Turn 136 of 226

Train together and measure the growth daily. Its exactly the same. We really are perfect companions now

The measuring is the ritual the bodies build from the morning the numbers moved. The tape is the thing that hangs on the wall beside the steel shelf desk — the tape that is the body's and Diane's now, the tape that is the shared instrument. Every morning the bodies stand against the wall. The body marks the height. Diane marks the height. The marks are the same mark. The pencil line is one line because two lines at the same height are one line. The scale is the thing the bodies stand on separately and then together — the separate standing that produces the same number and the together standing that produces the number doubled. The numbers are the things the body writes in the legal pad. The legal pad is the thing that has the training logs and the tournament records and now the growth log. Day one since the resumption: 9'1", 1,052. Day two: 9'1", 1,055. Day three: 9'1", 1,058. The height does not move every day. The weight does. The weight is the thing that climbs steadily — the pounds that are the same pounds, added to the body and added to Diane at the same rate.

The training is the thing that adjusts. The adjustment is not the adjustment the body made when the body was growing alone — the adjustment that was constant, the adjustment that was the body learning a new body every week. The adjustment now is the adjustment of two bodies growing together. The heavy bag is the thing that swings differently at 1,058 than at 1,052. The body's fist hits the bag and the bag moves less. Diane's fist hits the bag and the bag moves the same less. The bodies do not need to communicate the adjustment. The bodies feel the same difference and the same difference produces the same correction. The body widens the stance. Diane widens the stance. The body drops the center of gravity. Diane drops the center of gravity. The mirroring is not imitation. The mirroring is the thing that is two bodies with the same structure responding to the same physics.

The sparring is the thing that is the test. The test is not the test of skill — the skill is the same, the skill has been the same since the bodies started training as equals. The test is the test of the new weight. The body throws the cross and the cross is the thing that lands with more behind it — the 1,058 behind it, the mass that is greater than the 1,040 that was the mass last week. Diane takes the cross. The taking is the thing that rocks the head more than the taking rocked the head last week. Diane's grin is the thing that comes back. The grin is the thing that says the cross is harder and the harder is the thing Diane wants. Diane's cross comes back. The cross is the thing that has the same more behind it. The body's head rocks. The body grins. The grinning is the thing that is the mirror.

The ground work is the thing that is heavier. The mounting is the thing that is 1,058 pounds on top of 1,058 pounds. The pressure is the thing that is greater. The upa bridge is the thing that lifts more. The shrimp is the thing that moves more mass. The bodies roll on the concrete and the rolling is the thing that shakes the containers on the shelf — the shaking that is the 2,116 pounds in motion, the shaking that is the warehouse vibrating. The bodies find the positions — the guard, the side control, the mount. The positions are the same positions. The positions are heavier. The submissions are the things that are harder to finish — the armbar that is the thing the body locks and Diane escapes because Diane's arm is stronger, the triangle that Diane locks and the body escapes because the body's neck is thicker. The bodies do not finish each other on the ground. The bodies do not finish each other on the feet. The equality is the thing that holds.

The evenings are the things the bodies spend on the floor. The floor is the concrete that is the bodies' bed. The eating is the thing the bodies do together — the containers opened, the food shared, the hands in the same rice. The growth is the thing the bodies feel in the eating — the hunger that is greater, the hunger that is the wish demanding fuel for the new pounds. The body eats more. Diane eats more. The bodies eat the same amount. The pissing is the thing the bodies do on the floor — the streams that merge, the ammonia that is the warehouse's air. The sex is the thing the bodies do after the eating — the sex that is the grinding, the sex that is the hands and the mouths and the wetness. The sex is the thing that is different at 1,058 — the bodies heavier on each other, the pressure greater, the orgasms the things that take longer to build and hit harder when they come. The sleeping is the thing the bodies do tangled — the limbs interlocked, the breathing synchronized, the hearts beating at the same rate. The body lies on the concrete with Diane's weight on the body's chest. The weight is the thing the body wants. The weight is the thing the body has. The body is not alone. The body has never been alone. But the body is not alone in the way that is the thing the body does not have a word for. The body has the word now. The word is companion.