Rogue & Arthur | Running Jokes (Backdated, in Wrong Journal)

[x-longshot.livejournal.com]

Rogue meets Arthur when out for a run.

Rogue was clearly a stickler for punishment.

Since asking Logan to help train her again, she was stuck doing regular exercising‎. No more lounging in bed until whenever, no more painting when the mood struck. Nope, it was running in the morning, hand to hand combat in the afternoon, and war strategies for the evening. And since she had taken a few days off to deal with Wade, and then deal with Bullseye in her head, and then deal with not sleeping for two days....well, she had no more excuses. Logan was going to disown her if she kept this up.


Right now, it was early, no one else was up, and she was out running like a chump. At least she'd managed to convince Logan that an iPod ‎was a necessary component of a successful run. The only way she was going to get through this was with the soothing sounds of The Stones.

Halfway through Paint it Black, she noticed someone throwing what looked to be knives at a tree. Having no clue who the individual was, she jogged closer until she could see.

It looked like he was aiming, and it reminded her of Clint with his arrows. Waiting until he had no more knives in his hands, she spoke. "You're good at this," she called out, running in place. ‎"That looked really cool."

"Gah!" Arthur practically jumped out of his pants at the interruption. He tossed his hands up in punctuation, but the look on his face wasn't annoyed. In fact, he seemed to be beaming; his radiant smile practically warming the winter day. He yelped again, letting the burning, comforting adrenaline rush through him. "Ahhh!"

That was not the ‎reaction she was expecting. He looked a little like a mad man with that grin on his face. "Are you okay, sugar?," she asked, very concerned. "Do you need a doctor?" His last whelp dissolved into a soft chuckle. "I'm all doctored out, actually. Had my suggested serving for the day. Any more doctoring would be strictly ill-advised."

The man stuffed his hands into his pockets casually, rocking softly on his heels as he waited for Rogue's concerned look to evaporate.

The man was loonier than a barn full of geese. Raising an eyebrow, Rogue wasn't quite sure what to do. "Okay.....well, I gotta tell ya, all this?". She motioned to his body and face. "It's kinda strange. I mean, far be it from me ta judge ya, but...jus' throwin' it out there."

"I thought strange was what you lot dealt in here."

"What do we deal in?"

"Superpowers. Defying Physics. Breaking natural laws." This was accompanied by a demonstrative wiggling of the fingers. "I figure there has to be a fair share of quirky and strange when that's the case."

Rogue gave a little nod. "Well, that does make more sense than drugs....and things are definitely quirky....but you clearly are too, so at least ya fit in?"

"You're exceptionally kind for someone who scares people in the middle of the woods." Any hint of criticism, however, was lost in the chipper tone of Arthur's words. "Am I in your running path?"

As if finally noticing she was jogging in place, she stopped suddenly. "Oh, that's right -- I was running. You're not really in anyone's way, I jus' can't pass up a strange situation. I'm kinda nosy that way. I'm Rogue, by the way. I'm guessin' you're stayin' here, otherwise that jus' adds a whole new dimension to this conversation."

"I'm a guest," but the sheepish way the man said that left any number of interpretations open.

"My name is Arthur Centino," and there was a pause as if he expected some sort of recognition, "While I often like to be in the woods, I am not often this maniac in the woods. I've just been cooped up for so long, you know? Feels good to be out in the open air again."

His name sounded familiar in a passing kind of way, but she couldn't place him. "Yeah," she said cautiously, ‎"fresh air is good. Being manic in the woods is good. Humping trees would be crossing a line, jus' so you know."

"I'm not that type of survivalist."

"Those types exist?". She was genuinely curious. ‎"Would it keep you warm?"

He blinked at her. "No, tree -- erm -- hugging is not a viable strategy for avoiding hypothermia in the woods. I would not recommend it."

This caused the blond to glance back at the tree of knives, and his smile brightened again. "Oh! Thank you for the compliment earlier."

"Good to know.". Speaking of hypothermia, she was starting to cool down. She began running in place again, just lightly. He looked to be on the delicate side of things. If she flew, he might pass out from excitement. "And you're welcome. You look pretty fancy with those knives. You do that for fun?"

He considered his next words carefully. "Partially. I used to sell myself on the knife throwing back in my stunt days, but... well, I came out here to test a theory."

Having a conversation with this man was like pulling teeth. "A theory? What kinda theory? That if ya do strange things, people will comment on it?"

Arthur either purposefully ignored any frustration in her tone or outright didn't notice it, because suddenly he had a smile that could have lit half the eastern seaboard.

"One sec," he promised as he went to retrieve the throwing knives in the tree. A playing card was pinned into the trunk as a target. There were six balanced, unadorned blades, and the man theatrically fanned them between the knuckles of his right hand. A quick gesture folded them back and to his side.

The sixth blade was now held aloft in his left hand, and the blond gave it a meaningful look. "This," and the blade was tossed and caught, "is my good arm." Arthur proceeded to make a big deal of underscoring the aim and balance that went into his throw, and the knife was soon lodged in the very forlorn looking King's belly.

Another flourish revealed the rest of the knives. Where the first throw was careful, Arthur lobbed these off, lightning-quick, with little concern. His eyes never left Rogue's as he narrated over the swiffing, "The brains here have told me that my power involves luck. So, you would think I'd have beginner's luck every time. Yet, I can only make it work—"

Now all of the blades were lodged in a perfect circle framing the King's head.

"— when I don't think too hard about it."

Jaw dropped, Rogue didn't even bother to hide her shock. "Now that was cool! I bet you're a hoot at parties....and an amazing person to get drunk with. no matter what happens, we'd end up okay." She stepped closer to the tree trunk,amazed at the knives on the card. "Ya can barely see the lil guy's head...I want you on my team, but we gotta make sure you're distracted at all times‎. I wonder who I can recruit to project porn into your brain...."

The cold was clearly messing with her brain.

Arthur was still smiling, but there was concern at the edges. "I'll pass on the streaming, thanks. I've had enough poking around in my head lately." Still, he bowed. This was a performance.

"And for my next trick... I want to go find coffee. Aren't you cold?"

She hesitated before answering. In theory, she was supposed to do her run, and check in if she wanted a session. And she should really do a DR session... but it was cold....and coffee was awesome....

"Now that ya mention it, it is a tad nippy." She pointed towards the boathouse. "We got two options: we go to my unofficial studio since I essentially live there, where we can enjoy coffee in peace and quiet or we go inside and fight the masses for a cup of coffee which may or may not be worth it. What say you?"

He almost frowned, eyes on the mansion, but honestly it was hard to tell. "I'll take Door A, Alex. Is your unofficial studio officially your apartment?"

She shook her head. "Nah, I got a room inside the Mansion. I jus' have a drop in studio there, but really, anyone can use it. I tend to take over things though. It's a bad trait."‎

"I say there's plenty to like about a woman who takes what she wants. Paperwork is just so..." He frowned here in disgust, "Boring." The last word was let out with the hint of a whine, like perhaps Arthur felt anything that wasn't immediate could get boring.

Strange, strange man, she kept thinking to herself. Thank god she liked strange. "Paperwork is boring, I agree, but I'm not sure what it has to do with our conversation. Anyways, how about I meet you there? If I sprint, I can pretend to myself that I actually had a decent run today."

"I imagine taking things over involves paperwork. You know, to be official? Anyway." Arthur held a finger up to his mouth conspiratorially. "Go ahead with your run. I won't tell a soul."

As he said this, he went to collect his knives. No matter he didn't know where the boathouse was officially. Still, he figured that he would get lucky.