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[notrosecolored]

Call, text, action all go here

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[notrosecolored]

That kind of up-close armed combat is really more Carver's forte.

[ Well! It is. ]

[hippie_ninja]

[He shrugs.] I know how to do it already. I want to learn something new.

[notrosecolored]

Then leave the knife out. Do you want to learn how to use a staff?

[hippie_ninja]

[Heh] I...already know that one, too.

I don't know how to fight someone with powers.

[notrosecolored]

Who with powers are you planning to fight?

[hippie_ninja]

[He smiles wryly] I don't plan my fights. I avoid them. But they do happen.

[notrosecolored]

Okay, but if you're fighting with anyone here who has powers, and those powers aren't 'magic', then I want you to lose.

[ Is he being a smart ass now on purpose? Yes. Not entirely lying, but still. ]

[hippie_ninja]

[He laughs] Does that mean everyone with powers is on our side? And magicians aren't?

[notrosecolored]

It means that the people with powers are, so far, my people. I don't know most of the magic users, so they're still unknowns.

[ So... yes, basically that is correct. ]

[hippie_ninja]

Well, hand to hand fighting I'm comfortable with. Carver's from the same place I am; whatever he knows, I probably know. I only have a knife right now, but I can use anything I can get my hands on. And probably have.

[So the personal training he needs is up to Scott.]

[notrosecolored]

Then let's see what I can do that will push you. We can start at the gym and if it looks like it's going to take more intense work, we'll take it to the gym to avoid property damage.

...You are remarkably more sane than Carver.

[hippie_ninja]

[He knows. And there is real sympathy in the way he frowns.]

He's been through a lot. He's lost all of his people. His family. [He looks up at Scott] I was lucky. I never had one to lose. It was easier for me to adapt when the world ended.

[notrosecolored]

I'm not sure if that's a remarkable show of compassion, depreciation, or both.

[ He likes Carver fine, but he's pretty sure of...

Nothing with this, actually. ]

Why didn't you have family?

[hippie_ninja]

[There is the smallest hesitation]

I aged out of the foster system. Years ago, obviously. Family just isn't something I tried to have.

[notrosecolored]

What did you do between aging out and the world ending?

[ Hesitation would mean backing off is polite, but Scott's starting to think this guy is going to stick around.

So he wants to know more.]

[hippie_ninja]

I worked. Not steadily. I stole things, I had boyfriends, I moved around.

[notrosecolored]

[ He lifts his eyebrows a little like something just made sense to him. ]

And then the world ended and you found a specific purpose.

[hippie_ninja]

[softly] yeah.

For a while, anyway. I don't think I was doing much good when I died.

[notrosecolored]

[ Maybe it's weird, but this makes him trust Paul more. Makes him less cautious, anyway. Because he at least makes more sense to Scott - if he's reading this right, really. ]

I wasn't doing much good just before I got here, either.

[hippie_ninja]

Whatever put you in prison must have made some kind of impact though, right?

[notrosecolored]

[ It takes him a second, but ]

Yeah. Though I didn't realize that when I went in, or for a while after. The impact was what made me willing to get out. ...Part of what made me willing.

[hippie_ninja]

[And instead Scott ended up here.]

What was it? The impact?

[notrosecolored]

[ There's a period of silence while Scott figures out how to best condense this into the fewest words possible.

Because the thought of explaining the whole thing, verbally, just makes him tired. He's pretty sure he'd run out of energy to do it halfway through if he tried.

Right. Skip to the end, and answer exactly the question. It really isn't even avoidance it's just. so. much. ]

A lot of new mutants.

[hippie_ninja]

A good reason to get out.

[If Scott wanted him to have the full context, he figures it would have been offered. Just like he's pretty sure without having been there, he can't really grasp the situation, just like Scott can't fully understand what Jesus has been through. He takes the answer as given.

Your people are always a good reason to keep going.]

[notrosecolored]

I was still pretty willing to leave it to a friend. Until another friend got killed.

When all else fails: Get pissed off.