🕊️ Fit to Last

As the room grew more and more orange, they looked out the window and saw the setting sun, its rays shining through holes in the large building across the street. It was so badly damaged that it was hard to believe it was still standing.

"We're lucky to be on this side..." Mitra said.

"But I've seen walls crumble here, too." Anna squeezed his shoulder without realizing it.

"The blast wave must have destroyed them, not a direct hit. I think we should be safe now, unless more bombs come in."

Anna began to shiver from the thought but the young man suddenly pulled her down by the shoulder. "Quick! It's a drone, get down!"

They ducked under the window and slowly looked out. Outside the window, a small drone flew by, taking a footage of the disaster.

"They use these things to find survivors after their attacks," Mitra explained.

Suddenly, an old-fashioned clock chimed, indicating that it was 8pm.

"Oh dear," Anna shook her head. "Time for my evening workout, but I guess..." She sighed.

"What, yours too? What a coincidence, I always train at 8am and 8pm, it's my favorite number because it looks like a wasp waist..."

"Wow, I've never noticed... Say, can you breathe just fine like that? And what about digesting food, doesn't it get... stuck in the middle?"

"Why, do I look pale or unhealthy?"

"Not at all, I think you are the exact opposite of pale and look very healthy and fit."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it... As a child, I almost died because of my abdominal problems... Like I said, the tight belt saved me, after the operation I wore medical belts for 2 years, they were incredibly tight, but the doctors kept saying that it will help my body recover... A lot of people were around me all the time, cheering me on every day for these 2 years, every single day I was told that my hourglass body looks beautiful in a special way, and I shouldn't feel so depressed about my figure."

Anna gulped. There was something divine in his proud posture, athletic body and this ultra-thin waist.

"I had a good psychologist," he continued, "She came from another city just for me after seeing me on TV. She was interested in me because she was into corsetry herself, so she was very convincing when she explained the beauty of it, and I believed her... And after my recovery, I started wearing tight belts as a hobby and took up bellydancing, first as a therapy, but then I couldn't imagine my life without it..."

"Well, it... it was a very touching story," Anna whispered, feeling somewhere in the depths of her soul a strange happiness from the fact that she was given a couple more minutes to just stare at Mitra's cinched waist like that.

"Life is strange, isn't it? You never know what will get you into trouble, and you never know what will get you out of it... But you know, I think I really could use some kind of workout right now, just to de-stress. What do you think, should we practice together? You look like you could also use some familiar exercises to get back to norm... And then we can go look around."

"I'm not sure, I..."

"I hope I'm not embarrassing you?"

"No, I mean... It's... just the explosions, the ruins outside and... my suit is all torn. I'm not sure if I can manage..."

"I can look away. Just tell me when you're done."

"Hmm, okay... I'll try..."

"I hope I won't disturb you if I do my usual 8pm warm-up too?"

Mitra turned away, put his palms together in front of his chest and concentrated, then little by little began to shake his hips in various ways. He moved his pelvic bone in an amazing way, hard to describe, yet alone repeat. Meanwhile, his head and upper torso did not move at all, as if some invisible hands were holding him. His hips performed amazing feats, rolled to the sides and even twisted around so far that Anna could not believe her eyes.

She felt inspired and tried to stretch too, but all her bones ached like crazy after crawling through the narrow tunnel. She realized how incredibly tired she was despite this early time.

"Uh... my head is spinning, I think I'll stretch in the morning."

"No problem! You know, I suddenly wanted to sleep too, maybe it's contagious? I think we could take those curtains off and use them as blankets. You can use my thigh as a pillow and I'll lean against that wooden door, should be comfy enough!"

Anna's eyes were drooping as she looked around the room for other pillow options, but she decided she couldn't think of anything better right now and would rather just agree. She wrapped herself in a rough but warm curtain and rested her head on Mitra's thigh. It made a perfect pillow, Anna quickly got warm and almost completely relaxed.

"Thanks, Mitra... In the morning you don't have to look away when I'm working out... I'll be proud to show what I can do... And I don't care that my suit..." She didn't have the energy to finish her sentence and fell straight into a deep sleep.