For a mutant school, this is a pretty standard gym, even if its sturdy construction to handle mutant powers is less standard. Still, it is designed along normal lines; setup for a basketball court, standard equipment -- punching bags, rubber mats, standard assortment of balls, weight training equipment, the usual fare. It is large, and as well-appointed as the rest of Xavier's tends to be.
Almost every morning, except Sundays, before most of the student body even wakes up for the day, Martin can be found in the gym performing one of a set series of workouts. This is a habit that has no doubt followed him from his military life, and truth be told, though his usual choice of clothing tends to partially hide just how fit he is, he does have a physique that requires such maintenance.
This morning, being a Saturday, he's more interested in strength training than cardio; dressed in sneakers, sweat shorts, an old Army t-shirt, and his thin, black leather gloves, he is flat on his back on one of the mats, cranking out elbow to knee twist sit-ups at a speed that only those who have been doing the exercise for quite a while are capable of doing. Sweat beads on his forehead, and even threatens to trickle into his eyes, but he ignores it as he goes, counting out each rep in his head.
Pulling in a body opponent bag is Sage, glancing at Martin but pretty much not paying attention, setting it up at a good position away from Martin. Dressed in a pair of fingerless black gloves, a gray XS tanktop, black sweatpants, and barefoot, red tinted glasses on her face, Sage seems to be ready for a work out. And then she talks..to someone? "ATHENA, play Workout Playlist 2.". And then she begins wailing on the bag, mostly focusing towards the neck in knock-out positions.
Although the sudden speaking catches Martin's attention and breaks him out of his workout zen, he does not stop his sit-ups until he reaches a hundred count. Then, he remains sitting, and grabs the towel beside him to wipe his face free of sweat. After that, with one arm propped on a knee, he watches Sage beat on the bag for a while with that icy blue gaze of his. "Who's Athena?" he eventually asks, even as he studies her technique with a mild interest.
"The glasses.". Sage says this calmly, another few strikes at her dummy, but she seems perfectly capable of carrying on a conversation whilst she does this. "I do not believe we have formally met yet. Martin is your name. You teach Strength Training, Self Defense, and Martial Arts, alongst with various religious classes and Latin. I am Sage. I teach Computer Science.". Already done with the formalities, too. "It is a pleasure to meet you.".
"Hm," Martin sounds in acknowledgment. If he finds her naming her glasses and talking to them strange, he doesn't voice it. Instead, he gets to his feet, and then stoops to wipe up his sweat from the mat with his towel. Straightening up fully, he rolls his broad shoulders and resumes his watching. "Yes," he confirms, though there is only the one word for all of the things she has said about him. He sniffs and rubs a thumb along his nose, and throws the towel over a shoulder. "It's nice to finally meet you outside of passing, as well, Ms. Sage."
"ATHENA, open Grooveshark. Play Playlist 2.". By now it should be apparent that Sage's glasses are more than just glasses by the way she's talking to them, as she also continues to talk to Martin. "I apologize if I am abrupt in any form. Mutations take many forms and have a variety of quirks. For example, I can remember the exact day you arrived and what I was wearing, along with what I did that day. As such formalities like the one I just skipped are almost hardly necessary around here for myself.". She stops her wailing, leaning against her dummy, as she speaks, still as calm and robotic as ever. "I believe we may begin working with each other soon if things continue to progress like they did the other day, in more fiendish ways. It was a shocking revelation indeed.".
"So what were you wearing?" he asks, with a slight smirk. Occasionally, Martin does have his moments of being an ass. She did just throw that out there for him to be curious about, though, to be fair. With her other remark, his icy gaze skews off to the side. "Yeah," he comments simply, a little gruff. An uneasiness about him for that moment or so that follows. After, as he looks back to her, he asks, "Where'd you learn your technique?"
"Madame Xanadu.". Just a simple, calm response from Sage. "Most costumes have been seeming to link with abilities of the students in ways, or demeanor.". At the question about technique, she tips her head slowly. "Your predecessors. I was a student here before I began teaching.". Sage tips her head, before continuing. "I would ask the same but your techniques and fitness wear, along with overall demeanor make me assume some form of military. Am I correct?"
Martin works off a glove so that he can satisfy some itch in the stubble coating his jaw; a shower and shave usually follow his morning workouts, instead of preceding. "Hmm," he sounds, just slightly thoughtful, when she gives the school as her training ground. He glances down at his clothes when she mentions them, out of pure reflex, and then looks back up. "Green Beret," he confirms, the syllables semi-grunted.
"United States Army Special Forces.". Sage takes a nod, this is more of an understanding than her correcting him. "As you asked about me, do you know what your costume was? Most were rather obscure but Mr. Parker is a large fan of the craft of comic books and as such it makes sense. Though the Hug Bank in Wall Street is a bit more pressing about that matter. I have been trying to figure out the cause but no luck so far, though I have leads.".
He lifts a brow with the formal identification, but says nothing about it. Instead, Martin rubs his bare thumb against his nose, and then pulls his glove back on, fingers flexing and forming a fist to make sure it is fitted right. "Think so," he says. And... fails to elaborate. But, narrowing his eyes in just the slightest, he asks, "What leads?"
"Normally I do not believe disclosing this would be the best but seeing our role here, I assume I should give my hypothesis. Once I know more I will probably be alerting everyone what I find, especially if I myself am induced in a dream. I believe Jackson Holland-Zedner's husband may be a catalyst, to which extent I do not believe I should explain yet, but I have no absolute proof and as such must keep waiting.". Sage says, once again calmly, a lengthy hypothesis though with her, most likely well-grounded in logic. "I met him recently, so if my hypothesis is anywhere near correct I may be exposed. We will find out eventually, but even if I am exposed that does not make it correct, only more plausible. I am trying to figure out how this is happening so if you are exposed I would like to know as well, I have also shared my hypothesis with Hank who has not disregarded it.".
A scowl threatens, at the idea that she would think keeping ideas about potential problems from teammates would normally be a good thing, but it never fully forms. Instead, as she continues on with the lengthy explanation, Martin's other brow goes up. And then he turns his head a little to the left, so that he starts to peer at her a bit sideways. "...exposed to what?"
"To whatever is causing this to spread. I know Jackson has had it. I know friends of him and his husband have had it. And it has spread to the school. The most pressing issue is, if it can spawn dreams, can it spawn nightmares? Many students here grew up in terrible environments, if any of those were brought to life, we'd have a disaster on our hands.". Sage easily notices the scowl, and comments on it. "The only reason I would have kept this secret was for Mr. Holland-Zedner's own privacy. But, as it is a threat, it should be shared.". And then, she follows it up. "So far what we know is, objects from dreams are manifesting, they can be small or large. If anything from one of your dreams manifests, then you are exposed.". And then..a strange follow-up. "I am going to get breakfast. Would you like to join me?"
Martin takes a long moment to think on this idea of whatever it was that had happened as being a threat. "We don't know if it can do that. Bring out nightmares. What if it's something innocent?" By the way his expression changes, a subtle adjustment of lines and his jaw easing from a set, he is only somewhat placated by the privacy argument. After that, though, he hesitates, and his expression turns all apology. "I should really change clothes before I get around more people."
"Alright then. Have a good day.". And then Sage is off, dragging her dummy back to the closet before she leaves the gym.
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