Jean-Phillipe, Kyle, and Laurie (backdated)

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The X-Men's newest trainee gets taken out for a morning jog by two of its most irrepressibly perky morning people. Jean-Phillipe is NOT a morning person. (backdated to Oct 20th)



Laurie slowed her pace, dropping back to run beside Jean-Phillipe, a ridiculously bright expression on her face considering the time of morning.

"So, stopped hating me yet?" she asked.

It was not that Jean-Phillipe was in horrible shape, but compared to Laurie and Kyle... He was not sure which was worse, the effortlessness they seemed to run with, or the irrepressible perkiness they both exuded. "There should be a law against being this cheerful this early in the morning..." he muttered in a monotone as his arms and legs pumped. "Punishable by being beaten while being subjected to nonstop Justin Bieber."

"Dude, that's like, dirty pool. I mean, that's worse than Celine Dion." Kyle had not yet actually heard a Justin whatshisface song, but he knew it was awful. The guys at his favorite music store kept threatening to play the teen pop star's music if people browsed without buying. "It's not that bad. I mean, we could be all like yelling at you and calling you a worm or something like bad army movies. Sides, after the run we get bagels."

"Fresh bagels, even," Laurie noted, keeping herself from stretching out her stride. She had been a cross-country runner back in high-school and shorter runs required a different technique entirely. It was a faster, shorter stride but her keeping up with Kyle over the last few years, and regular training with the X-men had given her endurance for both it and longer, more sustained effort. "Also, if you try to torture us with Justin Bieber, I'll make you listen to weird oldie Canadian bands. I'm sure I could get Garrison to recommend some."

"I believe Garrison is still stuck in his 'my girlfriend left me, therefore I must listen to nothing but Air Supply' phase," Jean-Phillipe panted. Carrying on a conversation while running was not the easiest thing in the world.

"Dude, I think we hit his limit." Kyle doubled back a few paces and jogged backwards, watching Jean-Phillipe. "Yeah, he's wheezing. I think it's bagel time. I mean, too much wheezing and running and there's gonna be barf and if I smell barf then I wanna barf and if I barf then nobody gets bagels." He glanced over his shoulder every so often, making sure he wasn't about to crash into a tree. That would suck.

"My old running coach used to say if you didn't throw up at least once in your first training sessions, you weren't trying hard enough," Laurie noted, but she glanced over at Jean-Phillipe as she said it, recognising the signs just as Kyle had. "But I figure we don't need to be as draconian as she was. Walk back?"

Laurie dropped back from a run to a fast walk as she said it, pulling on the back of Jean-Phillipe's shirt to get him to stop.

"I will be quite content to never have to vomit for any reason, be it overexercise, overdrinking, or any other possibility." Jean-Phillipe had definitely hit his limit, as it was difficult to maintain fully erect posture as he gasped heavily for breath.

Laurie waited while Jean-Phillipe got his breath back, her walking slowed to almost a crawl, "I'm assuming that you're expecting me to make some sort of comment about the perils of underage drinking right now."

"Dude, I think he's just saying he doesn't wanna boot." Kyle said. "Nobody likes barfing, it's not some kind of jab at you." He balanced on one foot, picking bits of leaf and other debris from between his toes. Running barefoot had a few disadvantages. "Dude, you'd probably be wheezing a lot less if you stopped smoking. I'm not saying, you know, I'm just... sayin."

"Actually, I smoke very rarely these days," Jean-Phillipe replied from where he was bent over his knees. "Just whenever my classes are especially frustrating, or things like that." He brushed his hair back and shrugged. "I am aware of the health risks. The wheezing is just because I do not work out hardly at all."

"My offer to help you quit still stands," Laurie noted, bumping Kyle in the shoulder with her own as she went past, for no real reason other then she could and she found it amusing. "You'll find X-man training a lot easier if you have more lung function then a particularly decrepit old man."

"Ow." Kyle shucked his shirt off and pointed to a still yellow bruise, that on anyone else would've been several days old. "I had the early Danger Room slot. Eleven drones all pretending to be me versus me." It was possible they were actually pretending to be Toad but there wasn't any nasty licking, so he was erring on the side of a Kyle versus Kyle run.

"Bah, that's not even a bruise," Laurie noted, pulling off her own top, and showing off the remarkably nasty looking bruise on her lower back. "This is a bruise. Paige and Garrison are sadists, I swear. I had to do this weird obstacle course thing yesterday."

She was wearing her sports bra underneath, and having been a part of a sports team for a long time had almost no body modesty as long as the important bits were covered.

Jean-Phillipe rolled his eyes at the blatant one-upmanship between his two training partners. He idly wondered if, left to their own devices, they would simply go to the natural conclusion and strip completely or something.

"Dude, you're gonna be playing the compare bruises game eventually. Just go with it." Kyle pulled his shirt back over his head, laughing. "She's right, Paige and Gar are pretty evil. Between them and the scenarios from hell that Scott sends over..." He grinned widely. "Dude, 5am runs are pretty cake in comparison."

"Cake with a side of chocolate ice cream," Laurie replied, pulling her own shirt back on. "Or maybe those little breakfast mini-cinnamon rolls."