A/N: I forgot to mention in the last story I put up that the prompt was provided ages ago for "Musek to my Ears", and so is this one. I bet y'all are surprised to see your prompts finally done hahah. Please enjoy.
Neptune wasn't entirely sure what to expect when Yang told him they were going out for some fun. Considering what had happened the last time he was with her, when a giant robot flung him and Sun off a speedway, he expected something crazy.
However, aside from the hectic motorcycle ride, Yang hadn't taken him on any sort of wacky adventure. As he got off her bike and removed his goggles he found that they were standing before a gym of some sort.
"Uh…mind telling me what we're doing here, Yang?" He said bewildered, looking towards the blonde for any kind of indication.
Yang removed her helmet and shook her head, making her hair sway side to side. She gave him a mischievous grin as she grabbed a bag from a compartment under the seat, replacing it with her helmet.
"You'll see when we get inside." She said in a sing song tone.
Her behavior was making him nervous, but nonetheless he followed her inside.
When they entered Yang immediately strode to the front desk and showed them an ID on her Scroll.
"He's with me." She hooked a thumb back towards Neptune.
The receptionist nodded, inputting some data into a computer. "You have two more guest passes remaining. Please, enjoy your stay."
Yang gave them a small wave, pulling Neptune's arm to hurry him along. As they walked further into the building Neptune gazed around them at all of the equipment and the other people working out.
There were various areas, each one designated to a specific type of exercise or activity. Most of these areas were either open spaces or closed off by walls decorated with soundproof glass, so you could see what was going on without any issue of distracting noises.
Neptune had gone to gyms before with his team, but that was back in his kingdom and not here in Vale. There were so many different things going on, such as rock climbing, taekwondo, weight lifting, cardio, yoga, and…
Neptune froze in his tracks as he locked eyes with the most dreadful form of workout possible.
Yang was a few paces in front of him before she heard the noticeable squeak in his sneakers when he had stopped. Turning her body halfway she looked at him with a devious expression.
"What are you doing, Nep? We haven't got all day."
Neptune gulped, looking between Yang and the horrendous wall of glass that separated the hall from the pool area on the other side.
All of that water just sitting in one room.
"Nah. Y-You know what…I think I'll just…go over to the, uh- rock climbing!"
He nearly jumped when Yang swiftly approached him and grabbed his wrist. "Oh come along now." She said as she began dragging him towards the area. She then shoved him into the men's locker room and stuffed a pair of swim trunks in his hands.
"Hey! How did you manage to find swim trunks in my size?" He exclaimed as he observed them.
"Sun and Scarlet helped me." Yang replied cheerfully.
Before he could say more she closed the door shut. Neptune waited for a beat before trying to open the door and make an escape, but unfortunately for him Yang was still waiting on the other side.
"Don't think I'll let you out of this easy, Nep. Besides I took you here, and it'd be a long walk back to Beacon."
She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously and Neptune conceded defeat as he went further into the room and changed.
Once he placed his belongings in a locker, and used his Scroll to temporarily designate it as his own, he proceeded out a door and into a small hall that conjoined the two locker rooms.
Yang had already changed into a bikini with shorts and waited near the women's locker room door. Upon seeing him she immediately led the boy towards a door, its glass marked with the words "Steam Room".
Yang peeked around and luckily for them nobody else was in it, so they had some privacy to talk.
Sitting down on a tiled outcropping from the wall she patted the space beside her. Neptune took a seat and sighed, a bit relieved that they weren't immediately going to the swimming pools.
"Okay, water dude, before I take you to the pool we need to talk about something first." Yang began while she tied up her long golden hair. "I know that you're afraid of water." Neptune was about to protest, but she cut him off by raising her hand between them. "I would like you to tell me why."
Neptune looked down at his hands, fiddling around with his fingers anxiously.
"If I said it was because I don't like getting my hair wet would you believe me?" He said unconvincingly.
Yang snorted and idly waved a hand in the air beside her.
"You're handsome, Neptune, but you're not vain."
He had to chuckle at that. It was actually kind of nice to know that Yang didn't take him as being self-centered.
"Alright, alright. It's going to feel so weird telling you this, since I've only ever told my team." He said as he passed a hand through his hair. "I guess it all started when I was a kid."
Yang looked at him attentively, remaining silent as Neptune told his story.
"I was at a park with my parents, we were just taking a walk on the path that went around the whole place. At a certain point near the path there's this pond, so we went over to the edge of it to watch the ducks and see the fish swimming in it. Things were going fine, until the small outcrop of land I was standing on crumbled under my weight, and I fell in."
Neptune paused for a moment to gather himself, Yang giving him a light pat on the shoulder for encouragement.
"I know I wasn't in the water for very long, but as a kid who didn't know how to swim I panicked. My dad jumped in and got me out safely—it must have only been a few seconds when it all happened, but to me it felt like minutes. Ever since then I've been really paranoid around larger bodies of water."
He released a heavy breath and laughed halfheartedly as he looked up at Yang.
"You must think I'm kind of a wimp, huh?"
Yang leaned over and nudged him with her shoulder playfully. Once gaining his attention she gave him a big grin.
"No way man. I get it. Sometimes our fears can stem from the smallest things. It's never a rational thing, so there's nothing to be ashamed of."
Neptune returned her smile with his own. It felt like a little bit of weight had been lifted off of him.
"Thanks, Yang."
Yang stood up suddenly, both hands on her hips as she looked up with a triumphant gaze.
"Now then, today will be the day when you learn how to swim."
Neptune was beginning to stand up with her when he heard what she said, immediately becoming rigid with fear at the thought of being surrounded by all of that water. He then felt a strong pat on his back, which caused him to stumble forward a bit.
"Ya got to loosen up, Nep." Yang moved beside him and ruffled his hair affectionately. "I'll be with you the whole time and I won't leave you alone. Just leave it to the master."
After a failed attempt at fixing his hair he looked at her and smiled. "Yeah. You're right." Neptune then crossed his arms and looked at her with pretend austerity. "You better teach me well then, shifu."
Yang chuckled at his antics while the two walked out of the room.
"You bet, grasshopper. We'll start nice and steady, so you can take as much time as you need to prepare yourself."
"I hope you don't have other plans then, because it's going to take all day to even get me into the water. I assure you." Neptune said and the two shared a laugh.
"I'm already ahead of you on that one." Yang gave him a thumbs up.
They came to a stop as they stood before the glass door that led to the pool area. Neptune gazed at all of the water on the other side of the glass.
His instincts were telling him to turn around and go the other way.
Neptune shook his head, trying to get rid of any thoughts of running away.
He knew that someday he would have to face his fear, and this was as good of an opportunity as any to do that. Plus it would be better to tackle with it here than on a mission with his team.
Yang waited for him to make the first move, willing to make any move of support towards him no matter what decision he made.
Inhaling deeply Neptune then steadily exhaled, clenching and unclenching his fists as he did so.
"Okay…I-I think…I'm ready to try…" He said nervously, looking forward with a slightly determined expression.
With a small smile Yang placed a hand on his back, giving him a light push to encourage him.
"Alright, bud, I'm here for you."
Neptune gave a firm nod at her words, feeling a well of determination from her support.
Raising a tentative hand before him, he grabbed the handle of the door. He paused before gradually turning the handle and pulling the door open.
He took a step forward, and it was the first step toward overcoming his fear.