Nina was vaguely aware of Thor following her as she made her way upstairs. She knew they were going to end up in the same position and, in her thoroughly exhausted state, she didn't care at all. Crawling into bed with someone she didn't know seemed like a treat she deserved after everything she had been struggling with.
The door to the bedroom was open and Nina didn't skip a beat. She crawled into bed, plopping down on her stomach and drawing her arms up under her chest. Her breathing was steady and deep even before Thor could lie down next to her. This time, he didn't try to coax her closer. He let her rest peacefully, only resting a hand on her back, feeling it rise and fall steadily.
"Man," A whine came from the threshold of the room an hour later. It woke Thor, but Nina was still asleep. She hadn't moved an inch the entire time and was drooling.
"Why'd you have to show up now? I had this in the bag," Olivia complained to Thor in a whisper, slapping the back of her hand into the palm of the other.
"What are you talking about?" Thor sat up, this time feeling a little better rested.
"Nothing," Olivia grumbled, quickly deciding that telling him would give him, and thus Katerina, an unfair advantage. She stomped over to Nina and touched her shoulder, sending a small jolt of electricity into the sleeping girls body.
Nina yelped and jumped straight up. Once she spotted Olivia she knew what had happened.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She hissed, rubbing her arm.
"What are you gonna do? Throw a rock at me?" Olivia taunted.
Nina sat back on her heels, wondering what had Olivia so worked up until she remembered Thor was working on costing her two grand.
"Maybe I will," Nina stood and started milling around the room. Olivia had given her some clothes to keep so there was always something on hand.
"So, how did you sleep? Traitor," Nina threw Olivia an incredulous look as she piled an outfit in her arms and walked towards the bathroom.
"I'm not on your side," She reminded her before the door closed behind her.
"Did I miss something?" Thor asked cluelessly.
Breakfast was unusually quiet and awkward. Thor seemed to really have taken a liking to Nina. He spent the whole time with an arm around her shoulders, happy as could be. Steve looked between the two of them like he was waiting for one of them to burst into flames. Olivia was surprised by how nonchalant Nina was acting. She didn't even acknowledge Thor and her body looked relaxed the whole time. Katerina was just drinking it all in, thinking about what she was going to spend her winning on.
Once they got outside and down to business, Nina realized today was going to be the worst of them all. Her body had been sore the day before, but only just. Today it felt like she was running on broken legs. Her ribs screamed with every twist of her body and her lungs seemed to be in worse shape than they previously were. Every breath burned and her shoulders were tired from keeping her posture. It was a disappointingly short time before she found herself leaning against the side of the Tower, hands on her head as she drank in as much air as she could.
When Steve came around and spotted her, he stopped. Just like the day before, he was breathing heavily.
"Everything alright?" Her asked.
"Yeah, I just can't breathe," She'd been there for at least a full minute and hadn't improved much. Her throat felt raw and dry.
"Come on," Steve gestured for her. "Keep moving. It hurts worse if you stop," Nina pushed herself off the wall and wandered back to the sidewalk. Her legs wobbled as she did, knees weak and hips loose.
Walking did help a little, but it didn't make running any easier. It took her significantly longer to finish and she found herself genuinely angry with Olivia when she teased her for it. Once inside the gym they were allowed to sit for a minute.
Nina pressed her back against the cold, stone wall, closing her eyes as it cooled her exposed skin. She sipped on a bottle of water, knowing better already not to over do it. The last thing she needed on top of everything else was to throw up. When she wasn't drinking she was rolling the bottle across the tops of her bare thighs, massaging and cooling her overworked muscles at the same time.