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[heiroglyphs]

VERA WEISZ

You have reached the voice mail box of Vera Weisz, heiress of Weisz Manufacturing. Please leave a message.

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For Yin/Jen | Saturday morning, 5 AM

[heiroglyphs]

[Holy shit it's early. Like really early. Like... stupid early. Vera got maybe four hours of sleep and yet here she is sitting at the foot of her bed putting on exercise equipment like some kind of nutjob. This is definitely going to impact her work performance today but at least it's Saturday so it should be relatively quiet today.

...She'll just put her phone on silent.

Thank god she programmed her automated coffee maker to have a fresh pot brewing when she woke up.]

[burndownforwhat]

[ meanwhile, Jen is up brighter than the sun, as always. earlier than the postman, the milkman, or anyone walking their dogs. (a small sacrifice.)

she normally goes on a jog at this hour so it's a bit weird for her to have driven over in her car instead. Jen will just have to get over it as there was no other convenient way to carry her gym bag and extra mats over. this would also give them more time together.

after checking in properly, Jen was there to knock on the door softly. if that doesn't work she'll try it a bit louder. can't shout and alarm the neighbors.

while waiting she idly glances over at the emergency escape. ] Huh. They fixed it.

[heiroglyphs]

[The mogul opens the door with bags under her eyes and coffee in her hand.]

You actually weren't kidding.

[burndownforwhat]

[ Jen turns back and her smile instantly evaporates. ] ...neither were you. You look awful.

[ that's putting it politely. ] Have you been up this whole time?

[heiroglyphs]

[Vera clicks her tongue at that.] Your politeness has never changed.

I knew I was to be up early, so I went to sleep around 1.

[burndownforwhat]

You don't exactly look, or sound, happy to see me either, so... [ Jen does resign herself to a soft sigh. ] I'm not going to be surprised. I'm also not going to ask why you were up that late.

But we should probably get started before you finish that or else you're going to be shaking too much to hold a pose.

[heiroglyphs]

Don't take it personal. I'm not unhappy you're here.

[She'll just step aside to let Jen inside.]

How do we start?

[burndownforwhat]

[ "I'm not unhappy you're here." that's a marked change from how their recent reunion went. Jen still hasn't lightened up at all but as she steps inside with the bags she tries not to look concerned. maybe they can talk about it later. ]

I've got a mat here for both of us. You're already dressed, so we can get right to breathing exercises once I lay those out. [ she's got some towels, water bottles, her breakfast in a thermos, and once she sets those out it's time to ditch the t-shirt. the leggings she had on were standard fare for jogging, as was her black top, but she had the shirt on because it felt a bit weird just walking up to the security desk like that. they like to stare. ]

[heiroglyphs]

[You mean like how Vera is trying not to stare right now? She'll at least try not to make it obvious as she takes one last large gulp of her coffee before setting it on the kitchen table. Retrieving her monogrammed towel and a bottle of mineral water, she return to Jen's side.]

I thought we were stretching. Why do we need breathing?

[burndownforwhat]

Being aware of your breathing, controlling the flow, the speed, is how you get into the right state of mind.

[ she smirked. ] Besides, honestly? I'm afraid if we went right to stretches you might just snap like a twig.

[heiroglyphs]

I am not a twig. [Crossing her arms.]

Fine. Teach me to breathe.

[burndownforwhat]

[ Jen just... leaves that comment alone. she moves aside and gestures to the mat. ] Okay, stand here, legs apart slightly, and hands on your stomach. Then close your eyes.

[heiroglyphs]

Legs apart and close my eyes. You are trying to hit on me.

[burndownforwhat]

[ eyeroll. ] Vera. If I was trying, you would know it. Can you please, just, follow my lead without issues for once?

I don't mean spread them I just mean you have to have a solid stance. I've seen people fall over from this because it's surprisingly easy to lose your balance when you can't see the world around you.

[heiroglyphs]

For once. [She huffs, crossing her arms and widening her stance.]

There. I'll close my eyes when you are ready.

[burndownforwhat]

[ Jen has to take a deep breath on her own for different reasons. okay. she steps in behind Vera and carefully puts her hands on her hips. ] Okay, take deep, long breaths. Don't worry about how long just yet, and pay attention to the way your chest and stomach move. You've had singing practice before, right? I'm talking about your diaphragm.

[heiroglyphs]

[Vera exhales slowly when Jen touches her, maintaining her posture.]

Singing? A little, as a child. [But it's been a long time since she's had the luxury of free time long enough to do something as silly as singing lessons.

But she does as she's told, inhaling through her nose and out through her mouth, repeating until her next instructions.]

[burndownforwhat]

In that case, this will probably come back to you in a bit. [ keeping her hands there, Jen goes through the instructions of how to breathe and when, letting the right muscles do the job and letting it become automatic instead of trying to force the air in and out with just one's lungs. she lets that go on for a bit, shifting a bit closer and her voice quieter for effect. ] Are you feeling it, now? [ Jen pulls her left hand around and places it high upon the center of Vera's abdomen, below her ribs. ] Right here.

[heiroglyphs]

I'm feeling... something? Is it supposed to be tight?

[burndownforwhat]

That's probably because you're still super tense. It'll feel better after a while. But let's move on. [ Jen slips her hands back and up to the outside of Vera's elbows. ] Bring your arms up over your head and put your hands together. Fingers out.

[heiroglyphs]

Fingers... out.

[Okay, so she'll sort of touch the backs of her hands together before bringing them both over her head, arms extended.]

How is this?

[burndownforwhat]

Good. Now just lean to the side a bit. Not super far, but just until you feel the stretch in your sides. [ Jen slides her arms down as a guide to how far Vera should go, and rests her hands flat at the side of her ribs. ] Right about... here. [ somehow, she's managing to be completely professional about this. though it's not without some color to her cheeks. it probably has as much to do with their familiarity as it does Vera's attitude toward her overall, keeping Jen's typical attraction reaction in check. ]

[heiroglyphs]

Ah...

[Vera exhales as Jen leads her into the stretch, squeezing her eyes at the sudden discovery of just how tight her body is. Who knew that fueling a body with caffeine and stress was a bad idea? But Vera is far too proud to admit that any of this hurts.]

[burndownforwhat]

Easy. Don't overdo it. [ she can feel Vera's tension. having a somewhat intimate knowledge of how she feels when she's relaxed may give her an unfair advantage here. it's still an odd thing to think about; that Jen even has that experience despite... not... really? ] Hold it for a count of ten then go the other direction. Don't forget about breathing.

[heiroglyphs]

It is hard to... [She shifts her weight slowly, leaning in the opposite direction.] ...Think about breathing when I do this.