Honeycomb Hearts

All Worked Up

With the completion of her new workout equipment, which sat comfortably behind the house, so as to not be an eyesore to anyone walking by, Yang had only one thing to do – actually start working out again. As much as she loved doing it, and prided herself on staying in shape, the wooden tower in front of her seemed to taunt her, giving her second thoughts about even trying to use it.

"Maybe I'll just go for a run, start off simple." Yang said, pairing it with a shaky laugh. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't really explored much outside of the town, and she needed to find a good route to jog without getting lost. Ruby probably wouldn't be the person to ask, and Nora said she was out of town for the day due to fixing some power outage in a nearby town, so that left... Blake and the couple from the house. As if on cue, Yang glanced over to see Blake exiting the forest, book in hand and eyes set on the same tree as last time.

"Should I really bother her about this? It looks like she's already busy and oh my God she noticed me." Yang stiffened, giving a friendly wave. "How's it hangin' Blake?"

Blake returned the wave with a friendly smile. "I'm doing well, thanks. I was just about to do some more reading. Oh, I promise I won't need help getting down again... I think." Her gaze darted away, which Yang would have noticed if her eyes also weren't looking away.

"Well I hope you're... relaxed!" Yang mentally punched herself. C'mon, she thought to herself, Say literally anything else to break this awkwardness! "Hey, so... I was going to go for a jog, but I realized I don't really know the lay of the land around here. Do you know any good jogging routes?"

"Couldn't you just jog circles around the property?" Blake asked, "It'd make sure you never got lost."

"Yeah, but I want to get some of the cool forest air in as well, have a scenic jogging route. In the city where I used to live, the scenery on my route was just gray buildings and cars, with the occasional raccoon in a dumpster." Yang said, "I want to get something new and refreshing out of this move in every part of my life, y'know?"

Blake tilted her head. "Makes sense. If you want, I have a good trail by the ocean nearby if you want to walk it with me. I'm not much of a distance runner, so it would just be plotting the course."

"Sounds good to me! Want me to grab you a water bottle for the road?"

"That would be great, thank you Yang."

Yang climbed up the side of the porch, as if solely to disrespect the stairs if not to save time. She pushed the door open and swiped two water bottles off the table. "Hey Rubes, I'm going out for a walk – be back later 'kay?"

Ruby almost didn't respond – she was engrossed in a video she was watching on her laptop of some guy surrounded by mean-looking thugs. Ruby pulled her headphones off to reveal she was listening to the volume much to high. Yang could hear a quote from the show from them all the way across the room.

"You see, there's no need to wonder where your God is! 'Cause he's right here! And he's fresh out of mercy!"

Yang scowled. "Ruby, that volume's way too high. You'll go deaf by next week if you keep it that way!"

"Maybe, but then I won't have to listen to your scolding mom." Ruby stuck her tongue out at Yang with a smile, earning her a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Hey, I've heard being a mom is hard work. You're good practice for if I ever get a kid."

"Love you too sis." Ruby said, scrolling the wheel on her headphones to turn the volume down to near half of what it was before – and Yang could still hear it.

Yang closed the door, leaving it ajar just ever-so-slightly, The lock on the door closed it completely whenever it shut, and Yang still hadn't gotten it fixed. She did learn that Ruby could pick locks though, for better or for worse. She still had to persuade Ruby to tell her why and how she learned it. She tossed a water bottle to Blake, who gracefully tried to catch it with one hand, and let it bounce off her fingers and fly straight into the dirt below.

"Nice one butterfingers." Yang said, "Blake Butterdonna, I presume?"

"Now that's a reference I don't hear very often. Come on, I may not be able to catch a water bottle but I can leave you stranded like a certain doctor."