His fur was coated in sweat, earphones embedded in his ear to keep the outside world out and away. His eyes were focused, his body pumped up. His pawed hands clenched and relaxed again. He was bounding on his hind legs and before him, was the invisibly opponent of his enemy. The air jabs and twirled kicks took various styles from Japanese martial arts to simple boxing. When he wasn’t doodling or writing in his journal, Gabriel found himself battling the boredom with simple exercise. He wore no shirt since it messed with his movement, his thick furred chest already becoming streams of sweat deep against his skin. He felt it move through his fur like a snake through tall grass. He paused, the music blaring in his ears. He stopped, just barely moving his body as he shook his arms and rolled his neck on his shoulders. He gave a few stretches and took a deep breath letting it out slowly. He couldn’t help himself as he murmured the words, almost singing the song.

He always listened to hard music that could keep his body flowing with adrenaline. He finally stopped bouncing and began to pace some, walking around a bit in the gym, his large foot paw wrapped at the ankles to keep his longer fur out of the way. He began to adjust some of his hand wraps. He continued to murmur the song, daring to get louder as the lyrics bounced in his head. He went to his arm strap to stop the music, taking his earphones out and shaking his head again. He rolled them and strapped them securely to his arm band and then began to stretch. He’d been in the gym for about an hour.