xp_logs | Hank, Kyle, Monday afternoon.

Wound far too tight by trying to put on a brave face for everyone, Hank goes down to the gym to work off some of his frustration on the heavy punching bag. Kyle encounters him there, and manages to, briefly, entirely distract him.

That, Kyle noted, was the sound of someone very large hitting the heavy bag. They were hitting it really hard too, because he could hear it outside the gym. It was actually, he thought, louder than when he hit it, not that Kyle thought himself to be very large, but he did hit hard. It probably wasn't Piotr, because Piotr never seemed to go after the heavy bag. And it didn't sound like Angelo or Mr. Al-Rashid, and Mr. Marko was still laid up. So Kyle was puzzled. Very puzzled.

More so when he actually entered the gym to find Dr. Hank as the cause of the distinctive thud-thud-whump noises. He figured that Dr. Hank had to work out sometimes, but he didn't seem like the beat on the heavy bag kind of guy. But then, Jay hadn't seemed like the kind of guy to hit a guy with a chair, so Kyle figured, maybe this week wasn't the best week for making assumptions. He watched for a few seconds, making a point to note that it was definitly a bad idea to piss off the doctors (again) around here. On top of being trigger-happy with the tranq gun, or so it was rumored, some of them were big enough to make the heavy bag move a lot. A whole lot.

Hank looked up after a moment and stopped trying to take his frustration out on the bag. Which was looking a little battered. Usually he didn't throw straight punches - surgeon's hands, and all - but right now, he couldn't operate on anyone anyway, and taking out some of his fear and anger on the bag seemed like a really good idea. He didn't want to upset any students, though, by letting them see him lose control. "Hi, Kyle," he said, as cheerfully as he could manage.

"Hi. I, uh, thought you were sick?" Kyle was definitly confused. Sick people stayed in bed with chicken soup and stupid television shows because nothing better was on. They didn't go to the gym to hit things. Or maybe they did when they were blue and furry. Kyle was never sure of these things. "Does this mean when I'm sick I can come hit the bag? Maybe?"

"It depends on what you're sick with. What I have is messing up my mind, more than my body." Hank sighed, and gave him a lopsided smile. "It's... not fun. But at least I can try to tire myself out so I can sleep instead of worrying."

Time to change the subject. Kyle's sense of social appropiateness didn't chime in often, but when it did, he listened. He nodded. "I do that sometimes when I get nightmares, or when Forge and Jay are really annoying. Well, cept the once, but um, that was.. uh.. " He didn't have a good reason for it. Yet. Kyle was deteremind to come up with a good reason for that stupid fight.

Hank nodded. "Sometimes just tiring yourself out helps," he agreed. He looked around the gym, and grinned. All the equipment was out. All the heavily reinforced equipment designed for those with far more than usual strength. "You know something I do when I can't sleep?"

"Um?" Kyle shook his head. "This isn't gonna be like having to hear stories about you in college and climbing the building or something, right?" There were just some things he didn't want to know.

Hank laughed. "Hey, I have some really funny stories from college," he protested. "But no, students aren't allowed to climb the building." He gestured at the spaced out equipment. "Think you could get all the way around the room without touching the floor?" He could, with some effort.... but Kyle was lighter than he was. He wouldn't be moving as much mass around. "The equipment will all support your weight... hell, it supports mine."

Kyle blinked. Since when did Dr. Hank -swear-. And okay, hell wasn't much of a swear word, but still. He scratched his head, trying to figure out the best route to take between here and the other end of the room. He could probably get from here to the top of the heavy bag without too much effort, but from there, he wasn't sure. Maybe he could tell better from higher up.

Admitttedly, once he scampered up the bag, he had cause to re-think his plan. Being on top of something attached to the ceiling by a chain meant he wasn't exactly stable. Climbing up had caused the bag to swing a bit, and it wasn't the most stable place to perch either. "Crap." Kyle muttered.

Hank grinned. "Get a bit of a swing going," he advised, leaning on his knuckles. "It'll help you get to the top of that first weight-machine." He'd never actually let anyone see him do this... it was as undignified as all heck... but it was fun. And he thought Kyle might enjoy it.

Kyle pondered that for a minute, and shifted his weight around so that the bag swung a bit more. It was kind of dizzying if he watched the ground, so he made a point not to look at anything except the weight machine, which was probably just a bit further away than he really felt comfortable with it being. Which meant that trying to leap over there was either going to look totally awesome, or was going to hurt a ton. But he wasn't going to back down -now-.

As the bag swung out as close as it could to the weight machine, Kyle pushed off of it, far more awkwardly than he wanted to, and leapt for the weight machine. Landing on the top most support bar with a thud (and more flailing of his hands and feet for support than he'd wanted), he gave a slightly embarassed grin. "This? Would so totally piss off Mr. Al-Rashid."

"It really would. But it's fun." Hank grinned. "Just letting the dignity go and bouncing around like a ping-pong ball." He leaned over, balancing all his weight on one hand and lifting himself easily into the air. "What's the point of mutant agility if you can't play with it, right?"

"Some people..." Kyle said sagely. "Do not have nearly enough fun." And there was just no way he was going to make it from the weight machine to the nautilis machine without drastic measures. Perching atop the weight machine was uncomfortable though, and it wasn't like he could just -fly- there, or stick to walls. Though, perhaps something like that, Kyle thought, as an idea bloomed in his head and he looked up at the ceiling. There were two large hooks, maybe for more heavy bags, set into the ceiling, and if he stretched, he could just reach one with his hand.

Getting to the second wasn't as hard. It wasn't too different from the jungle gym at very nearly every playground he'd ever been to, just with less metal to hold onto and probably a lot harder of a floor to land on if he fell. Which was why Kyle was -very- glad he didn't fall, though his hands kind of ached from holding up his own weight. He sat, legs crossed, on the bench of the nautilius machine and tried to figure out what his next move was.

Hank grinned. There were two ways to go from here... one would strand him in the middle of the room, the other would get him across the room. Would he go for the next weight machine or the light bag next? "I do this a lot... I can't climb trees as easily as you can. I'm too heavy. But this equipment is all heavily reinforced, enough that I won't break it if I jump on it."

"That explains the handprint on the ceiling.. " Kyle said, pointing up. "I kinda figured it was you or Angelo doing the stretchy thing, I guess." He looked around the room carefully. The only machine in reach didn't seem like it had anything near enough to get to from it, and the only -other- piece of equiptment he could get to was the lighter punching bag. But it was light, and had no top to speak of ot perch on, and from there, the only place he could go was the set of treadmills. "Oh -Jesus-..." Kyle muttered, and practically launched himself at the bag, eyes squeezed shut as he clung to the side of the bag. He felt like a treed squirrel.

Getting to the treadmills was easy, once he realized that the lighter bag swung -way- more than the heavy one. But clinging to it meant he was facing the wrong way to try to leap over. In hindsight, he though, he probably should've just grabbed the chain and used it to swing around the bag. Not that it did him a heck of a lot of good -now-. Trying to jump backwards away from the bag did work. It just worked in a whole kind of way that hurt when he landed on his -butt-.

Hank winced, heading over. "You okay?" he asked, a little worriedly. It occured to him - a bit belatedly - that maybe this wasn't really something he should be encouraging a student to do. "Don't worry about it, by the way. I still don't make it across without falling every time myself, and I've had a lot of practice."

"Um.. I think so?" Kyle stood carefully, twisting around to try to look at his back and rear. "It doesn't feel like I did more than fall down and look dorky. Could've been worse too. I could have a tail like Catseye." That would've sucked. A lot. Possibly more than getting a chair to the shoulder. Maybe. "I think maybe if I'd tried to swing around the littler bag I might've made it, but jumping on it, not such a good idea."

"That's usually a better idea." Hank nodded, smiling. "But you'll get the hang of it. It's something to do when you're hyped up and the weather's bad. I know how annoying that can be." He didn't have the same problems with hyperness that Kyle did, but he did get twitchy sometimes, especially when he'd had a lot of sugar.

"Its worse when I'm grounded." Kyle said. "And I know, its totally my own fault. But ... " He bit back a snarl. "I dunno. I get all fidgety and then -everybody-'s annoying. Even people I like."

"You can come down and pound the hell out of the bags if you like," Hank offered. "Or run up and down all the stairs throwing candy at people. I've done that a couple times." He grinned. "The candy is the key. If you're handing out sugar, people don't get so mad."

Kyle could picture that. Dr. Hank, bounding up and down the stairs with bags of sweets like a big blue furry Easter Bunny. Without the ears. He couldn't help but snicker, espically when his mental picture flipped over and was flinging the candy with its feet. "Note to self: Dear me. Get money. Buy candy. Love me." he said through bouts of laughter.

Hank grinned. "I'll give you some, if you want it... I have stashes everywhere. It's kind of a long-running joke. And people are mostly okay with you being hyperactive if you're running around giggling and handing out candy. And then when you get tired, you can eat some of it, and then off you go again."

"Some of it I can eat." Kyle grumped. "Chocolate hates me. Which is sad, because it tastes -good-." But then, he thought, anti-freeze smelled good and he damn well knew better there. "Did I mention I was still cranky about that? Because I am. Cranky. About the chocolate."

"I don't blame you. I would be too." Hank nodded. "But I have plenty that you can eat. And some racing madly around the house might make you feel better." There wasn't a lot he could do to help anyone, right now, but he'd always been a big proponent of healthy running around and yelling as a way of blowing off steam.

"That not-chocolate stuff Lorna has? That's actually kinda good." Kyle noted. "Its not chocolate, I can tell, but as long as I don't try to pretend it is, its very not bad." He was definitly a fan of the natural-peanut-butter-and-fake-chocolate cookies. "Maybe if I ran around like a loon enough I'd just get tired and fall asleep." He did that enough too, with hte napping in mid-afternoon after lunch.

Hank nodded. "Running around like a loon is fun. I like it a lot." He grinned. "Life is more fun when you don't worry too much about your dignity. It took me ages to work that out, but I'm glad I did."

"Worrying about that would mean I had some." Kyle noted absently. "I sleep in trees and my roommate thinks I drink from the toilet. Dignity and I are kinda not speaking right now."

Hank smiled, and impulsively he mussed up the boy's hair with a big hand. "It'll all work out," he said confidently. "It's... hard... being a kid, and looking different, and all that. I remember. But if you wait, it all kind of works out by itself. So don't worry about it."

Why was everyone always messing up his hair, Kyle wondered, going cross-eyed in an effort to try to look up at the top of his own head. Was there something about his head that said "Please, make my hair stick up all funny for the rest of the day." Not that he really minded, it was hair and he didn't put a lot of thought into it, but he was definitly noticing a hair-messing trend. It was kind of funny, he thought.

Hank saw the upward look and grinned. "You should try being mussable all over. I look really, really weird if I go to the beach and get water AND sand in my fur."

Kyle tried to picture that, managed it and doubled over, laughing. "Sorry... " He apoligized through bouts of laughter. "Its funny. Like a big herd of cowlicks everywhere.."

"Sandy cowlicks. I look like a really beat-up beach-towel with paws." Hank grinned. "You'll probably see it sometime."

That didn't help Kyle stop laughing at all. In fact,it just made it worse, and he pounded the floor with a fist, trying to compose himself. "Not... helping." He stammered out. "That could only be better if you have loud swim trunks." Kyle finally said, laughter having died down to occasional snickers.

"I do." Hank grinned. "Baggy orange shorts with yellow flowers on them."

"Oh god. That's perfect." Kyle managed to say, before snickering some more. "Sorry, its just kinda funny.. You know, I've never been to a real beach with the ocean? Montana's in the middle, and we never got to go. I swam in a lot of lakes, but not ever in salt water."

"I'll take you sometime," Hank promised, and then he remembered. He'd actually forgotten, for a minute. "When I'm better," he added, hoping it would be true. "And when it's warmer. I'll even get you some wacky shorts, if you want."

"I have swim trunks, but they're not loud. For swimming in the pool." Kyle said. "But loud ones would be good, because its not summer without loud shorts. " He nodded. "And you'll get better, cause there's what, a dozen geniuses here? I mean, its like a genius convention or something. Genius magnets in the roof."

Hank laughed. "We flock. Like geese. We all secretly know we're pitiful geeks, and get together in groups for safety. Even when we're as big as me." He poked Kyle gently. "You just be glad your mutation didn't make you all huge. I didn't stop growing until I was twenty. I thought I'd be hungry forever."

"Dude. Not pitiful.. I mean, okay, Forge is geeky, but then he makes cool -stuff-, and maybe Doug's a little nerdy but I mean, then he goes and does the band thing and you and Doctor Maddy and Doctor Moira are awesome and Kitty's totally cute, and... " Kyle trailed off, aware that he was rambling. "You know I grew like, five inches in a week when I got all clawy and fangy?"

Hank made a sympathetic noise. "Mine was slower... I was born with mine. The big hands and feet and weird bones, anyway. The fur and stuff was later." Hank smiled ruefully. "Didn't make school any easier, even if there wasn't much of the mutant-hate stuff back then."

"It wasn't fun, but i guess it was better than it taking forever. I'm not patient or anything like patient." Kyle said. "Though the dentist at the juvinile center was kinda unhappy about the teeth thing, cause I think he thought he was gonna get sued or something. " And then that not-really-a-social worker had shown up, and it had all been downhill from there. Which was not a good line of thought to be stuck on, Kyle thought. "You were born all big hands and feet? Whoa. I bet baby booties for you must've been hard to get."

"It's a good thing my mother knits. She had to make all my socks and everything." Hank sighed a little. Telling her hadn't been easy, even though he'd played it down as much as he could. And talking his folks out of coming to the Mansion straight away had been hard... but there wasn't really anything they could do, and having them around, being worried, would just make it harder. "I should tell her about you. She could make you some toeless socks."

"Mmm. Toeless socks." Kyle said happily. Toeless socks made him irrationally pleased with the entire world. Anything that kept the back of his feet warm and let him still climg around was a good thing. "You don't have to. I mean, it'd be cool, but you don't have to.." Kyle said, a teeny bit embarassed.

"She'd like to, I think. She made me fingerless gloves, before my hands got furry. You want some of those too? I could ask." Hank smiled a little. "She knits for everyone, back at home. She likes to feel useful, and she's getting too old to work on the farm."

Kyle had a vague mental image of everyone buried in a giant pile of socks and scarves. Which didn't necessarily seem a bad thing, since the idea of napping in a giant pile of socks fresh from the dryer had a lot of appeal to it. "Ooh. That would also be cool." Fingerless gloves would make it easier to climb in the winter, and make snowballs without his fingers freezing off. "You have an awesome mom. Which makes sense, cause, with the awesomeness yourself and all."

"Thanks. I'm glad I'm awesome." Hank grinned. "I should introduce you to her sometime. She's used to claws and teeth, with me... and she likes to feed people. And you like to eat. So you'd get along."

"We can do that. Maybe over spring break or maybe your folks could visit." Kyle said, a little tenativly. He just needed to remember to make sure his own parents were no where near the school, because that kind of thing could not possibly go over well. His mom was -still- harping on him about how much it was costing them to get him new clothes.

Hank nodded. "They'd like that. They'd like you." He patted Kyle's shoulder. "Spring break it is. You can go to the farm, and see real live cows."