LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

"Go on the train, they said. It's not worth paying for a flight, they said. Not worth paying for a flight my arse... If I have to get one a Locomostar train ONE MORE GOD DAMN TIME, I will STAB somebody."
Watt was not the type of person to get angry easily. In fact, he seemed like the kind of person that could be hit with a ton of bricks and still remain calm and composed. However, everyone had limits - and Watt had just reached his.

"A fiver for a sandwich. A FIVER. I could have made myself an entire stack of sandwiches for that much money, and they wouldn't be dripping with a liquid I'm not even sure should be in a person's stomach.
Watt had not stopped complaining since he'd gotten off of the train. And, to be fair, he did have good reason - the train ride was a rather hellish experience only the truly masochistic would ever want to relive. After witnessing the atrocity that was a Locomostar train ride first hand, Watt was not even sure how the company managed to remain in business, let alone turn a massive profit.

Watt only stopped once he was approached by a young man in front of the hotel, dressed in uniform, asking if he could take Watt's bags.

 

[Muirgen]

Jeri Lehman felt fantastic, and the wide beaming smile beneath pale hazel eyes said just that without a single word. She strode across the beautifully-appointed hotel lobby, out to a day that simply shimmered with promise through the elegant glass double doors. She had arrived by air yesterday, flown first class of course as a special surprise from her parents. What part of that positively delectable flight she didn't spend cuddled up napping in those cushy soft leather reclining seats, she spent eating an superbly cooked lasagna accompanied by a shockingly good red wine.

She was eternally grateful she didn't have to take that damned Locomostar train. God, what a nightmare that would be! The seats were not particularly comfortable, and packed far too closely together. The average passenger was practically guaranteed to pay way too much for far too little, only to get painfully sandwiched between the big guy who probably should have bought two seats, and the bedraggled woman with the toddler in her lap swiping at his endlessly runny nose and a diaper in desperate need of change.

But even worse? Every damned thing on that overpriced Locomostar food cart was completely inedible - or if someone particularly suicidal or maybe masochistic actually tried to eat those offerings? Jeri shuddered. May as well order up fresh salmonella with a healthy portion of E. coli salad.

Jeri shuddered all over again. Poor bastards, stuck on that train...

Dressed in her form-fitting cerulean workout clothes, she practically bounced through the gleaming front entrance as the doorman held it open for her. Jeri did not realize how truly contagious her exuberance was, the doorman smiling good-naturedly as her long dark brown ponytail swished by, out into the golden sunlight. A quick 5k run before dinner sounded perfect, and she was just about to put the earbuds in when she peered up from the pavement beneath her running shoes, jaw dropping.

"Watt!" Jeri had known he'd be here for the tournament of course, but her ridiculously good mood knew no bounds today, and the sight of one of her oldest and dearest friends in the entire world only made the day even brighter. She ran over, wrapped her arms around his shoulders - but only for a second. Watt smelled... Funny. 'Funny' enough that Jeri's nose wrinkled and she stepped back quickly, clearing her throat.

"Damn Watt, you look like hell." But hey, if the guy already smelled 'funny,' a little honest sweat could only be an improvement. She reached up to the top of his head, rubbing her palm swiftly over his shaved pate with an impish grin. "Go get your room, get your luggage in your room - I'll be here, ready and waiting to kick your ass shamelessly in a 5k."

 

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

Watt was by no means a psychic. He didn't even use any magic close to any common form of psychic ability. But even he could feel the familiar presence in the area. The kind of presence that preceded the arrival of somebody eh thought was so energetic, putting her into a giant hamster wheel for five minutes would generate enough power to last a third-world country a week. And then, he heard it. The cry of his childhood friend, the most unique of the people he knew.

Despite seeing her coming a mile away, Watt was still nto able to brace sufficiently, and stumbled forwards when Jeri tackled him.
"It's good to see you too..." he muttered, once she'd shouted his name and rubbed his head like an ancient lamp. Despite his gruff tone and the annoyance displayed so plainly on his face, Watt was actually quite happy to see Jeri. There was a reason she was still hsi friend after all the yers they'd been together, after all.

But then, a look of horror crossed his face. She wanted him to run a 5k. Someone who looked like he'd been dragged through Hell and back again, and she wanted him to run a 5k with him. The look of sheer, unadulterated terror on Watt's face spoke for him, as did the rapid shaking of his head.
"Oh God please, don't make me run... Not after the train..."
Her assumptions about Locomostar were right. There had been people that had professed to preferring to walk the distance the train would have taken them. "I'll run with you, just PLEASE... Let me get to my room and eat something, well, edible..."

 

[Muirgen]

Jeri's face fell. Literally, visibly fell as her jaw dropped and she shook her head in horror. "The train, Watt? The train!? Why in the world would you... Ugh! Honestly!"

Any sign from Watt that he was either irritated or aggravated with her, much less so much as mildly annoyed, flew straight over her head and somewhere into the stratosphere - she never even noticed. Instead, the young woman rounded on the porter who was gathering Watt's baggage, snapping to business in a whirlwind of energy that had to be seen to be truly believed.

"Do you know who this is?" she asked the wide-eyed young man in uniform who had only just started to gather up her best friend's baggage. Her voice pitched to a nearly impossible mixture of excitement, awe and urgency, "Do you? This is Watt Johnson! Yes, that Watt Johnson! Let's get a move on here, get his things to his room! He's going to need a hot bath, a room service menu and... Yes, let's schedule a massage for him this evening too."

The porter had somehow managed to gather up most of Watt's baggage in both arms, stopping somewhere around the mention of room service and a massage to stare at the young woman incredulously. Jeri just met his gaze with a single cocked eyebrow, her lips a thin line of obvious disapproval.

"And for every second longer you stand there gaping, wondering if I'm serious, I'm subtracting five dollars from your tip. And your time begins... Now," Jeri said dryly.

Now that inspired some serious forward motion from the guy. Jeri turned back to Watt, shrugging her own shoulders as she wrapped one arm companionably around his. "Really now Watt," she said far more softly as she leaned toward his ear, "What were you thinking, arriving here today on a train? For heaven's sake... " She walked with Watt like this to the elevators, shaking her head. "Please promise me you didn't actually eat anything on the train... "

Her voice trailed off as she studied Watt's face for a moment, and cringed. "Oh no... Damn Watt, are we going to need to put you on preventive antibiotics or something? Should I have ordered up an enema too? Why would you do this to yourself the day before the tournament - and where's the family?"

 

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

Watt grimaced as his childhood friend berated him for taking the only travel option available to him.
"Well I'm sorry, Miss First Class, but some of us can't afford to splurge on a trip shorter than twelve hours."
Watt's tone was so thick with sarcasm, that even Jeri would have a hard time not picking up on it. And even then, Watt had his doubts about whether she would actually be able to tell that he was indeed being sarcastic. After all, the fact that she was annoying him had not even crossed her mind, so he thought.

He had no words for Jeri, however, when she had started to address the poor person who was stuck with Jeri's ranting. He had no intention of being caught up in the whirlwind that was Jeri when she was on a roll. He suspected tht if he so much as coughed while she was going off on a tangent, that he would be dragged into the maelstrom of icomprehensible gibberish that Jeri spewed. All he did was give the poor porter a sympathetic look - the look of a man who knew the pain he was going through.

"Well, like I said,"Watt replied, once asked by Jeri about his choice of long-distance transport, "Neither I nor my family are made out of money. If it's any comfort, I was in the business class carriages. The food there was horrendous, I assure you, but it ws at least edible. I think."

 

[Muirgen]

"Stow it Watt," Jeri said with an ease that belied her vaguely hurt feelings. She might [kindly] be accused of being overly exuberant on most any given day, but no one could ever accuse her of being stupid or unobservant. No one got to the pinnacle of their sport like Jeri had, by missing subtle cues or being oblivious to the mood in the air.

That still didn't mean she was going to wear her hurt on her sleeve though, and Jeri laughed defiantly. "You know damn well you could have called me. You've been there for me I don't even know how many different times. Think I couldn't do the same for you? Besides, when I kick your ass tomorrow? I don't want to hear an endless litany of excuses about a belly ache or a little pukey feeling, stealing away my joy."

Jeri winked slyly at Watt and then smiled oh-so-sweetly as the elevator arrived with a distinctive ping of a chime. The polished brass doors opened to a sumptuously mahogany-paneled lift, and she ushered both the beleaguered porter and Watt into its confines, looking at him expectantly to send the lift to his floor.

"And you think it was edible, Watt?" Jeri said as she leaned back against the back of the elevator, arms folded over her chest as she watched the numbered lights flicker. "The whole world quakes when Watt Johnson thinks... " She stuck her tongue out at him, the very epitome of maturity.

"By the way, just so you know? I'm telling your Mom when she gets here, what a grumpy ass you've been."

 

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

Watt had no clever remark to retort with when he was told he could have just called - only some disgruntled mumbling. Not that much else would be expected of him, though. Despite his stoic attitude, and despite his strange ability to keep a level head in literally any situation, Watt had always seemed a little prideful. Indeed, his latest escapade - not wanting to go to Jeri for help - exemplified this.
Working though his unease, Watt somehow managed to force a reply to Jeri's trash-talking, however.
"Jeri, the only pukey feelings I'm going to be getting are the ones from laughing so hard at your crap running. You know as well as I do that going hard, fast, and long is my game."

"The world quakes when I think because it's afraid of me, Jeri. The world quakes when you think because everybody's laughing so much at how ridiculous the idea sounds."
Given Watt's tone, a stranger would not be blamed for thinking that the two were the most bitter of enemies. However, to Watt, being able to insult his friends without them being offended was the pinnacle of friendship. He couldn't count the number of things he'd called Jeri that he would not dare repeat in public.
Watt took up an expression of mock frustration when Jeri mentioned telling on him - to which he replied:
"Well, if you're telling my mum about that, I'm telling your mum about you and your verbal diarrhoea."

 

[Muirgen]

Jeri just rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she held up one hand to Watt's face. Her fingers and thumb opened and closed, again and again, the silent and universal sign for 'blah blah blah whatever you say' that was an unmistakable estimation of her thoughts on Watt's braggadocio.

"Yes Watt. Of course Watt," she snorted with a little laugh through her nose. "The whole world's afraid of you, yes, yes, of course... Everyone just laughs at me... Right, gotcha... On and on and on... " She tilted her head side-to-side as she spoke, letting the little sing-song rhythm of her words carry them from the elevator to the door of Watt's room. Jeri snapped her fingers impatiently until they were filled with the motel key card.

She slipped it into the lock, the tiny green light winking up at her as she shoved open the door. Jeri smiled so brilliantly in the face of Watt's grouch, thoroughly enjoying herself. "Oh, and please do call my mum - where do you think I ever got such an incredibly charming personality trait? She'll be so proud... "

Jeri waited until poor, beleaguered, nauseous and grumpy Watt passed by her to go into his room, smiling impishly as she leaned over his shoulder to whisper in his ear. "Hard, fast and long, is it? Heh... That's not what she said. Well, at least not the first and the last... "

 

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

Watt knew that he should have known better. Trying to one-up Jeri when it came to insults was like playing chess against a pigeon. It didn't matter what he did, she'd just ignore everything and strut around like she owned the place. He did, however, take some small comfort in tossing the keys to her - doing it so that she would have to lunge to catch them. And he hoped she knew he wouldn't pick them up if she dropped them, because he sure as Hell wasn't going to bend over or crouch - not with his stomach still reeling from the damage the "food" on the train had dealt it.

When she whispered in his ear, Watt just rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, as if exhausted by her remark.
"Jeri, How many times do I have to tell you..." He said, exasperated. "That's-what-she-saids don't work if the person you're saying it to is gay. You know, a person that likes men. Not women. Christ, how many times have I had to remind you of that now? Forty? Forty-five?"
Watt tossed his bag onto the bed, and began rummaging through it."Anyhow, you'll need to give me a minute. I'm sure I packed some Stomachaid..."

 

[Muirgen]

Jeri had snatched the keys easily from the air, her every last, swift movement edged with an effortless feline grace. She wasn't the one who was sick after all, and on top of it all? She was likely in the best physical shape of her life.

She also wasn't the one completely afflicted with a lack of humor, and she simply let Watt's sardonic retort go by without another word in response. Jeri ushered the beleaguered bellhop inside Watt's room, nodding her head toward where he could set the rest of Watt's baggage. And though the young man eyed her wearily, Jeri still pulled a more-than-generous tip from the small zippered bag that was wrapped around her bicep, the one that also held her smartphone, her room key card and the cash she just gave the bellhop.

The guy couldn't move fast enough to get out of there, and honestly? At this point, neither could Jeri. Let Watt stew in his own nauseous little pique. Her company and her teasing were obviously unwanted, and only grating on his already frayed nerves. She might not always catch the limits of her teasing, where her jokes were about as rough as she was, but she was - if nothing else - a good and true friend. Let him get his bearings, and he could do... Whatever he liked. Maybe a nap would do him some good.

"Maybe around the fiftieth Watt, who knows?" Jeri said lightly as she stopped by his motel room door, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly as she glanced back at the guy, still busy rummaging through one of his bags. "I'm going to go do that 5k Watt." She smiled softly.

"It's still good to see you, my friend. No matter your opinion on the matter." Jeri laughed warmly, and left the man to his own devices as she made her way back to the elevator.

 

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

Unable to speak properly while he was told was lunch was rising to claim its place outside of his stomach, Watt held out his arm, and held his thumb up. As abrasive as he seemed, he was by no means unhappy to see Jeri. She was, after all, his best friend - there were few situations that sprang to mind that he would be completely uncomfortable having her around in. It was just that Locomostar's horrendous conditions were beginning to get the best of him. He prided himself on his stamina, but even he couldn't last through something as terrible as a train ride like that unscathed.

Moments after Jeri left, Watt found the pills he was looking for. They were expensive as all Hell, compared to other stomach-settling pills on the market, but they worked wonders. After popping one dry, Watt dragged himself onto the bed, and just relaxed. As good as it was at combating stomach issues, Stomachaid couldn't work miracles. He had to give it a few minutes to take effect, and possibly an hour for himself to recuperate enough to get some basic training underway.
"I wonder if she'll be up for the gym later..." he muttered morosely, before he drifted into a half-conscious state of rest.

 

[Muirgen]

Jeri most certainly was up for the gym. After all, a mere 5k run wasn't much more than a warm-up for an athlete like herself, even before a tournament like the one they'd be facing the next day. She was so up for the gym, that she was already there.

That didn't mean though, she was a complete fool. Today wasn't for strength training, or working up a lather or pushing new boundaries. This was simply a night for warming up, for loosening muscles tightened and aching from a prolonged stint on an airplane and in airport waiting lounges. Just a few hours to remember how to breathe, to loosen the joints, to stretch and let go of all the tensions of the day before a light dinner, a long bath and an early bed time.

Still in the same dark workout clothes she'd worn for her run, Jeri was barefoot on the mats now, moving deftly through the asanas that sent the winds naturally cascading through her body to gentle zephyrs that floated lightly over the gym floor. Her entire body was lifted lightly, no more than a half an inch from the ground as she turned with all the grace of a leaping gazelle. The ends of her dark pony tail lifted on a current of a breeze running opposite the twist of her body.

 

[Laggy Lagiacrus]

The medicine had worked its magic, so to speak, and Watt was once again able to move five feet without feeling like his stomach was trying to crawl out of his throat. Once he was sure that he would be able to exercise without having to trek back up to his room, Watt headed into the gym. He wasn't there for exercise, that could wait. For now, he had to limber up, and make sure all his joints were still working. He was fairly certain that the food wasn't bad enough to cause muscle deterioration, but given that the train ride had been one of the most cramped and awful he'd been on, he felt that a little stretching was warranted.

Seeing that there was a spot open on the mats next to Jeri, Watt paced over to her, and spoke.
"Hope you don't mind me stretching here."
Not that he was about to stop, of course. He was already doing some basic stretches, gradually escalating it into him assuming positions no man with a skeleton should have been able to. It was all part of his routine, however. The Wildfire style was, after all, one that placed a heavy amount of stress on the user's joints, given how fast they moved.

Strangely enough, despite all this, his vest and shorts never seemed to move. Whether he was just that good or if the clothes were enchanted was anyone's guess.

 

[Muirgen]

Jeri smiled slyly, catching sight of her friend from the corner of her eye as she turned, the very air itself twisting about, her body the center of a gently moving and invisible vortex. Only the lengths of her dark pony tail hovered and twirled in the unnatural breeze about her.

"Good to see, you're up and out of bed," she whispered, her voice unnaturally amplified to a strange whooshing hiss as she spoke. Jeri's dark eyes roamed over her friend as he contorted his body in ways that might have made anyone suspect Watt didn't actually have a skeleton. She smiled widely as her arms stretched high over head. "And by all means, do help yourself to whatever mats you need Watt." Jeri winked at him wryly, then let herself fall back in a precisely calculated and exquisitely slow motion until she ended in the urdhva dhanurasana pose, holding herself there easily as she thoroughly enjoyed the stretch along the length of her core.

Watt's unnatural contortions tickled her even more, viewed upside down. Despite the endless hours they spent arguing about the merits of the Wildfire style over the Stormwind, or her Stormwind style over his Wildfire (the obvious winner in her eyes), Jeri still admired her best friend's undeniable capabilities, his strength and power. Even now, just on the other side of a rather serious case of food poisoning, Watt was still a joy to watch in motion - well, not in that way, obviously. Gay bestie was quite gay after all. Rather, she thought of Watt in motion as far more akin to a work of art, a magnificent moving sculpture.

Not, of course, that words to that affect, admitting as much? Psh... No such words would ever leave her lips. Not ever.

Not ever, ever.

Jeri pursed her lips and puffed a playful breath of ozone-tinged stormwinds at Watt. "Too bad our coaches would have respective and massive heart attacks at the thought of some sparring before a tournament, isn't it?" she said without the least hint of sincerity in her voice, and that grin twisting impishly on her lips.