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Some days are full of wonder and adventure and demons and gross magical invaders. Some days are chilly and overcast and much less exciting. Today is one of the latter, and rather than 'enjoy' the brisk weather, Danielle opted to venture back into the city with her girlfriend, hunting down one of the local YMCA's. It's free, it's convenient, and it's comfortably warm! She stuffs her customary duffle bag into one of the lockers, and adjusts the oversized tee shirt. Sure, she could do her workout in her familiar black'n'gold uniform from her old school, but it can be something of a distraction among normal folks. Thus, the tee-shirt over the top, so it looks like a simple black leotard.
"I'm going to start with a ten minute run, then claim a spot in the aerobics area," she mentions to Amanda. It's not a very detailed plan, but who likes detailed workouts? What fun is that?
*
They had to buy Amanda some workout clothes on the way. It was quite an experience. Amanda nods and decides she's going to follow Danielle in the run. "That sounds like a plan to me," she agrees. "…. you know you're just going to have to show me how to do it all, right?" Her 'exercise' has mostly been of the mental variety up to this point. She flashes her girlfriend an apologetic smile. "Ready?"
*
"Trust me, you'll be fine. The goal is to feel good at the end, not horrible," Danielle grins. She /could/ push and push and push, but that would make this a one-time experience, rather than a Thing they can do together. She checks her shoes one last time, then nods and leads the way out of the women's locker room and out into the spacious, if not very fancy, gymnasium.
"Okay, so running laps is simple enough. Big thing to remember is 'pass on the left'. If you're going faster than someone, slide to an inside lane to get past them. If someone's coming up behind you, move to an outside lane. Otherwise," Dani pauses, thinking as she swings her arms and shakes out her legs one at a time. "Run or jog at your own speed, okay? If you need to, slow down to a steady walk until you catch your breath. We're not counting laps or speed or anything, just forward-motion for ten minutes." She nods her head towards the big clock on one wall, then winks at the other girl. Waiting for one jogger to get past, she smoothly trots out onto the huge painted oval around the perimeter of the room, and starts to lope easily along.
*
"Okay." Ten minutes. She can do this. She waits and starts jogging. As per Dani's advice, she does not push herself. Forward motion, that's all that's necessary, right? For ten minutes? She can do this. A few times she does indeed pass someone, but only because they're walking. Eventually she is behind Dani. "This isn't so bad!" she calls ahead to her girlfriend.
*
Danielle is in excellent condition, even if her valkyrie-tweaked stamina is discounted. She could show off and run at close to a sprint for the full ten minutes, but. That's not the goal. Instead, she lopes at her comfortable speed, which is faster than Amanda's comfortable speed, for a set number of steps. Then she slows to a brisk walk for a set number of steps, which allows her jogging girlfriend to close the gap without changing speed. Then lope. Then brisk walk. Then lope. And so on.
"See? You're doing great. Try getting your arms pumping in rhythm… like this… There you go." She grins brightly as she offers encouragement. And as they round the far corners, she demonstrates that whole 'pass on the left' thing, as they sail past a power walker.
*
"This isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Amanda admits. Not that she was out of shape or lazy to begin with - she's never abused her teleportation spell - but she was always just too busy with the Circus and her studies to ever go out and exercise. "Next will be my winning attempt to get you to teach me archery."
*
Dani grins. Laughing is disruptive to breathing and breathing is important. "That could be … fun. I'll have to look for a good starter bow." Her own? Not for beginners, nope. The designated ten minutes spins past surprisingly quickly, and Danielle gestures to Amanda to slow, then to walk. "Half a lap to cool down and catch breath, yeah? That will put us over there, near those folk." 'Over there' is a large square covered with blue pads, opposite an array of walk-hung mirrors. 'Those folk' are just three or four people, each doing some odd exercise or other on their own.
*
"This is unheard of," she notes to Dani as they slow. "Tradition in the women of my family sticks to eating well and meditation." And having good genes. Good genes really helps. But genetics is way out of Amanda's realm of knowledge. "The slowing to a walk helps, after a run?" she asks, curious.
*
Danielle considers as they reach the semi-arbitrary stopping point and step off the 'track'. "Nothing wrong with eating well and meditation. But putting your body to work is pretty important to." She leads the way over to the open mats, and stakes out an area comfortably distant from the others. "See, when you run, or jog, you're working your muscles harder than just a normal walk. Slowing down afterwards gives those muscles a chance to gradually relax again. It also gives your heart and lungs time to calm down a little bit, and those are even more important than your leg muscles."
As she talks, she nods for Amanda to take her position at that spot, facing Dani. A bit of monkey-see, monkey-do, with more stretching of legs and arms and back. "Mmf. One of my old teachers used to compare exercise to calluses. If you play guitar or do archery or work with rough tools, over time you get calluses. That's because everytime you practice or work, you're doing a little bit of damage to yourself, which then heals a bit tougher. Then the next time, you damage yourself a little bit, and it heals a little bit more. Muscles are the same way. We're putting stress and strain on our muscles, just a little bit past 'normal', and they heal up a little stronger."
*
It will require a bit of correction on Dani's part, making sure Amanda is stretching the right way. Of course, Amanda will need to go through this trying-correction phase a few times before she really gets the hang of it. But the first step is the most important: she's willing to try. Even she knows that much. "Oh, I see," she says, nodding. "Sort of the same in ma— what I do. Little exposure to little spells at first." The last word sort of hissed-whispered at Dani. "Things that won't hurt anyone or yourself, just to prepare you and your mind."
*
"Same basic principles, yeah," Danielle agrees. "And just like everything, it's possible to go overboard, or spend all your time trying to get that teeeensy bit better. Oop, no, left foot straight, right foot… yeah, there you go. And leaaaan into it." She's doing the same stretches, which slowly shift from limbering up to actual exercises. "Okay, on this one, we're going to put one foot back, then 'lunge' forward with the other. Keep your knee at ninety degrees. Hands on hips, right. You should feel a light burn in your legs. Yeah? Groovy, now we're going to hold it for a count of five, then straighten up, and repeat it with the other leg for five…"
During the stretch-hold things, she uses her chin to indicate a pair of amateur bodybuilders using the weight machines. "Those fellas? Some like that will chase the 'perfect' body tirelessly, and do just about anything to get it. Good news is they tend to only hurt themselves, not anyone else, in that pursuit."
*
Amanda Sefton follows Dani's instructions, trying to commit as much of it to memory as she can. Her gaze flickers in the direction of the boybuilders. She smirks - only a little - and glances back to Dani's direction. While the woman stretches. "Mm. Well. I don't see perfection like they do, I think." Of course, Amanda's tastes lie elsewhere. She switches to the other leg, stretching out and holding the pose as Dani demonstrated.
*
Danielle counts to five, then straightens again. "I don't know… I can certainly appreciate a classically sculpted male physique," she muses half-teasingly, before moving on to the next exercise. "Okay… this one's easy. Keep your feet planted and about this far apart.. good. Hands on hips. Yep. Now we're just going to crouch down and straighten up. Try to keep your shoulders back, and your bottom clenched.." Oh sure, it sounds easy enough, but it's amazing how fast leg muscles will start to protest. "Next time, we'll work more on arms and shoulders, give our legs a break."
*
Amanda Sefton rolls her eyes in Dani's direction, but says nothing. Jokingly, she takes a step back so that she's behind Dani, saying nothing.. just watching. And only when the other woman /realizes/ what Amanda's doing does she glash a wry grin in her direction.
*
It takes Danielle a few moments to catch on, and when she does, she straightens and tosses a mock-glower over her shoulder. "… I can't take you /any/where," she laments .
*
Amanda Sefton grins again. "I didn't say a /word/," she insists. She glances around, and when she's sure it's 'safe', she leans in and pecks Dani's cheek. "All right, all right. Let's do this proprerly…"
*