Vance and Noriko
Feb. 26th, 2015 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainNoriko invites Vance to join JVX again, and then they make plans for DR hang-outs so she gets to really meet Illyana.
Vance dropped to the floor for a minute to catch his breath. That had been a heck of a DR session - Noriko never pulled any punches, which was fantastic. Still, it had been a lot of fun, he was grinning as he sat there resting for a minute.
"You're hardcore," he told her.
"You can take it," Noriko replied with a hint of a smile, leaning against a wall and mechanically checking her gauntlets.
"So you say," Vance said, chuckling. "Not sure if I'm totally convinced. You must run your team ragged."
"When are you joining and finding out?" Nori asked with raised eyebrows. She hadn't broached the topic again recently, but she hadn't given up on the idea. At all.
His eyebrows rose right back, and he looked at her with mild surprise. "Huh?"
"Yeah," Noriko confirmed, as if he'd just asked an actual question. "By now you know you can handle stressful sims. What's stopping you?"
"I guess I didn't realize I was invited." Seemed like the kind of thing you had to be invited to, right? It did to Vance, anyway. Because you'd want a team that could work together, that complemented one another, that wasn't going to go completely off the rails and have their TK explode.
Okay, maybe that worry was just him.
"I told you I wanted you on," Noriko simply replied. It was Vance. She had known she would probably have to repeat the invitation - even though it wasn't strictly necessary. People could just walk up to them and ask to join.
He smiled a little, looking both honored and pleased. "Cool. I, uh...I think it's a great thing, JVX. I'd...I'd love to be part of it," Vance said earnestly. "But, uh, would the others be okay with me being there? Considering everything?"
Noriko didn't see why they wouldn't be; she could assure them that Vance had it all under control, with how much they'd been training together. And they trusted her - presumably, anyway, or she'd never have ended up de facto leading the team, right? But this was Vance, so, "I'll check in with them to make sure, but I don't think they'd mind." She paused, thinking it over. "Some of them probably don't know what happened." Which was a question in its own way; did he want her to tell them, would he rather do it himself, would he rather keep it quiet.
That tempered his budding excitement a little. Vance frowned a bit, not in upset, but in thought as he looked down at the floor. Finally, he said, "They should know. If we're going to be a real team, there has to be trust. And you can't have that without honesty."
"You want me to tell them?" Noriko asked, watching him closely. They should get out of the DR in case somebody else wanted to use it, but whoever might could wait five freaking minutes.
He thought for a minute. "Yes," Vance decided.
"If it's me, if I'm there in front of them, they might not feel comfortable voicing their concerns. They wouldn't want to hurt my feelings and that kind of thing," he said. "I want them to mean it, and I'd never know for sure if I was the one who asked them."
"I'll talk to them next practice," Noriko nodded. "I'll let you know." But she wasn't worried. "Wanna go grab a bite?"
"Definitely." Vance hopped up from the floor. "Let's do it."
Noriko pushed away from the wall and headed out, resuming the conversation once they were out in the hallway, heading up to the kitchen. "So where do you feel you're at in terms of power control?"
"It's kind of like....I dunno, like how you feel getting your arm out of a cast or something?" He theorized as they walked. Vance tucked his hands into his pockets, as he explained, "It's like I have the muscle memory. I know how doing stuff should feel, and mostly it all works, but I tire out a little more easily and the stuff requiring the finest control or the most power is harder."
"But it's been getting better?" Noriko asked, although she'd been seeing it in their training sessions. "From practice."
Vance nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah, absolutely. Definitely getting better. I just need to keep at it."
"JVX is great for that," she told him. "Sometimes we end up doing stuff we didn't even know we could, in the heat of the moment." The new and improved Danger Room had a lot to do with that.
"Oh, I'm sure," he agreed, a touch of excitement creeping into his voice. "Working with mostly new people, for me, and all that will definitely help me stretch myself."
"Intensive hardcore training," Noriko confirmed with a small smile. What could she say; she loved it.
Vance grinned. "Awesome."
"Wait until you've gotten started," Noriko warned him, but it was easy to tell that she was still amused, when you knew her.
"Let's not count our chickens to early and all that," he cautioned. "But...well...I'm looking forward to it."
"You and me both," Noriko confirmed. She'd only been looking forward to it since she first started thinking about who to include on the team. She walked into the kitchen, glad to find it empty. "What are you in the mood for?" she asked as she headed for the fridge to check its contents.
If he looked a bit moved by the sentiment, he figured she'd get it. "Hmmm...I dunno. We could cook up one of those frozen pizzas?"
"Sure," Noriko agreed, closing the fridge again after failing to find a better option inside. The freezer was clearly the place to be. "Take your pick," she added, gesturing at the array of pizza choices.
"Pepperoni, cheese, or Hawaiian?" Vance asked, as he sorted through the options.
"Not Hawaiian," Noriko replied immediately. She didn't mind those (she never really minded food), but if she could do without them, she would.
He pulled out a pepperoni, and started reading the back. "Works for me."
"You got any allergies?" Noriko asked as she moved to the oven to start it heating up.
Vance blinked. "Huh?"
"You checked the box," Noriko stated, with a nod at the pizza in his hands.
"Oh! Nah, just reading the instructions," he explained.
"Right," Noriko acknowledged. She never bothered, which probably said a lot about how often she ate frozen food. Jean-Paul would have something to say about that, she was sure. "Anyway. You wanna drink?" she asked as she moved to get herself a soda from the fridge, letting him deal with opening the pizza and sticking it into the oven.
"Dr. Pepper?" He asked hopefully. Didn't matter how long he'd been out, he'd missed it something fierce.
Noriko grabbed a couple of cans out of the fridge, then took a seat at the table, sliding his can towards him. "So. Illyana, huh?"
Vance blinked for a second at the topic change, but then nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah. Illyana."
There was a small twitch to Noriko's lips at Vance's slight smile, and she nodded, as if it had just told her everything she wanted to know. "Cool."
He grabbed his can and popped it open as he sat down. "Have you spent any time training with her? It's actually a heck of a workout, with her powers. I was in the DR with her the other day, and it tired me out."
Noriko shook her head. "I barely know her, actually. But we have Cal on the team, and he's got her powers more often than not, so I hear you." And then some. Hand to hand combat against a teleporter was exhausting.
Vance nodded. "She's cool. You should meet her sometime."
"She'd better be cool," Noriko pointed out, but she was teasing him more than anything else, even if her tone didn't let on. Her tone rarely let on. "We can all do a DR session together some day." Obviously, that was the way she would choose to hang out with Vance's girlfriend.
"Double-date in the DR," he chuckled, but his smile was almost sentimental. "Only here. And only you."
"Probably not a double date," Noriko shook her head. Philip was so busy, and they didn't really... do that kind of thing.
"Alright, cool," Vance said, without skipping a beat. "You, me. Yana, and maybe Cal? Even teams?"
A small smile twitched up the corner of her lips. "We're gonna crush you." She assumed Vance and Yana would be one of those teams.
"What'd I say before, about counting chickens before they've hatched?" Vance teased. "We can take you down. I've got faith."
"Faith is a beautiful thing," Noriko wryly replied. They were trained, and used to train together. She really wasn't worried - although honestly, she'd like it if they lost, too. It would be a pleasant surprise, and a learning experience.
"Does seem a little unfair, though, since Cal can just mimic all of us," Vance mused, though he didn't sound overly bothered by it. Just more of a challenge, which couldn't really hurt, right?
"He could, but he won't mimic me," Noriko pointed out, and knocked her right knuckles on the table to draw attention to her gauntlets. It would be a pretty bad idea.
"True. But he could mimic Illyana or me." Vance pointed out.
"He will mimic Illyana and you," Noriko made an educated guess. Cal wasn't the type to let an advantage walk him by. "Like I said." They were gonna crush them.
"...we'll see." He nudged her teasingly with an elbow. "C'mon, give me at least a little credit."
"C'mon, get into the spirit of things," Noriko retorted with a hint of a smile.
Vance laughed, and got up to go check on their pizza. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Vance dropped to the floor for a minute to catch his breath. That had been a heck of a DR session - Noriko never pulled any punches, which was fantastic. Still, it had been a lot of fun, he was grinning as he sat there resting for a minute.
"You're hardcore," he told her.
"You can take it," Noriko replied with a hint of a smile, leaning against a wall and mechanically checking her gauntlets.
"So you say," Vance said, chuckling. "Not sure if I'm totally convinced. You must run your team ragged."
"When are you joining and finding out?" Nori asked with raised eyebrows. She hadn't broached the topic again recently, but she hadn't given up on the idea. At all.
His eyebrows rose right back, and he looked at her with mild surprise. "Huh?"
"Yeah," Noriko confirmed, as if he'd just asked an actual question. "By now you know you can handle stressful sims. What's stopping you?"
"I guess I didn't realize I was invited." Seemed like the kind of thing you had to be invited to, right? It did to Vance, anyway. Because you'd want a team that could work together, that complemented one another, that wasn't going to go completely off the rails and have their TK explode.
Okay, maybe that worry was just him.
"I told you I wanted you on," Noriko simply replied. It was Vance. She had known she would probably have to repeat the invitation - even though it wasn't strictly necessary. People could just walk up to them and ask to join.
He smiled a little, looking both honored and pleased. "Cool. I, uh...I think it's a great thing, JVX. I'd...I'd love to be part of it," Vance said earnestly. "But, uh, would the others be okay with me being there? Considering everything?"
Noriko didn't see why they wouldn't be; she could assure them that Vance had it all under control, with how much they'd been training together. And they trusted her - presumably, anyway, or she'd never have ended up de facto leading the team, right? But this was Vance, so, "I'll check in with them to make sure, but I don't think they'd mind." She paused, thinking it over. "Some of them probably don't know what happened." Which was a question in its own way; did he want her to tell them, would he rather do it himself, would he rather keep it quiet.
That tempered his budding excitement a little. Vance frowned a bit, not in upset, but in thought as he looked down at the floor. Finally, he said, "They should know. If we're going to be a real team, there has to be trust. And you can't have that without honesty."
"You want me to tell them?" Noriko asked, watching him closely. They should get out of the DR in case somebody else wanted to use it, but whoever might could wait five freaking minutes.
He thought for a minute. "Yes," Vance decided.
"If it's me, if I'm there in front of them, they might not feel comfortable voicing their concerns. They wouldn't want to hurt my feelings and that kind of thing," he said. "I want them to mean it, and I'd never know for sure if I was the one who asked them."
"I'll talk to them next practice," Noriko nodded. "I'll let you know." But she wasn't worried. "Wanna go grab a bite?"
"Definitely." Vance hopped up from the floor. "Let's do it."
Noriko pushed away from the wall and headed out, resuming the conversation once they were out in the hallway, heading up to the kitchen. "So where do you feel you're at in terms of power control?"
"It's kind of like....I dunno, like how you feel getting your arm out of a cast or something?" He theorized as they walked. Vance tucked his hands into his pockets, as he explained, "It's like I have the muscle memory. I know how doing stuff should feel, and mostly it all works, but I tire out a little more easily and the stuff requiring the finest control or the most power is harder."
"But it's been getting better?" Noriko asked, although she'd been seeing it in their training sessions. "From practice."
Vance nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah, absolutely. Definitely getting better. I just need to keep at it."
"JVX is great for that," she told him. "Sometimes we end up doing stuff we didn't even know we could, in the heat of the moment." The new and improved Danger Room had a lot to do with that.
"Oh, I'm sure," he agreed, a touch of excitement creeping into his voice. "Working with mostly new people, for me, and all that will definitely help me stretch myself."
"Intensive hardcore training," Noriko confirmed with a small smile. What could she say; she loved it.
Vance grinned. "Awesome."
"Wait until you've gotten started," Noriko warned him, but it was easy to tell that she was still amused, when you knew her.
"Let's not count our chickens to early and all that," he cautioned. "But...well...I'm looking forward to it."
"You and me both," Noriko confirmed. She'd only been looking forward to it since she first started thinking about who to include on the team. She walked into the kitchen, glad to find it empty. "What are you in the mood for?" she asked as she headed for the fridge to check its contents.
If he looked a bit moved by the sentiment, he figured she'd get it. "Hmmm...I dunno. We could cook up one of those frozen pizzas?"
"Sure," Noriko agreed, closing the fridge again after failing to find a better option inside. The freezer was clearly the place to be. "Take your pick," she added, gesturing at the array of pizza choices.
"Pepperoni, cheese, or Hawaiian?" Vance asked, as he sorted through the options.
"Not Hawaiian," Noriko replied immediately. She didn't mind those (she never really minded food), but if she could do without them, she would.
He pulled out a pepperoni, and started reading the back. "Works for me."
"You got any allergies?" Noriko asked as she moved to the oven to start it heating up.
Vance blinked. "Huh?"
"You checked the box," Noriko stated, with a nod at the pizza in his hands.
"Oh! Nah, just reading the instructions," he explained.
"Right," Noriko acknowledged. She never bothered, which probably said a lot about how often she ate frozen food. Jean-Paul would have something to say about that, she was sure. "Anyway. You wanna drink?" she asked as she moved to get herself a soda from the fridge, letting him deal with opening the pizza and sticking it into the oven.
"Dr. Pepper?" He asked hopefully. Didn't matter how long he'd been out, he'd missed it something fierce.
Noriko grabbed a couple of cans out of the fridge, then took a seat at the table, sliding his can towards him. "So. Illyana, huh?"
Vance blinked for a second at the topic change, but then nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah. Illyana."
There was a small twitch to Noriko's lips at Vance's slight smile, and she nodded, as if it had just told her everything she wanted to know. "Cool."
He grabbed his can and popped it open as he sat down. "Have you spent any time training with her? It's actually a heck of a workout, with her powers. I was in the DR with her the other day, and it tired me out."
Noriko shook her head. "I barely know her, actually. But we have Cal on the team, and he's got her powers more often than not, so I hear you." And then some. Hand to hand combat against a teleporter was exhausting.
Vance nodded. "She's cool. You should meet her sometime."
"She'd better be cool," Noriko pointed out, but she was teasing him more than anything else, even if her tone didn't let on. Her tone rarely let on. "We can all do a DR session together some day." Obviously, that was the way she would choose to hang out with Vance's girlfriend.
"Double-date in the DR," he chuckled, but his smile was almost sentimental. "Only here. And only you."
"Probably not a double date," Noriko shook her head. Philip was so busy, and they didn't really... do that kind of thing.
"Alright, cool," Vance said, without skipping a beat. "You, me. Yana, and maybe Cal? Even teams?"
A small smile twitched up the corner of her lips. "We're gonna crush you." She assumed Vance and Yana would be one of those teams.
"What'd I say before, about counting chickens before they've hatched?" Vance teased. "We can take you down. I've got faith."
"Faith is a beautiful thing," Noriko wryly replied. They were trained, and used to train together. She really wasn't worried - although honestly, she'd like it if they lost, too. It would be a pleasant surprise, and a learning experience.
"Does seem a little unfair, though, since Cal can just mimic all of us," Vance mused, though he didn't sound overly bothered by it. Just more of a challenge, which couldn't really hurt, right?
"He could, but he won't mimic me," Noriko pointed out, and knocked her right knuckles on the table to draw attention to her gauntlets. It would be a pretty bad idea.
"True. But he could mimic Illyana or me." Vance pointed out.
"He will mimic Illyana and you," Noriko made an educated guess. Cal wasn't the type to let an advantage walk him by. "Like I said." They were gonna crush them.
"...we'll see." He nudged her teasingly with an elbow. "C'mon, give me at least a little credit."
"C'mon, get into the spirit of things," Noriko retorted with a hint of a smile.
Vance laughed, and got up to go check on their pizza. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
