And — alright. Fair.
But I see the shadows under Ash’s eyes, the way her shoulders have been creeping higher and higher with every passing day. I can feel the strain wearing on her. She looks like she’s bracing for an impact that no one else can see. If she needs yoga, I can probably survive it. It would do her some good. She’s been working so hard at figuring out her powers and magick. If it’s good for her…
How bad could stretching be?
Very fucking bad,it turns out.
The moment I step into Annemarie’s makeshift studio in the attic of Wanderlust, the heat punches me in the face. And the gut. It’s like walking into Calida’s mouth — hot and humid. Better smelling, which is a blessing from the Gods. It’s hot and humid, and… gross. Suffocating, almost.
The air clings to me instantly, sweat prickling along my spine before we’ve even unrolled our mats.
Ash gives me a look over her shoulder, smirking as she secures pins in that rainbow waterfall of hair. “Still confident, tough guy?”
I stretch my shoulders, pretending I don’t already want to bolt. “I’ve faced battlefields, storms, curses… I think I can handle a little stretching, witchling.”
Annemarie grins as she hands me some sort of mat.”Sure, warrior boy. Let’s see if your battlefield training helps you survive myDownward Dog Inferno.”
As an instructor, Annemarie is soft-spoken, voice full of both honey and command. “Find your center. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.”
Easy. Except the air apparently has the consistency of soup and my lungs are already rebelling.
“Now, flow into Warrior Two.”
Alright. Com’on. Warrior, I can do.
Except she means some twisted stance where my legs are burning and my arms are shaking whilst sweat pours down my temples and into my already stinging eyes. Just when I think my knee is going to give out, she instructs us to do some nonsense “cat and cow” thing that involves wiggling my ass as I stretch my shoulders and back. I have to admit that I feel ridiculous, but can’t deny that the stretch in my upper back feels nice.
Annemarie orders us into a side plant with a tree pose. What the fuck is a tree pose?
Thankfully, from this angle, I’m facing Ash’s rather spectacular ass. She’s graceful, focused. Glowing. My balance wobbles as I watch her brace her weight effortlessly on one hand and foot, keeping her body lifted from the floor, opposite arm and leg held aloft. She moves like she’s always belonged to the rhythm of the world. She’s amazing.
Annemarie meets my eyes, eyebrows raised. Then she laughs silently as she folds her body in half, like she’s made of rubber.
My thighs are on fire. My mat is slick with the sweat that’s pouring off my body. I’m fairly certain I might be dying.
“Lift your heart to the sky.” Much easier when your heart isn’t trying to escape through your ribcage.
Ash catches my eye, biting her lip. I know she’s trying desperately not to laugh. There’s a dangerous sparkle in her gaze telling me “You look ridiculous”.
‘You do look ridiculous,’Calida chimes in and I swear I hear Ash snort.
I bite back a grin of my own. Even half melted, she’s beautiful. Ash, not Calida. Calida is a brat.
“Don’t you dare laugh, witchling,” I whisper. “You’ll fracture a chakra or some such nonsense.”
She snorts again, losing her balance and collapsing into a heap of giggles. Annemarie arches a brow, but continues leading the class.
At the half way point, I hear “fold deeply into your hips” and “release the tension.” I’m not sure what tension I have left — I think I’ve already sweat all of it out — but it feels like my soul is leaving my body through my knees. Ash keeps sneaking glances at me like she’s cataloguing every muscle twitch for future mockery. I’m pretending there isn’t a lake of my own body fluids steadily growing on the mat beneath me and that I don’t have actual concerns about drowning if I happen to lose what’s left of my balance.
I shoot a sharp look at Annemarie, who appears to glisten and glow, face serene. I could make it look like an accident, I think. Sheknewthis was going to be torture. Sheknew.
As though she can hear the dark thoughts I’mthinking directly at her, she again finds my eye. This time she gives me a saucy wink.
I can’t throttle my girl’s best friend.
I can’t.
As I chant that like an incantation in my mind, I almost miss the next step in this torture.
