Meeting A Lioness

[CaptainL]

Things looked like they could be gearing up for an awkward situation, but at least it seemed like Joyce wasn't going to push the issue - it could definitely be a lot worse. Astrid huffed to herself as she stepped away from the water fountain. At least she seemed to remember that at the end of the day, she was here to learn, and she didn't lose sight of her goals. She just hoped Joyce could keep that up, and hopefully that her lack of success in seducing Astrid now would give her the hint that her attention was best served elsewhere for this training session.

Taking a swig from her water bottle, Astrid turned back around to face Joyce. She took a moment to stretch, lifting her arm in the air and rolling her waist from one side to the other to limber herself up before they got back to business, but then she faced the brunette with her hands on her hips. "Alright..." she said, "How are you feeling now? I was thinking this would be a good time to work on some conditioning exercises, yeah? Going through some push-ups or jumping jacks, or running around the track. Just to help keep yourself in shape, and it'll also give your mind a chance to relax so you don't have to feel like you're on guard all the time. We can get back to the spar after that - it's best to come to your matches with a calm mind, so you're in a better place to make decisions."

Astrid believed everything she said - but what she didn't mention was that by directing Joyce to some solo exercises, she would hopefully keep her away from a situation where she would be too focused on Astrid herself to keep her head in the game. Only time would tell if that make a difference...

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce nodded with her head and started with the exercises: first, the jumping jacks, then, the treadmills. Despite her nerdy look, Joyce was quite athletic on these kinds of exercises, and did these exercises really well. Not only that, but the vision of her doing these exercises was a really good eye-candy: her breasts bouncing viciously as she hopped on the jumping jacks, or as she breathed intensely on the treadmills. Her legs and ass clad in blue buruma, bouncing and moving fast as she did those exercises...

To make the exercise routine more intensely, Joyce constantly switched the treadmill's speed between something average and fast, forcing her body to both jog and run fast, alternating after some intervals. Such effort made her sweat intensely, making her white shirt start to get transparent, what would start to reveal what she was wearing under: a blue sports bra, that matched with her buruma. This continued until Joyce managed to run about 2km in the treadmill, until she got tired and had to stop.

As she stopped, it was possible to see her body in all its glory, shinning in sweat. Probably because of all her effort, her legs were twitching a bit, and her walking was a bit stiffy. Still, she managed to walk from the treadmill back into a bench.

"Hehe, sorry if I took things too far, teacher. I got excited" Joyce was talking about the exercise. "After I rest a bit, do you have more stuff to show me? Or will we call it a day?"

[CaptainL]

At last, Astrid got to take a break from the action. She let out a huff, wiping some sweat off her brow while she hung back and left Joyce to her own devices. She could use one, too - the brunette was certainly giving her a lot to think about, not only in terms of what lessons she would come up with next, but also how she was going to process having a student so blatantly flirting with her. She surely had many admirers, but she felt that as long as it didn't get in the way of her work, it wouldn't be an issue. But this was something else - she'd never had anyone be this direct about it. She didn't quite have the heart to turn Joyce down directly; she had to admit, she was...dedicated, and a part of her appreciated that. But she knew it could never work out. She was engaged. She barely knew Joyce. Even if she was cute...

Grumbling to herself, Astrid rubbed at her temples. No, no, she told herself, that was a thought she couldn't allow in her head. Instead, she looked back up at Joyce as she met back up with her. She could tell the girl was tired, looking her up and down. She had certainly thrown herself into her exercises with great gusto, and Astrid was proud of her work ethic, even if she had her doubts about its practicality. She smiled a little to Joyce, laughing off her concerns when she mentioned taking things too far. At least, she hoped she meant her exercises.

"Ah, no, no...trust me, it's quite alright," the Norsewoman explained. "It's a good thing to be excited, especially when it concerns your well-being and your training. If you like doing something that helps you like this, it's all the easier to keep up. My only concern is that if you go at it too hard, you'll tire yourself out too much - and that would put you at a disadvantage. Are you feeling alright?"

[Joyce_Hilda]

"Yeah, I feel okay. It's just my limbs feel a bit stiffy. It may be because I'm tired, and I should keep pushing to overcome my limits... or my body sending an alert for me that I'm about to have a cramp." Joyce said. "That's why I want to leave things for you. I don't want end up overdoing myself and get an injury, so since you're my trainer, I'll take your opinion as my definitive decision.

Joyce still found Astrid very atractive, and still wanted to have more grappling action with her, but since she noticed Astrid got a bit uncomfortable with her previous take, she decided to not insist. On all things, the last thing Joyce wanted was to Astrid to think she was some sort of creep.

[CaptainL]

"...Hrm." Astrid listened closely to what Joyce had to say, nodding her head as the girl related the aches and pains in her body. She had certainly taken a lot of offense back in their spar, and when she had just put herself through the strain of her exercises, it would only wear her down further. Though Astrid was still curious about what the brunette could be capable of, she also knew it wouldn't do Joyce much good if she trained too hard and ended up hurting herself in the process. Astrid was well aware of what someone pushed to their limits would look like, and Joyce seemed to be it. Besides, when she was as tired as she was, she would be far from at her best.

"Well," she began, "I'll admit, I did have other lessons planned for today, but..." She stopped just before she revealed that Joyce had taken more punishment than she had expected her to, afraid of sounding judgmental. "Well, if your body is telling you that you need a break, it's best to listen to it. You know yourself better than I ever could, at the end of the day."

"Although, if you did wish to keep going...we certainly could. I just feel that for your sake, it would be best if you did something for your muscles. Something like...a hot shower, or a massage..."

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Astrid fell silent. A blush crept across her face. She knew all too well how suggestive her ideas must have sounded, especially when Joyce was in a mood like this. She could only hope the Young Lioness wouldn't see this as an invitation...

[Joyce_Hilda]

"Yes, you're right. I would like to give a try at the hot shower or the massage. Whatever you think it's better"

Joyce replied in a calm, normal tone, but at inside, she was yelling as if she just saw her country win the World Cup. Any excuse she could get to be half-naked or fully naked with Astrid would be great. Even better if it also involved Astrid touching and massaging her. Now, of course, she would be more polite. Although she was eager to get this treatment, she didn't want to scare Astrid once again.

[CaptainL]

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Joyce's response, hoping it wasn't too obvious. She might have made a blunder in proposing situations that had the potential to get intimate, when she knew Joyce would take altogether too much interest in them, but the brunette didn't seem particularly worked up about them. Either she had finally learned her lesson that this wasn't the time, or Astrid had managed to bury the lead enough that Joyce hadn't picked up on anything suggestive happening. Either way, Astrid would take it. She was glad to have something that wouldn't make her regret her life choices.

Now it was up to her to decide how to proceed. "Hmm," she muttered, stroking her chin, "perhaps a massage would do you good? I'm sure you're sore after that workout..." Unlike a shower, it wouldn't require the two of them be naked in close proximity; even though Astrid had no qualms about that sort of thing, she was sure Joyce would get too excited about it, and she didn't want to give her any encouragement to do anything funny. But as soon as she said that, Astrid froze, her face blushing red. In trying to worm her way out of one predicament, she had just barged right into another. At least a shower wouldn't require the two of them to touch; if Joyce wanted to get handsy, that was on her. But now, Astrid had all but volunteered to feel her up from head to toe. Joyce would almost certainly take note of this, and it was sure to be awkward one way or the other.

Still, Joyce had already shown interest. There was no backing out of this now. The Norsewoman cleared her throat. "Erm, well...we might as well make our way to the locker rooms then, yeah? They should have some tables back there..."

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce made her way to the locker room. She found a good place where she could lay down and receive the massage. Immediately, she would take out her shirt, revealing the blue sports bra she was wearing under, matching colors with her buruma. Now, Joyce was essentially wearing nothing but a track and field bikini, just like the ones used on the Olympics. She laid herself on a table, using her arms as pillows for her head, waiting for the so much expected massage her gorgeous, muscular teacher.

"I'm all yours, Mrs. Ostberg. Do I need to remove my bra, too?"

Although Joyce said that in a normal tone, without any lewd insinuation, the whole situation would, still, not be that innocent, specially since it involved physical contact between two women, with one of them explicitly feeling attracted towards the other. However, once again: Astrid ended up bringing that suggestion. Now, she couldn't step back.

[CaptainL]

As soon as Joyce set foot in the locker room, she stripped off her shirt, and Astrid could see now more than ever her toned build. She blushed just a little - Joyce was quite fit, and she had to admit there was something about her, her body glistening with the sweat of her workout, that caught her eye...but she quickly bit her lip, pushing that thought aside. Not only did Astrid know it wasn't right, she also knew that Joyce would be far too excited about this development if she ever caught on to it, and Astrid didn't need to make this any more awkward than it needed to be. Besides, it wasn't like she was coming on to her or anything. It was only natural for people to do this if they prepared for a massage...

Well, Astrid thought as much, up until Joyce asked if she needed to take her bra off, too. In an instant, she froze, her cheeks tinged by a reddish glow. Now, she couldn't be sure Joyce wasn't trying to come on to her. She was really starting to regret proposing the massage now. "Er..." Astrid cleared her throat. "No, that won't be necessary. Just...settle down and relax. I'll take care of the rest of the work for you..."

That didn't sound too suggestive, did it? Now the champion was second-guessing every word she said, afraid that Joyce might misconstrue anything she could as a sign that Astrid really was interested in her - and if that happened, she surely wouldn't let her forget it. She sucked in a breath; she needed to calm herself just as much as Joyce did. Nevertheless, she leaned over Joyce, bringing the tips of her fingers down against the skin of her back. She exerted a firm yet careful pressure on Joyce, not wanting to hurt her, but giving the brunette just a hint of her powerful grip strength as she began to gently knead at her skin.

[Joyce_Hilda]

Laying her head on her arms, Joyce shivered as she felt Astrid's grip. She didn't want her trainer to think she was some sort of pervy, but she had to struggle a bit to not moan at her grip. She sank her face into her arms to hide it more. As the massage continued, she thanked the heavens for she laying on her belly, because she felt her nipples just got hardened about that treatment.