Training Shade

[Shade]

Shade let him support her like that. Despite the training of the last weeks and her body becoming more toned and flexible, she was still nowhere near his physical shape of course and didn´t feel like a gymnast performance was in her range of abilities.
That way, too, the costume bent nicely, allowing her flexibility that she would not have expected, more than regular street clothes.

[Gambit]

"Well, it seems that you can take it for a test-drive," the master concluded, watching them. "Then bring it back, I'll have it colored."

"Yah, I'll bring it back t'night," Gambit replied.

[Shade]

Straightening up, Shade couldn´t suppress an excited grin. "Great, let´s go," she said, shooting him a beam before turning to get her clothes from the changing booth, feeling like a giddy kid who had just been allowed to go outside and test her new toy.

[Gambit]

Gambit nodded at her and, when she was out of earshot, told the master, "I'll pay de other half after I'm done wit' de test-drive, as agreed."

The master just nodded; it was a familiar procedure but it was nice to hear it confirmed.

[Shade]

Shade returned in no time. She hadn´t gotten changed again, she had merely grabbed her jeans and shirt from the booth. Since they were likely to drive to the scrap yard or a similar place now anyways, tehre was no point in changing.

[Gambit]

* * *

Gambit brought her not to the scrapyard but, after a brief phone call, to a place he, too, used as a training ground sometimes. It was an abandoned industrial facility, partially redesigned as a location for filming, parkour or industrial rope access training ground, and he had made sure it would be available that day - and empty.

Basically, from the outside, it looked like a long-forgotten factory, surrounded by a high wooden fence. Gambit didn't bother about the door. After they left the car, he pulled himself up onto the fence and helped Shade over as well.

[Shade]

Shade grabbed his hand and pulled herself up, lacking Gambit´s agility of course but managing to get over the fence looking more or less dignified. The place looked abandoned. Run down. Some smashed windows, a long overdue paintjob, some scrap in the yard. And probably plenty of dust, cobwebs and old, cluttered furniture inside. Or old machines. She chuckled, the scenery reminding her of that night some time ago. Similar place, less fun.

"Huh." she said as she started to walk towards it, hands on her hips. "Another game of ´catch Shadey´? I´ll make it harder for you this time. No freezing cold, no exhaustion, no me being scared."

[Gambit]

"Well, Remy's game," Gambit shrugged, hopping off the fence. "Don' get over-enthusiastic about it, though, it's just a test-drive, not a ruin-your-costume party, so if ya can at least avoid broken glass, stickin'-out wires et cetera, dat'd be good."

[Shade]

"I had a building pseudo collapse over me last time i wore a costume and it didn´t get a scratch," Shade said, studying her nails in mock brazenness. "and I usually avoid broken glass and the like anyways if I can help it."

[Gambit]

"Suits me fine," Gambit shrugged. "So, I'll give ya a twenty-second headstart. Wanna get some equipment first or you'll jus' run an' hide?"

[Shade]

"No equipment," Shade said. "I just wanna get used to the costume yet." It wasn´t like the thing was uncomfortable to wear, quite the contrary, it was far more comfortable than she would have expected, but that was a good reason to try it. To see whether that would make her faster, more flexible.

She gave him a wink and was off, vanishing immediately as she started to run towards the building. There was an open doorway and she ran through it, assessing the sorroundings. Dust, but not that much, not enough to leave a trail of footsteps. She decided to run straight ahead, no to the right where there was a staircase or to the left where there was a corridor.

[Gambit]

"Ya know," Gambit called after her, "I'd rather you were visible, dis ain't a trainin' session!"

However, he took off after her, following the sound. He had been wearing his costume since the moment they had gone to pick up hers, so he was prepared, and all he needed now was to get his faithful bo staff extended and ready, which he did.

[Shade]

No powers? Shade wondered whether it had been a good idea to opt out of any additional equipment. She could hear him behind her, still quite a way off but for now followed the suggestion and let her powers slip, running on before turning to her left sharply and then again. In the time since they had started training, her run had become more powerful and faster, she got exhausted less easily.

[Gambit]

Gambit's plan was to have her run through a series of obstacles, but with him chasing her so that she'd forget about the costume for a while and would not care about it.

He ran after her, recalling the details of the place. There were several entrances to the underground level but those were usually closed when not used, and mostly the whole structure was three to four floors tall, so he figured Shade would eventually, unless she wanted to run around the ground floor and get stuck there at some point, choose one of the stairways or ladders that lead upwards.

[Shade]

As far as Shade could tell, Gambit was not picking up, which probably meant that he was not hurrying for now but merely tracking her. Not racing to catch her which surely woudn´t have been the sense behind this anyways. Still, she knew from the experience of their training that whether or not he was intend on catching her as quickly as possible, he was always a challenging opponent and so she kept her pace, got a little faster as she ran and assessed the area around her, finding a staircase in some distance. She tossed a glance across her shoulder and found that he was not in sight yet, so she ran up the stairs hoping he wouldn´t catch sight of her yet.