Issue 1 Downtime

Wearing a long-sleeved training uniform, Wanda was jogging on a treadmill, occasionally speeding up or slowing down as the treadmill's program adjusted things on her. She picked at her gloves and looked around the room as the treadmill started into the last part of the program.

((Open))

"Aren't you done yet? I'm bored. I hear there's a great little "pub" in town. Pub food's supposed to be amazing and bad for you. How many more tests do they have for you?" Tala spoke quickly, her words sort of running together, but over time Wanda had developed the ability to decode Tala-speak.

"This isn't a test. This is me trying to at least hold my own. Gotta be able to at least run a little if I'm going to hang out with you," Wanda smirked. "But yes, we can hit the pub later."

"The Swedish Goddess wants to be more perfect? Go figure. Girl, I'd kill for half of what you've got going on. Heck, at half you'd still stop traffic. I can actually pay for my share this time, made some cash doing that reverse pickpocket shtick that guy in Vegas does. You know, Bob Arno."

"You know I'll take care of you. You don't have to perform for tourists... or whatever they qualify as."

"Nah, you want to pull your own weight, so do I. You'll go broke feeding me. The least I can do is scrounge some loose change from some townies and feed myself every now and then. I wonder is they have real fish and chips, I mean like real fish and not the weird fishy patty things you get from Big K's in the U.S.. This is a big island and we are on the coast so maybe, yeah?"

"I'd say it's likely they have fish," she chuckled, "Settling in okay otherwise?"

"Yeah, my whole rooms bigger than some hostels we've stayed in. They even say with the blood they took they can do some fancy smansy sciencey stuff and figure out a specialized meal plan for me. Ain't that a kick? A whole meal plan just for me. Snacks included. Hope they taste better then that pallet of muscle head protein bars I scored once. Those were just all sort of wrong." She actually took a pause and smiled. "How are you?"

"Settling. Still not sure it's for me, but you do what you have to, right?"

"Sometimes." She paused again glancing down at her new shoes, curtesy of the university. "But don't you go letting my bad influence start turning you all dark side. I hear this place turns out a glory load of superheroes. Like honest to God Ms. Marvel type stuff. You play it smart and you could end up all famous with a plucky sidekick. Secret identities and all."

"That hero stuff isn't for me. I was much happier just getting into trouble with you. Like that thing in Paris."

"Yeah, those guys were cute. Cut from stone and about as quick. Remember how they kept calling us "Brenda" and "Tamara". Brenda I can sort of get, but Tamara from Tala. Now that's creativity." She chuckled. "And the looks on their faces when the cops just so happened to found that stashed pound of "Joyous" they had hidden. That's what they get for rolling those backpacking girls from Brussels."

Wanda chuckled at the memory, "Give me about fifteen minutes to shower and then I'll take you to find your needed fish and chips."

"Ugh! You're such a slow poke." She teased Wanda with a wink before she took a seat on a high jump mat beside the main doors of the gym.

Nick pushed through the doors and entered.

New girls. Nice.

"Afternoon ladies," he said with a, hopefully, charming smile.

" 'Lo." She swung her legs surprisingly slowly admiring her shoes at different angles.

"Afternoon," Wanda responded. "We're not in your way are we?"

"Nope. I think there's enough gym to go around," he said

"There'll be even more in about fifteen, if the Swedish Glamazon would get her tush in gear. There's greasy pud food out there just begging to be eaten." She wasn't trying to be rude but on que her stomach sounded off. "Damn them and their power tests."

"Excuse me if not all of us can break the sound barrier," she said in Tala's direction.

Nick smirked, amused.

"I recommend the Rose & Crown if you want greasy pub food that's actually, yanno, decent."

"She's the one that wants pub food. I'd just settle for alcohol."

"Bah, getting drunk is so over rated." Tala hopped off the mat. "I swear half the stuff people drink tastes like grass and ass. Only reason it sells is because people are stupid enough to swallow it and the hype. There are so many other things that taste way better anyway. Besdies don't fear the zombie apocalypse, fear the under fed speedsters. Desperate times and the sexy Swedes are the first on the menu."

"Pfft. Zombies go down way too easy anyway," he smirked.

Wanda chuckled. "Alright, I'm going. I'm going. Back in 15 minutes," she said as she made her way towards the showers.

"Amazing what you can get dome when you threaten to bite people. So, the Rose and Crown, sounds super British. Food really worth it? I mean I can put it away, it can get pricey. Finding good and cheap is always a trick." She spoke "slowly" for Nick, which was normal conversational speed.

"Well it's not the cheapest, but it's definitely the pub of choice for most people here. Probably because it's pretty mutant friendly and Excalibur used to hang out there so it's got superhero cred to boot."

After the promised fifteen minutes, Wanda returned, dressed in going out clothes with elbow length gloves. She smiled at Nick, "We'll probably be down at the pub for a while if you want to join us... I'm sorry, I don't think I got your name?"

"Nick," he smiled back, "And I'll probably take you up on that."

"Tala and I promise to walk. Don't want to push and pass out like I did in Madrid this past summer."

"I thought speedsters couldn't even get drunk."

"Yup, can't. I can overheat on a not so full stomach. Was cutting corners, trying to save up for the trip here. Too hot, not enough calories, night night Tala."