Xaviers!

Tereza's right fist thuds into the bag, followed closely by a thwack for her knee. She crosses with her left fist, slamming the bag as it tries to swing in that direction. The thuds continue in rapid cadence, her breath beginning to fog as the abrasions she develops on her knuckles crust over with a thin layer of ice. The monitor watch on her wrist beeps and she stops the routine, checking the watch for a moment even though it's the med center that cares about its data. She flexes her fingers, the ice beginning to fade away as the abrasions heal. She makes a thoughtful noise and begins pacing in a small circle as she waits to see if the monitor wants her to continue.

((Open))

Leo the completely unfamiliar human, needing to hit something, made a beeline to the next bag and punched it as hard as his normal teenage muscles would allow.

"God damn it!"

Unfortunately it was too much for his normal teenage hand, which he immediately cradled in his other hand.

Tereza looks over at the outburst, "You might want to tape up before you do that. There's some gloves too, I think." She's wearing neither of those things.

"Not what I'm yellin' about, but yeah... I should do that," he said, going to get the tape. Well, the Boston accent is certainly a big clue to who the boy is.

She moves over with him, holding out her hand for the tape. "Hold out your hands, it's easier to have someone else do it. Leo, right?"

Holding out his hands, he said, "Yeah. How'd you... right, not many Boston gingers around here."

She taps her ear before going to begin taping up his hands, "Yeah. The voice, not many that sound like that here. So if you weren't yelling about hurting your hand, what were you yelling about?"

"I just started seeing someone and I'm apparently already fuckin' it up."

"Everybody does that, but it doesn't make it feel any better," she says, pressing down some of the tape. "Want to talk about it?"

"Well, I guess it might help. Okay, so me and Ainsley were doin' our first real couple thing since I came out during that little revolt... just watching a movie together all snuggly... and I fall asleep. I have a nightmare about going all beastly again and when I open my eyes he writes down that he thought they looked weird for a second. I say he's imaginin' things... because I don't even have a mutation anymore... and he storms off all pissed off."

"Seriously, what else could I think?"

She winces, "Telling your significant other that they're imagining things, especially if it's something they feel is important. And I would imagine adjusting to not having a mutation is also stressful for you."

"Not havin' a mutation is a friggin' dream come true. Is wanting to hold on to that feeling so bad?"

"I suppose not," she says, checking her work. She moves to hold the bag for him. "I can understand not everyone taking pride in them. I don't agree mind you, but I understand."

Leo punched the bag a few times and nodded, " Much better."

"So... how bad did I mess up by not listening to him?"

"That partially depends on what you do next. But it's a pretty solid screw up." Tereza doesn't seem to have any issues bracing against the bag.

"I should go tell him I'm a stubborn idiot as soon as I can then," he said, delivering a series of non-angsty punches, "I just... hope he's wrong. It's not even that I don't want to be a mutant. My original powers would be fine... but as much as I was starting to accept it, I just don't want to be trapped in that body again."

"It was certainly unique," Tereza says, "kind of spectacular in its own way."

"I guess. It did make me more of a force to be reckoned with. Zandra can attest to that."

"Sometimes that's what you want. But it's not a life for everyone. Who's your significant other?"

"Ainsley," he smiled warmly, "I've never felt this strongly about anyone before."

She makes a thoughtful noise as she adjusts her grip on the bag, "So I have a question, you said he was writing stuff down to you. Could he talk to you before you lost your mutation?"

"His ability to talk to animals worked on me, yeah. It's the one of the few things I really miss about bein' that way."

"Well, if you miss it, imagine how much he misses it. That whole thing cut me off from my girlfriend's telepathy and I... didn't take it well."

Leo sighed, "I know he misses it. When I told him I didn't want my powers back, I could see he was hurt. But what can I do? Become that again for a relationship that... might not last?"

"Only you can decide who you need to be," she says, "But a word of friendly advice? If you think about the longevity of your relationships in those terms, you'll sabotage it yourself without even realizing you're doing it. And then you'll have to hope that your significant other is good enough and patient enough to see through your bullshit and help you see your bullshit too. I'm lucky both my girlfriends are that patient."

"He's been more than patient with my bullshit. Until now anyway. I just... hope I don't drive him away like I have everyone else."

"Well, the first step to fixing that is to acknowledge your bullshit," she says, the monitor on her arm beeping. "Okay, my turn," she says, stepping over to one of the heavier bags and pounding into again *hard*.

"That's a tall order. There's so much of it I don't even know where to start."

"Well, no one expects you to fix it all at once and those who do aren't worth shit," she says, punctuating the statement with a knee to the bag. "You pick the first thing you want to change and you work on that."

"Sometimes it feels like I need to change everything. But really I just want to be the kind of person Ainsley deserves. Someone who doesn't shut him out when he's scared, for instance."

"And the flip side, don't shut him out when you're scared," she guesses.

"Right... because that's exactly what I did. The scorpion thing."

Her breath starts to fog again as she slams the bag a few more times and the monitor beeps. She stops, "Don't get me wrong, being vulnerable is fucking scary, but the alternative is kinda lonely."

"I don't want to be lonely again, no matter what my more fearful instincts say."

"Extra incentive to figure it out then. Just remember, nobody's perfect, no matter what any part of your mind thinks about them."

"Right, don't canonize the boyfriend," he nodded.

"God that still feels weird to say. Boyfriend. Never saw that coming."

"Sometimes you know, sometimes you have to find out," Tereza says. "And sometimes some things surprise you."

"I mean, in retrospect I think part of me knew. It just wasn't until I thought I was losin' myself that I looked inward enough to listen to what that part was sayin'."

"And meeting the right guy, who saw through both that beastly shape and my bullshit."

"Hindsight is 20/20 sometimes," she chuckles.

He scratched an itch on his stomach, but stopped when he hit the tape holding his bandage on.

"Thanks for hearin' me out. If you ever need the same, I'm a... well, maybe not such a good listener, but I'll do my best," he chuckled.