No Significant Harassment x Shy!Reader Fanfiction

Chapter 3 - A Day in the Can

Artist: u/JuniperRainz on Reddit

(If any artists wish for their art to be taken out of this fanfiction, please contact me and I'll remove the art. Thanks!)

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"73! 74! 75! C'mon keep going!" "You're about to beat your record, you're almost there!" It was late afternoon, and the chamber was lively with voices and panting. The gravity was off, the pearls were strewn across the floor, and two of the beings in the chamber were chanting the third on. "76! 77! 78!" Counted No Significant Harassment, as the cherry colored slugcat beside him was giving words of support. On the floor, (Y/n) was doing pushups with mild exhaustion, one leg on the floor, while their splint-bound foot was over the back of the ankle comfortably. "79! 80! 81! 82! 83!" He continued to count, giving some words of encouragement between numbers. "You're almost there, just a few more!" They began to sweat more, staggering slightly. (Y/n) didn't want to stop doing exercises because they were injured, but since they couldn't jog or do many other things, they had to get a little creative with what they could do with one leg. They hated doing this in front of people, but they didn't want to fall out of it too much. They didn't have much of a choice.

"You're so close, you're almost there!" "95! 96! 97! 98! 99! One more, one more!" NSH patted the ground a few times as they shakily dipped. Slowly, they began to rise up, and as soon as their arms straightened, they turned and flopped on their side, rolling to their back. "That's 100, well done!" He said, bringing over a waterskin for them. "Time for a break. We'll get back into it in a few." The traveler slowly sat up, their arms trembling, but they had some help from Hunter pushing them up by their back. They took the waterskin with a breathless "thank you", before gulping down about a third of it. Thankfully it was a sizable one, so the amount left was rather large. They took slow deep breaths to try and slow themself down. "Can't believe you broke your record already, that was fast." Hunter mumbled, sitting beside them. "I-I... used to do more than that... Dropped off for a few months, so I'm... I'm just trying to catch up." They said between breaths. NSH sat on their other side. "How come? Break your other leg?" He said in a slightly joking manner. "I kid, I kid, but still, what happened?" They didn't mind the joke, they'd gotten comfortable with his jabs in the past two weeks. Despite their comfortable position, they weren't open to sharing. They had some secrets they preferred to keep. "I-it's nothing..." They replied, shifting where they sat. Their spearmint colored companion looked at them for a moment, but decided to drop it.

No Significant Harassment adjusted to sit comfortably. "Alrighty then. By the way, once you're done rehydrating and stuff, let's do some stretches, okay?" He said, trying to change the subject and general mood. (Y/n) looked up at him and nodded. "O-okay." They replied. "I should be ready right about now maybe. I'll have more time to relax after we're done. Besides, i-it's not that much to do." They explained, shuffling a bit. He picked them up from under their arms like a cat, then sat them up on one of the thicker bone-like parts of his crane. As he helped them adjust comfortably, Hunter sat nearby, rolling and throwing pearls around. Seemed like zoomies began to take him. Ignoring the clattering, NSH took off the splint and set it aside. The traveler shuttered slightly from the open air, twitching a little. Most of the swelling was gone, but the markings stayed and there were still movement difficulties. They wiggled slightly. "W-where do I begin again?" They asked, forgetting what they needed to do. "Right, we're gonna start with spelling out some things with your foot, then we can do some resistance exercises. You got it?" He said, pointing finger guns at them. They nodded and started doing it. It was shaky at first, but they soon got the hang of it. The spearmint colored Iterator shuffled to sit next to them. "You're doing great." He gently reassured the traveler. As they'd become accustomed to his jabs and general affections, he had become more patient and assuring in light of their hesitance.