Releasing some tension ((open))

[Shade]

((takes part after: New York City // Donnie´s place))

The taxi had taken Shade to the mansion and she had taken what little stuff there was in her bag into her dorm. There wasn´t much she had had to leave behind when Gambit and her had bolted from the apartment, just a few scattered shirts and a pair of jeans or two. And the dress she had bought on her birthday. It meant she was probably in for some shopping sooner or later, but she didn´t feel in the mood for that now.

She had not stayed in her dorm for long, finding that the taxi drive had helped to get her feet back on the ground, but knowing that she was still in dire need for something physical to release the tension that had been built up throughout the chase. She caught herself thinking that she had been lucky indeed, getting out of everything with not even a scratch whereas Gambit´s arm and side had to be a true pain even though he had not let it show - his reactions after they had arrived at the house of that friend of his had been telling enough in that respect.

She decided quickly and changed into something more comfortable after she had taken a shower. Wearing more comfortable trousers and a tank top she made her way to the gym and found the punching bag she had been looking for - and after some rummaging around she found a pair of matching gloves. Putting them on, she chuckled inwardly, finding it kind of ironic that it wasn´t the first time she used boxing for stress release. Delivering a few fierce punches against the bag she noted with half a smirk that it was a pity this time there would be no fighting back.

[The Man]

::The Professor usually had little reason to be in the gymnasium, considering his disability. He had his own set of exercises to keep his upperbody in shape, but those could be conducted in his quarters, apart from the others. He had entered the gymnasium only to do an inventory of the equipment. Upon entering, he felt a degree of tension from Shade, and saw a flurry of punches at the punching bag. He turned from where he was, and set the clipboard on his lap.:: "Is something the matter?"

[Shade]

Shade´s boxing was of course nowhere near professional, but it helped to get the anxiety that had started to wind her up off her chest and that was all she had been looking for. Her punches were hard and more coordinated than they would have been had she been fighting against someone, but she had concentrated on it and the world beyond that had become less important for a moment, so with the slight frenzy she had worked herself into and her being distracted, she had not expected someone to adress her and thus turned her head rather quickly trying to locate the voice.

She had not seen the Professor too often these days so the smile that appeared on her face was an honest one as she wiped a stray strand of her hair from her face. There was, of course, no way of telling him what the matter was. Not because she didn´t trust him, hell no, he was one of the people she did really trust, but because this concerned stuff that she knew Gambit didn´t want to be spread and she lived by the philosophy that the only ones allowed to share a secret were those it belonged to.
"I was just feeling ... up to some boxing." she said, panting slightly. It wasn´t really a reply and the fact that he asked told her enough about the fact that she had looked just like the reason she had come for here.

[The Man]

::That was hardly a full answer, but the Professor could respect her need for privacy, and thus did not press further.:: "I would say the punching bag is not feeling quite so well now."

[Shade]

"Occupational hazard of being a punching bag." Shade said, her smile turning into a grin. "a life one is more fun, but oh well." Her tension wasn´t quite done but when she let go of her target she could feel that the adrenaline had finally come to some use and she was feeling better already.

[The Man]

"I would offer to spar, but I fear that those days have long passed," ::The Professor replied, and there was no mourning for the past, as there would be if he were on his own. He was able to reign those feelings and regrets in when speaking to one of the students or the faculty.::

[Shade]

"That would have been great." she said even though she doubted that her ´fighting style´ - and if could not even be called one - was anything that could be used to decently spar. "even though I sure wouldn´t have been a match."

[The Man]

"You are doing fine," ::The Professor conceded that her movements were unorthodox, but there was strategy even in chaos.:: "Besides, I am hardly a martial arts expert."

[Shade]

"That makes two of us then." Shade commented, nonchalantly using her teeth to losen up one of the gloves to be able to pull it off before she walked over to the Professor. Her thoughts had been whirling in some meaningless chaos while boxing and were settling gradually when she suppressed images of earlier in the morning. She knew the Professor would not be prying on them but some of the pictures were not nice to linger on so she stored them away. "I guess my understanding of martial arts is limited to how-to-best-punch-a-boy´s-nose or something."

[The Man]

::The Professor's knowledge was far more extensive than that, but he was hardly a black belt in the forms he knew. An image appeared, and then just as quickly disappeared; he focused on his mental shields, deliberately ignoring her surface thoughts to afford her privacy.:: "I can honestly say I was never in a position in school to punch another boy in the nose."

[Shade]

Shade chuckled. "Seriously?" she asked. "not even back when you were a kid?"

[The Man]

"Not even then," ::The Professor confirmed. He had never been in a physical fight until he had met Erik, and that was another matter entirely.::

[Shade]

"Maybe the boys you were friends with were merely more well behaved." Shade said with a smile. It was a comment that spoke nothing of gropey teenagers, but that was rather a comment connected to a childhood she had always loved and she liked looking back on: as a child she had often preferred the company of boys to that of partly all too girly girls

[The Man]

::That was for the most part true; there had been different standards when he had been a child, and that had been over five decades past. Furthermore, he had always been an exceptionally well-behaved child, and would never have met violence with violence. His life's path had been set for him early.:: "Quite likely, and we were content to get out our energy playing rugby."

[Shade]

Shade had never been a violent person, but ruffles now an then had not been too much out of the ordinary even though these ruffles had been playful for the most part, only very seldomly surpassing that level, also because most boys had held an I-don´t-fight with-girls-attitude. That attitude had changed at some point. It was funny, she thought, what easy structures child friendships followed.

"I guess everyone needs that now and then." she said. "getting off energy I mean."