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Post by Noa on May 13, 2020 0:42:08 GMT -6
{I can breathe just fine,} Azalea said, taking his words a little too literally. Aster laughed a little; that one was his fault, he supposed.
“Yeah? I’m glad to hear it, but aren’t you tired?” he said.
Azalea thought on that one. {A little,} she said.
“You can take a break,” Aster said. “In fact, it’s better to take one once in a while. If you train too hard you could hurt yourself, you know?” As he said it, he thought briefly of Rabbit. Apparently she had been having similar conversations with that half breed she had been taking care of, though Aster couldn’t imagine that that creature was taking the advice as well as Azalea. Which wasn’t to say he didn’t think Rabbit had convinced the half breed eventually, but he was sure there had been more resistance.
As it was, though, Azalea subsided without much fuss.
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Post by Noa on May 13, 2020 0:42:47 GMT -6
Only when he saw her relax more fully did he eventually nudge her toward the pool again. They had a few more runs doing what they had done up to that point, making a little more progress on top of what they had already done, before Aster called it a day. He had Azalea cool down with some slower laps around the perimeter of the pool, then a few more stretches, before he cleaned up the place and returned any equipment they had used to their proper places. That part, at least, was familiar, though the things he was tidying up were a bit different than usual. Luckily the pool didn’t take much tidying, though he did his best to return the hoops to the positions they had been when he had arrived.
After that, the two of them headed for home, having completed a fairly fruitful first session at the gym.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:39:20 GMT -6
The two of them were at the gym. This was in itself not an unusual occurrence. Rabbit still accompanied the half breed to the gym on a regular basis, though they no longer came every day as had been their habit when he had first begun his rehabilitation and recovery. It had become abundantly clear long before this that he had made a full physical recovery, aside from his flight skills; there could be no question of it now, looking at his form. Lean muscle now rippled beneath a hide which had at one point been pulled taut over bone, and infested with sores besides; and the half breed’s tail was thick with what was most likely a fat reserve. Now they came here merely for the exercise and the enrichment, and there were sources aplenty for that, even outside the services and facilities the gym itself provided for them. 1
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:39:41 GMT -6
Thus, there was no need to make daily visits, and they did not always come here with a rigorous routine in mind.
But on today’s occasion, Rabbit had planned out something a little more involved. The half breed had grown restless of late, and Rabbit thought perhaps some hard exercise would do him some good after all. She did not know the cause of his strange mood, and he did not choose to share it with her; and so she was left to her own devices to find a fitting solution for it as she was able.
This was the best that had occurred to her with that in mind.
She had warned him in advance as to what they would be doing, of course. He did not protest, though he did seem somewhat distracted. Nevertheless, as he did not oppose the notion, Rabbit took that as her cue to proceed.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:40:40 GMT -6
The half breed understood the importance of self improvement. And it was he who had asked for her assistance in combat training, so they were working toward a goal he had set, rather than one she had set for him. And the issue of speed was always at the forefront of Aster’s mind, at least, when it came to fighting, so it was not as if she was doing anything less than the half breed had asked of her, in the end.
Before they began training in earnest, however, there was the matter of stretches. In this, at least, the creature needed no more prompting. It had become so habitual for the two of them to do this that, even when he was preoccupied, he moved through the positions he could do on his own; and when those were exhausted and Rabbit came to take her place to lead him through the rest, he simply followed under her guidance.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:40:50 GMT -6
On occasion she could see something like a wince pass over his features, or hear a soft grunt of effort as he labored through a particularly difficult stretch, but the persistence was paying off. He no longer did so nearly as often as he had done when they had first started their routine.
Once the stretches were finished, they could begin work on improving his speed in earnest.
“You remember the poles,” said Rabbit. It was something he had learned before, and seemed as good a palace as any to start, as a refresher as well as part of the work itself. She had set them up in the measurements that they had reached the last time he was here working with them.
The creature studied them, coming back from his thoughts somewhat. He paced around them twice, to gage the distance between them, then went without prompting to one end and looked expectantly at Rabbit.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:41:09 GMT -6
She took out the stopwatch that she used as a timer, and gave him a nod. He took this as his cue, and began at once to weave through the poles, passing between them with what looked like practiced ease.
Of course, his time belied the fact that he was proceeding carefully after all. It wasn’t as fast as he was going when they had left off before. But Rabbit would not count this as a mark against his progress just yet, considering it had been some time since they had last had any occasion to do this, and he was still re-familiarizing himself with the exercise. The precise weaving movements required for these poles were not easy, and grew progressively harder the closer together the poles were moved.
His speed was not unimpressive, in fact, given the tightness of the poles. There was room for improvement, as there always was.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:42:13 GMT -6
There was also room to move the poles still closer together than their current spacing, before it became a physical impossibility for him to wedge a body of his size reliably through the gaps, but those challenges were best saved for another time. It was better to wait until he had grown comfortable with this stage again before doing anything more challenging.
Not that he needed any prompting to work on this. The most commendable aspect of working with this particular creature was his level of intrinsic motivation. So long as he was committed to doing something, he would put his utmost effort into it. Of course, Rabbit tended to follow his whims, or else offer advice that she thought he would appreciate or find useful if he did not come to certain conclusions on his own. Given his intelligence and sense of pride, it would have been difficult to do much else.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:42:31 GMT -6
But once they had mutually agreed upon a goal, Rabbit needed only to facilitate what he needed to achieve them. When it came to the actual work of it, the creature did much of it himself.
Immediately after he reached the end of that row of poles, the creature turned around to try again, going the opposite way. Which way he went made no difference, since the poles were uniform in their distribution. Rabbit had been paying enough careful attention to his progress that she didn’t miss a beat, and began a new lap on the stopwatch right as he began advancing once more. By this point, she had long since grown used to working with him, and it wasn’t difficult to anticipate some of what he would do next.
His time on his second attempt was already improved from the first. He was beginning to recover his old proficiency with the poles.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:42:59 GMT -6
But the time was not what it had been when he had been actively working with the poles last time, and the creature seemed to sense this without needing to be told by Rabbit. As soon as he reached the end, he wheeled around and dove back into the poles.
This went on for perhaps six rounds before Rabbit called him to a stop.
“Please take a rest between sets,” she said, beseeching him to take a break. It was mostly a beneficial aspect of his nature that he was so driven, but there were also times when it was apparent that he would push himself beyond the healthy limits of his own body if left unchecked. His fervor for progress did not always temper itself with sense, and Rabbit understood herself as the one who was responsible for ensuring he did not do more harm to himself than good.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:43:11 GMT -6
In the beginning, of course, it had been something of a struggle to have the creature acknowledge the validity of her interventions. But he was at least willing to listen to reason, even if he did sometimes make his reluctance very apparent. In time, as she had grown used to reading his moods, he had grown used to the sorts of things she would protest, and now he merely backed off, breathing hard. In all likelihood, he could sense his own weariness as well, reluctant though he was to acknowledge its presence.
“I will bring some water for you,” Rabbit said. Hydration was another important aspect of gym training as well. The body needed sufficient water to support its various processes, especially during strenuous exercise such as this. And the creature either lacked the ability or the desire to fetch the water himself, so the job was left up to Rabbit.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:43:21 GMT -6
But then, she was the one who brought him his meals when they were back at the estate, so perhaps he merely thought it natural for her to attend to him this way. He was not so proud as to insist on hunting his own meals, which was fortuitous, considering the problem this would have posed to Aster’s property. Or perhaps it was that being waited on appealed to his sense of pride.
Whichever it was, Rabbit did not object. Robots were created to serve, after all, and she had no feelings that could be offended by this fact. She brought him his water, enriched with a supplement dispensed by the gym gift shop for use in their facilities. The creature inclined his head, then dipped his muzzle to take a drink. He had enough sense now not to gulp down the water too quickly, but Rabbit still monitored him just in case.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:43:32 GMT -6
It was never a mistake to take care with things, so long as it didn’t hinder her ability to attend to other important duties - and in this case, it did not.
If the creature noticed her scrutiny, he paid her no mind. She was sure that he had grown used to this too, in his own way.
Once he was done, he lifted his head again, a subtle dismissal; Rabbit took the opportunity to set the water aside somewhere out of the way. But as the creature turned his attention back to the poles, Rabbit called out to him. “I propose that we try a different exercise,” she said to him. The creature stopped, turning his head back slightly so he could look at her with one gold eye. There was some sense of mild curiosity there, but as ever, also a warning to her not to waste his time.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:43:59 GMT -6
Still, she had worked with him long enough to know that he would hear out her proposal. And a robot did not, after all, have the capacity to feel daunted, no matter what sort of oppressive presence a creature might otherwise be able to leverage.
“You have amassed a good deal of experience with the poles from our previous sessions. Perhaps it would be more useful to attempt a different exercise.” As she spoke, she indicated a different region of the gym area where a series of tires were set up. They were spaced approximately right for a creature of Riven’s size. “Would you be opposed to attempting this exercise? It is intended to improve one’s footwork and agility.”
The creature considered what she had proposed, then gave a slight shrug of his wings and followed her to the area that she had indicated, which was his way of acquiescing.
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Post by Noa on Oct 18, 2020 16:44:13 GMT -6
Once they closed in on the course, such as it was, he began inspecting it a little more closely. He had most likely never seen its like, and Rabbit assumed he was trying to figure out how best to make use of it, or perhaps how best to get through it.
“Would you like a demonstration?” Rabbit said.
The creature’s ears perked up at her words, though there was otherwise nothing else to indicate any enthusiasm. He inclined his head as if permitting her to begin. “Very well,” said Rabbit, and began to hop from the inside of one tire to another. “This course is somewhat larger than is comfortable for someone of my size, so you will find it more suited for yourself, if not necessarily easier.” Rabbit did not progress quickly through the tires, but then she imagined he did not ask her to do it to see her excel at something.
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