Manly bonding [Ludwig]

There was one good thing about getting up early: the Gym was practically deserted. Alfred walked out of the changing room with a towel slung over his shoulder, his water bottle and iPod clutched in his hands. He looked around, but it was unnecessary; the lack of grunts and the sounds of dropping weights were proof enough that no one was there. He was completely alone, save for the receptionist downstairs, but she rarely came up here. She said she might die of testosterone poisoning if she tried.

Alfred chuckled slightly. He couldn't blame her for thinking that. Guys were too competitive for their own goods and they loved showing off how strong they were. Especially in front of a pretty lady. Alfred, of course, was the same; he had been strong even before the storm hit, but now he had no competition here. He couldn't show that to anyone sadly, but the knowledge that he could lift thrice as many as any of the other guys and still not feel it was enough to calm him down somewhat.

And that was why he liked being here alone. With no one else around, Alfred could freely experiment with his power. He didn't have to pretend that he was struggling with lifting 220 lbs. Knowing that so much weight should strain his muscles and yet not feel a least bit tired was unsettling and thrilling at the same time and he was eager to try it out with more.

Well, what to do first~? He looked around excitedly. Maybe biceps? Yepp, that sounded nice. He would start with one-armed exercises and then move on to bench pressing and such. Grabbing a bare bar, Alfred started piling weights on it. 22...22..44...44...44...44... and so on, until he reached 570 lbs. That would do for warming up.

Ludwig was surprised when he woke up to a darker sky than usual. His body was like clockwork; Either he woke up to his alarm or he woke up at the time his alarm was supposed to get him up. Regardless, he was up earlier than usual, and Ludwig figured he should make the best of it. After shutting off his alarm and throwing on some older clothing, Ludwig headed to the gym.

He passed by the receptionist with a quick nod of greeting, and she raised an eyebrow as she looked up from her magazine. Within a moment she waved her hand in a lazy greeting and went back to her business. Rarely anyone came at this time of day, so it was an almost relaxing job to look after the gym in the morning. Ludwig came here every day in the late morning (perhaps why she raised he eyebrow), but the two hadn't really ever talked.

Ludwig ascended the stairs of the surprisingly nice reception area. Ludwig loved this gym, as it was much nicer than the one he had back home. They provided more things for free, and so long as the subscription held you could come almost anytime you wanted.

Making it to the anteroom, the main exercising area before one got the the pool, Ludwig spotted another person setting up weights to the side of the room. Actually, as Ludwig took a moment to look him over, it was Alfred, the American back at the apartment complex. There was no use trying to talk to him, he had a music player in his ears and it was probably turned up loud enough to drown out anyone in there.

Ludwig was about to enter and begin with his warm-ups on the elliptical, but he stayed at the doorway and watched as Alfred piled on the weights for bench pressing. Added up, it was 570 pounds. Ludwig had lifted 600 pounds once, when he was working in his home demolition unit. Klayton, a friend and fellow worker, had been on the phone, and there was a section of wood that had collapsed. It wasn't too terrible, but it could have crushed the large pile of recyclable wood they were going to try to harvest. Of course Ludwig tried to lift it, and he managed to, but his arms were burning all the while and several blood vessels were close to popping. Ludwig had barely held it for six seconds until Klayton called him an idiot and told him to throw it somewhere else. Ludwig was only happy to oblige, and when it was out of his hands his entire body ached.

Ludwig had lost only a bit of muscle mass since then, but overall, he still had more than Alfred had. He was strong, no doubt, but trying to press nearly 600 pounds was just ridiculous. Ludwig remembered the kid as a superbly smart smart in the stairwell (It was his power), but this didn't seem like something that a smart person would even do. He began to walk over. "Hey!" Ludwig barked, trying to see if he could get Alfred's attention.

He tested the weight of the bar, lifting it with one hand effortlessly. He let out a suffering sigh; dang it, it wasn't even good enough for warming up. Maybe he should just grab that metal they kept the weights on and lift that? Alfred gave the contraption a contemplating look. Hmm, how much did that thing weigh? Surely more than two tons. It was probably heavier than a car.

Humming along to the song playing on his iPod -'Now that that don't kill me can only make me stronger', which was pretty fitting- Alfred put down the weight he barely lifted. He was just about to go and lift his new found plaything when he heard a muffled 'Hey' coming from the direction of the door. He yanked the headphones out of his ear, blinking at the guy with poorly concealed annoyance. Damn, and he thought he could finally test the limits of his strength.

His annoyed look was soon replaced with a grin, however. Alfred wasn't the type to get angry without a good reason and if this fella wanted to work out right now, who was he to begrudge him that? "Hey!" He called back, figuring it must have been a greeting from the other.

Now that he looked closer though, this guy was familiar... "Wait, I know you! You live in my building!" Floaty! He was the guy he met when he had the displeasure of meeting that creepy gay guy!

Before Alfred had been able to hear him he had lifted the 600 pounds. Effortlessly. Even when surprised, Ludwig was usually able to keep a calm demeanor. This, on the other hand... Ludwig closed his gaping mouth and rubbed his eyes to try to get the non-existent dust from his eyes.

Alfred didn't seem like he broke a sweat, turning gleefully back at Ludwig. "Ja," he half-stuttered, still a little blown away, "Ludwig. Nice to see you again, Alfred." He walked over, his confidence returning as he definitely realized that this was another superpower Alfred had. Ludwig's pride began to return also (not that he would admit he had lost it for a moment); the fact that this kid could never come close to lifting that much without some divine help made Ludwig feel better. He shamed himself for thinking it, but he continued to think it regardless.

Ludwig grabbed two miniature twenty pound handhelds and sat across from Alfred. He could exercise later (when Alfred wasn't looking perhaps), but for now he could get a few updates. "You've found a way to practice your powers, then?" he asked.

Alfred tilted his head, wondering why the other seemed so surprised. Did he expect to be alone in here too? Or was he surprised that Alfred managed to lift something that was supposed to be much too heavy for him, especially with one hand. But he had told him his superpower was abnormal strength, hadn't he? He thought he had.

"Yupp, nice to see you too. I never knew you came here. It's weird that I haven't seen you yet!" Before the storm, Alfred spent a lot of time here. This place was good for his ego; working out made him feel both stronger and more handsome. Or rather, more sexy. It also eased the guilt he felt after he had eaten more than he, or three people, should have.

He couldn't help but stare at the small weights in Ludwig's hands. The guy was pretty buff; he didn't look like someone who would even feel 20 pounds. Unless he used some of those forbidden drugs, the ones that helped you develop muscles at an alarmingly fast rate. Some of his ex-teammates back in America had used them and they even tried to tempt Alfred, without much of a success. Alfred wasn't a cheater and he definitely didn't want to risk being impotent or having some cardiovascular disease in order to become more muscled faster.

He grinned. "Not really. I mean, I'm trying to practice the other power by myself and with my brother, but testing my strength is more...complicated. I can't really punch anything in the house because I would break the thing and the wall both. I can't go out on the street or in the park because hello, people there. So my last resort was coming here, but...", he motioned towards the weights he had just lifted, "this isn't a challenge. And I have no idea how to turn the power off."

Ludwig put the weights down and was searching for something on the rack that Alfred had lifted (Ludwig was still getting over that). He moved a few things off the rack and continued. "I usually come here a little later in the morning. This is the first time I have come this early." At least Ludwig had come after he and Alfred had already met. He couldn't imagine his reaction to Alfred's feat if he hadn't learned of the strange phenomenon back at the apartment.

Ludwig made an approving hum as he pulled out a few cuff weights and put them on his wrists. "You make a good point though. You and Arthur have a more difficult time testing your powers. Mine is, well, I can't test it, really, and I am I the same situation as you; I can't turn either of them off.

"And I would never assume a chall--" An idea popped into Ludwig's head. He had learned that he could become really thick, and Alfred could supposedly break walls... He stood up, moving his arms a bit to remind them of the feeling of the ten pound cuffs. "I have a test." Ludwig didn't usually get strange, out of the box ideas like this one, so he was eager to try it. "Punch me here," He pointed a bit below his solar plexus.

Ludwig's test could go a few ways. Either Ludwig's stomach was going to go misty, go supremely hard and withstand it, the powers would deflect each other and Alfred wouldn't even get to land the punch, or Ludwig could go flying into the wall. If Alfred actually tried. "This is as good a test as any to see the effects of the powers against one another."

"Ah, that explains it! I usually come in the afternoon!" Alfred's sleeping schedule was irregular at best, but the general rule of staying up late and waking up late usually applied. He grinned. "It's a bit of a surprise you're here though; I'm all alone when I happen to come this early. I guess people like their sleep too much to train, huh?" He couldn't blame them, not really. He would have loved to sleep a lot too, but he just had too much energy for that.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to test the limits when you don't have anything to test it on. Sometimes it's just like I look at something and I already know I could easily lift it or smash it even. It takes the fun of testing out of it." And failing was a part of tests too, right? Alfred hadn't failed to lift a single thing yet which was both very cool and very shocking.

He blinked. "Err, okay. What kinda test?" What could Ludwig think of that Alfred hadn't considered already? "'Cause if it's lifting a train, I already thought of that and I have no idea how to do that without being ca- Oh." He blinked again. Punch him? Like, really punch him?

Alfred blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Are you crazy? I mean, I know you told us that you could become super dense or super not-dense, but what if you don't become dense enough to, I dunno, survive?" Alfred punched through a brick wall. He lifted a car. He lifted an entire metal rack full of weights. He was strong, probably lethally if he really put his mind to it. "I would totally agree to punch you and test your powers if I knew how to turn my strength off, but..." He didn't want to accidentally snap Ludwig in two. He might have punched him if he really pissed him off, but Alfred was currently nowhere near angry and he was pretty sure the German wouldn't make him furious enough to deliver a punch.

Ludwig shook his head. He had a plan, and now he was determined to try it. Although, the thought of lifting a train... Well, that was consirably bigger than what Ludwig was going for, but this would work. It had to.

"I'm going to survive," Ludwig replied calmly. "An oak tree fell on me with only a bruise, and I fell off a building before any of this," and he made a controlled gesture to the weights stand put aside by Alfred, "If I survived those things, then I think I will survive a punch by you." He touched the bruise on his shoulder. It was fading, but it had been big when the tree had hit him. Ludwig believed it was his muscles that hardened, because his skin could still take some sort of damage, as the tree incident and a recent paper cut he had gotten showed.

So in reality the worst Alfred could do would be to give him a fist sized bruise. So long as it wasn't near anywhere that could take him down, he'd be fine. He pointed again below his solar plexus. He hoped Alfred wouldn't punch any higher and knew at least that much. "If you knew how to turn your strength off then we wouldn't learn anything thought this exercise. Besides, this is a lot safer than some other tests of perople's powers, like throwing Arthur off a building to fly.

"So do it. Before anyone gets here. If I go flying into a wall we can just tell the woman downstairs that we got into a fight and... I tripped," he finished lamely.

((To be absolutely honest I have no idea how the powers are supposed to react. I don't know the extent of Alfred's strength either, or if all the powers have an equal max limit. So, um, good luck...?))

Well. Alfred wasn't exactly a person who thought a lot about his actions and their consequences so he really had to stop being such a worrywart, grow a pair, and finally punch the guy who was literally asking to be punched. "If you're sure..."

He crouched slightly and raised his fists in an attack position one of his friends who knew judo taught him. Before he hit Ludwig though, some mental calculations he couldn't help making popped up in his mind. "And not to scare you or anything, but I can hit harder than oak tree falling on you. Buuuut we'll see, no?" Despite his uncharacteristic worrying, Alfred was getting excited. He wanted to punch something, or rather, someone who wouldn't break. Hopefully.

He gave Ludwig a warning look and drew back his arm, the muscles in it coiling. He held it in that position for a moment, enjoying the strength flowing through the taut limb. And then he let it loose, aiming at the spot Ludwig pointed at.

Honestly, he expected the German to fly through a wall. Or two. Or to snap in half. What he didn't expect was the extremely loud sound resembling a small explosion and the powerful wave of something (air? energy?) pushing him back and making him lose his balance. Still astounded, Alfred didn't even attempt to catch himself. He fell on his butt and he could see Ludwig doing the same a few meters away. The German was obviously pushed back as well.

"Hey, are you okay?" Because, to tell the truth, Alfred's fist hurt. His fingers weren't broken, but they would definitely bruise.

((I kind of went with the Captain America's shield vs Thor's hammer thing. Two virtually indestructible things going against each other resembled this situation to me. ))

Ludwig was impatient as he waited for Alfred to punch him. It was a punch, not a bazooka. (even if he was stronger than the oak tree. Ludwig bit his lip at the comment but said nothing.) But regardless he was impressed by the form. Ludwig didn't know what it was but he had seen some of the more skilled fighters back home use it.

Ludwig tensed slightly, and waited.

It was only an eyeblink and he was against the wall, a blast shooting him backward. He coughed several times as his breath that he hadn't realized flew out of him was being regained. He opened one eye weakly and looked across at Alfred, who looked dazed on the floor as well. So, they had cancelled each other out, in a sense.

"Are you alright?" he gasped, and realized he didn't hear his own voice. Alfred also looked like he was talking. He rubbed his ear and tried again, "Alfred? Could you repeat that?" There it was. The blast must've blown out his ear for a second.

Using the wall for quick support, he stood up. He was feeling better, though his chest and stomach complained otherwise. He could feel the bruises, and already could tell he wouldn't be able to do any exercises for a few days.

Ludwig looked to the door quickly to make sure the woman from downstairs hadn't come up yet. With that sort of sound (he hoped he hadn't imagined that) someone was bound to be curious.

((Sounds good to me!))

"I just asked if you were alright. I'm fine!" Bit weirded out, but fine. Why did this happen? Alfred's brain was racing, calculating forces, densities, measuring the distance they were thrown back... And he didn't understand. He should have thrown Ludwig back. The bruising on his hand was understandable, his skin didn't exactly become super strong obviously. And the sound...sound was vibration of air particles. If the sound was so loud, the particles had to have been vibrating like crazy. And that vibration could have only come from Ludwig, because muscles didn't vibrate and Alfred's muscles were tense enough to stop his bones from vibrating too.

He looked Ludwig over, a thoughtful look on his face. "I don't understand why you weren't thrown back and through a wall. I already worked it out that you must have been the origin of the sound and I'm pretty sure we were thrown back because of the strength of it. What I don't get is why you were vibrating in the first place." Then he perked up. "Wait, maybe-" But he was cut off by the door being thrown open by the girl from downstairs.

She looked confused and somewhat nervous. "What's going on here? Alfred, why are you on the floor? And what was that sound? Did you boys get into a fight?"

Ludwig had been shaking his head. First of all, he couldn't have been the origin of the sound because <i>what kind of person makes that sound</i> and secondly he was worried about the mess they had caused. Messes annoyed him greatly.

But he listened regardless, since he was already waiting for his body to return to normal density; Alfred's explanations reminded him of something from his physics classes of old, but he was unable to remember exactly how sound worked. Just as Alfred had caught onto something in his ramblings the girl came into the room.

It was what Ludwig had been waiting for. He didn't want to lie and say they got into a fight--Ludwig didn't want to be on bad terms with this gym, after all, and he'd gotten into a bar fight once already in this town with no need for a bad reputation--but his mind was slow to come up with an explanation.

"Ah, we were testing something," Ludwig said, taking a deep breath and realizing that still hurt a bit, "we'll clean it up, Miss, I apologize greatly." And to further his point, Ludwig came over and grabbed Alfred's good arm to help him up. He didn't bother to wait and hoisted him up. He may be superstrong, Ludwig thought, but he was just as heavy as any normal person, so unless he didn't want to get off the floor it wouldn't be hard to make him get up.

Alfred let Ludwig pull him up, not fancying staying on the floor all by himself. Ever since he had been ten, he was the tallest boy in class and he still hated it when someone towered over him. He nodded his thanks and turned to the frightened receptionist, an easy grin on his face. "Yepp, just testing if I could, err, lift all these weights!" His voice wavered slightly in the middle of the sentence. Even though it was somewhat true, he did try to lift all the weights after all, it was still a lie and Alfred sucked at lying most of the time.

He grimaced at the thought of cleaning up. Damn, he hated cleaning, as his apartment clearly showed. But he couldn't just leave this mess here for the poor receptionist to clean up all by herself. He was a Hero, wasn't he? "Don't worry, when we're done, you won't be able to tell that anything happened at all!" God, so much cleaning awaited him...and all for a bruised knuckle and a nice little revelation which might or might not help them at all.

At least he knew a bit more about Ludwig's powers now. Maybe. That was a good thing, right? Worth the cleaning, right? He looked around at the fallen weights and the bent metal of the bench he sure hoped the receptionist couldn't see. Right.