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xp_logsNathan takes Julian to the Danger Room to test his range and improve his technique. (Backdated to 7pm, 1/17/09).
It wasn't every day that he actually brought a chair with him into the Danger Room. But standing for long periods of time was still a little painful, and he thought that he and Julian would probably be at this for some time. "All right," Nathan said, breathing out as he sat down. The Room's holographical system's were active; all they needed was the extra armor on the walls, in case this little exercise got in hand. "I brought us in a nice array of weights," he said, inclining his head at the neat rows of various heavy objects, everything from actual weights from the weight room to large storage crates full of Danger Room drones. "We're going to experiment a little."
This was Julian's first time in the Danger Room and the only word that came to mind was, Awesome. He examined the rows as Nathan sat, the weights he was very familiar with and since their session at the Quarry he'd gotten a lot better at moving them around. "What sort of experiment? Do you want me to start-" he pantomimed floating the various objects around and made a wooshing sound.
Julian still wasn't sure if he was allowed to use his powers in the weight room; though no one had said he wasn't allowed to do it, he didn't want to make a mistake that might get him grounded or worse. "Um..." was all he said at first. Of course, he knew that the smallest he'd been able to manage without breaking things was the 45 pound plate, which had been shaking violently and nearly caused him a broken rib. Since they were here for training though, "I think I'd be able to manage this one," he said, tapping the large disc with his foot. "Or maybe a few of them."
That was interesting. "Okay," Nathan said in that same patient-yet-easy tone. "Show me. Remember, I wanted to know what you can do easily."
"Oh," Julian smiled, "sorry, I missed that part." He reached out with his mind and lifted three of the 45 pound plates into the air- gripping them from the sides as he made them spin around him gently. The plates themselves were wobbling slightly, but not enough to cause worry. "How's that?" Julian asked, not breaking a sweat.
Nathan watched - not the weights, but the lines of force, such as they were. "Well, you're keeping them pretty stable," he said, letting a little approval creep into his tone - encouragement was not a bad thing. "Julian, something I hadn't asked you yet... can you feel them?"
"Yes," Julian found the question to be a bit silly, "of course I can." He stopped spinning the plates and held them in the air, lifting three more and stacking them vertically onto the middle of the already floating plates. He held them aloft and balanced by holding the top, bottom and three points on the sides of each lower weight. "I can feel the cold metal, but, it's sort of an interpretive thing, not, like, on my hands or something."
Nathan rolled his eyes - just a little. The smile remained, however. "Not every telekinetic can do that," he said patiently. "I'm not surprised you can. It's a frequent quirk of high-level telekinesis." He leaned back against the chair for a moment, pondering. "We should see if you can use it like sonar, once your fine control's a little better. I had an... um... strange brain injury, shall we say, that left me blind for a couple of weeks, a few years back. I actually managed to use the TK to get around."
"Wow," the weights wavered for just a moment, but Julian righted them immediately. A single bead of sweat appeared on his forehead as he began to spin the weights around him in one direction, a little slower now, while the vertical plates began to spin the other direction. "That's really badahh...cool, Nathan. When do you think I might be ready for that?"
"You really need to have much better fine control," Nathan said, gently but firmly. "Otherwise you could wind up doing a heck of a lot of damage to your surroundings. You basically need to be pushing on everything, doing something like that." He reached out with his own telekinesis, slipping several of the plates out of Julian's pattern - cutting him down to only one.
As the first few plates floated away, Julian fumbled the others. The remaining vertical plate began to wobble like a dog's food dish, spinning until it was flat with the bottom plane. The rotation moved to a crawl, but before the younger man could regain control of the objects, another was taken away. "Um, Nathan, what are you-" he was cut off by the removal of the bottom plate from the one remaining stack.
A moment of panic caught Julian, he tried to balance and right the remaining weights, but one was taken away easily a few seconds later. The final weight began to move a little like it had a mind of its own. Moments later, after a near collision with his jaw, Julian was able to get it back under control, though it wobbled and spun freely. Julian looked up at Nathan, a visible sheen of moisture across his forehead and a look of frustration on his face.
Nathan's expression was curiously intent, and he was watching the last weight, not Julian. "You narrowed your focus," he said. "The lines of force sharpened - they're still more blurred than they should be, but part of you knew exactly what to change when I left you with only one. Your instincts are very good." It didn't sound like pro forma encouragement this time.
Fighting a slight drop in the pit of his stomach, Julian nodded and steadied his breathing. The plate dropped a foot toward the floor suddenly, but Keller took a deep breath in and stopped it, steadying it further. He attempted to raise it slightly, inches with each breath. Finally, the weight stood evenly before him. "How's-that?"
"Good. Very good," Nathan said, sliding his own telekinesis in under Julian's. "Now, let it go, and catch your breath." He watched the young man carefully as he levitated the weights back to where they'd been originally. "Headache?" he asked. "Any dizziness?"
Aside from the slight rush of adrenaline, the shortness of breath and the lack of color in his face, Julian felt fine. He bent forward and placed his hands on his knees, catching his breath for a moment before looking over at Nathan. "I feel great," he said, taking a deep swallow. "What's next?" Julian smiled, eager to continue his training.
"You're just a regular sponge for learning," Nathan all but drawled, but not unkindly. "Indulge the old man. Let's hold off on more weightlifting until you've got some color back in your cheeks. You're looking a little ghostly at the moment." Nathan scrathced at the edge of the bandage on his temple, trying to think. "It is very typical," he said, "to be able to do something new under pressure. We're not about to apply too much pressure, though. Not when we're dealing with telekinesis, armored room or no armored room."
Though he was a little disappointed, Julian understood what Nathan was saying. He took a few steps over to one of the crates and slumped to the floor with it at his back. Thanks," he said, taking another deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Mind if I ask how you got banged up?"
Nathan didn't answer for a moment. "I don't mind that you asked, no," he said, and it took him reminding himself that he couldn't really torpedo the budding rapport with Julian by brushing it off completely to force him to go on. "I was on a consulting trip with SHIELD. Things got a little rough." There was no change in his expression or his tone. It was like he was reciting a well-practiced speech.
"Ah," Julian paused, recalling what SHIELD stood for, then realizing how well connected Nathan was. "Thanks for sharing," he gave the older man a genuine smile- the information was probably what he was telling everyone who got back, meaning the trip was classified. The son of a self-made billionaire could respect classified information, so he didn't push it further. Instead, he switched topics, "How many teeks are here at the mansion?"
"Myself, Jean, David Haller - yes, the guidance counselor." Nathan paused, then cracked a brief smile. "Rachel, of course. I believe Professor Farouk is at least a little telekinetic as well. But since you have, uh, ambitions, I think you're best off training with me. You need to develop your fine control, and your multitasking. Both are things I do rather well, not to toot my own horn too much."
"I was just curious," his breathing was finally back to normal after one last, deep breath. "I wasn't looking to change tutors, I really feel like I've been making some progress here." Julian stood back up and clapped his hands together. "Ready to get back to it?"
"And see, I was already thinking about having you train with my daughter," Nathan said, not quite teasingly. "Or more seriously, to devote some time to watching her, at some point. There's something to be said for using telekinesis like you breathe. And," he went on, "once your fine control gets a little better I do want to recruit Jean. She and I have trained together for years, but she still has her own style. It's best for you to be exposed to a range of techniques." He eyed the weights. "Okay. Now, you're really going to like this part..."
It wasn't every day that he actually brought a chair with him into the Danger Room. But standing for long periods of time was still a little painful, and he thought that he and Julian would probably be at this for some time. "All right," Nathan said, breathing out as he sat down. The Room's holographical system's were active; all they needed was the extra armor on the walls, in case this little exercise got in hand. "I brought us in a nice array of weights," he said, inclining his head at the neat rows of various heavy objects, everything from actual weights from the weight room to large storage crates full of Danger Room drones. "We're going to experiment a little."
This was Julian's first time in the Danger Room and the only word that came to mind was, Awesome. He examined the rows as Nathan sat, the weights he was very familiar with and since their session at the Quarry he'd gotten a lot better at moving them around. "What sort of experiment? Do you want me to start-" he pantomimed floating the various objects around and made a wooshing sound.
Julian still wasn't sure if he was allowed to use his powers in the weight room; though no one had said he wasn't allowed to do it, he didn't want to make a mistake that might get him grounded or worse. "Um..." was all he said at first. Of course, he knew that the smallest he'd been able to manage without breaking things was the 45 pound plate, which had been shaking violently and nearly caused him a broken rib. Since they were here for training though, "I think I'd be able to manage this one," he said, tapping the large disc with his foot. "Or maybe a few of them."
That was interesting. "Okay," Nathan said in that same patient-yet-easy tone. "Show me. Remember, I wanted to know what you can do easily."
"Oh," Julian smiled, "sorry, I missed that part." He reached out with his mind and lifted three of the 45 pound plates into the air- gripping them from the sides as he made them spin around him gently. The plates themselves were wobbling slightly, but not enough to cause worry. "How's that?" Julian asked, not breaking a sweat.
Nathan watched - not the weights, but the lines of force, such as they were. "Well, you're keeping them pretty stable," he said, letting a little approval creep into his tone - encouragement was not a bad thing. "Julian, something I hadn't asked you yet... can you feel them?"
"Yes," Julian found the question to be a bit silly, "of course I can." He stopped spinning the plates and held them in the air, lifting three more and stacking them vertically onto the middle of the already floating plates. He held them aloft and balanced by holding the top, bottom and three points on the sides of each lower weight. "I can feel the cold metal, but, it's sort of an interpretive thing, not, like, on my hands or something."
Nathan rolled his eyes - just a little. The smile remained, however. "Not every telekinetic can do that," he said patiently. "I'm not surprised you can. It's a frequent quirk of high-level telekinesis." He leaned back against the chair for a moment, pondering. "We should see if you can use it like sonar, once your fine control's a little better. I had an... um... strange brain injury, shall we say, that left me blind for a couple of weeks, a few years back. I actually managed to use the TK to get around."
"Wow," the weights wavered for just a moment, but Julian righted them immediately. A single bead of sweat appeared on his forehead as he began to spin the weights around him in one direction, a little slower now, while the vertical plates began to spin the other direction. "That's really badahh...cool, Nathan. When do you think I might be ready for that?"
"You really need to have much better fine control," Nathan said, gently but firmly. "Otherwise you could wind up doing a heck of a lot of damage to your surroundings. You basically need to be pushing on everything, doing something like that." He reached out with his own telekinesis, slipping several of the plates out of Julian's pattern - cutting him down to only one.
As the first few plates floated away, Julian fumbled the others. The remaining vertical plate began to wobble like a dog's food dish, spinning until it was flat with the bottom plane. The rotation moved to a crawl, but before the younger man could regain control of the objects, another was taken away. "Um, Nathan, what are you-" he was cut off by the removal of the bottom plate from the one remaining stack.
A moment of panic caught Julian, he tried to balance and right the remaining weights, but one was taken away easily a few seconds later. The final weight began to move a little like it had a mind of its own. Moments later, after a near collision with his jaw, Julian was able to get it back under control, though it wobbled and spun freely. Julian looked up at Nathan, a visible sheen of moisture across his forehead and a look of frustration on his face.
Nathan's expression was curiously intent, and he was watching the last weight, not Julian. "You narrowed your focus," he said. "The lines of force sharpened - they're still more blurred than they should be, but part of you knew exactly what to change when I left you with only one. Your instincts are very good." It didn't sound like pro forma encouragement this time.
Fighting a slight drop in the pit of his stomach, Julian nodded and steadied his breathing. The plate dropped a foot toward the floor suddenly, but Keller took a deep breath in and stopped it, steadying it further. He attempted to raise it slightly, inches with each breath. Finally, the weight stood evenly before him. "How's-that?"
"Good. Very good," Nathan said, sliding his own telekinesis in under Julian's. "Now, let it go, and catch your breath." He watched the young man carefully as he levitated the weights back to where they'd been originally. "Headache?" he asked. "Any dizziness?"
Aside from the slight rush of adrenaline, the shortness of breath and the lack of color in his face, Julian felt fine. He bent forward and placed his hands on his knees, catching his breath for a moment before looking over at Nathan. "I feel great," he said, taking a deep swallow. "What's next?" Julian smiled, eager to continue his training.
"You're just a regular sponge for learning," Nathan all but drawled, but not unkindly. "Indulge the old man. Let's hold off on more weightlifting until you've got some color back in your cheeks. You're looking a little ghostly at the moment." Nathan scrathced at the edge of the bandage on his temple, trying to think. "It is very typical," he said, "to be able to do something new under pressure. We're not about to apply too much pressure, though. Not when we're dealing with telekinesis, armored room or no armored room."
Though he was a little disappointed, Julian understood what Nathan was saying. He took a few steps over to one of the crates and slumped to the floor with it at his back. Thanks," he said, taking another deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Mind if I ask how you got banged up?"
Nathan didn't answer for a moment. "I don't mind that you asked, no," he said, and it took him reminding himself that he couldn't really torpedo the budding rapport with Julian by brushing it off completely to force him to go on. "I was on a consulting trip with SHIELD. Things got a little rough." There was no change in his expression or his tone. It was like he was reciting a well-practiced speech.
"Ah," Julian paused, recalling what SHIELD stood for, then realizing how well connected Nathan was. "Thanks for sharing," he gave the older man a genuine smile- the information was probably what he was telling everyone who got back, meaning the trip was classified. The son of a self-made billionaire could respect classified information, so he didn't push it further. Instead, he switched topics, "How many teeks are here at the mansion?"
"Myself, Jean, David Haller - yes, the guidance counselor." Nathan paused, then cracked a brief smile. "Rachel, of course. I believe Professor Farouk is at least a little telekinetic as well. But since you have, uh, ambitions, I think you're best off training with me. You need to develop your fine control, and your multitasking. Both are things I do rather well, not to toot my own horn too much."
"I was just curious," his breathing was finally back to normal after one last, deep breath. "I wasn't looking to change tutors, I really feel like I've been making some progress here." Julian stood back up and clapped his hands together. "Ready to get back to it?"
"And see, I was already thinking about having you train with my daughter," Nathan said, not quite teasingly. "Or more seriously, to devote some time to watching her, at some point. There's something to be said for using telekinesis like you breathe. And," he went on, "once your fine control gets a little better I do want to recruit Jean. She and I have trained together for years, but she still has her own style. It's best for you to be exposed to a range of techniques." He eyed the weights. "Okay. Now, you're really going to like this part..."
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