"T-Thirteen...," Ananias wheezed as he slowly lowered the weights he had been using down to his sides. He took a moment to relax the muscles in his arms and tighten his grip around said weights before slowly lifting them up again. "Fourteen... Fifteen... S-Sixteen... S-Seventeen... Eighteen..." He took a moment to relax once more before struggling to lift the weights up once more. "N-N-Nineteen!" He took one last moment to rest his arm muscles before closing his eyes, holding his breath, and forcing himself to finish his second set. "Twwwwenty!" He practically allowed his arms to fall back down to his sides as he let out a strained gasp and took a moment to catch his breath.
"Well, well, well," the familiar and impressed voice of Effie said from behind him. She walked up to him and smiled. "Now look at who's working hard! That's the spirit! Keep it up and you'll get stronger in no time!"
The still tired and sore Ananias could only nod weakly and mutter a low, "Thanks," in reply.
Effie chuckled before finally taking note of the training equipment that Ananias had been using. She tilted her head to the side out of curiosity. "Huh?" She easily took a small dumbbell from out of Ananias' hands and inspected it for a moment before asking, "What's this?"
Ananias wiped the sweat off of his brow with the back of his now liberated arm before answering, "It's called a dumbbell. I got an aunt who specializes in manufacturing them. They're supposed to help focus on certain body parts whenever you use them for a workout. Like, these are supposed to focus on strengthening your arms and only your arms, you know?"
"Is that so?" Effie said. She inspected the dumbbell for a moment before giving it a try, replicating Ananias' movements perfectly before nodding her head and saying, "Wow, that's actually pretty neat. I can actually feel the difference."
Ananias nodded. "Yeah. I was a little bit skeptical about them myself, but I'm pretty confident that if I keep this up, I'll be able to be strong enough to spot you in no time."
Effie frowned at this. "Um, I hate to break it to you, but it took YEARS for me to get as strong as I am now." She handed the dumbbell with an apologetically amused smirk. "I'm pretty sure a few days of this isn't going to help you lift boulders anytime soon."
Ananias let out a disappointed sigh as he lowered his head and took back the dumbbell off of Effie's hands. "Yeah, I figured as much," he muttered. "That's what I get for being stupidly optimistic."
Effie chuckled. "Well hey, don't let this instance stop you! We could always use a little bit more optimism around here!" She then gave him a curious frown and asked, "But all that aside, you're still fixated on being my spotter, aren't you?"
Ananias simply shrugged. "Well, I mean, if no one else is going to do it..."
Effie let out another amused chuckle before shaking her head and saying, "Look, I appreciate the thought and effort, really, but we've already established that you're nowhere near strong enough to help me out if I need you, so don't worry about it, alright? I'll either find someone else to spot me or I'll just stop lifting boulders over my head. It's as simple as that."
Much to her surprise, Ananias crossed his arms and gave her, or rather himself, a somewhat annoyed and angry pout. "I guess."
"Is...," she crossed her arms as she gave him an amused smirk, "is that a pout I'm seeing? What, does being able to hold up a boulder really mean that much to you?"
"... Kind of."
"Aw," Effie amiably teased, "did not being able to lift a rock bruise little Ananias' ego?" She then frowned and added, "Because no offense, but I didn't actually think you had any ego left to bruise."
Ananias lowered his head and muttered, "Yeah, I guess that's fair." He then sheepishly shrugged. "But even so, I should at least take some sort of pride and comfort in what I am, you know?"
Effie raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What you are? Like, a guy? Is this what this is about? You feeling like less of a man because a woman can lift something that you can't?"
Ananias shook his head. "No, of course not. I've got a friend back at home who could out-lift me any day. I'm talking about the fact that even though I'm not very good at anything, I can still at least be a decent helper to everybody," he then lowered his head and shook his head, "and I can't exactly help anybody if I'm not exactly strong enough to. And if I lose even that, then what am I?"
Effie let out a tiny gasp of surprise. "Ananias..."
Ananias then dejectedly sighed before going back to his workout. "I've got to get stronger," he murmured. "I just gotta."
Effie watched him as he silently did his set for a while before leaving him alone and murmuring, "Man, I knew he had some self-esteem issues, but maybe they were a little bit deeper than I thought."
Author's Note: After Effie's supports will be Female Corrin followed by Benny, Anna, Ophelia, Camilla, Gunther, Setsuna, Kanna, Selena, Beruka, Xander, Azura, Flora, Odin, Laslow, Rinkah, Arthur, Silas, and Leo. Got someone you want to support with Ananias? Request it. Remember, all Nohr first generation characters, Soliel, Ophelia, Anna, Kanna, Rinkah, Subaki, and Setsuna are allowed to support with him as well and it is a first come, first serve system.
