Survival Of The Fittest

Meggy threw her arms up "WOOOO!"

She grunted as she grabbed her shoulder, rotating it up and down "OOh, muscles are sore! But like, in a good way!" She grinned up at Manuel "It's like when I do training for swim class! But...better!"

"That's the burn, chica! That's the burn!"

The look on his face was starkly different than about anything Meggy had ever seen him express in passing. Pride was the main staple at the moment. It turned back to a sort of shock-awe as he sat back on the bench.

"Phew! Got me pumped and I was just watchin'. Water?"

Meghan nodded and took the water “Fuck yeah.” She huffed and threw her head back, bringing two nice gulps down of the water and placing it on the bench “Damn, Manuel. You’re a great coach.” She wiped her brow and leaned back, placing her hands behind her and looking up at the ceiling “Thank you Manny.”

"Pf, maybe, maybe."

Coach, him? Couldn't say he hadn't thought of it. There was definitely a thrill to seeing others succeed under your instruction and encouragement. However, even that couldn't beat the utter rush of being right in the middle of the action, the total hyperfocus and adrenaline. Coach? Maybe when he was 40 and LeBron wanted to retire from managing his Vegas team which was totally gonna happen by the way they're just doing paperwork n shit- Meggy called him huh?

"Pff, only my fam calls me that. I'm Manuel or Mañana here."

He tried to play it off and put on a grin, but that shortening of his name had always been a little point of embarrassment for him. That half his mom's side of the family reveled in it was bad enough!

“O-Oh I’m sorry, Manuel!” She corrected, wiping the sweat from her face as she laughed nervously “But seriously, that was so much fun! I didn’t think I could get that energy boost just from nearly breaking my arms!” She laughed and nodding “And uh, thank you again for uh, saving my life and all. I guess today isn’t really my day! Trust me, I’m uh, not this stupid usually.”

She was still embarrassed but managed to find some amount of joy in it. Just by talking to someone else.

"Pff..."

Manuel had to put active effort into looking like he wasn't enjoying this court-jester-ass performance with malicious intent. Bumbling but unflinchingly determined girl. Please become anything but a police officer.

"Nahh, I believe that. First-timer things. I was a bit of an idiot too when I first tried to work out. But you stick to it, you push through..." He lifts up an arm and flexes proudly, in a "this could be you sort of way.

"Great things await you."

Meghan stared at Manuel for a moment, blinking before smirking and punching him in the arm “Ohh shut that sappy shit!” She laughed a little Before leaning back, wiping her brow.

Meghan sighed a bit as she looked over at Manuel “Well, I think I bothered you enough, heh! You probably want to do your own exercising already!”

Absolutely no-selling Meggy's punch, Manuel laughed along with her quip. What she said after that reminded him: shit, right, he'd come here to work out himself. A little "oops" look momentarily washed over his face.

"I mean- I'm not bothered. I got time to get my workout done. 'S fine, I promise."

Meghan chuckled a little and stood up, adjusting her tank top “Well, Manuel, I got time. How about we exercise together? Thanks to you I know my limit now!”

She glances over and walked to pick up a dumbbell, picking up two ten pounds and sitting down on another bench “Plus, I like seeing cute guys lift weights, so I consider it a reward for my hard work.” Meghan gave a small laugh.

"Pfft, 'cute'. Quit playin'."

There'd only been one other person outside his family who'd called him that. He wasn't keen on remembering her. The primary feeling was usually some dull and deep ache.

Imperceptible falter in the smile. Shit's sake, cut it out. Manuel stood up right next to Meggy. Gonna burn it away real soon. Real hard and real fast.

"A'right, Megs. Let's get shit done."

[Manuel "Mañana" Hernández continued elsewhere...]

Meghan beamed and held up her dumbbell “Let’s get it done indeed!”

((Meghan “Meggy” Roberts continued elsewhere….))