20337/Overdue Conversation

Overdue Conversation
Date of Scene:	29 March 2025
Location:	Madrid, Spain
Synopsis:	A deal has been made! Noriko Ashida will be learning power control from Fabian Cortez!
Cast of Characters:	Fabian Cortez, Noriko Ashida

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Fabian Cortez has posed:
The Acolyte had come quietly, the offer of a meeting with Fabian, if Noriko wanted it. He's not here, not on Genosha at the moment, and the concern about Nori on Astroid M is-well, the Astroid is not mentioned. This individual's mutant name is SpaceHop, she can take Norio to Fabian, he's been hoping to talk to her, but is Busy.

Capital B Busy.

Words are apologetic, the woman is polite, but worried. Every word worried. It's clear she's not going to push Nori if there is no interest, but-there is a massive relief at the agreement.

Immediately, her hands are offered and upon contact, the warm air of Genosha fades around them, sand gone, replaced with cobbled stone streets, greenery smells less tropical but no less like ocean.

Old, ancient buildings around them, brick and carvings-a veranda overlooking a very different ocean. A little cooler, but no less pleasant.

Here, Fabian Cortez sits at a little coffee table, news paper, a tea set and food laid out, two plates, waiting. He looks up, offers a smile, and Spacehop vanishes.

"Miss Ashida, Welcome to Madrid. Would you have a seat? I can order whatever you like, I'm sorry, I've owed you a conversation."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is nothing if not naturally suspicious after her times on the streets.  It's something that's never really left her and another side of the same coin of her bluntness.  That said, she's had other things on her mind, plaguing her, eating her up, so suspicion is the last thing on her mind.  She almost doesn't even care about the woman's worry when she notices it.

There is some hesitance in the direct contact though, and Noriko takes about ten seconds of deep breathing before she reaches out.  When they arrive...wherever they are, Noriko keeps an eye on the worried woman till she vanishes.  Then she moves, offering Fabian a slight bow of her head before taking a seat.  She scoots the chair further away out of habit, just like her bow.

"You might regret that offer," she says with a nearly flat affect.  There is something drained, subdued about her.  "I've never been to Madrid.  Not that it matters."  Food begins to appear on her plate as she snatches little bits from here and there of the array of food already laid out.  It also whittles away from the plate as if it were being consumed by a stop motion thief.

"Thank you, for giving me a place to stay," to hide, the speedster means.  "Though I'm not sure why you did."

Fabian Cortez has posed:
Fabian will simply push a menu to Nori, already translated into English it would seem, "Then you should take advantage of it while you're here. If you want to stay a few days, I can arrange a hotel for you. I'm here taking care of some things for a while, you'll have free rein of the country, but I would ask you stay within the borders of Spain."

He turns back to the newspaper as she starts to eat, "Although if you want to see more of Europe, that isn't hard to arrange either."

Fabian seems content to wait and let her enjoy herself, but at her words will pause. There is a slow breath, a frown drawing on the Spaniard's expression as he folds the newspaper and starts to pour them both cups of tea. No words right away.

"I wouldn't have if you'd killed that boy intentionally. I had a lot invested in recruiting him." The words are easy, polite, as if they are discussing the weather and not a murder.

Fabian will shrug slightly, putting a cup to Nori's side of the table, "But I can't condemn you for an accident that I'm all too familiar with. If I'm to be forgiving of my own people not being able to handle power amplification without practice-then I have to be of other people. It's at least partially my fault for not getting to Zeke earlier."

He turns to his own tea, a sip, adds some sugar and tastes it again, "Besides, I don't know enough about how the X-men handle their people to know if they'd understand or be able to help you. I know I can help you, if you want my help."

" The young man's death will be ruled an accident related to the power grid failure soon. You are welcome to live in Genosha if you like. An apartment and identity will be arranged, if you never want to see me or the Acolytes again, it will be so. But, if you would like to discuss other options-" He shrugs and takes another sip of tea.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I could do that."  From anyone else, the word choice might be a little odd, like she would want Fabian to think she might not play along, but this also might just be one of those minuscule quirks of being a non-native English speaker.  "I'll start with Spain."  Once she realizes how small Spain is (relatively), she might reconsider.

"I'm not sure what...I would call that, but I don't think I can claim it was unintentional.  Fully, at least."  Noriko is, of course, referring to the fact that she remembers everything, and ripping someone's heart out would hardly be considered an accident by any standards.  Still, she doesn't argue with Fabian's judgement.

The menu is perused for a moment of reprieve from her thoughts, but they loop back fast, tethered to the act.  "Zeke?  That was his name?"  She sighs, closing her eyes.  It comes out quickly, unrestrained and not slowed down for Fabian's benefit.

"I don't want to burden them with this.  I'd be a danger to the students," and faculty, Nori thinks to herself.  Her eyes dip downward to a biscuit that she's bitten into already.  She draws her tea near, but doesn't sip.  Little tendrils of electricity lick across her fingers in rolling arcs.

"I don't care about the Acolytes.  I mean I don't know what their deal is but it doesn't matter to me one way or the other..."  Options?  She looks up from the tea to Fabian.  "Like what?"  Genosha feels like a paradise of sorts, but one she can't seem to allow herself to deserve.  Her expression has a touch of incredulity, as if she doubts there really are any viable options.

Fabian Cortez has posed:
"I'll arrange a hotel. More history than the States, it's a nice country, but of course, I'm biased." Fabian seems undisturbed by Nori's switching between speeds, though he seems to take an extra moment or two to figure out what the rush of words even is-but when he does seem to get the gist, he nods, "Zeke Miller. He manifested his power late last year, very anti-mutant family unfortunately. He ran away from home and I'd been trying to find him."

"He was a power enhancer like me, but he had no control over it. His powers were not identical to mine, but close enough that I highly doubt that you really did have many options, despite what you might feel like happened. I generate and manipulate a field around me, he too had a range and once you entered it-" Fabian waves a hand, as if it can wave the words away, "Like I said before, I don't beleive you should be punished for it. But that's the past. I want to discuss your future."

"You think yourself a danger, and at the moment I agree. You're volatile, dealing with a huge amount of emotional baggage, and losing control can be a terrible thing. I don't think it's safe to be around you." Fabian's words are frank, almost flat and matter of fact, however he goes on in the same manner. These are statements. No emotion involved, "However, I don't think you have to remain a danger. I can, potentially, help you learn significantly more control over your gift."

"My reputation is as a Power Booster, that is a convenient fiction that I encourage. I am, more accurately, a Power Manipulator. I can Amplify and Dampen. I also have control over what aspects of one's powers are affected." He stops, meeting her eyes steadily, "This means I can train people in every individual aspect of their gifts separately, ensuring that one's control comes with a huge amount of accuracy. This comes with practice, this comes with time, but I believe such dedication is beneficial to all mutants, no matter what the gift."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Thank you.  It'd be weird if you weren't," biased, Nori means.  Her brain sears the young man's name into her consciousness and subconsciousness all at once.  "I'm familiar with that kind of family," she says, a tiny pause just before the last word.

"You saw what I did.  I can still feel the-"  Noriko stops herself.  The feeling of blood slicking her skin still crawling all over her, breaking through her verbal restraint.  Still, she manages to listen carefully, pulling the cup of tea to her lips, more a distraction than a need for the beverage.

Noriko huffs softly, sending ripples slowly sailing through the tea's surface as she slips into a faster frame of reference for a half moment.  "That's what the teachers said."  Her reaction is instinctual, baked into her by the failed iterations of trying.  At least Fabian said potentially, she muses internally.

Still, at the revelation that Fabian can manipulate and isolate powers, Noriko furrows her brow slightly.  "I've never had anything like that before.  The only thing that ever helped me was suppressing my powers," with druuuugs, "or those fucking ugly gauntlets."  Bashful, she is not.

"But...It's not enough for you to help me.  I need to help too.  I can't just-I need to help."  The look in Nori's eyes speaks volumes, the hardened stare keeping everything in, the turmoil storming just beneath, the briefest flicker of electricity racing through her iris.

Fabian Cortez has posed:
"I can suppress one at a time, or all but one. I can heighten one and suppress the underlying support-In your case, I think you could have much finer control over the discharge of electricity than I've seen you demonstrate. Additionally, your sense of electric currents could likely be utilized for a huge amount of information gathering of your surroundings, and likely control over what aspects of the electrical currents around you, you absorb." He sips his tea and shrugs, "That's just scratching the surface, I think a dis-service has been done to you, all your training relying on the gauntlets for control."

Fabian doesn't flinch, even as that glow and spark becomes visible in Noriko's eyes. However, he nods. Only once.

"I don't want your help until you are in control of yourself."

There is a pause, a heartbeat longer than is comfortable for people who exist at a normal speed, Fabian holding Nori's gaze before finally offering a second nod, leaning back and returning to his tea, "But in the future, your help would be appreciated. Consider it a favour if you must. I help you with this now, and when my help is complete, you will owe me one in return. I'm not asking you to join the Brotherhood or the Acolytes, even if I might ask you to work with them. This is just a trade. A service for a service."

"Would you like a demonstration before you agree? We are in a strange situation, but I am the bad guy here if you ask the news or the school. At some point someone is going to accuse me of abducting you. I want you to be absolutely sure this is what you want before you agree."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"They said they were only supposed to be temporary, that I should learn to control my powers without them," but how would that even be possible if Nori needed to wear them all the time to keep others safe?  Her words are loaded, as if she might see this as being her failure in their eyes.  Projected?  Possibly.  "It was never that simple."

Noriko narrows her eyes into a squint and she nods when Fabian raises his criteria.  She doesn't disagree, but there's a part of her aching to feel some relief for her soul.  It will channel her learning, something easily noticed by anyone who has mentored or trained others before.

The speedster is used to waiting for the next moment with others and doesn't seem to respond to the pause, though with her sharpness, it's doubtful she missed it.  She leans a little in her seat as she considers Fabian's words, one shoulder drooping slightly.  Then a nod.  "Okay."  She straightens.  Does she reveal that she thinks she already owes him one?  No, but her thank yous might have already revealed that.  "If there's a chance...I could-Yeah.  I want to try."

Fabian Cortez has posed:
Admittedly, Fabian isn't actually sure if it's going to be the X-men accusing him of abduction or his own Lord Magneto-the man is sort of in the loop here, but likely not as much as he'd like to be. Fabian has been pretty 'letter of the law' recently with the Brotherhood and far less the 'spirit of the law'. But whoever it is inevitably beating down his door to yell at him about stealing people from their homes and setting them up in island paradise, he'd like it to Not Be His Fault that person is still there.

"I'm going to demonstrate what I do, and what training with me will be like."

The moment that the last word is out of Fabian's mouth, Fabian has reached out and turned down Noriko's ability to absorb electricity. There is no visible tell in Fabian, he simply takes a sip of team. But, whatever passive pull Noriko has for the world around her cut off, it's still there, she can still sense the currents, but for perhaps the first time since manifesting, the currents seem to ignore her existence. The electricity does not pull to Nori like a to a lightning rod, waiting to fill her with speed.

"I don't really need to tell you this, but you discharge electricity that you absorb in the form of speed, yes? Do you have any idea how much your normal equilibrium of Electricity lasts you when you cannot replenish? Let's find out. Don't discharge anything beyond what you normally do to function-But while we wait to see how long your battery lasts, I'm turning up your Awareness of electrical current. You are not drawing in power right now, you are not discharging, thus you are not influencing any current outside of yourself." As he speaks, Fabian does amplify Noriko's Awareness only, a slow and steady turning up of a dial, filling just this aspect of her gift with power and lifting the normal ceiling of her electrical sense. He pulls out a cell phone and dials, as he hits send, he looks up at Noriko again, "I've just called a landline phone somewhere in Madrid. I want you to find it while sitting here and point in that direction."

He pauses, sighs lightly, "But of course, this is just a demonstration. If you think this is a stupid exercise and don't want to wait for your body's increased metabolism and thought to run through your body's electricity. Then please feel free to go answer the phone, but I'd still ask you find it through your connection and reading of electrical fields around you rather than racing to every house in Madrid with a ringing phone."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
When Fabian dials down Noriko's absorption, her eyelids flutter rapidly, obviously able to feel it.  She clears her throat.  It's an odd sensation for the young woman.  A quiet.  She still carries charge, but she's no longer an ever flowing conduit.  "Is this...what it feels like?"  without powers?  No Nori.  It isn't.  She realizes it as immediately as she says the words, pressing her lips together in a moment at the bruise to her intellect.  She clearly already knows the answer.  It just took her a moment to adjust to the decrease in stimulation, the quietness and nuance of it.

"Kinda.  I think Dr. McCoy said I just turn electricity into the speed," or more precisely, kinetic energy.  "I mean, I can be sitting here gathering electricity if it is around.  I don't have to move and I've never had control over that," she explains.  So it's passive, and she has to be able to hold charge to dispel it in bursts.  She is, some kind of battery.  It's probably easier for her to fly under the radar in a city, where she can draw ambient power from many different higher energy sources, if she had that kind of control.

"But if I touch a power source I can zap it dry in an instant."  Noriko straightens up a little at the type of manipulation Fabian suggests.  "I was kidnapped once.  They stuffed me in a Faraday cage.  It took some hours..."  She doesn't sound too sure about how much time passed.  "I think.  But I can get sick if I get too low."  Noriko nods as Fabian tunes her power sense up.  "It's not stupid," not to Nori, especially as she can feel her sensing slowly amplify.  "Just, keep it ringing."  She's already having to feel her way through (in a sense) a multitude of signals...but there are signals, waves of energy braiding in and out, colliding, repeating.  She's not focusing as heavily on the fields.  To her, at first blush, they seem like inconsequential ripples in a wake, so she chases the waves and beamformed signals.  Softer, then stronger.  Stronger.  "A cell tower," she mumbles, making an educated assumption based on how the technology works.  "I lost it.  I don't know where it is coming out."  She's not distinguishing the uniqueness of the power signals.  "I mean going to."  She sighs, her brain already racing to that emotional frustration.  It probably doesn't help her performance that she's actively keeping herself in a slower reference, the same as Fabian's, evidenced by the speed of her words.  It's like asking a seeing person to rely on their sense of hearing that they've never given much attention to.  Nori would never admit it, but there's a part of her that doesn't want to disappoint...herself or Fabian.

Fabian Cortez has posed:
Fabian doesn't answer her initial question when it is clear she's mis-spoken. Ignoring it and not offering the actual experience of being powerless. That is not Useful right now. This is a lesson, and though Fabian is paying far closer attention to Noriko now, being without powers is a different sort of lesson.

Now, his focus is on both her emotional reactions and her effect on his own field of energy. He too is a battery, just a very different kind of battery. Fabian is now paying very strict attention to how much energy he is feeding into Noriko, how much she seems to be burning right away-rate of draw. It doesn't tell him exactly what powers she's using or focusing on now, but it gives him a very good idea.

Fabian continues to push Noriko's Awareness up, still slow, intentionally not wanting to flood her with increased ability and the potential flood of information from that Awareness all at once. Listening as he does, "Interesting. Faraday cage and still a few hours under high stress? That speaks highly of your potential. It sounds like endurance is something you come to naturally. I won't worry about it much then."

Though his ability to read powers gives Fabian an innate understanding of other's mutations, it is only in Potentials. What a mutant Could be capable of, what their limits are, what they cannot do-with and without his help. This is what allows Fabian the fine tuning of his augmentations of others, but ultimately it does not give him any idea of a person's starting skill in wielding those powers. It would seem that knowing Noriko's past experience and what other experts on powers have said is actually quite valuable to Fabian. "I would be interested in hearing the extent of what you already have experienced in pushing your abilities to extremes."

Another nod and Fabian will stop the boost's upward dial, just holding and continuing to feed Noriko power, "You're at about three times your normal perception right now. I'm going to hold you here. I'll keep the phone ringing."

"Remember, you know the time I hit send and the time you lost the signal. You can use that to your advantage. I told you this is a landline, so there should also be a draw directly off the grid on the receiver." Fabian's tone has remained more or less unchanged throughout the conversation. Polite, but matter of fact, assured and comfortable with the topics, not a trace of doubt. This continues now. "Take a breath. Take your time. Lean into whatever it is you are sensing, you have the time to sort through things. I am confident you can find it."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko had given up, and maybe she didn't expect to be able to try again.  This is a girl who has been discarded in life, certainly not by the X-Men, so it must have been others.  "Honestly, I've tried not to do it.  I didn't want to unintentionally hurt anyone, and it's happened before.  And it took me some time to get the right kind of shoes," for running that is.  "I feel like I have more con-No, it's just easier for my running to not get out of hand I guess," because she avoids touching things, which speaks to unfathomable amounts of agility, thought, and reaction time, but that might have been obvious.  "Volatility of emotions seems more to influence my charge stuff, but I've tried running up buildings, stuff like that.  I was only recently going to start tracking stuff."

"Okay...I'll try again."  Noriko rolls her eyes at herself, the hint of a smirk tugging at her lips.  "Yeah, landline."  Oops.  She takes some deep breaths and closes her eyes this time, shutting out one of her senses.  Not being grounded by visuals causes her to naturally slip back into a faster frame of velocity.  The frequencies of her detection seem to sync rates like someone catching a wave that they are already starting to move with.  She starts at the beginning, finding the thread and allowing herself to race inside.  While her breathing appears to speed up, in reality, relatively, it is actually slowing down as everything falls away, as her mind fills in the gaps of her experience naturally.  She smiles ever so slightly as she traces the ribbon of energy out through the telephone wires.  For a brief moment, she is plagued with a shadow of human doubt, like someone watching a shell game.  But she quickly discards that, her curiosity of whether she's right pressing her on to the destination.  She's fast.  Very fast.

"I think I know where it is, but I think I'll only know it when I feel it.  It's in that direction," Noriko lifts her arm to point in the correct direction, a feat in and of itself, suggesting she might have some proprioceptive ability in relation to her sensing power.  Then she gives an approximate distance.  It isn't precise, but it would get her within sensing range of her unboosted power.  On some level, she assumes she might be right when she says, "I think it was easier when I went faster.  I could tell not everything was going at the same rate?"  She's unsure of her terminology, but her sense is intact.  "Sometimes I think it was the rate, sometimes the signal strength, sometimes the timing."  She's already parsed out several techniques for distinguishing under different circumstances, but who knows how 'long' she was working these out in that higher velocity.  For Fabian, it only took three seconds.

"I would have probably gotten the answer a lot sooner if you had let me still absorb."  This is an exaggeration and the quick turn around in her attitude is a dead giveaway.  Nori doesn't know if she could individually sip off one of the junctures the signal was traveling to, but if she could, she'd just do that, stop it in its tracks, and point to, say, a tower where she stopped it.  But also, she's overestimating her ability to isolate her own powers and use them in tandem.  This is simply an echo of her ego.

Fabian Cortez has posed:
"I'd encourage you to track everything if you can. It'll make things easier and faster when identifying areas of improvement and how much control you already have." Wow, it's refreshing talking to a mutant who has clearly had to modulate her existence to the world to function and put some thought into the level of control that Fabian generally would like the people in his teams to demonstrate. Those gauntlets are impressive things. Imagine what she could do if she didn't need them. "If in a controlled setting, I can keep you from hurting anyone while we push your abilities. If you aren't familiar with your upper limit as is-it sounds like it'll be more useful to be dampened or work on each aspect of your powers individually."

As she talks through her logic, Fabian's full attention is still on her draw from his own powers, trying to parce what Noriko is Saying with what aspects of her abilities he is currently feeding.

And yet, he can't do it.

"I'm having a hard time keeping up with you. It sounds right, but I can't feel how you are using your powers right now. It's too fast. I've boosted speedsters before, I'm sure you're familiar with QuickSilver? In a fight, I amply everything of his. I simply can't keep up with changing needs for a more defined augmentation, like I can offer other teammates. He risks damaging everything around him with every movement when that fast, but is in control of it."

"You're too fast for me to sense your power usage, even while modulating your powers. Thus I'm going to have to rely on your interpretation of things more than I usually would." Fabian nods thoughtfully, "This is Something to work towards perhaps. I would say that if you are capable of controlling yourself while I am holding you up entirely, not this half-dampen and single power-really boosting all that you are to the potential you are capable of being: Then there will be nothing else I can teach you."

Three seconds.

Fabian was prepared to make himself comfortable and wait, but 'take your time' to a speedster is still far faster than a normal person can process the conversation they were having. Yet, as Noriko points in the direction of the residence he called, Fabian smiles and hangs up the phone.

"That is correct. Very good, then it will be no trouble for you to practice this sort of thing?" For the first time, Fabian's tone dips into something almost like a tease, almost challenging her to back up her words. It's brief, but a faint smirk remains. Fabian starting to roll in his influence over her powers, pulling back her Awareness and releasing his hold on her Absorption, as slowly and gently as he took them. Trying not to give too much backlash, and standing as he does so, "I'm letting go again, I'm going to order a little bit of everything, when I get back I'll ask again if this is something you want to do."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"It might take me longer to figure out how to do it without the boosting.  It kind of helped me direct it?  No, that's not the right word."  Noriko shrugs, not concerned that she's at a loss for describing it right off.  As for tracking.  "I'll start doing that and running tests."  What else does she have to do anyway?  She planned to do it with the new gauntlets Hank was making her, but she doesn't even have access to any gauntlets now.  Still, she knows there are things she can do, ways of tracking relative progress, benchmarks.

"I can start testing upper limits in a tiered way," to keep things safer.  Noriko has definitely had to fit herself into her environment, live within constraints, even among mutants.  She certainly isn't the only mutant who has had to do that, but these modes of being take their toll.  "I was going to get some gauntlets that would help me observe current levels directly so I could get more of a feel for it, but I think if I look up things like melting temps of different materials, I could start approximating what I'm doing without better instruments, at least on the charge side."  Clearly getting an idea of her velocity might be a little more straightforward.  One thing is clear, the goals Fabian has set out before his new student have her mind buzzing, quite literally.

"I don't really know other speedsters.  I mean I know they exist, I've just never talked to any of them or seen them in action."  The words tumble out of her mouth at a clipped pace, without any breathlessness.  "Perhaps, but I need to be able to control things when I'm upset.  Things get kind of out of control when that happens."  She picks up the conversation as if there was never a gap, not missing a beat.

"Ha.  Well, practice?  Sure.  I've never really practiced my sensing before."  The school was always so focused on making her powers safe; it is probably unsurprising to Fabian that her less dangerous powers have been neglected.  When Noriko can feel her absorption ease back, it almost feels like a breath of fresh air to a drowning man.  Not so much as a gasp, but like the feeling of permeating oxygen, a breath of life.  It feels nice, just like the break kind of felt nice.  "That's what I was thinking," a little bit of everything.  Him saying he'll ask again leaves the speedster tilting her head a little bit.  At this point, she cannot see why she wouldn't want to.  Every part of her, known and unknown, needs a distraction, needs a focus.

"Save your breath.  I'm in."

Fabian Cortez has posed:
There is no interruption. Fabian listens, no comment, just that thoughtful expression returning. So many people, wasted at that blasted useless school of Xavier's. Seriously. Real shame the Brotherhood is trying to be chill right now and Fabian himself is trying to be well behaved and generate goodwill.

' 'Save your breath. I'm in.' '

Fabian will simply smile, hands behind his back with a slight bow as he walks away. Fabian is not gone long, but the sound of conversation in Spanish can likely be heard from within. The air is sweet, the sun starting to set over the old city, what with the time-zone difference between here and Genosha. Shortly, Fabian returns followed by a few individuals with another table. This is set up next to their table as Fabian sits again. In short order food will start to arrive, as promised, a little bit of everything and a few ranges of drinks.

Fabian ignores this and clearly doesn't care if any of the wait staff speak English or hear their conversation. His full attention returning to Nori with a smile, "Rest assured, working with me-dealing with high emotion while having increased powers is simply part of the deal. You were there when I visited the mansion-I can have a huge influence on one's emotional state. Amplification can feel like some of the best drugs you've ever had and dampening can feel like dying. You are dealing with the real deal, not my powers weakened through technology. Emotional regulation will come with time, but we will not be starting there."

Fabian is Not an Empath, but he does have some control over how his powers are experienced. The waitstaff all vanish as the current and extra table are filled with nice things. This is a cafe, mostly pastries, puddings and such. Fabian simply refilling his tea.

"In that case, I have two questions for you. First, how opposed to dealing with Brotherhood or Acolytes are you? I'm not up for arguing with everything you might have heard about us. Ultimately, we're just people who disagree with most things you've likely been taught. But, I might be able to get you new gauntlets if you're willing to come to Asteroid M and talk to some folks. We don't have Forge, but we get by just fine. Use of the training facilities there are a benefit and I might be able to arrange meeting other speedsters, His Majesty QuickSilver and I are not. . . always on the best of terms, but-" There's a shrug, the offer there. "Additionally, My Lord generally has a soft spot for people from Xavier's. You would not be in danger there."

"And Secondly, I need to know, it's okay if you are, I'd ask you be honest. This is between you and me. But I can use Brotherhood and Acolyte Resources to help you, but it's still on my head at the end of the day. If you return to the X-men and Xavier's, is it safest that I assume everything we've ever discussed and you've seen while under my teaching will be shared with them?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko doesn't know a lick of Spanish.  She could learn probably, but does she want to?  She hasn't so far.  Those kinds of skills are limited in terms of exploration.  They don't contain infinite mysteries or long rabbit holes to hold her attention.  Better for impressive party tricks in her mind.  However, this doesn't mean she can't enjoy the rhythms of the language that float around her or the pleasant view.  The atmosphere is inherently relaxing.

The speedster's eyes drift sharply to Fabian when he sits back down, though her actual look is nearly neutral, inquisitive.  "Yeah.  It isn't going to be the easiest lesson to tackle," she agrees.  "I don't mind the best drugs I've ever had," understatement of the century.  She clearly has no qualms about this side of Fabian's power, unlike a lot of the X-Men.  Noriko experiments with the various goodies, dipping them in her tea for a rounded off taste, giving the sweets a light earthiness.

"I'm not here to argue ideals.  I hardly have a leg to stand on, and honestly, I stayed at the school so I wouldn't hurt anyone.  Mostly I just hate the mutant hating groups.  I'm not really familiar with everything the Brotherhood or the Acolytes have done," but she can't be that naive.  Noriko knows there are reasons people at her former home stayed clear or had their suspicions, their disapprovals.  "I just don't want to be used.  If I know what I'm doing, what's going down, and I commit to something, I'm in all the way.  If someone throws me one thing and it turns out to be another?  Fuck you.  I'm out."  She is obviously demonstrating her general attitude, not something personally directed at Fabian.  While these words don't really reveal where Noriko's moral boundaries actually are, they reveal that she aims to be straight with whoever she works with.

"I don't mind going and talking to some people.  I mean I'm talking to you," Noriko says with a smirk, clearly kidding.  "It would be cool to meet some other speedsters for sure."  She really seems unconcerned about danger, and whether this is because she's a speedster or she doesn't care anymore isn't clear.

"At this point, what we've discussed, yeah, but you aren't hurting anyone or anything.  Just helping me.  I don't plan on telling them secret defenses or anything.  That's just rude.  Plus, I don't think there's anything I can tell them that would redeem me."  Nori thinks she's a lost cause, and she doesn't try to hide it all that much.  She's clearly exploring her thoughts aloud, but then she slows down a little.  "You've already helped me so much.  You haven't given me any reason to betray you."  Like an animal once caged, it is difficult for her to speak in absolutes, to not have some kind of emotional ripcord when it comes to trust.  "It's not in my nature and it isn't my intention, but this answer you're asking is something predicated on trust, and we're still getting to know each other.  I don't think any answer I give you right now will be something you can fully trust, even if I said absolutely never."  It isn't rapid thinking that brings her to this conclusion, but evidence of some kind of intellect.  It's honest, and it demonstrates that she doesn't mean to underestimate Fabian's intellect either.  She knows this isn't any kind of revelation to him and she says it without fear or trepidation.

"You're keeping my secret.  What I did.  That means something," and Noriko does fully realize that she's also highlighting the dirt he has, should he ever feel the need to use it.  There is subtext to the way Noriko speaks.

Fabian Cortez has posed:
"It sounds like you're going to fit right in." Fabian Cortez is not about to be insulted by an answer to a question he asked. At least, not today. Simply a nod and sigh, "I appreciate your honesty. I, in turn, promise I will not preach at you. My people will mostly ignore you and as long as you aren't going to be-awe-judgey about some of the beliefs that we hold, I don't anticipate any problems bringing you to Asteroid M and using the facilities there. I cannot speak for the Brotherhood, but if you are not going to complain about some of our methods, then there shouldn't be problems there either."

Social problems, he means, safety already promised and already seemingly discarded. This, Fabian simply skips over, "I'll see what I can do. SpaceHop will be at your disposal, she can take you anywhere you want between here and Genosha. And the rest of Europe should you want to explore. I'd like your first time on the Asteroid to be with her or myself, just in case-Some people get a little territorial."

Fabian doesn't touch any of the food, but will continue to work on his tea slowly, attention never really leaving the conversation. He seems to be clear on much of what Noriko is saying and leaving unsaid.

In Turn, Fabian has not once tried to explain what, exactly, the Acolytes nor Brotherhood believe. He clearly thinks she knows, or at least knows enough and certainly has internet access and could find out everything he could possibly say.

"Rudeness or not, you're right. I don't trust you yet and I am asking to see what you would say. Your answer is nice, but doesn't change anything beyond where I can take you. My life is already public, I already have eyes on me and my activities. I already didn't intend to expose you to aspects of my work that would be regrettable to the wrong hands. I am out of prison quite a few years now. I have a vested interest in continuing that as I have a vested interest in other mutant teams being willing to work with me. If you want to think about this between us as an extension of my collecting of goodwill, you wouldn't be wrong." His cup is raised to her briefly, "Fair is fair, do you have anything you need to know from me?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko makes no promises or mention of not calling an asshole an asshole.  Fabian will find out about her rough edges soon enough.  It's not like Noriko has a weak personality.  But this has nothing to do with moral qualms or objections.  "I don't intend to bite the hand that feeds, but I'm not going to feed the hand that bites," whatever that means.  Maybe she just means she's going to stand up for herself.

"Cool.  Was there a reason she was so jumpy?  Is she scared of me or something?"  Noriko doesn't sound like she blames her, but the woman's vibe was really obvious.  As for territorial, "Yeah, probably best I don't show up unannounced.  I mean I saw how Xaviers freaked out about you."  Including herself.  She was right behind the door ready for an ambush, if needed, till she found out it was Fabian and then it devolved into eavesdropping.

Noriko gives Fabian space to eat should he wish, but she picks up on the fact that he probably won't, and this is when the food starts to really disappear and continues to as Fabian speaks.  She's not downright shoveling it in, which is why the food seems to sporadically vanish.  "Everyone has their motives," and Noriko didn't expect Fabian's to be all warm and fuzzy without some kind of return, especially how little history they share.  The speedster isn't rattled by Fabian mentioning he doesn't trust her yet.  His words only seem to confirm her assessment of the situation and where they stand currently.  She nods to his raised cup in acknowledgement.  "No.  Not yet at least.  Do you have anything I should know besides not crossing boarders unless I'm hopping with the bunny?"  She means Spacehop, perhaps nicknamed bunny for her initial demeanor.

Fabian Cortez has posed:
At the question about SpaceHop, Fabian sighs, "It's not you, she's flighty, a rabbit is a good comparison. Try to be courteous to her time, she is serving you and a few others. I'll move her if a problem arises." Though there is no indication if the problem might be a complaint from Nori or from Spacehop, but given the timid nature of the teleporter, it might be difficult to imagine her speaking up against anything. Still, Fabian seems to have nothing else to say on the matter.

"Territorial, it was a calculated risk. They took the tech, so I'm taking it as a win." Fabian does, however ponder her last question before answering. His words careful, weighted, "While I have promised not to preach at you, I will likely need to do my job from time to time while you are around. I will not be apologizing for this should anything offend."

Fabian pulls out his phone, takes a breath and lets it go slowly. Summons it would seem. He stands, "Arrangements for a stain here in Madrid will be made. Spacehop will be back in half an hour to take you back to Genosha or to your rooms here. The only other thing I think you need to know is that my time is valuable. You have a huge amount of potential, I hope to help you reach that with a level of control. A high level of control, I hope. I'm not going to go easy on you, and I expect you to work hard. Work hard, come when I have time for you, don't speak against my beliefs-do this and we will get along just fine Miss Ashida."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"No problem.  She's my ride."  Noriko can respect good transportation, no matter how flighty it is.  "Plus I'll probably only need her when I get bored of Spain."  If Spacehop did complain about Noriko, clearly the speedster doesn't give a crap.

"I didn't expect you to.  I'm not a child," though Noriko doesn't really know the scope or severity of what Fabian might be saying.  It's clear Noriko doesn't want Fabian to be concerned about her in any shape or form.  "I understand.  I want to make the most of this.  I don't think we have to see eye to eye on every little philosophical tenet to respect each other or work together.  I mean, if we even do have different opinions."  She talks a good talk and every word seems to be sincere.

"Thank you for the opportunity."