Part 7, Morning of Day Two.

This picks up right where the last one left off.

He looked at her, and smelt her. She did not have the towel wrapped around her, so was effectively naked under the fur, as he was. Again he had to use all his self-control not to come on to her. Briefly he wondered why not. Just as quick he told himself she was his coworker, not someone to have a dalliance with.

“We need to talk. About a bunch of things.” Jim left the chair for her, as he started to move the groceries from the table to the cabinets and fridge.

She sat down, and watched. “I think I heard them come in not long before dawn. But I’m not sure. I looked it over in the dark, before I started my morning workout.”

Jim looked up at the skylight, and realized that it showed an early dawn hue.

“We seem to have better balance already.” Tanya watched him shift his weight from the table to the counter, without moving his feet, as he put the food away.

“What would you like for breakfast, steak or eggs?” Jim held up the bulk package of meat and motioned at the dozen eggs. On cue, his stomach growled.

Tanya tilted her head toward the weights. “Lets go a few rounds over there, then come back and have both.”

They carefully moved to the weights, as he followed this time. Leering all the way, except when he paused to look over at the tubes and the equipment. Then he stopped.

“Where are the tubes?” Jim carefully stepped over to the rack of equipment that attached to the stasis tubes, and he balanced at its end.

Tanya had kept going. “I noticed that too. They took the tubes and all the support hardware, but left the computers and monitors. I also noticed that there was a slight odor in the room when I woke. My best guess is we got gassed to keep us asleep while they worked.” She was to the weights.

He pushed against the corner of the rack and turned it, watching its cords to be sure not to foul them. Then he staggered over to the rack from his tube and pulled it around, so that both racks were inline, and side by side. Then he staggered most of the way to the weight setup, crawling the last ways.

Tanya had him go through the same routine she did. As she coached him, she explained this was a variant on a routine she did every other week, to see how she was progressing. They covered every station on the frame. Then the barbell. This was especially hard for him, as she stood above his head, and she smelled good.

One thing he noticed was she did not change the weights from his test lifting to hers. When he called her on this, she explained that he should be stronger, but she had been doing this for years, and knew the techniques and was this strong. In time, if he kept this up, he would be proportionally stronger than her, and probably should be quickly considering what they had found in the program.

They were both sweaty and sore from exertion when she called it good. Then she gathered his blanket and pillow, and they went back to make breakfast. Jim noticed that she smelled the blanket as she carried it, and lingered for him to go first.

Tanya then went in to shower as Jim cooked their food. He found the scents to be delicious, and wished that he had some spices, which he named, while looking at the camera that was stationed in the upper corner of the wall, looking down on this area. He also wished for an apron. She brought him a towel to wipe his hands with, and the dish soap when she came back. She did not smell so heavy, and had a hint of soap on her. Her hair was damp, and wrapped in a towel. They ate breakfast of steak and eggs, with some toast and sautéed vegetables. As she cleaned up what little he had not, he went and showered and cleaned himself. He noticed that the pile of dirty towels was gone, and fresh ones had been put in their place. He also was able to mostly stand without support. He still slipped on the slick surface.