10/8 Instance: Leading Lizard

[Starfish]

Timeline: Current.


Lorna: The program came to an end once Mel and the generated X-men following her lead reached the rendering of Essex's old lab and it all faded away into the blank Danger Room, Lorna coming down from the observation hub. "Well done, Mel." She had to applaud the girl's performance, smiling as she felt much better about her decision.

Melati: "Expected anything less, teach," Melati asked in response, allowing herself a moment of looking exquisitely smug. "Actually, was just following your tips - that's all," she added, smiling awkwardly as she shrugged. "Still took a hit, though. Guess there's always room for improvement." She rubbed her shoulder where the virtual beam had nicked her.

Lorna: "You're always going to take hits, it's just about how you take them." Lorna made her way over to the girl, arms behind her back holding something neatly folded up in a bag. "Plus I know you can fight, you never needed to prove that to me." She assured her, grinning.

Melati: "Guess you're right," she replied, smiling wryly. "Anyway, if there has to be one taking one for the team, might as well be me, no?" Melati ran a hand over her head. "After all, I can handle it."

Melati: Pausing briefly, she gave her teacher a scrutinizing look. "No, guess this always has been about something else than just learning to kick ass, am I right?"

Lorna: "You have good instincts, Mel. You showed them when you quit X-Force in the first place and we can trust you to not get involved or want to get involved with anything like that in the future." Lorna nodded.

Melati: "Hey, my instincts had plenty of practice," Melati said, chuckling. "I can't count how often my gut feeling has saved my scaly behind from trouble that my silly brain has gotten me into beforehand." She nodded slowly. "Yeah, you count on that. Speaking of, I have a feeling most of the others are starting to figure out where they went wrong, as well."

Melati: "What I'm trying to say is, I think you should be giving them another chance, too, you know?"

Lorna: "You know what? I'm good with that. How would you like to handle it?" She asked, watching her for her reaction. It can't be much of a surprise, after all, especially considering Lorna's condition at the moment. Maddie might be punching away at her insides but she wasn't exactly ready to do that once she was outside.

Melati: "Me?" She gave the green-haired teacher a curious look. Naturally, Lorna had shuffled most of the actual physical training exercises off to be run by her fellow staff members lately. "You mean, train them? Because, well, I guess that's how I'd go about it first. Get them back into shape, and see how well they can still work with others."

Lorna: She held out the bag containing Mel's uniform to her, cracking a grin. "Now, this isn't saying that I'm not going to be helping you when you need it, yeah? But you're more than ready for the uniform and I think you're ready for a bit more as well."

Melati: "Hell yeah!" Melati couldn't hide the big grin that demanded to be let out even if she had wanted to. "Come to momma." She took the uniform from Lorna and held it up. "Have you missed me? Of course you did!" After forcing a serious expression onto her face, she cleared her throat and gave a solemn nod.

Melati: "Thanks, Lorna," she said. "I really appreciate it. That means a lot to me." Another pause, followed by a wary squint. "What do you mean by more? You're making me responsible for keeping you supplied with cookies, are you? I knew it would be a mistake to trust a pregnant woman."

Lorna: "Well," How had her own 'promotion' gone? She could remember how it felt but damned if she could find words to match doing it here and now. "I wouldn't say no to the cookies, no. And pie, I need pie." It was the season for pie, after all, who could blame her?

Lorna: "But with SWORD and with everything that happened and now with Maddie we're going to be needing people who can step up for more leadership roles during field missions. I'm not going to be able to do near as much as I did with the team and I'm looking to you to fill that spot."

Melati: Melati blinked, before she let out a somewhat nervous laugh. "Damn, my ears must still be ringing from all the explosions during training, because I just imaged that you asked me to become a field leader," she said. Her awkward grin slowly faded, replaced by a baffled expression and arched eyebrows. "Wait, you're serious, aren't you?"

Lorna: "People you trusted tried to lead you a bad way and you wouldn't go. I mean, we're going to try it but I know you can do it so I'm not a bit worried about you there. You've got good sense on your side, we just need to try out how the responsibility works with you in a more real scenario."

Melati: "Wow," she managed to say, glancing her feet as she ran a clawed hand over her scaly head. "Guess I should have seen it coming that all that special training you subjected me to wasn't just to see me suffer. Even though I'd have understood if that had been the actual reason."

Melati: Tilting her head, Melati bit her lip sheepishly. "I don't know what to say," she told Lorna. "Well, except... that I feel truly honoured. And that I'll promise not to disappoint you."

Lorna: "Oh, don't thank me yet. I'm not sure you're going to want to with the next step." Lorna was smiling proudly at her though. She felt good about this choice, even if it was a bit strange to be stepping back after so long at it. "I've made a Danger Room schedule for you to cycle through all of the students plus everyone we need back in fighting shape so they can train and get used to taking orders from you."

Lorna: "You get to try out leading the real thing now...it can be a bit trying, won't lie. Sort of like herding cats."

Melati: The moment her fellow students and giving orders was mentioned, Melati's expression of pride was gradually replaced by one of pure horror. "That is going to end horribly for me, isn't it," she asked, staring into the distance. "I guess this is the karmic justice my grandma always tried to teach me about."

Melati: She turned to fixate Lorna with her stare. "I just remember all the horrible things we did to our team leader during the Army teens summer camp," she muttered. "And now I'm turning into that guy. Oh dear lordy, all my horrible deeds are coming back to me now, aren't they?"

Lorna: "It's not as bad as you're imagining it. People usually want someone to listen to in bad times. You're going to have your brats during training or before and after missions but they usually calm down during and that's the main thing...but yeah, this might be karma."

Melati: "Yeah, and unless proven otherwise, the reason you picked me for this job is because you know I'll live through getting shanked in the communal showers and spare the school a lawsuit." Melati laughed. "I don't think I'd ever been this grateful there's only one of my kind in this world., because I'd hate having to deal with another me."

Melati: She looked at Lorna with a cocky smile on her lips. "You're not going to throw me into the cold water though, are you?"

Lorna: "Promise, I'll be in the observation room the whole time. I'll make sure nobody takes your hot water away too." She held her hands up, laughing. "You're going to do great, people like you, they'll respect you too."

Melati: "Yeah, hope you're right about that," Melati replied, smiling wryly. "Think I can live with that. As long as you don't insist I'll have to be role model all the time, even out of the uniform. Because in that case, you can spare both me and them a lot of suffering and kill me on the spot."

Lorna: "Role model in the ways that count for the X-men. I won't expect you to be a saint." Lorna assured her, patting her shoulder. "You'll be fine, Mel, and if you decide it's not for you then it's not for you."

Melati: "Oh, as if you didn't know I won't back down from a challenge." Melati chuckled, glancing sideways to give Lorna a smirk. "And I'm glad enough to simply feel useful again. So, I guess I'll just have to learn to live with that compromise, no?"

Lorna: "Either way you're going to be back on with us. Welcome back, Mel."

Melati: "Thanks, Lorna," Melati replied, her smirk growing into a grin. "Feels good to sit firmly in the saddle again, I can tell you that." She nodded to herself, before looking back at the green-haired woman. "So, what's going to be my first official task as leading lizard then, oh wise teach?"

Lorna: "Getting people to your training sessions!" Lorna attempted to jazz hands enthusiastically.

Melati: Melati frowned as she cocked her head, looking doubtful. "Am I allowed to use a lasso," she asked. "Because I have the feeling I might need one."

Lorna: "I won't stop you from it." Lorna answered. "But be sure to get as many people as you can, preferably everyone actually."

Melati: "Hm, in that case, deception might be prove more useful than brute force," Melati remarked, tapping a fingers against her chin. "I just might have to think of ways to lure them down here."

Lorna: "I'll leave your deceptions up to you, just let me know when you've got them so I can spy."

Melati: "Roger that," Melati replied and gave a casual salute. "I might just bait them with the promise of epic parties to had once the tough stuff is out of the way. That should motivate them. Always worked for me."

Lorna: "I leave you to your baiting then, my dear." Lorna chuckled. "I, for one, have a husband and wife bonfire to get to."

Melati: Melati arched an eyebrow. "I've no idea what that entails, but something tells me I should keep an ear out for the fire alarm," she commented with a chuckle. "Yeah, I want get back to my own little project. Besides, looks like I've got a training session to prepare now, too."

[Slarti]

Well, well... things are afoot!

[Starfish]

A lot of suffering for everyone involved that is. *sagenod*