Issue 1 Downtime

The bookworm made her way into the gymnasium, she was determined. She was going to make her body as useful as her mind. The girl had basic skills at balance and stuff, but nothing advanced. She wanted to be able to stay alive mostly if there was a fight.. The thought of being struck twice now kept lingering in her mind. I need to learn how to dodge..build up agility and stuff.., she told herself. She was dressed in a lovely pink and black tracksuit, and sporting her new choker.

Inside the gym Sara'd find Kat. She's lieing on one of the weight benches, pushing up ridiculous amounts in an attempt to train her muscles along with her power.

The girl definitely looked like she was not supposed to be in this gym, but noticed the other person there with her. "Wow...she's good...maybe I can get her to help me..", she told herself before moving toward the other person. "Um...excuse me? Can you help me...?"

"Hmm?" At closer inspection it'll be noticable that Kat isn't actually gripping the bar, which instead seems to be floating about half an inch away from being grabbed. The fact that getting closer to Kat gets increasingly difficult up to the point of bein impossible at a few feet distance adds to revealing that she's not working with muscles alone. With a flare of her power she sits up and maneuvers the weights to the side to place them on the floor. This has the added effects of pushing Sara back about a feet before the gravitational effect flickers and disappears.

"Oh, hi there."

"Hello!" She said with a smile, completely ignoring the fact that she was pushed away...at least from the conversation.. "What in the goddess' name was that all about..?", she asked herself. "I was wondering if you could help me out..."

"You were saying something about help?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you would help me.. I am trying to get a little more in shape..trying to better myself." She told the girl quietly.

"Well... what exactly are you looking for? Muscle mass, endurance, cardio?"

"More so I want to learn how to dodge...I've been struck twice whilst I have been here...and I'd like for it to not happen again.." She told her plainly. "So I guess endurance..and cardio..."

"Really? Huh... Well, I don't know too much about dodging, never really needed it. But I know how to block. Not getting hit is more about agility and reading people's body language than just being 'fit'."

"Well everything and anything helps.." She told her. "I was not exactly the most...active kid..I did do some gymnastics..but nothing serious.."

"Well, you can always run and pick up gymnastics again, but that won't help you much if you don't know what to expect from an attack. Some basic Krav Maga would propably help you the best, there are a few students of that around, I think. Or you schedule some Danger Room time and let it create a slow-motion enemy if you want to learn the things that give a punch or kick away, but that might be a bit hard to teach to yourself."

"I realize it is not going to happen in a day...I just need to get it started...no?"

"Sure, without starting you won't get anywhere. I'm just trying to point you in the right direction. If you don't want to get punched you should learn how to defend yourself, not how to run 10 miles. Although in some situations that can be a viable alternative." she laughs. "Of course being fit and somewhat flexible helps, I just don't think its the most important aspect unless you want to get into fights that go beyond the initial punch..."

"I am hoping that there will not be a second punch...but if there is...I'd like to be able to keep myself from being hit.." She spoke with a hint of laughter from the joke..

"Well, I'm not much of an instructor. Anita's propably the local expert on dodging and agility, Kev's pretty good too. I just supplement my 'cheating' with a bit of physical ability for the most part." she winks.

Talia makes her way into the rec centre on a class break. She's changed into boxing shorts and a sports bra, hair pulled back in pig-tails. She moves up to a punching bag, taping up her hands and forearms in the process.

"Well you are pretty good at your 'cheating'." She told the girl..spotting Talia. "Hey! Long time no see!"

At the call, Talia glances over, then smiles. She pads over to the pair on bare feet. "Hello again Sara, Kat. How are you doing?"

"Well it propably won't help you much if I show you my method of not being hit." she chuckles. "And hey, there's someone who could propably kick my ass if it wasn't for that." she grins at Talia.

"I am doing well, Ms. Talia. How about yourself?" She asked looking between the two.

"I might be able to kick it anyway, I bet I could get some fire past your defenses," she counters with a grin, "Any time you want to spar though, I am open to it, power or no."

"I am also well. I didn't feel like heading through traffic to get to my gym so thought I would stop by here for a while. It is quite a nice facility, have you used it much?"

"Maybe. Even fire has mass, as small as it is. One day!" she chuckles.

"We can always practice in the Danger Room with the safety settings on. It would be interesting."

"No...I have yet to use the gym here... This is my first time in this part of the school, to be honest.."

Talia's gaze flickers over the bookworm's form and nods, "It certainly is a top-notch facility. If you are lucky you can get an appointment with the physiotherapy students after a workout. Some of them are learning massage therapy and need practice subjects."

"Oh...that sounds lovely...a good massage would feel so good right now..."

She nods, "They are pretty good. There's this one really cute guy with four arms, wow. I might have to put him on retainer," she giggles, "What was your workout today?"

"I am not so sure...I've been thinking over the last few days that I need to learn how to defend myself..and dodge attacks..." She told Talia quickly.

"Those are definitely useful skills to have, even if you were not in the middle of a big bullseye," she chuckles, "I'm not a qualified instructor but I have been training in martial arts for a number of years now. If you would like a partner I could use someone on campus to practice with."

"Sure! I would love to practice...with anyone!" She exclaimed. "Anything to help improve myself!"

She nods, "I find the discipline helps with power control as well. It might be stereotypical, but I can be rather hot-headed at times and it's not pretty when my anger gets the better of me. I did not have the benefit of a school like Xavier's when I first manifested."

"That is pretty useful..." She told Talia, still listening to her conversation. "Neither did I...I only had my mom to help me.."

"Daddy hired a few tutors as well, which helped, but mostly I think it was learning about discipline. At any rate, learning how to dodge is not that hard. I mostly practice Muay Thai but I've learned a little of softer martial arts too. I'm sure there are better teachers, but to start, it is not too difficult."

"Alrighty..." She said watching Ms. Talia intently.

"..would you like to try that now?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed happily. "Um.. I mean Yes, Talia, I would." She made sure to get a hold of herself.

She chuckles and nods, "Then I suppose we can leave Kathrin to her weights. Feel free to join us, if you wish," she adds to the other student, then leads the way over to an area with a padded floor for gymnastics.

Sara follows after Talia. "It was nice meeting you Ms. Kathrin!" She called back.

"You know, Ms is normally an honourific used in conjunction with a last name. Technically, by virtue of courtesy, I am either a Lady or a Maid. The latter rarely sees use," she smirks.

Once on a clear spot of the mat, she looks to Sara. "Where should we start? I would presume that you have at least played some sports that involve dodging."