Getting on the floor in tight yoga clothes, I put my hands to the sides and take a breath, before grunting and pushing myself up in a slow, controlled motion. Not one part is out of my control, just like it should be, with a sharp steady breath leaving my lips the entire way.

  Then, I slowly lower myself back down, taking a deep breath at the bottom. “One…”

  Going back up, I feel my chest and back tighten, sweat taking no time to drip down my body. It’s been a long while since I’ve done this, my abs are even worse, nearly gone.

  Hitting the floor with no noise again, I let out a breath and pay mind to the feeling on the floor. Where once I felt it like it were a muscle pressing against a solid surface, now it’s… soft. I’ve let myself go. Not that I can’t get it back, but it won’t be fun.

  Chuckling a bit to myself, I continue the push ups, only taking brief breaks to take a breath, hype myself up with the music playing in the living room, before returning to my motions.

  And I’d do so for… quite a while, a good half hour by the time Yuna walks in. Or Yunaria, as she told us her real name was.

  “Sal, what’re you doing?”

  Sitting up from the position, I take a sip of water before shrugging. “Push ups. Let myself outta shape, so gotta get back into it.”

  Chuckling a bit, she sits down across from me, offering me a cookie, which… painfully, I shake my head and deny. “No, sorry, I’ve put on too much weight lately.”

  Rolling her eyes, she munches on her own with big bites. “It’s just a cookie, what’s so bad about it?” Smirking, I start counting on my fingers. “Well, the sugar messes with your glucose levels and makes your body put on weight more easily. Then the fact that I’ve eaten enough bread for the day and the dough will put me past the limit. I could avoid the first problem, but only if I don’t need to eat much for a few hours. However, I need to pound protein down after working out, so-”

  “Okay okay! I get it!” Waving her hands in front of her face, she smiles a bit despite the reaction. “Apparently you’re a fitness and tech nerd, got it.”

  Smiling, I go back to my push ups, speaking between reps. “Well it came with the job, needed to be better than everyone in my weight class.”

  Cocking an ear to the side, she looks at me with thought. “So what about people bigger than you? Like, seven foot tall guys? Could you beat them?”

  Snorting, I look up at her for a spell. “Like, in a fight? Not in a fair fist fight, no, they have too much weight on me. I’ll get grappled and ragdolled.” Forcing myself up with visible strain, she seems to have another question, but I continue when I hit the floor. “But a fight is never fair, you throw sand in their eyes and stab them in an artery before you get thrown around.”

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  Frowning, she nods a bit. “Right…”

  Sighing, I shake my head as I keep going. “Forgot you’re not from here in general, it’s just how Blackline is. Violence is the rule of the city, that or money. If you got neither, you’re making someone else the money.”

  “Well I’m not, and I’m not rich or hurting people!” Smirking, I push myself up to a sitting position, my chest plenty sore now. And my back. “Mhm, yeah… so Lumi runs the shop, do you know how much she makes in gross earnings a year?”

  “Huh? Uh… no?”

  I raise a hand to count on my fingers again, before she puts a hand on my wrist to stop me. “No no, no counting, I get it. She makes a lot?”

  Chuckling with a nod, I put my hand down. “Yeah, enough to probably buy a second shop if she saved up for a few years, but she has expenses and all of that.”

  “I doubt she’d ever do that. I mean, it’s a family owned cafe.” Nodding to her, I sip on some water. “Passed down from her Mom, right?”

  “Yeah, after she… well, she said she died from some illness I didn’t recognize, but when I met her it was just after that. …the three bedrooms all seemed lived in, but I never asked who was the third person.”

  “Huh. Probably was someone helping take care of her. She likely had some sorta good medical package, and had home aid once she was sick.”

  “Ohhh.” Nodding, she looks down at me in thought. “So… how long do you plan to do these push ups for? You’ve been here for a while, right?”

  “Well… been here for maybe half an hour. Prolly will go until the hour’s up, do as many as I can in that time.” Getting back down, I return to my reps, Yuna watching me silently in thought… a bit creepily long to be honest, might be signs of soul damage.

  Before I can make a comment, though, she speaks. ”So given how fast you do this… what, have you done like, a thousand?”

  Chuckling, I grunt out a “yes” mid motion, sweat dripping onto the wooden floor. “Wow~ you’re strong, even though you’re acting like you aren’t.”

  Grunting, I hit the floor again. “It’s calisthenics. If I were a bigger person, it’d be more impressive. I’m still not exactly fat, so it’s not hard. And I have implants and stamina to help me go.” Looking up at her, I size up her body for how much she must weigh… given how large her chest is and how thick she is in general…

  Looking up at her face, I spot she’s staring off into space, maybe a soul damage note, or just wondering what’s going on in my head again. “You’re prolly, what, twenty pounds heavier than me? So it’d be a bit more difficult for you to keep up. But your height and natural bulk would balance it out a bit too.”

  “Uh… right. Oraxia’s calling, I’m gonna go help her out with getting the pudding, good luck with the pushups.” And quickly she’s out of sight.

  ‘Huh… she ran pretty quick… eh, I’m not good with reading her since her returning with Oraxia anyways. Lumi seems to have better luck with it. Anyways, where was I?’

  Returning to my work out, I sing along to the music in my head, returning to my comfortable, lonely motions. Just having them both in the house brings me a sense of peace… guess Reta was right after all.