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“Uno!”
“Again? Somebody, please, stop Luca from winning a third round,” I hear Vox complain both in my headset and from the office. Meanwhile, I sit cross-legged on the couch, laptop on my legs, as I consider my next move. I have to agree: as kind as it was of Luca to share his hacked version of Uno so we could all play, I’m not willing to concede a third round of Uno to him. Everybody else seems to agree.
“Ike, Mysta - you two have anything?” I ask. I hear a sigh in a Cockney-accent.
“No, I don’t,” Mysta groans. “I think it’s all on you.”
“I might be able to stall, I might- can you change the colour?”
“I might be able to, Ike,” I say, before playing a wild card. I can hear Luca’s burst of outrage as I change the colour to yellow. “I’m going to assume that you didn’t want yellow? But it’s your whole colour scheme!”
“That doesn’t mean I have a yellow card,” Luca mutters. Meanwhile, I hear another “Uno” from the screen, and look to see Shu slap down a reverse card.
“Okay, okay - I’ll take Shu winning over Luca,” Vox says. Luca groans; I smirk and focus on my next move. Within a few more plays, Shu slaps down his last card, and I hear him whoop as the end screen shows.
“Aw man! I was so close,” Luca sighs over the headset. I hear some muttering, and then Luca goes, “Can you give me a minute? I’m just getting a message from one of my cronies.”
“Take your time,” Ike offers. I hear the Discord disconnect sound as Luca drops out. Ike continues. “One more game? I have to go to bed soon - and it’s probably late for Vox and Tanaka, right?”
“We slept earlier, no worries,” I say. “We were going to hit the gym after this, actually. Vox was going to show me the machines.”
“That’s right!” Vox says. “They’re making serious gains.”
“But can they rival these guns?” I hear Shu say, and laugh. It takes me a moment to realize that only one person hadn’t really laughed.
“Mysta?” I ask. “Are you okay? You seem quiet.”
“Huh? Oh- it’s fine,” he says. “Just a case that I’m working on with Shoto. I’m afraid I can’t share many details.”
“Can we help in any way?” Ike asks. I see Mysta shrug as I switch screens to the Discord cameras.
“It’s a problem on this side of the pond. Once Luca finishes . . . asserting himself here, he may be able to help us. Maybe you too, Vox.”
“Whatever helps,” Vox answers. “Is it a supernatural affair?”
“You could say that,” Mysta answers. “That’s really all I can say for now. Shoto said he’ll have more details soon, but right now is just a matter of figuring out the man behind the murders.”
“Murders?” I ask.
“Shit,” he goes. “Forget I said that!”
I watch Ike sigh as Mysta waves his hands, as if to wave off his mistake. Shu shrugs, and I watch him open a bottle of water.
“Whatever it is, you know you can always ask for our help,” he answers. “Don’t worry too much about it, bro.”
“Agreed,” I say. “I mean, I don’t know you guys super well yet, but if I can help, tell me.”
“I don’t know if you can - but thanks for the offer,” Mysta says, though it’s absent. I expected as much. I don’t have the talent or resources that they do, but it was nice enough to offer, right?
I hear the ding as Luca rejoins the call. “Ahah - sorry, guys,” he says. “I have to bow out early. Turns out my flight leaves in two hours, not three. I totally fucked up the times.”
“No worries, Luca!” Ike chirps. “We were going to do a last game, but if you’re leaving, then we’ll end here. You and Lucy have a safe flight to the UK, okay?”
“Heh - I’ll do my best,” he chuckles. I smile; I like Luca. He’s a little thick at times, but he’s still a total sweetheart, despite the whole ‘mafia boss’ thing. We all say our goodbyes and hang up; I’m just putting down my headphones as Vox walks into the room, stretching and yawning.
“The gym should be open by now,” he says. “We won’t have it all to ourselves, but it should be relatively quiet. Should we go now?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” I say. I get up and stretch as well, before walking over and pecking Vox’s cheek. “Just let me get dressed in gym clothes and I’ll meet you out by the car, right?”
I can’t help but grin at his flustered expression, so I leave it there as I walk off to the bedroom to change.
***
“Take it easy - I’m spotting you. Give it a try.”
Vox lets go of the barbell above me, and I breathe out hard as I start lifting it up, then down. I’m lying on my back, and like this, I can see the ceiling of the gym - and Vox’s face. It’s too embarrassing to look into his eyes like this, but as long as l focus on the weight, I can manage it.
“That’s good, good boy. You’ve got it.”
I flush to my ears. I try to grunt something out about “Don’t you praise me like that in public,” but I only get out half the sentence before I’m winded. I manage to push it up one more time before my arms shake like jelly - and I almost drop it before Vox catches it.
“There you go,” he nods and helps set it back on the rack for me. “Next time, just anticipate when you’ve had enough so you don’t drop it on yourself. Otherwise, that was a good number of lifts.”
“Was it?” I ask, still panting for breath. I sit up and wipe at my brow, before turning to him and asking, “How many sets should I do for that?”
“I usually do three sets of ten - but I’ve been working out for longer,” he says. “For now, let’s just focus on getting you accustomed to the equipment. You don’t need to do any heavy sets today.”
I nod and reach for my water bottle on the floor. I take a swig and look over Vox as I do. He’s wearing a T-shirt for once - a tight T-shirt. Like this, I can see the shape of his chest, and his . . . arms. His very, very nice arms. He’s definitely more defined than I am, but how can I mind, when I get to look? I don’t realize that he’s noticed my staring until our eyes meet, and I flush to my ears again. I take another drink of water and cap it, before bouncing up.
“Okay!” I go, trying to ignore the fact that I’d just been oogling him. “Which next?”
“Ah- excuse me.”
I turn along with Vox at the feminine-sounding voice. A woman is walking up to us - she fits in here almost too well, tight tank top and yoga pants showing off her musculature. Her bright orange hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, and she’s holding a couple of plastic water bottles - which she hands to us both.
“I thought you two might need some more water,” she offers, and we both take them with thanks. “I’ve seen the taller one of you here before, but I haven’t seen you,” she says to me. “New here?”
“Yeah,” I nod. “My boyfriend is just showing me the equipment.”
“How are you enjoying them?”
“I’m already sore. No, but I’m more used to calisthenics. Just using my own body weight and all.”
“I’m familiar.”
“We’re upgrading them to big boy equipment,” Vox says as he comes to my side and puts an arm around me. “They’ve been getting stronger and stronger lately, but we figured introducing them to some of the equipment here would be a good idea. And naturally, we’re buying a monthly pass for the both of us.”
“‘They’, hmm?” the woman smiles and looks me over. “Are you nonbinary?”
“Transmasculine,” I admit. “So I can’t quite lift as much from the get-go, but I’m hoping to get some tone. Help me look and feel a little more like myself, right? It really helps with the dysphoria I feel sometimes.”
“Well, if it would help - I wouldn’t have guessed you were trans just from looking at you,” the woman says. She starts, then holds out her hand. “Oh, my mistake. I’m Jeanne - I’m one of the new trainers here. I just noticed you were new and thought I’d introduce myself.”
“Good to meet you, Jeanne - my name is Vox,” Vox shakes her hand. “This is Tanaka.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I say as I shake her hand, too.
“You know,” she says, “I have experience with nonbinary clientele, and especially beginners. A trainer is part of the monthly fee - would you be interested in a few sessions with me? I can help you transition on the machines and continue with some of your calisthenic training.”
A trainer? I look up to Vox, and I’m surprised that he’s not quite nodding along. I speak on my own behalf, then. “I’d be interested, yeah. This big guy,” I elbow Vox, “Is quite the distraction at times.”
“Only because you can’t stop yourself from staring,” he retorts.
“Oh, hush. You’re the one who wore the tightest shirt today.”
Jeanne laughs. “So should I take that as a yes?”
“Sure, I’m in,” I nod. “I think that’ll be fun. Any paperwork to fill out?”
“Sadly, but it’s all easy. Come with me, and we can fill it out at the front desk.”
I let Jeanne lead the way, following her with Vox at my side. I sneak a glance at him, but something about his expression seems a touch confused. I make a mental note to ask about it - but through all of the paperwork, the conversation, and the bit of pawing at him I do in the parking lot, I forget.
I regret it.