xp_logs | Angelo and Nathan, Wednesday morning

Angelo and Nathan meet for some more self-defense practice. Angelo is voluntarily integrating his mutation. Nathan is Very Pleased.

For once, Angelo was the first to arrive in the gym for his sparring/practice session with Nathan. He immediately got on with the usual warm-ups, and was almost finished with them when Nathan arrived.

"I detect suspicious levels of enthusiasm," Nathan said wryly as he walked into the gym. "You have something devious planned?"

Angelo paused to grin at him not-entirely-innocently. "Not really. 's just been a while since we got to do this."

"Right," Nathan said wryly, starting to warm up. "Pardon me if I don't really buy that - you have that 'who, me?' look on."

Angelo chuckled, returning to his last few stretches. "Well. Maybe. We'll just see how it works out."

"Uh-huh." Nathan finished warming-up - he had been out running already this morning, so he didn't really need to do too much - and then rose, turning to Angelo. "So. Shall we have at it?"

Angelo nodded, moving smoothly into combat position. "Ready when you are."

Nathan fell into a defensive position, smiling faintly, and waited.

Angelo resisted pulling a face at Nathan's insistence on never attacking first, and launched into a kick.

Nathan blocked it easily. "Don't glower at me," he said with a chuckle. "Point of pride. Well, there's more of a point to it than that - once you figure out what, I'll know you're really making progress."

Angelo raised an eyebrow. "You mean it's more than teachin' me to break the habits I'm in?" he asked, trying again from a different angle.

"Mm-hm," Nathan said contentedly, blocking again.

Angelo laughed. "Oh, be like that then. I will get it someday."

"Oh, I have no doubt that you will." Nathan continued to block each of Angelo's punches and kicks, almost lazily. Angelo was definitely improving, but he wasn't that good just yet. Give him another six months, though...

Angelo kept trying, determination in his eyes and the set of his jaw. He would break through Nathan's defenses, just once... "No hints, then?"

"No. It's one of those things you've got to figure out for yourself."

Angelo grinned and shrugged as best he could without letting up. "Fair enough."

Angelo was under the impression that he was going to wear him down, Nathan realized. Not a bad thought, really - he was younger, and conceivably had more energy and stamina - but, well. Not going to happen. Nathan seized on the merest hint of an opening and went on the attack. Half-speed, half-strength. He wanted to teach Angelo, not hammer him into the ground like a tent peg.

Angelo switched into defensive mode, doing his best to remember what Nathan had told him in previous sessions and parry the attack.

Nathan drove him back across the mats, paying close attention to Angelo's defensive technique this time. The Askani were whispering in his mind, making observations, suggestions. It was really rather distracting. "Be quiet," he muttered, and then blinked, flushing a little and backing off as he realized he'd said that aloud. "Sorry," he said to Angelo, who looked perplexed. "Not you."

Angelo blinked, then realized there were only two possible explanations. "Don't think you'd be tellin' anyone 'pathin' to you t'be quiet, so... the Askani? What are they sayin'?"

"Just sticking their noses in, as per usual," Nathan said, spreading his hands wide in a helpless gesture. "Not about you, though, so don't be getting all paranoid." He gave Angelo a wry smile.

Angelo raised a dubious eyebrow. "Then why are they suddenly speakin' up so loud you have to tell them not to, if it's not about this?"

Nathan sighed. "They don't like the way I fight," he finally said, that wry smile lingering.

Angelo blinked, confused again. "How so?"

"They say it's... inelegant. Undisciplined." Nathan shook his head, backing off a little more. "Maybe the right word would be 'unrefined'."

Angelo grinned. "Well, it's what you know. Works well enough, so why should you change it? Do I even want to know what they think of my way?"

Nathan laughed quietly. "Don't worry, you were spared the commentary. They're focused on me and my inadequacies at the moment."

Angelo chuckled. "Maybe I should hear what they think sometime. Since I'm learnin' here, an' all."

"I'll ask them. They're sulking at the moment, because I told them to shut up." Nathan rubbed at the back of his neck, grimacing. "And I think they're trying to give me a headache. Very, very petty at times."

Angelo grinned, amused. "Remind them they're only there 'cause you're lettin' them be? I mean, if they're gonna be childish about it, no harm playin' their way."

"True enough," Nathan said wryly, but didn't do it. If he got into a squabble, it wasn't as if either he or the Askani involved could go somewhere else to get some distance. "Anyway, let them sulk," he said, falling back into a defensive position.

Angelo nodded equably. "Don't forget to ask them when they feel more like talkin'", he reminded, launching another attack.

"You're a mother hen," Nathan said mock-severely, and swept his feet out from under him. "And you need to stop overextending like that. What do I keep saying?"

Angelo managed to avoid crashing to the mat in too undignified a fashion, bouncing almost straight back up with a sheepish grin. "I know, I know..." With barely a pause, he was back to the attack and this time, mindful of what Nathan had had him start doing in their last session, he reached out with his skin to try and yank Nathan off balance.

Nathan rolled out of the way, rather than stopping the attack telekinetically. "Nice," he said with a grin. "Good to see you taking the incentive."

Angelo grinned back. "Well, you said you wanted me to use my powers more, last time. Talked to Shinobi about it a bit, awhile back. Tryin' to decide if I should go to the open powers classes, but I'm not sure there's that many new things to learn to do with this."

"Give Moira the chance," Nathan advised. "You'd be surprised at what she could come up with." He circled Angelo, still grinning. "So. Let's have it."

Angelo responded to the challenge with a wicked grin, lashing out five strands towards Nathan's ankle.

Nathan flung himself away, still not opting for the telekinetic response. He wanted to see just how far Angelo would push it.

Angelo (although, whether consciously or otherwise, did have limits) hadn't hit them yet. He kept moving, using both hands this time to try and bring Nathan to the ground.

"Good!" Nathan said approvingly, backing away. "What's your range, doing this?"

Angelo considered. "At the beginnin', I think it was about six feet. But that was two fires ago, so it might be a bit less from my hands now."

"You should talk to Moira about what can be done about that," Nathan suggested immediately, straightening from his defensive posture.

Angelo nodded. "Shinobi said that, too. I'm gonna mail her about the open powers classes, we can see about this when I go along for that."

"Excellent," Nathan said, warmly approving. "Progress all around."