//------------------------------// // LCS: Yoga Pants Conquer Belly Fat // Story: Love Beats Stupid // by chillbook1 //------------------------------// Aria was always the first of the three Sirens to wake up, mostly through virtue of hardly sleeping to begin with. It was one of the natural Siren traits that Aria retained while the others lost it in their inadvertent humanization. Often nights, the only reason Aria went to bed at all was to hold Sonata in her arms. Still, she always left bed by 4:30 AM, at the latest. This gave her a lot of time to get the day started, and most days, she spent it sketching and doodling before she went about her normal routine. The first Saturday after Aria got a job, she decided that she’d do something nice for the girls after she was done with her art practice. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, hash browns, the works. By the time she was setting the table with plates, glasses, and mugs, the smell had awoken Adagio. “Holy heaven, that smells amazing,” said the sleepy leader as she groggily dragged herself into the kitchen. “Cooking breakfast? What’s gotten into you?” “I was just thinking I need some good karma,” said Aria with a shrug. “Plates are on the table, I got water boiling for your tea, and the biscuits should be coming out soon.” “Biscuits? Aria Blaze made biscuits?” chuckled Adagio. She deposited herself in her seat. “What an odd dream this is.” “Laugh if you want, just give the plate back.” “I apologize for my outburst.” Adagio picked up a fork and knife and started digging in. The food tasted even better than it smelled, if that was possible, and was made doubly satisfying when Adagio considered who had produced it. “I didn’t screw anything up, did I?” asked Aria. She pulled the skillet of biscuits from the oven and transported them to a platter, which she grabbed, along with the kettle of hot water for Adagio. “You didn’t make enough,” said Adagio. Aria chuckled, set down the biscuits (Adagio swiped three and stuffed one in her mouth immediately), then filled Adagio’s mug. She returned the kettle to the stove and returned with a coffee pot (for Sonata) and a pitcher of OJ, for herself. She filled Sonata’s mug, added the cream and two sugars she knew Sonata would want, then finally took a seat to begin her own meal. “Yeah, don’t be afraid to make another plate,” said Aria. “You were joking before, but I kinda did make a lot.” “We are not a wasteful species, us Sirens,” promised Adagio. As Aria was filling her cup, her sleepy wife decided to make an appearance. She trudged into the kitchen (entirely in her pajamas), her shirt slightly up and pinching her stomach with both hands. “Morning, babe. I got coffee for you, so try not to be dead for too much longer,” said Aria, taking a sip of orange juice. “Babe, do you think I’m getting fat?” asked Sonata. Aria’s brain froze mid-sip, which resulted in her coughing and choking into her cup. Adagio laughed hysterically into her bacon, trying her hardest (and failing) to keep her humor to herself. “What?” asked Sonata. “Good luck with this one!” cackled Adagio. “Sorry? What?” asked Aria, wiping the orange juice from her nostrils. Sonata took a seat and picked up her mug. “Do you think I’m getting fat?” repeated Sonata. “What makes you think that I think you’re getting fat?” asked Aria evasively. “Because I’m getting fat.” This was a very precarious situation for Aria, who had in fact noticed that her wife had put on a few pounds. She frankly didn’t care, because Sonata had gained no more than ten pounds, and Aria would love her even if she gained three hundred more. However, the question wasn’t whether Aria cared. It was if she had noticed. There was no good answer. If she said “no”, then Sonata would call her a liar, think that her lack of attention (to something that was a huge problem to Sonata) was a sign of uncaring.. If Aria said “yes”, then she would’ve just called her obviously self-conscious wife fat. She would have to proceed with caution. “I… I think that I love every pound of you, and you’ll always be gorgeous in my eyes,” said Aria. “I think that, even though you may have put on a few pounds, it doesn’t really matter, because you’re still thinner than the average American.” “So you do think I’m getting fat?” asked Sonata, for confirmation. “That’s not what I said. I said that you may have put on a pound or two, but that’s okay!” Sonata crossed her arms expectantly. “It’s super normal for the wife to gain some weight after marriage.” “You didn’t gain any weight,” noted Adagio, a sly grin on her face. “The next biscuit you eat will be poisoned,” growled Aria. Sonata pushed her plate away. “That tears it. I’m never eating again,” said Sonata defiantly. “Babe, don’t be stupid. You’re not fat,” said Aria. “You put on ten pounds, so what? You’ll burn it off in no time.” “Really? How?” Aria was not expecting that question, which may have been a bit stupid of her. She was really just trying to run out the clock on the whole “fat” thing. As Sonata’s gaze grew more impatient, Aria felt ideas leave her head, rather than come to it. Just before it was too late, she had something of a brain blast. “The gym! You can start coming to the gym with me!” said Aria excitedly. “It’ll be fun. You’ll lose that wedding weight, maybe put on some muscle. I love you, babe, but you’re built like a noodle.” Sonata bit her lip slightly in thought, then slowly nodded her head. She got up and left the room for several minutes, leaving Aria and Adagio in awkward silence. When she returned, she was fully dressed and ready to go. “Uh… Now?” asked Aria. “Yes, now. The sooner we get there, the sooner I lose the weight,” said Sonata. “I normally go at night, when everybody’s asleep…” Sonata raised an eyebrow expectantly. “But, I guess I can change up my routine. Come on, let’s go. You got clean-up, Dag?” “Sure, whatever,” said Adagio. She grabbed another biscuit. “Don’t expect any leftovers.” She noticed the glare in Aria’s eyes. “Fine, I’ll save some bacon for Achilles.” Aria rolled her eyes before finishing up her juice and leaving the table. Five minutes later, she returned in a tank top and a gym bag slung over her shoulder. Sonata noticed neither of those things. She was mostly focused on what Aria chose to wear on her bottom half. The tightest, most form-fitting, most amazing yoga pants ever made. “Ready?” asked Aria. “Since when did you wear yoga pants?” asked Sonata. Aria shrugged. “SInce ever. I only wear them to work out, though. They’re comfy.” Sonata grinned. This workout was sure to be awesome. Sonata soon realized that working out with Aria may not be as much fun as she thought. Sonata knew that Aria was vaguely aggressive at the best of times, but she was nearing dangerous in the gym. Stretching was fine, even Sonata could do that with minimal guidance, but from there, it was a challenge. What made everything a whole lot worse was that Sonata knew that all of her troubles were her own fault. She encountered her first difficulty when Aria suggested the two start on the treadmills. There were three rows of the machines, all positioned facing a large wall of reflective glass. Only two were open for them to use: the third one over in the first and second rows. At Sonata’s suggestion, Aria took the first one, while Sonata chose the second. This gave her a perfect view of the prize in front of her. Sonata started off at a slow walk, as Aria suggested. But, after watching Aria (or, specifically, Aria’s butt) pick up the pace to a quick jog, Sonata felt the urge to keep up with her clearly more athletic partner. She thought, for whatever reason, that Aria would be impressed with her speed and endurance (ignoring the facts that Aria probably couldn’t see her, she was neither quick nor able to run particularly long, and, most importantly, she had no reason to impress her, because the two were already married). Unbeknownst to Sonata, the wife she was trying to impress actually could see her, in the mirror. Noticing Sonata’s gaze with a grin, she decided to have a bit of fun. She knew for a fact that Sonata couldn’t go much faster. Now, it was all a matter of seeing when Sonata realized that. Aria deviously picked up the speed, now effectively sprinting. Just as she predicted, Sonata matched her speed. Also to her prediction, she struggled to do so. Meanwhile, Sonata was drawing all her strength solely from the image of Aria’s form-fitting pants. After she got used to the new speed, she actually felt rather comfortable. She was feeling confident. Comfortable and confident enough to turn up the speed even more. As soon as she took another step, her foot was suddenly slipping back way faster than she expected. She couldn’t get her other foot forward in time. “Eep!” squealed Sonata. She was suddenly moving down, very, very quickly. Her face slammed against the floor of the treadmill, slipping off onto the cold tile painfully. She went from standing and running confidently to laying down and crying painfully, all in the span of half a second. “Ariiii!” whined Sonata, in too much pain to care that the whole gym could see her. Aria leapt from her treadmill without bothering to shut it off, then sprinted over to Sonata, her heart beating in her throat. “Jesus, are you okay?” Aria lifted Sonata’s face from the floor and inspected it for damage. She seemed mostly fine, besides the viciously embarrassed blush and slight track of tears down her face. “I t-think so,” sniffled Sonata. “Good,” sighed Aria. Then she started laughing. Really, really hard. And for a really long time. “It’s not funny!” “It is now that I know you’re okay,” cackled Aria. “That’s what you get for being so stupid.” Sonata grumbled slightly before wiping her face and shakily rising to her feet. She was fine, the only thing really hurt was her pride, and she had to admit that she was being a little stupid. She sniffed once, shook herself firmly, then proceeded to sit back down. “I give up,” she said. “No, you don’t. You’re just getting started.” Aria practically yanked Sonata to her feet. “Up and at ‘em, tubby butt.” “Fine, whatever. I’m not running, though,” grumbled Sonata. “That’s cool. You need some strength training, anyway,” said Aria. “To the bench press, noodle arms!” “Am I Tubby Butt or Noodle Arms?” asked Sonata. “Cause I don’t think I can be both.” Aria looked her up and down, her lips pursed slightly in thought. “Noodle Arms,” she decided. “Definitely Noodle Arms.” “Come on, get it up!” “I’m trying!” “Try harder! This is pathetic!” To be perfectly frank, it was rather sad to watch. Aria was spotting Sonata, who struggled to do more than a single rep. She got the bar up three times before she threatened to quit. Aria wouldn’t allow her, though. As soon as Sonata went to put up the barbell, Aria would lean on it slightly, putting just enough weight to prevent Sonata from moving it. “Make it lighter!” whined Sonata. Aria looked at the empty bar, with no weights whatsoever, and rolled her eyes. “Seriously, babe?” Aria decided she’d try one more thing before calling it a day. She dropped to her knees and brought her lips close to Sonata’s ear. “Is that really the best you got?” whispered Aria sensually. “I know you can do better than that.” “W-what are you doing?” “I’ve been watching you, Sonata. The way you look at me.” Aria giggled femininely, femininely, then kissed Sonata softly on the forehead. “You’ve been staring. And here I am thinking you liked me for my personality.” “Why are you talking like that?” asked Sonata breathlessly. “You’re making me uncomfortable.” “Sorry to hear that, babe. How about this?” said Aria. “You get this bar up one more time, and I take you home for a little reward?” Sonata squeaked, feeling the bar slip slightly out of her hand. She managed to recover, but still struggled to lift it all the way up. “What kind of reward?” asked Sonata. Aria leaned forward and whispered something in Sonata’s ear. Sonata was silent for the first minute of Aria’s description, and she had enough strength and power of will stored up to pump out several reps by minute five. “Done!” said Sonata giddily, dropping the empty barbell on the rests. Aria rolled her eyes then helped her sweaty workout partner to her feet. Basically, no progress was made, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to distract Sonata from the extra weight, which Aria had apparently done. Using her feminine charms. And her butt. “Come on, let’s get you out of here,” said Aria, slinging her bag over her shoulder. The two set off for the exit, but not before Aria asked a question that had been plaguing her mind all morning. “Dude, what’s up with you?” asked Aria. “What do you mean?” “Like… You’ve actually seen me naked before.” Sonata grinned, remembering fondly. “So what’s the deal with the staring? I don’t mind, it’s just kind of weird. I mean, my butt isn’t even all that great.” “Yoga pants make all butts look awesome,” said Sonata. Aria thought about it, but couldn’t really make a call either way. Then, she imagined Sonata in the same yoga pants she was currently wearing. “Yeah, I guess so.” She smirked slyly. “Let’s get you in a shower.” “Coming with?” asked Sonata. Aria looked at her blankly for a moment, then broke into a grin. She promised Sonata a reward, and Aria wasn’t the type to break a promise.