Belief In The Occult

Fifteen

The next morning Kodiak was downstairs before the other wards again, having woken up at four AM like it was normal, eating ice at one end of the table. When Alto stopped in the doorway, he smiled at seeing that the other entity had a pair of earbuds in, the other end trailing into his hoodie pocket.

Kodiak seemed to like the gift. He didn't exactly say so, he still wasn't much for conversation, but Alto rarely saw him with the earbuds out for the rest of the day.

He also appeared to be in a... well a better mood wasn't the exact words, but the oppressive feeling that usually hung in the air around him was completely gone, and he seemed more relaxed than sulking.

They were all in the living room, Zophie on her phone as Fable and Alto played video games, Kodiak sprawled in one of the armchairs with his headphones in and watching the screen with more attentiveness than before, his eyes actually flicking to follow certain objects, when Elita entered and clapped her hands. "Okay everybody, it's Wednesday, so we're gonna go out onto the patio for some yoga. Change into some comfy clothes that you can move around in and meet me out there."

Not that much later, they were all out on the back patio with Elita, dressed in various workout clothes. Kodiak already wore sweatpants and baggy t-shirts, all he had to do was take off his hoodie, socks, and shoes. He stood there on his mat, squinting in the sun and looking like he'd just woken up and wasn't thrilled about it. Alto thought the frumpiness was kind of cute.

"We're gonna start out easy with some stretches!" Elita said, "Just reach over and touch your toes."

Zophie got somewhere halfway down her shins, Fable and Alto brushing the tops of their feet, and after glancing at what everyone else was doing, Kodiak just bent over and put his palms flat on the floor, to everyone's surprise.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Fable asked incredulously.

"Not... really."

Elita only chuckled. "Okay, triangle pose next. Kodiak, watch how I do it." Once again, Kodiak bent as easily at the joints as a ragdoll, mimicking Elita. The session very quickly devolved to the other three sitting cross-legged on their mats and egging on Kodiak as Elita showed him increasingly challenging poses.

Alto thought it was interesting to watch him focus, how his usual morose frown flattened out and his brow knit in concentration. Elita chuckled, "Okay Kodiak, last one, it's called the corpse."

Kodiak flopped down onto his mat, "Oh, corpse... I like the corpse, I can do that." This set off another round of giggling from everybody else.

"Dude, how are you so flexible?" Fable asked.

"I guess... I'm just really relaxed... and I used to spend a lot of time... incorporeal." he answered cluelessly, already looking like he had melted onto the ground. He might fall asleep if they didn't move him soon.

Just then, Cobalt appeared in the doorway, "Alright pretzels, lunch is ready."