The Camp Gym; Wednesday Morning.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal usually didn't consider running as part of his workout routine; it was excellent exercise, sure, but Cal wasn't exactly doing this for his health. His pursuits were ones of complete vanity, and running just didn't cover the muscles he wanted to work. However, he had been working the same ones this whole time, and yesterday's adventures in obnoxiousness had him thinking it might not be such a bad idea to work a treadmill on occasion, which is what he was pursuing at the moment.

He should invest in some better shoes at some point.

[[ open, of course! ]]

Comments

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Despite having no Wednesday classes, John found himself in the gym fairly early and hopped on another treadmill with a large bottle of water. "Hey," he said, nodding his head at Cal, still slightly groggy.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal, currently at a light...very light...jog jerked his chin up, and took a moment to consider if all his previous chest work had been working. Twist in fate: three years ago stressing out over the fact that he didn't have a chest like the other girls, and now worrying about having too much of one, despite the fact that it was highly unlikely anyone would be paying that much attention.

"Hey."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Slow would be so nice today," John said, knowing he needed to go fast if he was going to wake himself up for his trip. Stupid alcohol. He took a swig of water and set the machine to a fairly rapid pace.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal grinned slightly. "Slow and steady," he muttered. "But I'm not much of a runner, as a rule."

"...Rough night?" he guessed, taking note of the pace the other guy set with the kind of look one might give a whirlpool in the rapids after someone had suggested they go for a bit of a swim.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Running's one of those necessary things in life," John said, gesticulating as he continued to run. "Much like drinking, only they seem to be opposites in consequences depending on the reasons." He started really wondering about his own comparison there.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal thought about this a moment as he jogged.

"Unless you run into something," he added.

Like a damn tractor.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Point," John said, drinking deeply of his water and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"I guess that's the benefit to running on a treadmill. No real chance of incident. Stupid machine'll stop if I even trip off of it."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal eyed the interface of the treadmill. You know, the one that had taken him at least fifteen minutes to figure out. "Really? It'll do that?"

True, there had been no flying cars in the future (yet), but he was still finding all sorts of neat twists in technology.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Oh yeah, they're pretty advanced these days," John said. "No more instant facials when people trip."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

There was another long pause before Cal, shaking his head, commented, "There goes all the entertainment value of this place. Please tell me that at least banana peels still work for that kind of thing."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"So long as you drop them on the floor," John said, figuring that was still safe. "Though I think since we're in France, mimes are supposed to be bringing all the comedy."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

There was another pause.

"And your name is...?" Cal asked.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Oh, right, sorry," he said absently. "I'm John. Sheppard." Somehow the last name was always an after thought, even knowing there were, or at least used to be many Johns in Fandom.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Good," Cal nodded. "Now I know who to blame when I get assaulted by wee tiny mimes in a few days, or, even worse, wake up Saturday with white paint on my face, an inability to speak, and the urge to over gesticulate all my expressions."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Actually, I'm the guy you blame when you turn into randomly whorish food," John countered. "You, I will now be blaming for the mime thing."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"I'm not even French!"

It was a completely valid argument, although it didn't exactly matter, as Cal knew that he hadn't mentioned his own name to John yet, either. On the other hand, though, he realized that he could very easily be identified by a good number of the student body as that guy in the gym.

"And, I'm sorry, I have to ask. Whorish food?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Let's just say I'll never be able to look at dessert the same way again," John admitted, eyes widening. God, he hated cookies.

"So you, guy who isn't French, do you have a name?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Yep."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Nice to meet you, Yep," John grinned.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal snorted a bit of a laugh. "Okay, good one, you got me there. It's Cal. That Guy in the Gym would probably work just as well, and I will vehemently deny any claim of fault for any mimes."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Then I'll call you Cal, That Guy at the Gym Who'd Better Not Make Me a Mime, as if it were your title," John decided.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"That's a little...weighty, isn't it?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"It's long, too."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"You know, just Cal is fine," he assured John. "I'm really into the whole brevity thing."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Brevity was really admirable as far as dirty went. "It's too late. You will forever be remembered as Cal the Mime." He took another gulp of water. Cup holders were so convenient on exercise equipment.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

And actually canon. "Well," Cal muttered, "at least it's better than Sparkles."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

That got a funny look from John. "Someone nicknamed you Sparkles?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"It's okay, though," Cal said. "I nicknamed her Fan Butt."

Which was much worse, in his opinion.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Which begs the question, is her butt very fan-like?" John wondered if he knew this chick.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Nah," Cal said, shaking his head a little; he thought to comment that it was actually quite a nice butt, but he wouldn't ever risk that getting back around to Temari and having to admit that he thought as much. "But I'm not exactly sparkly either."

Not anymore.

Thank God.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Duly noted," John couldn't help but see that Cal was not sparkly. "Though, Fandom is known for its glitter."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"So I've heard. And though I have walked through the valley of darkness...or, in this case, sparkliness, I am proud to say that I emerged victorious and unscathed, despite her best efforts."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Good for you!" John really was impressed. "Glitter leads to complications that this place really doesn't need. Living here is crazy enough."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." Cal grinned a little at that, picking up on a sense of sincerity there. More sincerity, anyway, than facetiousness. "I kind of pride myself in being able to handle whatever gets thrown at me, especially here."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Well, you'll have ample opportunity to prove yourself," John said sadly and sincerely. "I like to think I can handle myself with the strange. Like the ponies and cookies and gremlins. It's the times when Fandom screws with my perceptions that gets to me."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

While he hadn't exactly encountered cookies or gremlins, Cal certainly did have the confidence that none of those sorts of things could screw with him as badly as his life before Fandom already have. That last bit, however. Cal's head tilted as he jogged in thoughtful silence for a moment. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Screws with your perceptions?"

He felt he could take at least a good guess, but where he was really stuck was on the whole matter of if his perception already had tested its limits. As much as a life change as the discovery was, had really been that much of a test of perception? He felt that he always knew he was male, even if he wasn't aware, so it was hard to tell, on that level.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John thought for a moment as he ran, drawing coherence around his memories. "Like when I lost my memory and thought I was some sort of hero. Or when I woke up with my girlfriend's double and thought I'd cheated when really, it was always my girlfriend. It felt like my own self-perception got messed with."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Another moment of silent running followed before Cal could reach what he could, at best, call a vague conclusion regarding the matter.

"Huh. Yeah. I guess that could just about do it."

But he was feeling he could handle all of that somewhat decently. Because, apparently, John had gained his memory back. And he hadn't cheated on a double. No perminant damage, for the most part.

It was when the shift in perception couldn't be reverted back where things got...to be a concern.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"At least everything worked out in the end," John admitted. "That's one good thing about Fandom. Even after you've been horrifically embarrassed, people always forget and move on."

Unless they were certain Jedi who would not let go of a specific bunny situation.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Which is more than what can be said about things as they've happened to me before," Cal muttered, his frown deepening as he realized that he'd struck something there. "You know," he mused between his steps, "I think that's why I get so irked when people make a big deal about all the weirdness around here. Because it's not like it sticks. It's not like you turn into a pony and you stay that way. It changes back, and that's something new for me, and I actually kind of like it."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

He listened, getting that temporary changes weren't all that harmful. It was a new perspective than others in Fandom had expressed in the past. "Then, Cal the Mime, it sounds to me like Fandom's a good fit for you," John said.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal preened a little, or, at least, as well as one could when they were already getting a little breathless at the combined efforts of talking and jogging at the same time, smiling proudly at the compliment.

But, in response, all he said was a very simple, "I have no idea who you are talking to. There are no mimes here."