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It's summer break at the Institute, which means that Scott isn't currently burdened with the additional duty of teaching classes. He's doing a little bit of summer tutoring with either advanced students or ones who need a little catching up, but for the most part he's able to devote his time to other things. Like his usual pastime - training.
At the moment, he's hitting the weights, putting a little more bulk on that slim frame of his. He's been at it for a while, shirt wet with sweat and face flushed, but he's still going at it.
Lorna stepped into the gym, wearing her sweats and with a headband around her hair to keep it from her face. She looked almost sulky, her lower lip jutting out and her arms crossed as she stood and waited for Scott to pause in lifting weights. Her gaze shooting upwards to the ceiling in a bored manner, a huff of a breath following and her sneakers squeaked as she moved.
Finally, when he paused or barring that, when he didn't look like he was going to, she spoke. "Scott? The Professor said I should ask you for extra combat practice." She called, her lips pursed together briefly.
Scott lowers the weights with a huff of breath, turning to look back to Lorna and shaking out his hands. "Did he? Guess I'm not completely useless here after all." Apparently Lorna isn't the only one who can sulk, even if Scott's less likely to show it on his face. He reaches for a towel, wiping off his face and neck before he turns back. "Isn't your dad running your drills these days?"
A groan followed and Lorna nodded, "Yeah, but he isn't here. He hasn't been here since he told me to start combat training. He went off. Again." She rolled her eyes and looked rather irritated. It was like a kid being promised a trip to Disney world.. only being taken by a distant cousin who they never got along well with. She kicked at the gym floor, making another horrendous squeak.
"If you're busy or whatever, I can bug someone else. Or go in the basement. I'm sure Jean put something in there that I can do on my own." She muttered.
"It's fine," Scott shakes his head, tossing the towel aside. "Just need a minute to rehydrate and I should be good to go." He heads for the bench, picking up a canteen to take a long drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when he finishes. "Lorna, this teenager crap's got to stop," he winces at the squeak. "Seriously. The pouting, the sulking, the pitching fits, the…eye-rolling. No one's going to take you seriously while you keep that up."
A scowl followed Scott's words and she had to catch herself from rolling her eye again, instead she just kicked her foot again against the gym floor. "I don't-" Squeak. A scuff on the floor. Which actually made her wince and lean down to rub it out, suddenly sheepish looking and coloring a sharp pink.
She stood up, red faced and crossing her arms. Her gaze lowered to the ground as she bit her lower lip and held her breath for a moment before releasing it. "Sorry."
"It's a school," Scott shrugs, taking another drink. "It's not like it's going to be the only time in a day that someone rolls their eyes or pitches a fit about something. It's just that I expect it from the freshmen. Not so much from people who want to be considered a part of the team."
He sounds more tired than angry, ruffling a hand over his hair before he sets the canteen aside. "Thanks," he nods at the apology. "What've you been working on for combat, before we start?"
Lorna rocked her weight back on her heels, biting her lower lip and winced faintly. "Well, I haven't actually done anything with the team and no one besides Remy and the Professor has actually treated me like I belong." She muttered in a dry, stiff voice. Her lips pursed together, and then she glanced down.
"I.. have only been working with Remy and Julie in the basement. That's basically it. I spent most of the time out in the past few weeks." She offered weakly. "I ran through Jean's stealth course." She added.
"All right," Scott nods. "Well, I hate to tell you, but it's not going to be exciting to start off with. There's a lot more that goes into combat than just throwing punches. Conditioning. Speed. Strength. Agility. Form. Have you worked with the bags before?" he asks, nodding toward the punching bags and heading in that direction.
Lorna shook her head, "I've been working on the obstacle course outside? And running, and exercise at least.." She exhaled a breath. "Mostly just was working on getting my powers under control. My father didn't want me getting upset and accidentally bring down the roof." She mumbled, and glanced toward the punching bags, trailing after Scott.
"I was watching Jean and the Professor in the basement, I .." She exhaled, "I just didn't know where to begin. They started a combat situation and just were all over the place and I couldn't keep up." She wrinkled her nose.
"I don't think I've ever actually thrown a punch like.. for real."
"Well, everyone has to start somewhere." Scott steps up to the speed bag, lifting one fist to give it a light tap in a slow, circular motion. "This is the speed bag. It's not so much about punching as it is about building the right muscles and learning how to handle better reaction times. It's about reading what's coming at you. You start out slow, and the goal is to hit it just enough to keep it moving steadily."
Lorna glanced at the bag, exhaling a breath and nodding carefully as she listened to Scott's explaination. It was perhaps, the most serious he'd seen the young woman. "Okay." She paused, "Uh.. does it matter how hard I hit it? I mean, er.." She looked slightly nervous over trying it.
"Just enough to keep it moving.. is uhm.. er.." She bit her lower lip and looked back to him. "It's one of those, I just need to do it, isn't it?" She asked haltingly.
"Before you start…" Scott holds up a finger, turning to get a set of wrappings from over by the weights. "It's not necessary, but it's better if you protect your hands, at least to start out with." He holds out one hand for hers, shaking out the wrappings with the other. "But yeah, it's something you have to do to get the feel for it."
Lorna paused, blinking repeatedly as Scott went and grabbed up the wrappings and her lips formed a small 'o'. "Okay, that makes more sense now. I never got why in the movies people had their hands wrapped up when they were punching things." She grinned and accepting the help getting her own delicate hands wrapped.
"I really hope I never actually have to punch anything." She grumbled softly, "Still, I see why it's important to learn how."
Scott gets the wraps into place with brisk efficiency, smile rueful at he looks back up. "First time for everything. But yeah, you hit this thing enough times, you'll rub your skin raw if you're not protected. Once you've got some callus built up, it's less of an issue, but everyone has to start somewhere." He steps back then, nodding toward the bag. "Give it a whack, see how it feels."
Lorna flexed her hands experimentally once the wraps were in place and she glanced once from the bag, to Scott and back. She nodded once, awkwardly trying to figure out a good position to take before the bag. She'd likely have to work on form and where to put her feet next, if that was any sort of indication. Then she made a fist, she managed that safely at least. And then punched out at the bag.
It was a little too little. The bag barely moved. She grimaced, her nose wrinkling faintly. "It's.. a lot more solid than I thought it was." She mumbled.
Scott's lips twitch briefly, but he sobers up quickly enough, nodding once. "That's okay. Give it another try. You want to square yourself against the bag," he explains, demonstrating by stepping up to it himself. "Get your feet set. The real power's going to come from your hips, from your core. Your arm, your hand, it's just an extension of the rest of you. It's just what you're reaching with."
Lorna shifted, glancing back at him repeatedly as she tried to do as he said. It was awkward, her body not used to holding position, much less her feet. "Okay." She bit her lower lip once and nodded, exhaling a breath and then swung again. This time, she put perhaps a little //too/ much force into it and yelped in surprise when the bag came swinging back faster than she expected and nearly knocked her back. She stumbled, catching herself and blushing furiously, shaking out her hand.
"Ow. Okay. Okay. Too.. too hard." She mumbled.
"All right, so you know what's too much and what's not enough." Scott is unflappable, standing steady by the bag and reaching out to hold it in place while she resets herself. "Let's see if we can split the difference and try again. Hold your ground. Get the right balance."
Lorna bit her lower lip, and rubbed at her face as Scott steadied the bag. "Oh geeze, I'm gonna fall on my butt." She muttered, but awkwardly, once more, tried her best to square up before the steadied bag again. She looked hesitant this time, and it was clear she was starting to over think things. A short inhale and exhale followed, and she swung again.
It wasn't just right but it was better, good enough at least to get started with what she was trying to do. And good enough would have to do. There was a moment of confusion that crossed her expression as the bag swung back toward her, on what exactly she should do. Before she reacted and punched back at it. She started to get some idea of what she was doing at least. A few repeated attempts following that managed to work out well enough.
A grin came to her lips before she hit the bag off beat and jammed her fingers with a too lose a fist. She winced, jerking her hand back and shaking it out. "Ow.. geeze."
"Once you get the rhythm, it'll be like second-nature," Scott assures, stepping up next to her. "All right, let's try it together. Move with me, I'll keep the bag going if you miss it." He squares off as well as he can without monopolizing the bag, setting a fist. "On three. One, two, three." He starts out slow, carefully balancing speed and power to give her a chance to keep up.
After a moment of shaking her hand out, her fingers smarting, Lorna exhaled a breath and nodded to Scott's words. She shifted over some, giving him space on the bag. She waited, watching him strike slowly at the bag before she was able to jump in more. His counting at least, seemed to help her get the right rhythm together. With his help, she was able to keep it up.
Without time to puzzle over what she was doing, or not doing, without her over thinking things.. the motion smoothed out. Her arms grew tired far quicker than Scott's did though, and after a while she grimaced.
Whatever Scott's flaws - and there are plenty - as a trainer, he's good at reading the people he's working with. As Lorna starts to tire, he reaches out to stop the bag again, offering over a faint smile. "Good start," he approves. "But you're feeling the burn now, yeah? That's why there's more to learning to punch than just the punching. It's no good if you get worn out when the time comes that you have to throw that punch."
Lorna let her arms fall back to her sides once Scott halted the bag and she sagged slightly, breathing harder than she had been before. "Yeah," She rubbed at her knucles, they were tender even with the wraps. "I didn't really think about punching people. I mean, my powers really keep everyone away," a pause followed and she wrinkled her nose.
"Which, if I can't get to my powers or someone surprises me and grabs me.. doesn't really help… I definitely need to work on it." She exhaled, glancing toward Scott.
"You're really rather good at this. Thanks Scott."
"Yeah, you know, they didn't actually give me the field leader title because I'm great at sucking up," Scott smirks, giving the bag a light shove before he steps away from it. "You'll get there," he assures. "It'll take work, and practice, and you'll get sore, and sometimes it'll suck, because that's how it works. But when it's finished, you'll know that you can handle yourself regardless of what your powers are up to."
A faint, sheepish look crosses Lorna's features before she hides it with a weak smile. "I just kinda got bit of a big head since I've been meeting all these mutants in the city. Most of them don't have any control over their powers, and if they do.. it's spotty at best. Hanging out with them.. I just, I felt like I didn't need to worry about punches or anything." She rubbed the back of her hands again, beginning to take off the wraps.
She sighed softly, and glanced back toward Scott, "It's like I didn't really get how lucky I've been to be able to live here and everything. I've had some really good teachers."
"We're lucky here," Scott agrees. "We've got training, we've got experience. We've got resources. Things that most of the people in the city don't have access to. They're too busy trying to stay alive, to stay one step ahead of the rest of the world, to have the time to work with their powers and come to really understand them. This place is…It means a lot to the people here."
Lorna nodded, looking somewhat saddened at the thought, "I met these two boys, their parents don't even know they're mutants. And it sounds like their parents are pretty hardcore antimutant too." She grimaced, "One of them.. I drove them all out to some woods in a national park, just to give them a safe space to see what they could do." She bit her lower lip, "One of them.. his powers actually hurt him when he isn't careful." She rubbed at the back of her hands now free of the wraps and glanced around to put them away.
"I plan to talk to the Professor about speaking with them. One of them is a telepath.." She murmured.
"I just felt so bad, and they were so easily impressed by everything I could do."
"Not everyone has comfortable powers, Lorna," Scott points out, tapping a finger at his visor before he turns to go back and get his canteen. "I used to have…the worst headaches. Migraines for days. All this energy wanted to come out, and I didn't have any way to stop it. I caused more than my fair share of destruction before the Professor found me. Before they figured out a way to help me."
Another grimace as Lorna glanced at Scott, "Yeah.. I just.. it kinda just really hit home how dependant on my powers I am and how extremely luck I am and everything. It's why I very much plan to ask if the Professor is willing to talk to them. Even if they don't go to the school, or ever come here. I figured that maybe someone can help." She shrugged and settled on the floor stretching out her arms and legs. She at least had stretches down.
"I mean, I used to think my powers were really freaking stupid. I could move paperclips, woo.. but as I've gotten better I just.. I realized all the different things I can do."
"It's all about how you look at things," Scott nods, taking a long drink before setting his canteen aside again. "And I'm sure the professor will be glad to help your friends. I'd be surprised if he didn't extend the invitation. He almost always does, you know. More often it's the parents who turn him down. I've seen it…more times than I care to count. They don't believe their kid's a mutant, or they don't like the idea of them going to a school full."
Lorna bent, stretching her arms to her foot and holding the position for a long moment. She released and bent to do the same to the other leg. Her gaze flickering back up toward Scott. "When I mentioned that the Professor might be able to help, they were at least interested in meeting him. So there's that at least. I dunno, I need to talk to him. I haven't seen parents say no.. but, yeah.. I get it. Especially with the news and all." She mumbled.
"They're scared their parents would disown them if their parents ever found out about them having powers." A pause, "Say whatever you want about my father, but at least he wouldn't dream of that." She mumbled.
Scott finally drops down on the bench, draping his towel over his shoulders and behind his neck. "Your dad's not a bad guy, Lorna. He can be tough, but he's not a bad guy." He looks up, smile rueful. "Sometimes it seems like people've forgotten that tough isn't necessarily a bad thing, or vindictive. Sometimes tough is just what's needed get things done."
"I love my father," She responded quickly, automatically even, glancing back at Scott. "I just wish he was around more. I know why he's hard on me. Even if I complain about it, I know why." She murmured.
"S'just hard to deal with these people that don't know him saying all kinds of things. Depending on who you talk to out there beyond the school? It's either, he's a hero! Or he's a menace!" She waved her hand and sighed, and stood.
After a moment or two, she started stretching her arms, pulling one across her chest and holding it for a count of ten and then switching arms. She fell silent for a beat, "And I'm just lucky to have him at all."
"You can't control people and what they say, Lorna." Scott shakes his head as he stands. "All you can control is what you do. Don't let other people's opinions about your father make your choices for you." He starts to tidy up the space, making sure everything is where it belongs. "Good practice, Lorna. Now for the hard part. Now you've got to keep showing up and doing it," he smiles ruefully. "Thirty minutes a day."
Lorna laughed weakly, sheepishly letting her arms fall back to her sides. "Well I guess so." She ran her fingers through her hair, shaking it out. "I'm sure it'll be interesting. Here's hoping I don't break my hand on accident." She grinned and shrugged once.
"Thank Scott for the help." She repeated, shifting her weight back on her heels. "I really appreciate it."