Swole City

[Aiden]

Mira

"Ya sure? Really, really sure?" Mira gave Roman a Look, the sort that withered over-confident early series shounen guys on the vine until they got their second wind of determination from being shouted at for being a wuss. Then she shrugged, and started to jog down the street. "Alright, keep up then!"

[yinsukin]

Roman

The glare struck at his very core, his body paralyzed, his nerves broken.  All of that bravado was gone in a moment.  No it wasn't gone, merely hiding under a layer of fear.  Of what he was scared of, he didn't understand yet.  Roman watched for a moment as Mira's body flowed so gracefully forward, her strides effortless but powerful.

Inhale the pain and exhale the hesitation.

With that task done, Roman followed behind Mira, silent, his eyes locked on the purple-haired woman.

[Aiden]

Mira

At first her pace was fine, a light jog at most that even Roman wouldn't be too winded by. Mira's pace picked up over the next several minutes, seeming to plateau each time Roman caught up with her pace for a minute and then upping the ante from there.

But when he inevitably faltered, she slowed back down until he could catch up.

They didn't seem to actually be going anywhere yet.

[yinsukin]

Roman

The hardest part is taking your first step.  What a load of absolute bullshit.  That was the easy part.  The sound of his steps in sync with the vision of Mira's muscular back in front of him.  Yes, this wouldn't be so hard after all.

That was just the first few minutes.

Doubt, the truest fear of all.  Its paralyzing toxin trickled into Roman's body, almost as if it were being sucked in by the inhales that ran a bit harsher than normal.  As the soft pants turned into harsh gasps, the trickle became a flood.  Why did you bother coming out here?  You can't do this!  Your just a human, nothing special.  You have no special powers, no particular genius, nothing.  You can't possibly keep up with her!  Look at those muscles!  Do you really want to bother keeping up with her?

The panting became light wheezing.

Why don't you just stop now and see if she can match your pace, let you be a bit slower.  Maybe.... maybe she will go easy on you.  Your not special.  You never were!  You can't possibly expect to start with this much effort right off the bat.

"GRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH" he yelled, speeding up behind her.  DAMN IT!  ITS NOT TRUE!  IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE!  I WILL BECOME SOMETHING!
 I WILL BE MORE SPECIAL THAN EVERYONE ELSE!

[Aiden]

Mira

And as if that were the very sign that Mira was waiting for she burst ahead, going double her previous speed while weaving between people on the sidewalk and not losing pace! Roman quickly lost track of her, only for moments later to find Mira coming up from behind him and running right next to him. "You enjoying your warm-up?!"

[yinsukin]

Roman

Roman could feel his heart pounding in his chest, begging him to stop.  He blinked, her body vanishing in the split second.  Tears began to well up in his eyes but for some reason he didn't stop running.  That moment would stick with him.  Well, maybe the reason was that Mira popped up behind him, scaring him into shooting forward with a sudden sprint.

"Holy sh- wait did you say warm up?"

[Aiden]

Mira

"Hm?" She stopped, letting him catch up and hopping on her heels with a grin. "Yeah, that's the warm up! Here's the first lesson I got for ya: I couldn't afford gyms at the start. I had to make do with what I had, and that was the streets. My own body, barely."

She pointed to a nearby tree planted along the side of the sidewalk.

"You see that tree? Did my first pull-ups on one just like it. Got a nice hanging branch and everything. You're gonna give it a go next. Wanna see how strong those arms are."

[yinsukin]

Roman

The second Roman caught up to Mira, he kneeled over, gasping wildly.  Each heave of his breath felt like a hand crushing his lunges, pumping them sadistically to remind him of the value of life, only to threaten that life by choking him.  Really, he had forgotten he had lunges, had a heart.  But it was impossible to ignore a heart that was thumping so wildly in his chest.

He wanted it to stop.

"Wait.... but I have money," he said, still heaving a little bit.  "I might be weak but I have a job.  I can afford a gym."

[Aiden]

Mira

Some of the locals gave them odd looks as Mira shrugged, completely unbothered by the exercise they'd done so far. "Fair enough. How many hours you work at that job? What kind of work is it?"

She held a hand up and counted with her fingers. "How fast do you think you'll become the best working a nine to five? How late are you willing to stay up? How early are you willing to wake up?"

[yinsukin]

Roman

Still heaving he sauntered over to the pull-up bar.  Despite Mira getting as close as she could to physically threatening him earlier, the bar somehow scared him more than her.  He stared at it for a moment before turning to continue the conversation.

"I... its just an office job," he said.  "I just manage this big system.  It pays pretty well and all I have to do is essentially defer to people more capable to me.  I work long hours, very long.  Its strange... as i've gotten older I noticed time passed me by quicker, but in that office, I am basically a baby.  The minutes are like hours, the hours like days.  Depending on the time of the year it can be an eight to twelve-hour shift, but it somehow always feels even longer...."

Roman stopped.  "Wait... what are you asking me?  Slow down!"

[Aiden]

Mira

Mira stopped, and allowed her hand to fall to her side with a deep sigh. It did interesting things to her chest while she shook her head.

"Just... look, I'm asking, how much are you willing to give up to become the best?"

[yinsukin]

Roman

Roman stopped, his breath finally slowing.  It was weird.  He felt alive, oh so alive.  Life and death pulled at his heart, dragging it down while feeding him the satisfaction of having done something.  Finally, Roman took a deep breath and said,

"I am willing to do anything."

[Aiden]

Mira

"One hundred pull-ups, or until your arms can't move. Whichever comes first."

Mira just stared at him, daring Roman to prove himself a liar.

[yinsukin]

Roman

Well... he still meant what he said, but that didn't mean the bar looked any less intimidating.  Roman approached the bar, each step having the weight of an elephant.  Time seemed to slow down.  All the sudden he took notice of the way his shoes ground against the dirt.  Standing in front of the bar, he gulped.

I have to do it, no matter how stupid I look.

And he did look pretty stupid, at least he felt like he looked stupid.  The man grabbed hold of the bar with two hands and tried with all his might to go up.  However, all he could muster was his arms wiggling in frustration.  Still hanging, he turned to Mira and said, "So I take it I still have one hundred more right?"

[Aiden]

Mira

"... wow, you suck." Mira shook her head, and sighed in a small amount of disappointment. But then she smacked her fist into her palm, and nodded to herself.  "Guess there's nothing to it. Try again! And again! And if you can't, get down on the ground and start giving me push ups!"