Hitting the Gym

Posted on Tue Mar 29th, 2022 @ 7:40pm by Ensign Aenardha Sh'vastarth & Mauricio Arnaldo

Mission: The Gauntlet
Location: Gym
Timeline: Current

It took a couple of days for Aenardha to finally join Mauricio in the gym. The first day was her own fault; waking up a bit late on top of forgetting about it entirely. The next two mornings she had to be on duty early as they approached and entered the nebula.

Finally, though, and after confirming with Mauricio that she would definitely be in the gym on this particular morning, Aenardha showed up in her Starfleet issued PT uniform; spandex compression modified for moisture wicking to keep her, and any other Aenar, from overheating. She arrived a few minutes before Mauricio and used the time to stretch and perform some of the warm-up exercises she had learned at the Academy. There were but a few other personnel in the gym going about their own routines.

Mauricio sauntered in not long after, speaking intently with a tall, dark-haired Ensign from Security, "...keeping warm is our priority after all." He smirked, then turned to see Aenardha. "Oh! You're here?! And early!"

Aenardha was finishing up some reps of the windmill stretching exercise. Already and despite her uniform, not designed to hold in heat, she was sweating though only moderately. She stood and performed a few high knees as she spoke. “Surprised?” she asked, her voice already showing a bit of windedness. “And…keeping warm may be your priority.” She stopped and stood before him.

Her PT uniform hugged her body nicely. Mauricio certainly would have deemed it as a summer PT uniform…for the hottest of days.

“But not my priority,” she finished.

"Well, I guess not." Mauricio smiled, "You have the advantage there." He turned to his friend, "Hit me up after your duty shift okay?" The Ensign gave a nod and sauntered away to complete his exercise, leaving Mauricio to turn back to Aneardha with a grin, "There are some things I definitely did miss being on a non-Federation station for those several months."

“Not having to adhere to a command structure,” Aenardha wagered a guess. Aenardha performed a few over-head arm pulls as she spoke. “Implementing your own schedule,” she continued. “Not having to take orders and hitting the gym whenever you liked.”

"Trust me, Katya still gave me orders." Mauricio laughed. He moved over to where the gym equipment was stored, opening up the white cabinet by pressing gently on the release button. The door revealed various exercise aids, from weights to bands to rollers. He grabbed a small, rubber ball and with a tap of a few buttons, it expanded in size and weight up to 5 kilograms. Mauricio walked back over to Aenardha and handed it to her, "Grab this. Lift it up and bring it back down to your chest. 10 reps, rest, 10 reps, rest."

Aenardha did as instructed and started performing the reps. She tweaked the position and stance of her body, as she felt the muscles move, for what she felt to be optimal stretch, reach and exercise. She had seen this exercise performed in the past and even attempted it herself a time or two. Now, though, she had a better understanding of what it was for.

Mauricio started stretching himself nearby. "I couldn't exactly do what I wanted, but I could make choices about my day and my schedule. That was nice." He said as he reached down to his ankles, feeling that pull through the back of his leg muscles.

Aenardha finished her first set of reps and placed the medicine ball down, resting her elbows upon it. “Seems like, no matter where we are or who we are with, there is some form of command structure.” She thought a quick second about the current situation; her doing as he instructed whilst in the gym. “Whether it is authorized or simply agreed upon.”

She started lifting the medicine ball again and immediately had to work through the first two reps as her arms wanted to, already, rebel again her actions. Forcing herself through the first two reps, she let out a whimpering grunt and lost control of her breathing, expelling all the air from her lungs, leaving her little strength for the third rep. Halfway up, the medicine ball started to slip and she lowered it back down. It seemed a moment longer of resting was needed.

Mauricio looked up from his stretch and saw the Ensign struggle, "Give it a moment more, no need to rush." He said gently. He went back to stretching, not wanting to interrupt her rest.

“It just gets…a bit frustrating,” she said in two breaths. “The strength is there but the stamina and the endurance are not.” She pondered a moment that the whole thing could have been biological, that the Aenar, that she, could not possibly hope to keep up with humans of average fitness, that the Aenar had a biological handicap.

"I think my situation is agreed upon." He commented, "Or just where fate has lead me, so I've accepted it. I feel like I'm doing something good for Paradise, not just fulfilling a position, you know?"

Aenardha felt his words as she spoke; that perhaps her own situation was agreed upon. Agreed upon by nature; that nature had agreed that the Aenar were to remain weak. Fate had led her to her current position, one of failure, and she was going to have to accept it. Her antennae drooped in kind.

It was Mauricio’s final statement that knocked her out of the lull she was digging herself into and she thought that maybe she was doing something good for…something. She was given this name, Aenardha, and she wanted to own it.

That did not negate her negative thoughts. It just sent them packing for the moment. Gripping the medicine ball, Aenardha lifted it again. After a brief bout of resistance from her muscles, she completed a successful rep. Happy with that little win, though not outwardly showing it, Aenardha gritted her teeth and grunted out another rep. Her antennae righted themselves and stood erect as she continued.

~~”I hope you do not mind,”~~ she thought to him, ~~”I am a little too winded to speak.”~~ She continued lifting the medicine ball. ~~”I think I know what you mean. We are not just filling a position. But we must fulfill a role, perhaps one the other may wish to imitate.”~~

"Take it easy." Mauricio said helpfully, "This isn't a race. If you'd like we can go for a walk on the treadmill?"

Aenardha almost let the medicine ball freefall to the floor, but managed to control its descent. She sat and caught her breath some. “Patience has not always been a virtue of mine,” she said. “I tend to push myself to the limit and oftentimes beyond.” Aenardha thought back. “During the battle with the Alrakis Pact, I reached out to all the Broots I could; something we Aenar are advised not to do.” She looked at Mauricio and nodded. “Perhaps the treadmill is a better choice. Unless if you prescribe me a lighter weight on this medicine ball.”

"Variety is better." Mauricio replied, heading towards the treadmills. "We're going for general fitness, right?"

“Right,” she said. “I recall hearing some in the Intel office speaking of ‘arm day’ or ‘leg day’ or ‘chest day’,” she utilized Mauricio’s vision and awareness to look herself over as she spoke, “I think I know what they are talking about. I will defer to your guidance.”

"Yeah..." Mauricio said slowly as he started up the treadmills, beginning with a light walk. "I think that's good if you have specific goals for those areas. Are you looking to build arms or just general overall strength?"

“Endurance,” she started, “I think should be my first priority. Strength does not seem too important if I can only do a few reps or hold something for a short period of time before giving out.” Aenardha stepped up onto a treadmill. The belt was moving, slowly but still moving. She spent an awkward second getting onto it and stepping naturally so as to not be send off the end nor collide with the control board.

“This is my first treadmill,” she admitted. “Feels a bit strange; walking but not going anywhere.” Aenardha smiled at the thought and utilized Mauricio’s sight and situational awareness to ensure she remained centered.

And it was, in fact, as strange feeling; walking without going anywhere. She felt that was her life up to the point she left Andor, and even now as all the foreseeable roads led her right back to Andor. All this work she was doing (all this walking) and she was not going to be going anywhere save for right back to Andor.

Aenardha did not have to live her life like that and she decided to find a way to ensure her life did not end up being analogous with the treadmill she was on. All this walking and working. She had to go somewhere. She only needed to figure out where and how.