Laura & Jared | The gym

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A first time at the gym ends up in a teasing conversation between a frat boy and a cheerleader

For quite some time now, Jared had been thinking about going to the gym. It was a bro thing, to go and lift weights back in Wayne. But without the bros, the magic wouldn't be there anymore. Besides, being probably surrounded by super strong kids was not much of an ego boost. Anyway, by this time of the day, it was risk free... At least so he thought, as he saw this gorgeous girl walk out of nowhere... "Uh, hey"

Laura turned around. "Hey new face!" Totally cheerful, and also totally clad in tight gym clothes; Laura didn't have any issue to hide herself from view, not when she knew she could cut her way through most troublemakers. "How are you doing?"

"Uh..." was the only sound Jared was able to make. After almost a year bartending in shady bars packed with bears and lately hanging out with spiky teenagers, girls his own age - deadly sexy on top of that - had become a mystery to him. "Uh... Jared... It's Jared... Am I interrupting? Or I can join?"

A smile crept up on the girl's features. "Sure, you can join...whatever you were about to do?" She was quite sure people didn't need to ask permission to use the gym, or else she would be in big trouble. "Oh, hi! I'm Laura", said as she extended her hand. "How do you like the life on the mansion so far? There is so much to see around."

"I spend most of the time in my room, or in New Rochelle, hanging out at my former job... I'm not so much into kids..." Lying on a bench, Jared was getting ready to lift some weights, but before he even started, he realized the charge was way too heavy for his would-be muscles and sat back. "So... What are you doing here? I mean, at the school?"

Laura couldn't tell why someone would spend more than the necessary time on their rooms, unless there was something incredibly important to do there. "The kids are fine, since you don't get to see them most of the time." And when you did, you could tease them; that was always fun. "Me? I'm just fooling around, training with my roommate, or with Pops...and fooling around." Yeah, she was living the best life ever.

Jared found the situation creepy. "Pops? Wait... You're what... 20 to 22, you live in a school, with your dad?"His own situation was not that desperate, after all. "I'm not a family person. But please, tell me you did not grow up here! That would be way too creepy for me!" Random people with very boring past were not part of his day to day life lately...

Laura dedicated an entire minute to stare at him, and then another minute to laugh at the whole thing. "First off", started as she caught her breath. "I'm nineteen and no, I didn't grow up here; I arrived months ago, and my father has been here for longer. He sort of didn't know that I existed anyway until...well, until he did." Really, growing up in the mansion didn't sound ridiculously hate able, but definitely weird. "I came here because my mutation manifested, and this is the best place to, err, protect me, I don't know; I also get to learn from him." Was she weird? That would be a first, really.

'Another kid', he thought. After all, it's a school. But the girl was quite a mystery to unravel. "What weird power do you have that would require protection?"

"What? Nooooo, I just heal pretty fast, and have cool claws, and the senses and the strength and the whole deal. Nothing too weird, as far as I know." Ferals weren't considered weird on her books, but mutants altogether weren't weird anymore for her...well, most of them. "I'm here for more... complicated reasons. Drama, most of it."

"You're a girl, that would explain the drama." Jared had been well raised, still, his time in college and weird places had taught him differently. And as a cute teenager, Laura fell in the Drama Queen category without a doubt in his mind. "As far as I know, claws are animal version of our nails. Yours seem pretty normal. Do they grow or something?" Jared was definitely not interested in the whole explanation. He was there for the show... "Come on, show me!"

There was a pout there. "Boys have an awful ton of Drama as well, but they are all serious until they break down and go emo, or something." She was not a Drama Queen, she was pretty capable of breaking anyone's nose trying to make her a damsel in distress. Raising a hand, Laura popped her two claws. "Well, I just got the cooler kind of claws then", said, perhaps with some smug tone, but he was totally doubting her cool factor.

"Well THAT is weird! Does anyone get anywhere close to you without losing their nose? Or any other limb?" It was just teasing, his very own way to communicate. At least when he was not throwing himself on a wall or off of his bed. "Right now, I feel so normal! No offense, though..."

"Anyone looking for trouble can't get away without losing some fingers." Which was the truth, more or less. And she liked the teasing; she did it all the time anyway. The other part made her giggle. Sheathing the claw, Laura pay no attention to the wounds healing instantly. "Normal? What do you do? Super-powered snarky comments."

"Oh, well, that, plus my incredible talent to spin a shaker like no one else... Otherwise, nothing hurts me. There's this sort of layer on my skin. Nothing can go past that. And thus, I don't feel contact, which sucks, by the way." As he spoke, he started punching the wall, nicely. "So, no glowing, no spiking, no super-anything... Normal. Oh, did I mention I am super-single too?"

She could totally punch a wall as well, but she would feel it. A lot. "So you are like...a good shield? Awesome." At least he didn't need to worry about getting cover, right? But on the other hand, she could heal, so there, they both were safe from harm. Sort of. "And that last one was pretty damn obvious; super single guys smell all the same." There was a grin on her face. "Say, if you can't get hurt...can someone still break your bones? Like, you know, twisting them and pulling them and stuff." She was curious, but the question was maybe a little morbid.

"Cheerleaders smell all the same too but, hey, we love them anyway". He winked. "For the bone breaking, I can't tell you. I jumped from the top of my dorm in college, not a scratch. I'm not that willing to get anything broken yet. You could still stick a claw in my mouth, that would do the trick... Uh, I shouldn't tell you that... Do you still have your uniform?"

 

 

"How did you- I didn't even- Are you a secret spy or what?" Seriously, was she so much of a cliche? "Hmph, we are not all the same, and yeah, now you better watch that mouth of yours." She said the last bit with a considerably better mood than the first one, but still. "And yeah, it's on my room, hidden somewhere so Cammie doesn't burn it or something."

"I knew it!" He giggled. "I'm a football player. And a frat boy. Girls like you and guys like me are meant to be together. We're the alpha college people." As he kept talking about how his people were so awesome, he pointed the Greek letters on his t-shirt. "I'm a TKE, not one of those Sigma Chi losers..."Then, Jared started walking around the room looking for something he could actually do. "So your roommate's a psycho? Hope you also hid your stuffed animals... I'm pretty sure you own quite a collection!" He winked.

Laura was just about to get her claws out again. But then again, she was enjoying the conversation. Also. Weird stuff. "Didn't get that far into college to get into a fraternity thingy, although I was getting really tired of rejecting the offers." She knew the kind of stuff that happened there, and she was no interested on making a fool of herself for the sake of being accepted; heck, she was getting popular without doing that by the time her mutation decided to take the next step. "And the stuffed animals are in my house, miles and miles away." At least she didn't need to fear from Cammie burning those. "You? Frat boy? Get over here right now; we are having a sparring match." She wanted to test the bone twisting theory.

That situation was getting way too creepy for poor Jared. Being close to people had always made him feel awkward, but now that a potential danger was present, things were taking a brand new direction. "There's no way I'm getting close to you but for a big hug." He grinned. "You can punch me, though. That's the most I'm willing to give..."

"What? It's no fun like that!" And what good was in punching the one guy that wasn't going to feel it? Shrugging, Laura picked up her stuff. "Not funny like that. Well, I guess I'm leaving? I think I'll do some laps around the mansion. Want to join me? I promise not making you trip...now and then."

 "Don't feel so confident." Jared removed his shirt and winked. "Are you ready?"