I'm all coffeed up and feeling brave.
At the gym today I did 5 sets of 5 back squats at 140# (high bar variant). This means, more or less, that I held a medium-sized adult across my shoulders, squatted down on my heels as low as I could go, then stood back up again. Twenty-five times.
I didn't have an actual human on my shoulders. Humans are not rigid and do not come with easy-to-grasp handles. This makes them inconvenient objects to lift. What I had was a steel bar with big iron plates on the ends. The plates are heavy objects that I'm aware of in their own right as I stand up under the bar. They have inertia. They spin a little when I step backwards. And they shift in that moment of pop near the top of the lift, when I stop accelerating upwards. Black iron plates, clanking on the end of the bar, reminding me that mass and weight are not the same thing. By the end of the last set, I'm dripping with sweat and breathing hard.
This is one of the coolest things I've ever done. Literal freakin' empowerment.
Comment fic prompt me. I think you know my areas of expertise by this point. Go!
I didn't have an actual human on my shoulders. Humans are not rigid and do not come with easy-to-grasp handles. This makes them inconvenient objects to lift. What I had was a steel bar with big iron plates on the ends. The plates are heavy objects that I'm aware of in their own right as I stand up under the bar. They have inertia. They spin a little when I step backwards. And they shift in that moment of pop near the top of the lift, when I stop accelerating upwards. Black iron plates, clanking on the end of the bar, reminding me that mass and weight are not the same thing. By the end of the last set, I'm dripping with sweat and breathing hard.
This is one of the coolest things I've ever done. Literal freakin' empowerment.
Comment fic prompt me. I think you know my areas of expertise by this point. Go!
Outmaneuvered
"You're drunk."
"No I'm not. Well, yes I am, but only a little. It was one shot of Everclear. And Giles, they should sure call that stuff 'Everclean' because that one shot cleaned out my sinuses from now until forever."
Giles blinked. Everclear? "Xander, you don't drink."
"I don't. Except this once. I wanted whatsit. Bravery. Double courage. Whatever they call it."
"The expression is Dutch-- Whatever for?"
"This."
Xander grabbed a fistful of his jumper and pulled him closer, none too gently. Giles's first instinct was to resist, but then Xander's mouth was on his. Giles tasted alcohol. Alcohol and orange juice and oh God, Xander, that was Xander, twisting his hand in his shirt almost painfully. Hot and sweaty and beautiful brown eyes that he did not ever want to stop looking into. Giles disengaged himself with no small effort and tried to hold Xander at arm's length. It was difficult. He had surprising strength in that grip.
"That's quite enough of that." His voice had not just squeaked.
"You kissed me back." The expression on Xander's face was pure delight.
"Yes, lovely, I admit it. You've won your bet or whatever it was you were after."
"Haven't got what I'm after yet, but I'm gonna get it. You kissed me back."
"I did n--"
Xander had a double handful of his shirt this time. And his tongue was in Giles's mouth which was, he supposed, his own damn fault. And his hips were flush against Giles's.
It took considerably longer to disengage himself this time and the expression on Xander's face when he did was triumphant.
"What's the matter, Giles? You need a shot too?"
Giles used both hands on Xander's shirt to haul him closer. He didn't need Dutch courage to kiss anybody, and damned if he'd let that insult stand.
Re: Outmaneuvered
Xander. Giles. Conversation after an evening of trying to keep up with the girls.