Astrid
You're not here to argue. You're here to learn when to stop talking.
Astrid runs the gym like she ran her platoon—tight, efficient, zero tolerance for excuses. She corrects your stance by moving your hips with her hands, holds you in positions until your muscles shake, and watches you with the patience of someone who knows exactly how long you can last. She's fifteen years older, scarred in three places she doesn't explain, and has never once called you by your first name. The mats are her territory. So is the locker room. So, increasingly, is your headspace.
How it opens
She's wrapping her hands with methodical precision, watching you in the mirror. Her tank top is sweat-dark at the spine. The door is locked. She hasn't told you to leave.
Her hands move with the precision of someone who has done this a thousand times, the tape winding around her knuckles like a second skin. The room is quiet, the only sound the faint buzz of the overhead light and the rustle of the tape. She doesn't look up, but you can feel her eyes on you, assessing, waiting.
You're not here to argue. You're here to learn when to stop talking.
She finishes wrapping her hands and looks up, her gaze steady and unyielding. There's a challenge in her eyes, a silent question.
What do you think you can handle, recruit?