Players:
Summary: Jeremy, Caleb and Teddy all decide to get some exercise in.
Date: April 15, 2010
A Workout At Barnes
Rating: PG
Barnes Academy - Gym
This module is also fairly large, containing an elevated track that spans the circumference of the room, giving it about an eighth of a mile for a single lap. Below the track and the large ports looking out into the water is a central area that can be configured for anything from basketball to street hockey. Around the central area are areas with hydraulic weight set ups, gymnastics equipment, fitness stations and mats for yoga, sparring or stretching.
It's mid-morning and Jeremy has been up a bit early. He's doing something he hasn't done for a long time, running. He's dressed in a pair of navy blue shorts and sleevless shirt and just running laps around the elevated track. He wanted to see how in shape, or out of shape, he is since he hasn't done a two mile run like this in a long time. He's sweating up a storm and breathing hard as he has one lap left to go. Two years on the streets combined with becoming a smoker haven't been good on his running.
Caleb has come down to the gym to figure out how that blast thing he did the other day works, he's dressed in his UM traing uniform and has a grey hoodie over it with the hood up, his arms and face are covered in a series of tiny burns, he spots his roomate Jeremy when he enters so goes to the other side of the gym so if he does manage a blast again, he won't hit him.
Teddy has been grinding through his prep college … stuff … and with the somewhat-oddly timed break just starting for him, he's working off some steam by lifting weights. Challenging weights. He's over at the hydraulic set, and it's currently set to his 10-rep-max for bench press. He's just finished the first set and is recording it in his notebook, and wondering what sadistic bastard designed the workout. He waves to the others as they come in, but only two more sets and then he … ugh, has to do track.
Last lap and Jeremy just barely makes it through. He slowed his pace on the last lap to a slow job and once he crosses the line and doubles over, hands on knees, breathing hard. Sweat soaks his reddish hair and he even coughs a bit. Once he catches his breath he moves to the ground level to get his towel and a bottle of water. In his track uniform it's easy to tell Jeremy is a bit on the unhealthily skinny side. "Hey Caleb." He breaths out as he relucantly reaches for his towel.
Caleb looks round when Jeremy talks to him, "Hey Jeremy, hard workout?", he doesn't comment on how skinny Jeremy is as he's already told him he lived on the streets, he waves a hand at Teddy aswell.
Teddy turns the weight up another ton and struggles through ten reps, and is very happy that the machine doesn't require a spotter at the end. He swigs from his water bottle (gator-ade! Made from real gators! We kid. They're artificial!) and walks over to where the other two are, since the gym is empty even of the SHIELD guys who sometimes train here.
"Morning guys. I'm Teddy. You're new here?" the latter directed to Jeremy. Teddy is about six feet tall, maybe 190 pounds, jockish, blond hair in very stylish disarray, and has green skin. Other than the skin he seems perfectly normal.
Jeremy doesn't offer a hand and it takes him a good few minutes to respond as he just rests his hand on the towel and doesn't move. He has to see exactly whose used it before him, at least he knows it's been washed. "Yeah, just trying to get back into running, two miles used to be easy." He breaths as he turns to Teddy. "Hi. Yeah I'm a bit new, I'm Jeremy." No hand is offered as he grabs his work out pants and slides them on over his shorts.
Caleb nods, "Morning Teddy", he waits while Jeremy and Teddy introduce themselves to eachother, "So everyone here is pretty into the workouts i guess?"
As no hand is offered, and the new kid is clearly exhausted and sweaty, Teddy is NOT about to insist on grabbing palms. He grins, though, a perfect hollywood smile, "Good to meet you," and turns to Caleb. "I guess so. I really got into it in high school," he explains, leaving his reasons for that interest unspoken.
After the pants are on, Jeremy slides on a long sleeved shirt and a pair of gloves before going for his water bottle. "Nice to meet you Teddy." He shrugs to Caleb's question. "I used to run track and field, I wanted to see out of shape I am. I found out, very." But he was able to run two miles so not as much as he might believe. "I've never been into weight lifting or other sports though."
"I was pretty unathletic when I started out," Teddy admits, "But it didn't take long for me to get in shape and I have a real talent for it."
He checks his watch, "oops, one more set, be right back," and he runs back over to the weights, and starts grinding out the last ten reps… OK, eight… NO TEN COME ON! nine … OK, nine. That last ton felt like more.
Jeremy finds a seat and sits down, shivering a bit now that he's cooled off and his hair is damp. He's gonna need a shower in a bit. He just watches Teddy run off and waits for him to get back. He usues this time to really look at the room, and see what's here. "I wonder if they have a pole valut here." He says standing up and trying to look where one might set something up for that.
Looking at his notebook, Teddy frowns, "Oh come ON, there's no way to … OK fine."
He comes back over to the others, looking a bit dragged out. Wilted even, since he's green. "I asked for a workout routine, I got masochism and pain. What're you looking for, Jeremy?"
"Oh, I was wondering if they had stuff for pole vaulting, I used to do that back in High School and it was just fun to fly through the air. I don't know if I have the upper body strength to do it anymore though." Jeremy says with a shrugs and looking at him, would have a runners build if he was more in shape. "What kind of workout routines? Like just for fun or with your powers?"
"I think I saw someone using a pole vault …" Teddy points over to the central area, to the approximate middle … "There was a long jump sand pit and a pole vault and a vertical jump setup there. But there's volleyball nets set up now. Maybe the guys in the equipment room can say how to change it."
He re-reads the notebook. "I have to do wind sprints, and since I have superstrength, I have to do them wearing a harness. Because otherwise I won't want to vomit afterwards," Teddy grins at that. "So, back in a sec, again."
And he runs over to the weights area, where a coffin-shaped box waits, and opens the box. The harness is a sort of whole-body exoskeleton, easily assembled and strapped on; it consists of a lot of hydraulic cylinders and a big tank for liquid. When he puts it on, Teddy walks back moving a little stiffly, and struggling slightly, and that's without turning it on.
"OK, who even THINKS of this kind of stuff?"
"Well they're wind sprints, you can't get winded without the weights if you have super strength." Jeremy guess as he remembers having to do them years ago. "I think the coach liked to make us feel like we wanted to puke after a while but they're really good exercise for strengthening yourself and your lungs. Also it helps knowing how to run that fast when trying to escape danger." Spoken from experience.
Caleb has been keeping out of the conforsation trying to feel the energy again, but he's having no luck, so he rejoins the conforsation, "You teachers used to make you do weights?, huh, mine used to ask us if we minded doing laps, it's really different here".
Teddy makes a face at that, "I hate running from danger. I'm the tank, I'm supposed to be able to face it down and punch it in the nards and let the rest of the team blow it away." Yes, actually that does kinda describe his typical combat tactic to date. He tries getting into a sprint position and can't, so he turn the "on" switch and it adjusts, letting him settle into a more natural stance. "I asked for this routine, Caleb, but in highschool, yeah, they made us do both, but weights were optional because there was the danger of getting hurt by freeweights. They tried to make us use machines first, but they weren't worth it. So OK, this is better, I can handle this. Right?"
He starts jogging a bit, making a face at the sensation of every movement opposed by something almost as strong as him, and stops after a second. "GEEZ. OK, windsprints."
"Sometimes you gotta run to save your life." Jeremy comments lightly before walking over to Teddy. "I think your form is wrong, that's all." He walks back up to the track and looks for soemthing, finding it he comes back down and puts a metal device on the floor, what runners use to rest their feet on before taking off. "Try using that, get down to the ground and just take off sprinting as fast as you can." He says before looking at Caleb. "We did very light weight training in track, some but not a lot."
Caleb nods, "fair enough, but still, different", he goes back to trying to will the energy into his hands, it's a little frustrating.
Teddy nods, "Was trying to see how to move with this thing on. It's … kinda fun I guess." He gets into position on the sprinter's block, and kicks out, making a respectable if slow time to the 50 yard line, then goes ALL OUT coming back, then turns and runs back… repeat, rinse, blark. Not that he does blark, that would be messy and someone would make him clean it up.
Jeremy watches Caleb curiously while Teddy does his thing. "What are you trying to do Caleb?" He sees him doing something with his hand and then…nothing. Teddy gets handed his water bottle by Jeremy once he's done since Jeremy knows that he'll need it.
Caleb sighs, "You know that energy thing i told you about? well the other night i found out what it does, it's some kind of blast, but i don't know how to work it, thats what i'm trying, nothings happened so far".
The water is MOST welcome. "Gah, gasp, thanks, gasp guh, how did, gasp, I ever, gulp gashp, get this, gasp gulp, bad?" Teddy says, trying to remember how to make more lungs. Fortunately he recuperates fast.
"Wind sprints are designed to make you feel like that." Jeremy says with a chuckle. "Once I'm in better shape I'lls tart doing them again. "Oh, so you can't figure out how to use your powers? Is there like a trainer or something who can help? Right now for me, it's just…I don't like it."
Caleb shakes his head, "I'd rather not mention this to a teacher, when i used it, i kind of knocked someone across a parking lot", he sighs as again it doesn't work, "I'll probably give up soon and try again later, cos i've got a class soon".
Teddy finally recovers his breath, and writes in the book, and then … "Oh joy. Again again," he says, in a high squeaky baby-voice, just because, and gets into the blocks again, "Caleb, you better mention it to a teacher. Keeping secrets about that kinda stuff is not just stupid, it puts your friends and possible teammates at risk."
But before Caleb can answer that he kicks off into sprint number two, just as horrible as sprint number one was.
Jeremy yawns and streches. "Okay I gotta get going, I gotta take a shower before classes. Good luck with those wind sprints and good luck with your powers Caleb." Jeremy says as he gathers his stuff and heads out to go back to his dorm to take a shower.
"See ya Jeremy", Caleb waves as Jeremy heads off, he then takes off after Teddy, back home him and Connor were made to get seperate hobbies to keep them out of trouble, Connor chose Rugby, Caleb chose Freerunning, so the teen is pretty fast, he's aiming to catch up with Teddy and try and keep pace, when they stop he'll explain himself.
It's not so much hard to keep up with Teddy - his run speed is not that fast, really, fifteen seconds to get to the fifty yard marker, then ten back, it's the switching back and forth three or four times that's the issue. At the end of the second set Teddy is gasping for air and water and is considering sticking Caleb in the evil body-brace device so the irish boy won't just run alongside, not even breathing hard. "Are you .. guh … just doing that … fuh for fun?"
Caleb grins when they stop, "I'd prefur some obsticals but yeah pretty much", then he sighs, "I don't wanna tell the teachers about my new trick, cos the guy i hit wasthe guy that was involved in shooting Quicksilver", he bites his lip, "And i saw him again last night".
Not so exhausted after gasping for about 30 seconds, Teddy gulps down some water from his own bottle and looks at the kid. "Was I ever … yes, I was, don't answer that," he says rhetorically. "OK, it's going to be a lot worse if you do NOT tell them. And if you have a lead on the guy who shot Quicksilver and you don't turn it in, then you're aiding and abetting, you become his accomplice. Do you really want that?"
Caleb sighs, "I guess you're right, i know where he works, but if he finds out i told where he is…", he leans against a wall, "Last night i found out a serious weakness i have and he knows it too".
Teddy nods at that. "Yeah, bacause you really should worry about whether the guys who run this place can keep you safe and conceal your secret, right? You better let 'em know what the weakness is, too."
He gets down into the blocks, and starts his last set back and forth. Please, last set. … Wait, did that say FOUR sets? Will look later, running now.
Caleb nods, "Ok i will, i should, of corse i should", he stands up straight, "For a second there i almost forgot i live in an uderground Militery base", he doesn't tell Teddy what the weakness is, he might laugh.
Teddy is too busy gasping for breath to laugh, but he'll inevitably get around to it when he does learn that weakness. Probably something to do with Hello Kitty. Meanwhile though, he does find that he has another sprint to do. Damn…
Caleb looks at Teddy's sheet, "Oh, another run, do you want me to do it too?, it might make it easier", for him sometimes trying to keep up with someone make doing things easier.
"That's not (whew) necessary," Teddy says. "Unless you want to strap some ten pound weights on your wrists, some fifteens on each ankle, and a 30 pound weight belt on your middle first. So we'd be even."
Yeah, what a grouch.
Caleb shrugs, "Fine run on your own, it should be fun", he turns and begins trying to focus the energy again, trying to feel angry, thats what triggered it last time.
It's not precisely "fun" but he does enjoy the feeling afterwards, so when he's done, and can breathe again, Teddy rejoins Caleb to offer his own encouragement. Because it was a nice gesture anyway.
