Chapter 7: Body Breathing
Holly let out a soft laugh, and something about the sound made David’s brain briefly short-circuit before dragging itself back to the present.
"Wait, seriously?" she said, tilting her head.
"I didn’t peg you as, like, a gym guy. Mostly because of the muscles."
The insult landed somewhere it had no business landing, sharp enough that David actually felt his chest twinge — not real pain, obviously, nothing a system could quantify, but close enough that some petty, wounded part of him briefly wished Outbound Gaze came with a bonus feature where he could make her feel exactly one percent of that sting back.
"I need actual muscles now to qualify as a gym guy? Is that the bar? ’Cause last I checked, showing up counts for something." David said with exaggerated offense.
Holly instinctively waved her hand, showcasing her friendliness as she radiated a calm smile at him.
"No, no. I didn’t mean it like that...it’s just...Most dudes out here training are doing it ’cause they’re trying to Awaken and get out of the lower side, you know? Escape the whole—" she gestured vaguely at the block behind them, referring to the fenced-off rubble they called a city.
"—situation."
’Okay, don’t say anything weird. Don’t say anything weird.’
"Yeah, no, I mean — I’m not really doing it for that," he said, hoping his voice sounded more confident than he felt.
"I just, uh — figured working on the body’s a good way to clear the head, you know? Distraction from everything else. Not that I’m into bodybuilding, more like—" he searched for the word like it was hiding somewhere in the grass.
"—body breathing."
Holly blinked, then burst out laughing again, and David felt his stomach do a slow, horrified flip. ’Body breathing? What does that even— why did I say that.’
"Body breathing?" she repeated, grinning.
"I’ve never heard of that.. But I suppose it steal deals with exercise right?"
Thankfully for him, her understanding had saved his dignity.
"Yeah...yeah, it is."
"Ohh...That’s kind of a keeper, honestly."
"Yeah, well," he said, chuckling along like he’d totally meant to say something clever.
"gotta keep the funds rolling in somehow."
He immediately wanted to just stand up and walk away, understanding that there was no coming back from that as well.
’Why. Why would you say that. What does money have to do with body breathing? What the fuck is even body breathing? Curses, I’ve got Dem*n slayer in my head now!’
"Sorry — ignore that," he said quickly, waving a hand like he could physically bat the sentence out of the air.
"I don’t know what that meant either."
Holly just laughed harder, not unkindly, and shook her head.
"You’re funny. Okay, actually — this is kind of a coincidence, but I’m a trainer over at the gym a few blocks from campus. If you’re serious about the whole body thing, you should come by sometime."
David’s brain did several things at once, none of them coordinated. Somewhere in there, his actual financial reality tried to raise a hand — his account balance, last he’d checked, was not a number that supported gym memberships, or really much of anything beyond instant ramen and expired soda.
He wasn’t a simp. He was more of an ultimate opportunist.
And so, realizing that this might be an actual, real excuse to see her again, and before he could stop himself, some desperate, opportunistic part of his brain was already spinning it into something bigger.
’This is it,’ he thought, and even he could hear how unhinged the thought sounded in his own head.
’This is the universe’s real plan. Forget the Harem Conqueror stuff — this is clearly the universe finally deciding I’ve suffered enough and handing me a shot at losing my virginity like a normal, functioning member of society.’
"Yeah — yeah, actually, I’ve been looking for a decent gym." he heard himself say, nodding way too enthusiastically.
"Kind of hard to find a good one out here, but that’d be great."
He wasn’t entirely sure when he’d agreed to that. It had just sort of happened, the words leaving his mouth on some autopilot setting he didn’t remember activating.
"Holly! Can you please wrap it up?" Jenna’s voice cut across the park, sharp with the particular exasperation of someone who had been standing there far too long already.
"God, I know you’re basically famous around here, but what, are you running for mayor now or something?"
Holly turned briefly, waving a hand back at her. "Chill out, I’m coming, I’m coming—"
David caught the tail end of Jenna’s flat, unimpressed glance flicking toward him before she turned fully away, clearly done with the entire interaction, and above her head, unbothered by any of it, the system quietly noted its own little tag drifting into view.
Holly turned back toward David, reaching into the pocket of her leggings, and pulled out a small card, holding it out to him.
He took it, glancing down at it as it settled into his palm — a gym membership card, a little worn at the edges, an address printed neatly across the bottom.
"Here," she said. "If you’re actually serious about it — that’s my card. Number’s on the back too, so you can just call me, or swing by the gym whenever. Either works."
David turned it over in his fingers, feeling something warm and stupid settle in his chest all over again. "Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I’ll—"
"Holly, seriously!" Jenna’s voice cut in again, further off now, clearly done waiting.
"Coming!" Holly called back, then turned to David one last time, eyebrows raised expectantly.
"So? You gonna use it, or is this card just gonna live in your wallet forever?"
He hesitated for half a second, running the thought through his head properly for the first time.
’Six hours ago I was just some broke unawakened guy she’d never look at twice.’ But that wasn’t true anymore, was it. Not really. He had a system now.
He had a path. Somewhere down the line, if this all actually worked, he wasn’t going to be the guy who watched girls like Holly from a distance and assumed the gap between them was permanent. ’There’s an actual chance here. A real one.’
"I’ll call you," he said, and meant it.
Holly smiled, satisfied, and gave him a small wave. "Cool. See you around, David."
"See you."
She turned and jogged off to catch up with Jenna, the two of them falling back into step together, already talking about something else as they resumed their run.
David stood there a moment, watching them go — watching, specifically, the two of their fat asses jiggle pleasantly with each stride as they put distance between themselves and the bench, and he did not, in that moment, feel even slightly guilty about enjoying the view.
Eventually he tore his eyes away, looking back down at the card in his hand, turning it over once more between his fingers.
’New beginnings, innit?’ he thought, and for the first time all evening, the thought didn’t feel like a joke.
***
Hey guys, I want to thank you for your support and due to that, I thought of a friendly challenge for both of us.
For every 200 powerstones I’ll release 10+ bonus Chapters...so, if you find it worth while, you can make your decision. Thank you.🫠
