LOG: Crystal and Logan - Dancing (of a sort)

[x-wolverine.livejournal.com]

Logan's looking to work out a little, but it seems that someone's already down there dancing in mid-air. Logan does what he does best, and Crystal gets intrigued.



Wearing her usual work-out outfit of a sports top and matching pants, Crystal stood halfway between the floor and the ceiling, dancing in mid-air. Right foot to the right, close left foot to right foot, move the right foot again. Zig-zag. Cross-step. Spin. Randomly choosing her movements, Crystal's body automatically carried out the movements the moment she thought of them. Although most of her movements could be done solo, Crystal also danced with her arms outstretched as if she was dancing with a partner.

Logan, looking for a workout, headed down to the Gym. He had to stop and quirk an eyebrow at one of the new pups dancing with herself in mid-air. Not doing too bad a job of it, he thought as he ground out his cigar against his palm, causing a brief odor of seared flesh and a reflexive wince of pain. "Nice moves, kid." he said, leaning against the doorway.

Only partially through a pivot, Crystal halted her movement at the voice. "Thank you," she said, peering down at Logan as she lowered her foot. She launched into the automatic greeting she gave just about any time she met someone new. "I am Crystal Amaquelin of Attilan."

Logan shot her a smile. "I'm Logan." he said simply. "You should show those moves to Kurt. Teaches the Dance class here." he commented.

Realizing that it was very impolite to speak to someone on the ground while hovering a number of feet above them, Crystal sank back towards the floor of the gym. "If he is a dance teacher, I am sure he has much more to teach me than I can teach him."

Logan just nodded at that. "You mind if I grab a section of the floor here?" he said, nodding over towards a taped-off square on the floor. As he spoke he cracked his knuckles, each one letting off an evil-sound collection of metallic grinding and popping noises.

Crystal's eyes widened at the sudden, awful, unexplained noise. "No, I don't mind. What... what is that sound?"

"My knuckles." he said as he moved over to the indicated section of floor. He took off his cowboy hat, laying it on the floor along with his outermost shirt, leaving him in jeans, boots, and a wifebeater T-shirt. He popped his neck next, and it too sounded like metal grinding against metal more than the traditional popping noises.

Crystal nearly fell the last remaining foot she had left before reaching the floor. Quickly catching herself, she ended up two inches off the floor, her hands held up and outward as if to catch herself. "And... and that is...?" she asked, finally setting both feet on solid ground and lowering her arms to her sides.

"My neck." said, disinclined to get into the specifics of what Weapon-X had done to him. She didn't need to know and Summers was already inclined to ride his ass about frightening the pups. He slowed his breathing, pulling his air from the bottom of his lungs and not the shallower normal breathing. He'd been too lax about his workouts lately and it was time to fix that. One moment he was standing still, the next he exploded into action. He was working through an advanced kata - one that he hadn't even showed Shiro yet. It demanded total concentration and focus and Logan was eager to meet the challenge.

Wide-eyed, Crystal stared at Logan, attempting to take in his every movement. She opened her mouth to ask him yet another question, then decided against it. She knew what it was like to get into practice mode. Complete concentration was required. Pesky questions were unneeded.

This particular kata was relatively short - maybe fifty or sixty moves all-in. As he neared the end, he effortlessly shifted from his previous explosive movements into a smooth finish precisely where he'd started from. He then looked over to Crystal and winked at her.

Fighting the urge to break into applause, Crystal smiled at Logan. "That was beautiful. Can you teach me how to do that, Mr. Logan?"

Logan stopped to look at Crystal and think about it. "Maybe." he conceded. Girl looked like she had some power in her, and as a dancer she was probably flexible enough. "Take a couple of years of hard work to get there, though." he told her matter-of-factly. "You got five or so years, then yeah. I can get you there."

With a slight smile, Crystal answered, "No one knows what tomorrow may bring, and I can't say with certainty that I will be here in five years, but I would like to learn what I can while I am here."

"Talk to 'Ro or Summers. Intro self-defense course next term. You survive that, then we'll look at taking your game to the next level." he cautioned. "Go find Shiro. Talk to him." he said, and then looked away to begin to prepare himself mentally for the next exercise.

Familiar only with the name Summers, as she had did not know Ororo Munroe by the nickname of 'Ro and had neither met nor heard of Shiro, Crystal made a mental note to discover who these people were. "I will," she said, then fell silent as Logan began to practice once more.