xp_logs | The Trainee Takeout Run

Backdated to the 26th, because it got buried in my inbox and I forgot to post it. Doug takes it upon himself to organize takeout for the brownstone and their visitors.

After being trapped in the brownstone over Christmas the previous year, Doug and Mark had taken it upon themselves to "upgrade" the capacity of the rec room. What had formerly been a room with a TV, DVD player and a small collection of movies had acquired a bigger TV, a home theater sound system, several video game systems and a number of movies. While it wasn't necessarily on the scale of the room at the mansion, it was a good way to pass the waiting hours for X-Force's unexpected houseguests, especially the younger ones.

As the evening approached, the trainees had taken up residence in the rec room. In the middle of a vigorous discussion on what movie to put in next, a phone sitting on a small end table began to ring.

Laurie had been unsuccessfully trying to make an argument as to why they had to watch Footloose, it being one of the classic 80's movies. She still had not given up on trying to convince Kyle of the coolness of an 80's themed Halloween next year but she felt that if she just persisted long enough, she'd wear him down through pure attrition.

"Are we supposed to answer that?" Kyle asked, poking one finger at the phone. "I'm not answering that phone. It's going to be someone from a country where just talking to them is gonna be like a big political thing and get me arrested by the CIA."

Marius rolled his eyes. "Truly, Kyle, you have no sense of adventure. Here, I'll put it on speakerphone. That way lest I be disposed of in a similar manner to that threatened upon my person by Mr. LeBeau I shall have ample witness." Crackin his knuckles, the Australian reached over and punched the appropriate button. "Greetings, interloper at the Snow Valley Residence speakin'. How may I direct your call?"

"Good evening, Angels," came a rather irritatingly cheerful voice from the speakerphone. "Judging from the quality of sound I'm getting, it sounds like you've already put me on speaker. Well done." There was a pause, and a barely audible creak and thud, as though the speaker were leaning back in a chair and placing his feet on his desk. "I have an assignment for all of you."

"Doug, don't be a dork," Jennie said from the vicinity of the floor. Her voice was muffled as she had her head on the coffee table in order to combat the headache she had.

"He's an incurable dork." Kyle said under his breath. "Did you see his apartment. It was like, Dork Central there." This was despite the fact that he'd spent well over an hour playing Dance Dance Revolution with Doug and Mark, and absconded with a pile of comic books. Twice. "I wanna be Bosley. Marius can be Farrah Fawcett."

A pair of thuds came through the speaker, and as Doug talked, it sounded obvious that he was moving. "Just so we're clear, Bosley was always the vaguely gay one. You sure you're fine with that, Kyle?" The last question was simultaneously heard from the speakerphone and the doorway as Doug walked in.

"Dooooork," Jennie sing-songed, still not removing her head from the table.

"Ah, he couldn't maintain the necessary hairstyle for Farrah," Marius replied, unperturbed. He spread his arms across the back of the couch and grinned at Doug. "So, what is this alleged mission? An' more importantly, is it likely to keep us entertained for at least an hour? My desperation is such that I am about to resort to the Danger Gym."

"Mission?" Jan asked, returning from the bathroom. She'd missed most of the conversation, returning just in time to hear Marius mention a mission. "What's this about a mission?"

"Lo, I shall send you brave adventurers forth from this place, to face untold peril, and return with..." Doug grinned and held up a sheet of paper. "Takeout."

"What kind of takeout?" Laurie asked suspiciously, uncrossing her legs from the Indian style she'd been sitting in.

"Lots of different kinds," Doug replied. "We've got something like twenty people in the apartments right now, most of whom have the much-ballyhooed 'mutant metabolism'. Remember how many pizzas we had to get last night?" He chuckled. "Tonight we'll spread the load over a couple different places." He held up several other pieces of paper. "Here are your assignments."

"I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Russian resturant," Laurie said, taking a quick look at her piece of paper. "Can we ask someone to go with us?"

Having handed out all the slips, Doug folded his arms behind his head rather smugly. "Nope, you each have a designated restaurant to go to and a list of what to get."

"You know, Charlie never abused Bosley like this." Kyle complained. Doug's whole watches-too-much-Dr. House-routine had been pretty funny, right up until he recognized the words on his to-get-list. Mole. Chorizo. Tlayuda. Stuff Julio ate.

"What to get?" Jan peered at her paper. "What do we look like, your personal delivery service? Haven't these places ever heard of delivery?"

"Delivery's for crappy places. If you want the good stuff, you gotta go get it yourself." Doug propped his feet up on one of the coffee tables. "Think of it like a Danger Room exercise," he offered. "I'm testing your resourcefulness, ability to handle detail, and speed at completing an assigned task."

"That and you're lazier than hell," Jennie said, lifting her head from the table and cracking her neck. "Right. We'll do this for you. But you have to buy."

Doug grinned, adding a mental point to Jennie's tally. He'd wondered if any of the trainees would be brave enough to call him out on it. He produced a small stack of bills and distributed it among the group. "Clock's ticking," he said, ostentatiously looking at his watch. "Fly, my pretties, fly!"