Get flexible with Daphne

Daphne’s at the gym, training, because that’s just what she does. That’s why you’re not surprised when you spot her kicking into a handstand in a multipurpose room. She’s got a white headband tied across her head, a sports bra, workout shorts, and plain white socks, all inverted because she’s upside down and balanced on her hands. Daphne’s an incredibly toned gal, her muscles straining as she holds the pose, her tight abs and arms on full display. You pause, hesitating as you wonder whether you should enter the room and potentially distract her. You decide to wait until she comes down. She ends up holding the handstand for close to a full minute longer before her feet finally touch the ground.

“Hey Daphne, mind if I join your workout?” you ask, sliding into the room.

Your Japanese captain takes a second to catch her breath and chug from her water bottle, shaking out her arms as she appraises you.

“I am just finishing off my session,” she says. “Now is the part where I stretch and limber up. You are welcome to join me. I would be happy to take you through a more extended routine.”

“Where do I start?” you ask, grabbing a yoga mat off the rack.

You put it down on the floor to mirror hers, and get into a similar all-fours position, your hands and knees pressed against the ground. Briefly, you imagine yourself positioned behind her, doggy-style, until…

“Belly down, face and butt up,” Daphne narrates as she sucks a breath in, her spine arching into a U-shape. “We call this the cow pose.”

You follow suit, wincing as you feel something in your back pop with the movement. You’re sure you’re botching the pose, your limbs feeling all gangly. Daphne simply looks graceful, for all that’s worth.

“Now we do the reverse, hollow your belly, spine round and chin tucked,” she says as she exhales, her spines organically shifting into a upside down U-shape. “This is the cat pose. We’ll shift between cat and cow for a minute and a half.”

You follow Daphne’s lead, alternating between the poses.

“Focus on your breathing,” she says. “Exaggerate your movements. Feel the stretch in the tips of your fingers and the edges of your toes.”

Daphne slinks out of the position and circles around you, adjusting your form with slight touches.

{if YogaPractice > 0} “Good. I can tell you’ve been practicing,” she says. {else} “You’re still much too tight. You need to practice more if you want to improve,” she says. {endif}

“Next, we’re going to follow a vinyasa flow,” she says, returning to her mat. “Focus on maintaining fluidity. Be in the moment. Don’t sweat the missteps. Become the movement. Now, with me, a forward fold.”

She laces her hands behind her back and bends forward, hinging all the way until her lips brush against her knees. You don’t quite get there, but Daphne’s already saying: “Into a low lunge,” extending one knee out, the other leg back, “and twist,” as she raises an arm into the sky; you follow suit.

“We go into a plank next,” she says, smoothly bringing her leg back. “And this is called a fallen triangle.” Her left leg slides up and plants itself past her right hand, which reaches up and rotates skywards.

You almost collapse as you try to follow her, but there’s no time to waste, it’s already onto the next pose, and you muscle on, struggling to keep up…

The fifteen minutes goes by fast and by the end, you’re breathing hard, having worked up a decent sweat.

“Good job today, Alex,” Daphne says, giving you a warm pat on the back. The smile on her face is slight and serious, but it’s there. “I need to head out now. Enjoy the rest of the workout.”

“Thanks for enduring my company today,” you jest, earning yourself a curt nod from her.

“My pleasure,” she says, and she makes her exit from the room, giving you some time to go workout on the free weights.

The rest of the study session goes by without a hitch, and then you head over to psychology, which too flies by. You decide to catch up on your homework and then slide into soccer practice with barely a minute to spare (Daphne throws you a sharp look—she really doesn’t like people being late), and you get so caught up in training that you don’t get the chance to chat with Mars or Val until you’re coming back out the locker room, freshly spruced up.

Mars is wearing her usual, a cute dark top that exposes a bit of midriff, while Valentine seems to have gone all out. She’s changed into a deep V-cut sleeveless dress studded with white rhinestones—the kind of thing that you’d expect to see at a club, not casualwear to change into after soccer practice. The plunging neckline exposes a sharp amount of cleavage that’s plenty distracting as you approach the girls.

“You’re insane,” Mars says to Valentine. “Today’s a Monday! How could you possibly think that going into New York’s a good idea?”

“It’s a phenomenal idea,” Val laughs, causing her bust to jiggle against her dress. She winks and flashes you a knowing smile. “New York, concrete streets where dreams are made of…”

“Wait, going to New York was the secret plan that Val was talking about yesterday?” you exclaim, staring at her in confusion. “What are you going to do there?”

“What does it look like I’m going to do?” she says.

“Um… visit the UN?” you say, trying to figure out why she’s all dressed up like this.

“She’s going clubbing, Alex,” Mars says with a roll of her eyes.

Oh. That makes much more sense.

“I knew that,” you say with a confident nod of your head, which makes both the girls snort.

“You want to join me, Alex?” Val says, extending a hand towards you. “Train leaves in half an hour. We could have a wild, wild night together…”

“And I am not joining her, because I am not insane,” Mars interjects. “It’s one thing to try to use a fake on campus, but do you even know where you’re going tonight? If I want to get drunk, I’m going to go to the Theta fundraiser tonight, and there’s no chance I’ll be denied entrance. I’ve heard rumors about this fundraiser. They say it’s going to be a wild one too.”

You look back and forth between the girls, pondering the options that they’ve presented.

“Yeah, but New York is New York,” Val laughs, waving a hand. Then, she extends it back towards you again. “So, you coming or not?”

Daphne +10