xp_logs | Two LOGS: Piotr/Paul and Piotr/Shinobi

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Log #1: Piotr decides to work-out in the Danger Room and encounters Jean-Paul in the locker room. They relate.

Sitting alone in his room was starting to wear on Piotr. He was getting tired of the mansion rolling their eyes at him so he made his way to the Danger Room for a little work out. It had been ages since he was last in there. It had been ages since he even used his powers. He transformed into his steel form briefly for the mission, but nothing too strenuious happened to really test him. Perhaps some holographic, robotic toys will do him good. He missed Marie and their training sessions. They were going so well. Hopefully he retained some lessons he picked up with her.

He entered the locker room and started changing into his uniform when Jean-Paul made his way out.

Paul winced a little as he left the Danger Room, he was going to have a few bruises, but he was pleased at having been challenged by the settings he'd picked. The first few times, he'd set it too simply and had been bored. There was someone else rattling around in the locker room so he looked down the row of lockers where the noise was coming from. A huge young man was changing into his uniform and Paul recognized him immediately. "Good afternoon, Piotr," he said aimiably, wandering down to grab a towel from the cart at the end of the aisle.

"Oh hello Jean-Paul," Piotr smiled. "Just finishing up?"

"Yes," Paul tossed the towel on the bench and pulled his black tshirt with the "X" on the shoulder off, throwing it toward the laundry basket. "I think I finally got the settings right, it took me a while. Are you on your way in?"

Piotr blinked a few times at the shirtless Paul standing before him. "Yes, I thought I'd give my rusty limbs a work-out. It's been awhile since I've really pushed myself..." he paused for a second, realizing that he was rambling. "But anyway, I'm glad to hear you've finally got the hang of the Room."

"It's actually very well programmed," Paul said. He bent down to unlace his boots. "It's more intuitive than the one we have up north. I think Jeffries would love to take a look at it." He put his boots in his locker and started to undo the black fatigue pants he wore. There was a mark on his shoulder where he'd hit something that looked like it was going to turn into a bruise. "Pushing yourself is wise. Better to do it now than find out your limits in a fight, right?"

Piotr finished zipping up his uniform and sat down on the nearest bench to start strapping on his boots. "Heh, yes, the Room is very impressive. I don't know too much about it other than that it works wonders." He noticed the welt growing on Paul's shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked, pointed at the sore.

Paul looked at the spot, then flicked his sweaty hair out of his eyes and grinned at Piotr. "Oh, fine. Sign of a good workout. How was Iceland, by the way?" He shed the last of his clothing, then wrapped the towel around his waist. Standing on his toes to look into the back of the top shelf of the locker, he grumbled inaudibly and rummaged around inside.

Words couldn't escape Piotr dropped jaw and he sat mezmorized by the toweled-backside of Paul. Snap out of it Piotr! "Uh, Iceland was beautiful." Smooth.

Paul laughed and, finding his shampoo and soap in the back of the locker, turned around. "It is, yes, but how was the mission? Scott's report was sparse, to say the least." He leaned against the locker, arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh, yes of course, the mission was...short. Seemed pretty tame compared to the demons I was battling earlier. Stress was high due to the mutant-powered humans, along with Moira and Madelyn gaining powers themselves." He stood up to grab his gloves from his locker and spun around to look at Paul. "Truthfully, my heart wasn't into this mission. My mind has been occupied by other matters..." he trailed off.

"That's never a good thing. Distraction makes for mistakes... which makes me surviving the last decade with Alphaflight all the more amazing," Paul said dryly. He was getting a bit cool, standing there mostly naked with his back to the locker, but the big Russian seemed genuinely perturbed and Paul figured that he could spare a few minutes to listen to a team-mate.

Piotr lightly chuckled at his dry remark. "I'm just having trouble with my sister. My whole family life is screwed up..." Piotr couldn't help but feel guilty as he took up Paul's time, so he moved on. "but I'm positive you don't want to listen to my complaining so I'll be on my way," he said with a forced cheerfulness.

Paul quirked an eyebrow - with his pointed ears and tanned skin he looked like a displaced Vulcan for a moment - and shook his head slowly. "Sisters are a difficult thing sometimes. I haven't spoken to mine in months."

Piotr's entire body almost flipped. "Sister?" He didn't know Paul had a sister. Then again, he didn't know much about Paul. "Why haven't you two spoken?"

"My twin. And it's complicated." Paul looked down at his bare feet and then looked up at Piotr through his bangs. "We just never seems to be able to get it right for long. She has... issues. So do I. It makes everything twice as hard. I can't even explain what happened this time, not in any way that makes sense. Your sister is Illyana, yes?"

"I'm sorry to hear about your sister," Piotr said softly. "And yes, my sister is Illyana. She is also, complicated."

Paul's expression was uncharacteristically sympathtic. "She's your sister, though," he said, shrugging. "Nothing can change that, right? You're family. It has to work out in the end." That was what kept him going when he missed Jea-- Aurora too much.

Piotr became a little uncomfortable. "Actually, like I said, it's complicated. I'm not sure if you know this, but my sister was kidnapped and help in a demon dimension for over 7 years." He paused to make sure Jean-Paul was taking this in correctly. "I know it sounds crazy, but about five minutes after she disappeared, she reappeared only 7 years older. DNA tests were done and it was confirmed that she was infact, Illyana Rasputin. I was so torn apart for losing her and so releaved by getting her back that I was oblivious to her new personality. She's completely changed right under my nose and I...I didn't know how to react."

Paul nodded slowly. "I'd read that. It must be hard, you being the same and her changing so much. And you keep talking to the person she used to be and the one she is now gets angry at you for it..." His voice trailed off a little and he was only partly refering to Illyana now. "And even when you're trying to talk to the right one, you still say things wrong because you don't know her well enough."

Piotr never felt so sympathetic to one person before in his life. "I can't believe you understand what I'm saying!" His mood strangly brightened. "Listen Jean-Paul, we clearly have many things to discuss but none of it should be done in a towel and uniform. I would love to sit and chat with you about this somewhere off the grounds. There's a great local bar called Harry's, if you are interested."

Oh, hell. Paul wanted to bang his head against the locker in irritation at himself. He hadn't meant to go on about Aurora. She slithered into everything, like a snake in the grass. Still. The Russian was really very attractive. And he did need to try and get to know the people he was working with. "Sure." He stretched slowly, trying to get the chill out of his back. "Just knock on my door or something when you're going."

Piotr rested his giant hand on Paul's arm. "I can't thank you enough for your kindness. I want to hear all about your sister, for I feel we are on the same page in this matter." He didn't think Paul should be left in a towel while talking about family problems. Piotr would feel entirely too vulnerable. "Have a nice shower," he said as he moved towards the Danger Room.

Nice hands. "Thanks, Piotr. See you later." Paul watched the other man leave, then headed for the showers.

Log #2: On his way back from working-out, Piotr runs into Shinobi in the hall. His cheery mood could not be dampened by the groggy Brit.

There's nothing like a good work out. Piotr had been dying to expend some energy on useful things like training rather than yelling at his sister and fellow residents. Also, after his chat with Jean-Paul he was rather left in good spirits. After stripping out of his sweaty uniform and taking a long, hot shower, Piotr strode back to his room with an unfamiliar smile.

It was fortunate the hallways were wide - it meant that as Shinobi stepped out of the rec room and unknowingly into Piotr's path, that he had plenty of places to hop to get out of the way so the much larger man didn't bowl him over. "Whoa! Sorry, I'm not at my most observant when I'm groggy," he offered automatically, smoothing out his button-down shirt before he looked up, for the first time identifying who he nearly plowed into. Bad: Piotr. Good: Didn't get run over. Odd: Smiling. Blink, blink. "Alright, Piotr?"

"Yeah, I'm great Shinobi," he said while plopping a large paw on the Shaw boy's shoulder. "Why so groggy?" he inquired.

It just gets odder and odder. "Two countries in as many days," Shinobi supplied, his eyes briefly flicking to the massive hand on his shoulder. "And Iceland wasn't much of a vacation, this time out. A shame, since I'm sure it would be lovely when it isn't quite so.. chaotic."

"Yes, although the landscape was beautiful, the locals weren't so...calm." he blinked and looked for an opening. "Say, you're not hungry are you?"

"Not very," Shinobi admitted, with a faintly bewildered expression. "But if you are, I need to go past the kitchen to get to the basement, and I think I feel like sleeping with a certain puppy and pretty girl I know close by. I can at least keep you company for the walk there."

"Ok! Let me just toss some things in my room, one moment." Piotr sprinted down the hall, swung his door open and threw his dirty uniform to the floor. He locked his door shut and glided back to Shinobi's spot. "Alright, are you sure you don't want some food? I've been told I'm a good cook."

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Shinobi shook his head, grinning wryly at the Russian. "Doesn't matter how good a cook you are if I'm not hungry," he observed logically, gesturing towards the stairs with one arm.

"Fine fine, you don't know what you're missing," he tisked and started his way down the steps. "Tell Sarah I say 'hi'. I'll have to come meet that new puppy she has. I've only heard great things."

"Oscar does seem to be quite the hit," Shinobi replied proudly, grinning as he followed Piotr along. "I'll let her know you'd like to meet him. Showing the puppy off does seem to pick up her spirits a little bit." Even if it's Piotr. Still, worth a shot.

"Good to know." Piotr nodded. "Hey, do you like seeing plays? Musicals, to be exact. You see, Warren and I were chatting about see 'Wicked' sometime and I thought you and Sarah could be fun to take along."

Okay, now it's moved from 'odd' to 'bizarre'. "I.. don't know if musicals are precisely Sarah's thing," Shinobi replied carefully, blinking owlishly at the idea. "I'll mention the idea when I ask her about bringing the pooch out for a visit." That'll be a fun conversation.

Shinobi's uninterested behavior wouldn't dampen Piotr's mood. "Are you sure? I thought Sarah might revel in a plot about someone wicked," Piotr couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"That was terrible," Shinobi groaned, covering his face with a hand. Maybe before he goes to rest, he should figure out who spiked Piotr's food this morning, and what with.

Piotr's eyes narrowed. "Fine, fine. I'll leave you to your napping. Here's my stop," he motioned to the kitchen door. He stepped inside and let Shinobi continue on his way but peaked his head out to bellow, "Don't forgot to ask Sarah!"

"I won't forget," Shinobi called back, with considerably less volume, waving lazily over his shoulder. "Enjoy your food!" Maybe this time, the Russian wouldn't dig into the Crazy Flakes.