Athletic

Yaerwen sat cross-legged by the pool, warm water slowly dripping from her mane. Around her, people splashed and played; this was good for the heart if not exactly conducive to good meditation. Still, if she wanted to be close to water it was either this or the pond in the garden area, and the primer she’d been given on humans seemed to suggest that they were very precise about things being used for their correct purpose.

It wasn’t entirely her experience so far - those humans she had spent time around were far more relaxed, and her time with Sammie the previous evening had involved them playing a range of sports in improvised courts in one of the hangars with some of the pilot’s subordinates. Regardless of how accurate her primer was or wasn’t though, Yaerwen was hanging on to its lessons for the time being until she worked out what parts of it were incorrect or outdated.

Carefully, she tightened and released each set of muscles in turn, letting her consciousness drift over her body as she completed the ritual before arching her back and kicking herself upright. Around her, a handful of the humans paused in their activities to watch her as she flipped end over end with an arc of water from her mane flying out to splash against the tiles. Once upright, she walked in the direction of the changing cubicles and a towel to finish drying with. She also wanted to get out of the wet swimsuit she’d opted to wear, another nod to human sensibilities despite tradition suggesting that she should be naked to engage in the ritual of water. She did have a date to get to after all, and that required appropriate attire.

Dustin had expected Yaerwen to pick one of the gyms as the meeting point for their time together - and so was surprised when she messaged him a rendezvous point in the ship’s botanical stores. Making his way to a section of the ship he’d rarely had cause to visit in recent months, he found her leaning against the wall dressed in a loose outfit that put him rather in mind of the flowing robes worn by martial artists back on Earth. Seeing his arrival, she straightened up and held out a trowel for him to take.

“So, you wanted to get to know me; you already know I’m physically skilled so I thought we could start with a bit of my culture. Traditionally, when people start to build a new enterprise together, whether that’s a business or a family, they start by planting a tree; the idea being that when the tree flourishes, the workers or children or whatever can climb it in the future. Meli said there were many saplings in this bay, and told me you’d know somewhere we could plant one in the gardens.” The Hoxx woman grinned before adding “obviously, we don’t know what we’re building together yet - but even if I don’t succeed in winning your favour I still want to work with you, Dustin.”

Somewhat bemused at the difference in Yaerwen’s actions to how he’d envisaged their date going, Dustin allowed himself to be dragged through the process of choosing a plant. The Hoxx woman spent a chunk of time carefully inspecting each of a range of saplings before nodding and lifting one of them. “Lead the way?” She said, muscles straining against the weight of the plant although she refused any offer of help carrying it. “Initiating partner brings the sapling, it’s traditional.” She muttered as they proceeded down the corridors.

It took Dustin most of their journey to figure out where they could plant the tree that wouldn’t lead to either it getting trampled or otherwise disrupting the existing state of the gardens, which had after all been carefully and jointly planned. In the end, he opted for an area near to where Emely and Naera had recently been working on a walled herb garden; a lot of the prior planting had been disturbed to make room for the new greenery, and they hadn’t done more than just flattening out the grass in the time since.

Yaerwen set the sapling down with a grunt and nodded to herself. “Now we dig.” She rummaged in her outfit for a moment before retrieving another trowel like the one she’d previously given Dustin, and crouched down before setting to work. As she worked, she hummed to herself - a soft, lilting tune that was equal parts relaxing and joyful. Dustin smiled as he helped her, the hole growing rapidly between the pair of them.

“You probably thought I was just interested in sporty stuff. Climbing, running, all those kinds of things” Yaerwen mused as she worked. “Not wrong there - athletics is a way of life for my people. But being athletically strong requires you to be mentally strong as well. There’s a lot of tradition around it.”

Dustin nodded, working out a particularly tough chunk of dirt before surveying the hole. “It’s the same on Earth. A lot of our sports and martial arts have history and customs going back hundreds or thousands of years.”

With the hole eventually dug, the pair delicately maneuverer the tree into place, tamping the soil down before drenching the area with water Dustin fetched from an automat. Straightening, he surveyed their handiwork. “It’ll grow well here” he mused, smiling to himself. “So, with the beginning of our association done, what do we do next?”

Yaerwen stretched where she was still sat on the floor. “Traditionally, we’d now get completely drunk and pass out around the sapling for good luck, but I don’t think that’d win me any friends among your other ladies. So instead, I thought you might like to assist with my ritual workout? I delayed it today so that you could take part.”

With a nod from Dustin, the Hoxx woman stood and offered him her hand. “I believe the gym nearest here will be the quietest; that should allow us to talk while I train. While the workout is ritual, there’s no rules against speaking during it,” she said, before tugging him in the direction of her chosen arena.

This was surreal for a date Dustin felt as he stood in place to assist should Yaerwen struggle with the weights she was lifting on the bench. As she worked, she had explained the significance to her people of each ceremonial element of what was essentially a basic gym session. Take the time on the treadmill for instance - “In the beginning, we ran - at least, that’s how the story goes. So we start our training with a run, then we go for pull-ups to represent the time we climbed.”

As she hefted the weights, Dustin asked a question. “So, for you all the physicality is closer to religion than just being excited for sports?” Once again, he got that feeling of surreality as the woman glanced up at him from practically between his thighs and grinned.

“Yea, although it’s not just spiritual - at least for me. Oh, I know some folk who only do the basics, ceremonial workout once a month, meditation once a week sort of thing. It’s cultural practice as well as a matter of faith. But then I started winning you know?” She paused, racking the weights and spinning around to take the bottle of water he proffered. “Would have been when I was… oh, three, maybe four, I think? About two decades ago anyhow. My dad was into… there isn’t a direct human translation, something like hoop-ball-climb, it’s this game where you have to throw a ball through a hoop while climbing a wall to score. But also, the other team are trying to knock you off by throwing their own balls, but if you’re good you can catch them and score more points.”

Dustin frowned, trying to envisage a combination of basketball, dodgeball and rock climbing as the Hoxx woman continued “well, there was an under-fives group at the local play-park so da’ signed me up. I won my first match by almost double the other team’s score and was the highest scoring player on either team. Ever since then, I’ve not lost any contests I’ve entered - until I met you that is.”

Rising, she rolled her neck. “Back to the treadmill - gentle walking to cool off. It’s a message to the ancestors about not forgetting our roots, if you’re still interested in the ceremony of it.” Stepping onto the machine, she got up to a gentle saunter and smiled. “Basically, even by Hoxx standards I’m a bit obsessed with winning. Figured I’d never find a worthy guy who could beat me years ago, so decided to just keep winning until I found someone I’d compromise on. Then you came along and literally ran me into the ground. So, hopefully you can see why I’m a bit obsessed.”

Finishing the cool down part of her workout a few minutes later, Yaerwen glanced at the nearest clock and frowned. “I did debate cooking you some traditional dishes from my home, but even I know that I’m a terrible cook. I did work up an appetite though - mind if we finish my time with you off with a race to the galley? Hopefully I’ve at least convinced you I’m more than just a muscle-bound idiot and we’ll get the chance to talk some more if we get there quickly enough?”

In reply, Dustin pulled his tablet out and glanced at it. “My schedule’s free for the next half hour after our date. If we’re quick getting to the galley then we can definitely chat some more over whatever Naera’s got cooking - I’ll drag her out to join us so nobody can complain. Let’s race - I’ll even give you a head start.” He’d expected her to protest, to insist on a fair race - but yet again, surreality reigned as the woman set off, amber mane and laughter trailing behind her as she bolted for the galley.