Chapter Seven

Author's Note: It has been a few months since I updated. My grad program officially wrapped up in January and then I was working full time until a few weeks ago. For those of you who follow me, I have wrapped up two fics and am now trying to get back into Her. I have some new ideas to update my existing frame and am excited to share it with you all.

Marron cringed as the 6:00 AM went off, fluttering her eyes open to stare at her plain, white ceiling. She let the alarm buzz for a few moments and slapped it silent with her hand, sitting up in bed and stretching to wake up. Marron turned her face to look outside, the sky still a hazy dark blue. The class wasn't called Sunrise Yoga for nothing.

The night before, after her disastrous talk with Paresu, she laid out her clothes for the class. A pair of black high rise shorts and a pink cropped tank top. But being winter, she had also laid out a pair of sweatpants and jacket to wear during the quick walk to class. She quickly tossed on the clothes and pulled her hair into two low double buns to keep it off her neck. She grabbed her gym bag with a towel and water bottle in case she decided to shower there and did a quick once over in her apartment before heading to class. Marron smiled as the cool air hit her cheek during the walk. For a winter morning it was rather mild, in the mid 40s. Maybe after class and a shower, I'll take a nice walk, Marron thought to herself.

As she got closer to the gym, she saw a few women standing outside the building, laughing and chatting as if it wasn't 6 AM, or cold outside. Marron sighed in relief, albeit feeling slightly guilty, as she realized Paresu wasn't one of them. She looked inside and saw there was a receptionist inside, "Why aren't we going in?"

"We'll go in soon, hun. They're just finishing up the other class," one of the women answered. Marron raised her eyebrows at 'last class' and the woman offered, "They have a quick 5:30 AM class, but it's just old ladies!" Sure enough some of the seniors were leaving from a door in the back, Marron assumed it was a locker room, and the staff were opening the doors to the studio. A young, too chipper receptionist greeted her and handed her a towel and liability form, pointing to the locker room to get changed. As she finished stuffing her gym bag and outdoor clothes in the locker, she felt a small tap on her shoulder.

"Hey Mar," Paresu opened her locker next to Marron and began putting away her jacket and shoes. Her hair was still in the loose braid from last night, and she wore a yellow knotted tank with black thigh length leggings. She glanced quickly at Marron before finishing putting her belongings away, "You have a second before we go in?"

"Yeah, of course," Marron whispered. Their lockers were deeper in a corner, so no one would hear them if they kept their voices low.

Paresu looked over Marron's head before lowering her voice, "Goten is your friend as much as mine, so I get why you told him." She paused, giving Marron a small reassuring smile before continuing, "He didn't mean any harm, and I know you didn't. So you and me? We're good. Just please, promise me you won't tell anyone else."

Marron smiled and had to control herself not to hug the brunette, mindful of the other women in the room, "I promise."

"Okay then," Paresu breathed. She lifted her eyes to watch as other women left the locker room for the class, "Are you ready for this?"

"I've done yoga before," Marron giggled and locked her locker. She and Paresu started walking towards the class when she noticed the thermostat outside the classroom, "Huh, that's strange. The thermostat says 105 degrees."

Paresu stopped her, "Wait a second, do you even know what Bikram is?"

"It's yoga, duh!" Marron smiled at her. Her face dropped when Paresu just raised an eyebrow at her, "It's yoga, right?"

"Oh it's yoga alright," Paresu smirked and tossed Marron an extra bottle of water, "Hot yoga. I wasn't saying that to flirt with you, not really. The room is heated to make you sweat more and get rid of toxins. And it's 90 minutes. Are you ready for this?"

"Do I have a choice?" Marron said in a small voice and Paresu laughed. The taller woman patted her on the back reassuringly as they walked into the class.

Marron sat on the floor of her shower with her eyes closed, relieved as the lukewarm water cooled her overheated, exhausted body. She had been nervous going into the class, but had reassured herself it would be okay. She could do it. She could do 90 minutes, in a 105 degree room, when she only worked out when she couldn't remember the last time she did so.

And she did it. At least, she did the first set before passing out from heat fatigue. She woke up a few minutes later, her head resting on Paresu's lap in the lobby with a cool washcloth on her forehead. The staff had wanted her to go to an emergency room, but the model convinced them to let Marron rehydrate and rest a bit before driving her home. She had walked her into her unit and made her drink a few glasses of water and eat a granola bar before letting her shower, with the condition that the door stay open in case she passed out again.

"You okay in there?" Paresu called from the living room. She was walking around aimlessly, mindful not to sit on Marron's furniture since she was drenched in sweat.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Marron answered. She opened her eyes and moved to stand up, gripping the wall for support. She pulled the curtain aside to speak clearer, "You know you can keep me company. You don't have to just stand there."

Paresu blinked, "You're asking me to shower with you?"

Marron blushed as the brunette just stared at her curiously from the doorway. "No, that's not what I meant," she stammered, "I just mean, well, take a seat."

Paresu smiled and took a few steps into the bathroom, taking a seat on the floor next to the shower. Marron smiled and closed the curtain and resumed showering. "So besides passing out," Paresu asked as she began undoing her braid, "What did you think of the class?"

"I didn't hate it," Marron answered as she pumped some shampoo into her hands, working it through her blonde tangles. She sighed as she felt the teatree shampoo cool her skin, enjoying how the scent filled her senses.

"We could do a spin class next time, it's only 45 minutes," Paresu offered. She started counting her fingers, "We could also do TRX, Kickboxing, or… Oh! How about a Barre class?"

"Umm," Marron bit her lip as she considered her answer, "I don't really work out. Not like you do at least."

"Oh?" Paresu shrugged, "Well you look good. Better than some of the girls I regularly work out with." Marron blushed in the shower, She's been looking? Almost as if she could hear her thoughts, Paresu continued, "Yes I've been looking. You're pretty, Mar, and you have a nice body."

"Oh, well thank you? You um, have a nice body...too?" Marron was grateful for the water cooling her red face. She could hear Paresu giggling outside the shower. Marron stuck her face out from behind the curtain, "Okay I have to know. Guys have their thing - tits or ass," she shook her head, "Do you have a thing?"

"Do I have a thing? Marron, I appreciate everything," Paresu smiled and waved her hand in the form of a female body. "I have a type that I like, but tits or ass? I enjoy both, as much as I enjoy a woman's hips or her smile."

Marron considered this before asking her next question, "So what are your preferences?" She pushed on, "C'mon, we're friends. I just want to know your type." Marron closed the shower curtain and pumped a liberal amount of conditioner in her hands, running it through her hair.

Paresu stayed silent for a few moments before answering, "I like women who are confident, but not cocky. Kind, and upbeat."

"I mean physically, Res," Marron rinsed the remainder of the conditioner from her hair, "What type of women are you physically into it?"

"I like blondes," Paresu sighed, "With big blue eyes. And I like girls who are shorter than me which isn't too hard." She stretched her legs out on the bathroom floor as Marron shut off the water, "I love looking into her eyes, her looking up at me, when I'm about to kiss her."

Marron had stepped out of the shower, having wrapped her towel around her body from behind the curtain. She was at a loss for words, a common feeling nowadays. The only thing that could come to mind was, "Do you need to shower?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go home and shower," Paresu pushed herself off the floor and grabbed her gym bag from the living room, "Or take a bath, I'll see how I feel when I get home."

"A morning bath sounds nice," Marron nodded and gestured to her bedroom, "I should get dressed…"

"And I should get going," Paresu thumbed the door. The two women stayed in silence for a few minutes, each not wanting to say goodbye. Paresu took a deep breath, stepping towards Marron, "Have dinner with me."

"Are you asking me on a date?" Marron asked, a smile creeping on her face, "Or is this a friend thing?"

"I want to get to know you more," Paresu offered truthfully, "And not just as a friend. I like you, Marron, and I'd like to see what this is."

"Okay," Marron whispered, "Let's have dinner."

"Okay then," Paresu smiled and took another step towards Marron, tipping the blonde's chin up to place a soft kiss on her lips. She smelled like sweat, but Marron couldn't care less as she wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist. Paresu broke the kiss, pulling softly on Marron's bottom lip with her own lips, prolonging the moment. She kissed her once more and caressed her face, "I'll check in on you later, babe." Paresu smiled once more at Marron as she closed the door behind her, leaving the blonde alone at her apartment. Looking at the clock, Marron realized it was still early, not even 9 AM yet.

And so much has happened, she thought as she walked back into the bathroom for another cool shower.

Author's Note: So that's a wrap on Chapter 7! Months ago when I outlined this fic I had other ideas, of Marron not passing out and the yoga experience being more suggestive. You can guess where it went from there. I'm glad I scrapped it, this new scene feels more true to both their characters. I sometimes write my chapters out of order, so I have one further along planned out more than the next one. Still, I'm excited to see where this goes next.