Relaxation at the Gym

[Dubski]

Aarna Mehta was standing in the locker room heaving a sigh while she was on the phone, talking up a storm and pacing past the sweaty and fully clothed to naked women all around her while she was in her wrestling gear. While some people were there to work out, the intent was for Aarna to join them. However, the Indian girl was having a work call, which wasn't uncommon even at these hours. Her frustration was palpable to anyone who paid her any mind in the locker room, and it was more than just having a late work call. It was the fact that her start in LAW was far less spectacular than she had hoped.

A losing streak, feeling frustrated to end in. Aarna was taking defeat after defeat, she was tired of losing and wanted to get somewhere in her wrestling career. But it seemed no matter how much she tried, she would always come up short, no matter the match type. Tightening her lips, she finally ended her call with a sharp, "Okay, good bye." She would then try to calm herself, clutching her phone tight and resting her other hand on her locker as her face scrunched up in stress. Closing her eyes, Mehta took a deep breath and then opened up her locker, put her phone inside, and then closed it and locked it.

Then, Aarna would then go out into the gym proper and look around at all of the girls working out hard, briefly, before finding a spot to herself. She had a routine that she stuck to, and one that she thought served her well. The Indian girl made her way to the padded area and then began to do a few simple stretched, making herself more limber. And then, she would try doing more advanced ones. And soon enough she was doing a split on the mat, pressing her hands down and sinking low. Her exceptional flexibility meant she wanted to push that to its limit, and do so rather effortlessly. And she focused on just that stretch for right now.

Spoiler

[Bare]

Izumi hummed happily as she walked through the halls of the LAW gym, in full wrestling gear since her usual work out clothes were in the wash, besides it would do to get a bit more comfortable in the form fitting attire. Ever since arriving in LAW she had been doing very well with a strong win record and no losses yet. So to say she was happy was an understatement, but to keep that up she had to keep her training up in turn, and she was looking forward to it. Entering the wide sweeping room with mats, exercise equipment and the like she looked around to decide what to do first, only to spot a familiar head of hair not too far away.

"Well I'll be." Izumi said to herself with a smile, actually rather fond of Aarna after their match and decided to walk over to her. Noticing that she did a perfect split Izumi got a cute idea as she stepped in front of the girl before dropping down into a perfect split while just in front of her before giving a little wave to the transcendent. "Hello again~ Lovely to see you again Aarna." Izumi said with a friendly smile on her face as she greeted her cohort.

Spoiler

[Dubski]

Aarna Mehta was taking deep breaths while she stretched in her split, leaning forward with her eyes closed and her hands on the mat. She wanted to calm down and try to relax through her training and exercise. It typically helped--at least for the short term for her. She could use the opportunity to unwind a bit. She had heard someone approaching the mats close to her and dropping down, but she didn't necessarily pay them any mind--it was always a crowded gym. People made space wherever. It wasn't until the other party spoke that Aarna's eyes slid open to look at her.

Despite the chipper introduction, Aarna's face fell slightly. She was looking at someone who had bested her most recently and added to her building losing streak. Her mouth stiffened for a moment, before she cleared her throat and then offered a meager smile of her own. "Hi..." replied the Indian girl, remaining in her split. She waited an extra beat before continuing in an uneasy tone. "How are you?" she asked, trying to keep some niceties with her former opponent.

[Bare]

Despite the chipper introduction Izumi, ever observant as she was noticed the falling of Aarna's face at seeing her and while it didn't necessarily give her pause it did make her curious. Was it because of their match? Because Izumi couldn't think of anything she said or did that would lead to such a reaction, unless it was just because of the loss itself... Either way Izumi wouldn't let it distract her as she continued to offer a friendly smile to the woman.

"I'm doing good Aarna! Just came to work out but saw you and thought some company would be nice." She said light heartedly before tilting her head with a little bit of a concerned look crossing her face. "May I ask how you're doing? You seem... distraught." Izumi asked curiously, not wanting to intrude if Aarna was dealing with something important, or if she could help, she'd gladly do so in a heartbeat.

[Dubski]

Aarna Mehta closed her eyes and hung her head. She was stressed. Frustrated. And the face of her latest loss was right in front of her. ...But it was a nice face, and it certainly wasn't an antagonistic one. Taking a deep breath, the Indian girl would collect herself before looking up, offering a more welcoming smile. "Izumi Tachibani... I'm sorry. My head is just... somewhere else today," she explained, shaking her head.

"And none of that is your problem and... not your burden, and not worthy of the cold hello I gave you," continued Mehta. She extended her hand to Izumi for her to shake and said, "I appreciate you coming over. I don't know how good of company I am here, but... you're welcome to hang out for however long you want." Her brow furrowed immediately after saying that and she gave a stiff shake of her head now. "Not that you need my permission... But I should shut up. Shutting up!"

With a final huff of a sigh, Aarna concluded with a more peaceful, "How are you?" She should at least conclude on a less baffling note.

[Bare]

Asking Aarna how she was doing and if she was alright Izumi would tilt her head in curiosity as she waited for her former opponent to answer and when she did she found herself more curious but she'd nod and smile understandingly towards thee girl. "Not to worry at all Aarna, I certainly understand, and thank you! I always prefer to work out with someone else, so just your lovely presence is enough for me." Izumi said softly with a smile before humming as Aarna asked how she was doing.

"I'm well for the most part, though I recently dealt with my first loss recently, frustrating but nothing I won't bounce back from, but it's why I decided to come in today to relax and unwind a bit." Izumi said honestly with a shrug and small laugh at her own misfortune before leaning back, placing her hands behind her and arching her back forward, causing her ribs and chest to stick out a bit as she stretched out her spine a bit, and showed off her chest and abs a bit unintentionally to Aarna.

[Dubski]

It was hard to stay mad at Izumi with that compliment. He cheeks colored slightly as she shook her head, the vestiges of a bright smile being held back. Her gaze casted down so she could hide that little blush before she looked back up to Izumi as she spoke. She had experienced a loss too. And here, Izumi was able to be in better spirits about it than she was. She offered her a sympathetic look, nodding. "I'm sorry. Losing is... hard," she replied, giving a nod of acknowledgement for that struggle. Her eyes lingered on Izumi's chest a little bit when she began stretching, and the Indian girl closed them after a moment and cleared her throat.

Then, she would spin around in her split position and place her back to Tachibana. She would then place her hand on the small of her back as she leaned back enough to stretch. And she stretch rather impressively far back, not needing to brace her hands on the mats before her head nearly touched the mat. Her silver locks rested on it as she smiled lopsidedly, and very upside-down. Her cleavage in her outfit inadvertently being on full display to her current stretching partner now. "I envy that you can find it in you to relax and unwind here. It's... hard for me. I have a lot of stressors that you don't care nor need to care about," replied Aarna, taking her time with this stretch, and making it look relatively effortless as well.

[Bare]

Izumi always enjoyed working out with others and this was why. Being able to just have a conversation while stretching out, it was honestly extremely pleasant, especially someone like Aarna who she had shard a ring with, and it showed with the compassion the transcendent spoke with in regards to her loss but Izumi politely waved it off. "Yes they're never fun, but I don't like to dwell on such things, instead i'll focus on evening the score later." Izumi said with a confident nod and wink.

Though as Aarna turned and stretched back, smiling while simultaneously offering a pretty good view of her chest from her current position... well lets just say Izumi was secretly very glad that she could multitask as well as she could as she nodded along to what Aarna said before tilting her head.

"Well hang on, sometimes just talking about what's bothering you can help mitigate the stress they cause, so if you'd like..." As Izumi said this she would turn around and lean back in a mirror of the pose Aarna had mad so Izumi could smile at th woman and it'd appear right side up. "I'm more than happy to listen or otherwise help you unwind. I knew a few things after all." Izumi said, maintaining the position for as long as Aarna would as she waited for a answer.

[Dubski]

Aarna couldn't help but be a little tickled by Izumi's confidence. Her glance went downward for that moment before she changed to her new stretch. She was upside-down to Tachibana as she spoke. Her mouth quirked into a little smirk when she noticed Izumi glancing at her chest. The Indian girl closed her eyes, being content with being ogled like that. She didn't often look for a gaze, but when she felt it... it felt good.

She listened to Izumi speak at first, then heard her starting to move as well. Her eyes flickered open and she saw Izumi adopting the same pose. Smiling warmly at her stretching partner, she stared right at her, both of them upside-down. And she let out a soft giggle before taking a deep breath and lifting up, planting one hand on the mat and turned, twisting her spine so she was sideways now. Keeping that hand planted on the mat, Mehta brushed some of the hair from her face and said, "Well... I guess I could."

With a deep sigh, Aarna began to talk, looking down at the upside-down Izumi. "My job has... outrageous hours and I'm on call constantly, and it's just stressful and they need me to keep running around and making calls to clients," began Mehta, eyes rolling up now. "And then my wrestling career has been circling the drain and I have no doubt I'm close to being released if I can't pull it together. And I keep exercising and working out to look good, and for what? I don't have time to date and rarely anyone gives me a second look." Finally, Aarna closed her eyes and then sighed loudly. "And then my parents..." Mehta said a phrase in Punjabi and then resumed. "Always on my back and I don't think that will ever change." Biting her lip, Aarna opened her eyes again to look at Izumi. "...And I guess those are the biggest thing," concluded Mehta, not sure how Izumi might take any of that.

[Bare]

Izumi straightened up a bit after hearing confirmation from Aarna that she would talk about what was ailing her so and the blue haired woman would spin around and cross her legs under her. Not performing a stretch anymore but merely sitting and listening to Aarna as she vented and got everything out in the open, Izumi nodding in response to encourage her to continue talking. Once it seemed that she was done Izumi would nod in response before taking a moment to formulate a response. "I see. A job, you're wrestling career and needing a win, parents, and not having time left over to date... All valid reasons to stress over." Izumi said, parroting back what Aarna said to insure she had everything correct while also laying everything out, trying to make it seem less.

As she talked though Izumi would smile softly at Aarna and reach out to gentle touch her leg. "Although, you are most definitely wrong about no one giving a second look, I could look at you all day personally." Izumi said brightly with a wink to the woman before continuing with a more serious expression. "That being said, it does sound like maybe you should make some changes. Is your job really neccessary? Are there no others with lighter hours?" Izumi suggested before continuing on. "Maybe doing so will help you focus on other things after all, or at least give you more time to yourself. As far as matches go... Sometimes all it takes is a change in attitude." Izumi said, offering a gentle squeeze to Aarna's thigh as she talked to enforce the gentleness with which she spoke.