om_black_widow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
om_black_widow) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
om_main2015-10-16 08:30 pm
om_black_widow) wrote in om_main2015-10-16 08:30 pm
Entry tags:
Noriko and Natasha, Backdated to Friday
Noriko and Natasha run into each other at the gym. It could've gone worse?
Natasha lowered herself to the floor and began stretching out her legs. Along with the other opulent things in the school, Xavier's had an impressive gymnasium. One that was, for the moment, empty other than herself. She was a small woman in a vast space. It felt weird, having spent her entire life in smaller spaces with at least three or four other people at a time. She'd been alone there, and she was alone here, too. It was just more visually apparent.
The door creaking open interrupted her reverie, and Natasha eyed the door.
The crackle of electricity only barely preceded the sudden opening of the door, and the streak of blue lightning that resolved into a tiny blue-haired Japanese girl when Noriko came to a stop just inside the gym. One of the new kids was there, stretching, and Noriko nodded at her. "Hey. Noriko."
That said, she headed towards the punching bags, pulling some tape out of her jeans pockets. Her top was a simple t-shirt; she didn't get cold whenever she lit up, so even if the weather warranted more clothing, there was no point wearing more just to come to the gym and work up a sweat.
"Natasha," she replied. The crackling of electricity - this must be Noriko, the other girl who could electrocute someone - had caught her attention.
"Welcome to school," Noriko stated, setting her gauntlets aside to wrap up her hands. "When'd you get in?"
"Couple weeks ago." Natasha, eyed the gauntlets, and then went back to stretching so that she didn't betray her interest.
"Going alright?" Noriko asked, glancing at her from behind blue bangs. She needed another hair cut.
Natasha nodded, and then stood up. She rolled her shoulders, and then bent to stretch her back. "Seem to be, so far. Have you been here long?"
"Going on three years?" Noriko offered.
The corner of Natasha's lips tipped up. "Sounds pretty long," she observed.
"It is," Noriko confirmed, at least the way her life went. "But it's a good place."
"Yeah? What makes you think so?" Hey, if the other girl was going to volunteer information, Natasha wouldn't stop her. She straightened up and then began twisting a bit, just loosening up.
"They put us up, feed us, clothe us, teach us, and don't ask for much in exchange?" Noriko pointed out. It was pretty obviously a good place to her, but she remembered how paranoid she'd been at first.
That mostly matched up with what she'd heard so far. "Don't ask for much, huh?"
"Well, okay, asking us to become responsible adults is actually a lot," Noriko wryly answered.
Natasha snorted softly and, once done, went over to one of the double-ended bags. She had a quick flash of the look on Tony Stark's face if he were called a 'responsible adult,' and only barely managed to maintain her placid facade. "Perhaps."
Noriko was pretty sure she wouldn't have called him a responsible adult anyway. "Harder for some of us than others." She turned to the bag she'd chosen and started laying into it, her technique more precise and efficient by far for her long months of one-on-one training with Abby.
Natasha watched out of the corner of her eye as she began precision training on the double-ended bag. Noriko had a solid skill base. She wondered who the other girl had been training with. Philip, maybe?
Noriko kept at it for a while, without showing any signs of tiring. When her arms did start to tire, she got barefooted and moved on to her kicks, working them fast and hard, at different heights, and focusing on precision as much as balance.
Natasha went another few rounds with her bag. Its speed, and reflexive spring back, made it more like boxing an opponent than any other bag. It was clear that she knew what she was doing, moving with the kind of comfort and grace that came only from years of practice.
"Where'd you learn?" Noriko asked after a bit, both feet back on the ground, focused on the hits Natasha was laying into the bag.
The redhead dodged a rebound, and then caught the bag. "I could ask you the same," she replied, not sounding winded in the slightest. "Who have you been training with here?"
"I asked first," Noriko evenly replied.
"Philip Coulson," Natasha said. Not a full answer; in fact, not remotely true. Anyone who was in her P.E. class would see that she often worked with him one-on-one, but her technique was far to advanced and practiced to have only begun a few weeks before.
"That's not where you learned," Noriko answered, shaking her head. There was no way she'd gotten so good so quickly, not unless her mutation was something like Midnighter's.
Natasha gave her a small and slightly sheepish smile, as though slightly embarrassed. "I apologize, I thought you meant who I had trained with here."
"No, you were going evasive on me, and you still are," Noriko replied, but she didn't sound as if she held it against the girl. She shrugged, and offered, both an actual answer (if clearly only partial) and an explanation, "I've trained with Philip too."
"English isn't my first language; misunderstandings happen." Not a denial, but not an admission either. "You haven't just trained with him, though," Natasha said, taking the change of subject and running with it. There were quirks to her technique that wouldn't have come from Coulson.
That made it sound like Natasha wanted to know what else Noriko had done with him. Whether that was a real not-my-first-language issue or just an accident, Noriko didn't know, but she didn't like it either way. "Nope, I haven't," she simply replied, and turned back to the bag. Hey, if Natasha wasn't coming clean, why should she. She wasn't feeling particularly generous, especially not when Philip was on her mind.
Natasha's face remained placid, though she was certainly intrigued by that information. She did not know what the timeline had been for whatever 'not just training' Noriko and Philip had done or how it lined up with Philip and Clint's relationship, but she filed it away. "I meant you'd trained with someone other than him," she clarified. She took a few hits on her own bag, and then said, "and I was an athlete, in Russia. That's where I learned."
It would seem like some give, and it fit with her cover, as it was.
"That's what I meant, too," Noriko confirmed, and moved back to her kicks. Other leg, this time; weaker leg. "What kind of athlete?"
"Ballerina." That, at least, was not completely untrue. They had studied a great deal of ballet in the Red Room.
"You ballet girls have got nice hooks," Noriko replied evenly.
Natasha smirked. "If you've ever met ballet boys, you know why we do."
"And here I'd have thought you guys minded bruised knuckles," Noriko replied. No amount of skill could stop you from bruising, after all; only a healing factor could.
"We do." She didn't add anything to it, instead just shrugging. Natasha looked at the bag contemplatively, and then stepped away. Philip had been right; she was too obvious with her physical skills. She needed something less....less easily analyzed. Natasha headed over to some of the weight machines.
"So what do you do? Mutation-wise," Noriko asked after she'd finished with her second series of kicks.
Natasha set the leg-press to a surprising weight for her small size. "Electricity," she said, before she began a set. Once she'd finished that first set, she paused. "What about you?" As though she didn't know.
"You saw me come in," Noriko stated, coming a little closer so they wouldn't have to talk across the room. "What do you do with it?"
"Yours seems different than mine," Natasha said, by way of explanation. "I just release it."
"And absorb it?" Noriko asked, beginning to unwrap her hands. "Or do you generate it yourself?"
"Generate. How does your work?" She asked. "What's with the hardware?"
"I absorb it," Noriko replied. "All the time. Hardware's to regulate that, and the release. But I also get to use it for superspeed." She put the wraps back in her pocket, and stepped away to retrieve the gauntlets and put them back on.
Natasha nodded, and filed that away. Superspeed; she couldn't even imagine what she could have done with that in her arsenal.
"Sounds like you're in control, but if you ever need some help, I'm in 101," Noriko went on, once she'd put the gauntlets back on.
"Thanks." Natasha looked over from where she stood, ready for another set.
"See you around," Noriko told her, then lit up again, and was gone.
Natasha lowered herself to the floor and began stretching out her legs. Along with the other opulent things in the school, Xavier's had an impressive gymnasium. One that was, for the moment, empty other than herself. She was a small woman in a vast space. It felt weird, having spent her entire life in smaller spaces with at least three or four other people at a time. She'd been alone there, and she was alone here, too. It was just more visually apparent.
The door creaking open interrupted her reverie, and Natasha eyed the door.
The crackle of electricity only barely preceded the sudden opening of the door, and the streak of blue lightning that resolved into a tiny blue-haired Japanese girl when Noriko came to a stop just inside the gym. One of the new kids was there, stretching, and Noriko nodded at her. "Hey. Noriko."
That said, she headed towards the punching bags, pulling some tape out of her jeans pockets. Her top was a simple t-shirt; she didn't get cold whenever she lit up, so even if the weather warranted more clothing, there was no point wearing more just to come to the gym and work up a sweat.
"Natasha," she replied. The crackling of electricity - this must be Noriko, the other girl who could electrocute someone - had caught her attention.
"Welcome to school," Noriko stated, setting her gauntlets aside to wrap up her hands. "When'd you get in?"
"Couple weeks ago." Natasha, eyed the gauntlets, and then went back to stretching so that she didn't betray her interest.
"Going alright?" Noriko asked, glancing at her from behind blue bangs. She needed another hair cut.
Natasha nodded, and then stood up. She rolled her shoulders, and then bent to stretch her back. "Seem to be, so far. Have you been here long?"
"Going on three years?" Noriko offered.
The corner of Natasha's lips tipped up. "Sounds pretty long," she observed.
"It is," Noriko confirmed, at least the way her life went. "But it's a good place."
"Yeah? What makes you think so?" Hey, if the other girl was going to volunteer information, Natasha wouldn't stop her. She straightened up and then began twisting a bit, just loosening up.
"They put us up, feed us, clothe us, teach us, and don't ask for much in exchange?" Noriko pointed out. It was pretty obviously a good place to her, but she remembered how paranoid she'd been at first.
That mostly matched up with what she'd heard so far. "Don't ask for much, huh?"
"Well, okay, asking us to become responsible adults is actually a lot," Noriko wryly answered.
Natasha snorted softly and, once done, went over to one of the double-ended bags. She had a quick flash of the look on Tony Stark's face if he were called a 'responsible adult,' and only barely managed to maintain her placid facade. "Perhaps."
Noriko was pretty sure she wouldn't have called him a responsible adult anyway. "Harder for some of us than others." She turned to the bag she'd chosen and started laying into it, her technique more precise and efficient by far for her long months of one-on-one training with Abby.
Natasha watched out of the corner of her eye as she began precision training on the double-ended bag. Noriko had a solid skill base. She wondered who the other girl had been training with. Philip, maybe?
Noriko kept at it for a while, without showing any signs of tiring. When her arms did start to tire, she got barefooted and moved on to her kicks, working them fast and hard, at different heights, and focusing on precision as much as balance.
Natasha went another few rounds with her bag. Its speed, and reflexive spring back, made it more like boxing an opponent than any other bag. It was clear that she knew what she was doing, moving with the kind of comfort and grace that came only from years of practice.
"Where'd you learn?" Noriko asked after a bit, both feet back on the ground, focused on the hits Natasha was laying into the bag.
The redhead dodged a rebound, and then caught the bag. "I could ask you the same," she replied, not sounding winded in the slightest. "Who have you been training with here?"
"I asked first," Noriko evenly replied.
"Philip Coulson," Natasha said. Not a full answer; in fact, not remotely true. Anyone who was in her P.E. class would see that she often worked with him one-on-one, but her technique was far to advanced and practiced to have only begun a few weeks before.
"That's not where you learned," Noriko answered, shaking her head. There was no way she'd gotten so good so quickly, not unless her mutation was something like Midnighter's.
Natasha gave her a small and slightly sheepish smile, as though slightly embarrassed. "I apologize, I thought you meant who I had trained with here."
"No, you were going evasive on me, and you still are," Noriko replied, but she didn't sound as if she held it against the girl. She shrugged, and offered, both an actual answer (if clearly only partial) and an explanation, "I've trained with Philip too."
"English isn't my first language; misunderstandings happen." Not a denial, but not an admission either. "You haven't just trained with him, though," Natasha said, taking the change of subject and running with it. There were quirks to her technique that wouldn't have come from Coulson.
That made it sound like Natasha wanted to know what else Noriko had done with him. Whether that was a real not-my-first-language issue or just an accident, Noriko didn't know, but she didn't like it either way. "Nope, I haven't," she simply replied, and turned back to the bag. Hey, if Natasha wasn't coming clean, why should she. She wasn't feeling particularly generous, especially not when Philip was on her mind.
Natasha's face remained placid, though she was certainly intrigued by that information. She did not know what the timeline had been for whatever 'not just training' Noriko and Philip had done or how it lined up with Philip and Clint's relationship, but she filed it away. "I meant you'd trained with someone other than him," she clarified. She took a few hits on her own bag, and then said, "and I was an athlete, in Russia. That's where I learned."
It would seem like some give, and it fit with her cover, as it was.
"That's what I meant, too," Noriko confirmed, and moved back to her kicks. Other leg, this time; weaker leg. "What kind of athlete?"
"Ballerina." That, at least, was not completely untrue. They had studied a great deal of ballet in the Red Room.
"You ballet girls have got nice hooks," Noriko replied evenly.
Natasha smirked. "If you've ever met ballet boys, you know why we do."
"And here I'd have thought you guys minded bruised knuckles," Noriko replied. No amount of skill could stop you from bruising, after all; only a healing factor could.
"We do." She didn't add anything to it, instead just shrugging. Natasha looked at the bag contemplatively, and then stepped away. Philip had been right; she was too obvious with her physical skills. She needed something less....less easily analyzed. Natasha headed over to some of the weight machines.
"So what do you do? Mutation-wise," Noriko asked after she'd finished with her second series of kicks.
Natasha set the leg-press to a surprising weight for her small size. "Electricity," she said, before she began a set. Once she'd finished that first set, she paused. "What about you?" As though she didn't know.
"You saw me come in," Noriko stated, coming a little closer so they wouldn't have to talk across the room. "What do you do with it?"
"Yours seems different than mine," Natasha said, by way of explanation. "I just release it."
"And absorb it?" Noriko asked, beginning to unwrap her hands. "Or do you generate it yourself?"
"Generate. How does your work?" She asked. "What's with the hardware?"
"I absorb it," Noriko replied. "All the time. Hardware's to regulate that, and the release. But I also get to use it for superspeed." She put the wraps back in her pocket, and stepped away to retrieve the gauntlets and put them back on.
Natasha nodded, and filed that away. Superspeed; she couldn't even imagine what she could have done with that in her arsenal.
"Sounds like you're in control, but if you ever need some help, I'm in 101," Noriko went on, once she'd put the gauntlets back on.
"Thanks." Natasha looked over from where she stood, ready for another set.
"See you around," Noriko told her, then lit up again, and was gone.