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riptide_asylumTitle: Time Keeps On Slippin Slippin
Rating: PG
Summary: After Cody's heart attack, staying healthy becomes a top priority for them both.
Nick strained to lift the heavy bar over his head. His arms throbbed and began to shake. Gritting his teeth, he fought to raise the weights higher, willing his arms to lock out. His vision dimmed.
“Come on, Ryder, one more, push it out. Push it out, push it…” A stocky figure hovered at the edge of his vision.
“Push it! Right now!”
Snarling, Nick fought his arms straight and locked out. Overbeck grabbed the bar and guided it back into its cradle. Nick dropped his aching arms and sucked in a breath.
“That’s the way.” Overbeck handed him his towel and water bottle. “Nice session.”
Nick sat up, wheeling his legs over the side of the weight bench. “Thanks.”
Mid-morning on a Tuesday and the free weight room at the gym was half-filled with men Nick’s age and older, all fighting back the ravages of time. Weights clanked as they were cast back onto the rack, metal on metal. Nearby, a heavy-set black guy dropped a full bar on a mat with a dull thud. And over it all, the Scorpions begged to be rocked like a hurricane. Nick couldn’t’ve been happier.
Well, he could’ve, but not in a public place with a half-dozen other middle-aged men looking on.
With a quick glance at the clock, Nick set for a spot as Overbeck took his place on the bench. Overbeck’s bar held a good hundred pounds more weight but Nick didn’t care. Overbeck also had a good fifty pounds on him and held himself to a diet Nick called medieval.
They’d met casually, the both of them coming too often to the weight room at the same time to ignore each other very long. Turned out they both served in Nam. Didn’t need to talk much beyond that.
“Come on, one more,” Nick coaxed, forcing himself not to look at the clock. “That’s it. Now another. C’mon, you can do this. You can do this!”
Overbeck could and did, exhaling sharply as he hoisted the bar overhead with ease.
“Keep going,” Nick counseled, “let’s see it.” As far as he could figure, Cody would be starting on his last 500 meters right about now. That gave him six, seven minutes tops. “Do it!”
Overbeck did it, but on the next rep, he started to strain.
“Come on. You got this. Push it.”
Overhead, Steve Miller began to fly like an eagle, into the future.
Overbeck growled.
“Push push push, do it do it do it,” Nick chanted. He shot a quick glance at the clock. Four minutes.
The bar wobbled.
“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” Nick said. He crouched, so he was right next to Overbeck’s ear. “Don’t you puss out on me. You fucking finish that set. Now!”
Overbeck roared as he straightened his arms, and Nick rose in time to catch the bar and guide it back home. Meanwhile time kept on slippin’ slippin’ slippin’.
Nick tossed Overbeck his towel.
Overbeck sat up and shot Nick a not unkind look. “You about done here, soldier?”
“Good session, man,” Nick answered. He looked over at the clock then back at Overbeck.
The big man laughed loudly, drawing a few stares. “Go. We’re good and I’ll see you Thursday.”
Nick and Cody came to the gym on a regular schedule, and Overbeck and a couple other guys had started coming to the Hightide for poker Thursday nights. The whole thing stank of normalcy and Nick was startled by how much he liked it. Now, however, he had somewhere else to be.
Grinning, he shot Overbeck a wave and headed downstairs to the pool.
They had a deal. Cody swam and Nick lifted. The same time every other day, three days a week, rain or shine. Nick had tried swimming with Cody at first, but hadn’t counted on Cody being so fast, even with a damn stent in his heart, and their heated, whispered exchanges at the end of the lane drew stares and ratcheted up the tension back home. Finally Nick ceded ground and retreated to the weight room. But he refused to be even a minute late to meet Cody at the end of his workout.
Nick poked his head round the door of the pool deck. The place was damp with a heavily chlorinated mist that burned his throat.
The lanes were all occupied, swimming being even more popular than weights, although down here the crowd skewed more towards older women in flowered bathing caps.
Or coeds home on break.
Over by the entrance to the locker room, a slip of a girl was demonstrating her on-deck form to an attentive Cody Allen. Even at sixty Cody was tall and lean and perfect, from his mop of wet gray hair to the belly he was sucking in over his long, rangy legs. And if Nick hadn’t been able to talk him out of swimming in a Speedo it wasn’t for lack of trying. But after thirty-odd years, Nick had learned to, if not pick his battles, then retreat with something that might, with a tailwind, approximate grace.
The coed pantomimed an overhead stroke while Nick hoped she’d drop dead.
Cody caught sight of Nick over her shoulder and grinned wryly.
Towel around his neck, Nick started across the pool deck. The lifeguards on duty looked about twelve, even though Nick had checked IDs the first couple times they’d come here. They were blasting some song about a chick in construction, by the sound of it. Although secretly Nick didn’t approve of women anywhere near wrecking balls. He stopped a discreet distance away and hoped the coed would get so into her dramatic stroke re-enactment she’d knock herself back into the pool.
“--so I don’t know if it’s how I’m coming into my flip turn that’s the problem or if it’s a breathing issue.” She shot Nick a glance over her shoulder then quickly turned back to Cody. “What do you think?”
“Well, uh, Kayleigh,” Cody began.
Nick shook his head.
“It might be a combination of the two. Keep track of how you’re stretching into your stroke and don’t slow down as you approach the wall. Keep your reach long--” Cody demonstrated. “Stretch your fingertips to the wall. Really go for it. That way as you touch, you’ll already be fully extended and ready to snap into the turn.”
Nick looked up at the glass panes of the ceiling and the foggy gray morning beyond.
“Fully extended, huh?” Kayleigh stepped closer, hands on hips. “Maybe you could jump back in and show me?”
That was Nick’s cue. “As much as Cody would love to show you, Katy--”
“It’s Kayleigh.” She spun with a poison-sweet smile.
“Cody has an appointment with his orthopedist this morning, so we’ll have to cut this short.”
Kayleigh gasped. “Orthopedist?” She spun back in Cody’s direction. “Cody, are you okay?”
“Oh he’s fine,” Nick answered. “Or he will be. Maybe. If he obeys doctor’s orders.”
Cody shot Nick a dour glance.
“So as you can see, Katy, Cody would love to show you how fully he extends. As long as his hip replacement allows it.”
Cody’s brows lowered. He gave Nick a look that would’ve felled a lesser man.
Nick shrugged. “That’s assuming everything goes well with the operation.”
“Operation?” Kaleigh spun back to face Nick. He was reminded of a wind-up toy.
“Yeah well, doc says everything should work out fine as long as Cody follows orders. He shouldn’t have any more uh, what did the doc call them, Cody? Oh yeah. Orthopedic malfunctions. See, that’s when the bone’s sitting so shallow in the joint it just pops right out. Sometimes right through the skin.”
Kayleigh shot Cody a frightened look then hurried away across the pool deck. Nick didn’t bother to watch her go. “All set, Coach? Or d’you wanna hang around and give another couple lessons?”
Cody’s expression relaxed, and he shook his head. “Nick, that was unnecessary.” He turned and headed into the locker room.
“Says you.” Nick followed close behind. By mutual agreement, they skipped the communal showers. The shower back on board the Hightide suited them much better than the vast open baths of the gym. Privacy was something they both still prized above everything else.
Cody tossed his wet swim cap into his bag. “‘Orthopedic malfunctions’? You made me sound like an old man.”
Nick sat down on the bench and waited for Cody to change. “Nah. Just a guy who could use his own lane to swim in, and who probably shouldn’t extend himself as fully as he might like. Besides, you don’t need Katy slowing you down out there with her bad stroke.”
“It’s Kayleigh,” Cody said indulgently, “and she was just looking for advice.” He smoothed an old gray sweatshirt down over his belly and adjusted the bottom over his sweats.
“I’m sure she was. What d’you wanna bet those two guys at the lifeguard station can help her with that? Seeing how they were born somewhere near the same decade as her.” Nick fished the car keys out of the end pocket of his bag and tossed them to Cody.
Cody didn’t say anything, but Nick recognized a pleased moue when he saw one on his partner. They headed out to the parking lot in companionable silence.
“Overbeck still on for Thursday?” Cody asked as he unlocked the door of the Yukon.
“Him and McAllister both,” Nick answered. He slid into the passenger seat and took Cody’s gym bag from him, stowing it behind the front seat next to his own. “I’ll make cheese straws.”
“You’ve never made cheese straws in your life.” Cody snorted as he started the car.
“I’m still young,” Nick retorted. “And there’s no time like the present.”
They pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway, turning south towards the marina and home, Cody driving carefully and efficiently with Nick’s hand on his thigh. Cody turned on the radio, KFOG 104.5, home of the oldies and one of their favorites. But Nick turned it off after a few seconds. Sunlight was starting to burn the mist off, and the morning was starting to warm up. It was Nick’s favorite time of day, and he was heading home with his favorite person in the world.
“Nachos now,” Nick said contemplatively, “that’s a different story.”
Cody shot Nick a smile and guided the big car into the outside lane of the highway, spotting the bright green sign for their exit coming up just ahead.
Rating: PG
Summary: After Cody's heart attack, staying healthy becomes a top priority for them both.
Nick strained to lift the heavy bar over his head. His arms throbbed and began to shake. Gritting his teeth, he fought to raise the weights higher, willing his arms to lock out. His vision dimmed.
“Come on, Ryder, one more, push it out. Push it out, push it…” A stocky figure hovered at the edge of his vision.
“Push it! Right now!”
Snarling, Nick fought his arms straight and locked out. Overbeck grabbed the bar and guided it back into its cradle. Nick dropped his aching arms and sucked in a breath.
“That’s the way.” Overbeck handed him his towel and water bottle. “Nice session.”
Nick sat up, wheeling his legs over the side of the weight bench. “Thanks.”
Mid-morning on a Tuesday and the free weight room at the gym was half-filled with men Nick’s age and older, all fighting back the ravages of time. Weights clanked as they were cast back onto the rack, metal on metal. Nearby, a heavy-set black guy dropped a full bar on a mat with a dull thud. And over it all, the Scorpions begged to be rocked like a hurricane. Nick couldn’t’ve been happier.
Well, he could’ve, but not in a public place with a half-dozen other middle-aged men looking on.
With a quick glance at the clock, Nick set for a spot as Overbeck took his place on the bench. Overbeck’s bar held a good hundred pounds more weight but Nick didn’t care. Overbeck also had a good fifty pounds on him and held himself to a diet Nick called medieval.
They’d met casually, the both of them coming too often to the weight room at the same time to ignore each other very long. Turned out they both served in Nam. Didn’t need to talk much beyond that.
“Come on, one more,” Nick coaxed, forcing himself not to look at the clock. “That’s it. Now another. C’mon, you can do this. You can do this!”
Overbeck could and did, exhaling sharply as he hoisted the bar overhead with ease.
“Keep going,” Nick counseled, “let’s see it.” As far as he could figure, Cody would be starting on his last 500 meters right about now. That gave him six, seven minutes tops. “Do it!”
Overbeck did it, but on the next rep, he started to strain.
“Come on. You got this. Push it.”
Overhead, Steve Miller began to fly like an eagle, into the future.
Overbeck growled.
“Push push push, do it do it do it,” Nick chanted. He shot a quick glance at the clock. Four minutes.
The bar wobbled.
“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” Nick said. He crouched, so he was right next to Overbeck’s ear. “Don’t you puss out on me. You fucking finish that set. Now!”
Overbeck roared as he straightened his arms, and Nick rose in time to catch the bar and guide it back home. Meanwhile time kept on slippin’ slippin’ slippin’.
Nick tossed Overbeck his towel.
Overbeck sat up and shot Nick a not unkind look. “You about done here, soldier?”
“Good session, man,” Nick answered. He looked over at the clock then back at Overbeck.
The big man laughed loudly, drawing a few stares. “Go. We’re good and I’ll see you Thursday.”
Nick and Cody came to the gym on a regular schedule, and Overbeck and a couple other guys had started coming to the Hightide for poker Thursday nights. The whole thing stank of normalcy and Nick was startled by how much he liked it. Now, however, he had somewhere else to be.
Grinning, he shot Overbeck a wave and headed downstairs to the pool.
They had a deal. Cody swam and Nick lifted. The same time every other day, three days a week, rain or shine. Nick had tried swimming with Cody at first, but hadn’t counted on Cody being so fast, even with a damn stent in his heart, and their heated, whispered exchanges at the end of the lane drew stares and ratcheted up the tension back home. Finally Nick ceded ground and retreated to the weight room. But he refused to be even a minute late to meet Cody at the end of his workout.
Nick poked his head round the door of the pool deck. The place was damp with a heavily chlorinated mist that burned his throat.
The lanes were all occupied, swimming being even more popular than weights, although down here the crowd skewed more towards older women in flowered bathing caps.
Or coeds home on break.
Over by the entrance to the locker room, a slip of a girl was demonstrating her on-deck form to an attentive Cody Allen. Even at sixty Cody was tall and lean and perfect, from his mop of wet gray hair to the belly he was sucking in over his long, rangy legs. And if Nick hadn’t been able to talk him out of swimming in a Speedo it wasn’t for lack of trying. But after thirty-odd years, Nick had learned to, if not pick his battles, then retreat with something that might, with a tailwind, approximate grace.
The coed pantomimed an overhead stroke while Nick hoped she’d drop dead.
Cody caught sight of Nick over her shoulder and grinned wryly.
Towel around his neck, Nick started across the pool deck. The lifeguards on duty looked about twelve, even though Nick had checked IDs the first couple times they’d come here. They were blasting some song about a chick in construction, by the sound of it. Although secretly Nick didn’t approve of women anywhere near wrecking balls. He stopped a discreet distance away and hoped the coed would get so into her dramatic stroke re-enactment she’d knock herself back into the pool.
“--so I don’t know if it’s how I’m coming into my flip turn that’s the problem or if it’s a breathing issue.” She shot Nick a glance over her shoulder then quickly turned back to Cody. “What do you think?”
“Well, uh, Kayleigh,” Cody began.
Nick shook his head.
“It might be a combination of the two. Keep track of how you’re stretching into your stroke and don’t slow down as you approach the wall. Keep your reach long--” Cody demonstrated. “Stretch your fingertips to the wall. Really go for it. That way as you touch, you’ll already be fully extended and ready to snap into the turn.”
Nick looked up at the glass panes of the ceiling and the foggy gray morning beyond.
“Fully extended, huh?” Kayleigh stepped closer, hands on hips. “Maybe you could jump back in and show me?”
That was Nick’s cue. “As much as Cody would love to show you, Katy--”
“It’s Kayleigh.” She spun with a poison-sweet smile.
“Cody has an appointment with his orthopedist this morning, so we’ll have to cut this short.”
Kayleigh gasped. “Orthopedist?” She spun back in Cody’s direction. “Cody, are you okay?”
“Oh he’s fine,” Nick answered. “Or he will be. Maybe. If he obeys doctor’s orders.”
Cody shot Nick a dour glance.
“So as you can see, Katy, Cody would love to show you how fully he extends. As long as his hip replacement allows it.”
Cody’s brows lowered. He gave Nick a look that would’ve felled a lesser man.
Nick shrugged. “That’s assuming everything goes well with the operation.”
“Operation?” Kaleigh spun back to face Nick. He was reminded of a wind-up toy.
“Yeah well, doc says everything should work out fine as long as Cody follows orders. He shouldn’t have any more uh, what did the doc call them, Cody? Oh yeah. Orthopedic malfunctions. See, that’s when the bone’s sitting so shallow in the joint it just pops right out. Sometimes right through the skin.”
Kayleigh shot Cody a frightened look then hurried away across the pool deck. Nick didn’t bother to watch her go. “All set, Coach? Or d’you wanna hang around and give another couple lessons?”
Cody’s expression relaxed, and he shook his head. “Nick, that was unnecessary.” He turned and headed into the locker room.
“Says you.” Nick followed close behind. By mutual agreement, they skipped the communal showers. The shower back on board the Hightide suited them much better than the vast open baths of the gym. Privacy was something they both still prized above everything else.
Cody tossed his wet swim cap into his bag. “‘Orthopedic malfunctions’? You made me sound like an old man.”
Nick sat down on the bench and waited for Cody to change. “Nah. Just a guy who could use his own lane to swim in, and who probably shouldn’t extend himself as fully as he might like. Besides, you don’t need Katy slowing you down out there with her bad stroke.”
“It’s Kayleigh,” Cody said indulgently, “and she was just looking for advice.” He smoothed an old gray sweatshirt down over his belly and adjusted the bottom over his sweats.
“I’m sure she was. What d’you wanna bet those two guys at the lifeguard station can help her with that? Seeing how they were born somewhere near the same decade as her.” Nick fished the car keys out of the end pocket of his bag and tossed them to Cody.
Cody didn’t say anything, but Nick recognized a pleased moue when he saw one on his partner. They headed out to the parking lot in companionable silence.
“Overbeck still on for Thursday?” Cody asked as he unlocked the door of the Yukon.
“Him and McAllister both,” Nick answered. He slid into the passenger seat and took Cody’s gym bag from him, stowing it behind the front seat next to his own. “I’ll make cheese straws.”
“You’ve never made cheese straws in your life.” Cody snorted as he started the car.
“I’m still young,” Nick retorted. “And there’s no time like the present.”
They pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway, turning south towards the marina and home, Cody driving carefully and efficiently with Nick’s hand on his thigh. Cody turned on the radio, KFOG 104.5, home of the oldies and one of their favorites. But Nick turned it off after a few seconds. Sunlight was starting to burn the mist off, and the morning was starting to warm up. It was Nick’s favorite time of day, and he was heading home with his favorite person in the world.
“Nachos now,” Nick said contemplatively, “that’s a different story.”
Cody shot Nick a smile and guided the big car into the outside lane of the highway, spotting the bright green sign for their exit coming up just ahead.
