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Logan's been asked to start doing some combat training and, while he still isn't entirely on-board with the whole idea of a 'new generation' of X-men, he agrees that the ones they've got need to be able to handle themselves. So he told Jean to bring anybody who she wanted along.
He's got basic boxing gear set up, with speed bags, a heavy bag and a small ring set up, along with gloves. He's clad in a wifebeater and sweatpants, taking a drag on his stogie as he awaits his students and throwing an idle blow towards the heavy bag. Maybe he can use this one without losing his temper and slicing it wide open.
*
If you're going to combat train, why not do it in uniform? Even though there was a big blow up a few days ago, Jean still kept it with herself, even washed it and tended to it to make sure it didn't smell like garbage. She didn't know who else to call, but since Scott was practically done with class (which she usually audits and idly throws paperclips at him in), the offer was made to meet at the set time for training.
There was a thoughtful look that remained upon her features as she enters, finally zipping out the black X outfit, leaving the hood to hang along her shoulders with a dig of her fingers through her hair. "Is this going to be an all out fight? I really am not in the mood to run laps." She grumbles. "Everything hurts right now. Long night."
*
Scott's never been good at settling in here but, since he's run out of school and scholarships, he's got to settle somewhere. He's working on it. He knows how this is all supposed to work. When someone asks you to come down and train, or whatever else they've invited you to do, you go. Checkbox — positive response to social outreach.
Checkbox — appropriate clothing for the occasion. T-shirt, sweatshirt, shorts, running shoes. He follows Jean into the training roomand determines that he's going to be open and receptive to new connections. And hitting things, he's open to hitting things. He gives Logan a nod — hitting things is something in common, that's good.
"Are you all right?" he asks Jean, taking a look at her expression for more information before he closes his eyes to take off his glasses. Case is in one pocket, visor is in the other. He makes the exhange before finding a safe place to put the glasses case. "Should you be resting instead of this?"
*
Logan throws boxing gloves down at Jean and Scott's feet, "If she wanted to rest, she'd be restin'. She ain't yer kid. Nobody's forcin' anybody to be here. And no, it ain't gonna be an all-out fight. We're doin' trainin' an' I ain't seen nothin' to show either of ya are ready for full-on hand to hand," he says.
"Which is why you're glovin' up. I don't need you bare knuckle bustin' each other's noses, especially since spectacles there's liable to blow us all up if he gets hit too hard. Make sure you got that thing strapped on good and tight, kid, I ain't buildin' new walls," he says.
*
Tis the season to be jolly. Right? Right? Bullshit. Tis the season to grade lots of shit and make sure everything's caught up before the holiday vacation starts and there's nothing jolly about that. Needing a break from academic responsibilities, Bobby heads down to the Danger Room. He heard there'd be some training and thought he'd watch and see how people are coming along. Stepping inside, he gives those already there a nod and leans back against the wall. "Hey. Don't let me interrupt."
*
"Oh.. yeah I'm fine. I was doing the twist at some party.." Some party that she still needs to fill everyone in on. "..then there was some sort of mix up or whatever and a bunch of super powered mutants went off the rails." Must be Wednesday. "They were on drugs." Jean's colorful, nonchalant explanation has her drawing her brows upwards at Logan, someone was a little bitcchy today!
The gloves that were tossed at her feet were soon picked up with an angry little snap, the gloves soon tucked underneath her arms as she wriggles her fingers to try to stretch them out. "If he loses his glasses, I think I can handle the hit." Think! Maybe! "But, you guys gotta see this. I can -kind- of do the twist." Bobby's emergence has her immediately turning. "I can do the twist."
*
Scott doesn't bother to argue, just picks the gloves up with a shrug. Arguing is for when people want to listen which, in his experience, is a once in a blue moon thing with certain people. Certainly not worth it today. He hasn't blown anything up in ages, not accidentally, but accidents do happen. He'll allow for that.
"Not interrupting," he says, turning his head to acknowledge Bobby with a nod.
"I won't hit you, Jean," he says with a shake of his head. The visor is meant to stay on in a fight and so far it has. Closing his eyes is reflexive anyway. "Not accidentally, at least." He kind of has to hit her for the purposes of this exercise. With his fists. He goes about getting the gloves on while Jean fills them in on her latest accomplishments. The twist. Well, she seems proud of it.
*
Logan comses over to help them glove up, since at some point their fingers are going to be a bit sheathed to tie the laces. He nods to Bobby as the teacher joins in.
"You're gonna hit Jean. She's gonna hit you. That's how boxin' works," he says. "Is the twist a dance? Like the Charleston? Well, try doin' it a little bit while you tune up. Summers, you take the speed bag, Jean, you take the heavy. Just get a feel for throwing hands, get started, and then I'll work on technique."
*
"Ummm, good?" Bobby answers, sort of blinking at the non-sequitur. "What's this about super powered mutants? Did you write up a report yet?" He didn't check the things yet, being preoccupied with more mundane matters. "How are you feeling? I heard things have been a bit weird lately."
*
As Logan fixes the gloves upon her hands, she gives Scott a slight smirk. "Well, I don't think you'll have much of a choice bright eyes. Either me or we bring the house down." Where's a paper ball when she needs it? But she was in good spirits, which was a good thing overall. As she moves to take her position, she actually.. really starts doing the twist.
It feels good at least, twisting and working out the kinks in her muscles, her hand striking out to hit the bag as she gives a toss of her head to motion Bobby closer. The twist that she's doing? Totally a dance. Doesn't look like it, but it is! She stops once Bobby gets closer, her hand striking out in a flimsy way as she hits the bag. "Yeah, so some guys offered me and Kitty some pills. Little blue ones. I have them in my room, I wanted to give them to Moira before I did anything else today.." That didn't work. "But as soon as they took them, one guy bursted into flames and set the roof on fire on purpose.. the other guy was like you, Bobby." *THWAP PAP THWAP* Jean sucks.
At the mention of how she was feeling, she grows quiet. At least ignoring that question for now..
*
Super-powered mutants on drugs. Scott was taking things with a grain of salt — or the whole shaker, actually — but maybe Jean's serious. It's hard to tell sometimes, given that she seemed more interested in the Twist. That all sounds pretty alarming. Scott makes a mental note to check later to see that the pills made it to Moira.
If Logan wants Scott to work on the speed bag, then he can do that. Scott's more than competent on the bag — the gym was one of the few places he felt at home at Stanford, at least in the early days. It was harder to tell who didn't belong when everyone was dressed for exercise and getting sweaty. That was where he made friends at first. Boxing ring. Wrestling mats. Track. But this is now.
"Where, exactly, was this, Jean?" Scott can at least check the police reports after this.
*
Logan comes up behind Jean, letting them talk amongst themselves to some degree, "Try to throw your punch from your shoulder. Straight line, not hooking so much. And stop wigglin' yer damn hips, this ain't no go go joint," he says. He throws a straight punch of his own into the bag, demonstrating for Jean before he goes to get a look at Scott's technique.
"Not bad. A little showy, but not bad," he mutters.
*
Like him? "Incredibly good looking and the life of the party?" Bobby asks, flashing a quick grin though he gets very serious a moment later. "Definitely get those pills to Moira as soon as possible. If there's a drug going around that makes mutants lose control of their powers, we need to know about it. It could be another deliberate way of getting humans to fear us." And they all know where that leads. Has already led. "Though how do you know they were mutants? They probably were since giving humans even temporary powers would be a lot harder but we shouldn't assume."
*
The outer door opens, and Erik Lensherr walks in. However, he keeps to the reinforced, observation room for the time being. He looks in to see who is there, eyes batting from face to face, before a small grin spreads.
*
"In the Village. Kitty knows the address. I went with her and Piotr." Jean states, pausing as she hits on the bag. "But.. no one died, I think the building is a loss. We've managed to get everyone out in time.." And it was cool as shit. Jean saved lives. That definitely put her in the best mood ever.
As Logan gives her criticisms, her hunches just a little, then rights herself, picking up the punches at a decent pace to at least follow the conversation with Bobby. "He was actually pretty swell looking. But he turned to ice, completely." She states. "I don't know how long we're going to be in here, but I'll try to get it to her soon enough. Or give them to Charles." While Jean was a wily sort, she hated drugs. Thank you Weapon X. "I don't know.. maybe it was that? But as soon as those guys took them, it was like they were fired up. Like me and you, on a really, really bad fucking day."
Jean cusses!
*
Not bad. Well, it's better than a kick in the teeth, Scott will take it. He'd like to punch something a little more challenging but that's another thing he knows — getting used to being bored is key to getting better. When Erik comes in, Scott gives him something like a smile and a nod in greeting, but he's worried.
"Mutants make more sense. I just want to know how they got that many in one space — do you know if was it an invitation?" Statistically, that seems unlikely for that many people to be there accidentally. "How many people were there?" He can do the math, figure out the likelihood that it was pure chance that they all got there together. He pauses the bag with one hand, since he's distracted by the numbers. If it wasn't chance, that means it's possible someone is targeting young people showing any kind of ability, to expose them to the drugs.
Scott files it away before he gets yelled at for stopping, gets back to the bag with a sigh.
*
Logan glances up at Magneto's entrance, nodding to the man but staying on his duty with his charges. They wanted him to train people, then he's going to train people, probably without a lot of dingle dangle chatter to gum up the works. They could talk amongst themselves, but he didn't have to humor their small talk.
"Summers, do a round with the jumprope. Jeannie, you try the speed bag now. Anybody else wants to join in, I got at least one more pair o' gloves," he says, "But once yer in, yer subject to the sparrin' that comes later, too, so be warned."
*
Bobby looks over when the doors open. "Hey Erik. You hear about this drug that makes powers go out of control? And yeah, Scott. Mutants do make more sense but that would mean they were deliberately brought there. So we need to find out everything we can about who set it up. But we can't rule out yet non-mutants. That would change everything."
*
Julian steps in through that outer door not long after Erik, choosing for the moment to simply watch from the observation area as well. Not because he's already an expert fighter, far from it, but because he doesn't want to interrupt a session in progress. He turns to give Erik a shallow nod, and a polite, friendly smile, but doesn't say anything just yet, instead turning to watch those engaged in their training once again. Physical combat is not a thing he's ever shown much interest in; any why should he?
*
*
While Erik isn't exactly dressed for training, he isn't wearing the uniform, either. Business casual, sans tie. The man knows how to dress himself well, which is something. He acknowledges those who look his way, and has a binder and clipboard in hand by the time Bobby calls for him.
Looking up from his paperwork, a shadow crosses his features. He glances toward Julian, then closes the binder with a sharp 'clap'. "No," he tells Bobby, "I have not." The clipboard is set down, and he turns to look amongst the others, quickly noticing the conspicuous bag.
*
"Uh.." Jean slowly disengages, fully expecting Bobby to keep up as she moves towards the Speedbag after Scott had left. She reaches up to still it with both hands, her fingers wriggling within the gloves to draw and rip them away from her hands. When she did see Scott use the speedbag, his hands was bare.
Her own taped up hands were shown, her fingers fisting up as she slowly begins to work the speedbag, mimicking Scott's posture even though she was of a smaller frame. "It just happened last night." Jean clarifies. "They call it Vigor." That.. was strange. She was actually doing a wee bit better on the speed bag than she was the punching bag.
*
Scott does as he's told and abandons the speed bag to grab the jump rope. Always fun, as much as he wouldn't admit that out loud. Down on the beaches, where the weight lifters and boxers like to congregate in the long summer days, the rope isn't a child's toy. It's interesting, if you keep it interesting.
He starts off at a good pace, to get warm fast, watching Jean. She's doing a little better, definitely. It's kind of cute, when he realizes that she's mimicking him. He knows his own posture from watching his own form. It's not as though they include this work in girls' gym class.
"You said Kitty was there, yes? And Piotr, was he there?" He looks over to Erik without missing a beat with the rope. "They might have some information." He can't imagine Kitty just letting that slide, she seems like a digger when it comes to mysteries.
*
Logan doesn't know Julian, so he narrows his eyes at the newcomer, his nostrils flaring as he marks his scent, "Who the hell are you?" he says in his usual cheerful demeanor, climbing up into the ring and making sure the turnbuckles are secure, a wrench in hand as he tests each of the nuts and bolts in turn.
*
"We'll need to talk to Kitty." Bobby tells Erik. "Since she was the one who took them there, someone must have told her about it. Unless there was a flier or something being passed around. But if it was random who showed up, they couldn't assume there'd be any mutants there. We're not that common. Which might mean it might gives humans power, hopefully for a short time only. Either way, it's bad of course." Glancing over at Logan, he follow's the man's gaze over to Julian and nods a greeting.
*
"Jesus," Julian mutters at the mention of the drug. "Don't we have enough trouble controlling our powers as it is?" The idea of being dosed with a drug that would ruin his already tenuous level of control is scary, to say the least. He may not be dressed for it, exactly, but looking around at the others, he doesn't want to seem like he's purposely avoiding involvement. He's actually about to step up and express an interest in joining in when Logan calls him out, causing him to startle a little bit. "Oh, uh, I'm Julian," he says tentatively, almost as if asking for permission to be. Not normally a shy person, but Logan's gruff 'greeting' such as it is puts him a bit on edge in a way he's not used to.
*
Erik looks attentively from Jean to Scott, paying heed to both their words and their practice, then again back to Bobby. "'Vigor'," he repeats, speaking the word as if it were someone's code name. "Must be an amphetamines derivative, or, perhaps, something blended with cocaine." He nods his agreement toward Bobby, at speaking with Kitty.
All eyes now seem to be leveled upon Julian now. Erik turns his head to the man speculatively, then turns his body more fully. "You're in the training area, Julian," he remarks. "What's your code name?"
*
"I don't know guys.. Kitty and Piotr invited me out.." Heck, that was her only invitation, word of mouth and not by paper. But she continues to work the speedbag, even going so far as to move into the circle, the speed picking up slightly, missing one swing but quickly countering with another to retain her motion.
She glances over towards Julian, her hands clasping the bag quickly, holding it still as she pipes up. "Hi Julian!" And then.. again..
Thumping along the bag again, she gives it one final punch.. the bag itself nearly sticking against the metal that it's lifted again for a swift moment, before it falls flat with her turning to stride towards the bottle of water. "His codename is Blasty-Bits." Which means, Jean refuses to train with that guy. He's -dangerous-.
*
Scott slows, watching Jean bash the bag with enthusiasm. She's getting the hang of it. Julian is…not Scott's problem. That doesn't mean that there's not a little sympathy in the look he gives Julian before going back to his exercise — before Logan has a word about his lazing around or whatever else he's doing wrong.
*
Code name? Julian's never thought much about a code name. He forces any nerves he might be experiencing back, straightening up and putting on a stern face when Erik addresses him. "Hellion," he replies with the first name he could think of; the derogatory name his brother had given him, which he had hated being called as a kid. Maybe he can form some better associations by owning it, rather than despising it. He steps forward further, looking around to each of the others who have turned their eyes to him, meeting their gaze fully, refusing to let himself feel nervous being in the metaphorical spotlight now. Jean gets a bit of a smile, being the only one here who he has actually met, and light chuckle at her joke at his expense. He's not without a sense of humour, at least. "Where do you want me?" He asks, directed at Logan.
*
"I'm going to go find Kitty." Bobby decides and turns to head out. "Jean, soon as you're done here, get those pills to Moira and write up whatever you remember about what happened and who you saw, especially whoever was handing out those pills and how they were acting. Did they look like they were expecting something, did they stick around, that kind of thing. We need to figure this out before there's many more parties."
*
Jean is the unfortunate recipient of a 'look' from Erik; one of those looks that screams 'stop screwing around and get to work'. However, when Julian exposes his code name, the Master of Magnetism's expression changes. He stands just a bit straighter, and looks over the young man with approval. Clearly, he's impressed, which must be a good sign. "Hellion." He gestures toward the Danger Room proper, telling him, "This is where you will come to earn that code name."
He turns then to Bobby, telling him, "When you find her, call for me?" He nods his approval to the Iceman, before turning to collect his binder and clipboard again. Any casual onlooker would easily notice that it contains detailed training regimen, much of which has been scratched out and replaced simply with word, 'Logan'.
Before he makes his own departure, though, he turns to look back toward Jean once more. This time, she isn't getting the stink eye. This time, she's actually getting a thoughtful expression that just might be mingled with approval.
On his way out, Erik makes a gesture toward the bunker door, and it swings shut of its own accord.
*
Logan nods to Julian, "Get in the ring and let Jeannie take a few swings at you. Summers, I"ll be your punching bag. Don't worry about hurtin' me, but keep yerself respectful. You hit me low and you're gonna miss out on havin' kids, ya dig?" he says.
He nods to Magneto as the other man makes his departure, having ignored a lot of the chatter around him as he focused on the practice."
*
Hellion. That was actually a really cool name. Way better than the Phoenix. Jean shrugs at this as she drinks her water, watching Scott, then directing her gaze towards Julian as he steps out into the open. As Bobby speaks to her, she finishes a quick sip, then nods her head completely. "I haven't seen her much lately. I'm due to talk to her soon anyways." No shit! She even felt that.. little twinge of disappointment from Charles as soon as she hit the school grounds. Those mental conversations were -awesome-, by the way.
With her bottle held and nearly readied to drink again, the look from Erik gains a slight stare. It wasn't one of anger, but one of resignation as she gives a faint nod to cap the bottle. Was it a quiet apology? Possibly, but either way she makes her into the ring with a quick crawl, leaving her gloves upon the floor, figuring bandaged hands were good enough.
"Alright Hellion. Let's do this."
*
Julian gives a nod, and climbs up into the ring as instructed. It's a little bit strange to him; he's never actually been in an honest-to-goodness fist fight in his life. The few times he's had to defend himself from another person, the fight had been short, put to a quick end with a flash of green and a Julian running off the other direction. He's had enough trouble in his life keeping his powers under control, so adding the element of adrenaline and intent to harm hasn't ever seemed like the best idea. But he can't hide from it forever, and that's kind of why he was here, right? His lack of formal training would be obvious, just from the way he holds himself, standing there in the ring waiting for Jean to be ready. "I'll not to hurt you, Jeannie," he says to the other telekinetic. He puts his dukes up, as they say, but anyone with a modicum of experience would see so many obvious problems with his stance, posture, and footing. A strong breeze could blow him over.
*
"I have no interest in anything below your belt, as target or anything else," Scott says dryly. That might have been humour, a brief flicker of it. He folds up the rope and sets it where it belongs before he scoops up the gloves again, offering his hands up to Logan for help doing them up. "I'll try not to make a fool of myself, that's all."
Scott is…not bad. He's got decent reach, he's fast, and he doesn't — as instructed — worry about not hurting Logan. He's in good shape, not remotely out of breath even after jumping rope until his hairline is damp with sweat. He's calm and collected, eyes on his own work, focused at getting his hits in while learning how Logan means to defend himself or avoid his blows. This part he likes, the learning. It's like researching a person without having to sit still.
*
Oh, this was just a sad and sorry sight. Jean couldn't really help but to drop her hands a little, her gaze falling towards Scott and then to Julian once again. With a shake of her head, she takes a step forward, her hands reaching out to try to steady Julian as she sees Scott. "Maybe we shouldn't do this." She says, a little frown upon her face. "This is such a bad idea."
*
Julian frowns. "Wait, what?" He blinks, and drops his haphazard defence when Jean declares it not such a good plan. "Are you afraid you're going to /hurt me/?" He laughs a little bit, and shakes his head. "I might not have a lot of experience, but I'm pretty sure I can take whatever you're going to throw at me, Jean," he says. He's not a complete failure as a man, after all, and she's just a girl. Poor, stupid Julian. "Come on, show me what you've got." A foolish grin on his lips. Someone hit him before he gets cocky.
*
"If you'll excuse me?" Scott's bow as he backs away from Logan is reflexive. Enough time working on his martial arts skills has ground that into his brain.
"You two will be fine. Gloves are good if you want them," he notes, peeling his own off for now before he pulls himself up to stand just outside the ropes. "You're less likely to break your hands on each others' faces. Hellion, don't let her hit you just to show that you can take it. Make her work for it. Get out of her way if you can. And you," he nods at Jean, "you have to hit him before you can hurt him. Logan asked you two to test each other out, he wouldn't have asked if he didn't mean it. He needs to see you do the work."
*
Jean scrunches her face up as she listens to him, her head shaking as she begins to unravel the tape. She wasn't easily goaded, but she does turn back around with a raise of her brow, even giving Scott a slight shake of her head. "But loo-.." Fine. Jean was a fighter, but she knew the basics! With that said, she winds the tape back up around her wrists, taking those quick approached steps as she draws her fist back to try to punch him right in the gut. At least it wasn't the face!
*
Julian's smile returns when Jean seems to resign herself to her assigned task. His hands go back up, and still not anything close to a proper defensive stance. Like something he saw on television, because that's pretty much been his only source of information about things like this. His reactions are not quick enough by a long shot, and his form is feeble, at best. 'Hellion' moves to block, open-handed, and delayed; her fist hits him in the stomach, and his entire defensive posture, if you can call it that, falls away while he stumbles backward with a vocal, "Oof!" That hurt. This is why he didn't fight, at least not in any way that would risk physical contact. Pain hurts. But, refusing to be knocked down by a girl his first time out, he finds his footing again, and moves back into position, adjusting his footing a bit to not be so easily knocked off balance. Say what you will, but he learns from his mistakes; his stance may not be suddenly perfect, but it's definitely better than it was. "Okay, you get that one," he says, smirking a bit, though his voice still carries some of the pain of the blow. Letting out a breath, he moves to return the hit; of course, he telegraphs the movement, and his punch has little follow-through, and not a lot of power behind it. That much, at least, was on purpose.
*
Scott watches them, notes the way Julian doesn't quite know how to take a punch — getting hit is as much a skill as hitting — and waits to see what Jean comes back with. Now he understands what they're starting with. They need to learn to talk less, swing more, though. Can't banter in the middle of a real fight, no matter what the movies show.
*
Jean begins to dance, not the dance one would do to music, but the little hoppity hop upon her feet with her guard down. She grins, even sneering just a little, taking a bit of an approach forward so that she could unleash another head.
*SMACK!*
"OW.." Jean shrieks out, even that little punch to the middle of her chest stung, which quite literally has her charging forward to 'monkey leap' upon Julian to prepare him for a very, very, messy mauling of slappy hands.
*
Hellion is somewhat pleased with himself for even making contact, though he feels a bit bad to have hurt her. In situations like this, it takes him some concentration not to augment his blows with telekinetic force, so he's just happy he didn't hit her with more power and cause some serious damage. There's a bit of a smile on his face, but it drops into surprise and a little bit of terror as Jean charges toward him. Woefully unprepared for such an assault, his hands flail and his feet quickly lose their position and balance under the flurry of slaps to his person. "ACK! NO!" Julian shouts frantically, trying his best to keep from getting hit anywhere sensitive. If she's sensing his emotional state at all, she might be able to tell there's a sense of panic building, and a very faint green glow starts around his body.
*
Jean was shrieking like a banshee, though it was all through play. Logan had ran off and wasn't being a drill seargent, who knows what the heck Scott was doing, but this was just plain fun! She even tries to reach for his hands, attempting to grasp at his wrists to forcibly pin him to the ground, but it was the glow that gets her attention.
"Julian…" Jean warns.. "..DON'T!"
*
"Hey, corners, you two," Scott suggests, slipping between the top and second ropes to get in with them. Forget code names if someone's ready to go off. "Jean, that's good. Julian, you're okay." His tone is firm but calm. He offers Jean his hand to help her up off Julian. Someone else might back off but if one of them is going to blow up, Scott's just going to suffer through it. Teamwork or something.
*
ROLL: Julian +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 79
*
He doesn't mean to, it's just a side effect of adrenaline and distraction; a reflexive action. It's his body that glows, not Jeans, or anything else around them. Jean's voice snaps him back to focus, and the glow fades. Pinned on the ground, he stops struggling, and lets her hold him down; if he tries to fight back at all, he'd risk unleashing his power unintentionally. Deep breaths are drawn as he attempts to calm his heart rate. When Scott orders them back to their corners, he waits for Jean to rise first, obviously, before trying to get up himself. "Sorry, Jean," he says, grimacing a little bit. "I'm still working on my control.. like I told you before, when I get upset, or panicked.. or rushed, really. It's a reflex, sometimes." He can't be the only one with the same kind of issue that way.
*
Was she going to stay there until Julian practically explodes her off of him? Probably! Thankfully, Scott gave the call in which she immediately rises, scrambling away from him to pull herself up within the ring by the ropes. She wasn't hurt, his little whap upon the center of her chest would give her a bruise, but it was something that'd fade in time.
"Sorry Cy.." Jean murmurs quietly, straightening herself out with a tug down of her uniform.. in fact she unzips it all together to pull her arms out. It was a bad idea wearing the damn thing. The arms were wrapped around her waist and tied with a sinch, the tanktop pull out and fanned so she could cool herself.
"It's okay." She says quietly. "I think we'll all get better eventually. It doesn't happen overnight."
*
"You're fine, really, Julian. Jean's right." Scott also offers to help Julian up in turn. "If you're anything like most people, worrying that you can't turn it off turns into a kind of loop that drives the build-up until you pop off." He gives Julian an encouraging smile. "The more you go through what you just did there, shutting it down under stress, the better off you'll be. People around here understand. But maybe that's a good place to stop for now."
*
Julian nods to Scott as he offers his words of encouragement. "Yeah, that makes sense. I don't usually have a problem controlling it when I'm using it actively.. it's just when something takes my focus, you know?" Of course he knows. He backs up to the corner, leaning against the rope. He hasn't been anywhere near as active the others, but even so, beads of sweat are forming on his brow. "Yeah, maybe a break is a good idea. I obviously need more practice, but easing into it. Good idea." He pants a bit. "Hey, where do you get one of those?" He asks, motioning to Jean. He obviously doesn't mean Jean herself (he knows where to get one of those), but the uniform, which at this point he's considering is probably just exercise gear, branded for the school.
*
Jean takes those few little steps forward to reach out to try to punch Scott's arm. "Look at you, Bright Eyes being all encouraging." She'd pinch him if he wasn't so muscle bound! Though, now that she realizes it, she does reach out to squeeze his arm, a little frown drawing upon her lips as she idly pokes at his side. She was remembering his form, which was a good thing. Now she was looking towards Julian with a furrow of her brows.
"I made them." Yes. Jean made them. Hours of reading sewing books and practicing due to lack of sleep would do that to a person.
« I'll make you one, Scott. It's due time. »
"Do you want one, Julian?"
*
Scott submits to being poked and prodded with a certain bemusement. "Jean's full of surprises and hidden talents," he says fondly. "Julian, any time you want to practice, just ask and I'll make time. I can't turn my power off at all so I have zero room to judge anyone else's control, so don't worry about slipping up or needing to take breaks with me."
*
"Oh, well don't put yourself out on my account," Julian says, shaking his head a bit; surely Jean has better things to do than knit clothing for people. He had thought there was a store-room or something where these things just /were/. "They look good, though," he continues. "So I've noticed," he says in response to Scott's comment about her hidden talents. "I appreciate the offer. I'll take you up on it, too. My power isn't exactly indoor-friendly, though, just so you know." But then, if they're just working on control, that shouldn't be an issue, right?
*
"Shouldn't be an issue." Jean says. At least, those four words pretty much answer all of the questions, comments, and queries all at once. With a slight step behind Scott, Jean draws her hand back.. and..
*SMACK*
..right upon the butt! "I'm going to go shower, you boys play nice now!" And with that, she hops right out of the ring and makes a running cut towards the door to avoid being hit herself.
*
Scott doesn't flinch with the smack. He does exhale in a sort of resigned way. Right. Moving on. Jean needs to work on her strength because that should have stung a lot more.
"Shouldn't be an issue," he echoes. "There's a lot of outdoors to work in, too. The motto around here seems to be 'we'll work it out', Julian. Go on," he nods toward the doors. "I'll clean up in here. Thanks for coming down."
*
Julian can't help but let out a quiet laugh at the teasing slap Jean gives Scott. He won't try it himself, but the camaraderie is nice to see. He gives a nod at the affirmations, both ways, and watches as Jean beats a hasty retreat with a bit of a grin on his face. "Much appreciated," he says to the other man, and slips out of the ring himself, follow out the door after Jean has gone.
*