Hargeon was nothing like how she had originally expected it to have been. Granted, it had been seemingly years since she had been here, and while the circumstances between what she had done in the past, how she had lived there before being of drastically different circumstances, it was still as though she had arrived in a place in which she had never been before, like a place in which she never arrived towards or had seen before. The streets, they were what she was far more accustomed to, though not even in the respect of a common thief or a pickpocket, but rather that of an urchin, of less than a person.

However, for as much as she felt out of place within Hargeon, it didn’t mean that she could simply ignore the reality of her lifestyle now, which was to supplement a lifestyle far superior of that of which she once had when she was living here, and the best way in which she had been doing that, through the completion of jobs, was one that she was not in a position to walk away from. For as many jewels as she may have had, they were finite, requiring more and more to supplement, to ensure that she did not end up back to how she had previously been living, sleeping on the streets in cities such as Crocus or Era, required to hope that she would survive through the night. She wasn’t ready to go back to that style of life, and as such, it meant that for the time being at least, there was no reason for her to spend time reflecting on the past and instead go back to what she was becoming good at.

She had seen a request that was a bit different than that of what she had been becoming used to accomplishing. There were no requests to kill off a rabid wolf or even that of demanding that she do something like pick turnips, nothing that required an illustration or demonstration of her magical capabilities, but rather one that required to test her physical strength. It was different, albeit one in which she wasn’t particularly used to, but all the same, one that she had welcomed. There was something that wasn’t bad about being there, and truth be told, she couldn’t deny the fact that the people nearby, the men and women in great physical shape, it left her a bit jealous, if not even a bit feeling something more towards them. Dismissing those thoughts though, she resumed to assisting the man known as Jay Holliday work out, even his own physique being something that Leyaria couldn’t help but be impressed by.

Further, the acts of Geth, her companion, in attempting to lift the weights alongside her couldn’t help but bring a bit of joy to her eyes, seeing her companion being so acclimated and willing to participate as well, it made Leyaria feel far less out of place than she otherwise did.

Word Count:
502/1000

Jay Holliday’s workout was not one to gawk at, nor one to dismiss. He was working hard, putting up weight that was far greater than that of which Leyaria thought in even her wildest dreams that she could reasonable achieve. She wondered, not only how it was possible that he had become so strong, but how it was that he was able to keep going, with each set of weights he had managed to complete, it only further driving his desire to add more weight to them. For each set that was done, he glanced for a moment at Leyaria, if only to gauge her reaction, and upon each one, he added the weight, each time making her think and wonder if he was already acclimiated to this weight, if it were a means of trying to impress her.

To some degree, it was working, though she was reluctant to give any sort of giveaway to further make that opinion validated. Not as a means of insulting Jay, but rather out of her own fear of being perceived as “easy”, that the idea that she would so easily fall for someone whilst surrounded by others who could perhaps do that or more even, she did not wish to be regarded as someone who was a slut. She had heard the rumors and heard the venom of people drunk in bars describing women like that, and she feared if the perception would be the same of her own character. Maintaining her composure as best as she was able, she continued to assist Jay Holliday in his workouts, each time making sure that he was not putting himself in harm or otherwise, but with each final workout he did at a respective weight, it seemed that the effort invested was far greater than what he was doing before.

Even against sets in the future, it seemed that he would struggle more on the final set of a weight at considerably less weight than that of the first few sets of a much heavier weight, which to Leyaria seemed a bit odd. While she was not a weight lifter herself, it only made sense that the greater weights would prove to be of much tougher than that of earlier. Perhaps it was adrenaline or just something else, whatever it being, it was something which seemed to only affect Jay and nobody else who was engaged in similar workouts.

Finally, as she made sure as to not allow the bar to crush Jay, she noticed him struggle immensely, being barely capable of carrying out the weight, even if it were the first workout or the second or third. It was clear that he was near the end of his limit, and as he continued to attempt to push on and carry out this workout to its entirety, she found herself compelled to take hold of the bar in an attempt to help, though immediately realizing just how much weight was applied, making her wonder how it was even possible that he could have done this, or even the weight before. Successfully helping him finish his set, Leyaria was to a degree thankful that it was over, and at the same time interested in how well she’d fair if she gave it a try. Though, that was something that was perhaps to be considered at a later time than anything else.

Word Count:
1068/1000