Mark & Wanda, Thursday evening

[x-pressive.livejournal.com]

Mark gets a lesson in hand-to-hand from Wanda, as well as some a much needed boost in self-confidence.


Wanda emerged from her office, looking slightly pale and tired, in time to meet Mark on his way to the work out room. She took in his expression for a moment before saying anything. "How are you holding up?" she asked, finally. While this was not his first mission it...had an impact on them all. Everyone around looked exhausted and depressed, the office the quietest it had been in some time. Not that she really knew, considering how much she was holing up in her own office.

Mark replied with a shrug. He wasn't sure he could really answer that. While he refused on principle to be all mopey and emo, it was impossible to deny that he'd been so shaken by the events in Tennessee that he couldn't maintain his normally sunny demeanor. He'd settled for detached and quiet until he could get his thoughts in order. "You've gotta explain to me again how letting you kick my ass on a regular basis is meant to make me kick ass," he quipped half-heartedly.

She chuckled at that and shrugged off the overshirt she had on. "Because the more I kick your ass, the better you will be at stopping me from doing so," she replied, rotating her neck to get out all of the cricks out of it. Far too much time spent over her keyboard and books. "And that will help you to not get tossed into dumpsters during a fight."

"Oh, the odors I suffer for sake of the job," Mark sighed, unzipping his track jacket and hanging it on the back of a chair. The iPod in his back pocket also went with it. The Holy of Holies was not to be touched. "I much prefer just standing back and blowing shit up."

"Your powers certainly lend itself to that role but, Mark, there will be times when you do not have that luxury. An ambush and your opponent is suddenly closer then you realized." Wanda watched him as he got ready, standing in the middle of the room. The iPod being removed had not gone unnoticed. "Or, heaven forbid, something breaks your iPod. Your strength is at long range, which is why we work on short range for right now."

"Bite your tongue." Mark approached Wanda, waiting a little awkwardly for her to begin. "So now do we, like, bow and then go all Crouching Mutant Hidden Superspy ? I don't think I can defy gravity."

Wanda snorted but she was amused. "Darling, if both of your feet ever leave the ground, consider yourself in trouble. We leave the gravity defying tricks to Remy and Sofia. And Betsy if she's feeling particularly enthusiastic." She considered the 'lesson plan' for today in her head. "I want you to figure out the best way to get me on the ground. So, in other words, attack me and try to get past my defenses."

Mark blinked. "I usually reserve those kinds of tricks for the club." This would be much easier if he just kept up with the jokes. At least that's what he told himself. He lunged himself at her, aiming to tackle her to the ground. He really wasn't so surprised when he just ended up with a lot of mat in his mouth instead.

They were still sparring so Wanda didn't offer him a hand up, an easy way to get an opponent on the ground. "Well, I certainly hope you are smoother at the club," she teased, finding if she focused on the here and now it made it easier to relax. "I am not saying that move will not work, because it does, just not in this case. Try again."

"I could tell you about my Halloween conquests," said Mark, "But that might be vaguely inappropriate." He eyed his iPod and briefly considered making a run for it and simply blasting Wanda off her feet. But that would be the easy way out, assuming he could even hit her, and this wasn't supposed to be easy. So he rolled to his feet and threw a punch at her, hoping to distract her just enough to trip her or something.

"Nice recovery," Wanda said, grunting a bit as she blocked the punch but moving away to avoid a follow up move. He had power behind it, that was for sure, and their team would put the finesse he would need in place. "Look for weak spots, find them, exploit them." And that was her selling point. She knew how to fully exploit an opening even without her powers.

He spun, following her and trying to punch her again with his other hand. "Unless you're secretly your brother, then there aren't any easy bits to hit." Which he was morally opposed to, anyway, because no one is evil enough to deserve that.

"Trust me, it hurts quite enough for a woman to get hit there," she responded dryly, focusing on defense for herself. She and Mark had been working together since he came on board and she felt confident in simply focusing on one aspect for right now. "Use your environment, everything around you is a potential weapon."

Taking a step back, Mark reevaluated the room. Nothing particularly weapony here , excusing the iPod. But there was his jacket. Mark rushed across the room to grab it off the chair, and immediately turned around and used it as a whip. Flying zippers to the face hurt.

Amused but wary, Wanda kept her distance as much as possible. After all, the point of this was not for her to land anything but for him to get her down. Still, he managed to land a few hits before she managed to snag it and yank it away, tossing it behind her so that he'd have to go through her to get to it. "Good, use your imagination. Ten to one, the opponent is not going to expect something like that."

"If you stretched that, I'll fucking kill you." The teasing was becoming a bit easier now. Banter is a good coping mechanism, he decided. He glanced around the room again to determine his next strategy. He had to fight hard to keep the grin off his face when he figured out what to do. Good thing he had a decent poker face.

He took a step back, leaving the mat, and without any hesitation bent down and lifted the mat up. Wanda might have a good few inches on him, but he's no weakling.

There was a loud curse as Wanda felt her feet go out from under her as Mark yanked, giving her no time to react aside from immediately doing a side fall. She stared up at him, waiting for her back to stop cringing, and then laughed, pushing herself up on one elbow. "Very good," she said warmly.

Mark offered Wanda a small, somewhat embarrassed smile. "Uh, yay me?" He went to retrieve his jacket and tossed it back onto the chair. "So, moral of the story is to be Jackie Chan with the furniture and stuff. Got it."

She chuckled as she picked herself up off the floor, brushing off her pants. "In part. The lesson really is to just be aware of what is around you, not just who. It can make a difference of who ends up the winner."

"Where'd you learn all this stuff?" asked Mark. "You're not a ninja like Remy or Betsy. Is this, like, ancient Gypsy secret? Because remind me to stay away from them if so."

At that, Wanda snickered under her breath. "No, no ancient Gypsy secret here," she responded, pushing locks of hair out of her face. "My uncle did teach us self-defense in case we were ever attacked. The rest I just picked up. It was easier for me because I always look for a weakness to exploit. My powers have driven me to think that way. And, really, I was quite the brawler growing up. The X-Men training and the training I do here helps to hone all that. And the trick to a lot of what I do?" Wanda grinned at him. "I make it up as I go along."

"I need to learn that," Mark admitted, his face falling slightly. "This is all just so weird and new. I never thought that I'd be in situations like this, much less that I'd put myself there."

At that, Wanda glanced up at him sharply. "You are doing just fine," she reassured him. "You have a great deal going for you, Mark. You might not have the experience but you're resilient, willing to learn and listen to us. All that will help you get through this."

"I just need to draw strength from the stars. Brad and Angelina are still together, right?"