14000/Everyone loves a Montage!

Everyone loves a Montage!
Date of Scene:	29 January 2023
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Training Facility
Synopsis:	Training is had, and Janet oversees to make sure T'Challa knows he is supposed to be the friendly one.
Cast of Characters:	T'Challa, Marie-Ange Colbert, Janet van Dyne

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T'Challa has posed:
It wasn't uncommon the limo coming, as it was scheduled usually this morning, the quiet lady in red armor, as it was for training, waiting inside for her. This trip is like all the others as she quietly looks at Marie during the whole trip not saying a word. She is a very serious woman as you well know by now, but when she speaks it is usually important not really 'to chat'. This time though as they pull up infront of the Avenger Mansion, she might just have a light worried look as the door opens, though maybe she was just nervious for some reason though she will not say it as she leaves the car waiting for Marie to follow.

She leads her in as she usually does, and down to the training as she often did, but you hear why she is so nervious as there is already a "CraCK! CraCK" sound coming from the training area.

Inside the open Gymnasium is T'Challa, and in his hands two sticks about as long as the tip of your fingers to elbow. Around him is four women, and they all wear the same armor as Maries guide. In their hands are also sticks, two to each, and they seem to be surounding T'Challa and swinging at him by the sound of it not lightly. "Crack! Crack!" again as two move in at almost the same time, and are repelled. He speaks his accent heavy as usual, "Good, But your timing is off. Dedicate yourself to the move, and do not hesitate." as he talks the others are listening not attacking as this was training.

With a clearing of her throat Okoye indicates thier pressence as T'Challa turns and looks at you.

The black T-Shirt is sleaveless, and the black sweatpants look relaxed as he must of done this a lot. Both of them have shoes on, though they are the slip on kind with thin soles, T'challa nods, "Ah.. Welcome. Your shoes are over there. Okoye has said you have been practicing so I thought it was time to start the basics." when he says this he nods to some shoes like the one has on with a small grin on his face.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie-Ange Colbert is comfortable in silence. While some of her friends, like Jenny or Tabby might be far more boisterous and have the need to talk just to keep away silence.... Marie? She's content to sit in silence and just, hear her own thoughts. Sometimes during the trips she'd pull her cards out to perform an impromptu reading, but more often than not? She'd just sit and watch.

After all, she might as well enjoy the moment of relaxation before training begins; she's already well aware that there won't be a lot of time to relax once things begin.

The sight of Avengers Mansion, though, that's a surprise. Green eyes widen, but she doesn't actually say anything. She trusts Okoye enough to lead her where she needs to go, afterall. Today, she's dressed in a very spartan manner. A maroon tank top over a black sports bra, and black sweatpants of her own. Her feet? They're in little white flats, though that will change soon enough.

When greeted by the King, Marie drops into a formal curtsey; she's definitely not on her own turf now, after all, so unless told otherwise formality will take precidence. "Merci beaucoup, your Majesty. I have been!" ...and there's a part of her that's a little eager to show how much she's already learned. First thing's first, though, and she's going to get her shoes changed. Not about to disobey the man in charge.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
One of the other gym doors gets hauled open and Janet van Dyne walks in, face buried in some paperwork. Her ever-present assistant is hustling along in her wake so she doesn't have to do anything as pedestrian as opening doors for herself.

"Hey T," she calls, still looking at her paperwork. "I've got a bone to pick with you. Your merchandise sales are down eight percent this quarter. We've got to get you more public exposure before the entire brand monetization takes a hit." She stops just at the edge of the workout mat and looks up at him expectantly, ignoring the others in the room.

Janet wears a single-piece turtleneck dress in ivory with a miniskirt drop and a pair of grey thigh-high heeled boots. Naturaly, it's all from her design studio. "I want to get you on a late show this week, so pick a charity project or something you want to bump and I'll have my people work out the details with yours," she bids him. "It's either that or I have to feed the tabloids something juicy."

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa smiles and nods to her again, "I know I have told you to call me T'Challa by now." he notes but his grin gives him away as being a bit as he nods to the others around him he speaks in Xhosa in on quick word... Rest. And the others look tired as his work-outs could rival Steves as he took it very seriously though he did visably relax a little as he addresses Marie. "The shoes are for form.. If your foot is off." he points to the shoe, "they will throw you off balance." he smiles a bit at this as she does it anyway without him explainng just taking it easy as this wasn't one of 'his warriors' though apperently he had not told Okoye this as her serssions so far have been much harder.

He nods to her, "Do you streches as you will be moving a lot and a pulled muscle will help no-one." As he speaks he nods to the people who were just fighting him streching also, "Warm up and Cool down... We have the time so use it well." he says before turning to look at who is coming in he sighs a bit, "Miss Dyne I tell you I do not know this team.." he shakes his head "I pitty the fool that watches that. though his accent is still there the impression is getting there as he smiles a bit at his joke. He puts his sticks together, and hands them off as he crouches, rolling forward he lifts with his hand into a one-hand stand he loooks at her as he does one lift to strech the arm out before moving to the other one. There is only light stress in his words, "I did that job with Miss. Clea the other day." he moves his feet forward to make an L with his body still in the Handstand shifting his balance back to counter the weight, the stress in his voice a little higher as this put more on his one arm, "Please no late shows... That man with the chin worries me." and he shakes his head "Though there is a homeless shelter I know about for a charity project."

Straightining out again he looks at Marie with a smile as he then tucks his head rolling forward back on his feet. "Though if you can find something Juicy about me I am willing to face it anytime." and chuckles a little checking Maries progress.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Janet van Dyne is the kind of face most people could recognize. Marie? Not so much. It's entirely possible that the women saw one another around the Hellfire Club - Marie does tarot readings there - though her attire there is more theatrical and fitting of her work. Today, she could be just any girl. The French girl was also there for a very specific reason, and good at keeping her eyes on the prize so to speak.

"Of course, T'Challa." she replies with a bow of her head, accent thick as ever. "My apologies, I thought it would be wise to err towards formality when, 'not in my house'." she replies with a little smile. Shoes are changed, a black scrunchie is pulled out of her pocket to pull her hair back into a ponytail, and she's going to start working on those stretches. Between dancing and her training at Xavier's, the redheaded girl is certainly rather flexible... and even at that, she's trying her best to test her limits further. The best stretches are the ones that feel a little uncomfortable when you're doing it, though.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Are you kidding?" Janet looks down at her phone at T'challa's dare and thumbs through some scrolls. "Tabloid Insider speculates you're sleeping with at least four team members. Five if you include some rumors floating around on Grindr," she says. "Here are some other good ones: you're a scam artist from LA named Terry Mates, you're a corrupt African warlord masquerading as a prince, and this one opines that you have a hundred unclaimed babies from now-disgraced Dora Milaje warriors," she informs him. "That last one's pretty good actually, we could donate a bunch of money to a fertility clinic in Black neighborhood and leak it to the tabloids. Boom, lots of funding for unwed mothers, free media exposure for us."

It's only then that Janet notices Marie, and she gives the girl an assessing once-over that is uncomfortably shrewd. "I know you. You're the tarot girl from the Hellfire Club," she informs Marie. "I thought you were part of their entertainment group. How'd you get in here?" Without waiting for a response, she looks at T'challa and wiggles a thumb at Marie. "How did she get in here?"

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa nods, and puts a hand out for his sticks again, and as one of the guard brings one to him they also bring a pair to Marie, T'Challa starts, "Before you learn how to use a spear you must learn how to use both hands. Repeat." and he takes a half step forward slowly, and swings one stick down as he brings the other to a pose that would look like it is blocking the exact angle that you saw the strikes coming in earlier. He moves very slow as he displays the first move to her, "It is two strikes.. One high.." he moves the stick in one hand, "And the other against their attack.." and moves the other "There is no only defense everything is a strike." he explains as there had been fights where people have dropped their weapon because he hit their strike in the right spot, and so it was important to point out.

He nods to one of his guards, and they come out and show another strike this one low with a block high though it was slow again to show as it matches T'Challa's moves, only opposite. They then do it fast, and there is a loud.. "Crack!" as the sticks hit. "One.. sound.. Correct." he then has her doing it again, and hits low first then high with a "Crack Crack!" as he smiles, "Two is wrong.,, But this takes time. Get the form down first then worry about timing." and smiles a bit at her with a nod.

He turns to look over at Janet, as he stands with a nod, "I have no time for lies. Besides I do not think it is thier buisness how I sharpen my claws." though perhaps he might of misunderstood for a grinder not knowing the App. "Perhaps I should visit them though if they are talking bad about my people." he makes a fist and smiles. "I care not what they say about me, but my Dora Milaje..." he falls to silence as he is just getting a bit upset at this. Though he looks over at Marie, and calms down a bit as he did not want to show him losing his temper infront of a student.

When she asks about Marie, "I told her about the.. NDA? And what I was told is the proper papers." he looks at Okoye, and nods, as she brings out a folder with several papers inside. "She is my new trainiee.. After talking with Diana how she opened the culture to be shared I thought I should do the same as times are changing." he smiles a bit, and checks that Marie is in the right form, and taps her back leg a bit with the stick though llightly. "More weight here.. keep your center moving." and then turns to look over at Janet. "She reminds me of Shuri.. Though before she left her shell." and chuckles a bit with a shrug, "If there is trouble then I will take responsiblity for it." he honestly adds as he of course did not want to push off any responsibility if there was a mistake it was his,

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
The reading of the tabloids is enough to bring some color to Marie's cheeks, without turning to look at either of the pair. Making eye contact feels like it would be mostly impossible... even if Jenny had informed her that (most) of the stories in the tabloids weren't true. Most of them.

Then, Janet's addressing her -- of course, it would be when she's already tongue-tied! "I-I..." Slightly panicked looks are shot, first towards Okoye, and then towards T'Challa, wordlessly hoping that one of them can explain while she regains her composure.

Mercifully for her, T'Challa provides that relief and she lets out a brief sigh of relief. She does, however, take a moment to introduce herself, curtseying again. "Oui, Madame van Dyne, as T'Challa said. My name is Marie-Ange Colbert, and I will, of course, maintain the strictest of confidentiality." she promises; any failure by her would make T'Challa look bad, and she's not about to put the King in that position. Beyond being grateful for the opportunity she's getting, for a lowly one like her to embarrass a VIP of the Hellfire Club? She's well aware that could come back on her in multiple ways.

That said, though, she turns her attention back to the King, and the sticks being brought to her. T'Challa's explanation gets a nod of understanding -- she's tried fighting with two swords, before, though the results have at best been mixed. "Everything is a strike... oui." It's different from her usual attempts at fighting. Normally when forced into melee, she tried to work defensively. Some of that shows well enough in her moves; she doesn't commit as forcefully as she should to the blows, afraid of overextending and losing her balance. The timing's imperfect, but the general /motion/ is good. Marie is a pro at following instructions, and doesn't lack when it comes to effort!

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet waits (impatiently) for a few beats as T'challa and Marie work through the first flow routine. One gets the impression such patience is a challenge for her.

"Bonjour Marie, bienvenue au manoir," she bids the girl in relatively well-expressed French. "But it's not me you have to convince. I don't do security. Natasha does," she explains to Marie and T'challa. "She's the one with the black head bags. Other than that, she's pretty easygoing."

"Me on the other hand, I'm the one who has to find a way to pay for this place," Janet clarifies, looking at Marie. "So if you do anything to hurt the brand, you'll be dealing with me. And I'm nowhere near as nice as she is." She winks at Marie in a way that fails to completely detract from the implied threat, and looks back at T'challa. "Sorry, T, tabloids are part of the American zeitgeist," she says with a fatalistic shrug. "Trust me, having 'a talk' with them can make things way worse. There are smarter ways to handle tabloid slime."

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa see's her trying. and not doing too bad as he nods, "Your balance is good, but.. stop." he sighs, and moves infront of her as he takes the stance that is the opposite as was shown earlier. "I know strength might not be your specialty, but you can do better then that." he smiles a bit as he puts the stick in the low attack position. "Hit it here." he points to actually rather near his hand. "Knock it out of my hand." he adds without any doubt in his mind. If she tries, she would find his grip is quite strong as it is going to take her hitting the stick with as much force as she could muster which wasn't going to happen at a slow pace. "If you are not hitting that hard everytime it is not correct.. Show me your training... remember the water there is a reason." and holds it there for her to try again as many times as she needs though he would point out if her form slips even just a little bit.

He chuckles watching her he considers. "I am not asking for anger... I am asking for trust." with a nod he looks at the stick in his hand, "I trust that you will not hit me on purpose, I need you to trust me that you can do this." he looks at the stick in his hand, "Now hit it..." he says not even looking this time as he put his faith in she would do it properly.

"Does she know yet?" a slight doubt in his voice as he knew Nat, heck he liked Nat, but when it came to security she was strickest on the ones she cared about, and she cared for this team though she would never admit it. T'Challa is sure she would be fair, but he did hope she didn't pull out the sodium pentothal on his guest as she had ways of getting answers. "I know it is hard to open up.. It is hard for me to show an outsider our ways too. But this one has impressed on me the need to even though she did not mean to." he chuckles a little bit, and turns to Janet, "And if she misbehaves for the brand or otherwise I will clean up my own mess." he adds a bit coldly as he considers the man he trusted that betrayed him. He looks at Marie, "Do not make me throw you off a cliff okay?" and smiles hoping his judgement was not so bad to do it twice.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Merci beaucoup, Madame!" is the reply to the welcome in her native tongue, Janet winning herself a few points with Marie for the language's use. It helps to ease some of the tension. She keeps her replies short but respectful, and between sequence repetitions. It's a balancing act for the creature of manners. Trying to please both of the VIPs, one who's given her a unique chance while the other apparantly owns the place that she's a guest in! Not the easiest thing to do, though it's a little easier if she focuses on T'Challa's instructions.

"I... oui, T'Challa. I believe I can." Swing the weapon harder, that is. Slender fingers take a tighter grip on the sticks. "I trust you, T'Challa. You would not have asked me if you did not believe I could benefit." she agrees; there were some perks to being a natural follower like Marie is. Words are believed with a passion that couldn't have come from within. It's easier to inspire someone like her. Stick goes up, and she swings it back down with a grunt. This time, the force is there, but her aim is a little skewed, hitting the stick but further than indictated.

Striking with full power, though, is harder to control -- especially if you're not used to it! More practice will improve her aim, and she's committed to doing it. "Like that?"

...of course, /then/ the threats start coming in and she looks back and forth between the pair. It's hard to tell with as pale as she is, but a little color actually drains from her features. "Neither of you will regret this, I promise." Another strike. Determined. "If there are any actions you wish for me to avoid, or pursue, please inform me." A nod. "...I would also prefer not to be thrown off a cliff."

Though, there's something in her voice that's almost... accepting of the possibility, but that's Marie. If it's her fate to be flung to her death? Well, that's just the way her story was written!

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet rolls her eyes theatrically. "/Implied/ threats, T, /implied/ threats," she rebukes him, and flexes her fingers at Marie in a vaguely reassuring manner. "Don't take him literally," she reassures the French girl. "Look, all you have to do is not talk about us. It's literally that easy. Don't get on Twitter to announce you got to hang out with the Avengers, don't get on Instagram with pictures of the mansion's interior," she clarifies. "There's a whole security brief about this. Somewhere. I think our building security has it. I've never seen it," she admits. "But it's supposed to lay out the cardinal does and don'ts," she reassures Marie.

Janet shifts her gaze back to T'challa. "See this is why you should just focus on being friendly and inviting. You and Steve do that just fine. Let Okoye intimidate people. A) it's her job, and B) she's really good at it."

Janet looks over at a scowling Okoye, then back to the others, and gestures at the warrior. "See? Like that. She doesn't even have to try."

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa smiles as maybe he lets go, or maybe she knocks it out of his hand either way as the weapon clangs to the floor he stops looking at her. "You are right I apologize.. I should not enter with the expectation of betayal. It has happened once with family and it... made it difficult to not think it was in everyone, but that is on me." He reaches over to pick up the stick, and nods, "Keep doing that.. everything is a hit and now you know what it feels like. Do that everytime, and you will do well with strikes."

He moves to show a few more stances including the counter to the first one he showed you, and goes through them again a few times each to make sure she gets it, and then takes a step back as Okoye moves up with a couple of sticks. "It will take some time, but the next time I come by the school I will bring a Wing Chun dummy with me, and show you how you can practice even without us."

Turning now to Janet he sighs, "Of course, I apologize.. I might throw someone off a cliff next time?" and smiles at her as he was obviously kidding now. He does not interupt her talking to Marie as it was important, but he does speak up afterward, "I will try to be friendly, but I don't think you know Okoye she isn't that bad."

Behind him Okoye isn't messing around as she just says "First Form." and is swinging down a stick already, though she won't hit her she was way more serious and less explaining. T'Challa is pointing to her right when this is happening as he just has to sigh as maybe Janet was a bit more right then he wanted to admit.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Janet's words? They take a lot of the worry of Marie's shoulders. In fact, she even lets out a laugh, shaking her head. "Oh... non, non, non. I do not have the twitters, or the instagrams." Her view? Her voice isn't important enough that anyone would want to listen to it, and a background check would prove her statement. "I will keep those guidelines in mind, though -- you know I work for the Hellfire Club, I am well-acquainted with, how you say... 'how to keep my mouth shut'."

Not that the generally shy girl is the most talkative one out there anyways.

T'Challa's explanation of past betrayal gets a gentle smile from Marie, though. "I... it is not my place to speak, T'Challa, but I understand that a family that turns their back on you can be one of the most hurtful things in life. I am sorry you have to go through such a thing." Marie's parents didn't want her, after all. It's one of the chief reasons she's fought as hard to stay in America as she has. Always finding something or other that would extend her time here and keep her from having to return. "...and merci, how much will I owe you?" Generousity /towards/ her is still a bit of a strange concept for the girl.

Then she's back to training, this time with Okoye. Her strikes are getting better. The effort is there -- she trusts Okoye much like she trusts T'Challa, and with their faith in her? It goes a long way. Obviously, still being somewhat frail of physique, there's only so strong that her blows can get, but at least the form is improving.

T'Challa has posed:
T'CHalla looks at her and her form with a nod though he grins as he speaks up, "We will have to also get some real food in you. So skinny like a stick." he nods to Okoye, "Proper diet and excersise might be good, but that is not something I know well." he shrugs at this maybe he might ask some of the cooks back home about it. He listens to her and smiles a bit. "Such things make us stronger, as long as it does not make us close off." he pauses looking down, and then back up with a grin, "And you owe me nothing for it as I hardly get to buy things for others anymore."

He sighs a bit as he talks Okoye is pressing the attack as of course there is still a "Clang Clang" the timing being hard to get at start. She is shifting forms, as she says "Form Two." Moving to a different attack which is no surprise was the matching form for it again. As she continues this Okoye would drill in the forms, and T'Challa's watching eye would pick up any misplacements or lighter hits and he would also watch to see how long she could go like this,

"If you learn the form when you grow bigger the strength will come natrually." he looks at her "And this is only to teach you how to use both hands. When you use a spear if you control both hands it will give you better control, and mobility." he chuckles a bit, "At that point how you move will give you strength.. Do not worry it will show results if you keep at it."

So the training goes on, as Janet makes her way out, and then when Marie gets out of stanima, and some streching she too would be returned with T'Challas promise of talking again soon. She also has the homework to learn the forms and how to practice so when they meet up again she will be able to use the time to its best.