Chapter : Team Bonding Session
—Cael Lucian
250 251 252…
Thud
"Can't—"
Team leader had finally gone down, on the other hand…
253 254 255
Amanda and the Old Man was still going…
Glance
…
When will my arms get as big as hers…
"Man, I wonder when my arms will get as buff as Amanda's right Eve?"
…
"Eve?"
…
"Eve?"
"Huh? did you call me?" Ah She must've been dozing off
"Nevermind, I was trying to make a joke but it wouldn't fit the situation anymore"
"Is that so?" She seemed to lean in a little closer.
Thud
"Kid's these days…. They're all monsters" Seems like his muscles had finally relented as Old Man lay flat on the floor, on the other hand the 'Muscle Monster..'
350 351 352
Had sped up.
…
"Ah—That felt nice…" That damn muscle monster had stopped after—
"3000" Team leader said, his voice dead panned, he then glanced at the Old Man, the Old Man glanced back, it seems a tacit understanding had been reached between the 2 of them.
[Indeed.] It went before turning to [1]
This damn system keeps on wasting questions… How the hell do I even control so it answers only when I ask for it—Anyways the reason I only had 2 questions remaining was because I made a habit you see.
I ask the system a simple question, Should I prepare for an unexpected situation this month. If it says no then I chill for a month, if it says yes, then I narrow it down, unfortunately however it seems like the best I could narrow it down was up to a week.
When I asked in days it wouldn't answer, if days wouldn't work don't even expect asking in hours to work. I tried asking for 'danger' it was to broad, when I asked for 'death' it wouldn't answer so I compromised.
But hey, at least there's something! That quote by Uncle Iroh would be really perfect now…
"So? What should we do today?" Asked the team leader, finally having enough energy to stand up normally eh?
"Dunno, I'm gonna do some war thunder, tell me if you have any ideas" before disappearing into his room once more.
Raise
"W-w-we could go to the gym—"
"Absolutely not." Me and Eve said in unison, was there really anything else to ask?
"Heeeh?!?!?! Whyyy???"
"U-u-uhhhhh why are you guys side-eyeing me"
"…"
"Right, how bout something else?"
"We could go cloth shopping?"
"Not joining this shit" I could hear Team Leader's voice from his room, at the same time Old Man Randy was rambling something about 'I'm too old for this.'
"Team leader Please~"
"No."
"Please~"
"No."
"Please~"
—Genesee Valley Center
Step Step Step Step
In the end only the 3 of us went, just me Eve and—The Muscle Monster Amanda, yeah it's a good nickname for her especially when…
"Hmm~ Hmmm~ Hmmm~" She was carrying that many bags at once, bags that Eve bought.
"Hey Eve?"
"Yeah?"
"How do you have so much money to spend?"
"Hmmm—Well I don't really spend my salary, I live rather sparingly after all~" With a blink
"Anyways~ Next stop let's go to that sporting clothe store~"
WHOOSH
"Huh—Where did Amanda go?"
"What?"
"I said where did Amanda go?"
Points
She was already inside looking at the countless rows of compression shirts, her eyes shining brightly
"…"
"Let's go somewhere else shall we?" with a wry smile, I could only nod, uhhh things like these, were never my expertise after all
—
"Cael~"
"No."
"I haven't even said anything."
"Experience."
"Ehhh..."
Eve grabbed a hoodie from a shelf.
"Thoughts?"
"It's a hoodie."
"It's blue."
"It's still a hoodie."
"What about this one?"
"It's black."
"And?"
"It's also a hoodie."
Eve stared at me. I stared back.
"What exactly do you look for when buying clothes?"
"Price."
"..."
"Comfort."
"…" She had that face that says, 'This man…'
In the end we only looked through the clothes before Amanda came running with a few extra bags
"Oh? what did you buy?"
"u-uhm just a few pairs of sweat pants, a few hoodies and some compression shirts of different color!!!" With a smile, one that did not exactly fit her, but eh, we're just here to relax from work so doesn't really matter.
I thought to myself as I looked around, there were people, Man and Woman alike, some with kids, some short some tall, Oh? that one guy with a suit looks really tall and pale-?
Blink
Hm? Maybe I was just hallucinating?
"Let's go to the shoe store next!!!"
"A-alright!!!"
—
"Hmmmm…" Amanda was carefully observing one of the shoe as she was crouching, looking at it meticulously, she then picked up one of those shoes, and turned it around, like a researcher studying a new specimen.
On the other hand…
"Cael, which one looks better?" I looked as Eve had showed me what seemed to be 2 identical shoes.
"They look the same no?"
"They're both shoes are they not? Don't they do the same job?"
"…" She had this Bruh face all around, but I couldn't understand a single thing
"Just grab the cheapest one."
"…"
"Amanda what do you think?"
Yet Amanda was silent, her eyes completely focused on comparing more shoes like her life depended on it, after what seemed to be like 30 minutes before we finally went to have a food break.
"Boss!, I'll have the Olive burger and a zero sugar coke!"
"I-I'll have 2 beefy doubles.."
"I'll have the Koegel hotdog and a Pepsi"
"Coming right up!!!"
Step Step
As we took our seats, Eve sat beside Amanda while I sat beside the countless clothes we bought…
"After this wanna go to my place? It's quite close and I have some snacks!" A random suggestion coming from her
"Sure" I said without much thought,
"A-alright…"'
Step Step
"Here's your Olive burger Zero sugar coke, 2 beefy doubles, Koegel hotdog and Pepsi" said a waiter with a flat tone, like he had always been doing this for years.
"Well-? Let's dig in~!!!" With excitement, Eve said as she took her first bite, I also took a bite of my hotdog, it tasted rich, slightly sweet with that savory pork and beef flavor. The meat itself was packed, having that tender bite with a crunchy crust, a perfect combination
Munch Munch
Well, it tastes great, and not that bad for it's price so that's something, as we were still eating our meal, out of habit I glanced around, there were people, young and old, some with children some without.
"Mom I want a bite too!!!"
"here you go sweety, say Ahhhhh"
"I'll have the usual, my grand kid'll have the shake."
"Dude, check out this Ttube video."
"Where where? Lemme see"
A family of 3 could be seen eating peacefully, meanwhile the grandpa and the grandkid were waiting at the counter, the teenage boys were watching a Ttube video, a guy with a suit who was sitting alone, He looked so out of place wearing a suit in a place like this
Must've been someone in a hurry for an interview, well whatever. Not my place to judge, maybe he just likes the place. Halo burger is quite famous here after all, Oh there was also a cleaner mopping the floor, and some girls just came through the door.
Munch Munch
"So? what's your room like Eve?" Time to start some small talk, can't stare on my phone 24/7 after all
"Hmm? I mean my place is basically like Jeremy's, well except the pc set up part, I don't need a crazy set up like him after all" with an exasperated smile with the last part filled with a sarcastic joke, she said as she continued drinking her coke
"And you Amanda?"
Munch Stops.
"U-u-uhm my apartment's quite 'normal' I guess, oh! I do have a treadmill and some machines with some weights!!!"
Hmmm… I wonder how it'll look like… Well, it's probably quite minimalist, and probably some equipment here and there… Maybe a a few weights and plates? Oh there's definitely a bench press machine probably
Maybe even a treadmill and a cycle machine with a few barbells and plates with many weights, Like that one anime—How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? / Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru?, following the story of a high school girl joining a high class gym…
"500 501 502 503 504—3 thousand more reps to go…" Yeah—Definitely something Amanda could do. Hmm I wonder how heavy can she lift?
"Hey Amanda"
Munch
"Yeah?"
"How heavy can you lift?"
"U-u-uhm it depends on the move…" Amanda tilted her head.
"Bench press is around... 4 hundred pounds?"
Cough
Eve nearly inhaled her drink.
"Four hundred?!"
"W-w-well that's not that much is it?"
"Yes it is."
"Oh-?" This damn muscle monster looked rather confuse…
"U-u-uhm... My deadlift is around seven hundred and fifty..."
"Excuse me?"
"W-when I'm not using a weight belt…"
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT BETTER!"
"Sorry..." The Muscle monster shrunk ever so slightly, looking like she did something wrong
"Anything else?"
"Hmmm..." Then she began counting on her fingers.
"Lateral raises are around eighty pounds each hand..."
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Is that bad?"
"Bad?" Eve repeated, her tone was like is this girl serious?
"That's the weight of an entire middle school student!"
"O-oh."
Amanda looked down at her hands, the 2 burgers she ordered was already gone
"I thought everyone could do that..."
"No Amanda."
"Not everyone can do that."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"..."
"Huh." She looked like someone discovering common sense, or in this case, her common sense seemed to not be the norm for people. Huh—I wonder why? Maybe because she can lift fucking eighty pounds in each hand???
"What about cardio?"
"U-u-uhm I said it before in Team leader's house"
"Ehehehe~ I forgot, how much was it?"
"100 pushups, 100 sit ups, 10km run, and 100 squats daily."
…
"B-b-but sometimes it's to easy, so I add some weights…"
Is this girl Rock Lee or something?
—
Step Step Step
"Eve, how much longer?"
"Hmm~ it'll probably be just a little longer" We had been walking for 30 minutes, and she called it a little?!?!?!
"U-uhm if you're tired I could carry you-?"
"Ah, no it's fine I was just curious." Absolutely fucking NO, even if I'm weak I still have a bit of male pride in me…
Step Step Step
The afternoon sun was bearable to say the least, at least the sweat wasn't stuck to your skin unlike when you're using some drysuits or cleaning a hazardous containment cell—Much better to say the least
Step Step
Cars were passing by, there were people walking, some walking their dogs, some their children, there were even some mothers pushing a stroller, people were talking, minding their own businesses.
Ring Ring
A cyclist cycled past us, followed by a few more, a normal day, one without any Remnants, without any anomalies haunting our day, where one single move could kill us right here and there, a completely normal day.
Glance
My eyes drifted on the road on it's own—An old lady was crossing the road, a guy walking using earphones, another man on a suit rushing, his face looked anxious and—Nothing
Hmmm?
…
Unconsciously I frowned, for a moment it felt like I had forgotten something, not important, just that annoying feeling when you come into your room to take something then forgetting it right that instant, at the tip of your tongue.
Shake
Well whatever, if I forgot it, then it probably wasn't important
"C-cael?"
"Yeah?"
"A-are you really that tired? Should I actually carry you?"
"No it's fine, I was just dozing off, probably some side effects of the Hotel."
"O-o-oh… Okay…"
Step Step Step
And finally—After what Eve called just a little longer (It was a 1 hour walk)
We had arrived right on Eve's apartment door,
"Well then~ Welcome innnn"
Creakkkkkkk
And as soon as the door was opened, I had expected a rather normal looking room, but the first thing that came to mind when I looked at her room was rather simple. What the—?
For those who're confused, the uncle Iroh quote goes : Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving… you will come to a better place