Eve had fallen on the Port City. The sky was coated a rosy pink, with splashes of the yellow of the waning sun. Aleksandr had just finished his previous errand and was finally considering taking a look around. Hargeon was a coastal city, and he wanted to see the beach. The weather would be relatively cooler this time of day, but the waves would not. The tide must be rising, but he didn't feel like going for an evening swim, so it didn't matter. He thought he would just take a peaceful stroll on the beach. However, he had also heard of an outdoor gym situated on the beach. He had not lifted weights in some time, even though he had been an avid gym-goer a few years ago, which contributed to his chiseled appearance. However, he hadn't paid attention to his body in some time, and it did show.

Perhaps he should go and work-out, and then he could take the evening stroll. That way, it would feel better-earned. Either way, he was a bit bored from errands, and he finally wanted some free time for himself. That was fast. 'Well, it's evening. I think the gym should be open, but I hope there aren't too many people there. I don't want any distractions.' he thought to himself, walking towards the beach. But he was aware that there could be a lot of them. When he reached the beach, and subsequently the gym, much to his relief, he saw that while there were quite a few people on the beach, the gym was relatively quieter. There were only two people besides him in the gym: a plump woman that seemed to be finishing up with her exercise while the other was a towering, very muscular guy.

The guy seemed much like a body-builder to Aleksandr. Without putting any further thought into the giant's identity, Alek got to work. He was here to exercise, after all, and not to decipher people's professions. He wanted to work his chest today and so he got into a high plank, spread his arms a bit wider than his shoulders, and started to lower, his back straight. He had not done a push up in a very long time, so he was very surprised by the effort it took. His push-ups in the past had largely been a breeze, but now they felt more like a gale. However, he soon started getting into the hang of it, even though it was still more difficult than it had been in the past, and he soon transitioned to Plyo push-ups.

He was just beside the supposed 'body-builder' who he noticed was watching him keenly. They were the only two left in the gym, as the woman had already made her exit. He did not know why the man was watching him, and he did not like it, but he ignored it. Soon enough, however, the man's mouth opened, and out came the words "Hey dude, I'm Jay. What's your name?" and he smiled unusually wide. Aleksandr was a bit creeped out by that smile, he was aware this ‘smile’ always meant hidden intent. "Aleksandr." he replied, unimpressed, continuing his push-ups.

"You seem quite used to these. Did you used to work-out?" Jay further inquired. "Yeah, I was a regular in my town's gym. My prime is past me, though." Aleksandr replied, a bit more eased than before. "Yeah, I can see that." Jay muttered under his breath, and Aleksandr heard him but thought better of calling it out. "Anyways dude, can you spot me? I have a tournament coming up and I always have trouble finding spotters." Finally, Jay revealed his intentions. "Uhhhh..." was all that came out of Aleksandr's mouth. "I'll pay you for it." Jay's reply came almost instantaneously. Aleksandr got down on the ground and considered it. He'd have time enough for working out later tonight, and money just for spotting the man didn't seem like a bad deal. After a minute's thought, he turned towards Jay and answered "Sure. What do you need help with?"

"Come here, I'll explain." Jay got up and started walking towards the equipment, signaling Aleksandr to follow him. Jay started explaining the bench press and telling Aleksandr that he used very heavy weights. 'How heavy?' Aleksandr thought.  It was not until he saw the sheer number of weights Jay was putting onto the bar that he realized the sheer magnitude of the 'heavy weight.' "What you need to do," Jay said, pointing at the equipment "is hover your hands just under the bar just in case I need help lifting it."

"Alright, sure." Aleksandr replied, and Jay got into position and started lifting. The first seven times seemed fairly easy for him, but he began to struggle on the eighth and Aleksandr had to use quite a bit of strength to lift it back up and put it on the stationary position. Then he increased the weights. Aleksandr was not aware that he was in for a mini-workout. Every time, Jay would do the first seven reps perfectly, and then begin to struggle on the eight, almost as if he had a mental block with finishing. It did not make sense to him, but he didn't have much time to spend prodding on it since Jay's weights felt like they would break Aleksandr’s arm. He was not used to this and had not even lifted in a while. His arms were very tired by the end of Jay's routine, and he didn't really have much strength left in them after this 'spotting' exercise. The weights were abnormally heavy. Jay gave him his jewels and soon departed, but his arms had had enough, so he went straight to the stroll, skipping the work-out for the moment.

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Word Count: 968/500
SP: +1 Endurance