Go with the flow [open]

[mercury]

Most think of Cessily as being a little goofy, a little laid back, somewhat shy. But it rarely crosses anyone's mind that there are deeper things to her. Like the fact that there is an extreme loneliness that knaws at her metallic insides. Or that she's probably one of the most insecure girls at the academy. She doesn't have money, and even if she came from money she wouldn't have money. So, she does a lot of thrift shopping, and has a few hand-me-downs. But she makes them her own.

All of that is neither here nor there. Another aspect of Cessily that people know, is her ability to utilize her powers in a fight, and that takes training. Besides it was a good thing to help focus her mind or relieve frustration when dancing or gymnastics just doesn't cut it. So, right now, the music was blaring at an ear splitting level and all that could really be heard was the driving beat of the drums and possible lyrics, or someone dying in agony. It was the only time she'd ever listen to music like this so she wasn't sure.

As the silvery skinned girl started to get into the training routine, her body legitimately flowed from one punch to the next. From one kick to the next. When needed a blade or sheild would form. Parts of her would liquify to flow better, or to dodge an imaginary blow. She was becoming one with her powers, making them as close to second nature as she possibly could. Unfortunately, it's not very effective when one is only imagining the epic battle in one's mind.

[Echo]

Maya felt it was that time. Her muscles wanted to do something more than prance around in a leotard or go for a run. She needed to hit something, preferably a person, but there wasn't anyone around she could spar with. Alex was out doing whatever it was he did and everyone never wanted to spar with her. Maybe it was because she could copy their exact moves and use it on them. No one liked that.

So in her black uniform of a halter tank and leather pants. They were both surprisingly easy to move in and the combat boots were more than familiar to her. Maya had done some vigilante work when she was in NYC. It was hard not to feel the need to stick up for some homeless guy or get in the middle of a gang rape. Of course she owned the guys that she went up against. That was until they pulled a gun on her, then she just wiped the ground with them and got a new toy. It was a win win- for her at least.

However when Maya opened the door to the training room she saw a silver skinned woman punching and kicking like a pro. Maybe not the best, but Maya could learn a few things from her and vice versa. The woman felt a familiar pounding against her chest, it was the base of a loud speaker and what would be angry or angsty music. Maya couldn't put her finger on it.

"Nice form." Maya tried to shout.

[mercury]

The music wasn't really anything that was popular. It was just something she found on some random site and liked it. It was good for this kind of thing. Honestly, she couldn't even guarantee there was singing involved. All she had wanted was the bass the song had. She bobbed, and weaved, taking on the invisible opponent. Had she been able to, she would have been sweating. Her long red hair was pulled up into a pony tail, and swinging back and forth. Her clothes were a black sports bra, shorts, socks and high tips. She had fingerless gloves over her hands.

Cessi, turned when she heard the yelling of 'nice form'. Her brow quirked as she looked over at the woman that entered. Ah, that would explain it. Maya Lopez, a.k.a Echo, a.k.a. the girl that could kick her ass if she were normal. "Hey. Thanks." She grabbed the remote and turned the music down. 30 seconds to Mars was the next on the list, so she didn't turn it off completely. It was the one time she liked Jared Leto.

Silver eyes studied the woman who was about her age, odd how she became an instructor and Cessily was still a student. But then Cessi didn't know what she wanted to do with her life at the moment, and she as still young enough to be a college aged student. So, it all worked out.

[Echo]

Maya watched as Mercury turned to her to speak to her. As a woman who appreciated the finer art of beating the shit out of someone, Maya shared that common ground with Cessi. Mercury was good at what she was doing, the basics and all. However she needed to put in more time and practice to get to the level where Maya was. Some of the students thought that Maya was cheating with her powers. Her ability to replicate kinetic movement was her mutant ability, but that didn't mean that she just went off of that. Her body needed to be strong enough, fast enough to complete those fancy moves. It wasn't as simple as others thought it was.

"You are by far the most dedicated to the basics of training. Mostly everyone else wants to learn how to control their powers." she mused. It was true, most of the students at the Academy had more abilities than Echo. She was - lets say - lower on the food chain than most of the others. However her less phenomenal powers still were an asset to the Hellions and herself. She might not be able to run through a wall, but there were other mutants for that.

[mercury]

The red head tilted her head and looked over at Echo. "Part of my training is controlling my powers. Since my powers are most effective in combat, along with some recon, it's best to do both at once. If I can move from weapon to weapon, defense to defense, I'll be a better fighter." She shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of water that she didn't need. Mercury knew she needed to get quicker with the shifting from one thing to another, and that's one of the things she was working on.

"So, what brings you here?" There were times that she wasn't sure how she felt about the other woman. Cessily sometimes thought that Maya acted better than her, but then truth be told she felt that way about a lot of other people. No one, not even Julian, really knew how insecure and lonely Cessily was and she planned on keeping it that way.

[Echo]

Echo nodded, of course it was easier to use Mercury's powers in combat. Hell if Maya could make a sword or a golf club out of her hand; she'd choose the sword. There were practical uses for her ability, but it was more fun to use them in a more constructive way.

"Right, that would make sense. " she said, not feeling entirely comfortably around her fellow Hellion. Cessily was a nice girl, but sometimes Maya thought she was unemotional and cold towards others. Even more so that Echo. Maybe it was that Maya was just a little bit older than her, but considered a teacher?

"Just trying to get some practice in. Unlucky for me, I don't have armored skin. How long have you been down here?" she grinned.

[mercury]

Cessily nodded when Maya understood. She moved some loose strands of hair out of her face. Always, she's intimidated by the 'fleshies' as she called them. Well she got the term from the Casper movie, it was what the ghosts called the humans. "Gotta make myself useful, you know." She offered a bit of a smile, hell it was easier for her to make conversation with boys. As long as it stayed friendly, once the flirting started she turned into a moron, and shied away from it.

The silvery girl blinked, and she knew the other girl wasn't making fun of her, but still it stung a bit. Like with everything else, she smiled and winked. Didn't let it show that it bothered her. "It does come in handy. But you've got some wicked skills. I've beend down here about half an hour or so. I can hand it over if you want some private time."

[Echo]

Gotta make myself useful was what Echo saw from her mouth movements. Reading lips was a skill that Maya had know ever since she was little. It was easier now with her powers to get become almost infallible when conversing. Nothing put a damper on a conversation when she would say 'can you please slow down? I can't read your lips'.

"Thanks for that Cessily." she said, wondering if the girl across from her disliked her. Echo put her hand up and shook her head as if to say 'no'. Maya did like to be alone when practicing, but liked group training as well. It was always amusing to practice with Jamie because he'd have five guys punching and kicking at her at the same time. Of course she never seriously injured her friend.

"No, no. Its okay you can stay here, if you wanted. I was just going to work on some new kicks I saw." she explained while tying her long black hair up into a messy bun.

[mercury]

"Not a problem. It's true." Cessily wasn't lying, Echo's ability and how well she's learned to control and utilize it was quite impressive. Add to the fact that the woman was quite pretty and pretty damn smart, well it was intimidating. It wasn't that she didn't like Maya, she was just, well insecure around her. However, she does her best not to show it.

The red head just shrugged and moved out of the way. "Go for it. I don't mind watching. Who knows, maybe I could I learn a few things." Anything to help her become more effective would be a good thing. She discovered a long time ago that, in her current and permanent condition, she made a damn good weapon. She might as well capitalize on that.

[Echo]

Well Maya had been itching to try the various kicks on youtube video. The guy in the film was a pansy in her mind, but he did have something to offer. The jumping roundhouses were something she never really knew. Sure she could do a normal one, but never tried to add that much height. She knew she could do it, now that he visualized it- it was just putting it to use. Her muscles already knew what they needed to do, but it was the mental aspect of doing it that sometimes made her hesitant.

"Yeah so not sure exactly what this is called, but I figured it would help incase I'm up against some giant." she shrugged. Echo pulled a standing dummy away from the wall and kicked the middle of it with her standard roundhouse. It made a dull thud on her leg before she retracted it back to the ground. Maya did this twice more before lunging into the hair and kicking the dummy square in the head. A rush of adrenaline washed over her as she completed it perfectly.

[mercury]

Cessily sat on the bench and leaned against the wall to watch. Her head tilted as she sipped the water. "Doesn't matter what it's called as long as it's effective. I don't know what the technical name for half of the weapons. No clue what they are called, but they are effective. It's all I really care about." She nodded her red head and crossed her legs.

There weren't many people that Cessily sparred with, out of fear of hurting them. That was mainly them hitting her, not even her hitting them. Though she does tend to go a bit liquidy on contact so they aren't injured too badly. "So, what's up?"

[Echo]

Maya let her heart simmer back down for a second. She always loved learning a new move. Once she knew it, it was forever in her arsenal- just waiting to be used on some bad guys. Most of the opponents who challenge her don't expect what they get from her. Being without a heavy hitting power, she had to make up for it in training. Maya could have been on a special black ops team for any one of the government's agencies. However she didn't think the government and her mixed very well.

"Not much. Just taught a few five year olds first and second position today. You're into ballet right?'' she asked while kicking the dummy's head again.

[mercury]

Cessily rocked the foot that was crossed over her other leg in time with a song in her head. At Echo's question she looked up at her and nodded. "Yeah. Ballet, hip hop, cheer leading and gymnastics. I like the hip hop dancing, not necessarily all the music. I'm still debating on what I want to train for. That's why I'm still a student." She really had no clue what she wanted to do with her life. It was even harder since her mutant ability had a visible manifestation. She'd figure it out eventually, but something told her she'd probably never leave the academy. If she did, it would be a very lonely existence.

[Echo]

"Right, I've always been more partial to ballet, just because its what I've been doing forever. But everyone says that I'd be good at hip hop too." Maya said. Ballet was her true love, but she did like to dance around for fun. She'd seen Step Up and thought they had some creative moves - after she mastered them all.

"You know I teach dance here. If you want you could sign up. Its basically practice space and some suggestions." she added.

[mercury]

"When I looked normal, I'd go an eighteen and younger club with my friends. We'd get some really good moves for the cheerleading squad. Well and have a lot of fun. Ballet is great for balance and when you just want to flow and relax. Hip hop is more for when you really want to get going." Cessily used hip hop to get out her aggressions when she didn't want to shadow box, so to speak. Ballet was when she wanted to clear her head, and gymnastics was when she was frustrated.

At the suggestion of joining Maya's dance class, Cessily nodded. "I might. It could be fun." She nodded and smiled at the other woman.