Issue 11DT: Cairns ((Open))

[Gideon Rede]

Gideon was once again carrying stones towards the outskirts of the grounds.

[Haley Crusek]

"Sorry if I got you in trouble," a voice called out to Gideon.

"Or if I made you uncomfortable," Haley said stepping into view. "I didn't mean to. You know...kinda force myself onto you."

[Gideon Rede]

Gideon stopped and turned to look at Haley his incandescent blue eyes ringed with red. An apology actually made him speechless for a moment.

"The... apology is unnecessary, but is accepted, Ms. Crusek," Gideon said, "I wasn't in trouble and the discomfort I felt was fairly minimal. What I told the Headmistress is what she needed to hear. That I'm neither going out and finding or accepting students who seek me out. I said I'd help you because I wanted to not because you forced yourself upon me. I still will help you if you need me to."

Gideon paused for a moment looking at Haley.

"Did you find the Headmistress as frightening as you'd thought she'd be?"

[Haley Crusek]

"No," she smiled a bit bashfully. "She's actually pretty nice. I'm gonna meet with her every week to sorta work on my telepathy, and Nick is helping me with me TK. But I still wanna work with you some. I wanna just get better, you know?"

[Gideon Rede]

"I do," Gideon said, "I still strive to get better, Ms. Crusek. As I imagine the Headmistress does as well."

"With Nick teaching you telekinesis and the Headmistress teaching you to control your telepathy what do you want me to teach you?"

[Haley Crusek]

"I don't know...what would you say? Just...help me refine?"

[Gideon Rede]

"That I can do through application of what you learn from the Headmistress," Gideon said, "I think this is also a good place for you to train physically as well as mentally. Discipline in both the mental and physical will help you with controlling both of your powers. That kind of training will also help you with joining the student teams should you choose to pursue being a member. In that vein I can also teach you tactics, threat assessment, and so on."

"Otherwise we can also just talk if there is something troubling you."

[Haley Crusek]

"I think that all sounds really good," she smiled. "You can talk to me too if you like."

[Gideon Rede]

"I do not want to burden you with my troubles, Haley," Gideon said before looking over at the cairns. "They involve far too much blood, addiction, death, and disappointment. They are the reason I'm a prisoner of this school."

Gideon looked back at Haley with a strange expression on his face. It almost seemed like Gideon was looking through Haley rather than at her.

"Maybe when you're ready we can turn them into a lesson on the ethical use of mutant abilities, so you can truly understand what a fall from grace entails."

[Haley Crusek]

"Okay," she smiled, perhaps just a wee bit uneasily. "That would be good."

[Gideon Rede]

"It's good that such a thing makes you uneasy," Gideon said, "Nobody should be comfortable with it. Least of all our protectors."

Gideon pauses for a moment as if considering something.

"How well do you know how to fight?"

[Haley Crusek]

"...not very well. I got like...a little from my Daddy cuz he's a cop, but I never paid much attention. And since then...we I kinda just smash with my TK."

[Gideon Rede]

"Then we'll start there and I do hope you'll pay attention as I'm likely not as patient as your father," Gideon said, "Martial arts is something that can be used to train both your body and mind. It can also save your life when using your powers is not an option. It can show you how to more efficiently use your powers against an adversary if you find yourself in such a situation."

"We'll start with something fairly simple. Then I'll teach you some Tai Chi, which works well as a more...active form of meditation."

Gideon walks over to Haley.

"First we learn the basics: your stance, kicking, and punching. How do you stand when you get ready to fight?"

[Haley Crusek]

Haley dropped into a stance that wasn't especially stable, and put her fists in front of her blocking pretty much nothing except the front of her face.

[Gideon Rede]

Seeing Haley's stance Gideon simply reached out and pushed Haley lightly.

[Haley Crusek]

And she stumbled easily. "Oh what the...how'd you do that?"

[Haley Crusek]

And she stumbled easily. "Oh what the...how'd you do that?"

[Gideon Rede]

"By realizing your stance was unstable, which is something you'll be able to do in time," Gideon smiled. "There are several key attributes of a solid fighting stance. One of those is balance otherwise somebody will simply push you over."

Gideon dropped into a fighting stance of his own.

"My stance gives me a solid foundation to fight from. Now try to copy my stance."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley looked at him carefully, back down at her feet and then slowly started to copy him, starting from her feet and working her way upwards. She had a much more respectable stance afterwards.

"Like this?"

[Gideon Rede]

Gideon looked at the stance and adjusted the position of one Haley's arms.

"Much better," Gideon said before giving Haley another light shove. "The position of your feet offers you greater stability."

[Haley Crusek]

And Haley didn't stumble a bit!

"Wow...that does make a big difference."

[Gideon Rede]

"Good," Gideon said, "A solid foundation is just as important in telepathy and offers similar benefits. Now lets see you throw a punch."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley lunged at him, completely telegraphing her target, AND with horrible form that left her guard down, and completely open to counterattack.

[Gideon Rede]

Gideon blocked the punch and then took advantage of Haley's haphazard guard with a counter attack of his own. He stopped his punch before before contact would be made with the side oh Haley's head.

"What do you think you did wrong?" Gideon asked.

[Haley Crusek]

"I guess I...put my guard down? And...did you read my mind to know where I was gonna punch?"

[Gideon Rede]

"No, you told me what you were going to do with your body," Gideon said, "People who don't have much experience fighting tend to telegraph their bodies and their eyes. Over time you'll learn how to hide your movements through the use of feints or masking your body language."

"You are correct though in that you let your guard down."

Gideon took a step back from Haley and did several punches. Keeping his off hand raised in a guard position each time.

"You want to keep your hands up at all times to limit the number of openings you offer your opponent," Gideon said, "Now lets try again, eh."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley watched his moves carefully and then drops back down into her newly-learned fighting stance, trying this time to actually keep her guard up as she punched the air.