Meeting Near the Bathroom

The dreaded day came. Strapping on a sleek red gym crop with matching pants that stretched to her ankles, Tigress grumbled as she looked in the mirror.

She looked great. She couldn't argue with that, and Song's selection of clothing looked amazing on her. She grumbled at the fact she looked too great.

Going to a gym is a gamble. The small studio she usually goes to didn't have that many men, and gyms were notorious for their 'watchful' eyes. For a moment, she thought about her chances to snag someone for herself. Song had met Tai Lung while browsing a gym.

Tigress shook her head, though. Muscled steroid-filled meatheads weren't going to be her cup of tea. She took her keys, wallet, and gym bag and headed out the door. Taking the subway, she was grateful for the cold weather. She could have her jacket. Fewer perverts to see her. The gym fabric was really comfortable and form-fitting.

And Tigress had a really great fitting form.

The tiger found her way down the Red Line which passed the cafe Song and Tai Lung went to. Her dark jacket clung to her as she walked out of the subway car and made her way to the gym. Through the double doors of a small two-story building, she saw her 'friends' standing there, waving to her. "Tigress! You finally made it," Song exclaimed. The tiger put on a brave smile. The service desk stood at the front with the entire gym in the back. A running track circled the top with the lighter equipment, and while Tai Lung spoke with a Golden Asian Cat to let them in, Tigress whispered over to Song.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"What's not to like?"

"I don't really enjoy being at a gym. What the heck are we supposed to do?"

"Well, I was just gonna watch him work," Song smirked. Tigress rolled her eyes as the snow leopard's gaze fell on Tai Lung. He had a loose purple sleeveless shirt on with sweatpants, showing off his striking form. With soft rippling muscles and a faint outline of his abs, Tai Lung was the pinnacle of athletics.

Tigress sighed, annoyed. She'd much rather have her own martial arts training.

"Right this way, ladies," Tai Lung said with a charming grin. Tigress and Song followed. The tiger flashed a look at the Golden Asian Cat working at the front desk. The feline smirked, shaking her head and shrugging. Tigress smirked back.

At least they had an understanding of Tai Lung's posing.

"This is where the cardio place is for you guys," Tai Lung said.

"What makes you think we only want to do cardio?" Song playfully frowned, resting her hands on her hips.

"Isn't that what girls always do?"

"You're horrible," Song laughed. Tigress shook her head. Sometimes her friend could be the weirdest to be around. They followed Tai Lung to the machines, the pool, and the free weight area.

"Here's where I do most of my work," Tai Lung said proudly.

"It definitely shows," Song smirked.

"I have a question," Tigress quickly asked. "There's one thing you haven't shown us."

"What's that?" Tai Lung smiled.

"The bathroom," Tigress said flatly. "I need to use it." Anything to get out of this awkward mess.

"Oh come on, Tigress. We just got here," Song argued. "Why don't we just finish the tour, then we can go to the bathroom afterward?"

"Hm," Tigress grumbled under her breath. As Tai Lung began talking about some other stuff that Song seemed fascinated about but Tigress had no interest in, the tiger's eyes glanced over to the weight training area. It was in the very back. A wide open space with four squat racks and moveable benches. There were a few people there. Rhinos, a slightly older yak doing a bench press, and a rabbit strangely enough. As they were about to move on, Tigress saw a dark figure walk into the training area.

She stopped.

The figure had a familiar black hoodie that covered his head. Tigress could only see their back, but she had seen that kind of hoodie before. The person pulled his hood off where a pair of earphones hung on his head. It looked like the panda she had seen on the train. How she remembered what he looked like she couldn't say, but as the panda walked over to the squat rack to do deadlifts, he worked in total silence.

Tigress noticed the weights were heavy. Heavier than she thought a panda could lift. But he was doing it, almost with ease. The yak, who finished his bench press, seemed to be friends with him as he leaned over and watched the panda work. He wasn't talking. On the last rep, the panda slowly planted the weight down, sitting down on the bench.

He looked young with his interesting jade eyes. She stared, watching him look around as she stood next to the corner, peeking from it. His head turned to her and she ducked behind the wall.

Her eyes went wide. What was she doing? Why was she staring? Why was she panting? Tigress shook her head and quickly caught up with Tai Lung and Song down the hall, just in time for the big snow leopard to say, "And here's Tigress's coveted place, the bathroom."

"Great, so are you going to do your workout?" Song asked.

"Oh, no. I'm usually here all the time, but... I just wanted to show you girls what it's like. If you're intimidated by it I can-"

"I think we'll manage," Tigress hastily said. "Excuse us for a moment." She and Song dove into the bathroom. Tigress immediately went to the mirror, checking if there were any signs of sickness.

"Tigress, what's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" Tigress asked, not fully paying attention.

"I know Tai Lung isn't your cup of tea, but can't you be a little nicer?"

"Uh yeah, sure," Tigress said. Song's head jerked back as her striped friend's eyes stared endlessly into the white porcelain sink. "What was that?"

"Tigress, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You just... look like you're panicking."

"I'm not," Tigress quickly said. "Just... a little shaky that's all. Must be work getting to me."

Song crossed her arms and eyed the tiger up and down. "Tigress, work has never gotten to you. What's up?"

"I told you, it's nothing."

"Are you sure? Is this about Tai Lung?"

"No, no, it's... never mind," Tigress sighed, taking a deep breath. Song probably wouldn't understand it anyway. "I think I'll do a run. I'll meet you outside, okay?"

"O-Okay," Song said slowly before going into one of the stalls.

Tigress headed out, ending right back up with Tai Lung. "Hello, Tigress." he grinned grizzly.

"Hello, Tai Lung," Tigress muttered. Right, how could she forget this guy?

"You okay? You look a little flushed."

"Just a little hot."

"Oh, I think you're a lot hotter than you think," Tai Lung smirked, resting a hand on the wall beside her.

Tigress crossed her arms with an unimpressive glint in her eye. "What do you want, Tai Lung?"

"The world, money, glory... and you."

"What about Song? I thought you were interested in her."

"She's a nice girl but I have my eyes set on you. You should know that by now."

"I do," Tigress grumbled.

"So, how long are you going to act dumb around me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Tigress. You know I want you. Not that laughing ditzy you call a friend," Tai Lung said.

Tigress snarled, "That laughing ditzy is my friend. And I don't appreciate you calling her that. You know what, I'm leaving."

Tai Lung held his arm right where it was, blocking Tigress. "I'm not done yet."

"Well I am. Now leave me alone."

"Come on, Tigress."

"Get away from me!"

"But I- ARHHH!" Suddenly, something grabbed Tai Lung's arm and bent it behind his back while grabbing his tail. The man pushed Tai Lung to his knees while keeping his arm bent behind his back.

"Now, I'm not usually one to but-in," said the man putting Tai Lung in his place, "But the lady did say to leave her alone." Tigress saw the panda from earlier holding Tai Lung in his position. Tigress's head snapped to the other side of the hall where a Golden Asian cat was about to walk towards them. She saw Tai Lung being held by the panda and slowly walked away as if she saw nothing.

"Let... go of me."

"Not until you apologize to the lady here," the panda said, twisting his arm a little more.

"I'm... sorry," Tai Lung grumbled.

"Good," the panda pulled him up and released him. He kindly dusted the snow leopard's pants, making Tai Lung baffled beyond words. "Now, if you harass anyone else in this gym again, I'm going to have to throw you out. Literally," He said with a nice-enough smile.

"The... workers here wouldn't-"

"It takes me less than two minutes to throw people out of here. Especially rhinos. And trust me, I've done it before," The panda grinned at Tai Lung's wide eyes. "Now go, and think about your life choices." Tigress watched as the snow leopard ran out of the hall. Her eyes went back to the panda.

His jade eyes were much nicer up close. Much of his form and fit was covered by the large black hoodie and gray sweatpants. "Are you okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tigress quickly recovered. "I could've managed him myself."

"Right," The panda chuckled nervously, cutely tapping his fingers together. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries."

"It's... it's okay."

They looked at each other for a moment before Song came out.

"Oh, hey Tigress," she said tentatively eying her friend. Her head looked around. "Where's Tai Lung?"

"He-"

"He went outside. He... had to get something," Tigress quickly answered. The panda stared at the striped feline with confusion.

"Uhhhh, yeah," he slowly caught on.

Of course, Song looked at both of them and sighed, "Tigress, why are you lying to me?"

"Huh?"

"I overheard the whole thing. I know Tai Lung was trying to hit on you."

Tigress's eyes went wide before shrinking into suspicious slits. "You know or you've known?"

"I've known for a while he liked you."

"Then... why did-"

"To get you out of your shell... and possibly a date. I knew he was a bit much, but I thought it was comical and cute. Until now," Song narrowed her eyes, glaring at Tigress. "Do you think I don't know when a guy isn't into me? I was just... trying to help you."

"Is that why you didn't feel comfortable being with him alone?"

"And because I can only 'fake flirt' for so long," Song replied, "I'm really sorry for trying to push you so much... and I should've been clearer on my intentions from the beginning."

"That would've helped," Tigress answered.

Then Song's head jerked back. "Wait, if you knew he liked you and you didn't like him, why didn't you say anything about it?"

"I thought you wanted to date him... and I... I didn't want a repeat of the last time-"

"Tigress, I was young and immature back then."

"What's different?" The panda asked. Song's glare snapped to the bear. "Ah! Hehe, umm, I should get going." The panda dove into the bathroom.

"I-I I didn't want to lose you as a friend, Song."

"So keeping me out of the loop was the way to prevent that?"

Tigress bowed her head. "No."

"Tigress, look, a lot of the guys I date, I date for fun and some of them I thought you would like," Song sighed, "But Tai Lung was shallow and I should've said something before. But I didn't know if he would act differently with you... but... now that I think about it, that was a stupid idea." She smacked herself in the head. "I guess I should stop playing matchmaker, huh?"

"It would make things less awkward, yes," Tigress smiled. "I'm sorry, Song. I should've told you."

"I'm sorry too. I should've told you what I was trying to do from the beginning."

"How about we be more honest with each other, okay?" Tigress asked.

Song smiled, "Okay, but you can't be anti-social all the time. Hang out with me and the girls some time, okay? That's the deal: I don't do matchmaking for you. You come with me to girls' nights."

"Song I-"

"Tigress," The snow leopard said with surprising sternness.

Tigress rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Good," Song sighed, "I guess we're not getting that membership here."

"Why?"

"Well, I mean, you don't like working out at gyms like this, right? I just did this because I wanted to give you more time with Tai Lung. Since that ship has holes in it-"

"I don't think Tai Lung will bother us again," Tigress smiled widely. "Besides, I... think this place has some potential."

Song's eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something again."

"I am not. Just... trust me on this. This is a nice place, minus the recent events."

"Since when did you get interested in gyms?"

"I don't know. This one just... sticks to me," Tigress smiled with a shrug. Song's eyes widened. That smile had a tinge of haste to it. Was Tigress... nervous? The snow leopard sighed. She would be nervous too if she had to deal with Tai Lung like that.

"Alright, I'll be at the cardio belt. What are you going to do?"

"I'll figure something out. Don't worry." Tigress smiled. The smile made a sharp pain in Song's head. It didn't make sense. Why was she smiling so... so... she couldn't put the word to it. Song shrugged and headed to the cardio belt.

Just as she left, the panda came out of the bathroom. "Oh! You're still here."

"Yes," Tigress quickly said. "And I... wanted to thank you for helping me, Mr..."

"Po," The panda chuckled, "Just call me Po. And I wouldn't worry about that snow leopard. He doesn't really do much but talk a lot of hot air with his girls."

"Girls," Tigress stated. So she and Song weren't the only ones. "Well, I... thank you for helping me. I'm Tigress, by the way."

"Anytime, Tigress," Po smiled, heading for the exit while Tigress followed. "I hope you enjoy the gym. It's nice, minus the awkward creepy snow leopards that hit on you."

"Hehe, I'll remember that," She smiled as they reached the front desk. "How often do you work out here?"

"Every. Single. Day," groused the Golden Asian cat at the front desk. "I can't get this panda away from the barbells and treadmills."

"Mei Ling," Po whined, "You don't have to say it like that."

"Hmm, you're lucky you're cute," Mei Ling smirked. A sharp pinch grabbed at Tigress's chest as the panda smiled widely.

"Well, see you," Po waved. He suddenly bumped into the clear sliding doors which hadn't moved. "Argh, not again."

Tigress and Mei Ling stifled a laugh as the panda waved them goodbye.

Tigress's eyes locked onto Mei Ling who looked at the counter table, bored and disinterested. "What exactly did you see when you... went back there?"

"Me?" Mei Ling replied, "Are you asking if I saw a hotshot jerk get what he deserved?" Tigress nodded. Mei Ling gave a wily smile. "I saw nothing. I just went to the bathroom until I remembered I had stuff to do. Really need to get a camera there, though."

"Right," Tigress nodded. Her eyes briefly traveled over to where the panda left before she walked over to the treadmills with Song.

"Took you long enough."

"Sorry, just... had to go to the bathroom."

"Again?! You sure you're regular?"

"Shut up," Tigress groaned, embarrassed.

Continued...