10294/Nightingale's Fury

Nightingale's Fury
Date of Scene:	03 December 2019
Location:	Gym - X-Men Base
Synopsis:	Anger is vented, misunderstandings brought to light. Bean, Triage, and Shannon determine that they need to talk to Cannonball, post-haste.
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Samuel Morgan, Triage

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Nightingale has posed:
     A couple months past, when just beginning her training with Logan in the wake of the mutant rights protest where Daniel was lost, Shannon had been told that anger was when you built muscle, and she'd since taken the advice to heart. For the moment, she was alone in the gym, in her sneakers, bright blue leggings, and her long Tweety Bird t-shirt, with her hair tied back and her bangs plastered to her brow with sweat. A punching bag was bearing the brunt of her fury; while her form was not perfect, it was improved from months past, the normally unflappable healer jabbing the bag with sharp blows and snarls of utter, complete fury, her fists smacking loudly against the leather.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Bloody hell, what did that poor bag do? Insult your mother?"

    Bean is in surprisingly good spirits when he enters the Gym. He always looks forward to a good workout, but today... today is different. He looks different. For one he's favoring a tight tank top over his usual loose shirt, and today it seems that despite the weather he has opted to wear shorts. Even takes a surreptitious glance at himself in a mirror. Not to check angles, not to check his six... but to check his outfit. What on earth?

    He walks in with Bear at his side, the Shepherd all pricked up ears and lolling tongue as he carries his own toy in. Squeaky things to play with while his human plays with the other strange things in the big room that smells of old socks.

Triage has posed:
Shannon might have come to the gym to vent, but Chris came purely for exercise. The weather outside was indeed frightful. He arrives wearing sweat gray pants, a black hoodie, and a pair of well-warn sneakers. After seeing that no one is using the weight machines, he starts toward them, unzipping his hoodie to reveal a bright blue tee shirt emblazoned with the logo of one of NYC's many jazz clubs. Then he hears the growls and the sounds of fists punching leather. He looks toward the bag. Then he looks to Bean and nods. "One of Logan's rules," he explains. "Vent anger through exercise."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon unfortunately hits the bag a little too hard--and forgets to duck. She is knocked off-balance as the bag swings back at her, stumbling backwards a couple steps before being able to right herself. "Sorry... just... gaah! Have you ever had someone you were just really kind of starting to be friends with, things seemed to be going okay, and then you hear about something that makes you go 'what the heck'?" She brushes her bangs away from her forehead, grimacing at the way they stick to her skin. "I don't know if the New Mutants were meant to be kept secret or not, but I always treated it like they were, just in case. About a week or so ago, Andrea, Gwen, Brad, Nathaniel, and I were all in the music room, and somehow it came out that her status within the team was in question. Okay, maybe I should have thought and taken her aside /after/ and asked what was up with that, but I just up and asked her what was going on. And that was the first the other three heard about the team."

She leans backwards to stretch, catching a glimpse of Bean checking himself out for a moment, her eyebrows raising. Maybe it was something she'd have to ask him about another time? "Anyways, earlier today, I heard from Gwen that Andrea addressed her, Brad, and Nathaniel about it, and well... I wasn't there, but I heard it didn't go too well, it upset the three of them a fair bit. Did my best to set Gwen straight, told her my experiences, and I sure didn't lie to her that yeah, the team's not all fluff, it can be pretty serious stuff, but it's worthwhile all the same."

She sighs softly. "The impression I got from our talk was that the feeling of needing to be 'fixed', or being 'broken' was given, or perhaps they were not 'powerful enough' yet. I wasn't there when she talked to them, so I can't say for sure. But I am really steamed that it was taken that way by them, and to see them doubting themselves so badly, when I'm sure she meant well." She grimaces a bit. "Not that I have room to talk about that myself... and I've got the pinch marks from Alexis to prove it."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Bean nods to Triage in understanding as he sets himself up against the practice dummy, starting a few combinations that set the torso and head rocking from side to side on its sturdy base. "Muscle through frustration, I understand."

    And so he listens, throwing his jabs and crosses, occasionally ending a combo by grabbing the dummy's head and giving it a firm knee to the face. "Yeah, I heard something about that. Nathaniel came to ask me if I was a secret superhero yesterday, had to tell him pretty much the same thing you probably told Gwen. Team work, trust, developing abilities, self confidence... he got this idea that we went out hunting for Sentinels and Friends of Humanity and got ourselves hurt on a regular basis." Which is ludicrous, right? The dummy nods yes as its head is rocked back and forth.

    But then he hears the other bit. The thing he /didn't/ know. The thing that does not, in any way, make him happy. It's easy to tell he's quite vexed. A minor clue might be that without warning his left leg comes up, he pivots on his right foot and gives the dummy a roundhouse kick that echoes, literally echoes, around the gym. It doesn't go flying... he's not strong enough for that... but the dummy, weighing twice as much as a human being and on a wide base, topples sideways as if pole-axed. "Say again? Fixed? Not powerful enough? What the actual hell?"

Triage has posed:
Chris had been setting up the bench press while Shannon explained. He unzipped his hoodie, and was preparing to straddle the bench when she delivers the punchlines. "What?" he echoes Bean's query. He stands and drops the hoodie on the bench. "I don't know officially where things stand with the team, but you're right," he agrees, striding across the gym toward Shannon. "Things like that should be on a need-to-know basis." Then he nods to Bean. "When trouble hits, people spring into action, but /hunting/ Sentinels or the 'Friends'?" He shakes his head. "That's not how this works, not at our level."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods slowly. "No it's not. Trouble finds us easily enough without us looking for more. Bean... I know you talked to Nathan, but send him my way, too, maybe I can help clear things up as well? I wonder if that bit about us getting hurt all the time, well... maybe if somehow he heard about me healing others. Which /was/ happening quite a bit more before Chris came back. As for Brad... I'll have to track him down and talk to him myself. Anybody got any idea if he's got a roommate or if he's in his own dorm?"

But, there was another matter to address, and she sighs softly. "Regardless of who said what to who, I'm seriously thinking about going to Cannonball with this. It's got three friends... three fellow students... upset. Hate dumping this on his doorstep, but still...."

Shaking her head, she pinches the bridge of her nose, looking highly annoyed and frustrated. "When I talked to Gwen, I told her about the day Sam asked me to be on the team. About how I felt broken, and helpless, and far from ready for it. But I accepted, because I had no doubt in my mind I wanted to be able to stand up for others as well as myself. I told her that Sam asked me to join not because I was perfect or the most powerful, but because he saw heart and potential, that sometimes I don't always see in myself. I also tried to leave the imprint of a very special memory that's given me strength since, into one of my wing feathers, and told her to look at it later, because there were words spoken then that she needs to hear as much as I did that day. Though that memory was about a week or so after Sam asked me to join the team, still..."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    It takes a few seconds before Bean realises just how hard he's kicked that dummy. Seconds spent standing there with fists clenched and an expression that has gone, well, neutral. Utterly neutral. A few moments later there's a sudden lick across his knuckles, Bear having abandoned his squeaky toy to come deal with what he had correctly interpreted as the prelude to a major anger issue. Whatever the technopath might be thinking, the lick jolts him back to the present, and the next moment he's on one knee giving his companion a well deserved hug around the neck. "Good boy." And good boys get treats, one wrapped dog biscuit that he had stashed in his pocket for just such an emergency. With one last pat, the Shepherd is let go, and Bean starts to put the dummy back up, lifting with his knees rather than his back... that thing is heavy.

    "Next time I see him, I'll send him over. Brad, if I remember right, is with Jay, so at least he has someone to talk to. But I'll drop by and see how he's doing." The dummy tilts back over onto its stand, and Bean leans against it for a moment, a hand on its shoulder. "Honestly, after what I'm hearing? We need to talk to Mister Guthrie. If it's a misunderstanding, we need to get it cleared up. If it's not... well, he's the only one qualified to deal with it." The burden of command...

Triage has posed:
Chris nods to Bean. "I agree. Sam should deal with any misunderstandings," Chris answers with a nod. "Some students come here with burdens already. They don't need to hear that they're not good enough for some team or other, when it's really not a matter of /good/ but a matter of what skills the team needs at any given time."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods in agreement with the other two. "Definitely. And on top of that, even if there doesn't /seem/ to be a need for a particular skill at any given time, ohhhh trust me, that need /will/ come up sooner or later. Putting it in simplistic terms, it's like a James Bond movie. Some of the gadgets seem pointless in the beginning, but sooner or later, they do have a purpose. Nathaniel's and Brad's gifts just haven't been matched to a purpose yet. Though in fairness, I don't fully understand them." Rubbing her knuckles, she heads towards the door, not looking or smelling the freshest, but it would not do to sit on the problem any longer than necessary. "Just... please, let's try not to blow this thing up too badly? Even if we're all of us going 'What the bumsen?' right now, I'm still hoping it's just a misunderstanding, some crossed wires somewhere."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Not the expression I would have chosen." Given that Bean's parting from the dummy includes two quick kidney shots, it's probably best not to inquire as to what exact phrase he /would/ prefer. "I just hate hearing someone being made to feel inferior because of... gaaah, forget it." Is he being oversensitive because this involves Nathaniel? Now he has to tread carefully, this is all new territory for him.

    With a sharp whistle, he lets Bear know that playtime is unfortunately over for now, and the trusty canine trots over, obediently handing his toy back over to Bean before following him towards the door, certain he'll have it made up to him later.

Triage has posed:
Chris nods to Shannon and then Bean when each decides to depart. He seems ready to resume his plan to exercise when the phone beeps from within his hoodie. He picks up the garment and pulls the phone. Glancing at it, he nods. "Right. Three hours behind." He shoves the phone back into its pocket. "So much for exercise. I should come back tomorrow."