Love, Love, Love: A Luther Story (TBC)

Love, Love, Love

The flight had been hell. Eight hours of, how-the-hell-was-a-7'6-jackalope-going-to-be-comfortable-smashed-into-normal-sized-seats, type of hell. Luther and company had decided on getting a connecting flight in D.C. to shorten their trip by three hours. Two more hours of cramped hell and they finally made it to Bangor. Still, the flight from Denmark had taken a toll on Luther and his companions. Of course the three of them were exhausted and trying to adjust to the time change. As soon as they arrived at the combine hotel, where August had upgraded their room, they all quickly snuck in and collapsed on their beds. August and him had decided to stay in the room to rest. Luther on the other hand wanted nothing more than to workout since he wasn't able to because of their packing and flight. He told his two roomies his plans, got dressed into a tank top and shorts, and then went off.

Luther pushed himself harder than usual. He had increased his typical three sets of ten reps of each strength training exercise. Afterwards, he did the same increase with his plyometric exercises. The last thing to come for him was his run. He did his usual stretches, crushed a protein bar, adjusted the small bag on his shoulders that kept water and more protein bars, and then went out.

He thought that, perhaps, he should wake up at four am to start the day tomorrow. Would he be alright with the time change, though? Whatever his decision on what time he'd wake up, the decision to increase his miles right now had already been decided. Instead of ten, he would run fourteen. It wasn't too much more but it was probably... most definitely, more than he would have wanted him to do.

Luther pushed whatever thoughts he had of how he would react if he found out all the changes he made to his routine today. Instead, he thought about all the other things he had to do after this. It was the start of the combine. Really, he could care less about the introductions and the dinner that was planned for the day. He didn't want to socialize. If anything, the only people he would make time to see were friends Tino and Jacky. Sure, that could be arranged. He'd finish this run, get back to the hotel to shower, probably grab dinner with August and 'H', then ...?

'Shit.'

The Jackalope cut off all thoughts, slowing his pace to take a water break. He was completely drenched in sweat and...really had not thought about needing a break so soon.
His hand came up to wipe some of it off his forehead before it could get into his eyes and he took that moment to look around at where he had stopped. It was a park. Decent looking, he thought, compared to the ones back home in Denmark. 

He looked around as he drank, taking in the sights. The park had a couple other people in it. Most seemed to be jogging or just walking leisurely.
As he walked to toss his now empty bottle into the nearest trash can, his eyes wandered. They finally stopped and came to rest on someone who was sitting beneath a tree only a couple feet away. They looked like they had been reading a book, as it was still open in one hand but now resting in their lap. Luther was ready to move on when the stranger turned and he caught a glimpse of their face.

His bag, half-way on his shoulders, began to slide off as his hands dropped from adjusting it.
'Who'
He felt his bag completely fall off and onto the ground. He could care less. His eyes were glued to the girl. She was-
Absolutely-

'Beautiful.'

Luther slowly began making his way over to her, stuck in some trance-like state.
She looked up as he stood there, only just a foot away. He stared down at her and felt his heart beat faster. His ears were filled with just the thumping in his chest and before he knew it, his hands came up to sign just three words to her.

"I love you."

Her face at his arrival had been one of piqued curiosity and slight confusion. Afterall, who was the giant jackalope that was just...staring at her? But as he signed to her, her eyes suddenly widened and she quickly got to her feet.

'She understood?' the look on her face was as if-
Luther felt his face turn red at the realization that she had actually understood him and he turned to run off; only to get his antlers caught in the branches above.
Embarrassment turned to frustration as he worked to untangle himself. Frustration turned to a much stronger embarrassment as the girl came up next to him and grabbed hold of his arm.
Of course, it was obvious to tell that she hadn't expected his arm to be covered in sweat and let go just as soon as she had grabbed it, her face all but showing her put off expression. She then grimaced, wiping her hand on her pants, and moved to stand in front of him.

"It would be easier if you stood still and calmly untangled yourself."

Now that she was standing in front of him and he was unable to move away, he took in the full sight of her. She wore a halter crop tank top, what looked to be some sort of athletic (yet still casual?) lounge pants, and sandals. Both top and pants were blue in color, though the top shared a mix of both light blue and navy while the pants were entirely navy in color. The pants were tied up by a bronze-gold ribbon and her sandals shared that same unique color. As if she wasn't beautiful enough, the outfit certainly added onto the impact she was having on Luther's heart. The jackalope felt like the pounding in his chest was loud enough for the both of them to hear. His face felt hotter than before and as if it wasn't enough that he had already grossed her out with how sweaty he was, he only began to sweat more.