To: @onetruevegetable
From: @greygayghost
Jaune’s eyes fixated on the full Manhattan in front of them, the way the colors tinted on the glass changed with the flashing lights, how the surface of the cocktail vibrated slightly with the thudding bass. They leaned back in their chair, crossed their legs in a dainty yet attention-seeking fashion, and took a prolonged sip of their cocktail. This club was Sapphire’s favorite place, and it was they who taught Jaune how to get wasted like a lady. They leaned their head back and let their eyes gloss over as they remembered Sapphire’s drunken blush and snorting giggles. Jaune held any moment when Sapphire smiled as a precious gift, held tighter to their chest than a secret.
Jaune could see the bartender at the far end of the bar talking to another customer, his head not so discreetly gesturing to them. They couldn’t deny their reputation as a queen widowed thrice. At least, that was the only rumor that was consistent across the Village. In the Gentlemen’s Clubs, they were the stray cat that seemed to blow in in the futile attempt of earning a beer for moxie, and in the nightclubs and ballrooms, they were a wise sage with an unlimited supply of compassion and cautionary tales. They let more of the alcohol warm their throat as they mused: Isn’t that something, how others’ perceptions are our obituaries. My Sapphire, reduced to the effigy of a ‘loving’ son in the newspapers, but I know them better. I’d carve out a proclamation of their beauty on their headstone if given the pick. Now here I am, about to have perpetual mourner be my primary adjective.
They made eye contact with the bartender while he was cleaning a cocktail shaker and finished the rest of their Manhattan. They winked at the bartender, but he appeared completely unphased. Figures. Jaune simply tossed their blonde hair behind them and slung their crossbody purse over their shoulder, making for a quick, yet graceful exit, the same way Sapphire would leave.
Diamond belly-laughed in a way that Jaune could hear their past lives sing. They laughed so hard that their wine glass quivered, and they had to stabilize themselves on Jaune’s shoulder. They were only on their second glass.
“New Years’ Resolutions…Go!” Diamond pointed weakly at Jaune.
“Dia, it’s fucking November.” Jaune chuckled.
“Just like, what would you do, if it was New Year’s right now?” Diamond tucked a loose strand of holographic hair behind their ear.
“Might I add again, it’s fucking November.” Jaune leaned forward on the couch.
“Girl,” Diamond whined, lightly hitting Jaune on the shoulder. “It’s a fun question! I’d totally go vegan, like, holy shit…My skin would look so damn hot.”
Jaune sipped on their Pinot Noir. “I don’t think veganism has anything to do with your skin, sweetie. You wanna glow, you gotta put the work into it.”
“Listen, I’m not saying my skin looks bad! I’m just saying it could be better.” Diamond raised their hands up, crossing their legs.
“Moisturize like the rest of us, bitch.” Jaune gave Diamond a malicious smile, pressing their acrylic nail into Diamond’s breastbone.
Diamond burst into giggles after a moment’s pause. “You didn’t answer, Jaune!”
“Fine! I guess I’d get a gym membership.” Jaune set their glass on one of the coasters on their coffee table.
“Are you serious?” Diamond asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I mean, I stopped doing that stuff ages ago because I was tired of being called a brick at the balls. You did it too, Dia.”
Diamond only replied with a subtle nod, putting their glass down as well.
“Things are different for us now. Wouldn’t mind giving it another shot, if for nothing else but to curb the beer gut I’m bound to get.” Jaune shrugged.
Diamond was quiet for a few seconds before gasping. “Oh my god, Jaune. Remember my ex?”
“What does that gotta do with-”
“They’re a personal trainer!” Diamond bounced excitedly.
“Oh god…” Jaune rubbed their temples.
“Oh come on! They’re just like us!”
“You mean that beefcake Bortz? Weren’t they rude to you?”
“I mean…” Diamond’s tone grew mousy. “That has nothing to do with when they’re training you!”
Jaune groaned. They tried to remember what Bortz was like exactly (it seemed that they only forgot what would be relevant later). They recalled seeing Diamond with Bortz’s arm around their waist, and feeling surprised that someone shorter than Diamond could act so much bigger than them. Bortz was definitely stone, but not so that Jaune couldn’t see if something was troubling them. That quality was almost enough to put them at ease.
“Come on…” Diamond picked up Jaune’s glass and held it up in front of them.
Jaune rolled their eyes and took another drink, mumbling something under their breath that they couldn’t even comprehend. About thirty minutes of further indulging later, Jaune had opened their laptop and found Bortz’ website.
Diamond giggled. “I dare you to book an appointment.”
Jaune simply laughed. “No way!”
Diamond smirked and scrolled further down the page. “Look at them.”
There was a picture of Bortz, clearly professionally taken. They were standing in front of what looked like a hedge, and they had the subtle shadow of a smile on their face. Jaune could see their pecs through their dark blue, compression, V neck shirt. They had a shadow fade haircut with a shock of dreadlocks on the top.
“Did they…You know?” Jaune gestured to their chest.
“Yeah, their new partner took care of them during that time. Some mortician they met.”
“I’m not saying you try to romance them, but what better person to have spot you in the gym than that?”
“I dunno, this was all based on a stupid question–”
Diamond interrupted Jaune by aggressively clicking on the touchpad. “You took too long!”
“What the fuck did you do?” Jaune shoved Diamond aside to look at the screen completely.
“I booked you an appointment for Tuesday at 3:00 pm.” Diamond replied sing-songingly. “You better call them before then.”
“You…Gotta Moisturize…Bitch…” Jaune mumbled as the sound of their phone ringing startled them. They rubbed their eyes and rolled over to pick up their charging cell phone. It was an unknown number. Jaune decided to take a chance. “Hello?”
“Hello? Is this Jaune Adamas?” A stern yet familiar voice replied. “This is Bortz Mbuyi. I’m calling to remind you of your appointment with me today at three.”
Jaune groaned. “Straight to the point, aren’t you?”
Jaune stretched. “Nothing. I’ll be there.”
“We haven’t really discussed that yet-” Bortz sounded like they were caught off guard by how long the conversation was going.
“What do you start your clients on?”
“What do you want to get stronger in? Do you want to lose weight or build up strength? Have you thought that far?”
“Uh, well…” Jaune didn’t want to flat out say that they were signed up for this against their will and was going to quit once this session was over, as not to be rude. “Lose weight, I guess.”
“Then meet me outside of the gym and we can jog together.”
“See you then, Mx. Adamas.” And with that, Bortz hung up.
Jaune groaned into their pillow. “Fucking Diamond.”
Jaune looked up from their phone at the large concrete building in front of them. The neon sign above the door read ‘Daily Burnout’. As if their Google Maps wasn’t enough, Bortz was leaning against the wall next to the door with an impatient look on their face. It was too cold to be wearing leggings. “This must be it…”
“You must be Mx. Adamas.” Bortz called, walking towards Jaune. Their locs were in a small ponytail. They held out their hand to shake. “We spoke over the phone. I’m Bortz, they/them.”
Jaune shook Bortz’s hand. “You can just call me Jaune, no need to be all formal. I use they and them also.”
“Right. You know how to stretch properly? I can show you if not.”
Wait, no small talk? We’re just doing it? “I’ll just, follow what you’re doing.”
Bortz exhaled curtly and pursed their lips, an expression Jaune recognized as a stoic person’s laugh. They walked over to the wall of the building, put their hands on it, extending their right knee and bending the other, keeping both feet planted on the ground. They leaned forward into the stretch. Bortz turned their head to look at Jaune. “You coming?”
Jaune shook their head. “Yeah, yeah.” They found a spot on the wall next to Bortz and mimicked their actions.
“Do you feel that pull in the back of your leg?” Bortz asked.
“Yeah,” Jaune replied, paying extra attention to the tugging feeling in the back of their thighs.
“Good. Keep going for a few more seconds and then switch legs.” Bortz said as they switched to extending their left knee.
After that, Bortz showed Jaune how to stretch their quads and calves as well. “Very well. We’ll start with a one-mile block and see how you feel. Have you ever been into running before?”
Jaune rubbed the back of their neck. “Not since early in my transition. I will say I was a track star in high school.”
Bortz raised their eyebrow. “Should I be having you train me?”
Was that a joke? They sound so serious! “N-No.”
“Then let’s get started.” Bortz walked towards a line on the sidewalk and did two ankle rolls on each foot before fiddling with their Fitbit. “Stand right here, feet behind the line.”
Bortz bent their left leg and leaned forward, ready to take off. “On my go, we start.”
“Wait, where are we going?”
“Around the block. I just said that.”
“On your mark.” Bortz’ finger was primed to start the timer on their black FitBit.
Jaune fumbled to match Bortz’s starting position, something Bortz seemed to find amusing.
“Go!” With that, Bortz blew past Jaune, already setting a pace way faster than Jaune could achieve on their first try. Jaune started running, trying to catch up.
“H-Hey! No fair! You got a head start!” Jaune shouted, already out of breath. Each footfall felt more like an impact the further they got along.
Bortz looked behind them as though they were unaware they were doing anything. They slowed their pace to allow Jaune to catch up. In a few moments, they were side by side.
“You youngins are too damn fast these days.” Jaune panted.
“I’m not much younger than you, Jaune,” Bortz replied through rhythmic breaths, visible in the cold. Everything about them seemed to follow a beat, from the swing of their arms to the reach of each leg.
“How quickly you forget, we’ve met before.”
“I thought you forgot! What’s with all that formal shit then?”
“As difficult as it may be for you to understand, I value professionalism,” Bortz said before turning their head to focus back on running.
Jaune groaned and tried to focus as well. It only lasted a minute. “How far along are we?”
“We’re a quarter of the way done.”
“Fuck, guess I gotta keep you talking.”
“If you’re talking I’m not running you hard enough.”
“How’s your love life? Dia said you were with a mortician! How the hell did that happen?”
“Jaune, please focus.” Despite the exercise, Bortz still had enough energy to sound exasperated.
“Oh come on! Everyone loves to gush about their partners. And I mean, if you got them to take care of you after your surgery, then it must be pretty-”
“Cinnabar and I met at a concert.”
“Alls I’m saying is that drains are fucking disgusting. A concert? Holy shit, aren’t you an onion-”
“Why aren’t you taking this seriously?”
“Because your ex booked the appointment for me while we were wasted.” Jaune blurted before covering their mouth.
Bortz stopped running. “What?”
Jaune stopped too. “Uh, yeah.”
Bortz paused like they were too overwhelmed to completely comprehend everything or form a response. “Why didn’t you cancel it?”
“There were ways to avoid this, clearly, but instead you-”
“I dunno! I wanted to try it out anyway!” Jaune threw their arms up. “Is that so wrong?”
Bortz crossed their arms. “You sure aren’t giving it an honest shot.”
“Listen, I’m sweating more than I ever have since before my Sapphy died. I consider that an honest shot.” They jumped slightly as a car passed by them.
“We’ll keep going, then. We’re halfway around.” Bortz gestured down the road with their head. “But faster, and no talking.”
“No promises,” Jaune smirked and winked.
Bortz rolled their eyes and started again, with Jaune following close behind.
2087
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