I tried not to stare. I really, really tried. It wasn't even just me, Gluttony, Pride, Lust, and even Sloth were staring! When the LPN glanced up I looked at my left over fried rice with an extra fried egg.
"Want to try it? It's good." The guy offered. I glanced up to see his knowing smirk.
"Oh, uh, no thanks, I uh, have food." I explained as his cheek bulged. Was he… really? No way, right?
"Come on Max! His face says its tasty!" Gluttony said running over to the bag of hard caramel candies.
I was mildly horrified as the LPN started eating another slice of cheese. Cheese… and hard caramel candy???????
"Just try it, everyone's always so surprised." He laughed grabbing a napkin to set a slice of cheddar cheese and one caramel candy. Then he slid it over before I could refuse.
"Relax kid, if you don't like it, I'll buy you coffee tomorrow." He chuckled as he leaned back to watch me.
"Are you really going to try that?" Pride asked as his mouth pursed in distaste.
"Hey! Respect other's preferences!" Lust admonished smacking Pride's arm.
"No! It makes sense! The caramel is a sweet palate cleanser! The cheese helps him feel full longer! It's GENIUS!!!!!" Gluttony gushed circling the napkin.
I hesitated, then popped the caramel candy in my mouth. Free coffee was always welcome. After a moment, I broke off a small square of the cheese. With a deep breath, I popped it in my mouth.
"Give it a sec," The LPN said grinning.
I slowly chewed… the caramel added just a touch of sweetness to the sharp cheddar. I gave it a second, then… broke off another piece of cheese.
"Let the caramel set for a second, until the cheese taste is gone." The LPN recommended.
Soon, I finished the whole slice of cheese. "You… were right. How… did you even come up with that combination?" I asked in disbelief.
The LPN grinned, "Desperation honestly. I always carry candy around, never know when I'll be pulling double or triple shifts. The cheese idea was after I finished all the other sandwich fixings I'd brought."
I stared at him… desperation was a thing. "Oh…" I didn't even know what to say… it sounded so… logical.
He burst out laughing, then leaned forward, glancing around sneakily. "Actually, the real reason is…" He trailed off. The breakroom was still otherwise empty, I leaned forward as his voice was barely a whisper.
"Because I'm actually an alien." He finished, then sat up to continue eating.
I stared… "Huh? Like… an illegal alien? Is it like, a native dish?" I asked also whispering. I mean, I knew illegal aliens found jobs… but should he be telling me that on a first meeting? I didn't even know his name!
"He call you an alien yet?" Someone asked, I was so startled I almost sent my rice flying.
"Huh?" I asked seeing two people walk in, a guy and girl. The voice belonged to the man who went to warm up his own food.
The girl laughed as she started making a pot of coffee. "Oh, yeah, if he does something weird he says he's an alien, if he thinks you're doing something weird, he calls you an alien. I'm Terri, you new in the phone room?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm Max." I said nodding to them. We chatted a bit before my lunch ended. I still didn't know that guy's name…
On the way home I debated grabbing a bag of caramel candies… but… money. I wasn't going to starve, but that was mostly because Dillon bought most of the groceries. Eating out… wasn't in my foreseeable future.
"We have higher priority items for our budget Tony, let it go." Greed said without even bothering to look up.
"I wanna try it! Come one! Why have we never thought of it before?! Sweet! Savory! Oh! We should try different cheeses!" Gluttony said bouncing on the bus seat.
"Sounds freaking weird. I say we pretend it never happened." Wrath snorted, his face was twisted like he was trying to imagine the taste.
"Come on! We've been eating the same food for a week! My tastebuds need variety!" Gluttony complained tugging on my pants.
I sighed, glancing around before I whispered, "It was okay, but not something I'd do regularly. I'll see if I can get like one caramel and you can try it at home later."
Gluttony pouted, but the rest of the ride was uneventful.
Just as I was washing the dishes Pride sat on my shoulder. "What's up Pride?"
"I think we should go over your scripts a bit, you're better with the confirmation calls, but you haven't even looked at any of the other scripts." Pride explained.
I hunched a bit with a sigh, he wasn't wrong. I just… it was always so busy. I was told to take time to practice, but the voicemails were never ending. Not to mention, Athena was being stupid so we had to make paper charts for the walk in clinic. Two of the girls were offered overtime to help get the voicemails under 1000 before leaving for the day.
"Overtime isn't even an option until you're floor ready." Envy said popping up on my other shoulder. "Take some initiative, let's just practice two scripts for twenty minutes each. Then we can meet with Erika, ask for the next step."
I side eyed Envy, "Did you reed my mind?"
Envy burst out laughing, "No Max, your face said it all when Erika asked for overtime volunteers."
I sighed, "Okay… two scripts, twenty minutes each."
I felt my pocket bulge, glancing down I saw Sloth nodding off.
"Break… first. Don't… burn… yourself out." He said with a yawn so wide I thought he'd dislocate his jaw.
"I'll listen to… two podcasts, then take a shower. After that I'll work on scripts." I agreed before anyone could fill my schedule with something else.
"Oh Nice! While we listen to podcasts we can do some light workouts!" Wrath said running in.
I wanted to cry… "I uh.." I glanced around quickly, "Don't have any equipment!" I said quickly.
"No worries Max! We can use two cans of soup, just some curls and stretching. Nothing too strenuous." Wrath waved the objection away.
"Okay…" At least this way I wouldn't look like a complete noob when I met Jake and Jack at the gym.
Since I was going to shower right after, I just took my shirt off.
"Okay Max, first rule of any workout, no matter how basic, easy, or short. Stretch." Wrath stated as he paced in front of me like a drill instructor. "Just follow my lead while the podcast is going yeah?"
"Okay." I hit play, then copied Wrath's movements. Oof, yeah, flexibility was… not my thing apparently. I almost fell over for the first quad stretch. Wrath stared at me, nodded, then laid on his side.
I copied him as I stretched my quad. Not daring to chance a fall, we did seated inner thigh stretch, seated hamstring stretch. The calf stretch, hip flexor, lat stretch, chest, and thoracic spine stretch were all fairly easy.
Now, for the curls.
Wrath floated around, getting my posture right as I held a can of soup in each hand. Yeah, I'd be too self conscious to try this at the gym. Or letting someone touch me to get me into the right position… I'd die!
"Okay, so your elbow shouldn't move. We're going to start with your back against the wall. We're gonna go super slow. Today it's all about posture. Sound cool Max?" Wrath asked.
I stared longingly at my podcast… if Wrath was giving me instructions… I couldn't exactly be listening to the next episode… "Yeah, sounds good."
Wrath smacked my elbow, "As soon as ya get started we can start the podcast. Three sets of ten, three different forms. I'll float so just keep pace with me yeah?"
I nodded seriously, but my smile got me another smack. I didn't even finish the first curl.
"Max, elbows don't move, back to position." Wrath called moving my elbow back into place.
"Max, don't twist your wrist as you raise."
"Max, don't lean forward."
"Elbows don't move."
"Elbows Max."
"Wrists steady."
"That's it, just like that, keep it nice and slow." Wrath said with a wide grin as I finally completed the curl. "Three good curls, and we'll start the podcast."
It took a few more tries, but soon the crime podcast was playing.
Next we did fat grip curls. "Okay, so the can of soup should just barely tap the wall, then go back up." Wrath explained as he guided my pace.
I caught on much quicker to these. Maybe because it was kind of like bringing something up to drink. But dang… did I like to move my elbows. Aligned with spine… aligned with spine!
I really struggled with the cross body bicep curls. I just kept moving my elbows.
"Max, relax, it's day one. If it was day 400 then that would be a problem." Wrath reassured me on my fifth failed cross body curl.
I was starting to sweat already, "Right, right, new, I'm new."
"Exactly, not stupid, just new. Grab a sip of water and we'll try again." Wrath said patting my shoulder.
I took a moment, caught my breath, then tried again. "Yes!" I said as I finally completed my first cross body curl. It took two more tries, but I managed to get three in a row without having to adjust. Now I could listen to my podcast again!!!!!
Wrath let my podcast keep playing as we started doing more stretches. All in all, took about forty minutes. I finished the cup of water then went to shower. I let the podcast keep playing because hey, gotta get my entertainment in!
When I walked out… Pride and Envy had both picked scripts. At least this part was easy. For the first ten minutes I just read the first script aloud. The last ten minutes I slowed down, pretending one of the sins was answering the phone.
I did the same for the second script. Now that all my quests were finished, I started a load of laundry.
I was glad I took Wrath and Sloth's advice to use gym clothes as pajamas. Night showers also saved time in the morning.
Wrath watched me do laundry, "You know, getting a work out first thing in the morning helps you burn calories all day, helps your digestive system, and helps your mind stay focused."
I sighed, "Yeah… but… I uhh," Sloth fell, landing on the wet clothes I was about to hang.
"Baby… steps. Don't rush…" He murmured pulling a wet shirt until it was a suitable pillow.
"Yeah, I uh, mornings still, need to get used to the routine." I hedged, I was already having to wake up at 5:30 if I wanted to eat before catching the 6:20 bus. If I was working out, I'd need to shower… I'd probably get to get up at like… 3:30.
The Sins didn't get to eat lunch at work either, they had to snack on whatever they could eat in my backpack. So getting up early enough to eat really was important.
Wrath backed off, "Okay Okay, was just saying. If we do evening exercise, that's something. Just know, your body can take several hours to go into a relaxed state after a workout. That can make sleep hard. Not to mention, you get hungry shortly after exercise."
Gluttony looked aghast. "That's not fair!!! The hungrier Max is the hungrier I am!!! Wrath! You're doing it on purpose!!!!"
Wrath rolled his eyes, "I've said it before, you're supposed to help me, think about it. Max goes to bed earlier, wakes up earlier, works out, we eat a real breakfast, then he goes off to work full of energy. Wins all around."
"Yeah! But then you want him eating smaller meals! Like six times a day! We can't eat while he's at work!" Gluttony shot back pointing his finger in Wrath's face. "It's a trap!!!! He works out, you want him eating less, more often, plain food!!! Max don't fall for it!"
Wrath smacked Gluttony's hand out of his face, "Don't exaggerate, we still ate plenty, not my fault you can't control your snacking!"
Pride stepped between them. "Calm down, exercise is to help Max be healthier, not to get him jacked for some competition. This isn't even a concern for a few months. Max doesn't have the clothes to work out every day, we also are on a tight budget."
Greed glanced up from writing in his notebook. "There is also the concern of his schedule being subject to change at a moments notice. Small, habits now. Routines are for the future."
Gluttony continued to glare at Wrath, but didn't say anything. Wrath just rolled his eyes.
I glanced between them, then finished getting ready for bed. Yeash, looks like they weren't always so harmonious. Though... if I had to pick sides... I was leaning toward Gluttony.
As if hearing the thought, Wrath glared at me. I scurried to hang my pitiful amount of laundry.