[PRP] Gym Judge (Joy and Rhys)

[Huni Pi]

Joy had high hopes for her workout that day. Not that she didn't already have a routine that worked for her, but she was always open to improvements and suggestions. Anything that kept her moving was always welcomed. She had worked out with others before but it tended to just be a now and again thing. This was going to be one of them. Hopefully Seren wouldn't take this as Joy trying to steal Rhys away from her. The younger woman should know Joy was on Team SeRhys whole heartedly. She was going to have to make sure not to scare off Rhys though, damn subtlety was never her strong suit.

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Rhys made it to the gym after his usual morning run, and he gave a wide grin when he saw that Joy was already there. He knew that she would make it, but he'd be lying if he said that there wasn't a small part that that doubted. There were just some people that couldn't deal with morning workouts, but he was glad that Joy wasn't one. He did some quick cooldown stretches on his feet before jogging over. "Morning, didn't think you'd beat me here to be honest. You a morning person or what?"

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"Morning~" Joy greeted back with a lopsided grin as she began her warm up routine. "Yeah, I like the sunshine, I mean whenever we get any. But if needed, I can go graveyard. Did it for a while as a call center agent, it was an experience." The wry grin on her face said that she had no intentions of ever repeating it if she could. Whether it referred to graveyard shift or being a call center agent, eh, it could swing either way. "Also, morning's best time to get the place and the machines to yourself. This ain't my usual time though, so if you're okay with it, I'll make breakfast after the workout."

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"Gotcha," came a very cool reply. "I kinda wish I was more of a morning person. I force myself to be for these workouts, but man." He stayed on his toes but it was obvious that he already had a workout ready for them, though he wasn't sure yet of her fitness level or what her fitness goals were. But as promised, he prepared something pretty challenging for the both of them to get through. That's what workout partners were for, right? "If you can still make breakfast after what we're about to do I won't say no, s**t. Before we start though, d'you have any kinda goals? Or just working out to stay in shape kinda thing?"

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"I've always been used to doing stuff with my legs but since getting my weapon, I've been having a harder time balancing arm-stuff with leg workouts. I dunno, never could figure out the right groove." She admitted, somewhat wishing there were weapons that could have made better use of all those years cycling. "And speaking of groove!" She brought out her phone, "Hope you don't mind if we use my playlist for the workout. Or are you more into no background music distraction types?"

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Rhys nodded at the right moments while listening, making mental notes as he processed it all. "Sounds like this is gonna do something for you, then," he said with a little smirk. At the question about playlist he just shrugged. "Go for it. I usually have my headphones but that's kinda messed up if youve got a partner. Set it up, then get over here to the bars and I'll tell you what we're gonna do."  

[Huni Pi]

Joy gave him a grin as she scrolled through the menu of her phone, eventually coming to her go-to workout routine. It would take a few moments before the beginning strands of an Air Supply song began to play. "Alright, warmed up and ready, music playing, show whatcha got!" she challenged. It would be interesting to see how he would push her and if there was any opportunity for her to push him. At least with regard to certain types of information.

-----

The brunette very openly cringed at her choice of music, but aside from that reaction he left it alone. If it helped keep her motivated then he wasn't gonna make her turn it off. Still he sighed and waited for her to tell him that she was good to go, and when she finally did the music faded into the background. "Cool, so I'm giving you two options here. The original workout is supposed to be 1 mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and then another mile. If you wanna scale it down, we can make it 2 miles, 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 150 squats, and then another 2 miles. You choice, it's probably gonna suck either way."

-----

She saw the cringe, she grinned at the cringe, and maybe turned up the volume a little bit more. Not too much though, she wasn't trying to be some club DJ (she would be terrible at it and ruin the club-mood anyway), but just enough to be teasing. The regiment sounded grueling but it was something that kept her moving and Joy was always down for those. "You gonna be joining me during all this?" she asked, clearly never having had a trainer before. She'd gotten accustomed to doing specific sets by herself for when whoever was at the gym with her at the time had to do a different routine. "'Cuz I'm good with the amount of the first."

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The louder volume, he couldn't deny, did irritate him a little bit, but he chalked it up once again to whatever she needed to keep her going during the workout. "Yep, gonna be joining you so your counting's on you. This one's done for time so do it as fast as you can at a good pace." With the instructions hashed out he gestured to the gym itself. "I'd say maybe 12 rounds in here would be roughly a mile? What do you think?"

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"Your estimate's probably better than mine," Joy shrugged, "I usually just set a specific amount of time speed-pedaling then slow pedaling and then repeat. And this part isn't sprinting right? Just a decent run for that amount?" she clarified, heading for one end of the gym to begin the cardio portion of the routine. She preferred the bike but knew she would have to manage running. How else was she supposed to throw herself in front of another hunter to protect them, right?

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"Cool," he said as he followed after her. He did make a note about her use of the bikes instead of running for cardio before giving her a good clap on the shoulder as he stood at what look like a good starting line. His eyes flickered toward the clock, which read 7:14 at the moment, and he nodded toward it. "Gonna start at 7:15, make sure you look at the clock when you finish so you know how long it took you. Gonna cap off the time at one hour, but it shouldn't take long." And he kept his eyes on the clock, waiting until it finally became 7:15, to which he said, "Go!" before starting his run.  

[Huni Pi]

This wasn't a race, Joy knew that so when he said GO she ran at a somewhat faster tempo than the current Air Supply song playing. She used her fingers to keep count of how many rounds she'd done, fingers curling closed each time she reached one end. Of course it wasn't long before she started to sing along, "I'm all out of love. I'm so lost without youuuuu~ favorite song ever." She breathed out in between laps.

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Rhys nearly lost count of what lap he was on when she started singing, and finally he gave her a very disapproving look over his shoulder. "Could you...maybe...not sing?" he called to her, trying to get louder than the music. He hated the fact that he knew the lyrics too--damn neighbors blasting that stuff when he was a kid--but he wasn't at all tempted to sing. "Kinda...messin' me up...just a little..."

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"It helps me regulate my breathing," Joy answered in between her breathing. "Or you prefer Chicago instead? You're the meaning in my liiiiiiife~ You're the inspiratioooooooooooon~" she went on. "'Sides, don't think it's been more than a lap or two difference between us." But she ended up humming along to her playlist instead, as a means of compromise.

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The Chicagos one was a little less cringey, but when she didn't change the current song he just shot her a look of "fine, do what you need to" before focusing on his run and his breathing again. Thankfully she did dumb things down to just humming, so when he finished his mile, while walking to the pullup bars he looked over at her again. "Thanks," he said before jumping up and getting his grip right.

-----

Joy managed to keep fairly in time with Rhys' running pace, having worked up a sweat but still smiling. A hint of uncertainty appeared on her face when they headed to the pullup bars. Upper body strength was always a guy thing, endurance was more her thing. Still, she headed for a bar that was within reach for someone of her height and opted to handle the amount in sets of ten. Halfway through the first set, it occurred to Joy to ask "Do I have to do the hundred straight? Or can I, like, take a breather to wipe sweat off my hands?"

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She asked just as he let the bar go after his first set of twenty, and he wiped his hands on his shorts. "You can jump off whenever you think you need to," he said, taking the chance to catch his breath and look around for chalk. His hands were well-calloused for this movement but it still sucked without chalk. When he didn't see any he sighed and took a deep breath. "Just pace yourself. If you're an endurance athlete you know what that's all about." He hopped up again to start his next set, already feeling a burn in his arms, shoulders and upper back.

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"Legs got better endurance." Joy said, reaching fifteen and taking deep breaths and feeling the muscles in her arm wishing she weighed a little less. "Kinda wish. Weapon was. Leg-based." The choppy answers came after each pull up. She had to stop at twenty, clenching and unclenching her fingers before wiping them on her shorts. "I think the good thing about being not as tall as you, is if my grip slips, I won't have as far to fall." She joked.

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He finished another set of twenty before jumping down, and he would have laughed at her joke if he wasn't so out of breath. Instead he smiled over at her, chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath again. The burn was real, it always was, and it was hard to focus on anything else except what he was doing. A workout partner helped in keeping his mind off the aching, though. "I've never fallen before," he said before jumping back up and adjusting his hands. "We'll see if that holds up after this."  

[Huni Pi]

Joy didn't mind the ache of her muscles. She actually really enjoyed the burn. Her need to stop after the fourth set of ten was less from the strain and more from sheer inability. She could barely raise her arms to bring the bottled water to her lips, and whatever her original response was foregone when her playlist sang "Must a star fall from the sky." "So never fallen from the bars. How about fallen in love?" she asked casually, pretending she wasn't keenly interested in his response.

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Rhys was about halfway up on his 11th rep when she asked, but he flinched and lost focus and strength all at once and fell back down, eyes down on the ground so hopefully he didn't give away some kind of tell that the question surprised him. Instead he gave it a second, catcing his breath as an excuse to bide a little time, before looking up again. "Nope, no," he said, shaking his head a little. "Never fallen in love, either. Why?"

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"Guess it's. A guy thing." Joy grunted, getting back into her own set. "Me, I. Fall in crush. Super easy." It was not a shatnerian impression. Just a sentence slowly spoken over each pull up she struggled to accomplish. "Lotsa cute peeps. On the island." Was she fishing? Hell yes she was. The look of concentration on her face certainly served to mask the intense need to know his opinion of Seren.

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Rhys turned that thought around in his head for a little bit, about there being lots of cute people on the island. He wouldn't deny that there were some good looking people there, but he hadn't really noticed anyone until just recently. He blinked and hopped up to the bar again, slowly counting out another ten reps before letting go and giving himself another break. "Could be it," he said between breaths. "The crush thing and lots of 'cute peeps'. Only one person's ever really caught my eye though. Mostly focused on duty and stuff when I first got here."

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It was Joy's turn to lose focus and strength and to fall back down. Luckily her legs managed to keep herself upright instead of right on her a**. "Dude pare chong, you try to make the moves on them yet?" she asked, breathless from both the exercise and her inner Love Team instincts kicking in.

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It was lucky that he was on the ground else her next question might have had him actually falling off the bar for the first time. He flashed back to the recent happenings in the kitchen and he was thankful that he could use the fact that they were exercising as an excuse for the hint of pink on his cheeks. "Maybe." He was up on the bar again, working on his next set as quick as he could get through them in case her next question was as surprising, if not more surprising than the last one.

-----

Sweaty hands were pressed against Joy's cheeks as she fought hard not to squeal in glee. Because it was entirely possible that he was making the moves on someone who wasn't Seren and Joy did not think she could bear to have her happy little matchmaking fantasies crushed. But on the plus side, it got her immediately motivated to finish this exercise regiment so they could proceed to breakfast and ply him with food for more answers. "Hnnnng, okidoks, if I'm getting too personal please let me know." And saying that was a herculean effort on Joy's part.

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When it seemed like she dropped it, to his relief, Rhys hopped back up on the bar to work on finishing the rest of the pullups. "I can do that, yeah," he said before actually starting, and then he went in sets of ten until he finished the pullups. He took another break as he got down on his knees on the mats nearby, hands at his waist as he focused on his breathing. "What about you?" he asked, since they were on the subject. Sort of. "Any of your crushes go further than that?"  

[Huni Pi]

Joy waited until she finished her set before answering. Because she needed to have her breath and it would just be that much more dramatic for her to throw her head back in a bark of laughter that came from her diaphragm. "Ha! I wish!" She was equal parts casual and frustrated as she openly answered, "The only time anything happened in that sense was when I was a Horseman. Which says how sad my love life has been." She took a gulp of water like she was taking a swig of alcohol, "And that's very, very sad."

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He was already working through his first set when she answered, and he sort of smirked. The amusement was more at how casual she was about it, and that reminded him of...him, really. And he found it kind of funny. When he finally had to take a break he was up on his knees again, breathing hard. "At least it happened?" he huffed, bring a hand up to qipe off some sweat that was getting into his eye. "If it makes you feel better my love life's been s**t until recently?" Because solidarity was a good thing.

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"It woulda been better if the Horseman I had happened with was also a Hunter but nope. He's from Halloween and considering majority of the Halloweeners I've met are like, High School-ish in age? It feels hella gross. Dehins me *****, okay?" Joy shuddered. When Rhys mentioned until recently Joy used that little hint of confirmation as fuel to finish the remaining sets of pull ups. Grunting, she still did manage to let him know "That's good though! At least someone's love life is looking up. Can I ask who or is that too close?"

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He worked through another set as he listened, and when he sat back up to rest he gave her a look that was a cross between gross and confused. "Still can't figure out Halloweeners, but s**t that sounds ********' confusing. Good to know I'm not buddies with a *****, though." Whatever joking tone had been in his voice in the first half of that statement was gone, replaced by a more dead serious tone in the second half. To cool his head he went down for another short set, and then on his breather he shrugged. "Not too close," he said, huffing, "just not sure if it's gonna be anything yet so sharing feels...premature."

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"Halloween is mos def a mixed bag," Joy chuckled wryly, "I just really hope I never get to meet the Halloween-Horseman again. It'd be some kinduva kinda awkward, diba?" and said awkwardness was showing with the number of Taglish sprinkled throughout. Rhys' seriousness was met with Joy's undivided attention. And inwardly, she wanted to scream out her question of whether he was referring to Seren, her demand that he had better be referring to Seren, and the follow-up question of what would it take for it to be Seren. She managed to bite down on her knee-jerk reaction and swallowed all the unspoken words. Instead, she nodded, respecting his desire to not share just yet. "Okidoks, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way when I say I'm sure it'd work out because you are mos def papa-ble," she made clucking noises with her tongue, a wink, and gave him finger guns.

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He managed to laugh a little when she mentioned things getting awkward, in total agreement though he didn't say anything. Instead he just went back to his sets and, around the middle, he asked while grunting. "'Papa-ble' means what now?" And then he smirked and finished up his set and looked over at her. "Is it something sexy?"  

[Huni Pi]

"It's slang during my time," Joy panted, "Dunno if kids these days still use it." And while she had the energy and drive to keep going, her arms had other plans and forced her to take a rest. "But yes, Papa-ble is used to describe hot guys you wanna have as a boyfriend. Sometimes, depending on the person, it's even meant to mean husband material." A beat. "Although ewan lang if marriage is a thing here on this island."

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"Oh," he said, then took a deep breath and got back to work. His whole body was burning and aching but the feeling was familiar enough that he didn't let it stop him from going on. "I've...never heard it before..." he grunted between pushups. "But...I mean...thanks?" It sounded like a compliment. Another set down and he got back up on his knees, fighting a serious urge to just say screw it to the rest of the workout. A glance over in Joy's direction told him she was almost at her rope's end, or at least it looked that way to him. "I think it is? I know two that got married before I shoved off for Mexico. Chel and Jack?"

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"You're welcome," Joy bowed, and regretted it immediately because now it meant she had no excuse not to get down to start with the pushups. "Onga pala, do I gotta do regular pushup or the modified for women push up?" Joy felt it was important to clear that up because ain't no way she was going to repeat if unnecessary. Her arms weren't happy campers but the burn felt nice in its own way. The Moon shook her head at the names, "Dunno them, dunno a lot of the peeps on the island. Sometimes they just leave and never come back. Maybe I've seen their faces? But yeah I know some get married, Mimsy's got a husband, Robert. But I dunno if they got married here and if, like, there's a registry for your civil status and stuff."

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"Modified is fine if you wanna do 'em that way," he managed to say as he peeled his shirt off. All it did at this point was cling to him, which was annoying as hell, so he just got rid of it. Once he tossed it aside he got back down and did another set. "But yeah...marriage...don't know if it'll ever be my thing..." and then he stopped talking long enough to finish out a much longer set this time--he was taking too long, in his opinion, though the conversation was nice. "But that could change, who knows. Never thought I'd ever be interested in anyone on this island." And then he shrugged and went down again to do more. And for motivation's sake, since she seemed at least a little curious, he said during a little pause in the set. "I'll tell you who it is if you finish and you feed me."

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For a moment Joy was thoroughly distracted by the glorious vision of Rhys shirtless and remembered Seren's description of his body. It was a good thing that Joy had already pegged Rhys as Seren's because this way there was no risk of her becoming that friend from all the rom-coms she'd watched. "Oh good, because if it was gonna be regular push ups it will take me a long time." While her arms were complaining about her not resting longer, every single fiber of her being shut up and took notice of the rest of Rhys' words. It was a good thing she was face-down because her eyes all but popped out of their sockets. Drawing in a deep, calming breath, she raised her head, fire burning in her eyes as she grinned at him, "Deal!"

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He smirked as he took as short a break as possible before getting back to work. He took that chance to look over and make sure Joy was putting in the work too, and she was...seemingly with renewed vigor. It made him wonder exactly how badly she wanted to know, though he didn't take the time to think on that too much. It took a little while longer for him to get through the rest of his sets, and by the time he was done his body felt like it was very close to becoming jelly. Thankfully his legs weren't out yet, just his arms, so he got started on the squats. "I vote...a different playlist...for next time..." he said, cringing as Two Less Lonely People in the World started playing.  

[Huni Pi]

This didn't start out as a race until Rhys made reaching the end goal faster that much more enticing. And to be fair, the modified push ups were considerably easier than regular push ups, which was how Joy managed to keep in time with him until the squats. Now these were considerably easier for her. Her thighs were accustomed to repetitive motions, although she would forget whether she should keep her heels down or raised and would alternate every twenty squats. "But we're just getting to the real hits," she panted, intensely focused to complete the assigned number as soon as she could. Her body would hate her for the sudden break-neck pace she took but that would be later. Right now, she wanted answers that would definitely sustain her with the heavily sought kilig feels.

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Truth be told he wasn't that surprised that when it came to squats she was able to mostly keep pace with him. She was behind by a couple of sets but if she finished ahead of him it wouldn't really bruise his ego all that much. Instead, he focused on his own sets and, when she said "real hits" he couldn't help but snort. "I thought you played through all of those already?"

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"No, see, real hits are those that senate with something inside you." Joy may have meant another word, but she was too close to finishing (and possibly collapsing) after these last few dozens. "Or do you rather I sing along again?"

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"Pass...on the singing," he said, and then randomly shouted, "300!" before slowly falling to his knees. It took a while to catch his breath, and now his entire body really felt like jelly, but there was still that last mile to go. "And 'senate'? I'm not really into politics so I don't really follow..." When he eventually got back on his feet he started the first lap of twelve, slow at first but eventually picking up the pace with each lap.

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Joy had all but forgotten about the running when she reached her last squat. And she hadn't been exaggerating when she said she had been working on her legs for quite a long time. Her arms were all but limp noodles at her sides and didn't even want to let her lift her water bottle to her mouth. "Politics? No, what's that word that means it, um, kwan vibrates with something inside you? Like it really gets you in a way you can't explain?" She was too busy trying to figure out the word when she realized "Oh s**t, that last run." Making a face she begrudgingly started her laps as well, drenched in sweat, and arms more tired than they'd ever been, Joy only hoped she'd show some improvement in battle after this.

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"Oh!" he suddenly shouted, half because he knew the word and half because he was trying to keep himself from stopping. "You mean 'resonate'? I gotchu." Rhys ran silently for the remainder of his laps, then collapsed right nearby his t-shirt. "TIME! ... 38 minutes, ******** yeah!" "So what are those hits that resonate with you, Joy?"  

[Huni Pi]

It was only for a few more laps but Joy couldn't maintain the conversation, focusing too much on just finishing, which she managed half a lap after Rhys. She wanted to collapse but wouldn't let herself, because this was when the height of pain could stave away exhaustion just long enough for her to savor the whole-body ache, from muscles to lungs. When it became physically impossible, she dropped unceremoniously to her a**, "Is that the word? Sounds like it enough," she panted. And as if on cue, Joy's phone starting playing Making Love Out of Nothing At All and she could only gesture to the device with her lips. "Dunno why. 'Cuz none of that s**t. Applies to me." She managed to say in between gasps for air.

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He cringed again when the song changed to a familiar song that was more than cringe-worthy. When she said none of it resonated with her the brunette got a little confused and sat up with a groan. "If none of it resonates with you then why the hell do you listen to it? Just like how it sounds?" At that he got up, again with a groan, and started doing cooldown stretches. The pace he was going at seemed to match with the song, which both annoyed and amused him. "Why not listen to something that does apply to you?"

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Joy's brows furrowed, "What I meant was. It does connect with me. In a way. I mean," she was sweaty and tired but she wasn't out of it yet. "I don't know how or when to do all those things the singer sings he can do," she tried to explain, "But you still manage to love others. Maybe not in the romantic way like the song, but just a general over-all love for people." She began to do her own set of cool down exercises, "It's cheesy and corny but. Ewan it feels right for me."

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"Ooh," the brunette finally said after taking too long to process what she was saying. He was also pretty focused on his cooldown so there was that. When he finally finished he slung his shirt over his shoulder and walked over to the bench to take a seat and wait for her to finish. "Not every love's the romantic kind so I think I get what you mean. Just generally caring about people, right?"

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"Yuh, we had, like, a couple of periods during CLE dedicated to the different types of love and ******** if I remember the names for them." Joy finally got around to finishing and while she was excited as hell for Rhys to finally share some details, she wanted a little bit more time on the floor. Just to catch her breath.

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He was fine waiting for however long; rest was good, too, and he knew they both really needed it after that. "CLE?" he questioned after a beat as he looked over at her to gauge how she was doing. Some passed out from being so out of breath, others threw up, and others, like him, collapsed. All things considered she looked like she was doing okay. "Well, yeah, different kinds of love I can agree with." Finally, after a few more minutes of rest and his breathing had finally gone even, he nodded toward the door. "Ready to go? Part of the deal was food, so I'll tell you once you make me something. Could be now, could be days from now. Up to you."  

[Huni Pi]

"Christian Life Education," Joy answered on automatic. Some things just don't leave even when you've long lost the faith that you once held with it. "Hey, no, I promised you food. Gimme a few more minutes. Since you let me hang out in your room, you can mos def hang at my flat. I make breakfast for Kai anyway, so it's just adding an extra helping." She held her hand up, "You, uh, still got some strength in those guns of yours? Need a bit of a hand up."

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Again he made that "o" with his mouth, not having figured Joy to be religious at all. But to each their own so he didn't ask and just nodded, then smiled when she said that the prospect of food was still very much on the table. "Sweet," was his only reply as he got up, snorting at the "guns" comment. "Always got strength in these guns, dude," he said as he helped her up. "So what's on today's breakfast menu?"

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"Ha, you and Clyde should have a flex off, then." Joy laughed as she was helped to her feet. "But gotta say, Kai beats you both hands down." She sounded more like the proud older sister bragging about their much more talented younger sibling than someone who harbored secret feelings. Just putting that out there. "Bacon and fried eggs, maybe if you're game for it some longganisa I've been saving. Gonna have to check if we got enough pancake mix because I ain't makin' that stuff from scratch. You like your yolks hard or runny?" she asked as they headed out of the Gym.

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"Nah, I'm more a fitness competitor than a body one," he said, grinning. It was true enough, he didn't really believe in "body building" per se. It was more a side effect of being into fitness, really. What she listed sounded tasty enough, though that last thing wasn't familiar. "Long-ah-what?"

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"Long-ga-nee-sa," Joy enunciated, "It's a type of sausage, I think? The skin and overall texture's different but still pretty tasty! Especially with vinegar and chopped raw garlic. Sheeeeet I think I'll have some now. Huh, do I still got garlic cloves?" she murmured, trying to run through the flat's pantry contents. "One of these days, I should take you and Seren on a Filipino food-trip. If you got a sensitive stomach though, lemme know. Some things will ruin your guts and I don't think our FEAR shields will save you from LBM." It was certainly not something Joy ever considered and did not want to risk. Bert didn't say anything but Joy had the distinct sensation of being grimaced at in sheer disapproval.

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The idea of a food-trip was very tempting, but mention of Seren was really more of what got his attention. Not that he let it show or anything, he just smiled a bit, the memory of that...incident, coming to mind. He wasn't really sure what to call it other than that, but it still made him smile and wonder what else was ahead for...them. Were they a "them" now? He squinted for a second as that thought rolled around in his head, then snapped to right around the time she mentioned LBM, to which he scowled. "Gross. But I mean it sounds like a good time, goin' on a food-trip," he said, tossing his still very damp shirt over his shoulder. "Should figure out when the best time to go is, and maybe what we should try? Don't wanna spend a day of leave on a ********' toilet."

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"Yuh, that would be a shitty way to spend a leave," and given the lack of waggling brows, the pun was not intended. They headed over to the town section of the island with Joy leading the way, "Just lemme know your scheds, I don't got much going on with me so I'm usually free." She tried not to sound the teensiest bit bitter at this. It wasn't that she had a huge social life prior to Deus but she had friends she regularly hung out with and she missed having that here.

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Intended or not Rhys still snorted at the pun. "No kidding. And I'll text Seren, see if we can figure it out. We probably should all sit down and compare schedules, just to make things easier."

_ p a o cx