callisto + morgan | afternoon

[x-callisto.livejournal.com]

Callisto and Morgan meet in a wooded area of the grounds, to interesting effect.



It was gorgeous out. Gorgeous was really a euphemism for "hot as fuck" but Morgan was fond of it being disgustingly muggy and hot up in New York rather than in South West Asia or Africa. Now that was heat. Still, heat was heat and she was in the shortest pair of shorts she owned and a tank top to deal with it. Any day that wasn't raining, though was a good day. God knows what she was going to do if she was still here when that weird white stuff they referred to as snow started to fall. Now there was a climate Morgan wasn't used to dealing with.

Her time was being put to use out in the woods. She'd taken to leaving her gun locked up even though there was a gun range there. It was that school plus children plus guns thing that went over badly and as much as she didn't care about comfort levels she wasn't out to piss people off intentionally. Well, not in general, just on a personal level. She could have been on the archery range but most days Morgan appreciated the challenge of aiming around things. Trees were convenient for that. Longbow in hand, Morgan pulled back and let her arrow fly. The moment her fingers released she saw a person pop out from behind a tree. She was about to yell but the arrow was too fast and then it was caught. Just...caught. With one hand as if it was nothing. She was impressed and that was clear on her face. "Sorry, I didn't think anyone was out here!" At least she didn't usually try to kill people for fun. Just for profit.

The stranger looked slightly less than impressed, stepping fully out from behind the tree and approaching. "If I wanted to be shot at by blue people I'd go back to my dropping acid while watching the Smurfs days," she quipped dryly, holding out the arrow.

Morgan arched an eyebrow. "I'll be sure to break out my little dress and hat combo next time I shoot an arrow at you then." Despite the tone of the other woman Morgan kept her voice sugar sweet. She even grinned as she took the arrow back. "Or, y'know, you could make a little noise when you walk around out here like normal people do."

Callisto smirked. "Not so much on the crashing about the place," she said. "Not physically, anyway." In truth she hadn't really been thinking about it. 'See the grounds', Nathan had said. It really ought to have occurred to me that the wooded areas'd be swarming with Mutant Robin Hood practice. I mean, of course, how stupid of me...

Unable to keep her hands still, Morgan was twirling the arrow between her fingers absently. "Warning means you don't have to go around catching arrows mid-flight. Though, it was damn hot." Which it was and Morgan was not the kind of person to avoid mentioning that little fact.

Adding a single raised eyebrow to her smirk, Callisto leaned back against the tree behind her, eyes flickering between the twirling arrow and Morgan's face. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said. "But I can't say that my usual method of impressing girls involves them trying to skewer me." Although...

The arrow stilled as Morgan laughed. Eyebrows up, she gave a sheepish shrug. "Well, my usual method for hitting on girls is usually a lot more direct and a lot less violent. Though, if I'd known what I could come across if only I tried the violent route I might have considered it sooner." Hey, she was cute and Morgan was nothing if not a sucker for a cute girl. Alright, a cute anyone but her main eye candy was hung up on his ex so she obviously needed more eye candy and Amanda wasn't as easily accessible as Morgan appreciated her visual stimulation being.

"Now, I'm sure someone around here told you that violence is never the answer," came the response in a somewhat sarcastic tone. So this is new... Not that Callisto hadn't been flirted with... once in a while. But here... She found herself squaring her shoulders a little out of their usual slump, her careless head-tilt turning just that little bit more studied, in that sudden jolt of self-consciousness that comes with realising someone is interested in one, even on a shallow level. Not that Callisto had ever done any other level.

"They keep saying that but I'm not buyin' it, love." Morgan was completely at ease. She noted the shift in posture but she didn't remark on it. Morgan didn't get physically affected by much unless her life was in peril. She was relaxed, casual. So long as she had something she could kill with in her hands or someone to flirt with she was in her element. Here she had both at once, lucky her. The arrow began to spin in her hand, fingers moving effortlessly. "Violence has worked pretty well for me in the past and if it's not the answer they shouldn't have asked me to go and teach the kidlings to defend themselves. Bit hypocritical, innit?"

"I assume it's all about means and ends or some other bullshit," Callisto said. She shrugged. "Hey, I'm happy enough to avoid violence - for anything other than sporting purposes, anyway. Seen more than I'd like and I'm sure that's true of plenty people around here."

"When you've got a group of wannabe heroes playing dress up and going off to save the day and getting their asses kicked half the time I think you should start to embrace the violence a little more." She still maintained they were insane for their policy of not killing the enemy. How many people who could legitimately be considered the bad guy ever really learned their lesson? "I'm Morgan, by the way. Figure if I'm going to accidentally attempt to kill you then you should at least know my name, right?"

"Callisto," the other woman said, offering a hand for Morgan to shake. "I'm guessing you don't consider yourself one of the... what's it... 'X Men' then?"

Her arrow was shifted to her other hand so that Morgan could take the offered one of Callisto's. "The nymph who was turned into a bear," she remarked on the name. "Otherwise fitting, though." She wasn't sure if Callisto knew the mythological origins of her name and Morgan only sort of remembered the myth herself. Aleister had liked myths and had considered them part of her education after he'd acquired her. "Me? Fuck no. I don't play hero. I teach self-defense while I'm fixing some shoddy with my powers and apparently happen upon attractive women in the woods. That's all I do around here."

"Forge said something about nymphs as well. I dunno about that. I don't feel particularly nymph-like," Callisto said. Then she added. "Although I guess you did find me in a wood, isn't that a thing? And do I suck you into a tree, now? I dunno how these things are supposed to work..."

Morgan really did try desperately to keep the smile off her face, or at least turn down the flirtatious in it but it wasn't working at all. "A nymph of Artemis, specifically. Nymph of a huntress, no wonder I found you with an arrow." She bit her lip, trying to quell that impulse to flirt. She didn't really have a reason to quell it, it just seemed like a good idea. Good ideas be damned. "I suppose you could suck me into all sorts of things if you wanted to. You're the nymph, makes me just your hapless victim, forced to bend to your will." There was no small amount of innuendo in her tone.

Callisto chuckled, her pulse jumping just slightly. Things may be looking up around here... "You don't seem very helpless to me..." she said smoothly.

"I'm not," it was a confident statement of fact. "Where's the fun if there's no challenge?"

"Oh, wait, you said hapless, didn't you, not helpless. Doesn't that mean unlucky?" Her smirk returned. "You also look like the sort to make your own luck." She straightened a little, although she didn't push away from the tree.

"I also don't tend to be a victim accidentally." The operative word there was clearly "accidentally." There was nothing wrong with some intentional victimization for fun. Granted, it wasn't exactly victimizing if you were willing but it was all about the illusion.

"Neither do I, and yet I did almost get shot, so I guess we live and learn..." Callisto's eyes flickered back to the arrow in Morgan's hand, this time taking a considerably more leisurely route on their way back to her face.

"I'd have felt really bad if I hit you, though." There was a hint of a pout in her voice that didn't make it onto her face. "Maybe even would've played nurse until you were all better." Morgan couldn't even manage to make that sound nonsexual. Obviously her brain did not feel like taking a u-turn any time soon.

This, Callisto, would not be the best time to mention how quickly you'd heal an arrow hole. "Well I wouldn't have wanted to put you out..." she murmured, meeting the other woman's eyes, seemingly undaunted by their unusual colour.

Morgan's smile was quickly going from her practised version she put in place for the sake of others into her more genuine half-smile, trapped though her lip was by her teeth. "It's only fair, really. I mean, if I've gone and injured you I ought to take care of you."

"You have particular skill in treating arrow wounds?" Callisto let her back slide down the tree against which she stood now, to sit against it, looking up at the other woman with her eyebrows raised. "Or do you just kiss them better?"

"Pretty good with wounds," she said offhand. You learned basic stuff if you were walking into war zones often enough. Granted, some of that stuff had involved copying Aleister to heal her own wounds. People with healing factors were so handy. "But I'm much better at kissing things better. All sorts of things."

Are we going to do this all day? I'm going to run out of lines soon... "Well, then I'm sorry to have denied you the chance to show your skills as a... would that be a subset of 'field doctor'? Or something else?"

"A specialty medic, I think." Callisto got points for thus far being the only female around the mansion to not squirm when flirted with. Though, it'd be a lie to say Morgan didn't enjoy it a little when they did squirm. Alright, more than a little.

"Well then I guess next time I'd better just take the arrow."

"Mm," Morgan nodded. "Though there are all sorts of wound that could benefit from...therapy." She grinned. "If needed." She winked at Callisto sitting against the tree and restrung her bow now that she was certain she wasn't going to hit anyone. Well, unless another person appeared out of nowhere.

Loathe though she was to change the subject, Callisto found herself eyeing the bow with interest. "What's the advantage of a longbow over a crossbow, anyway?" she asked then, changing the subject for a moment. "Range?"

Morgan's eyes fixed on a tree in the distance. "It's lighter, for one. You can string it more quickly and it's quieter when you shoot it. Something, or someone, with highly sensitive hearing is less likely to hear the shot coming which is helpful in hunting and warfare alike. A recurve or compound will shoot more accurately and faster than a longbow, though." She pulled the string and held her aim steady before releasing it and letting the arrow fly. Morgan's eyes returned to Callisto after she'd seen the arrow bury itself precisely where she was aiming. "Crossbows are heavier and clumsier. They're less efficient but you can keep them cocked already so you can aim better. You have less draw room, too, so you need something twice as heavy to get your arrow as far. Mostly they are more convenient. They're alright, my preference isn't crossbows, though."

Callisto nodded thoughtfully. "I've never used either," she said. "Bows not a hugely available commodity where I grew up. But it's interesting."

"Always learn on a traditional bow first. Feels better in your hands, anyway." There was a hint of something in her voice that was professional, almost like an instructor would sound. Morgan was, for the most part, reiterating things as they were told her her years ago when she was trained on a bow. "I could teach you if you ever wanted to learn. It's not necessarily easy but it isn't exactly hard either. Just takes time. Patience. Practice."

The other woman seemed to think about this. Then she pushed to her feet. "Show me?"

"Alright." Morgan hadn't expected to be taken up on the offer that quickly. Mentally she gave Callisto points for it. "C'mere," she beckoned with a finger and pointed to a spot right in front of her after she took a couple steps back so there was a tree lined up not too far away with a clear shot between her and it.

The other woman complied, shrugging off the light shirt she'd been wearing to reveal (unsurprisingly) a wifebeater top beneath, and tying it round her waist, rolling her slim shoulders to loosen them.

A professional a mindset as Morgan was currently in she did take a moment to appreciate the view, specifically the way Callisto moved. With a hand on the woman's waist Morgan turned her until she had Callisto facing away from her. "Hand on the leather, not on the wood," she said as she held the bow up to be grasped. "Get used to the weight, it's only about fifty pounds, make sure it's comfortable in your hand." Her own hand was lower, wrapped around the wood until the other woman seemed comfortable with it. Her free hand reached behind her to grab an arrow out of her quiver.

Callisto stifled a smirk at Morgan's not at all unpleasant proximity so soon after their banter, but nonetheless paid attention to the lesson. She took the full weight of the bow easily, readjusting her grip until it felt balanced.

Morgan wrapped her hand around Callisto's, sliding the arrow into her hand easily. She didn't let go of her hand, though, but rather guided it up to position the end of the arrow properly against the string. Her other hand then came up and closed around Callisto's on the bow. "Your index finger comes out straight, helps to aim the arrow and your thumb comes up to cradle underneath it," as she said it her hand demonstrated it, waiting for Callisto to mimic her hand's positioning.

Admittedly it had been a while - given her background Callisto's relationship with her libido was complicated at best, and she went through long dry periods both by choice and by chance. Weeks in a safe, predictable environment like the mansion however had made her a little itchy, and Morgan's proximity was more than a little distracting. But nonetheless Callisto nodded, copying Morgan's demonstration as closely as she could, her movements smooth and sure.

The bow had been pointing to the ground thus far and Morgan's voice noticeably dropped in volume when she spoke next. She was close enough to Callisto's back that was speaking into the woman's ear. "As your bowhand raises to aim you pull back the string. You can do one then the other but generally you do it in one motion." Morgan controlled the motion, going slowly so it could be easily followed. "Your drawing hand comes back to what we call the anchor point. You use the corner of your mouth or your jaw as the reference," her thumb came away from where her drawing hand was closed over Callisto's to brush over each area as she named it. "You use the same point every time. Your elbow of your drawing arm should be parallel to the ground, making a straight line from your shoulder," her arm had been under Callisto's and raised to what was correct form for the shorter woman. "Shoulders back, spine straight, chin up," she whispered, voice steadily growing more quiet.

Straightening, suddenly hyper-aware of the sound of her own breathing, Callisto drew the arrow back slowly, her keen ear picking up every tiny creak in the wood of the bow as she did so, her mind working furiously to process everything as her body easily mimicked the necessary actions.

Morgan waited until the stance was correct before she let her hands slowly fall away from Callisto's. She took a step back and quietly directed, "Your eyes go directly down the arrow. Find your target on the tree and line the tip of the arrow with it. Drop your index finger and thumb of your bow hand away from the arrow and release on an exhale of breath."

Pulse racing a little, although she wasn't sure whether it was from sheer concentration as much as anything else, Callisto held completely still until she was sure she was confident she'd keep the stance Morgan had put her in. She turned just slightly to adjust her aim, choosing a fair-sized knot as her target. Then, following her instructions to the letter, she dropped her hand away, letting the arrow fly. She heard a rush of air and a satisfying thud as it buried itself in the knot, not quite where she'd wanted it, but not far off. Smiling in satisfaction, she lowered the bow.

"So she's impressive in all sorts of ways," Morgan commented quietly with a smugness in her voice. She stepped up behind the woman again and peered over her shoulder to where the arrow had landed. "But where were you aiming?"

Callisto wasn't sure she was supposed to have heard the comment, and made no mention of it, saying only. "Couple of inches to the right of there. I think I jerked the bow left slightly when I shot."

"Recoil can do that. Sorry, should've warned you." Morgan pulled out another arrow and held it out in front of Callisto while still standing behind her. "Want to try it again completely on your own?"

Suddenly Callisto was at war with herself. On the one hand, she knew she'd compensate this time, and both her sense of personal achievement and her mild interest in impressing this woman further were keen she do it alone. On the other hand...

She took the arrow and notched it before saying, "Maybe you could guide me into the, uh... thing... stance... one more time, without shooting, and then I'll do it again myself?" she suggested, turning her head a little to catch Morgan in her peripheral vision.

With the initial lesson complete Morgan was once again becoming aware of other things. Thing likes proximity. Things like heat that became trapped between their bodies because of said proximity. Things like how close her lips already were to Callisto's skin and how easy it would be to just--but luckily Morgan also knew how to concentrate. "Alright."

Morgan moved closer, arms going around Callisto until her hands wrapped around the other woman's. "Always notch the arrow pointing to the ground so you don't accidentally shoot someone when you know they're there," she murmured more to distract herself than anything. "Pull back to your anchor point as you raise the bow, one smooth motion," and she guided Callisto to do just that as she said it. "Elbow higher," she nudged it with her own arm. "Shoulders back more. You got it?"

"I think so," Callisto said quietly, pushing her shoulders back, almost resting against the woman behind her. She held the position for a moment as Morgan stepped back, and then dropped the bow back to her side, loosening the tension and un-notching the arrow before repeating the same action once more, this time un-guided, pulling back and releasing smoothly, the arrow burying itself in the tree in exactly the same spot the previous had, nestled in next to it. She chuckled. "Damn, I was trying to split it, Robin Hood style."

Morgan laughed. "Yeah, 'cause you so have to pull that off and be even hotter than you already are?" There was a light, teasing note in her voice. "I'd be damn impressed if you managed that, though. These arrows won't split all that easily even if you managed the aim and speed for it."

"I think maybe I'd need some more practice," Callisto said, turning and holding the bow out to Morgan with a half-smile, running a hand through her dark mop of hair absentmindedly. "Thanks."

"Aye, just a bit." Morgan was grinning as she took her bow back, her actual grin which only pulled the right half of her mouth up into the expression. "Though, really, if you manage to split an arrow with another arrow what will stop people then from following you around like a lovesick puppy?" She was teasing again and followed her words with a tsking noise.

Surely it couldn't have been an accident that Callisto's bare arm brushed against Morgan's as she stepped past her, taking up her station once more leaning against the same tree. "Well, I dunno if Chicks With Weapons does it for everyone around here," she said with a look that was a little too tentative to be a smirk now - for all the arrogant ease to the way she moved her face betrayed more than she knew. "I, uh, think I can handle it."

Morgan watched emotions play over Callisto's face. She didn't bother to search too deeply for meaning. After all, she wasn't studying her for a mimic, but it was interesting. "Around here? In the land of training people to fight and running off to save the day? I bet more people would be into it than you'd think." Her voice was back to being casual but there was that quiet flirtation that never seemed to leave in it as well. She shrugged, "Does it for me anyway."

"Really?" Callisto said, injecting a little surprise into the utterance to keep their banter going even though Morgan's partiality had already been made quite clear. "That's... very flattering. Shame you're not in that Smurfette outfit, we could've got something going..."

The tone Callisto affected did little to convey the surprise she was feigning. Morgan didn't have to try to see that. She smirked. "I'll be sure to dress up for you next time, love."

Chuckling, Callisto shook her head. "Believe me, you look just fine as you are," she said, meeting Morgan's eyes, shifting her feet just slightly where she stood.

Morgan's smirk only grew and she stepped closer. Her voice dropped. "You should see me without my clothes." While she was teasing, she was also very obviously not offering.

"Maybe I should," Callisto murmured, her gaze moving over Morgan's face as she stepped closer, her brain trying to process the other woman's tone. Okaay... "But either way it's worth being shot at for."

"Mmm, too bad it'll take more than getting shot at to get." Her expression was full of mischief. Morgan hooked a finger through one of Callisto's belt loops as she took another step closer and effectively violated any personal bubble the woman may have had. "Potential, though."

Callisto smirked, though her pulse skipped just slightly again. "I'll make a note of that," she said, her voice seeming to have grown just a shade lower, though her own hands still hung safely, casually by her sides.

"The real question is if you'll do anything about it." Morgan's eyes fell from Callisto's where they'd been locked. She took her time letting them fall further downward, combing over the woman's body before making their way back up again. She tilted her head, an eyebrow arching. There was something about Callisto that was aggressive, it was easy to pick up on. An attitude, a defensiveness, something. But she wasn't being aggressive. The contradiction was interesting.

"I guess we'll find out." Callisto's mouth felt slightly dry now, and she pulled her lower lip between her teeth to moisten it, only thinking a second later how it might look to her observer, and deciding maybe she didn't mind.

Morgan only smiled. Then she let go of the belt loop she'd had a hold of and stepped back. "Guess we will." And she left it at that.

Callisto released a breath she hadn't realised she was holding slowly, raising her eyebrows, her half smile remaining. "Thanks for the lesson," was all she said.

"No problem." She noticed that the smile came back only after Morgan stepped away. Interesting. "I'm sure you can manage to locate me if you want another. Or practice." There was a faint hint of something else in her voice, of something more than archery being referenced.

Whatever the reference, Callisto either didn't register it or didn't show she had, her casual mask slipping easily back over her features as she shifted her shoulders against the tree behind her before pushing away from it to stand straight. "Sure," she said.

Morgan settled on defense mechanism for the source of the aggressiveness she picked up from Callisto. She noticed the closer she was physically the more the shell seemed to chip away. The further she was physically the more Callisto gave off this air of untouchability. "I'll see ya, love." Morgan stepped around the woman. Out of curiosity she let her hand trail across Callisto's stomach as she moved past her, watching out of the corner of her eyes just to see if she could disrupt that projection of steel.

The brunette's stomach clenched beneath her fingertips, even through her top, and her eyes narrowed. Callisto wasn't the sharpest tack in the box, but she knew when she was being tested. What she didn't know was why. Rather than react at all, she merely smiled, though the expression was somehow vastly different from her easy smile of before. This one was almost dangerous. "See ya," she said quietly, shoving her hands in her pockets and turning to walk in the opposite direction, further through the trees, shoulders back, chin up.