Chapter Text
Olivia's legs were burning. Intentionally.
Once the former Power Weapon was able to get herself situated in her new apartment she took it up herself to take advantage of her access to a gymnasium to rebuild her body after a lifetime of parental abuse/overdependance on magical powers. She hated being weak. Her attempts to exercise in her youth went poorly (as she had no idea how) but now armed with knowledge and the help of a lifelong fitness buff she was finally on the right track. At this moment in time she was doing her time on a recumbent bike
"This sucks."
"Oh you know, no pain, no gain and all that." Candi was on the bike next to her doing her own workout. Upon realizing that Olivia would be making a concerted effort to get into shape she decided she would do the same, if only to be there for her. Candi had more than a little 'chub' on her body and while this was never a source of shame for her she also realized that it might be for the best if she took steps to not become her father. All the same, Candi's workout seemed somewhat more relaxed than Olivia's.
"How the fuck does she enjoy this?" Olivia stared across the room at Maria, who in the midst of her own exercise routine, which at the moment consisted of fairly heavy weights. "She's a beast"
"Don't ask me I have no idea." Candi stared in the same direction; awed at the exercise beast in her natural habitat.
"I hope she finishes her reps soon, I need to get mine in."
"Then just do them, are you suddenly scared of Maria?"
"...Kinda. I mean not her obviously but just...I feel like such shit lifting next to her. Like a little baby or something."
"She is rather intimidating. Though I've heard it best to not compare yourself to others while working out."
"That's nice. I'm still gonna." O said as she stopped her cycling. "Ok, enough of that for now. So now we play the waiting game..." The waiting game took about 10 minutes. Once Maria finished her reps and went to wipe the weights down she saw her two former upperclassmen and offered a friendly wave.
"Why do people do that?"
"A wave is a greeting for times where distance is too far for your voice to carry."
Olivia let out a groan on the inside. "I mean wiping the machines down."
"Uhhhh, you're not doing that?"
"Am I supposed to?"
"Maria forgot to tell you? You get all sweaty, the machines get all sweaty. Sweat is a great way to spread nasty infections."
Olivia suddenly remembered Maria throwing that bit of information at her at the time when she was introducing her to all the different machines at the gym. "Shit I can't believe I forgot that."
"Yeah...you probably should."
After taking the time to actually wipe down the machine Olivia made her way to the weights. "Can you spot me when I do my benches?"
"Of course."
Olivia didn't do the benches right away. She started with the dumbbells and did an entire (small) set of exercises. She was determined to improve so she probably did more than she should but accepting her limits was part of the process. She still couldn't help but feel deflated every time she felt her arms burn from what she considered 'the baby weights'. And of course Candi was right beside her doing her own (more restrained) lifts.
"So you just need a few 10 pounders for the bench right?" Candi said while doing curling reps with a pair of dumbells.
"Uh...yeah."
"See you're making progress. You started with just the bar."
Olivia still couldn't believe that Candi somehow made the time to visit her 3 times a week while she was in college. She has homework, she has exams, she has kitchen time. What was she doing spending so much time here?' She even slept over on Saturdays. Saturday was coincidentally Olivia's favorite night of the week. They always shared the bed. She always held her tight. The warmth...the warmth...Olivia could only remember one time in her life when she was happier than when she when in Candi's arms. Her first night on Patrol. Her first night as a free girl. Her first real demonstration of agency. The night breeze was rapture. The rush she felt when pulled a chain out of her sleeve and destroyed her first monster, and her second...she thought her heart would explode. She wanted more...she needed more...she needed to fight monsters forever, to never go home again. No fear, not a drop. She had power now; nothing could ever hurt her again. But eventually the barrier went down and she realized she needed to sleep. So she grudgingly went home, but even then, even before seeing the things she saw that prompted her to action, she knew something had to give.
"Olivia you ok?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You just looked faraway there for a second."
How? How could Candi know her so well? For all fighting had defined her...Candi's warmth was the first time in her life she preferred peace to war. It was the first time that not being to fight anymore felt ok. Over the months of failure that accommodated her attempts to fit in with society the facade she had built over her teen years fall apart. She wasn't the baddest bitch on the block anymore, she wasn't the rebel punk magical girl who didn't have to care about anything or anything anymore...and once she realized that every emotion she ever buried in the name of being that flooded back into her brain. She hated it. She couldn't stand being a mess. She hated crying. The only thing good about it in Olivia's eyes was that it made her realize how she truly felt about Candi, how she felt about Candi all along...it was amazing. And even more amazing is that this wonderful girl somehow stuck with her through all of it and even at the end of years of being shitty to her she would still find the time to hold her like she was the most important thing in the world to her...she loved it. She loved her. Olivia couldn't even grasp the notion of love and still knew she loved Candice Williams. And the thought that maybe...just maybe Candi loved her back was...it was insane, beyond reason.
Now...in love. Olivia wasn't sure she understood the difference.