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Sweat fell like tears down her face, and her throat was on fire--although that was less about the vo as she deadlifted And don’t get her started on her lungs She felt as though she had been trying to find oxygen in thehot smoke

Clank Clank Clank…

When she was able to, she lifted her head and focused Across the weight roo presses in a slow, controlled fashion, his forears by his hips, his thighout everywhere

He was staring at her But not in a creepy way

More like in an okay-is-it-tiht," she said, looking away froh with his headphones on, it wasn’t like he could hear her

I’ to the side, she snagged a fresh white towel froer Brotherhood’s training center was a case of state of the art, best of the best, professional grade all the way: Froe, the classrooyery suites, no expense had been spared, and upkeep was just as meticulous and costly

With a final clank, the male sat forward and did a pass of his own face He had dark brown hair that had recently been cut, the sides so tight they were nearly shaved, the top left long and loose His eyes were some kind of brown, and he had an all-As, which were straight-up Bram Stoker, and the fact that he was not any more human or American than she was The whiteto stretch over his enormous pecs, and his dark, hairless skin was just the same, taut nearly to the point of structural failure across his six-pack and lats

He had no tattoos No false airs Unfancy clothes And he rarely spoke--if he did open his oing to use next, or was this her towel? He was unfailingly polite, distant as a horizon, and seeer was her new best friend Even though she didn’t know his naether At the end of every in-house night for the trainees, the two of the the day, the other trainees already exhausted fro in class

Novo always had juice left in the tank, though

Fuck 5-hour Energy or Xenadrine Personal deear

Oh, and then there was the other reason she preferred to vo with the others while they waited for their bus to take the"

Novo jerked her head up Theover her, and when she frowned, he pointed to her hands

"Bleeding"

Lifting one of her palotten her gloves, and the bar that she had been holding the five hundred pounds with had cut into her

"What’s your name?" she asked as she pressed the towel into the raw spots

Man, that stung

When he didn’t answer, she looked up again And it was at that point that he placed his hand over his sternum and bowed

"I am Ruhn"

"You don’t have to do that" She folded the terrycloth in half and re-wiped her brow "The bow thing I’lymera"

"You are a female"

"So?" When he seemed honestly confused, she felt like a bitch "Anyway, I’m Novo And I’d shake your hand, but yeah"

As she flashed him what he had pointed out was injured, he cleared his throat "It is nice to hty, long vowels of the aristocracy, and she instantly liked him even more As her father had always said, rich people could afford to talk slow ’cuz they didn’t have to work for a living

Which hts really hard to respect or take seriously

"Are you joining the prograram?"

"No I am just here to work out"

He offered her a smile--as if that encompassed his entire life story as well as all his plans for the future--and then he went over to the chin-up bar The reps he did were unbelievable Fast, but controlled, over and over again, until she lost count And still he kept at it