Football singularity

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[Date: 20/03/2020 | Time: 07:08 AM | Location: Rakim's Villa – Hahnwald, Cologne]

The soft melody of a lo-fi alarm chimed from the marble nightstand, gently pulling Rakim from sleep. The ceiling fan above spun lazily, casting a slow-moving shadow across the warm, minimalist bedroom. Beside him, May stirred under the linen sheets, one arm slipping out from beneath her duvet to silence the alarm with a sleepy swipe.

"Morning already?" she mumbled, voice gravelly with sleep.

Rakim yawned and stretched, joints cracking in protest. "Time doesn't exist anymore, remember? We live in a lawless timeline."

May snorted softly, "I knew I shouldn't have introduced you to the walking dead. For the last time, you're not Rick Grimes, and no, you wouldn't survive an apocalypse with just a bat and a revolver."

Rakim, who had been lying still on his side of the bed, suddenly jumped up in shock. "Blasphemy, I'll let you know that this body is sculped to survive even nuclear explosions." He retorted, pulling up his pyjama top to showcase his well-sculpted six pack that resembled a Greek statue in its almost picturesque build.

"Put those away, no one wants to see them," May retorted with an eye roll, but her gaze lingered a little longer than she had intended to. "Anyway, let's get up,"

Rakim nodded, following her to the bathroom, and with practised ease, they graciously greeted each other as they got ready. May would hand him the toothpaste as Rakim stepped up with their cups filled with mouthwash. Without saying a word, they spent 3 minutes brushing their teeth, flossing and then rinsing their mouths.

By 07:30, the kitchen buzzed with quiet routine. A fresh pot of ginger-lemon tea steamed gently beside a bowl of cut mango and bananas. Rakim stood shirtless in gym shorts, whisking eggs while nodding along to the beat of a Rodwave song coming from the house's Bluetooth speakers. May, in a baby blue crop top and yoga leggings, moved through a slow sun salutation on the back porch with the sliding glass doors open to ventilate the house, letting in the pale morning light.

Outside, the bamboo trees swayed gently, the breeze causing the wind chimes she had bout and hung all throughout the garden to sing in tune. Their breakfast was quick—scrambled eggs, fruit, and oat toast. Rakim cleaned the plates while May cleared the cutlery from the table, quickly cleaning after themselves.

A couple of minutes later, they stood in the small home gym that was as big as a normal room, and May had queued up their 20-minute vinyasa routine on the living room TV. "You know what I realised?" Rakim said mid-plank. "I'm more flexible now than when I was training five times a week."

May glanced over, upside down in a downward dog. "That's a lie. Have you seen the way you move around the field? Agility and flexibility are like your best attributes."

"I know, but my dream is to move as free as Ronaldinho when I reach my prime, which will be harder since modern defenders are, on average, better," He complied with a light frown, going into the cobra stretch following the female instructor on the screen.

May followed suit after having finished her warm-ups, not wanting to miss a second of their paid online class. Despite this being on Rakim's mum's gym app, they still paid the extra entrance fee for whatever classes they chose to take part in. Since most of the instructors were either students studying sports science or personal trainers who had worked in the industry for years.

The extra $10 per live session or the $20 membership for free classes was worth it. After twenty minutes of getting schooled by both May and the instructor, who seemed to be able to bend their bodies in different positions, he was sweating buckets. Despite being one of the most flexible footballers, he also had strong, active muscles that gave him that explosive speed.

So it came as no surprise when he was humbled by May, who had dedicated her life to yoga and serving others. "Okay," she said between light breaths, "that one nearly killed me."

"Yeah, that was a tough one. Still, thanks for tuning in, guys. I know it's hard to stay motivated to keep up with your gym goals when you feel like your life has come to a pause, so give yourself an extra pat on the back," The instructor said with a light smile within as she took a seat on her yoga matt within her living room. "If you have any questions, this is the time to ask them."

"Stop lying, you two barely broke a sweat, and here I am feeling muscles I have banished to the shadow realm," Rakim complained, barely managing to sit up on his mat.

"Yeah, I can't believe Maya convinced me to do this, it's worse than leg day, no man should be put through this torture." Another man complained, sounding more traumatised than Rakim as his girlfriend's account appeared as a black cat with a speech bubble.

"Me too, brother, I feel like I went through military training all over again, there is a reason they don't make us do this, it's worse than torture." Another guy complained his voice appeared as a speech bubble from a penguin emoji named Peggy.

"Fufuf, Guys, we appreciate seeing more of you in our sessions, just cut yourself some slack, as just like any exercise, there is a learning curve to this." Pamela, the Yoga instructor, stated from the screen with a light, amused chuckle at all the complaints from the different guys whose partners had dragged along.

~~~

[Time: 10:30 AM]

After showers and a quick outfit change—May in a pastel hoodie and Rakim in joggers and a fitted tee—they set up for their live stream. The game room had been converted to incorporate her recording devices, much like they had in the hotel. This time, the setup was more comprehensive, featuring LED lights, two sets of PS4 Pros, an Xbox One X, a gaming computer, and an assortment of arcade games.

They had a lot of time in their week-long lockdown and spent it setting up their game room for when they wanted to create content. Rakim figured that since he couldn't entertain his fans on the field, he might as well do it online. While for May, this was quite literally her job, which he was now actively joining.

Closing the blinds and turning on the LED lights, they both got settled in their chairs, and May logged into her streaming platform. In a matter of seconds, the live countdown was on for her switch account. "Alright, we're live in 3… 2…" May tapped the screen.

"-1! And we're live, y'all," May announced, her face brightening as the viewer count climbed, with more than 400 people joining in a matter of moments.

The chat quickly exploded with greetings, emojis, and spam fire emojis. The LED strips behind them glowed a soft lavender, complementing the neon wall sign that read *May's World* in cursive. Rakim leaned into his mic with a playful grin. "What's up, people, it's been a while, I'm back again with my favourite teammate, hope Lockdown isn't too boring for ya'll. Definitely trying to win that lockdown hall of fame couples badge."

May snorted, sipping from her bubble tea. "Ignore him. Today's stream is super chill. We're reacting to your video submissions and taking some Q&As, a couple of games, maybe even a TikTok or two if someone decides to nail the foot shuffle finally."

"That was one time, and that dance is like half a decade old, don't you know that we get sturdy these days?" Rakim fired back, spinning slightly in his chair. "Oh, we should definitely have a dance challenge later."

May raised a brow, mock-suspicious. "You sure your ankle's ready to get sturdy?"

Rakim flexed his foot dramatically for the camera, lifting it up to frame. "Didn't you see me make a grown man rethink his entire career on my game back. Woman, you know I can do a mean running man,"

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To be Continued...