#codejuly23

"Hey, Einstein." Ulrich sidles over with his fists on his hips (probably because he's wearing his tank top and has no available pockets to shove them in). He looks Jeremie up and down, nodding to himself. "Not exactly gym clothes, but it shouldn't matter too much."

Oh no. Jeremie bristles. "I didn't know I was supposed to change--what's this about?"

"Relax, Jeremie, it's nothing scary." Somehow, the reassuring smile Yumi gives him does not make him feel any less growing dread, especially coupled with the glint in her eyes. "Me and Ulrich were just practicing the other day, and when we took a break, we got to talking."

"She said hey, you know Jeremie's been getting clobbered in the laboratory a bunch lately--"

"Okay, I didn't say it like that."

"--and then I said yeah, I wonder if there's anything we can do to help aaaaaand..." Ulrich gives Jeremie a feral grin. "We realized we've both been practicing silat so long that we could probably give you a few pointers."

Yep. It's worse than XANA thrashing him around the gym like a dog's old chew toy. At least he can't disappoint XANA.

Jeremie takes a step back, holding up his hands. "Why didn't you tell me this before I came?"

"Because you wouldn't have shown up," Ulrich deadpans, correctly.

"Now you at least have to hear us out," Yumi adds.

They both look incredibly pleased with themselves over this little entrapment, and in his heart, Jeremie knows he's already lost--the other Lyoko Warriors are the only people he's met so far that are as stubborn as he is. Which is a good thing, because if they weren't, they definitely would've given up on all this by now.

Still. "I don't see how this'll help. You can't stop a spectre by punching it."

"But you can slow it down," Ulrich counters, "I've seen it."

"Plus it's a great boost to your confidence."

"I'm plenty confident!"

"Sure, but when an attack targets you you fold like a wet rag." Jeremie leans back, surprised by Yumi's suddenly sharp tone. She seems to realize how that sentence had come out and winces. "No, I didn't mean it like that--I just..." She shakes her head, letting her sentence trail into nothing.

Ulrich glances at her out of the corner of one eye, clearly concerned. "Uh--maybe it'd help get Jim off your back about not being good at athletics?" he tries to offer.

"I can't. I'm just not cut out for that stuff, I'm not like you guys."

"You don't have to be," Yumi blurts out. "We just want to teach you a couple basics that might help you out. At least try it. Please, Jeremie."

Yumi's eyes are pleading, and Ulrich's brows are still knit in worry, though Jeremie can't tell who exactly the worry is directed at anymore. He really just wishes he could clip through the floor and disappear, but that's not an option.

After a stalemate that feels much longer than it actually is, Jeremie sighs. "Fine. I'll try it. But I'm telling you it's not gonna work."

The two brighten, and assure Jeremie that he won't regret it.

Jeremie regrets it almost immediately.

Even their pre-workout warmup practically wipes Jeremie out. It's true that what they're trying to teach him is pretty basic--just some stances and movement drills--but the two of them just seem to feed on each other's energy until he can't possibly hope to catch up. Yumi's abrupt transformation from caring but aloof friend to perfectionistic taskmaster nitpicking his posture is downright terrifying, and on the other side, Ulrich just keeps getting more amped up and intense, to the point where Jeremie worries Ulrich's actually going to ask him to spar. Their teamwork regarding his training is admittedly impressive--something Jeremie wishes they'd use half of on certain missions instead of turning them into an Olympic-level social gymnastics routine.

Jeremie genuinely does give it his best attempt, but his hands and legs won't coordinate the way he wants them to, he keeps losing his balance and flopping onto the foam mat like a dying fish, and he's fairly certain his hamstrings are about to start a riot in protest. Frustration quickly settles in despite Yumi and Ulrich's encouragement--they keep telling him things he needs to do better or practice more and he's clearly not good at it why should he bother--

He's not sure how long they go for, though it certainly feels like an eternity. However long it lasts, Jeremie eventually wobbles trying to match Ulrich's wide stance, falls over on the mat again, and simply refuses to get up.

"C'mon, Jeremie!" Ulrich's practically bouncing on his heels. "One more set!"

Thankfully Yumi, though her criticisms had been many, comes to Jeremie's rescue. "Actually, I think that's probably enough for right now."

Jeremie makes a strangled noise that he hopes adequately conveys his relief, rolling over onto his back and throwing his arms out to his sides as if trying to make a snow angel out of the sticky blue plastic. Ulrich looks vaguely disappointed, but nods, stretching his arms over his head. Yumi sits down next to Jeremie, also stretching out to touch her toes. It's probably some fell post-workout ritual, but Jeremie's not particularly interested in moving any more. He's already going to need to wash his sweat-stained shirt.

They sit in silence for a few seconds while Jeremie tries to catch his break, angling his face towards the gym lights to trace the smears all over his glasses. His hair's definitely unsalvageable, sticking to his forehead in messy clumps, and he can feel his own heartbeat in his arms.

He hears the door to the gymnasium open and tilts his head back, worried about a classmate (or worse, Jim) seeing him like this. The blurry shape he catches out of the corner of his eye is a familiar shade of pink.

"Aelita!" Jeremie quickly turns onto his stomach and tries to push himself up--his arms promptly give out and he crumples back onto the mat, groaning. "Bury me with my hard drives."

Aelita clamps both hands over her mouth, though it does nothing to stifle her loud snort. "I was wondering why you weren't answering your phone--no reason, don't worry." She looks up at Ulrich with a raised eyebrow. "What did you two do to him?"

"We were just trying to teach him some self-defense basics."

"Oh boy. I know you guys are coming from a good place, but I feel like you two doing that is like one of us teaching you computer science basics."

So is this what they feel like when he starts talking about math? Jeremie would really like to argue that it can't possibly be the same because at least his rambling isn't physically grueling, but he honestly doesn't have the energy.

"She's right," he says instead, looking over at Yumi. "I appreciate you trying to help, but I'll never be able to."

"We wouldn't have asked you if we didn't think you could do it," Yumi says, somewhat pained.

"Yeah, you've definitely got the stamina for it. Didn't you swim like half the waterways under the factory once?"

"What? When did I do that?"

Ulrich scratches his head. "Um, I swear I remember Odd saying that..."

"No, I remember it too," Aelita hums, putting a finger to her chin. "Because Odd had to bring him all the way back to the factory to run the Return to the Past and neither of them looked very good. It was one of the really early attacks, something about a gas that got into the factory..."

Ulrich snaps his fingers. "The laughing gas attack, that was it."

Yumi grimaces, rolling her eyes. "Ugh. Talk about simpler times."

"Okay, first of all, that was two years ago. Second, it was adrenaline because my life depended on it--which, might I add, would also cover any other athletic feats you might be thinking about as examples. Third, that was swimming, it's totally different!" That was probably the only somewhat-physical thing Jeremie wasn't terrible at. "It still got me, anyway."

"Still..." Yumi trails off again, chewing on her lip as if she wants to say something else. "...This might've been a little...intense. Sorry, Jeremie. How about you get something sweet from the vending machine on the way back, my treat."

The prospect of candy in the near future is just energizing enough to get Jeremie to push himself into a proper sitting position. Aelita laughs quietly behind a hand, though he can't tell if it's at him or not.

"...m'sorry, too," Jeremie mumbles. "Guess I should stick to the computer, huh..."

"Hey, it was your first time. You can't be good at everything right off the bat."

Jeremie bites his tongue.

He drags himself back onto his feet with help from Aelita and Yumi, straightening his glasses and sweaty clothes. "At least you tried it?" Aelita offers.