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x-shinobi.livejournal.com posting in

Set after Shinobi and Alison's correspondance in this comment thread.

Getting up at five in the morning wasn't as difficult as he'd expected it to be - he'd even managed to smack his alarm off before it could wake Angelo, as far as he was aware, which was an added bonus. A quick shower to wake up, and Shinobi comes trotting down the stairs to meet Alison in sweatpants, sneakers and one of the school's gray hoodies with the X on the front on over a t-shirt. It may be absurdly cold out, but the running should keep him plenty warm, in theory. Especially if Alison takes his words poorly. Then he'd be running quite a lot.

She's waiting for him near the main entrance, clearly finishing up her warm-ups, dressed in light jogging pants and sharp looking polar jacket. "Morning," she calls out as she spots him coming down the stairs. "I checked, and the jogging paths are clear."

"Morning," Shinobi echos, flashing a grin as he steps down off the last stair, absently folding his arms behind his head. Try not to look _too_ grateful at the notion of such privacy, now. The fewer people that maim him, the better.

An amused grin greets his debonair posture, and Alison raises an eyebrow at him. Like most of the kids he is looking in shape, so she's not worried about him keeping up overmuch during the run. "Warm up and then we're set to go," she offers.

Bobbing his head in a nod, Shinobi locates himself a clear spot of floor so that he can begin stretching. "I really do appreciate you letting me tag along," he says after a moment, looking up with a sheepish grin. "I hope I'm not intruding or anything."

"Naw. Scott jogs 'round this hour often too, and Paige joins up too every now and then, though she prefers jogging in the evening for the most part." Alison redoes some of her last warm-ups, not wanting to risk cooling off to quickly before they set off.

"Scott.. red sunglasses, right?" Shinobi tilts his head questioningly, pointing at his eyes. "I think I've seen him around, though I haven't had opportunity to actually stop and say hello or anything yet."

"That would be him, yeah," Alison grins. "You should hunt him down at one point, introduce yourself." She waits until he's done, and then heads for the door, stretching out one arm and snapping the joint lightly. "And off we go!"

"I probably should," Shinobi agrees, making a thoughtful noise before straightening up to follow. "Don't run _too_ fast, now.. all those years on stage probably have you in much better shape than I'm in." He grins cheerfully, bouncing on his toes.

A snicker greets that statement, Alison now being in far better shape than she was when touring, with all the training she's been undergoing since her arrival at the mansion. "I'll take it easy on you," she winks, hopping in place a few times, snow crunching underfoot until they reach the cleared out jogging path. She sets a lazy pace, waiting to see how Shinobi fares before pushing it a bit.

The lazy pace is easy enough, even if Shinobi can't help shivering a bit at the initial chill of the outdoors as he trots alongside. "You're more merciful," he muses, smiling lopsidedly and trying to ignore the crunch of the snow. It reminds him that it's there, and that isn't condusive to staying warm.

"Heh. Think so?" She continues down the path, selecting a right turn which leads into a wider circle around the mansion on the grounds, speeding up the pace imperceptible nearly every hundred meters or so.

"Well, you are so far, at least," Shinobi amends, grinning lopsidedly. Whenever the pace is sped up, he matches it without really realizing, seeking to keep up for ease of conversation. He casts a quick look around, as if to reassure himself that the path is as clear as Alison had assured him, briefly frowning nervously to himself.

Alison pushes things gradually until they're at a decent pace, one that allows her to carry on a conversation certainly - ready to slow down just as slowly if it seems to keep him out of breath, which it doesn't seem to be doing at all so far. "So, you wanted to talk?" She stares ahead serenely as they run, the rhythm of the run soothing and comforting.

Reluctantly, Shinobi nods his head, not seeming to have too much trouble keeping up just yet. The faster he moves, the warmer he stays, so the faint protests his legs are giving off can be ignored for a while. "Ah.. yes. I wanted to ask for a favor, actually.. kind of."

Nothing new there, and Alison nods, more to herself than anything else, eyes never straying from the path - far safer than risking slipping on an unexpected patch of ice or snow on the ground. "Sure, fire away," she answered casually, settling into the steady run with a small smile.

Oh boy. Here we go. Taking a deep breath, Shinobi braces himself, resisting his sudden urge to have second thoughts. Stick to it. "I need you to watch me around Miles," he finally says, voice quiet. "I.. my head went somewhere that scared me, and I want to make sure he stays safe."

A few paces later, Shinobi realizes he's running alone, Alison having stopped dead in her tracks at his words. Turning back he sees her staring at him with a flat look, unmoving. "Explain." Not threatening, but not exactly happy sounding either, she waits for his answer.

He halts once he realizes he's gone on without her, wincing and looking down to his feet, clearly more than a little ashamed of himself. "I don't think I'll do anything if I continue paying attention to myself, but.. I wasn't paying attention a few nights before Christmas, and my thoughts wandered somewhere very dark, that would have required me to use him to further my own ends. I don't _want_ to do that.. it'd make me too much like him." He pauses for a moment, curling his arms around himself and clarifying quietly. "It'd make me too much like dad."

"Using Miles to nullify someone else's powers, to give you the advantage," she states emotionlessly, keeping an iron control on herself, now more than ever. The cold seeping through her now that she's stopped helps to a certain extent, as do the tightly clenched fists - but not entirely surprised at how fast and hard the anger keeps rising at the notion. His father now merits far more attention from her than Shinobi perhaps realizes, but she tucks away that thought for now, keeping that line of interest for later. "Thinking about something and actually doing it are two separate things." Quietly said, although the underlying iron to her voice makes many things clear.

He nods mutely, keeping his gaze firmly rooted to his sneakers and the snow surrounding them, doing his best not to flinch away from Alison's tone of voice. He does, after all, deserve her ire. "Thinking about it scared the hell out of me, so I don't think anything would happen, but.. but I want to be sure. I adore Miles.. I don't want to hurt him."

"You won't." Relaxing ever so slightly. Knowing after all, does help. The blunt admission certainly does weigh in his favour. And she is talking to Hank as soon as she returns to the mansion, to get Miles a panic button. Shinobi, after all, won't be the only person, in or out of the mansion, to think of something of the sort when learning about Miles' power.

"Thank you." He falls silent for a moment before timidly looking up, offering Alison a weak smile and a questioning tilt of his head. "I, er.. I could leave you to the rest of your run in peace, if you would prefer it. I'd understand."

She needs to think, but turning out Shinobi on his ear to go back on his own isn't... necessary. "Naw." She shakes her head, still feeling edgy, but knowing Shinobi is staying at the school. And he did talk to her. "I'll just run a bit faster though, if you don't mind."

Shinobi looks a bit surprised at not being turned away, nodding slowly and smiling a bit in relief, though he's still far from relaxed. "Given the alternative to your running a little faster would likely involve your fists and my face, it sounds more than acceptable to me."

Alison raises one hand, and a light sparks at the fingertip, briefly. "Naw. If anything like that even came close to happening, I'd overreact, most likely." Her lips quirk - so many people, mainly the students, not equating light to anything more than a means of illumination. Not that she blames them, having preferred to do that herself for a long time, after all. "Git," she hops in place once, already thinking of bringing down some breakfast for Hank while she's at it, mind far ahead and thinking of ways to protect Miles. "We've got a fair bit of running left to do."

Shinobi eyes the spark, blinking in surprise before he nods slightly, dutifully turning to look down the path again. "Good point. I'm not used to being around people who could blow me up yet. Used to the hands-on approach." With a weak grin, he briefly looks down before he obediently gits, raking one hand's fingers back through his hair nervously.

That comment is filed away neatly, something she'll pass along to Pete perhaps now that she's no longer a counselor herself - not that the knowledge isn't something she won't be careful of in any event, of course. She picks up the pace, nagging at Shinobi's heels absently as she increases the pace - then again, Pete probably already would know of something like that, knowing more of Sebastian Shaw than she does.