Tumgik
#was going soooo slow towards the end of my workout but then i put this bad boy on and next thing i know it’s over and i can’t feel my legs
aturnoftheearth · 3 months
Text
“hey we need you to run as fast as you can for the next 5 minutes” say no more
Tumblr media
44 notes · View notes
gutsygay · 3 years
Text
Stuffing Story: “Daniel Gets His Fill”
Hieee 👋presenting my first kink fiction story, just a couple college guys getting stuffed.
Features stuffing, overeating, tummy rumbles, burps, and tummy rubs.
SOOOO um hope y’all like it 👉👈🥺
“And that about wraps it up for today! Don’t forget chapter four homework due Monday.” the professor said, dismissing the class.
Daniel grinned, hopped from his seat and headed toward the lecture hall door. He was an active type, and hated to sit still for long periods. As he waited for the crowd of his classmates to shuffle through the door ahead of him, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the nearby glass bookcase. He was average height, with tan skin, broad shoulders and large thighs. He was muscular and lean, save for a bit of a belly protruding from the very bottom of his abdomen, which he could never quite seem to work off, or even to tuck away completely when he wanted to hide his pudge.
Daniel didn’t care though. His main passions were eating, and working it off with strenuous exercise. His energy seemed boundless, but none more than his appetite was bottomless. At the time he wanted nothing more than a full rack of ribs and some buffalo wings. But at the same time he already had energy to expend as well. He wavered about how he’d spend the afternoon when his friend Nick called to him from across the hall, settling his silent debate.
“Yo Danny! We hitting the gym or what?” Nick said with a toothy grin.
“Sure, bro.” Daniel replied. “Leg day today, right?”
“Think so.”
“Sweet. I’ll meet you downstairs in five.” Daniel said, and headed to his car.
He grabbed his athletic clothes. He smiled to himself in anticipation of the coming activity. Soon they’d squat, lunge, press and strain their legs until they were nearly too sore to walk. He turned his thigh to the mirror he’d mounted on the inside of his locker door. His quads were already looking huge - they were getting that chiseled teardrop shape as well. As he lifted his shirt for a better view, he felt a sudden rumbling from down below. It had been nearly four hours since lunch - which was never enough for Daniel in the first place - and he was filled with nearly child-like excitement for what was to come. He thought of his favorite part of lifting - gorging himself afterward. Such a strenuous, calorie-intensive session as leg day meant he could pack it in with no shame.
He arrived at the basement gym, which was open to all resident students, but was surprisingly empty at the time. Nick was already at the squat rack - he had already set them up with a soul-crushing 315 pound squat rack.
“Alright then.” Daniel said, pumped. “Let’s hit it.”
And so they did. They grunted their way through 5 sets of squats, followed by lunges and leg presses. Then Daniel did some calf raises in the squat rack, his belly jiggling every time he descended. Some of it slipped out from under his shirt occasionally, and glistened with sweat. Daniel just rolled his eyes and tucked it back in.
When they finished, Nick lifted his shirt to wipe his sweat, exposing his ab muscles. Nick looked at Daniel’s partially exposed abdominal region and smirked. “You can never seem to lose that chubby little gut, can you?” he said, poking Daniel’s flab, which was still beaded with sweat. “Nah, don’t have the willpower I guess. But I don’t care. Let’s go eat.” Daniel said.
“Sure, maybe just a salad, Danny? If you - “
Nick was cut off by a deep audible growl from Daniel’s belly. Daniel squeezed it with both hands and looked up at Nick.
“Uh, okay bro, how does Wendy’s sound?” Nick said, silenced by Daniel’s rumblings.
“I’m not feeling it. Let’s hit that new buffet instead.” Daniel said, already headed for the door. Nick followed, knowing his friend was now less of a freshman undergrad and more of a beast in search of prey.
They showered down, got back into school clothes and jumped into Daniel’s car. Daniel usually offered Nick a ride back to his apartment whenever he needed it after their afternoon lifting sessions. They headed a few blocks away from the main campus building, towards a new all-you-can-eat buffet. Daniel’s hungry stomach continued to growl louder, but he simply turned up the car stereo to drown it out.
After what seemed like an eternity, Daniel and Nick pulled into the buffet. They walked in and the greeter happily showed them a booth, but the restaurant owner behind her pursed his lips upon seeing Daniel and Nick, visibly ravenous. They had already twice visited the fairly-new establishment. This kid’s gonna drive me out of business, he thought to himself. That orifice must eat his weight in food once a week.
They claimed their booth seats, and beelined to the buffet area. Daniel grabbed a plate and loaded it with buffalo wings (honey barbecue AND blue cheese), meat loaf, a bacon cheeseburger, quesadillas and a pepperoni calzone. The plate must’ve weighed nearly a pound, and Daniel was practically drooling on the way back to the table.
“Jeez, got enough there, bro?” Nick asked as they sat down, but Daniel was already stuffing his face.
“Nnnf, mm!” Daniel forced a reply.
“Never, huh?” Nick asked. 
He watched as Daniel tore into the bacon cheeseburger, engulfing nearly a third of it in one bite. In well under a minute he’d downed the whole thing. Daniel grinned wordlessly at Nick while chewing the last bite, and quickly swallowed before promptly moving on to the meat loaf, followed by the chicken wings.
Jeez, does he ever slow down to breathe? Nick thought to himself. And I feel like he’s just getting started. Nick ate a few bites of his ham slices, and mac and cheese on the side. When he looked back up, Daniel’s buffalo wings had been reduced to six picked-clean bones piled up on the plate, being drenched with grease dripping from Daniel’s calzone. Nick watched as Daniel’s eyes rolled back slightly and closed with pleasure every time he swallowed. He’s enjoying it. It’s like sex on a plate to him! he thought.
Daniel finished the 3 quesadilla slices, and pressed a napkin to his mouth. And then he burped. He tried to quiet it, but his hand and the napkin did little to muffle the rumbling gas that burbled up and out of him. It lasted nearly 5 seconds in all, and Nick could even feel the vibration through the table.
“You good, dude?” Nick asked.
“Uh, ‘scuse me, heh heh.” Daniel wiped his mouth and rolled his eyes, trying and failing to play off his prior eruption.
“Damn dude, you really put that shit away.” Nick gestured to the now empty plate before him.
“What can I say? I’m hungry as fuck.”
“You mean you were hungry as fuck.”
“I dunno man, that belch freed up some room.” Daniel said, patting his stomach. His belly had always been a little large, or at least proportionally big compared to the rest of his body, but now it was visibly distended. More? How could he possibly still be hungry? Nick wondered, and watched as he purposefully strolled back to the buffet line. He had just packed away more than 3000 calories as if it were nothing. Nick couldn’t help but feel intimidated, yet drawn to Daniel’s ability to consume like some kind of alpha male. 
By the end of it, Daniel had downed a second plate. And a third. And a shish-kabob. And not one, but two bowls of ice cream for dessert.
Daniel polished off the second bowl, and released another burp, not even trying to muzzle it this time. Nick sat in awe. He himself had managed two plates and a scoop of ice cream, but his dishes were nowhere near as heavily packed as Daniel’s.
“Oof, I think I’m about ready to put a cork in it, bro.” Daniel said, fiddling with his pants belt.
He stood up, revealing his overstuffed abdomen. In the past hour it had taken them to eat, it had grown from a miniscule, doughy bump to a basketball-sized food baby. They headed out to the parking lot, and Daniel lifted his shirt to give his belly a little massage. Nick couldn’t tear his eyes away.
“So that’s where you put it all.” Nick said, blank-faced, and finding himself weirdly intrigued by this bodily transformation.
Daniel turned to face Nick. He burped again, managing to muffle it into a low hiss this time, and replied, “I’m not a bottomless pit after all, haha. It’s gotta go somewhere, y’know.” He looked down at Nick, grinning, and gently patted the underside of his bloat to make it jiggle.
“Uh, yeah, heh heh.” Nick replied, watching his friend’s flab bounce.
“Hey, you want to come over and hang for a while? That anime you like came out on Netflix.” Daniel offered.
“Yeah, sure! I’d love to let it hang out with you. Er, hang out with you.” Nick said. An unexplainable chill ran through him.
They hopped back in Daniel’s car and headed off to his apartment. Nick kept glancing over toward Daniel, still in disbelief at the size of his stomach. In the intermittent illumination from passing streetlamps, he saw it bulging and spilling out in between the seat belt straps. He also saw the physique of the rest of Daniel’s body - his arms and chest were defined, and his quads were still bulging from the prior workout. His left arm was fully extended, lazily gripping the top of the steering wheel, his other resting sandwiched between his thigh and his belly flab.
When they arrived at Daniel’s apartment, they went to his couch, turned on the TV, and waited for the streaming service to connect.
“Whoof!” Daniel exhaled, as he collapsed onto the couch. He reclined in the corner with the armrest and the back cushion, and extended one hand behind his head, the other poking his abdomen again. “Heh heh, maybe I overdid it.”
“Nahhh,” Nick said absentmindedly, staring at Daniel’s gut.
“Uh, don’t you think so?” Daniel grinned, raising an eyebrow.
Nick realized what he’d responded with, and simply blushed. 
“Yo, I’m about to burst, jeez.” Daniel lifted his shirt further and fumbled with his belt. “I gotta undo this, I’m dying. You’re cool with that, right?” Daniel said, popping his belt buckle open.
Nick paused, still staring, and said, “D-Do what you gotta do, man.”
Daniel’s exposed belly shone in the soft light of the television. He gripped the button of his jeans, pulled with a grunt, “Unnnh!” and popped open the waist of his pants, sinking backward into the cushions as he did so, as if overcome with relief. He pulled down his zipper, and the lower part of his abdomen spilled out, and rested upon his thighs ever so slightly. Then he lifted his belly to grab the waistband of his underwear, and tuck it downward, so that his gut now hung out completely, unrestricted. His stomach gurgled audibly. Daniel put a hand on his chest and belched loudly. Good lord, he has no shame about this at all, he’s just sprawled out, digesting and not giving a fuck. Nick thought. He’d never experienced anything quite like this before.
“Damn, ‘scuse me, heh heh. Sorry about that.” Daniel said, his abdomen continuing to rumble periodically.
“Don’t be.” Nick said quickly, unsure of why he had received such a feeling of satisfaction from someone else’s burp.
Just then, the streaming service loaded, and Daniel leaned forward to pick up the TV remote, and let out a slight groan, the sides of his belly folding into rolls as he did so. Daniel gripped the remote with both hands and said, “This dumb thing doesn’t work right, I need to get it fixed. The show won’t play unless you hold the On-Demand and Play buttons at the same time, for the first few minutes.”
Daniel reclined again and held the two buttons, extending both hands toward the TV, further exposing his belly in his lap. The theme song of the aging anime started on the screen. The catchy, angelic tune emanated from the TV, but wasn’t enough to muffle further rumbling from Daniel’s stomach.
Daniel looked down at it between his arms. “Ugh, it’s sitting in me like a rock. I really gotta burp again.”
Nick was fixated on Daniel, not paying a moment of attention to the anime on the TV. “H-heh, bet you could use a belly rub right now.”
“Ugh, you know it, bro.” Daniel replied.
Nick paused for a long while, staring at Daniel’s plump gut, resting in his lap. “You know… I guess, maybe, if you wanted to, I could rub your belly for you.”
Daniel looked over at Nick, and let out a soft chuckle.
Nick stuttered, nervous he’d made things weird. “I-I mean, uh, since your hands are full, and like-”
“Sure, bro. Come on over.” Daniel said smiling.
“Uh, seriously? I mean, okay.” Nick said warily.
“Yeah man, what else are bros for? Also I’m dying over here, I’ve never been this bloated.” Daniel reassured him, as Nick slid toward his end of the couch. “If I could get a quick massage down there that would be great.” Daniel reclined, and turned his body toward Nick slightly.
Nick rubbed his hands together to warm them, and gazed upon Daniel’s rumbling, distended tummy. In the low light from the television, he could see that it had bulged from under his ribcage, giving the top an almost triangular shape, but became sublimely rounded closer to his navel, and at the underbelly, which spilled between the zipper of his jeans and onto his thighs. There was almost no hair on his tummy, save for a light sprinkling of peach fuzz surrounding his navel, and trailing downward towards his manhood. His belly button, which Nick had earlier seen to protrude slightly outward, had all but disappeared into the newly chubbier, squishy mass of belly.
Nick hesitated to take in the sight up close. “Y-you ready?” he looked up at Daniel.
“Go ahead, bro.” Daniel replied with a smile.
Gingerly, Nick placed a hand - starting with the fingertips - atop Daniel’s belly, and he could feel the warmth and softness of his exposed skin. He placed his other hand on it as well - the fingers wrapped around the side of his belly, while the thumb lightly gripped in Daniel’s sunken navel. He slowly pressed into the soft skin until it reached a point and became firmer, the bloat caused by all the food. Nick blushed and remembered that he was giving a massage, not just feeling his friend for pleasure.
Nick began to press more firmly and move his hands in a slow, rhythmic motion surrounding Daniel’s navel. 
“Like this?”
“Almost.” Daniel replied, his eyes closing in bliss.
Nick continued, pressing firmer still, and re-orienting himself on the couch to press and knead from different angles. Nick could still feel Daniel’s stomach rumbling about, working away at the mass of food. Periodically Daniel would let out a small burp, and Nick could feel the vibrations starting deep within his friend’s body, and burbling up and out. Nick wondered what kind of relief he was bringing his friend, if Daniel’s tummy was faring any better due to the massages and release of gas.
“Move your right hand down a little.” Daniel instructed. Nick slid his hand down below the navel, closer to Daniel’s left leg.
“Unh, down more. And press.” Daniel said, sounding almost desperate.
Nick obeyed, his hand now brushing against the front of Daniel’s jeans, and the waist of his underwear. He pressed harder in this lower area, under the stomach, and felt something shift, as if he’d freed up some mass deep within Daniel’s swollen gut.
“Right there, that’s it -” Daniel started, before he was cut off by a sudden, intense rumble, followed by the loudest burp Nick had ever heard. Nick’s head was positioned right near the top of Daniel’s abdominal area, and he could hear the massive expulsion of gas, and feel the tummy deflating. The burp lasted nearly a full ten seconds, and Nick looked up at Daniel, chuckling.
“Man, you feel any better after that?” he asked.
Daniel hesitated to catch his breath, “Yes, oh my God, I needed that.” he said, groaning. Daniel set down the remote, as the show was playing properly now.
At this point Nick was in acceptance that he was aroused by all this, and continued softly massaging Daniel’s gut, which was finally settled, more or less. Nick prodded experimentally around Daniel’s belly button, curious if he could help his friend release additional pressure. Daniel rewarded his friend’s work with several more burps, each bringing him blissful relief as the pressure in his gut gradually decreased. Finally, Daniel’s stomach was settled, and Nick felt the mass beginning to move downward into the lower intestines.
“Thank you, bro. That felt amazing.” Daniel said, grinning as he looked down at Nick, whose hands were still feeling his belly.
“My pleasure!” Nick replied with a toothy grin. He realized that seeing his friend stuffed, and helping him through tummy trouble, made him feel a delight he’d never experienced before. He stayed still, save for his hands, waiting for Daniel to say he’d done enough. But it seemed to Nick that his friend was just letting him stay there, his hands on his tummy, for as long as he wanted.
Eventually Nick fell asleep, his head on Daniel’s lap, and he listened to the last remaining soft gurgles from deep within his friend’s tummy as he drifted off. Daniel soon found himself nodding off as well, in an irresistible food coma, his hand resting on Nick’s back. He fell asleep, happily dreaming of tomorrow’s breakfast.
And that’s that, hope y’all enjoyed 😅
110 notes · View notes
Text
A Call of a Siren - Chapter 2
Tumblr media
A/N: As you guys have noticed, I tweaked a few things to fit Delia into the story but please let me know if I missed or messed up something on the storyline. Again, looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested. Chapter three should be up soon along with everyone's favorite angry boy. I don't own My Hero Academia. I only own my own characters and the story I create within Horikoshi's masterpiece of a world I'd love to live in.
Chapter One
_____________________________________________________________
“I expect you to all to still work hard on exams even though the end of the school year is in sight!” Her teacher was lecturing them on the importance of tests or something but Cordelia had other things on her mind. 
Nine months ago, she saw the world's greatest hero and a scrawny boy her age on the beach. A day she wouldn’t forget as it was a major part of why she was trying her damndest to get into UA in a month.
She went to the beach mostly everyday on a run and also practiced in her room after her family went out or was asleep. She also tried to incorporate some strength training exercises she got off the internet as she was sure you needed more than cardio to make it in. 
One thing she found herself doing, albeit shamefully, was sort of spying on All Might and Izuku Midoriya train on the beach and park. She didn’t necessarily go out of her way but it was on her training grounds too. No matter how she reasoned it, she still kept her distance and would hide at first sign of being found. It also didn’t help that she felt she had stumbled on a major invasion of privacy as she witnessed the strong and well, mighty, All Might transform to a tall but skinny weaker man. The first time she saw it she thought her eyeballs were for sure going to pop out her skull and fall to the floor with her jaw. She would never tell out of respect for the hero but still...every time he did it was like a mini heart attack especially when he would cough up blood afterwards. Like Jesus man please go see a doctor!
“Miss Bell I hope that dazed look on your face means you are thinking of your study schedule this weekend?” 
Her head turned from the window and faced the teacher, “ Oh, yes of course!” 
“Hmm..so anyways class -” Cordelia went right back to gazing out the window. 
_______________________________________________________
“ FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO DO YOUR STUPID STRETCHES BRAT!” Angry boy yelled at her for the 400th time.
Delia rolled her eyes again but continued her stretches where she was. She was here first anyway. Not that it mattered as she always stretched here because after Angry boy decided it was his workout spot she decided it was hers too. 
“Oi, don’t ignore me! Move your fat ass out of here!” 
“No thanks I’m good. And who are you calling fat ass, big tits?” She laughed as he bristled immediately at her response. He reminded her of a cat, all puffy and angry,  when he got like that which only made her giggle more. She wished to know his name but last time she asked he flipped her off. 
Looking at her watch, she realized she was going to be late for dinner. “Oh crap. Gotta go! Bye Big tits!” 
His water bottle flew right past her head as she ran off while he screamed expletives at her. “Hey!” She scolded. She slowed down enough to pick it up and chucked it with maximum force back at him, “don’t fucking litter!” 
She ran a little quicker when she heard the little pops of his quirk which is when she realized a few months ago that he was getting more pissed. “Goddamn brat!”
________________________________________________________
“Cordelia, you are late! Go wash up.” Her mother scolded her from the kitchen as she walked in the house. 
“Lost track of time! Sorry I’ll be quick!” She hopped up the stairs and nearly ran into her father, wearing his uniform, on the way. “Oops sorry Daddy!”
 Yes, she still called her father ‘Daddy.’
 Her ‘Daddy’ was a 6’4 man with piercing blue eyes that could intimidate anybody which probably helped with his job. Her mother always liked to point out that of course all her children had to inherit his blue eyes and not her brown ones.  
“Hey,” His hand shot out to gently grab her wrist before she could keep going, “What is all this training you doing for?” 
“Nothing in particular. Can’t I have a hobby?” She lied through her teeth before continuing on upstairs. 
“Cordelia…” 
“Dad. Teenage girl who wants to be fit - not rocket science!” 
Hopping in the hot shower, Delia relaxed finally. She was soooo lying to her family but felt it necessary as they stood on opposite ground concerning her dream of becoming a hero. 
She had a dream. She wasn’t going to give up without a fight just because she was alone in it. Deep down she was hoping if she became a good enough hero she could change their minds about the matter. 
She even took many preemptive precautions such as designating herself as the mail person of the house. She got it every day without fail and they would get used to just depending on her to get it. She managed to get a third cordless phone for the house she’d hide in her room to check the number in case of any specific calls coming through. She even created a fake parent email and perfected their signatures if needed. She was good at lying but it never felt easier on her to lie regardless of her reasons. 
“CORDELIA!” 
With a sigh, she shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. At least I dry off quickly, she thought amused as she wicked the water off her body and out of her hair. 
__________________________________________________________
It was exam day. 
Delia’s nerves were all over the place as she sat in the auditorium filled with the other hopefuls. They grouped them by class it seemed though she didn’t recognize those sitting near her. Her fault, she was sure, as she didn’t reach out to others during this past year as she just assumed or more like hoped she’d be transferring after the year was up. 
She wondered where Midoriya was as he was the reason she got her butt here in the first place. 
The Pro, Present Mic, continued to shout out to the crowd of potential students but Delia figured everyone was too wound up to join in or even focus enough. He was in the process of explaining their physical test when a loud voice rang out. A boy with cut blue hair and glasses stood suddenly and practically demanded answers of a possible inconsistency regarding the robots before the Pro could probably get to it (impatient much?) and then turned behind him to yell at the very boy she was wondering about for muttering too loudly. 
She wanted to laugh but her nerves were already fraying. As they were announcing the order of tests and people were slowly being shuffled out of the auditorium, Delia took a long breath before marching outside with the others. 
____________________________________________________________
This was exhilarating and terrifying all at once. 
She went on auto pilot as soon as the doors opened. Everyone rushed forward only to be immediately greeted by a bunch of green robots with glowing red eyes. Without thinking, she looked for the nearest water source...yes, a fire hydrant!...and reached her hand outwards to pull the water. A burst of water came rushing out that she quickly sharpened into her normal water whip and sliced out at the first two robots she saw ahead of her, breaking their heads off. 
“Wow that was amazing!” A girl with short brown hair to her left shouted at her before running further down the street. Delia blinked. Holy shit, that was amazing! For a moment, Delia felt she could really do this...until about 10 minutes later.
The robots didn’t give her a minute to think anymore, which considering her extreme anxiety over today was probably a good thing, and she used her whip to maim any robot who came within range. As soon as she was finally racking up a few points, a giant shadow loomed over the street. 
It was the zero points robot. 
Holy shitballs it was huge, Delia thought, shielding her face, as it stomped its way over causing surrounding small buildings and the street itself to explode with force everywhere. 
She was about to run but she heard someone cry out. It was the really nice girl from earlier who was caught under the debris from the zero pointer. 
Everyone was running. 
Then she ran. 
Towards the girl. 
There was water running from a broken pipe so she willed it near her as she skidded to the girl and put her hand up and the water formed a water dome around her the girl as they braced themselves for the next step from the robot but it never came. 
“SMASH!” Midoriya yelled from above them. Through the water she saw him go flying at the face of the robot and hit it so hard the zero pointer was thrown back with a broken face. 
“Oh my god” she whispered. The water fell on them in a whoosh and she snapped back to the girl and pushed the rock up far enough to wiggle her leg out. Looking up, she saw Midoriya start to fall and her heart continued to race as she tried to figure out how to catch him but the girl who was stuck ran, now with a limp, touch a rock and float upwards towards him. She meets him halfway then taps him midair and slowly brings them back to earth. Then promptly throws up off the side of the rock. 
The buzzer goes off. 
Times up. 
Delia felt her shoulder drop in disappointment. She only had 20 points from the smaller robots and barely. That was it. She was stuck at a regular school and wouldn’t be a pro hero. 
The finality of things started to weigh on her and followed her as she shuffled her way home, trying not to cry.
____________________________________________________________
The wait was killing her. 
It’s been days and she’s checked the mail repeatedly. Damn near scared the mailman a few times when she ran up to him a few houses before hers.
By the time it came, she had all but figured she failed so badly that they weren’t gonna waste time with a letter. Yeah, she was being dramatic but still. 
Finally, a small package addressed to her arrived. Delia had to wait until her parents went out to the store with Henry before she could run to her room and play it. After triple checking they left, she set it up on her small desk and internally started to scream. 
“Young Bell, it is me All Might! I am here! To give you your results on your exam to UA!” 
There goes her ability to breathe. 
She started to bite her lip nervously. 
“It says here that you scored 24 points on your practical and did well enough in your written test. BUT” 
She was now on the verge of gnawing her lip off.
“While your scores were alright enough, what really wowed us was your last few minutes of the practical!”
He started a small screen next to him of the girl who was stuck under a rock talking to someone behind the camera. 
“Is it possible to share my points?!” The girl exclaimed to someone behind the camera. 
Delia’s hand went to her chest as the girl, who didn’t know her nor should’ve bothered to do this, wanted to make sure her and Midoryia earned enough points and if not, to give them some of hers. Her lip had to have been bruised by now.
“Did you really think a Hero academy judged solely on the ability to hit a robot? We look at everything! And you, Young Bell, embody just the right person we strive to teach! You went ahead without thinking or caring about anything but the girl and acted- acted heroically! We awarded you 30 more points bringing your total to a whopping 54! So, Young Bell, I want to congratulate you on your acceptance to UA! Welcome, future hero!” 
Delia’s lip was bleeding now but she didn’t care. Tears were rushing down her face before she could stop them.
She thought it was done.
But really- it was just beginning. 
She sent a silent thank you to the boy on the beach and the hero they both looked up to
19 notes · View notes
foxtophat · 4 years
Link
/pant wheeze etc
sorry about that guys, i was going to post last night but like i keep saying, i got caught up in editing and soooo here we are!!  today’s chapter is all about kim, and kim’s teaching a masterclass in being a mom friend in your late 30′s.
as much as i strugged with this chapter i really REALLY like writing kim. she never got enough play in the games, so i guess i take liberties, but there’s something pleasing about writing an exasperated millenial mom going “please, dude, just get some therapy” to a guy like john seed lol.
i guess we’re all probably feeling kind of...uh, not awesome/active these days. which is fine! i’ve touched my face so many times writing this that i’m gonna have to go take a shower when i’m done here.  i hope you all are being safe, and i hope you work for companies that will allow you to be safe!  if your job is giving you shit about the virus, know that they’re the ones in the wrong, not you for wanting to watch out for your health.  oh, and tonight is the democratic debate, so go watch that and see if you vibe with my boy bernie, ok?  ok, be safe, i love you, wear a scarf if its cold outside
(below is the chapter text, so you don’t have to leave tumblr if you don’t want to! if you read it on here, could you like and/or reblog for me? i would appreciate it!)
Kim vividly remembers the day she met John Seed, just a few short years before the end of the world. He and his family had been in town all of a month when they had shown up unannounced to a potluck Kim and Nick were hosting, bringing along a last-minute macaroni dish. The three brothers were polite enough, and the big one seemed embarrassed by their offering compared to the other plates at the table, so Kim had let the party-crashing slide. Hell, she'd even let the strange brunette woman that accompanied them walk around her house like a second-rate psychic looking for ghosts. The rumor mill hadn't had time to chew much on them, so all Kim knew about the Seeds was that they were trying to put together a commune and the middle brother was some kind of preacher. It all sounded very tent-revivalist to her, but mostly harmless. Sure, they were weird, but they were hardly the only weirdos living in the county, so who was Kim to judge?
She had been standing alone by the cooler with a beer when John had sidled up to her. His reputation had already gotten a head start, having already stepped on Mary May's toes before showing his face to the town at large, and he was clearly attempting to avoid people who had already heard Mary May's take on the situation. Whether or not he realized Kim had already heard all about his unapologetic come-ons, he sure seemed interested in showing her his good side. He had been all smiles and charm, shaking her hand with both of his own and complimenting everything about the house and party and people. But, even as he coasted through the pleasantries and small-talk, John had eyed Kim like she was a piece of meat, one up for grabs by whoever flagged down the butcher first.
Just when he seemed ready to open his mouth and order himself a bad time, Nick had swooped in beside Kim with his hand extended, wearing his least genuine grin. Committing to another two-handed shake, John made more sweeping compliments and asked Nick a couple of questions about the airstrip. He may have even been genuinely interested in what Nick had to say on the matter, but in retrospect, all Kim can remember is the way he had looked at her. No longer was Kim a lifeless, prime cut of beef — now, she had teeth in the form of her redneck aviator husband, who wasn't buying anything John was selling.
Nick had smiled and waved at John as he excused himself, disappearing in the direction of his brothers. "What a fuckin' creep," Nick had declared through his clenched teeth.
Kim had thought then that they knew what kind of creep John was. By the time he began sending men to the house to intimidate them, she'd realized he was something much worse. He was something out of a schlocky psychological thriller, a sociopath with a rumored body count, who calculated each of his steps with pointed disregard for human life, gleefully buying up land for their cult and chasing all but the bravest away from their homes. There had been rumors about people disappearing, but Kim hadn't wanted to believe them. There had been a whole lot Kim hadn't wanted to believe. It was when John started calling, leaving desperate messages begging them to "just say yes, so I don't have to make you," that Kim had to stop hiding her head in the sand.
Kim barely had time to celebrate when he died the first time, what with Carmina being born and the world ending, and she had much better things to do in the years following than spare a thought towards him. It wasn't until Nick dragged John into their home eight years later that his name had even crossed Kim's mind.
She thinks about John a lot now, for better or worse. At first, all of her instincts had her thinking about him sleeping nearby. How much force it would take to break the bedroom locks. How strong and fast he might secretly still be. She would watch him work and think about all the awful things he would be putting Nick and her through, if their positions were reversed. She would question his every move, tired and sluggish as they might have been.
Nowadays, she mostly thinks about how tired he really seems. She thinks a lot about his eight years of solitude, and questions just how dedicated he really is to waving a white flag. The John Seed she used to know, the one she had underestimated a lifetime ago, he would never have willingly submitted himself to manual labor the way he does now. He would never sit silent and anxious until Nick or Kim bossed him around. At first, she had thought he was doing it out of necessity, being as sick as he was, but now... well, now, she's not so sure.
John is stronger than he has any right to be. Kim never had the opportunity to confront him physically before, so she has no idea if John has always been like this, or if it's something that happened in isolation. After all, eight years by yourself is a great time to workout — at least until your supplies run out, or you catch a sickness that won't go away. It should probably worry her more, but Nick's confidence has rubbed off on Kim, and all she concerns herself with is giving him jobs that measure up to his abilities.
Like today, for example. Nick and Carmina have started on a project together, putting together a hen coop worthy of housing Carmina's first pets, and with planting season practically here, Kim is ready to tackle her own construction project. Somehow, a tractor wound up on the runway, overturned and mangled as if it had been in a car accident — or a nuclear blast — and Kim has a plan for the thing's large, mostly-intact tires. With enough mulch and soil, Kim's sure that she can make them into reliable planters, and she might even manage to grow something worth eating this year. First, though, they have to come off the tractor — and that's where John comes in.
Kim watches John peel one tire off of the crescent-shaped wheel it's clinging to, thinking to herself again that John is stronger than he should be. He rolls the massive tire back down the runway towards her, looking mildly winded from the exertion, face red from the sun. He doesn't look anything like the walking corpse Nick had found a few months back.
Despite herself, Kim is impressed with his progress. When Nick had first brought him in, she hadn't expected him to make it through the night, much less the following day. It had been hospice care to her, at least for the first week — but then John had turned a corner, eating again and managing to stand on his own feet, and all at once Kim had forgotten about reading his last rites.
Slowing the tire to a stop, John wipes his arm across his brow and asks, "Here?"
"Yeah," Kim says. "That's fine. One more to go."
John nods, turning and retreating down the runway towards the tractor's mangled remains. Kim watches him go, waiting for him to realize how easy it would be to get away. She's a great shot with the rifle, but she's only got the pistol with her today, and Nick is all the way on the other side of the hangar. There's no fence on this side of the strip, and the overgrowth is thick enough to disappear into. It would take him a matter of seconds to escape, if he would just try.
But he doesn't. Kim has no idea why not — it's not like they're making much of an effort to keep him locked up. Nick does his best, but they're not a maximum-security prison. Hell, they don't even have an enclosed fence! With all of his experience managing a human trafficking cult, he has to see that they're woefully unprepared to hold him. There's no way he hasn't itemized every hole in their security and how he could use them to his advantage.
The tire has been partially popped off of the tractor wheel, but John's probably going to need a wrench or something to pry the rest of it free. Otherwise, Kim is going to be watching him strain uselessly, and while sometimes it can be gratifying to watch John struggle with menial tasks, Kim wants these planters done as soon as possible.
She marches toward him to size the problem up, only to pull up short as John tears the tire off of the wheel. Metal scrapes against itself as the axle twists, and Kim hears a pop when John finally leverages the tire free, leaving the wheel to hang limply from the axle. There's a long rip in the tire's lip, probably from where a security bolt tore through the old rubber.
"Jesus," she says, not realizing she's close enough for John to hear her until he frowns in her direction. She tries to mask for her concern over his uncanny strength, but all she has going for her these days is motherly frustration. "You could have hurt yourself," she scolds, as if that's going to cover it.
John huffs. "Why does that matter?" he asks.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but we don't exactly have a doctor to take you to if you slice your arm on rusted machinery and contract tetanus."
Considering how passive John's been, it comes as something of a surprise when he heaves a frustrated sigh, bracing the tire with both hands and doing his best to ignore Kim while she stands right next to him. It's just irritating enough that she sticks her foot out to block the tire, eyeballing him defiantly and mentally daring him to keep being a baby. Ugh, as if a man like him could be intimidated by a 40-year-old mom's unimpressed glare.
He ducks his eyes. "Alright, fine," he surrenders.
Kim lets him roll on, following with a furrowed brow as she tries to figure out what his deal is. The John she remembers would never put up with the kind of disrespect Kim shows him. He would be... seething, or something. Planning to murder her, probably. But if he was going to murder them, he would have done it already. He definitely would have done it when Nick let him sleep in their room. But every opening he has, he ignores in favor of the full surrender he'd willingly placed himself under.
Once John sets the tire down, wiping his forehead clear of sweat, he asks, "What's next on your list of petty tortures?"
If John thinks being petulant will get him anywhere with Kim, he is sorely mistaken. She raises an unimpressed eyebrow and asks, "Do you really think this is me trying to torture you?" She can't help but be a little offended — as if she couldn't come up with something worse than household chores if she wanted.
"I don't know what to think," John sighs.
Kim can count the number of times John has been honest with her on one hand, and that's including before the bombs dropped. A few minutes ago, she might've entertained his mild back-talking to dig at his motivations, but she's certainly not in the mood now.
"You don't need to think," she says. "Just do what I tell you."
It's as easily said as done with John, who shuts up with a deep frown and follows Kim mutely for the next hour or two, helping her shovel a mixture of composted leaves and topsoil into a wheelbarrow. They have to make three trips to get enough to fill the tires, which is sweaty, smelly work that Kim won't leave to John alone. Even if she didn't want to get her hands dirty, she would feel guilty if she made him do it by himself, considering it's a job she could easily do alone.
Once they've finished dumping the dirt into the makeshift planters, Kim turns to John with a critical eye. At last, she offers him more than a few curt orders.
"This isn't supposed to be torture, you know," she tells him. "Everything we tell you to do, it's because it needs to be done, not because we want to watch you suffer."
"It must help," John grunts.
"Honestly? Not really." Kim sits on one tire, watching John shift his weight between his feet. He somehow seems small, even as he stands over her. "I've seen enough suffering to last a lifetime. Haven't you?"
John doesn't respond. He turns his head to stare at the hangar — probably wishing he was putting the coop together with Nick, who loves it when John is quietly repentant, and who hates talking about this kind of stuff in general. If Carmina weren't over there, John would definitely be trying to excuse himself to her husband's side.
"I think we're done here for now," Kim says at last. "I'm going to start dinner. You can sit quietly with me, or go help Carmina and Nick with the coop."
She refuses to pick for him, leaving him to look between the hangar and the fire-pit and debate on his own whether he wants to deal with Kim's weak interrogation skills or being in the same room as Carmina for any length of time. Any time she gives him a choice, he usually goes for whatever will keep him busier, but he seems actively repulsed by the idea of spending any time around Carmina.
After a few seconds of consideration, John nods reluctantly. "I'll sit," he says, almost as though he's admitting defeat. When Kim leads him over to the fire, he sits on the same patch of dirt he usually does, even with plenty of seating options. He doesn't talk much, and since Kim has nothing to ask him, she leaves him to his own thoughts while she starts getting dinner ready.
When she catches him starting to doze, she can't help but sarcastically quip, "Some torture, huh?"
John shoots her a dark look in return, but it's going to take more than a mean scowl to bother her.
Nick and Carmina get up early one morning to go fishing. Kim sleepily sees them out of the bedroom, unwilling to face the gray morning chill herself, and wishes them as much luck as she can muster while half-asleep. Nick hesitates a whole lot by the bedroom door, still reluctant to leave Kim alone with John, but he knows better than to make a bigger deal about it than she does. Kim appreciates his concern, even if nowadays she doesn't think it's warranted.
They'll be back a little after noon, and Kim's list of chores has finally shrunk to something manageable, so she lazes for just a little bit before finally committing to the day. It takes her a little longer to commit to utilizing John outside, since she doesn't have any work for him and it would be great to have a morning to herself, but leaving him to stew all day feels wrong.
John's already awake when she goes to get him, dressed and sitting on the pallet-board bed that Nick let him piece together. He only looks mildly surprised to see Kim fetching him by herself, which means he probably heard Nick leave earlier. He isn't very talkative today, resorting to monosyllabic responses to her questions as they eat breakfast downstairs. He sits quietly at the table with Kim, not touching his food until he catches Kim staring expectantly at him. Kim shouldn't be surprised — after eight years on his own, he's probably more comfortable in silence. Either that, or he talked himself out of words down in that bunker of his. She would ask, but John avoids talking about his time underground at all costs, and she doesn't see today being any different.
Kim waits until they've gotten out into the yard to reveal her cigar box full of seed packets. "It's a little early to start planting," she explains, "But I have a good feeling about this batch of spinach."
John waits expectantly, his frown deepening as Kim fails to elaborate on his part in all of this. "You want my help," he realizes at last. "...With gardening ."
He says it with so much disbelief that Kim almost thinks he's making fun of her. "What did you think we were going to do after we filled these things with soil?" she asks. "They needed to sit, and now we need to plant. You're here, so you're helping me."
"I —" John stares at her, biting the inside of his cheek as though he's trying to mind himself. "That isn't going to work. You'd be better off letting me dismantle the tractor for scrap."
"I'm not asking you to do that," Kim points out, "I'm asking you to poke some holes in the dirt. This isn't rocket science. Even Carmina can do it."
"Then have Carmina do it ," John snaps, immediately clenching his jaw to try and prevent another outburst.
"If you're trying to give me trouble just because Nick isn't around, then I'll just put you back in your room."
John sulks for a few seconds, weighing his words now that he's out on thin ice. "Plants and I aren't compatible," he grudgingly admits. "I have a black thumb. And this is important work, I don't — I don't understand why you would risk it."
Kim tries hard to resist pulling on her kid gloves, and yet she still can't help but go easy on him. "John, it's an irradiated wasteland. You are the least of these plants' concerns. All you have to do is follow instructions. You can do that, right?"
She expects him to roll his eyes or get huffy at her coddling him, even just a little, but he only nods in return. "Yes," he says, falling back into what can't possibly be comfortable subservience.
Well, it works for Kim — he doesn't try to fight her as she shows him how to space out the holes, how deep to make them and how many seeds to put in each one. She watches him finish a row before she decides he's got it, and settles in across from him to start on the opposite side of the planter. John looks surprised that she's working with him, but she finds digging in the dirt relaxing, and she's got to pass the time somehow.
Kim enjoys gardening, getting her hands dirty while ensuring she and her family have plenty of food. She'd never really gotten the chance to practice before the bombs, but that didn't stop her from growing some sad looking carrots and potatoes last year. They plant spinach and beets, as well as some carrots that Kim doubts will survive. The other planter stays empty, but Kim has a plan to grow some soybeans later in the season, and if the seeds don't take, maybe corn will.
John is wholly focused on his side of the planter, meticulously careful, like this is some kind of exact science that he barely understands. A city boy through and through, Kim supposes — it isn't like a hotshot lawyer from Atlanta would spend much time at the local community garden, right? His history with gardening is probably littered with dead ferns and succulents that couldn't survive his negligence.
When he sits back to rest a minute, four straight rows like spokes in front of him, Kim throws him a bone. "Looking pretty good."
"Don't patronize me."
Kim rolls her eyes. Of course John would be incapable of taking even the most mundane compliment, no matter how genuinely Kim might give it. "I'm not. You're doing a good job."
John sighs heavily, still very much not believing her, but he doesn't argue the point.
Nick and Carmina return just after John finishes his final row. Usually, Carmina comes back looking pretty defeated, as fishing isn't something she's gotten the hang of yet, and Nick will try not to let on that he did poorly on purpose to make her feel better. Today, though, Carmina marches with a straight back and a big grin, and Nick follows her with a bucket of smallmouth bass.
"Who wants fish?" Nick calls triumphantly, visibly excited for Carmina to finally have a "big catch" story.
Kim stands, knocking the dirt off of her knees, and takes a look at the radial design left behind in the soil. She's going to have to water and keep a close eye on these little suckers, but with any luck, they'll grow at least enough to make for good compost. It would be nice to have some impressive produce to trade, though, so here's hoping that spinach turns out.
"Hard part's over," Kim tells John, who reluctantly follows her lead and climbs to his feet. "Now, it's a waiting game."
"I wouldn't expect miracles," John mutters. Kim pretends not to hear him.
John avoids the garden as much as he can once the planting is done. Kim doesn't need his help, so she doesn't press it, but she notices whenever he surreptitiously checks the progress the seeds are making. He seems happy enough to be done handling them, but Kim bets he's still keeping an eye out for any evidence of failure. Kim doesn't want to take away Nick's extra pair of hands, especially considering how hard work seems to comfort John more than long stretches of silence surrounded by dirt, so for the first two weeks, Kim handles most of the gardening herself.
Nick and him have been steadily chipping away at Nick's list of home repairs, their DIY solutions changing the topography of the family home bit by bit. The roof is dotted with white shingles cobbled together from old siding, the windows have been boarded up with full sheets of plywood instead of haphazard wooden planks, and part of the hangar's exposed roof has been covered by a quilt of stitched together pieces of tarp. They've even managed to clear back some of the vines that have been swallowing every structure in the valley. Nick has pretty much given up on letting John do everything by himself by now, although he definitely delegates the harder work to John and takes the first drink of water whenever they take a break. Nick has always been a hands-on kind of guy, though — sitting by while there's work to be done goes against his nature. It had only been a matter of time before he demanded to pull his own weight.
Kim checks the plants more frequently and obviously than John does. She had been expecting most of the plants to fail, considering the packets they came from are easily eight years old and thrown into an old box with no thought to preserving them, but a week in and they seem to have taken pretty well. Tiny, two-leaf sprouts have started to poke their way through the soil where the spinach was planted. The beets don't seem to have done quite as well, but surviving tiny sprouts have also started to show. Kim doesn't trust the carrots, but it'll be another week or so before they start seeing any results from them, so she withholds judgment for now.
"Been thinking about going into town," Nick mentions one night as the four of them eat dinner at the table. John still seems uneasy sitting with them instead of on the stairs or in his room, but at least he doesn't need someone to goad him into eating.
Carmina's face lights up. "Can I come?" she asks, practically before Nick has finished speaking. From the way Nick smiles at her, Kim's sure he was about to suggest that very thing, which makes it easy for Kim to agree.
"Sure," she says. "As long as your dad promises not to cut across the field this time. No," she scolds Nick as he opens his mouth to argue, "There's a herd of bison out there that are as big as the car, and you are not a matador, Nick."
"What's the point of an apocalypse if I gotta follow all the roads?" Nick complains, relenting with a theatrical sigh. "You're right," he admits, emphasizing for Carmina, "Your mom's right. The roads are a lot safer than any open field."
Kim glances at John, who has his head down over his plate, looking uncomfortable with the conversation circling so close to him. Nick follows her line of sight, frowns, and then asks, "So, uh, John... You got any interest in going into town?"
John swallows the bite he just took, wincing as it goes down wrong. "No," he croaks.
"Okay," Nick says, not at all upset to hear it. "That leaves just you and me, sweetheart."
Later on, once they're getting ready for bed, Nick can't help but circle back, horrified by his own gall. "What would I have done if he'd said yes?" he asks Kim. "He'd incite a riot just by showing his face. The second everybody knows he's alive..."
"It's going to happen eventually," Kim says. "I think we should at least let him make the choice about when ."
Nick accepts her reasoning with a petulant, "I guess, " but he spends another hour or two silently turning it over in his head.
They don't leave until after breakfast, which Nick lets John be part of. He's still sensitive about sharing his family time with anybody, much less John, but he's getting used to it bit by bit. Kim would blame it on the apocalypse if it weren't for the fact that he's always been very protective of his mornings.
John looks uneasy as Nick and Carmina head out, tensing at the sound of the car starting. Kim isn't all that used to it either, but at least they managed to find a car and enough gas to make the occasional trip to town possible.
Well, since there's nobody else around, and nothing left for Kim to do, she decides it time to bring John back to the garden.
"Ready to learn how to weed?" she asks.
To his credit, John waits until they're outside and facing down the lightly weeding planter to argue. "There's still a lot of work to do in the hangar," he says. "Doesn't that sound like a better use for me?"
"No," she replies. "You need to know how to do this." She sighs when he remains standing, staring up at him unimpressed. "Either you help me with this, or you can go pout in your room about it."
Kim waits until John reluctantly sits on his knees to join him. She walks him through the process of prying up the thin, quickly growing stems, tossing them into the bucket between them, and shows him how to pull out the root systems that might get left behind. Most of the weeds that are growing are small, but those pernicious vines have been reportedly growing like crazy in any and all soil and Kim doesn't want to give them a chance to cozy up to her produce.
It's not complicated work, so John picks it up fast, but he goes tediously slow, almost to the point where Kim thinks he's messing with her. Well, the joke's on him — Kim has raised one of the most independent children in the state, and she knows how to deal with petulance. She's fine with long stretches of silence, she's fine with dirt, and she's fine with leaving people to stew.
"Have you always been a gardener?" John asks after a length time, rushing the words as if he'd been chewing them over for too long and he just wants them out of his mouth.
John rarely ever asks questions that aren't about his so-called punishment, so Kim is inclined to indulge him. "No, not really," she answers. "My mom grew flowers, and I would try to keep those little starter herb kits alive every so often, but I never really dedicated my time to it." She hesitates, hopefully not noticeably, and adds, "We had some old gardening magazines in a box in the bunker. They turned out to be a good way to pass the time. You know?"
John hums neutrally in response. Kim hadn't expected much better; even casual talk about life underground shuts John up pretty fast. It's such an obvious psychological scar that even Nick can't miss it, and although the two of them will speculate, neither of them have so far pushed hard enough to find out more. Kim doesn't know if John's trauma is the Pandora's box she wants to open, but she has so many questions and so many worries that could be put to rest if she could just figure out how to interrogate him about it.
She's being too obvious, staring at him like she is, and John is quick to catch her. His brow furrows as he stares back expectantly. Probably waiting for her to drag the information she wants out of him, no doubt, the same way he would rip confessions out of people.
When she fails to do whatever it is he's waiting for, he turns his attention back to the remaining weeds. Frustration colors his voice when he eventually speaks.
"I wish you wouldn't stare at me."
"I usually look at people who ask me questions," Kim replies, trying not to be pedantic and failing pretty miserably.
"Just tell me what you want from me."
Kim sits back on her heels, wiping her forehead with a dirty hand. "I don't really know," she admits. She probably shouldn't be so honest with him, so open about her lack of motivation, but she can't see any reason to lie. Maybe telling him the truth will encourage him to do the same? She knows that's wishful thinking, but it's worth a try.
"I guess I want you to... prove you're trying. That this isn't all some kind of act. But honestly, I don't know what kind of proof would convince me. There's eight years of blank history that might help, but you don't want to talk about it."
She doesn't hesitate to bring up the bunker this time, even when it makes him squirm. She can see him working on a response and heads it off as best she can.
"Look," she says, "You don't have to tell me now. You don't even have to tell me . But eventually, if you're really serious about making amends, you're going to have to tell someone ."
For a moment, John rests his fingers in the dirt as if he might just go back to his work. He's staring at the green leaves, waiting for one of the plants to give him the right answer, the one that will make the conversation end before he has to get involved.
Finally, terribly lost and frustrated at himself for winding up that way, he asks, "Why won't you just make me ?"
His uncertainty settles in Kim's stomach like a lead weight. He refuses to look at her, and somehow that makes it worse. She knows Nick would probably scold her for being overly sympathetic, but she can't help it. She can't hide her worry when she answers, no matter how much it might chafe John to hear it.
"You have to want to get better to do it," she tells him. "Nobody can do it for you."
John doesn't respond. Kim doesn't hold her breath over it, returning to the remaining weeds. But as his silence grows, Kim finds herself checking on him in her periphery. Before the Collapse, John had been easy to read, his reactions unrestrained and sometimes bordering theatrical. These days, Kim can't pin him down.
John treats the fresh sprouts as though they're too fragile to touch, sincerely confused at the progress the garden has made despite his interference. Had he really thought that he could mess them up just by planting them? No wonder he was so sure that she was making a mistake, enlisting his help.
"Things are going well, given the circumstances," she says at last. "I guess you don't have a black thumb after all."
"I stand corrected," he replies. He looks at her briefly, but when he catches her watching him he's quick to look back to the dirt. Kim doesn't miss the way he continues to appreciate the small green stalks.
Later, after the weeds have been eradicated and dinner has been started, Kim hears the car coming down the drive. John is in the middle of dragging scrap metal out of the hangar, so he doesn't notice it right away, but there's no missing Carmina and Nick's raised voices. They aren't quiet by any means as they wander from the front yard to the back, talking enthusiastically about the monstrous bison they'd seen in the field on their way home. When John recognizes them coming into view, he stops working briefly, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the hastily setting sun.
"That's, uh, a pretty wide leash you're giving him," Nick says to Kim, having the good sense to at least kiss his wife hello before he starts in on judging her.
"He knows what you guys are doing in there better than I do," she replies. "How was town?"
Carmina is the one to answer, her excitement hard to contain. "We saw the bison!" she exclaims. "Pastor Jerome let me go to the top of the church tower! We got a bunch of stuff!"
She has a whole lot more to tell Kim, which she does in rapid-fire bullet-points before running off to unload supplies from the car. From all of her talk of apples, Kim hopes that some of them made their way home.
Nick waits until she's out of sight, checking to see that John hasn't yet come to join them, and then offers Kim a helpless shrug. "So, Jerome knows about John, I guess."
The comment shouldn't make Kim as uneasy as it does. "Oh?"
"Grace told him." Nick takes off his hat, tossing it onto the porch and running a hand through his hair. "He said he had to think about it more. But, uh... that he trusts us to do what's right. I dunno, he didn't quote any scripture at me so I couldn't tell how mad he really was."
He's watching John at the front of the hangar like he's surprised John isn't running. "I really thought this was gonna go differently," he says after a beat. "I thought for sure he'd have given us a reason to off him by now."
Kim chuckles. "Yeah, the same way you thought feeding the raccoons would make them go away."
"I couldn't help it," Nick sighs. "They looked so damn hungry."
John finishes unloading the wheelbarrow's contents. For a moment, he stands with his back to them, staring at the hangar. When he turns around, he straightens up, waiting. For what, Kim couldn't possibly say. She wishes he would just tell them what he thinks they ought to do already, but that's not going to happen any time soon.
Nick cups a hand to his mouth and shouts, "C'mon, I got a bunch of supplies you need to unload!"
John puts his hands on his hips, taking a brief rest before starting in their direction. Kim wouldn't believe he's the same man from a few months ago if she hadn't seen the transformation herself. She hopes all this change has been for the better, but she wonders if it's going to be enough.
10 notes · View notes
anamorales · 4 years
Text
5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast
Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast
We’re in the final days of our Summer Shape Up challenge! Can you believe it? Now that we’re on the tail end of this thing, I’m SO HAPPY to see how many of you babes have rocked it! I’m so proud of you for putting yourself first and making it happen!
And after all of the hard work you’ve put in, I want to make sure you get the absolute best results possible. But there’s one thing that might be standing in your way: belly bloat.
Don’t sweat, girl! I’ve got five easy ways to get rid of belly bloat fast. Let’s check them out.
#1: Get away from salt
So much of the time, bloating really comes down to water retention. Does that mean you should scale back on how much water you’re drinking? Absolutely not!! In fact, too little water can freak your body out, making it hold onto water instead of processing it like it should. Drink up!
Tumblr media
So what makes your body retain water? Too much sodium is usually the culprit. This doesn’t just mean skipping the table salt. A ton of packaged foods contain a ton of sodium. Watch out!
Scaling back your sodium intake is one of the best ways to get rid of belly bloat fast. More on this in the 7 Day Slim Down.
#2: Get more fiber
Another bloat culprit? Constipation. 
Usually, this happens from a mix of not eating enough fiber, not drinking enough water, and not getting enough physical activity. If you’ve been feeling a little backed up, work some high-fiber foods into your meal plan. Those include:
Pears
Bananas
Avocados
Strawberries
Carrots
Lentils
Beans
Tumblr media
#3: Get your sweat on
Want to get rid of belly bloat fast? Blast through your workout. Exercise stimulates your digestion, which can help you slim down that belly. 
If I’m really trying to beat bloat, I’ll usually do a workout that targets my core and involves some twisting. Getting that area moving physically helps to get your digestion moving so you can get your flattest stomach possible — plus more toned abs! You can find tons in the LSF App or on my YouTube channel too!
Tumblr media
#4: Eat slower and more mindfully
I know how easy it is to plop down in front of the TV at dinnertime or to knock out some work while you eat lunch. But scarfing down a meal means two things. First, you’ll probably eat more than you need. Second, you’re probably not chewing enough and you’re probably swallowing more air than you need.
Slow it down. Chew each bite and enjoy it! As you’re working toward your slimmest stomach, eating with intention can go a long way. 
Tumblr media
#5: Down a shot 
My last tip to get rid of belly bloat fast isn’t the tastiest, but give it a shot and I bet you’ll agree the results are worth it. In the morning, mix the juice from half a lemon with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of cayenne. You can dilute it with water if the taste is too intense.
This drink helps to stimulate your digestion so you can enjoy your flattest stomach. Make it a part of your morning routine and watch that bloat melt away. 
Tumblr media
My 7 Day Slim Down Results
This will get you started, but if you really want to get rid of belly bloat fast, I’d definitely recommend checking out our 7-Day Slim Down. That guide is literally designed to banish even the most chronic belly bloat, and I always feel soooo good after I do it.
We’re almost to the end of this challenge, ladies! Let’s stay strong!!
The post 5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast appeared first on Love Sweat Fitness.
5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast published first on https://immigrationways.tumblr.com/
0 notes
archerwindsor · 4 years
Text
5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast
Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast
We’re in the final days of our Summer Shape Up challenge! Can you believe it? Now that we’re on the tail end of this thing, I’m SO HAPPY to see how many of you babes have rocked it! I’m so proud of you for putting yourself first and making it happen!
And after all of the hard work you’ve put in, I want to make sure you get the absolute best results possible. But there’s one thing that might be standing in your way: belly bloat.
Don’t sweat, girl! I’ve got five easy ways to get rid of belly bloat fast. Let’s check them out.
#1: Get away from salt
So much of the time, bloating really comes down to water retention. Does that mean you should scale back on how much water you’re drinking? Absolutely not!! In fact, too little water can freak your body out, making it hold onto water instead of processing it like it should. Drink up!
Tumblr media
So what makes your body retain water? Too much sodium is usually the culprit. This doesn’t just mean skipping the table salt. A ton of packaged foods contain a ton of sodium. Watch out!
Scaling back your sodium intake is one of the best ways to get rid of belly bloat fast. More on this in the 7 Day Slim Down.
#2: Get more fiber
Another bloat culprit? Constipation. 
Usually, this happens from a mix of not eating enough fiber, not drinking enough water, and not getting enough physical activity. If you’ve been feeling a little backed up, work some high-fiber foods into your meal plan. Those include:
Pears
Bananas
Avocados
Strawberries
Carrots
Lentils
Beans
Tumblr media
#3: Get your sweat on
Want to get rid of belly bloat fast? Blast through your workout. Exercise stimulates your digestion, which can help you slim down that belly. 
If I’m really trying to beat bloat, I’ll usually do a workout that targets my core and involves some twisting. Getting that area moving physically helps to get your digestion moving so you can get your flattest stomach possible — plus more toned abs! You can find tons in the LSF App or on my YouTube channel too!
Tumblr media
#4: Eat slower and more mindfully
I know how easy it is to plop down in front of the TV at dinnertime or to knock out some work while you eat lunch. But scarfing down a meal means two things. First, you’ll probably eat more than you need. Second, you’re probably not chewing enough and you’re probably swallowing more air than you need.
Slow it down. Chew each bite and enjoy it! As you’re working toward your slimmest stomach, eating with intention can go a long way. 
Tumblr media
#5: Down a shot 
My last tip to get rid of belly bloat fast isn’t the tastiest, but give it a shot and I bet you’ll agree the results are worth it. In the morning, mix the juice from half a lemon with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of cayenne. You can dilute it with water if the taste is too intense.
This drink helps to stimulate your digestion so you can enjoy your flattest stomach. Make it a part of your morning routine and watch that bloat melt away. 
Tumblr media
My 7 Day Slim Down Results
This will get you started, but if you really want to get rid of belly bloat fast, I’d definitely recommend checking out our 7-Day Slim Down. That guide is literally designed to banish even the most chronic belly bloat, and I always feel soooo good after I do it.
We’re almost to the end of this challenge, ladies! Let’s stay strong!!
The post 5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast appeared first on Love Sweat Fitness.
5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast published first on https://olimpsportnutritionuk.tumblr.com/
0 notes
nowgoforth · 6 years
Text
2017: Drowning, treading, making waves
It’s enlightening to read all of the drafts that I never published on this blog; some were too personal, some too rambling. Apparently, one of them was my replay of last year. Pretty sure I ran out of time last year and felt it was too late to share. But I’m going to post one this year, in spite of my worsening memory, and highlight some of my learnings and experiences.
This year…
...I lost my team and gained a new one.
Over the course of a month, both of my peers quit. They had different reasons, but it was still a blow. Although one stayed on for an extra month and worked remotely, he was moving back home and didn’t take on too much of the load. I spent March in a daze, doing my best to answer ALL the tickets alone. Everyone who works in support has some hellish moment that they can point to — I think of my year as “before March” and “after March”.
Luckily, my boss at the time quickly brought in two candidates she had sourced, and they changed the game when they started. They took Product Ops to the next level, as my boss planned, and quickly blended into the seams of Lever’s culture. They gave me hope that we could still hire A players.
...I struggled a lot with supporting our support team.
At the same time that I lost my team, we were *finally* hiring for our Tier 1 Support team. The timing couldn’t have been worse. There was no one to build materials, documentation, structure, and a feedback loop. Product Ops spent the year answering the Support team’s questions every day, and still answering the many tickets that were escalated to our queue. It was frustrating and unsustainable. My biggest regret this year is not planning for the day when we’d hire support reps, and then not sounding the alarm immediately after the first cohort was hired.
We eventually hired a Support Manager who just couldn’t be better. He listened to me and my team from day one, built a feedback process, and relieved some of the stress we were experiencing. We still have a long way to go in terms of documenting tribal knowledge, but it WILL happen and our teams will continue to evolve!
...I moved back to SF and into our own studio.
Yes, I just moved to Berkeley last August…our roommates decided to move to Oakland, and I just didn’t love the place they picked. Plus, if you’re going to move, you might as well move closer to work ;) Our space may be small and overpriced, but we haven’t killed each other and yeah, I’m 10x happier being a city girl a bus ride away from anywhere I wanna go.
...I traveled to Joshua Tree and Paris.
My family and my brother’s friend road tripped to Palm Springs, so my dad could use the National Parks pass we bought for him last Christmas. I wasn’t that amazed by the trees, but loved the rock structures and it was a fun little trip. I genuinely like hanging out with my family.
Paris…oh, Paris…I was not physically prepared for how much walking we’d do. Paris was the first international trip for my boyfriend and I, and we realized how different we were in our traveling styles. I love packing in popular sights, whereas he wants to relax and do nothing. It was a trial, but we got through it. I didn’t fall in love with Paris, but I do think I’d like to give it another try someday.
...I gave yoga a chance.
On our trip to Palm Springs, I found out that my brother’s friend was a yoga fanatic. He talked soooo much about yoga that I felt moved to try out a class. I had never liked yoga for various reasons, but I finally understood why so many people practice it. I attribute this turnaround to finding Jenna, a beautifully in-touch and soulful instructor at Wheel House, which was already one of my favorite studios in the city. The first few times I went, she played just the best song during the end of the class when you lay on your mat, and it spoke directly to my heart. I felt open, receptive, like everyone could see everything in me.
I then discovered two amazing instructors on YouTube, and I haven’t found anyone better than them: Yoga with Kassandra and Allie at The Journey Junkie. I became totally dedicated to Allie in particular and joined her online Facebook group and her 21-day program. (Yeah, was I the last one to find out that there are veritable communities in online Facebook groups?? It’s an entire selling point of online wellness businesses!)
For many months, I had a love affair with yoga. At the time that it started in May, I had been feeling stifled, adrift, without purpose. Regularly practicing yoga gave me a sense of peace, allowed me to tune into my body and mind in different ways, and gradually gave me the kick in the pants to get on with my life.
...I flirted with becoming a health coach and yoga teacher.
In October, I volunteered at the soft opening of a women’s clubhouse called The Assembly. There is so much potential in this fitness/coworking/hangout space, and women so need a way to find our community in this city. I’m excited to keep volunteering and supporting their growth when they officially launch in January!
After checking out The Assembly, I came across the concept of a “health coach”. I thought it might be a stepping stone to opening my own wellness space in the future, and I enrolled in an online institute to become one. During the first month, I realized that I had just been searching for a way to progress towards *something*, anything. The program wasn’t for me. I was a bit ashamed of “quitting”, but my boyfriend reminded me that the act of enrolling in and leaving the program was a learning experience that I could fold into my plans for my future. (And I became good friends with my lab partner, who lives across the country!)
Of course, I fluttered onto the next thing and without much direction, I put a deposit into a yoga teacher training program. I loved yoga, so why wouldn’t I want to deepen my practice? I was also really interested in learning more than the physical poses — the philosophy and anatomy aspects are often overlooked.
A couple weeks after, I stumbled upon the Instagram accounts of teachers who proclaimed that the yoga profession needed to adapt, there were more ways to do the poses everyone teaches. Smarter ways to move our bodies. I started to question what I had been practicing. I knew I hadn’t been hurting my body, but was I doing everything that I could to support its future? 
Annnnnd then I did hurt myself, trying to better my chatarunga pose at home. Now, that isn’t all yoga’s fault, it was also my ego thinking that I didn’t need modifications. But I didn’t feel the pain until afterwards, which scared me into realizing I wasn’t very strong at all. I’ve been doing strength training and “boring” but so-needed mobility workouts ever since. I’ve been feeling powerful and happy, and yes, now yoga feels too slow to me again. I’m sure I’ll find the balance someday.
GEEZ, this is one hell of a long post. I’m exhausted! There’s actually more I could write, which shows that I should probably blog more often. If I missed anything important, well…I’m sure they were documented in some way somewhere else. I guess a lot happened this year after all. Funny how the memory works.
Now, for next year…
My word for the year is “movement”. It could also be “progress”, but I am not married to any particular goal, I just don’t wanna sit around on my ass all year again.
I want new challenges and new responsibilities in my career. I want to feel like I’m experimenting, growing, and learning more about what satisfies me. I legit considered leaving tech this year, but all of the changes I’d been seeking? Well, turns out they just didn’t want to be rushed. They’re coming together right now, and some cool things are in the works. More to come next month ;)
I want to keep moving my body in different ways and progressively getting stronger and more mobile. I need to put more care into my health because hello, I’m getting older. In the same vein, I’d like to cook a little more often and try new ways to make my gut happier. I don’t talk about my IBS a lot, but for the first time in years, I’ve had a breakthrough, thanks to a probiotic. So fingers crossed I stay less bloated and more regular!
I want to seriously practice meditation and let go of a lotttttt of shit. I think I’d be a lot happier and more pleasant to work with, if my emotions didn’t control my reactions.
Goals will change and evolve, but my general intention for 2018 is to actively pursue life. I think that’s enough for one year :P
4 notes · View notes
fit-as-fxck · 5 years
Text
monday update & tuesday workout
Hello barbell bitches,
I’m having trouble adding weight onto my box squat. Idk why. I seem to be “stuck” at my current barbell weight... I’m thinking of adding another squat session towards the end of the week and seeing if I can inch up the weight just a little more for 3-4 sets for reps.. I know I can because I see girls smaller than me squatting more. And I know other factors make that possible BUT still. Gotta put that thought into action and see how far I can get without tearing myself up too bad lmao. I did 6 sets of barbell squats today and wanted to stop while I was ahead before I got too burned out. I did my plan of starting out with higher reps (10) and lowering them as I went (6). I feel like my form was really good with box squats today. They felt really good. I was outta breathhhhhhhh this whole workout. 
For barbell hip thrusts: My hips are still bruised and sore. I tried a new, thicker bar pad. Didn't work. Still hurt. I tried to adjust the bar and that didn't work either. I powered through them but now it’s hurt on top of hurt :( Are other girls having this issue?? Am I being a weak bitch? lmao. My hip bones just really protrude and even with the pad it kills when I use a really challenging weight. I’ll keep doing this though until I can figure it out. 
I made sure to really stretch out after my workout. It was kinda awkward. Again, I was the only girl there. And the personal trainers were using the stretch/floor area so I was forced to do my end of workout stretch session on the lifting floor where the dudes were. Got it all done though. I always wonder if its distracting or if theres going to be that one person who wonders if I'm doing it on purpose. Bitch, I swear I'm just getting my shit done, its as awkward for me as it is for you. I would say I'm pretty comfortable with it now though and I stopped giving two shits. Who does it help anyways? Not me if I’m skipping vital shit just so I don't make anyone feel weird. I literally didn't even glance at anyone in there today. Also I never see dudes stretching?? Ummmm mobility folks??! how you gonna lift nice and strong if you can't even move your limbs around and prevent injury? Who am I to judge though. I just thought it was odd. Stretching isn't just a female thing. 
I was soooo starving after. All I ate all day was a can of tuna at 1pm, water and coffee (very unintentionally). And I didn't work out until around 5pm. Not sure how I had the fuel for my workout but I did. 
Tuesday’s workout: Pull (I rly wanna hit back & hammies)
a1. pull ups 10/10/8/6 w/ less and less assistance
a2. DB RDL’s 10/10/8/6 (slow & controlled) 
b1. inverted row 3x10
b2. incline bent leg thrust 3x15
c1. decline weighted sit ups
c2. chest supported DB(or barbell?) rows 
d1. back extensions
d2. hamstring curl 3x15
burnout tri-set: rear delt face pulls 3x15, lat pull downs 3x15, straight bar pushdowns 3x15
My back should be pretty toasted by the end of this. Tuesdays are always my longest and hardest workout despite there not really being any main lifts (except for pull-ups). Obviously I'm trying to put a lot of growth into my back so the volume is higher. Hamstrings are focused on in RDL’s and curls. Tuesdays are my favvvvorite but they tear my hands up pretty bad. I still can't wait though. I want to hit it in the morning so I don't run into the evening crowd again. 
0 notes
anamorales · 4 years
Text
5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast
Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast
We’re in the final days of our Summer Shape Up challenge! Can you believe it? Now that we’re on the tail end of this thing, I’m SO HAPPY to see how many of you babes have rocked it! I’m so proud of you for putting yourself first and making it happen!
And after all of the hard work you’ve put in, I want to make sure you get the absolute best results possible. But there’s one thing that might be standing in your way: belly bloat.
Don’t sweat, girl! I’ve got five easy ways to get rid of belly bloat fast. Let’s check them out.
#1: Get away from salt
So much of the time, bloating really comes down to water retention. Does that mean you should scale back on how much water you’re drinking? Absolutely not!! In fact, too little water can freak your body out, making it hold onto water instead of processing it like it should. Drink up!
Tumblr media
So what makes your body retain water? Too much sodium is usually the culprit. This doesn’t just mean skipping the table salt. A ton of packaged foods contain a ton of sodium. Watch out!
Scaling back your sodium intake is one of the best ways to get rid of belly bloat fast. More on this in the 7 Day Slim Down.
#2: Get more fiber
Another bloat culprit? Constipation. 
Usually, this happens from a mix of not eating enough fiber, not drinking enough water, and not getting enough physical activity. If you’ve been feeling a little backed up, work some high-fiber foods into your meal plan. Those include:
Pears
Bananas
Avocados
Strawberries
Carrots
Lentils
Beans
Tumblr media
#3: Get your sweat on
Want to get rid of belly bloat fast? Blast through your workout. Exercise stimulates your digestion, which can help you slim down that belly. 
If I’m really trying to beat bloat, I’ll usually do a workout that targets my core and involves some twisting. Getting that area moving physically helps to get your digestion moving so you can get your flattest stomach possible — plus more toned abs! You can find tons in the LSF App or on my YouTube channel too!
Tumblr media
#4: Eat slower and more mindfully
I know how easy it is to plop down in front of the TV at dinnertime or to knock out some work while you eat lunch. But scarfing down a meal means two things. First, you’ll probably eat more than you need. Second, you’re probably not chewing enough and you’re probably swallowing more air than you need.
Slow it down. Chew each bite and enjoy it! As you’re working toward your slimmest stomach, eating with intention can go a long way. 
Tumblr media
#5: Down a shot 
My last tip to get rid of belly bloat fast isn’t the tastiest, but give it a shot and I bet you’ll agree the results are worth it. In the morning, mix the juice from half a lemon with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of cayenne. You can dilute it with water if the taste is too intense.
This drink helps to stimulate your digestion so you can enjoy your flattest stomach. Make it a part of your morning routine and watch that bloat melt away. 
Tumblr media
My 7 Day Slim Down Results
This will get you started, but if you really want to get rid of belly bloat fast, I’d definitely recommend checking out our 7-Day Slim Down. That guide is literally designed to banish even the most chronic belly bloat, and I always feel soooo good after I do it.
We’re almost to the end of this challenge, ladies! Let’s stay strong!!
The post 5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast appeared first on Love Sweat Fitness.
5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat Fast published first on https://immigrationways.tumblr.com/
0 notes