WHO: Logan and Paige WHAT: Training WHEN: July 11, afternoon WHERE: Starting in the den, ending in the Danger Room
Logan had been working all morning. This was an unusual event; his average day before coming back to the mansion had consisted mainly of beer and sex and the occasional barfight when people got antsy enough, TV in his room. This was different, what with Summers landing him with the job of training up the newbies. He'd been all go since 9am. Getting them to listen was easy. Getting them to do what he told them, though, that was exhausting.
So there he was, a shower and change later, lounging on the couch in the TV room in a marginally too large X-Men tracksuit. He had another appointment, he was just waiting for the unlucky victim to turn up.
Hey....Paige resents the implication that she will be anything but fun to train. And he's certainly early. She knows because she's a good ten minutes early, hair pulled back in a ponytail, looking every inch the eager beaver. Knocking softly on the door frame, she leaned in. "Mr. Logan?" It's a Southern thing, this inability to call anyone older than her by his or her first name.
He looked up, peering over the back of the couch. Apparently his eleven o'clock was present, a good ten minutes early. He didn't know if he liked that or not. "I just spent two hours with a bunch of pubescent teens, don't you go callin' me *Mr. Logan*," he told her, and pulled himself up off the couch, looking her over. "So. What'd Summers tell you about why you're seein' me?"
Sorry? Paige did her best to look properly chastised. Not sure how well she succeeded. "He said that I needed some more training to become an effective member of the team and that you were the only one who could beat me into shape." She's paraphrasing, here.
Logan snorted, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweats. "That sounds like somethin' positive so I'm guessin' either he didn't think you'd be tellin' me or you're makin' assumptions." He shrugged, making for the door with a glance back over his shoulder. "I see you out runnin' all the time. Say you're pretty eager?"
"Probably the former," she answered, half smiling. "And I guess you could say that. I just want to do the best that I can."
He nodded. "Yeah, well. We're gonna see what you've got. You've been in the Danger Room before, right? Don't think our illustrious leader'd be lettin' me take you down there if not."
"Once or twice," Paige answered, hands clasping behind her back. "And we had the Danger Grotto at the Massachusetts Institute." Jubilee had named it.
"Good. So I'm not gonna haveta give the safety talk. I hate the safety talk, takes out all the fun." He gave her a quick glance over his shoulder then apparently decided to let her fall into stride. There was no sense pissing off the new members when it was Scott that'd done the assigning. "And you're gonna haveta show me this ability a'yours. Need to know what we're workin' with."
She nodded. "Sure thing. I'll just wait until we're actually down there...it's kinda messy." She doesn't want to leave skin trailing around the mansion. She'd gotten enough lectures from M.
He snickered, and gave her a nod. Sounded like this was gonna be more fun than the kids who just kept looking at him with the damn huge eyes as he tried to tone down his language and go about the business of teaching them how not to go out there and get themselves killed. Another couple of minutes and they were down there, Logan contemplating costume but it seemed like overkill; he gestured ahead. "Ladies first," he told her. "Let's see what ya got."
Nodding, Paige took a deep breath, lifting her hand to tear off her skin and revealing a metal Paige underneath. "Not just metal," she informed him, skin grinding as she talked. "It can be anything."
He raised his brows and reached out a hand to knock his knuckles against her shoulder. Seemed pretty solid to him, and he'd punched some pretty ridiculously solid things in his time. "So, this talent a'yours got any limitations I should know about?"
"I can't do a whole bunch of transformations in a row." Really took it out of her. "Four or five is my limit. Other than that... Not really. I can use it to get rid of most wounds or I can transform into most anything. I got diamond once."
"Hmm." Logan knew first hand what a pain in the ass diamond was to fight, Emma and her dumbass diamond form being fairly fresh in his head. Of course, Paige didn't seem like the kind of girl who'd knee him in the groin like that. "How long can ya hold it? You gotta come back to the human thing, right?"
Not unless he was actually trying to kill her. "Yeah. But I can hold it awhile if necessary. Not really sure how long...at least half an hour?"
"Guess we're gonna haveta put that to the test," he told her, going through a quick ticklist in his head of the things they could go through if they were having these sessions on a weekly basis. Situations flashed through his head, pushing the limitations of her mutation; there was a reason Scott'd assigned her to him, after all. He didn't take it easy on anyone. But for now, he just wanted to get an idea of how these powers of hers worked and aside from that, her ability to fight.
"I want you to attack me," he said. "You're not gonna hurt me, give me whatever ya got."
She nodded. Mouth opened like she was going to say something, but instead, her hand flew forward, heading for his cheek.
It was easy to dodge; Logan ducked aside easily and with a strong hand around her wrist and a deft sweep of one leg he put her down to the floor, leaning over her. "See, this is why we train," he told her. "Sometimes that power a'yours isn't gonna be enough to save your ass out there. But I'm guessin' you know that. You're not that green." He stood, held out a hand to help her up. "You're gonna spend a hell of a lotta time on that mat, kid, so ya better get used ta it."
She grinned up at him. "I've got nine brothers and sisters. I'm used to getting knocked on my butt." She ignored the hand in favor of swinging her legs around to hit his ankles. Sorry?
However, Logan had excellent balance and more weight behind his frame than it seemed, the adamantium through his bones lending him a hand in the staying-on-his-feet stakes. He wobbled slightly and took a step back but his reactions caught him. He smirked down at her, not envying her the throbbing she'd have in her leg, though it was a gutsy move. He liked her. "And there's another lesson for ya. Don't try ta be smart when ya don't know what you're dealin' with." He offered his hand again. "Don't try it a second time, kid. This don't come with third chances."
Yeah, her leg would hurt but...it was worth it. She took the hand, pulling herself up. "Yes sir."
Logan chuckled, and gave her a nod. "Good. An' kid, if you're gonna be part of the team, you're gonna have ta call me Logan. I'm not sir, I'm not boss, I'm not Mister anything. *Logan*." He paused for a moment, considering, then nodded, hands on hips. "What kinda metals can ya do?"
"Logan," she repeated, nodding. Going to have to get used to calling everyone on the team by their first name. "Umm...iron, silver, steel.... I stay away from the softer metals like gold or aluminum... I could probably do copper if need be..." Maybe adamantium... She'd have to practice a lot to get that.
He nodded, taking all this in and considering it quickly. He was going to have to get her trying adamantium, he thought, as much as he might've begrudged anyone having the ability to withstand his claws. "Give me something heavy and come at me again. You've gotta get used to fightin' someone who's stronger and faster then you an' use this to your advantage. It's gonna take some weight behind yer punches to get me down."
Another deep breath as she stepped back, ripping her skin off. Going with stone this time. All that's missing as she comes at him again? A train horn. She's gonna go on her butt again, but...hey, she'll learn some things.
This was going to hurt, he could tell that already, and there'd probably be blood and it would obviously be his since he had a feeling he wasn't about to get blood out of a stone. He set his stance, leaned in as Paige came at him, let her hit him - it was something like being hit by a stray rolling boulder but he took it well, dropping his shoulder and turning his hip and flipping her down onto the floor with a sick crack of something in his hand. He grimaced down at her, cracked the bones back into place and wiped down the side of his face where he was half sure the skin had broken. It hadn't. He didn't know how.
"Better," he told her, feeling the bones knit back in. "But don't try to outmanoeuvre me, kid. I've got years of experience on ya here, ya need to pick your shots. I ain't gonna hurt ya while you're solid as Mount Rushmore, get the punches in while I'm busy screwin' up my hands." He offered her a hand. "Get up. Again."
A nod, as she took the hand, backing up. This time she came in swinging.
Better, he thought. Not bringing the power all at once, and the weight behind the blows was good, enough to be jarring as he deflected a couple rather than ducking out of the way. She was a quick learner, at least, though she was going to need some serious hand-to-hand training. This could turn into a hell of a project.
He ducked behind her, wrapped an arm around her throat and took her down to the mat with a quick twist; she landed on his wrist and that smarted somewhat but it had been a while since he'd had to fight anyone who was entirely made of stone, even temporarily. He slipped back up to his feet. "You've had a group session already, yeah?"
She nodded, pushing herself up. "One, yeah." And maybe the 'hell of a project' is why Scott assigned her to Logan.
So. How'd that go?" he asked, dusting himself off. "Scott workin' on the teamwork thing?"
"Yup," she nodded. "Knowing everyone else's strengths and weaknesses."
"Sounds like Scott." He glanced at his watch, very briefly. Fifteen minutes of stone, so far. "Pretty sure ya can tell already this ain't gonna be like that. Won't always be teams out there, you've gotta know howta handle yourself and I'm not talkin' about the regular trainin' here. We'll get ya ready." He considered this for a moment. "Two-hour sessions to start. Ya want more, ya know where I am."
A nod. "We'll see how I feel after a week or two." She'll probably push the envelope just a bit, though.
"And don't think you're gettin' away without homework here, kid." He smirked, patted her on the shoulder and ushered her to the door. Next time they'd probably just hit the gym - she'd get all the Danger Room she needed with Scott and the group session for a while. "You're gonna work on a new substance between now and next week."
"Yessir," she replied, stone cracking as she eased up on the control. It was said without thought. She's just polite, okay? "Any suggestions or is it entirely up to me?"
"Anythin' you like. Do sand if ya want. Do plastic. Dark matter so long as ya don't collapse the planet. Somethin' you've never done before." It was really a pretty impressive ability, he thought. She just needed to use it to the best effect.
She nodded, letting a smile crack. "Alright." Let's see what trouble she can get up to."