped angle with a firmness that meant it didn’t sag yet a softness that meant it shook with each step or motion no matter how slight. The proportion was a golden ration - spherical like a globe while protruding upwards and outwards; larger than a strict bubble but not obscenely so. Juicy like a peach with a surface area that would surely have a hand sinking into the skin like the best type of quicksand. The only thing separating Sam Lassiter’s ass from being bared for the Club as a whole was a single pair of form-fitting yoga pants. 

Sam was throwing punches at the air, weaving, and bouncing on her feet when Owen and the flower boy came in. Sam noticed through the corner of her eyes upon seeing the movement in her peripheral. [color=7fffd4][b]”What’s up, dude?”[/b][/color] She was speaking specifically to Owen and not missing a beat in her shadow boxing. [color=7fffd4][b]”Wanna go a few? I’m feeling limber.”[/b][/color]

[i]The hardest choices require the strongest wills.[/i]

Truer words had never been spoken, and the weight of the statement was standing in front of Samantha Lassiter. Owen, with a will made of iron — no, a will made of vibranium — never took his eyes below Sam’s neck. With his arms folded over his chest, Owen shook his head. [color=a52521][b]“No way, bro. I don’t hit no girls; ain’t my style.”[/b][/color] Was Owen’s reply, and when he glanced at Zach, Owen saw firsthand what a weaker will looked like. Where Owen’s eyes strictly met Sam’s, it was easy to tell where Zach’s were.

In fact, the younger boy’s mouth was agape as he gazed at Sam’s most valuable asset. Owen reached out with a single finger and closed Zach’s mouth with a light push. Owen shook his head, and shoved Zach forward slightly, ready to watch everything come crashing down, [i]hard[/i]. This push seemed to work, and at least break Zach’s fascination. [color=f4dd2e][b]“Oh, uhm. These are for you!”[/b][/color] Zach said, thrusting the multi-colored bouquet of flowers in Sam’s direction, holding them up. The pleasant scent of flowers floated up into her nostrils, as Zach continued on. [color=f4dd2e][b]“I was wondering if you… wanted to go to the movie night on Friday with me?”[/b][/color]

Kid had heart, Owen had to admit that. It was brave to ask Sam that bluntly, and it was possibly stupid to hand her flowers, but… he went for it. Maybe he didn’t know about the Lassiter Challenge, though Owen supposed he was about to learn the hard way.

One day Owen would get over his girl hitting thing and they would have a proper spar, of that Sam was certain. She might well have been top of the foodchain when it came to the Combat Club but it wasn’t a definitive ranking until she and Owen met one on one in a ring. One day. She shrugged her shoulders at his refusal once more and would have gone back to working out were it not for Owen’s guest of honor. She had seen the flowers and just figured Owen was trying out the weaker sex for a change until Flower Boy was pushed forward and stammered appropriately. 

Sam took a step back and looked towards Owen with a rather obvious ‘is this dude serious’ expression. He had guts trying to circumvent the Challenge, or maybe he just didn’t know any better. [color=7fffd4][b]”Those are hibiscuses.”[/b][/color] Sam shook her head at the flowers, they looked like roses or tulips, standard fare. Sam liked hibiscus for being unique and vibrant and multicolored and flowering with wide petals. The hibiscus was used as a sign in Hawaii and Tahiti, Sam learned from her father after he had shot a movie there: a hibiscus behind the left ear then the woman was married or had a boyfriend, behind the right and she was available for a relationship. She’d never worn a hibiscus apart from when she was a child on vacation in Hawaii but ever since they had been her favorite flower. And this dude didn’t even know that yet here he was asking her to a movie night.

[color=7fffd4][b]”Alright, if you really wanna do this.”[/b][/color] Sam shrugged and stepped to the far right corner of the ring. [color=7fffd4][b]”Owen, get this flower boy some gear.”[/b][/color] Whether or not Zach knew it, he was now participating in the Lassiter Challenge. 

Owen shrugged his shoulders, and put an arm around Zach’s. [color=a52521][b]“Come on, kid. We’ll be back in a sec, Same.”[/b][/color] He said, leading Zach away. Owen caught Zach’s eye and saw even more confusion than before in it, [color=a52521][b]“what, you don’t know? If you can beat Sam in a fight, you get to sleep with her. If you can’t, or [i]won’t[/i] fight her, then you don’t get to date her, dude. Good luck, dude. She’s gonna thrash you.”[/b][/color] Owen said as he reached into a locker and pulled out a pair of gloves. He grabbed some headgear and looked at it, then at Zach, and then threw it back into the locker. [color=a52521][b]“Put the gloves on, take your shirt off, and you should be good.”[/b][/color]

[color=f4dd2e][b]“Wait, shouldn’t I get like gym shorts or something?”[/b][/color] Zach asked as he looked down at the gloves and the flowers still in his hands. He handed the flowers over to Owen, who made a face, but ultimately held onto them. [color=f4dd2e][b]“In case I need to… kick or something.”[/b][/color]

[color=a52521][b]“Fight ain’t gonna last long enough for you to need to kick, dude. In fact, if you’re even in there long enough to punch [i]at her[/i], then I’ll commend you.”[/b][/color] Owen said as Zach pulled his shirt off and tugged the gloves on. [color=a52521][b]“Nobody really wins the Challenger, so you’re just gonna jump in the ring, get your ass kicked, and then never come back. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s only been conquered once, and that didn’t end well. It’s a fun little show for me, though.”[/b][/color] Owen said, pushing Zach back toward the ring. [color=a52521][b]“Just don’t feel bad about it if you lose. It’s par for the course.”[/b][/color]

[color=f4dd2e][b]“Wait. How many people have tried?”[/b][/color] Zach asked, and Owen shrugged his shoulders.

[color=a52521][b]“I dunno. Like… six, maybe seven? Probably more than that. Dude, you saw Sam from behind. A lot.”[/b][/color] Owen said, before he shoved Zach toward the ring. Zach took one last glance over his shoulder at Owen, before rolling into the ring and looking at Sam.

[color=f4dd2e][b]“So, uhm. How does this work exactly? How do I win? What are the rules?”[/b][/color]

Sam almost felt sorry for the guy, but if he had any intention of actually dating her then he had to go through the same scenario as everyone else. Just a quick glance at him told Sam that this dude had a snowball’s chance in hell of making it far at all. If she were in a better mood she might even have let him get in a hit or two. Instead she could promise only to do no lasting damage, other than to his pride. [color=7fffd4][b]”How it works is you try to get me down for the ten and I try not to break your nose. Trust me, dude, you’re not winning. Don’t worry about the rules.”[/b][/color] 

[color=a52521][b]“Alright… Oh, fuck I forgot I broke the bell. Uh… Ding ding ding!”[/b][/color]

Sam waited until the ‘bell’ sounded, as per the rules of any fair fight, and the first move she made was to come in low with her fists up, jabbing at Zach’s right side then following up with a straight left to the face, pulling only enough so as not to have his face crunching beneath her knuckles. 

Ow. Zach had never been hit before, so he didn’t have a frame of reference for how much it hurt. Unfortunately for him, it hurt a [i]lot[/i]. [i]Fortunately[/i] for him, Sam hit hard enough that he immediately fell unconscious and crumpled to the ground. The next thing he saw was Owen crouching over him, shaking his head. [color=f4dd2e][b]“...how’d I do?”[/b][/color] Zach asked, before reaching up and touching his head. Owwwww.

[color=a52521][b]“Honestly? You did about average. Bad news is, average isn’t a win. You’re outta here. Chalk that shit up as a loss. Good game, no r e. Go home.”[/b][/color] Owen said, as Zach sat up and winced. Owen stood up to his full feet, and held out a hand to pull Zach up to his feet. Zach stumbled a little bit, and touched his head again, nodding slowly.

[color=f4dd2e][b]“I lost? Can I try again?”[/b][/color] Zach asked, and Owen paused. No one ever wanted to try [i]again[/i], it was typically a ‘one and done’ scenario, as most people didn’t like the harm it did to their pride losing to Sam so handily. Owen found that he didn’t have an answer to that question, and instead turned his attention to Sam.

[color=a52521][b]“Hey, dude wants to go again. Do you allow second tries? I can’t remember anyone askin’ for one.”[/b][/color]

Sam had stepped out of the ring and was nursing a bottle of water with a towel around her neck. It was a good thing her punch had knocked Zach unconscious just so he didn’t have to hear Sam call to Owen [color=7fffd4][b]’get this flower boy out of my ring’[/b][/color] in a rather arrogant, victorious sort of manner. But she was done with her work out for the day and could let her hair down, so to speak. She nearly spat out her water when she was hit with the most shocking question this side of ‘why do you have Henry’s dick pics on your phone?’

[color=7fffd4][b]”What are you, some kinda masochist, dude? I beat you in one punch and it wasn’t even full strength. There’s no point in round two right now. I’ll give you a second try the day you can get halfway up the rope.”[/b][/color] That seemed more than fair in Sam’s eyes. What good would it be to let him go again when the result was going to be the same? Still, points for asking. Most dudes just left with a sour expression and muttering about how “no ass is worth that”. 

[color=7fffd4][b]”Thanks for the workout, though.”[/b][/color] Sam turned away from Owen and Zachary to mutter something under her breath using the excuse of rummaging through her gear bag. [color=7fffd4][b][sub]”And for the flowers.”[/sub][/b][/color]

[color=f4dd2e][b]“Right. Halfway up the rope.”[/b][/color] Zach muttered, before looking at Owen. Owen, who had been hoping that Sam would shut it down, let out a sigh and pointed at the climbing rope hanging from the rafters near the center of the gym. Zach stared at the rope for a few seconds, before nodding his agreement. [color=f4dd2e][b]“Yeah, seems fair.”[/b][/color] Zach stepped out of the ring and walked away, wondering how he was going to figure this out. It wasn’t until he got nearly out the door that Owen spoke up.

[color=a52521][b]“Dude, I would just walk out and not come back, dude. She’ll just beat you again unless you magically learn to fight. You got some kinda magic bean you’re gonna eat that teaches you how to thrash people? Because I doubt it. Plus, your scrawny ass couldn’t climb a quarter of the way up the rope, let alone halfway.”[/b][/color] Owen was trying to do what was best for the kid, but it seemed he’d struck a nerve, as Zach looked more angry than he’d looked since rolling into the gym.

[color=f4dd2e][b]“What’s the point of her stupid challenge if no one can beat her?”[/b][/color] Zach demanded, and Owen immediately held up a hand to stop him right there.

[color=a52521][b]“I could beat her ass, but I don’t hit no chicks and I got a girl anyway. But you ain’t go—”[/b][/color]

[color=f4dd2e][b]“If you could beat her why don’t you just train me? I’ll come to the gym like every day and we can practice and you can help me get strong enough to win, right?”[/b][/color] Zach asked, and Owen responded by narrowing his eyes. [color=f4dd2e][b]“I mean, you’re the best right? Teach me. [sub]I just wanted to take her to the movies.[/sub]”[/b][/color]

[color=a52521][b]“Alright fine! But there’s gonna be some rules and regulations. Rule #1. I will exclusively call you Young Grasshopper. Rule #2. You will be here every day at 5:45 AM sharp to open up. If you cannot get here by that time I will pick you up. We’ll discuss your workout regime tomorrow. Rule #3. Do whatever I say without asking questions. We’ll make a man out of you yet. Now go home, and don’t fall asleep, you probably have a concussion.”[/b][/color] Owen said, before scribbling his number on a piece of a napkin from the dispenser by the door and pushing Zach out of the building. Owen then turned and went back to Sam.

[color=a52521][b]“Hey, Same. What are you gonna do with the flowers? Do you want me to toss ‘em?”[/b][/color]

Sam was relaxing now that her workout and ‘spar’ was concluded; it was nice to just take a load off and let her adrenaline cool. She regarded Owen with a half-hearted lifting wave of her arm before dabbing at her forehead with the towel ‘round her shoulders. [color=7fffd4][b]”Dude, who was that kid? He’s not afraid to get his ass beat by a girl, unlike someone I know.”[/b][/color] Now the ribbing could begin in earnest, as typical. 

[color=7fffd4][b]”No, I’ll take care of the flowers. They’re technically mine so, like, I’ll chuck ‘em on my way out.”[/b][/color] What Owen didn’t realize was while he was dealing with the ‘challenger’, Sam picked up the flowers where Owen had left them and dropped them into her bag. Once she was on her way home she’d give them air to breathe before finding a suitable vase at home. [color=7fffd4][b]”Was he staring at my ass when he came in?”[/b][/color] 

[color=a52521][b]“I dunno who he is. Some kid named Zach.”[/b][/color] Owen shrugged his shoulders, but chose not to mention that he’d agreed to help Zach out so he’d possibly have a chance the next time they fought. [color=a52521][b]“And I ain’t afraid to get beat by a girl, I just don’t want to hurt you, dude.”[/b][/color] He protested and rolled his eyes. Sam didn’t seem to have any intentions of giving that one up, did she? Owen hadn’t fought her yet and didn’t intend to.

[color=a52521][b]“I mean, yeah he was. Why do you ask? Doesn’t like, everyone do that?”[/b][/color]

Now it was Sam’s turn to roll her eyes and act indignant. Owen just didn’t get it. No one was staring at his ass all the time, as if there was anything to stare at in the first place. [color=7fffd4][b]”Dude, how would you feel if instead of talking to you people just stared at your dick all the time?”[/b][/color] She paused a moment before sighing in realization. [color=7fffd4][b]”Nevermind, you’d probably pop at least half chub. But it’s like, people only care about my ass and not me. You have to earn the right to gawk at my ass.”[/b][/color] 

Sam wasn’t even sure where she was going with this topic other than general annoyance at people staring without even saying hello first. [color=7fffd4][b]”Wait, do you stare? Not cool, dude.”[/b][/color] 

[color=a52521][b]“Hey, dude, I dunno if you know this: but Owen’s actually a pretty private guy. I hate being stared at, and I was stared at a whole lot for the past like two months since Trixie dumped my ass. And no, I don’t stare at your ass! That’s gross, dude. We’re like, friends. [i]I[/i] don’t even know what all the fuss is about, but it looks like everyone else does.”[/b][/color] Owen shook his head and decided to shift the subject, he’d felt the slightest hints of insecurity emanating from Sam, and knew it was his responsibility as her friend to step in and reassure her. [color=a52521][b]“Look, dude. That’s not how people are. You’re cool to talk to and fun to hang out with. The butt thing just like brings people in, right? Sam makes ‘em stay. Trust me. I knew you before you filled out. The ones who only want your body are the ones you knock out whenever they try to get you to go out with them. They just give up.”[/b][/color] Owen frowned. [color=a52521][b]“Of course, this guy didn’t just give up. Weird. I’ll ask him tomorrow if he wants all of Sam Lassiter or if he wants Sam Lassiter’s below the belt parts only.”[/b][/color]

For that startlingly effective pepper upper of a pep talk, Sam responded in the only way that seemed appropriate: she punched Owen lightly in the shoulder. A friend tap. Knowing full well retaliation wasn’t in the cards, she punched slightly above a tap but it was still barely anything other than a gesture of goodwill and thanks. [color=7fffd4][b]”Ten bucks says he’s just into Sam Assiter. I swear he looked familiar, though. Probably nothing. Thanks, dude. You may not wanna spar with me but you’ve got your uses after all.”[/b][/color][/indent]