"Oh, my gods! I can't stay awake in Calc to save my life," groaned Dhurgan.

"Truer words have never been spoken," sighed Adit.

The two happened to be at the library awaiting the arrival of another orc and ogre, who were mysteriously late.

“What’s taking those two so freaking long?”Adit asked impatiently, spinning around in the ornate wooden chair next to the desk.

"I’ll text them."

“So, how’s project ‘friendship’ coming along?” Adit drawled, humorous sarcasm dripping from their voice.

“Fine,” retorted Dhurgan. “After Homraz helped with algebra yesterday, he made dinner.”

“W-wait,” Adit abruptly said with a start. “The guy cooks? Are we even talking about the same person? And you didn’t save any for me?”

“He’s gonna kill me,” Dhurgan blanched.

“Yes, he is! You do realize this is too good not to rub in his face, right?”

“Please don’t tell him I said anything! He got really pissed when I asked him how he learned!”

“Maybe he got pissy because it ruins his whole ‘hardliner with a dark past’ schtick!” Adit loudly giggled.

Their boisterous reaction earned them a stern glare from one of the librarians. Dhurgan apologized profusely before Adit resumed.

“No,” Dhurgan explained. “He seemed angrier at whoever taught him. I’m not about to pry into the guy’s life when we just made progress.”

As if on cue, Homraz and Kulah entered the library.

“Over here!” Adit hissed loudly. “You guys took forever!”

“Do forgive us, the lecture took him a while longer than we originally thought,” apologized Kulah.

“Well, you’re here now!” Adit laughed, and got up to plant a kiss on Kulah’s cheek.

“Love, we’re still technically working. Save it for later,” Kulah lectured, leveling a stern look at Adit.

“Can I get the common translation of that?” Adit joked.

Homraz made a face, then turned back to Dhurgan who was laughing at the affectionate display. Her textbook was only a chapter ahead of where they’d stopped yesterday.

“Don’t tell me you’re stuck again,” sighed an irritated Homraz.

“If I do, does that mean no gym today?” Dhurgan asked, rather sheepishly.

This was going to be a long study session.

***

“Remind me why I agreed to this?” Homraz snarled in annoyance.

“Come on, you can’t back out now,” Dhurgan consoled him, pushing open the doors to Fists of Steel.

Homraz snorted derisively at the obnoxious gym name as the sound of clanging machines greeted his ears.

Sneaking a glance at Dhurgan’s face, he noted the palpable joy in it.

“Let’s just get it over with,” sighed Homraz, resignedly.

An elf at the front desk waved the two over.

“Welcome!” she beamed. “Are you two looking to sign up, or giving us a trial run?”

“Just checking things out today,” Dhurgan answered.

“No problem! Hana over there can show you two around!”

At that, the alpha paused, lost in thought.

“Oi, what’s up with you?” Homraz asked.

“Nothing, it’s just… that name,” murmured Dhurgan, shaking her head afterwards.

As the two made their way to the second desk, Dhurgan’s amber yellow eyes widened in recognition. A tall, purple ogress with jet black hair greeted her eyes.

“Welcome! Ya’ll stopped at the best gym in Runa- Ganny?”

“Hal?”

A few beats passed before the two broke out into a medley of disbelieving laughs, nicknames, and hugs.

“Gods! I can’t believe it,” chuckled Hana. “Who’d’ve thought you’d leave Gristar?

“Not me, that’s for sure. Hey, your Uruk’vrak still as strong?”

“Gano’ar ru thog’than ye dro pakpo,” the ogress sassed.

“Hey! You never complained,” Dhurgan laughed, blushing slightly.

“Anyways man, what brings you here? Looking to sign up?”

“Nah, just looking around today,” smiled Dhurgan.

“No problem. But seriously, this place is great,” smiled Hana, leaving the front desk to begin the tour.

Homraz severely doubted that and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“What? Is there less alphas here?”

Hana finally turned her attention to the small omega.

“Oh hey! Who’s your friend here, Ganny?”

“This is Homraz. He’s checking things out too!”

“Aw, nice to meet’cha, man.”

Homraz simply scowled. Even though he wasn’t much of a gym rat, he’d had to wait at his older brother’s gym multiple times in high school. The place always smelled rank, and Homraz often had to find a corner away from all the skeezy alphas coming in. One disgusting experience involved him accidentally stepping in a discarded scent-patch while trying to avoid crude remarks from an older gym member.

The experience had left a pretty grim impression of fitness centers on him, so he wasn’t so sure about this one, even with its polished interior.

“Silent type, I see,” Hana chuckled happily. “Well, we do require all our gym members with dynamics to wear scent patches before entering. We also have all our members sign a code of conduct agreement and rules preventing them from visiting during their cycles.”

“Huh. Color me surprised,” admitted Homraz.

“Here’s the shower and lockers,” Hana said, pointing towards an adjoining building. “These spaces are completely personalized for everyone’s comfort and safety. Once you sign up, you’re given a key to one.” “Over there are machines,” she added, gesturing to long rows of treadmills, abdominal benches, calf machines, and dipping bars. “And way over there are the classes,” she explained, gesturing towards the fight cages and mats on the far side.

Dhurgan’s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of one of the mats.

Though its colors were unconventional, and it was indoors, it still had the qualities of a traditional joktag pit! The pit was a good three to four feet underground, far enough for an orc, but not too deep for an elf or a human. Blue lines separated the two opposing sides and detailing in Suragi script graced the sides.

“Hold on a second,” muttered Dhurgan, setting her gym bag on the ground. “Is that?”

Hana nodded.

“Yep! We got that installed a couple of years back after one of our fighters won a tournament. I think they were from the town next to ours.”

“Mind if I get a closer look?”

“Sure, go right ahead!”

Jumping into the empty pit, Dhurgan ran her hand along the detailing. The words read “Gruk rethan, ok gogan hoda.” Our favor goes to the victor.

Those were the same words she heard at her first fight, and many after that.

To see them, with similar meaning, etched into the sides of a cultural legacy was the best thing she’d seen all day. It was a reminder, of sorts, that she wasn’t alone in the truest sense.

“So,” announced Hana. “What do you guys think?”

“This place is awesome!” Dhurgan beamed.

“It’s passable,” shrugged Homraz.

“Had a feeling you’d say that,” smiled the ogress. “Anyway, y'all are welcome back if you change your minds.”

Dhurgan and Hana promptly exchanged numbers then hugged each other goodbye.

Finished with the gym tour, the two stepped outside where the warm spring air had turned a little chilly.

“So?”

“So, what?” Homraz sighed.

“Can we visit again next week?” Dhurgan excitedly asked.

“No.”

“Come on! Why not?”

“We’ve got class next week, and another unit test,” growled Homraz. “Honestly, you should be studying for it too!”

“Ugh, I forgot about that!”

“And you’re gonna need my help to pass it,” he sighed.

“Fine.”

Playfully sulking for a minute, Dhurgan added:

“Thanks for coming with me.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Thanks anyway.”

“You got hair in your ears or something? It’s not a big deal.”

“Yeah, it is. You helped me find my happy place,” she beamed.

“What are you? Five?” Homraz snarled.

Dhurgan guffawed heartily. Her laugh was rough, broken, and downright hideous. But it beheld great joy and mirth. It felt like genuine happiness, something Homraz hadn’t felt in a while.

“Why can’t people just thank you for stuff?”

“Because it’s fucking weird,” he gruffed. “And why are you thanking me anyway?”

Sighing contentedly, Dhurgan looked down at her grumpy companion. A guy as tough as him, omega or not, probably wasn’t into hearing how much the small things meant to people. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be thanked.

“Back in Gristar, I used to train with at my mom’s gym. It was really fun and I learned a lot there. The whole town used to show up to my fights.”

She paused before adding:

“I’ve never spent a day away from my pack before. I hadn't even stepped foot outside of Gristar until a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty weird being so far away. It even hurts a little.”

“So thanks for helping me find a place that felt a little like home. I needed that,” Dhurgan smiled.

“Whatever,” grumbled Homraz.