xp_logs | Miles & Angel, backdated to Tuesday the 17th

Angel oversees Miles's first Danger Room solo run. It goes only OK, but they're optimistic about the future.

"Thanks." Miles accepted the ice pack from Angel and managed to only grimace a little when he pressed it against his ankle. He couldn't deny that it was his own fault that he'd twisted it. Angel had warned him repeatedly to stop showing off and just finish the Danger Room's obstacle course already. If he hadn't dallied, then he'd have gotten through that final series of Thwomps without having to twist himself in ways that even his body couldn't accommodate. But this was his first solo run in the X-Holodeck and he felt it was his responsibility to show her what Spider-Man 2 was truly capable of, so a little bit of showboating was called for.

He could almost hear Peter and Ganke cackling at him. Maybe he'd leave this out of their next Google Hangout.

Angel smiled as she plopped down on the ground next to him, watching him ice his ankle. "Do you get now why I said stop showing off?" She asked gently. She wasn't going to reprimand him - that wouldn't do any good and he was here to learn, after all. And today he had learned not to showboat.

"It's all well and good when you're flying through the streets of New York or wherever, but your battlegrounds aren't always going to be that big. And when you're in a compressed space there isn't much room for showmanship."

"Danger Room looks a lot bigger than it actually is," Miles replied as if that were an appropriate explanation. "Thought I had a lot more room to do all that. And these were gathering dust," he added, indicating the web-shooters strapped to his wrists. "Haven't had a chance to go out since I came here."

"Well if you want to get some practice in with those-" She tapped the shooter on his left wrist, "it can be arranged," Angel told him. "The Danger Room is actually huge depending on what simulation or program you run. I gave you a small one today because I wanted to test how you would do in the small space."

"So how many gold stars do I get?" Miles flashed Angel a winning smile that would have made Warren proud. "I guess I lose one for the ankle, but I did get through everything else. Even the fire hoops."

Angel laughed, giving him a small, harmless shove. "You get three and a half. One off for the ankle, half of one off for not listening. Fair?"

She drove a hard bargain, but Miles could accept the offer. "How was I overall for a noob? How was your first time? In the Danger Room," he hastily amended, lest she think he was taking too much after Warren.

"You were good," Angel assured him. "Pulled off a lot of tricky stunts. My first run...god." She laughed, tugging at a lock of hair. "I went through one of Scott's - er, Mr. Summers - simulations. Be happy I didn't throw something like that at you. But I bruised my skinny butt something fierce. Decided I wanted to be a show off too and nearly got hit by a flying car."

"Yeah, he looks like the kind of guy who always plays on nightmare mode," Miles agreed as he sprayed some webbing around his ankle to hold the ice pack in place. "At least my bruises heal quick. One of the many good things about being tough enough to juggle motorcycles." Which he'd tried with a couple of police bikes once. It hadn't ended well.

"You didn't actually...nope, I don't want to know." Angel shook her head. "Ignorance is bliss. No juggling any motorcycles you find here though, okay? People are kind of sensitive about the state of their vehicles in this place." That was a massive understatement.

Miles smirked and leaned back against the wall, trying to look smooth even with the injury. "Theoretically, if I was to do something like that, it'd be to distract owners of said motorcycles so the people they were harassing could get away. It's for a good cause. That's what I do. It's the Spider-Man creed." He paused for a second. "Theoretically, of course."

"Well, theoretically," Angel played along, "if it was for a good cause and the greater good, then I guess it's okay. As long as you don't get yourself hurt in the process. Fast healing or not, broken bones suck."

"It's all theoretical," Miles agreed, nodding. "I have lots of fun stories about things that never actually happened. The Daily Bugle even publishes my fan fiction sometimes." Peter's faux-candid shot of him that made the cover of the Bugle with the headline "PUBLIC MENACE #2???" was his favorite. He'd almost made it his Facebook cover picture.

"Published stories about you too? You're quite the big deal," Angel teased. She'd done some research and found some of the stories that had been written about Miles and his buddy. Being a vigilante sounded even more dangerous in this world.

"Go team Spider. The Bugle editor hates me and Spidey. And that hate sells copies and subscriptions. It's like the Azealia Banks method of journalism. But it all comes out good in the end." Their photos were paying Peter's way through college, so Miles could deal with real-life anon hate. "I mean, 'cuz of that I met Warren who told me about this place. Otherwise I'd still be stuck in Brooklyn."

"Gotta have a tough skin in this world." In more ways than one but Angel couldn't very well say that. "It's better to be somewhere safe though. Somewhere where people can help you."

"For real. Is that how you came here, too? Needed a place to be safe from the violence?"

"Yeah, something like that." Angel sighed. "It's a crazy place sometimes." The world, the mansion. She could've been talking about either.

Miles slowly pulled himself to his feet, and only winced a little when he put weight on the injured leg. He'd be limping the rest of the day, he wagered, but should be good as new tomorrow morning. "I should probably get out of this suit before someone sees me. And chem won't do its own homework."

"You could do homework," Angel agreed slowly as she hopped up as well, barely concealing a grin. "Or you could come with me for a 'Danger Room just kicked my butt and I've earned a treat' snack. Age-old tradition."

"Oh, like that's a choice to make. Snack, por favor!"