ArchivedLogs:Take It Easy

Take It Easy
Dramatis Personae Shane, Micah, Nom, Rasa, Daiki	7 May 2014 Tense and less-tense conversation in the gym. (Part of the Perfectus TP.)
Location <XS> Gymnasium – B1
For a mutant school, this is a pretty standard gym, even if its sturdy construction to handle mutant powers is less standard. Still, it is designed along normal lines; setup for a basketball court, standard equipment -- punching bags, rubber mats, standard assortment of balls, weight training equipment, the usual fare. It is large, and as well-appointed as the rest of Xavier's tends to be. It is late at nighttime, the gym's extracurriculars long since finished for the day. Dinner has come and gone, and the school is rapidly winding down for the night. At least, some parts of the school. The gym right now is nearly deserted, empty at the moment except for two figures clad in white standing on the piste off at one side of the gym. The gym is filled with the noises of rapid footsteps as they move forward and back, and the sliding of metal on metal as their foils slide off each other. The shorter of the two moves a /good/ deal /faster/ than his much taller opponent, but the score machine behind them shows that this advantage has not earned him /much/; he leads only by a point. A point that is rapidly made up as the taller white-clad figure flicks the tip of his foil neatly down to touch against the shorter one's chest. The score changes in time with a loud, "Fucking goddamn --" in irritable Vietnamese from the shorter of the pair, turning his back to walk to his starting position. "-- You'd be disqualified for that," says the taller, quietly amused. "/Ffff/," replies his opponent. "Fucking smug-ass sport." Deserted is mostly what Micah is going for in coming to the gym later in the evening, appropriately dressed in a lightweight grey T-shirt and navy shorts with largely untended auburn hair-muss. He is still utilizing his neon orange crutches for longer distance walking, though his cadence and visible comfort level with moving about is much improved. His first stop is to pick up a stability ball of the variety typically used in yoga and pilates sorts of exercises. Pausing with the ball half out of the rack, his head turns at the sudden loud voices across the room, one brow raising. "SMUG! ASS!" Yes. Nom is doing the monkey see, monkey do thing. She hears someone say bad words, she repeats them. Bad words are fun! If they weren't... why would Shane say them? So it is that nom is actually striding into the gym with little more than a black hoodie and pair of basketball shorts, though underneath it, she quite visibly seems to have a set of tights. She is currently making her way towards the mats herself, where stretching begins. Whether she needs to stretch is anyone's guess. Regardless, Nom keeps at it, going through a series of exercises ever so slowly that her muscles remember even if her mind isn't quite sure where they come from. She DOES see fit to inform Micah,"Me not have no glitter now." Just in case he was wondering. Just in case. Rasa makes hir way out of the women's dressing room wearing a below the knee, camisole unitard in a soft gray, with a pair of loose blue shorts. Hir amber colored hair is pulled back in a low pony tail, a few curly strands framing hir face. Magenta feet pad lightly across the floor, heading toward the pair fencing, glancing over at Micah when the sound of his crutches draws hir attention. Ze is lucky enough to be warned of Nom's entrance by her loud comment, so doesn't get run over. Ze glances over to the rope over at the other corner, but continues on to the fencers, stretching as ze moves. The fencers are just saluting each other, getting ready to start another bout, when the others start to trickle into the gym. Nom's loud exclamation brings Shane to lower his foil sharply, breath exhaled in a sudden hiss. "God/dammit/. {Fuck it, Dai,}" this time it's in Japanese, "{I forfeit you can have this match.}" He yanks his mask off in a sharp tug, rubbing the back of his hand (clad in a thick custom-fit glove for his webbed fingers) against his forehead. He tucks the mask under his arm, moving off to the side of the piste to pick up a bottle of water and take a deep swig. Daiki just inclines his head, lifting his foil in a salute before taking his mask off as well. "{Not much of a win.} -- Micah-san." His voice lifts enough to carry across the room, warm -- though in his typical fashion it /feels/ warmer, his usual somewhat magnetic aura lending an extra inadvertent tug of friendly affection to all his words. "You're looking well." He moves off the piste, too, setting his mask down on one of the risers and running his fingers through sweat-damp hair. "Jesus, it's popular in here all of a sudden." Shane is starting to disrobe; at least, to remove his protective outer gear. "You gonna take up fencing, Rasa? Swashbuckle around?" Nom's sudden shouting catches Micah by surprise, hands busy with retrieving the ball and attention already on Shane and Dai as they were. The ball escapes with a few merry bounces on the gym floor before rolling its way over to the fencers. "Sorry guys, heads up!" he calls as the ball katamaris its way over. "Ohgosh, Nom! Hi, honey. It's okay if y'don't have glitter. It sticks like mad t'weight benches an' mats an' all anyhow, so it's prob'ly for the best." He simply waves at Rasa, respecting hir quiet. "S'all the people lookin' t'come after the rush...kinda turnin' into a mini-rush, I guess," he responds to Shane with a lopsided grin as he walks over in the wake of the ball to retrieve it. "Hey, hon. Hi, Dai. Thanks...s'been a journey the past few weeks. How're y'all doin'?" Nom waves to Shane as if nothing at all were odd or off, and then waves to Daiki,"HELLO PRETTY MAN." Right. Well. They haven't met-met yet. But she's already telling him (like probably many other people), that he is pretty. This, in the middle of easing into a split. And Rasa, ze gets another wave,"Hello Rasa! What am you do here?" Micah gets yet another greeting,"Me like you sticks." Yes. She's complimenting his crutches. Ever so carefully, she begins to bend forward, so she can place her face flat against her leg. Streeeetch. Rasa waves back to Micah, a little smile on hir lips, but hir magenta starts to fade to a lighter rose shade. "I... didn't know anyone was in here, but... Oh. I haven't tried fencing. Been doing the other parts of swashbuckling, I suppose, climbing ropes and dangling around, so maybe I should." Ze nods to Daiki, turning the initial head motion into a little bow. Then ze draws a little closer. "Hey, Nom. Hi, Micah." "Fuck you," Shane answers Nom's wave in an irritable grumble. He shimmies out of his trousers as well; beneath his fencing gear he's in a pair of black lycra shorts and an also-black Under Armour t-shirt, both tight on his thin frame. He sets his gear down, lifting his hands to stop Micah's runaway rolling ball; he leans his weight up against it, flopping forward onto his belly. "What are these /for/?" "Bouncing," Daiki answers lightly, peeling his jacket off as well; his silvery-grey shirt beneath is similar to Shane's. He returns Rasa's bow, adding a second one afterwards to Nom. "Hello." With a direct greeting the fuzzy-warm influence of his mutation only grows. "I don't think we've met, directly." His eyes slant over towards Shane with Shane's -- less-polite greeting. "That's Nom." Shane is still sounding grumbly about it. Also still leaning up against Micah's yoga ball. Bouncebouncebounce. "Fencing is /really/ swashbuckly. At least how Professor Wagner does it." "Thanks," Micah answers the crutch compliment with a smirk. "I got the brightest ones they make." He eventually catches up to Shane and his escape-ball, brows knitting at the boy's tone with Nom. "You doin' okay, hon?" He shifts his weight over to one crutch to tap a hand against the ball. "Y'/can/ use 'em for bouncin', I guess. I mostly use 'em for stretches an' exercises where not havin' as much of a lever arm on the residual limb makes it...harder to position things appropriately." Shane's 'greeting' to Nom garners a like response from her... albeit delivered in an inappropriately cheerful tone,"Screw you too!" Why anyone would be cheerful about this sort of thing... At any rate, she returns Daiki's a little bit more traditionally,"Me am... Me are Nom, yes. Not meet! Hear many good things, though! Me like you. Me save cookies next time me bake." Now she's slowly pushing up and shifting forward with her hands on the ground. Slowly, she shifts her wait on them. As for Micah's question? "Shane and Me, we am tell each other what we think of each other. It not complimentary. It are honest. It am nice. Like Shane-honesty." "He often smells of fish." Rasa chimes in. It is honest as well. Ze turns hir attention to Nom for a moment. "I come to the gym to climb things, more specifically ropes and silks, when Professor Wagner puts them up." Ze clasps both hir hands behind hir back, then lifts them, stretching again. "Huh. I thought pirates were more the cutlass type. Then again, my idea of pirates doesn't seem nearly as classy as your swashbuckling. I'll ask him about it next time I see him." Ze smiles a little at Daiki when hir gaze falls on him, but ze tries to sidestep a little further away when ze remembers to. Dai's just delightfully attractive. Shane's eyes narrow on Nom at this cheerful response, his shoulders tensing and his gills fluttering at the side of his neck. He rolls straight /over/ the ball, tumbling down on the other side to somersault over and hop back to his feet, letting the ball roll out from under him back towards Micah. "No, I didn't. But I'm really getting close to -- I told you what I thought of your /opinions/. /You/ turned that into some bullshit commentary on /me/ and my family and my fucking life and you can fuck off straight to hell." He moves aside to snatch his gear back up, starting to curl it into his arms in quick motions. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answers Micah sharply. "I was done practicing anyway." "No you weren't," Daiki murmurs, like a traitor. "But I suppose we are now. -- I've heard," he answers Nom lightly, "much about you as well. You really don't need to give me cookies, though, thank you for the thought." He sits down to remove his shoes, wriggle out of his pants to leave grey gym shorts beneath. "You can probably be a pirate with any type of -- well. I don't know about saber. I find it hard to respect saber fencers." He glances over towards the ropes thoughtfully. "I don't think I'd be any good on those," he muses regretfully. "Have you considered joining rock climbing, Rasa?" Micah's brow-knitting is joined by a frown at the continued exchange. “Guys...” He doesn't go any further with the admonition, however, just giving Shane more Concerned Look with the sharp reply. He catches the ball between a crutch and a leg. There is definitely a desire to ask Shane if he wants to talk in his expression, but he doesn't actually pose the question in front of so many other youngsters. "You am mean from beginning. You am ask things, then attack response. Then you am mean and get mad when me not lay down and take it." The girl hops up, though, and begins walking towards the women's locker room,"You am here first. Me am just come in. Finish you thing." She waves at Daiki,"Me am making cookies anyway. You am welcome have one. Glitterman am say hobbies important. Encourage me bake." She wiggles her fingers at Rasa in departure, and then further at Micah,"This am not time for it." "Nom, did you say something about Shane's family?" Rasa's brows knit, shifting to look that student over. When she leaves, ze gives a little wave. Hir arms relax to hir sides. Ze then inhales and tries to refocus on other things. "Oh. Well, not the club, but I do go rock climbing with the twins sometimes. I might. When do they meet?" Ze wets hir lips and lifts one foot - hir left one, very carefully placing the foot in hand before lifting to stretch the quad, a quasi-concerned/disturbed look passing over hir paling face. "Lay down and fucking take it? Because anyone who doesn't /agree/ with you is /attacking/ you? I don't agree with your bullshit about /fate/ and having no choice. But there's a difference between attacking your opinions and attacking /you/ and I'm sure as hell not going to agree with your crap just to make you /feel/ better. But that doesn't mean you know shit about me or my family or my life or any-fucking-thing." Shane drops down to sit heavily on one of the risers, dragging his water bottle close for another swig once Nom starts to leave. "Uhhh. You should join the mailer we meet -- whenever the. Hell. Pa's our sponsor though and he's a little --" "-- Not entirely in shape for rock climbing at the moment." For a moment Daiki's lips press together, the faint tug of his mutation /just/ a little stronger; his eyes skip between Nom and Shane, his breath pulling in slowly. "Though sometimes Flicker-san takes us in his absence -- I do not know if he is well just now, either." His head dips in a small bow as Nom starts to leave. "During the summer we go more often. Sometimes camping. Hive-san and Dusk-san --" His brows crease, for a moment. "-- Maybe all our normal chaperones are. Hm." His eyes turn to Micah with a faint note of hope. "Do you rock climb?" Micah just looks /confused/, cat-at-a-tennis-matching between the teens. Again, he doesn't ask, attempting not to invade the students' territory too much. Instead, he rolls the ball over to the risers and settles onto one himself. Not /right/ next to Shane, but close. "Flicker's prob'ly your best bet of the group. He did get shot in the leg, but that's pretty minor an' easily healed considerin' our group. Um...no, I've never been climbin'. Would need t'buy a dif'rent foot for it. An' I'm not exactly in the best shape for takin' on a new sport just now, m'self. Prob'ly should get back t'walkin' an' all first." He rolls the cuff of his shorts up just a bit to remove the socket and outer liner of his prosthesis. Nom looks over her shoulder, and says,"It must be nice to am have such selective memory." She looks over at Rasa, and nods,"Yes, me am say thing about Shane family. Me compliment them." She turns to Micah in the mouth of the locker room, and says,"Me am sorry for cause loudness." Apparently someone just HAS to have the last word. With one last look, she huffs and stomps off. "Fate?" Rasa is curious, but lets it go. Ze stretches hir quads like ze is afraid they'll tear apart again, but ze does get a full pull out of the leg eventually. Ze is far less careful with the right leg. "You guys seemed to have quite the conversation." Ze frowns as ze stretches, hir other foot shifting to keep hir balance, hir gaze shifting over to what Micah is doing, somewhat unconsciously staring. "You should try the silks sometime, Dai. I think they'd suit you and you could work up to doing some pretty amazing things." Shane doesn't look at Nom as she leaves; his claws have extended longer, clicking against the metal sides of his water bottle, and his gills flutter quickly as he takes a long swig. "My claws do /ugly/ things to the silks," he admits, more cheerfully once Nom has stomped off. "... actually all of me. -- You could take on a new sport this /summer/," he adds to Micah. "I think I'll get /you/ a rock climbing foot. For /Pa's/ birthday. You'll have to help me." Daiki's lips twitch, at that. "He would appreciate that," he allows. "The silks do look like fun. I don't have much longer to try them, though." "Motherfucker's /graduating/," Shane says it like an accusation, "in --" "One month and one day." Not like Daiki is counting down or anything. "S'okay, sugar. Sometimes conversations get loud. S'just good if they continue t'be conversations, y'know?" Micah offers a small wave to Nom as the girl exits to the locker room. "Quite the conversation, indeed." He smiles faintly, not disturbed by Rasa's staring. It kind of /happens/ when you take your robot leg off in public. Once the leg is set aside, he works himself up to standing, using the ball to extend his residual limb behind him and stretch out his hip flexors, one crutch in front of him for balance. "S'pose we could do," he chuckles at the thought of getting /him/ things for /Jax's/ birthday. "He's wanted t'bring me along for those kinda things, I know. Sports feet're just...expensive an' not at all covered by insurance so I never seriously looked into it. They ain't the kind they usually send me t'test, either." He rolls the ball back behind him further to deepen the stretch. "Lotsa folks graduatin' this year." "Oh no. You couldn't possibly learn circus arts outside of Xavier's. It's impossible. It is the secret place where all circuses come from." Rasa shakes hir head and smiles a little. Ze glances over at Shane a moment later. "Have you asked B just to design one? I mean, he likes to build stuff, right?" Ze rolls hir shoulders and glances between the group. "Um. Glad you got rid of it," ze offers as an aside to Micah before turning and starting to walk away. "Gotta... go... do a thing. Have a nice night!" A small flush darkens Daiki's cheeks, his smile a little sheepish. "Fair. I haven't -- thought a lot about. What things will be like at college." "Everyone'll fawn over you," Shane supplies. "No change there." He tips his head in small curious surprise at Rasa's last offering to Micah, and his lips twitch in -- almost a smile. Almost. It fades soon, though, and he hunches forward, elbows resting on his knees. "Night, Ras." Daiki's head dips on a bow. "Goodnight." His eyes have tracked over to Micah's leg, too, quietly curious. "Liam would have been finishing this year, too," he muses. "We don't have quite as many doctors." "That's," Shane says with a sharp huff, "because they all fucking /die/ before they make it that far. Don't go for your doctorate, okay? Bad plan." "Design ain't the issue. /I/ know the design. I /don't/ know the sport. So havin' an untested product with an inexperienced tester ain't the best of plans. S'better idea to get one that's on the market an' gone through testin' with folks as know what they're doin' with it." Micah offers a self-deprecating grin with this, which just seems to /fit/ the faint blush that accompanies Rasa's other comment. "Oh, I, yeah. I'm glad, then. That you are. Too." His free hand lifts in a small wave. "It is hard...t'get through schoolin'. Then t'get employment after. The doctors with special abilities that I /have/ met've generally not had...the easiest time of it, certainly." Shane leans back agains the riser behind him, eyes drooping half-closed. "We know the sport but shit-all about -- being a cyborg. How much do those things cost do, uh, I need to start saving up now or --" He stretches one foot out, nudging Daiki in the calf. "Can I just mooch off you?" "We'll be moved in by then, yes? I should be free for the mooching." Daiki steals the other boy's water bottle and leans forward where Shane leans back, now, taking a long gulp of water. "To be fair, I don't know a /lot/ of mutants who've had a particularly easy time regardless of education." Shane looks down at his hand, counting slowly. Thumb, one finger, two fingers, three. He stops there. "Huh. Maybe so. S'my plan for the summer, though," he announces to Micah. "Easy times for everyone. In between rock climbing, I guess." "And running your own business?" Daiki's brows quirk upwards. "I think you may be overestimating your free time." "I'm talking easy like not /dying/," Shane explains. "Not like not /working/." "In the hundreds. Less than a thousand if I'm gettin' it through m'contacts an' servicin' the thing m'self," Micah reports with a shrug. He shifts his stance, the crutch, and the ball to work his limb out to the side to stretch the adductors, a small grimace betraying the tighter muscle group there. "True enough. Not too many easy times out there... Though I /so/ wouldn't argue with that summer plan. Let's order a few of those, too, maybe." He smiles at Shane. "An' talk t'me later if y'need...talkin', okay, hon?" This last is added casually though with a trace of concern to the sharktwin. Shane's eyes flick slightly upwards at the grimace. "You need a massage? You're getting all wincey." "That might happen sometimes after getting a limb cut off." Daiki's brows furrow faintly. "Though I'm not an expert." "I'm an expert. I've cut off about four dozen of Taylor's limbs," Shane informs the others brightly. "He winces a lot." This statement just makes /Daiki/ wince. He takes another sip of water. "He needs talking," he tells Micah. He hands the bottle back to Shane, stretching slowly as he stands up. "Goodnight, Micah-san." His fingers trace lightly down over the side of Shane's gills, and he collects Shane's uniform and foil as well as his own before slipping off towards the locker room. "Fuck talking," Shane grumbles, though. "I need a cigarette." He's still watching the exercises, though, thoughtfully. "You /are/ getting better. That's. That's good though. Maybe one step towards an okay summer." "Yeah, it's...from the amputation an' relearnin' walkin'. Things're tight where they shouldn't be an' weaker where they shouldn't be an' it just makes for some soreness is all." Micah nods at Daiki as the boy exits. "G'night, Dai." In contrast, his head shakes at Shane. "I think talkin's a good plan. How 'bout I finish my exercises, you get your smoke in, an' we meet...boathouse? The guest suite?" Shane recaps his water bottle, getting slowly to his feet. "Yeah. I --" His gills flutter quickly, and he slips over closer to Micah, leaning in to peck his father on the cheek. "Boathouse sounds good. Take your time. I --" And maaaybe /actually/ his eyes are tracing after Daiki towards the locker room, here, "-- gotta shower anyway." He bonks his forehead very lightly against Micah's shoulder, turning to trot off. Micah smiles broadly at the kiss, free hand patting at Shane's back before the boy moves away. “I'll...definitely take m'time then,” he replies with a knowing little nod. “Still got a lotta work t'do anyhow. See you in awhile, just text me when you're ready, hon.”