Maya crossed a leg over the other and fanned some air into her face when Val teasingly came closer. Her braid fell over her shoulder. Inching closer, the Valkyrie flustered Maya.
“Tell meeee,” drawled the Valkyrie, resting her hands on the chair and drawing closer to Maya. “Do you. Like. It?”
“Do I?” asked Maya blithely and touched the smooth brown braid of Val. Starting from her cheeks, Val dyed her natural, shining blond hair to a darker brown. “What’s this style called?”
Val tugged a half-brown, half-blond braid behind her ear. Her amber eyes glanced over at Maya. “Reverse Ombre,” answered the Valkyrie. “I keep my roots. Natural. And past the ears. They slowly go over. To brown.”
Val furrowed her brows. She still waited for Maya’s reply, who gently entangled her fingers between Val’s. “Do you. Like it?”
“It’s beautiful,” said Maya with a kiss to the Valkyrie’s cheek and laughed at how stunned the Valkyrie reacted. “It brings out the colour of your skin and eyes, but I also like your original colour.” Maya kissed her once more. This time, though, she savoured it more when Val hugged her and didn’t let her go. “I like our small experiment. We’re not a week in and already trying out new hairstyles.”
Val chuckled and nuzzled her cheek against Maya’s neck. “Me. Too. It’s nice. I never felt this. Happy.” The Valkyrie’s face flushed red as her smile brightened even further. “I can’t wait. To go to. My gym. With you.”
“Yay…” Wrinkling her brow, Maya tried to hide her discontent about the idea. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. “I promised her. At least I should give it a shot.” Faking a confident smile, Maya was glad Val didn’t notice it. “And I’ll give my best for her.”
Maya’s best was on trial.
The two jogged to the gym, which took them at least 20 minutes, though it felt like an hour for Maya. Maya proposed to take the bus, but Val eagerly insisted it was better to get warm and run—Maya hated it when Val was correct.
However, Maya got winded after 10 minutes. Val didn’t mind about the more quaint pace since they got to hold hands. She was happy Maya initiated it first. Though now Val wished they took their time arriving at the gym and had to break up their touch.
Val was always ready and dressed for workout or combat, occasionally going daily and wearing her black leggings and sports bra that scooped around her neck—not that Maya minded seeing the Valkyrie’s trained and fit body, but Maya wished Val would put on the other gorgeous clothes she bought her.
“At least she wears the orange crop sweatshirt she liked. It’s so impractical, but it looks sooooo good on her,” thought Maya, looking at the scars on Val’s back and stomach when she took off her shirt. “Stop staring. Snap out of it, Maya!”
Maya’s eyes wandered over the revealed neckline, with the halters scooping around her neck for her black sports bra. She wondered how Val could be so patient with her when Maya was already head over heels seeing her girlfriend in this attire.
The Valkyrie simply sent sparks through Maya’s chest and coils.
“I’ll see. You. Inside,” said Val and waved Maya a quick see–you–later before jogging inside.
Maya’s resolution to go to the gym now was entirely different from before. She had given up before on the third day of New Year, but this time, she wanted to do things for Val. Losing the weight she recently gained to look more attractive to Val was a side goal now.
“I want to spend more time with her,” thought Maya. This was enough motivation she needed.
However, putting on her gym wear dashed some of the motivation.
Her leggings made her regret life as a whole. She knew they might have got snug on her, but when they ripped around her thighs, Maya was just glad she was alone in the changing room for no one to hear—and that she brought spare shorts—although she disliked how short they were.
“I shouldn’t have packed a spare to spare me the humiliation,” grumbled Maya as she brushed her oversized, grey shirt over the length of her body. “I look ridiculous,” she sighed while adjusting the headband. “No time for regrets now.”
Maya futilely tugged one last time at her gym shorts so they wouldn’t ride up over her thighs. Another thing she hated about exercise was the constant reminder of her missing thigh gap.
“Forget it. Do it for her. Do it for Val!” Maya repeated to herself and left the changing room.
The sight of others working out made Maya immediately feel self-conscious about herself. Men and women alike effortlessly lifted their own body weights, while teenagers seemed fitter than Maya had ever been. Some girls even recorded themselves for social media reels, showing off their glutes and abs, adding to Maya's sense of insecurity.
"Hagh. HGNH!" Maya heard someone groan nearby. She turned to see a skinny, bespectacled man with black hair and wearing a Saitama anime t-shirt struggling with some pink dumbbells. Witnessing his struggle gave Maya a sense of camaraderie and eased her feelings of inadequacy.
Turning away, Maya quickly spotted Val among the other gym-goers warming up. The sight of Val washed away Maya's urge to turn back and go home. While Maya had seen Val do her workouts at home before, she had never seen her as focused and driven as she was now.
Val stretched the muscles of her brown arms, rolled her shoulders back and forth, pronouncing her back muscles in the bare area on her upper back with each circle and bent her back to touch her toes. Then she circled with her hip, hypnotising Maya before she stretched her back forward until her face was upside down and spotted Maya behind her between her legs.
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The Valkyrie twirled around her heel, her braid flung back, and her face flushing red as if she did something indecent in front of her. Maya couldn’t help but flash her a reddened smirk.
“I can definitely do it for her,” concluded Maya, sauntering closer to Val. “Did I interrupt?” asked Maya with an unusually bold tone for herself and surprised Val, who reeled back in embarrassment. Maya couldn’t help but tease her for this reaction.
It was so rare for Val that Maya simply had to use this moment and wrap her arms around Val’s waist. Then she hesitated, not sure where she was going with that. Unintentionally squeezing Val closer to her, she could smell the faint waft of sweat from Val’s body.
Usually, Maya hated the smell of sweat, but she didn’t mind it on Val. It felt different for her, but Maya was still too shy doing anything more than resting a hand on Val’s posterior.
The Valkyrie noticed Maya looking away and then looking behind, spotting Maya’s trembling hands, who anxiously wanted to make the move. She helped her out by moving them lower so they touched her firm butt.
Val drew her lips closer to Maya’s ear and let out a minty and slightly heated breath. “Why don’t you. Give it a test?”
Maya whimpered, too embarrassed by the initiative Val took for her.
Squeeze.
Maya blinked.
She squeezed again, surprised it wasn’t as hard as she expected it to be. It wasn’t as big as Maya knew from hers, but it was easier to grab for her with the muscles of Val’s regular training regime.
They felt tight and a little hard on her hands, yet subtly soft. “Wait, did she do squats while I was getting dressed?” wondered Maya and didn’t notice she squeezed a bit too hard until Val let out a surprised yelp.
Maya looked up in surprise, feeling her face overheating already, but not as much as Val’s did as she pressed the side of her hand against her mouth and looked away.
“Oh no,” worried Maya, but for ultimately different reasons. “This is too tempting!”
“S-shall we move on?” asked Val, her hands jittering to remove Maya’s hands from her butt. “W-we. H-have some. W-workouts. To do,” said Val sheepishly and yelped again when Maya squeezed again, but harder this time—definitely by accident.
“Oops, of course.” Maya didn’t remove her hands from Val’s butt and squeezed once more. “Sorry about that. No impulse control.”
—⚜—
"This is my punishment. I SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SO COCKY!"
"One more, Maya." Val cheered her on. "You can. Do it.”
"This is torture,” whined Maya. “Why, Karma? WHY!?"
Cardio was hell. Doing squads was hell. Lifting light weights was hell. Maya was not born for this sort of exercise—unlike Val, who did each exercise with Maya with such ease that Maya felt tricked.
“I already got winded during warm-ups. Why does this have to be so hard!?”
Maya struggled with the last push-up. Her face was red from strain; she could feel the sweat drenching her skin and her arm muscles burning behind her head—not to mention her stomach hurting, which was not happy!
"This is it," thought Maya during her push-up—the blood was getting to her head. "I can't anymore."
“Come, Maya. One. Last time,” encouraged Val as she held Maya’s feet to help her with the exercise.
Maya opened her eyes and met Val’s. There, they travelled down her chin and then to Val’s halters—particularly at the window of Val's sports bra. Her warm brown skin glistered from perspiration. A drop rolled down her neck and into her cleavage.
Maya gulped, forgetting she was still in the middle of her form until Val let out a cool and minty blow to Maya’s face.
"One last time," said Val and blushed. "When you finish. I'll give you. A peck."
Maya knew this wasn't a trick. Hel, Val would kiss her regardless of whether Maya finished it or not, but that's not what mattered. The rush of energy made Maya pull herself up and finish it by pressing her lips against Val’s, savouring the quick moment of her chilly and rosy lips before Maya plopped down on the floor, panting.
"I can't," moaned Maya in exhaustion. "I'm spent."
Val bent down and drew out another kiss from Maya's heated and full lips, unintentionally sucking more air out of her, leaving her winded. Parting, Val licked her lips. She wanted to go for more and shuddered backwards. Seeing Maya so tired and panting caused Val to shiver with more excitement than the thrill of battle ever did.
It was so utterly unfamiliar. Val wanted to go for more but had to restrain herself. She shook away her excitement and helped Maya up, who would have stayed longer lying on the ground if she could. "You did. Well. Ready for set. Two?"
"Oh gods, no," whined Maya, gesticulating madly with her hands. "I need a break."
Maya tugged at her shirt and waved herself for some air. Her gym clothes clung to her body like a second skin, and she couldn’t stand the sweat she was breaking.
Though Val couldn’t help herself, staring at Maya after watching her working out, unlike her, Val spent many years and decades as a Valkyrie. She was used to the tribulations and strain on her body and mind.
Maintaining her body was necessary, and she needed to get back in shape. Mortals had the luxury not to worry about it, but many of them did nowadays. Val had seen her fair share of mortals, Vikings, and Valkyries. She often found herself lost in the conversations on who looked the most attractive, but she couldn’t see the appeal in any of them.
Whenever the topic came up discussing when someone was attractive or hot, man or woman, Val would awkwardly sit there and not understand anything. She would stare at the person in question and cock her head in confusion. Whenever Val said she didn’t find them attractive, she would get called weird in return. Sometimes, Val thought something was wrong with her when she couldn’t share the same enthusiasm.
Yet something was exciting when Val helped Maya stretch or do her workout routine. She knew Maya didn’t like them but did them regardless, and Val observed every move her body made, sending sparks through her chest.
Val didn’t want to but couldn’t help but peek subtly from her position underneath Maya’s shirt when she tugged on it. Like Val, Maya wore a sports bra hidden underneath her oversized shirt.
Val gulped when she could see Maya’s bosom press against the wet fabric with her skin bulging out from the sports bra. She wanted to hug Maya so badly, press her body against hers, but couldn’t. She needed to hold back and value Maya’s personal space.
The Valkyrie bit her finger. “Stupid thoughts. Go away.”
“No more running,” huffed Maya, sitting on a bench for a drink. “I’m not meant for cardio.”
A playful but sad pout perked up on Val’s lips. “So. No more. Morning Jogs. Together?”
Maya laughed meekly before being startled by a firm hand touching her shoulder from behind. Startled, Maya shrieked and fell into Val’s arms, who giddily waited for a moment like this.
“Welcome to our gym,” said the man wearing a shirt with the gym’s logo. His smile seemed a touch too wide, revealing his unnaturally bleached white teeth. It almost seemed judgemental when he sized Maya up. “My name’s Aaron Trullan,” he introduced himself, his gaze lingering on Maya with a critical edge. “I’ll be your personal trainer for today.”