“Not really. We got somethin’ a little more intense to work out in.”
“Think they’d mind me getting a couple of hours in? I know it’s late and I don’t want to wake anyone up, but I’ve been sitting on my ass for the last ten hours and if I don’t burn off some energy soon I’m gonna lose it.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem, Danger Room’s soundproofed.”
Ranma perked up a bit as they pulled into the sublevel parking garage.
“Danger Room?”
Ranma asked while glancing around at the garage filled with various vehicles.
“Yep. Something old Chucky designed to give us a real workout. Inside can look like damn near anything and it has a whole mess of surprises to keep you on your toes.”
Hopping out of the jeep, he watched Ranma perform a triple somersault over the hood to stand in front of it bouncing on his feet.
Logan nodded to himself as he slipped the jeeps keys into the pocket of his brown bomber jacket. The kid really did need to get rid of some excess energy.
Waving Ranma over, he buzzed the elevator.
“Any other surprises we should know about?”
“Surprises?”
“You know, like allergies or stuff we shouldn’t push cause it makes you uncomfortable.”
Ranma grew still for a moment, before speaking in a voice that sounded like it should be coming from someone at least five years younger “I have a problem with c-c-ca…. feline animals. I can’t be around them and if I can’t escape… I go berserk.”
Logan winced internally, he could see how much it cost him… her to admit that. Pretending everything was fine he replied “I have something similar. Anger sets it off. Chuck’s been helping me gain control over it.”
“Chuck?”
“Professor Charles Xavier. He’s the head honcho around here. It’s kinda like seeing a shrink, but without all the ‘Tell me about your mother’ crap. You tell him the problem. He peaks in your noggin” Wolverine’s knuckles made a dull clanging sound as he tapped his temple “and tells you what you need to do to gain control over it. It ain’t fun and it ain’t easy, but it works.”
Stepping into the elevator Ranma asked cautiously “Do you think he could help me?”
Logan shrugged “If it worked on me, it’ll work on anyone. Just so you know, we don’t have any animals here and the closest thing we have to a cat” Logan noticed the was she flinched at the word and made a note to avoid saying it around her in the future “is a girl named Kitty and she’s at her parents for the weekend.”
A bit of tension seemed to flow out of Ranma as she heard that and began bouncing on the soles of her feet again.
Logan hit the down button, deciding that a workout really was the best thing for her, it was too late to begin any serious testing anyway. Besides, giving her a chance to settle in and meet everyone should improve her mood.
“I will warn you. We have two people here who don’t exactly look like your average Joes. One resembles a blue furred ape, he’s a teacher and the other one looks a bit like a demon, he’s a student here. As you can guess they’re a little sensitive about their looks.”
Ranma shrugged “I know a guy who turns into a Yeti-riding-bull-holding-crane-and-eel. I doubt they’ll get a second glance from me.”
The doors of the elevator opened and Logan lead the bouncing girl down the hall to the control room of the Danger Room.
Tapping a button on the console he switched to English and spoke into the microphone sticking out of the bank of controls.
“Yo Storm, got the new student down in the Danger Room. She wants to work out before hittin’ the hay. I’m heading that way myself and thought I’d introduce you, since you’re our resident night owl and will likely be up when she decides to go down.”
The intercom buzzed to life “Am I to assume you wish me to keep an eye on her and make sure she has a bed for the night?”
A thought buzzed through his head that he was forgetting something, but he shrugged it off. If it was important he would have remembered it and his bed was calling louder by the minute.
Logan grinned and hit the button again “Sure as shootin’ darlin'. Course you can always let her bunk with you if you don’t feel like leaving her by her lonesome her first night in a new place.”
Ranma watched as Logan spoke into the intercom. She wondered briefly if Esperanto was more popular then she thought before shrugging it off as unimportant. What had caught her attention was the whopping large chi signature coming down the hall. It wasn’t the largest she’d seen, but it put most of his opponents to shame. Suppressing a surge of chi envy, she tried to figure out why it felt familiar. She was certain she had never felt this exact one before but it felt a little like… Saffron.
Ranma’s eyes widened as she watched the kami approach. The only thing that kept her calm was the feel of her aura. It felt like… spring rain or maybe a forest just after a gale. Well that and the mischievous smirk she had on as she tiptoed up behind Logan.
Ranma wasn’t effected at all by her long graceful legs or satiny smooth skin. Nope, not her. The fact that her long silver hair framed her face perfectly as it cascaded down a rather impressive bust was equally unimportant to the cursed boy. Honest!
“I’ll take it under advisement.”
Logan jumped, falling backwards to land flat on his ass, as Ororo simply sidestepped his falling body.
“How’d you get so close without me smelling you?”
“Why Logan, are you saying I stink?”
She placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Not touchin’ that one with a ten foot pole. Come on darlin’ give. How did you do it?”
Storm shrugged and casually replied, “You’ve been relying on your sense of smell to prevent people from surprising you lately, so I simply stirred the air so I was always downwind of you.”
Logan grinned as he climbed back to his feet, “Nice trick. Well I’d like to introduce you to our newest member. Ranma Ororo, Ororo Ranma.”
Ororo turned to Ranma and extended her hand “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ranma. I’m Ororo Munroe otherwise known as Storm.”
Ranma shook her hand wearily before turning to Logan and saying “Nani?”
Ranma listened as she rattled something off in that strange language they were speaking. He was trying desperately to keep focused and for once was quite grateful to be in female form. The surge from touching her hand was quite distracting and if she had been a he at the time his reaction would have been quite embarrassing. As it was her nipples hurt.
‘Must be cold in here, but it feels hot.'
Logan turned to Ranma and asked, “Do you know any English?”
She smiled and switched languages to reply “Of course. I speak the American language like a native.”
Ranma frowned as He began laughing so hard he fell over once more.
Storm glanced down at Him, noting that Ranma had yet to relinquish her hand. “What’s so amusing?”
He sputtered out “…like …a …native.”
Storm, still holding Ranma’s hand, did her Spock impression once more “And that’s funny because?”
Logan visibly restrained himself before climbing to his feet once more and replying, “Kid says she speaks the American language like a native, and she does. Specifically Navajo.”
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(Posted Tue, 31 Aug 2004 20:20)
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