xp_logs | Hank, Haroun, Friday afternoon

When Haroun wakes up again, Hank takes his turn at handing out a little lecture... pointing out that his powers aren't really all that impressive either, when you get right down to it.

Hank heard the stir and sleepy mutter, and peeked in on his patient. "Awake again, I see," he said cheerfully. "Would you care for some water? A supporting arm to the facilities? A kind but stern word on not pushing yourself too hard?" A bumped head was a thankfully minor injury, slight concussion and all, but still. It was typical of far too many of the current team that they tended to injure themselves through pushing too hard - or being careless - more often than they were actually injured by an enemy. It was most annoying.

Haroun blinked as he struggled to get all of his faculties, both meat and machine, online and functioning normally. He still had a ferocious headache, although not nearly as bad as it had been earlier. "Water would be good." he confessed. "Damn painkillers always knock me for a loop."

Hank poured him a plastic cup of water... he didn't like having glasses in the medlab, things got dropped or knocked over so often... and handed it to him, leaning in to check his pupils. Hm. They looked all right. "There you go. Now, about that kind but stern word..." He waved a blue finger reproachfully. "That was very naughty," he said very seriously. "Don't do it again."

Haroun snorted. Loudly. "Sure." he said, and then slammed down his cup of water. He then held it out for a refilling. "Considering I was working on medevacs when I misjudged that turn, that's a self-defeating position to take." he pointed out. "You may need me to be faster than I am. Stronger. Quicker. Better."

"We do, however, need you in one piece," Hank pointed out mildly, refilling the cup. "You can't fly anyone out as you are now, can you?" He'd.... well, not eavesdropped as such, but he'd overheard entirely by accident some of what Alison has been saying. His ears were very good, and she got a bit penetrating when she was upset. "It's never wise to push too hard in training, no matter how good the reasons... you never know when a crisis will come up, and you'll need your strength."

Haroun smiled very thinly. "You have Sam. Next year's model. Younger and more durable, more biddable in outlook." he said with disgust, and then drank deep of the refilled cup. "And since I'm thinking of it, do you know anything about bone lacing? Little dribble like that shouldn't take me down for the count."

"Some, yes... but it's not something I intend even discussing with you until you are thinking clearly again." Hank gave him a stern look. "When you have a concussion is no time to be making those sorts of decisions." He sat down on the (for him) undersized chair, putting his feet up on the side of the bed. "And why, I wonder, the comment about young Samuel? Do you feel that your powers suffer by comparison to his?"

Haroun barked out a laugh, then moaned as the fireworks in his head intensified. "There's no comparison! Only thing I have is maneuverability. The guy's invulnerable when he wants to be. Sure, he can't control it fully yet, but that's a question of time."

"But that in no way makes your contribution any less valuable or necessary," Hank pointed out. "Neither you nor Sam can be everywhere at once, and you are both very useful to the team." He cocked a bushy eyebrow at Haroun. "Unless, as I have heard hints, you are dissatisfied with your power itself. In which case, I must remind you that you are speaking to a man whose mutant power is to hang upside down from his toes, and in general emulate a large blue gorilla."

Haroun sighed. "And the genius-level IQ, some increased bulk, and heightened agility? Those are all perfectly natural?" he said sarcastically.

"The IQ is open to debate. The agility and bulk are part of the general gorilla package, yes." Hank gave him an amused look. "However, I believe most people would consider flight a more impressive power than being able to drag one's knuckles along the ground."

"It is impressive - when using it doesn't cause you to catch fire." he said. "Look. Now is not the time to reopen old wounds, all right? And did you catch this burn on my side? Did that in the first scenario."

"Yes, I did." Hank sighed. "What I am attempting to convey, my friend, is that you sell yourself short if you believe that, just because you possess no particularly earthshattering power, that you are less than valuable to the team." He smiled rather fondly. "Do you know, when he was a boy, Cyclops couldn't imagine what good shooting uncontrollable beams out of his eyes could be? He was so used to thinking of his power as a curse that it took him a long time to be able to take full advantage of it."

"See, I know what good can come of my power. But that was in the kiddie leagues. This is the big time, Hank. We deal with the big stuff, not the little stuff. And I'm just not cutting it." he said as his headache roared up another notch.

"Really? From what I've heard, you're doing just fine." Hank shook his head. "And as I have been at this school and on assorted teams, on and off, for nearly thirteen years, I humbly posit that my experience in assessing such matters is rather greater than yours." He smiled, giving Haroun's arm a reassuring pat. "And in those many years, I have learned that pushing too hard in training is inevitably counterproductive," he said briskly. "Always. If you want to beat yourself up, then I certainly can't stop you, but if you actually wish to improve your contribution to the team, you'll be more careful in future."

Haroun ground his teeth, but nodded in agreement. "Won't happen again." he gritted out.

Hank sighed. Clearly he wasn't helping, and should probably back off. Still, hopefully at least some of it would stick. "Well, I'll stop lecturing," he said more cheerfully. "Since I imagine Alison has already said most of this anyway. Is there anything else you need? More water?"

"More water would be good." he said, nodding his head just a fragment. "And then I think I'm going to sleep more. Try to get rid of this killer headache."

"A good idea." Hank poured more water. "And should you need anything, just press that button above your head... there'll be someone close by."

Haroun nodded and sipped at his water. "Thanks." he said.

Hank nodded and left him to it, muttering under his breath - after he closed the door - about young people today. Surely he'd never been that determinedly thick-headed when he was that age... of course, turning himself blue and furry hadn't exactly qualified as a stroke of genius. But apart from that.... well, there had been that time when...

Hm. Maybe the young people of today weren't really all that different.