《Mindful Secrets》Chapter 9 - Workout Buddies
Advertisement
Well, can't really believe it but time went by really fast for some reason. It went from August to September in just a blink of an eye. What am I doing now, you may ask? Well, I'm just at the gym. I need to keep myself fit somehow.
I don't like being near a lot of furs but in the end, I can't exactly stay in my comfort zone forever. What I do really is just ignore everyone and imagine that they're not there at all. It works most of the time. I can usually go on for hours on end without the interruptions.
That's why I had to personally ask the staff to tell me to stop after a few hours. When I'm really dedicated to a task, I tend to get lost in the work and spend hours doing it. Don't worry, I've only been in here for about 20 minutes now. I was currently using the bench press, lost in my counting.
"Hey big guy, need me to spot you?", a bunny boy asked me. With that, I snapped out of my trance and lost count. Damn it. "No, I'm fine", I say as I place the barbell back on the stand. The mood was lost when I lost count.
I stood up and went to the leg press machine instead. Can't exactly leave the upper body to be the only one trained. I sit down and position myself on the chair. I take a deep breath and started my exercise. "One... Two... Three", I count after every push. Within ten pushes, I was back in my own world.
"Seventy eight... Seventy nine... Eighty", I count. I was really focused but once again, I was broken out of my trance. This time, it wasn't a verbal interruption but a visual interruption. Not far from where I was, I saw the bunny boy lifting dumbbells. I saw him sneak a quick glance at me.
Advertisement
Oh god, I know that look. Maybe if I were 14, I would've. He's expecting to get into my pants. When I was 14, I would've fucked anyone really. Male, female, transgender or even non-binary. As long as they had a hole. I really don't want to tell him cause I want to focus on my workout.
Just then, I see someone familiar from the corner of my eye. He was walking sheepishly from the locker room. I get off the leg machine and went up to him. "Hey, dude!", I say. He looked mildly surprised before giving me those bro handshakes. "Hey, I wasn't expecting you here", he said.
"It's like the only gym in town though", I say. His face goes red. "I... I knew that, just wasn't expecting you to go to the gym", he says. "I don't exactly get my body like this just from sitting around in my house", I say. "Whatever", he says. I chuckle at his failed attempt at a pout.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, need a workout buddy?", I ask. It was silent for a bit. "Sure. That would be great", he says. I quickly pulled him towards the chest press machine. I sit him down and tell him to hold onto the handles. "So, I'll adjust the weights. Tell me if it gets heavy", I tell him. He nods.
I start off at the lightest weight first. He does it easily. I move onto the next one and he does that easily. I keep moving down until he finds says it's heavy. He got down to the 10th weight plate. "So, you do that. I'll be right next to you, okay?", I say. He nods.
I went to the machine next to his and adjust it to my preferred weight. Then, I do my own workout. Somehow, it feels really different when I do it. I mean, I barely even notice anyone around me but I'm not lost in my own world. I'm still concious but I'm focused on my workout.
Advertisement
I look to my right and see Jasper, who's diligently using the chest press. He's the only one that clear to me. Everyone else is a blur to me. He stops and looks at me. A small smile was visible from where I was looking. I smiled at that and suddenly, I felt like showing off to him.
So, I look back in front and started counting my reps. "203... 204... 205...", I counted. I was unstoppable. I passed the amount I wanted to do originally and was doing more than I needed. "Hey, Dakota. You can stop now!", I heard someone yelling to me. I snapped out of my trance after 274 reps.
"Huh, what?", I ask. "Oh, thank god. You were so lost in thought. I was asking if you want to go to the next machine?", he says. Sweat was dripping off me like crazy. What even happened? I never felt that energetic before. I think that's enough of a workout for me today.
"You know, how about you wait here for a minute. I think I had enough of a workout today. Don't worry, I'll still help you", I say. He nods. I went to locker room and headed into the shower after grabbing my towel. I cleaned every inch of myself and got dressed in my spare clothes.
I head out and started training Jasper. He was really determined. I like that. He doesn't let anyone else stop him from doing what he wants. I help him with the bench press and bicep curls. I let him do his own thing on the leg press. I give him some advice on how to do proper push-ups and chin-ups. After about two hours, he was done for the day.
"Well, you can go shower and change. Did your parents send you here?", I ask. "No, I took the bus", he says. "Do you have a curfew?", I ask. He shakes his head. "Then, you can join me for a walk through town?", I ask. He was silent yet again. Then, he giggles. "Sure, big guy. Wait for me outside", he says.
Advertisement
Memories of the Fall
This is a story about two sisters, Jun Arai and Jun Sana, and their friends, Juni, Ling and Shu who make their living as members of the Hunter Bureau, an organisation dedicated to dealing with the terrifying flora and fauna endemic to their home Great World. When they get dragged into a grand scheme to unpick the ancient secrets entombed within one its foremost forbidden zones in their world, the Yin Eclipse Mountains, they must all try to survive the dark machinations, eldritch undercurrents and the echoes of a terrible conflict trying to re-emerge into an unsuspecting cosmos that had rather hoped it was done with that kind of thing a few eras hence. So please come join Arai, Sana, Juni, Ling, Shu and the rest of my cast as they journey through strange lands, meet all kinds of unusual beings and unravel some of the power and glory of a land time tried very hard to forget. I promise terrifying mushrooms, angry snakes, confused gods, even more confused cultivators and much, much more! Update schedule: (02/6/2022) As chapters are done, sorry. Progress: Currently up to old chapter 13-15. Chapter 24(or 25)/13, Parts 1 & 2 will be the end of the rework. Part 2 has been temporarily delayed due to me getting a frozen shoulder in the middle of June, which has been very slow to properly clear up. It is getting better, though, but Shoulder/neck is the worst set of muscles to have issues with ;( You can currently pick up most story threads after the rewritten chapters, starting from chapter 13-14 (old) Genre-wise, this is a bit hard to pin down. It's technically a Xianxia (because cultivators!), but it also veers towards Xuanhuan and has more traditional High Fantasy elements and a bit of Gods and Monsters and All Myths Are (on some levels) Valid. It also has a fairly large, ensemble cast, so if multiple point's of view are not your thing I am sorry. It won't ever really be considered 'grimdark' by any real measure of that definition but it does go to some complicated and fairly places dark occasionally, which I will note in author pre-chapter notes when expedient!. About the Author I mainly write fiction for my own hobby, it makes a nice change from academic scribbling! I started writing this quite a number of years ago. It has grown somewhat organically out of a bunch of different interests in all kinds of Mythology, World Building, Drawing Maps, Archaeology, Anthropology, History and Epic Fantasy fiction into what it is today. So I hope you enjoy the story and thanks for reading! Other stuff The cover is made by the author, using photos taken by the author. There is a Discord Server- Please come and chat, but beware of spoilers.
8 195Hellspawn
When Lake wakes up in hell, he's a little upset. All those horrifying demons outside aren't helping his mood, and neither is the fact that he has no food and water. But at least he has a game UI to help him out! Hopefully the situation doesn't get worse from here...
8 89What I'll Become
Born to nothing as nothing I led a bland life full of depression and suicidal thoughts, but maybe I can become something else. One goal to die could be over looked if only.....
8 221The Three Realms
Immortals start playing their games from the shadows, something they haven't done in hundreds of years. Empires are rising and falling like never before in all three realms, and the dragons are pondering war. Gods are spotted more and old secrets are being revealed. Han always wanted to do more than just make swords in a smith in Amonis. Then he saved the life of a giant by accident, and he got exactly what he wanted. The Gazaarian Empire decided to conquer Amonis, and before he knows it, Han finds himself a pawn in a larger game- adventuring through faraway places, saving thousands, and battling mages of legend. Or running away from them, at least. ---- Updates at least once a week (with around 3K words), but more when I am free. Please leave comments and reviews, it'll help a ton. If you like epic fantasy with gods, magic, empires, adventures, many species etc with a great plot and a setting of gods manipulating everything for their own purposes, this is for you.
8 160Flaming Light
After an elemental distortion, humans can now wield the power of the elements (supernatural and natural). In a world where many strong people exist, a girl and some friends want to stand at the top and achieve strength powerful enough to protect life from any universal pandemonium. This is a tale of humans, beasts and beings from other worlds, this is a tale of a girl who wants to surpass the strongest, this is a tale of Flaming Light.
8 181Solby Instagram
@colbybrock has posted a new photo....
8 101