Sweaty Workout

[Eternity]

Saun 30 722

Eternity wandered into a gymnasium one summer afternoon. She had never been in a gymnasium before but she had heard that it was a good place to get in shape. She was not fat by any means but her muscle mass was very lacking. If she was ever going to be a master thief she would need to train her body. More often than not her attempts to get fit were thwarted by her easily distracted mind. It was very hard for her to commit to doing something she didn’t like, such as exercise. She thought that maybe, just maybe, if she surrounded herself with other people, she could force herself to accomplish something.

This place was called the strength of feats. Or was it feats of strength? Eternity had already forgotten what the sign outside had said. She was so taken aback by how much was going on through those doors that she didn’t even know where to start. She knew that this was a business and she was not sure who to pay and what exactly she would be paying for. She waited off to the side, outside the building for a while until a group of muscled men walked in. She waited until they couldn’t see her anymore and then snuck in behind them. She had high expectations for this place since she had heard good things about it.

Her attempt to stay hidden was thwarted because she stuck out like a sore thumb. She looked nothing like anyone else in the gym. She was thin woman wearing her everyday clothes which weren’t particularly suited for exercise. Thankfully someone came over to help her after she’d wandered around for a few minutes aimlessly.

One of the Lunks (one of several employees with the name Lunk) said to her, “how can I help you?” He looked strong and he commanded attention. Something told Eternity that he was already formulating a plan in his mind to transform her into a muscle bound athlete.

When he got within touching distance to Eternity she quickly realized that this place had a distinct smell. Probably the smell of dozens of musky people of all different kinds mixing together that couldn’t be entirely ventilated away. The heat of the summer didn’t help.

“Yes,” Eternity said nervously. “I’m here to get fit. Not sure where to start, was hoping you could help me and go over pricing.”

“You got any experience? Ever tried getting fit before? What are your goals? We have help for all levels of fitness so I’m sure we can help you out.” He motioned for Eternity to come to a desk where he would show what the prices were.

“I usually quit before I make much progress. I haven’t any proper experience and my goals? Hmm…” Eternity wondered what she ought to say. She couldn’t say that she wanted to more easily climb through windows, help pry open rusted locks, and carry weighty stolen goods.

She settled for a shrug and “I want to become a hunter.” It was the first profession that came to mind that might have a need to be a little strong.

“A hunter? Okay so you will probably need to be able to carry a load and work a weapon…” The Lunk kept talking and Eternity was lost in all the technical jargon.

Eternity decided to look over the papers in the meantime. She was surprised with how cheap the rates were. She could easily afford to use this gym which she thought ought to have cost a lost more. She didn’t understand how a gym could offer low rates because most people would probably stop coming, or pay for appointments that they would forget about. She wasn’t going to question it and just thought she was getting a good deal.

“Sorry, I zoned out a little,” she told the Lunk. “Where should I start?” She handed over some money and got some change in return.

“We’ll start you off with some personal training.” The Lunk whistled over to another Lunk who came over. The Lunks chatted about a plan for a minute and Eternity was whisked off to the corner of the gym.

“Alright we’ll start you off with a basic fitness test to see how you do. Let’s start with pushups.” He dropped to the floor and demonstrated the proper technique. “Make sure your back is straight and in line with your legs.”

Eternity dropped to her knees and then tried to replicate the position. She struggled to even get that far. The Lunk put his hand on her stomach and pressed up her knees. He held her in the perfect position and said, “now lower yourself. Keep that core tight.”

Eternity already breathed heavily. Sweat formed at her temples and she did her best to lower herself but she simply could not do so on her own. The Lunk lowered her gently to the floor and said. “No big deal. Here, you can try it this way too.” He demonstrated a push up performed with ones knees placed on the ground.

Eternity copied the motion and found that she actually could do it, though it was still very hard. She smiled until she realized that other people were looking at her. She didn’t like being looked at when she was struggling. It made her ears redden. She ended up doing a whopping three pushups before rolling to her side.

“Alright now roll onto your back and give me some sit ups.” The Lunk said. He glanced over at some of the others he was overseeing as he gave a demonstration. He shouted some commands at them, something about fixing their form.

Eternity copied his motions again and she ended up doing three before giving up. She didn’t know why it was so hard to do since she sat up in bed all the time. Something about how she was forced to isolate her stomach muscles made it harder than she thought it would be.

The Lunk let her lay on the ground and rest for a while as he went off to help someone else. This gave Eternity a few minutes to dread what was coming next. The Lunk then helped her to her feet. He told her to “let’s see how long you can run around the gym.” He gave her a light push and Eternity took off.

It wasn’t like Eternity had never run before but she still felt like she had no idea what she was doing. She was understandably tired from the exercises she’d done already. She made it a quarter lap around the gym before dropping to the floor to rest against the wall. Her eyes flitted to the exit. It was only a quarter lap away.

“I should just bolt out of here and never come back,” she thought. Then her eyes flitted back to her trainer who was watching her. It was his keen stare that motivated her because she couldn’t motivate herself. “If I did leave, would he come chasing after me?” She decided not to flee just yet. “I’ll finish this lap and then get out of here. At least I can leave with a little bit of dignity.”

Eternity forced herself up and she jogged ever so slowly all the way around the gym and then collapsed once more upon the ground, at the Lunk’s feet.

“Great! Get some water and take a break. We’ll start some more exercises for ya soon.” The Lunk smiled at her and made some notes. Eternity didn’t know what he could possibly be writing down aside from “ha, what a failure”. Her motivation had bottomed out and she wanted to leave!

“I think I’m done for today,” Eternity said between gasps of breaths.

“Nonsense! We’ve only just gotten started!”

“Seriously, I don’t think I can do any more.” Eternity started to get up but a hand on her shoulder prevented her from moving much.

“That’s alright. The rest of the workout will be stretching you out so you’re not so sore later. If you do the stretches every day you’ll be a lot more nimble.” In truth all the exercises up to this point had been one of several standard fitness tests that could be use to benchmark her progress. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to improve by a factor of two or more in a short period of time because the untrained body was just that weak.

True to his word, the Lunk didn’t have Eternity do anything else that was difficult. He had her do some basic stretches and she could do all of them while seated so she didn’t put up a fuss. Afterwards Eternity was given the option to go home which she gladly took out of fear of being made to do more work. She hurried off home where she would rest for the rest of the day. She dreaded it, but she had committed to come back again next week. Whether or not she could follow through was another thing…

[Pig Boy]

RPG Rewards:

Eternity

• Renown: 5
• XP: 10
• Knowledges:
  • Strength: push ups
  • Strength: sit ups
  • Endurance: x2
  • Athletics: x1
  • Discipline: x1

Link to Review Request on the Forum: viewtopic.php?p=193692#p193692

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: Oh hey, someone using the Feats of Strength! Very nice to see. While the anachronistic nature of a state of the art gym in a medievalist type setting is kind of corny and silly, you did well playing it at face value without too much irony. The exercises were well-described and seemed fitting for a beginner, if a little intense. Nothing was too easy for Eternity here, and you portrayed her struggle at starting a work-out routine pretty well. I wonder if she'll get back to the Feats of Strength, or maybe just take what she learned out doors or something. Either way, good writing!

P.S. So, honestly the language of one of these knowledges you requested is a tad... insensitive/sexist. We do have in our ToU to not use sexist or discriminatory language in ooc channels. Which knowledge is mainly ooc. Please refrain from such derogatory descriptions in the future as 'Girly pushups'. Thanks.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!