X-Men: Halo and Shawn

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Following Tory's suggestion that Shawn get to know more of the students at the academy, Shawn and Halo were conspired to meet. This was also a plan of Tory's to help Halo try and socialise.

With the snows settling deeper on the grounds, the two were to meet in the warmth and comfort of the den, only mid-afternoon. The fire crackled invitingly while snowflakes rose up the windows.

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January 20th

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Shawn came in, finding himself the first to arrive. His sister had organised this meeting, and he'd done it as a favour to her. While he'd gotten to know a few of the others, he hadn't made any firm friends. The person he was meeting was called Halo, and that was all he knew about them. His thoughts strayed to the video game franchise of the same name and he smirked. "Maybe they're eight feet tall and part machine," he muttered to himself before heading to the fire and playing with it with one of the provided cast iron pokers.

Not a second prior to or past the time she was instructed to arrive at this meeting, Halo appeared in the doorway of the Den, and it took little effort for her to zero-in on Shawn, who seemed to be engrossed in playing with the fire and talking to himself. She wasn't eight feet tall, but she was easy over six feet, especially with her well-worn army boots on her feet. Trying to take advantage of the boy's preoccupation, Halo, who looked her usual, apathetic self, walked quietly into the room and selected a seat at one of the tables, choosing the formality of a straight-backed chair with a table in between as a buffer, although she did not yet actually sit. If, perchance, he hadn't noticed her yet, perhaps the smack of her spiral notebook, which she carried nowadays to record the homework Tory gave her during their sessions, landing upon the furniture's polished wooden surface as she tossed it carelessly down heralded her arrival. She said nothing, but the cool stare of her coppery eyes perhaps spoke volumes as to her disinterest in being there.

You have got to be fucking kidding me, Shawn thought when he turned at the sound of the notepad landing on the table. He replaced the poker while he contemplated Tory's decision to bring these two together - after all, it was Halo who had made Shawn so self-conscious on his first day at the mansion with her stares. Still, he'd grown in the few weeks he'd been at the academy, and he knew his mutation wasn't as grim as some of the others. "I'm Shawn, Shawn Deveau," he said approaching Halo. "My sister wanted us to meet."

'Shawn Deveau,' Halo succinctly pronounced while giving him a thorough once-over, not unlike the first time they'd met. Starting at his face, her eyes swept down all the way to his feet and then back up again. 'Tory is your sister,' she repeated, stating it as a fact, rather than it being a question or being remotely surprised by this tidbit. Her gaze lingered on the other student before the girl inhaled deeply and flipped the notebook open. She then exhaled what could be perceived as a lengthy sigh as she leafed-through a few pages until she got to the first unused sheet. After plucking a pen from the breast pocket of her neatly-pressed cream-colored men's button-down oxford shirt, Halo finally sat down, looking all business. 'Well, you already know my name, so what's the next topic of discussion?' she asked drily, with nary a drop of sarcasm.

Shawn's eyes were drawn to the notepad - what was that for? "Uuuh so should I just call you Halo?" he asked before moving to a chair not too far from the girl. Realising that the previous tidbit wasn't exactly sterling conversation, he added, "Yeah, I'm Tory's little brother. When our parents kicked me out I came here to find her, since she was the only person I thought I could turn to." Great, now tell her about the time you were caught trying to bypass the child-lock on the internet. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath - already this wasn't going well. "So, how'd you get the name Halo? Is it something to do with your powers?"

Arching one inky eyebrow as if to ask Yes?, Halo regarded Shawn as he looked to the notebook, and she clicked her pen suddenly so the nib was exposed. Shawn might find-- very quickly-- that she didn't simply or willingly offer information about herself. She also didn't immediately answer his question about her name, choosing first to write 1/20; 3:00 PM at the top of the clean page. She looked back up to him, leveling her gaze on the boy as he spoke. A few beats after he was through, she said, 'Yes, call me Halo. The name is in reference to my power, and I prefer it to my given name.' She paused, deeming that sufficient explanation, then pursed her lips and wrote something down after bullet-pointing it. 'Your parents kicked you out of the house?' she inquired flatly, her eyes flitting back to Shawn, pen poised over the paper.

"Yeah, our parents are anti-mutant," Shawn said rather simply. He didn't want to talk about his family to someone who was practically a stranger, but it might be a conversation starter. "A few years ago they kicked out Tory when her mutation surfaced, and the same thing happened to me when this started growing," he continued, tapping some of the hard growth on the back of one of his hands. "I've been thinking that Bug might be a fitting mutant name for me - the stuff seems similar to the shells of some insects, and I won't ever be very big." Halo sounded much cooler in comparison. "What about your parents, if you don't mind me asking? What's their stance on mutants?"

As her face was its usual, blank mask, there was little that resembled interest, save for her intensely focused eyes, but there was also nothing remotely judgmental, either, as Halo sat there and listened as Shawn spoke. Moving only her eyes for a second when Shawn drew attention to the chitin on his arm; once he was through speaking, again Halo remained silent for a few seconds before she began to talk. 'I don't know what my parents think,' the young woman said quietly but without sentimentality, and she left it at that; it wasn't the entirety of the explanation, but it was still the truth. Pausing once more, Halo looked down at what she's written. Not much. Tory would likely be unsatisfied with this exchange. Tapping her pen twice on the tabletop, the girl pondered what else she could possibly add to the conversation without being too forthright about herself. After a few moments, she inquired, 'Do you think your mutation is exchanging an exoskeleton for your internal one?'

"I..." Shawn began. Was it? "I've never thought of that," he said with a tone of wonder. "I've never really talked about my mutation with anyone before. Only really about how it broke my family." Mentioning them made him realise that Halo's comment probably come meant hers weren't around any more. Time to change the subject. "What's with the notepad?" he asked gesturing at the jotter. "Am I homework?"

When Shawn replied to the question regarding his power, Halo watched his reaction carefully, and she decided to keep her further inquiries involving the development of antennae and pincers to herself for the moment. She also shifted slightly in her chair when he mentioned his family yet again-- at least three times in the last few minutes. Allowing the usual two-or-three second buffer of silence prior to speaking, Halo eventually and calmly remarked, 'With Tory, everything and anything can be homework.' What she didn't add was this wasn't something she wasn't used to, as her previous psychologist had her perform similar assignments. She wondered briefly if Tory treated Shawn like her patient. 'Are you reporting back to her after this meeting?' she then asked as simply if she were asking about the weather.

Shawn's eyes widened in surprise at the question. "Report to Tory? No! I mean, if she asks how today went then maybe." He shook his head. "This isn't meant to be some sort of assignment for me - it's partly a favour for my sister, but it's also for me. I need to get to know people here. I need to integrate myself with the academy. We figured making some friends might make that easier." He sat back, shaking his head. "Not that I make it easy for myself," he muttered to himself. Looking back at Halo, Shawn gestured at the tall girl. "I bet you have no shortage of friends here."

Used to having people talk at her while she watched and sedately listened, Halo sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest as Shawn revealed a brief peek into his psyche. Unlike herself, he seemed a little more open to the idea of sharing, at least at this moment. She had no reason to take his word that he wouldn't be reporting on her to his sister, but she was partly mollified by his seemingly genuine reaction and response. It seemed strange to her that he claimed to have little in the way of friends-- he certainly came across as what most people deemed a 'friendly' enough individual. 'I think there are a lot of people in the mansion looking for friends,' she stated. In the least, people here at the school tried to engage her in conversation, and she'd been invited to a couple activities, even if she declined said invitations. Halo paused, unfolded her arms and leaned over to jot something down, conveniently failing to 'hear' or respond to his muttered words. 'I don't see why people would avoid being friends with you,' she added, glanced over at him and quite casually finished, 'Unless you're doing something wrong,' before just as causally looking back down to her pad of paper to finish what she was writing.

"It's probably a case of anxiety," Shawn responded honestly. With another shake off his head he changed tactics. "What do you spend your time here doing? Most of the other students I've met fill their time with hobbies - are you similar in that way?" He hoped that she'd respond with more than a single sentence.

'Anxiety,' Halo repeated, the concept, thanks to her sturdy emotional armor, all but foreign to her these days. She glanced down at her notebook, looking like she was studying what she'd written thus far. Of course, if was only a few lines, so it wasn't like she was going to have any sort of revelation, so it was likely a stalling tactic on her part since Shawn had asked what her hobbies were. 'I... read.' And she paused again, slowly drawing her attention from the paper up toward Shawn, although when she looked at him, it was more like she was fixed on a spot just past his face. 'I go out driving. I practice my powers.' Riveting. She didn't add by myself, but it was likely implied by her dour personality and thanks to the fact that she hadn't admitted to having much in the way, if any, friends. Then, more out of social custom more than her curiosity, she added, 'What do you do, other than try to make friends?'

Shawn shrugged. Discussing hobbies suddenly struck him as a totally banal subject. "I game a little bit. I used to enjoy playing baseball. I shoot." It sounded even lamer than it was. "I read as well. To be brutally honest," he said with a smirk, "this is the longest time I've sat and talked with someone for a loooong time." A hand unconsciously ran through his hair and ge let out an exhausted sigh. His eyes strayed to Halo's notebook - it almost seemed as though it was a sort of shield she was using between the two of them. He wondered what would happen if he threw it into the fire. "What would happen?" he murmured without realising.

While he didn't try digging any deeper, Halo wasn't exactly put at ease by the looks of Shawn's expression, the flippancy of his words and his body language in general. She sat straight up and looked evenly at him, her smooth, coffee-colored brow wrinkling slightly as her expressive eyebrows pushed toward one another. 'This isn't where I want to be, either,' she started, setting her pen aside to fold her hands, neatly resting them on the notebook. She didn't sound antagonistic, but she sounded far from friendly or even conspiratorial. She spoke her words precisely and like they were fact. 'If I, more or less, do what Tory asks me to, my life here is easier. Somehow I think it might be the same sort of situation for you.' It wasn't unlike certain survival techniques she used while at the mercy of her various and sundry foster parents. The only response to his muttered words were for her to tilt her head slightly to one side, and her gaze never left his face.

Shawn surprised himself at his sudden clenching of his fists. "I'm not afraid of anyone, especially not my sister," he whispered, leaning forwards. "You got a problem being here? There's the door," he said with a flick of his head towards the exit. "I'll report to Tory that we had our session and that you were perfect." He could feel his cheeks getting warm as his cheeks flushed - he didn't do angry well.

'You already said you don't report to Tory, so you either lied, or... you're trying to... frighten me, or something' Halo concluded, as if she hadn't noticed Shawn's little flare of anger, 'Maybe...you have difficulty making friends because you're too busy doing favors like this for Tory.' She appeared to be the epitome of serenity, so it was likely unclear if she was baiting him for a reaction; in actuality, it was, to her, a logical conclusion. 'And I never said you were afraid of her, but why is it you do favors for her? To win her... favor?' She paused, then added in her even, droning voice, 'Although, it does seem a little weird for the brother of the school counselor to admit to having such anxiety problems.'

Shawn was dumbfounded - Halo's analysis of each of his statements caused his anger to fizzle out. With a deep breath and a modicum of his control back he tried to answer everything. "I didn't lie - this isn't something that has to go beyond this room. As for why I do favours for my sister, she helped me out when I arrived - she clothed me, gave me everything I could possibly need. And also it's kinda what you do for family; you help them." On the final point, he couldn't really find a way to respond to it, so he let it be. "Probably why I have trouble making friends is outbursts like that." He looked Halo in the eyes. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me, and yeah I suppose I was trying to frighten you." He couldn't help but smirk. "Did it work?"

Halo quirked an eyebrow. Having grown-up in the foster system, the girl had developed a figurative shell, as was more than evident in her current personality and how she dealt with everyday life. She took a long, deep breath, exhaled slowly before replying with a question of her own, 'Would it make you feel better if you felt like you scared me? You're not particularly intimidating.' She swept her gaze downward and then back up to his face, as if sizing him up. 'Unless you have pincers hidden somewhere, or something.'

"Good question," Shawn stalled as he leaned back and considered the counter-question. "No," he admitted. "While it could be amusing to have people fear me, I think friendship is better founded on trust and kindness." He watched Halo as he talked, surprised at what the girl was managing to draw out of him. "You strike me as an incredibly intelligent person. You seem to think a lot more than some of the others round here."

Keeping her attention locked on Shawn during his first couple of comments, Halo suddenly let her eyes drop as she sat back in her chair and took her arms off of the tabletop so she couple write something down. By the time she was shown any sort of consistent trust or kindness, it was really too late. She recognized the qualities, but didn't really respond to them, it seemed. 'Other than serving the skewed needs of megalomaniacs and despots, being feared for the sake of being feared would probably really just be lonely.' The compliment was either ignored or went over her head, although, considering her observant nature, it was more than likely the former. Instead, she brusquely replied, 'I suppose thinking's one of my hobbies, too,' as she dotted a period and continued scribbling something, the nib of the pen scratching quite audibly over the paper.

With a sigh, Shawn got up and went to the fireplace. He added a log to the already well fuelled flames. "Intellectual discussions might be more stimulating for you." He turned round to face Halo and crossed his arms to relax better. "You said you enjoy reading. What's your favourite book?"

'If you add too much, you can smother it,'Halo quietly commented as she watched Shawn stoke the fire. In stark contrast to her cold demeanor, her skin, eyes and hair softly and preternaturally reflected the warm light as the flames flared. To his first comment, she offered only one of her trademarked stares. No shrug, no other indication or acknowledgement that he heard what he said. She allowed a seconds-long silence before she spoke again. 'I don't have a favorite book, but I prefer non-fiction. It doesn't really matter what the subject is,' she hesitantly stated, as if she were uncertain that she wanted to let go of that information. Dropping her eyes from Shawn to her notebook, she moved her pen as if to write something, but changed her mind. Instead she simply looked at what she'd written and poked the tip of the pen down next to one of the lines. Thinking that is was easier to change the subject and divert attention from herself with Shawn more so than his older sister, she said, 'You... shoot. Animals?' He could shoot photos or crossbows for all she knew, so it seemed like a safe guess.

Shawn nodded. "I do. But I don't simply hunt for sport. I appreciate what I take." He returned to his seat and spread his hands out as he explained his ethos behind hunting. "So much has gone into a creature that, when I kill it, the only logical thing is to honour what that animal is, be it the meat, pelt or bones. Far too many hunters place stock on bagging a buck simply to display it as a trophy. The better prize from a deer is an excellent venison steak." He hoped he didn't sound callous and that his ethics behind his actions were understandable to Halo.

Listening to Shawn, Halo kept her attention on him until he finished, at which time she glanced downward, finally jotting a couple of words onto the paper. 'There's no need to rationalize your pastime to me,' the young woman said with clinical coolness before her eyes shifted up to Shawn. 'But people get touchy about the subject, so maybe it should be one of the first things you tell others about yourself. If... you're looking for friends,' she then uttered off-handedly in addition. Although she was, of course, going to keep it to herself for the time-being, Halo'd grown-up in Wyoming, where big game and trophy hunters abounded, including, periodically, within the families with whom she'd stayed.

"I thought you might understand," Shawn, trying not to let his relief show. "You don't reveal much about yourself, but you also don't seem judgmental." He smiled. "I'm actually enjoying talking with you."

Halo didn't bother saying anything about her lack of judgmental attitude stemmed from the fact that she didn't let herself care about what she thought about others, although her eyes widened slightly but perceptibly at Shawn's admission that he liked talking to her. Taking a deep, quiet breath, she averted her eyes to some point past the other student, then exhaled just as gradually before looking back to him. She shrugged ever-so-slightly. She was used to people talking at her, and having stilted conversations with her therapists, but she wasn't accustomed to people saying they enjoyed talking with her. 'Your sister will be happy,' she finally said after several beats.

"I'm sure she will," Shawn said with a shrug. "But it's not something she needs to know. This is something for me." He paused before standing and heading towards the windows, pulling a crumpled pack of cigarettes from a pocket. "You mind if I smoke? I won't if it bothers you. You can have one if you want," he added, proffering the packet in her direction.

'Involuntary smoke is just as bad, if not more so, than just smoking,' Halo stated, sounding like the most boring Surgeon General warning ever. She then followed it up with the observation, 'Aren't you a little young to have a habit like that?' Halo was in fifth grade when she left the public school system, and there were some local, self-proclaimed badasses in middle school who'd manage to filch cigarettes from their parents and make a show of puffing away on the outlying perimeter of the local playground. On top of her general distaste for smoking, Halo had very bad memories when it came to the smoldering red ends of cigarettes and cigars, the evidence of which what primarily on her torso and back. Besides, it was difficult for her to estimate the smallish, scrawny boy's age just by looking at him.

Shawn pocketed the pack again and tried to not look ashamed. "Sorry, as I said I'd only smoke if you were okay with it," he said as he went back to his chair. "I suppose I am young to smoke, but I knew kids back home younger than me on 20-a-day. I only smoke occasionally. I started on the journey up here." He felt odd, trying to rationalise his habit to this practical stranger. However, he found words flowing from his lips around her. Was it nerves, or was her attitude conducive to his opening up? He needed to find something to interest her. "What do you hope to get out of your time here at the academy?"

A calm, even stare was all the reply that Halo initially had to offer, then she shrugged slightly, as if to say It's no big deal. 'There are faster ways to kill yourself,' she stated, pulling no punches on her opinion on such a vice. The young woman stared at Shawn a moment longer when he asked about her time at the school, and then her eyes suddenly cut away. She pursed her full lips, looking like she'd just bitten into a lemon for a few seconds. Finally, she relinquished a small amount of information, 'I am working on advancing my power,' she paused, and it, perhaps, seemed like she wasn't going to continue for a moment, '... and making it more useful. That's what this place is for, isn't it?'

Shawn considered the rhetorical question for a moment. "I think," he hesitated an idea, "I think that the academy means something different for everyone. For you, it's a place to develop your power. For me, it's a new home." He looked into the fireplace and let his mind consider what the Xavier Mansion meant to all the various residents. "Perhaps it's a haven for those suffering mutant persecution. Others might see it as a target." His face formed a frown on the last consideration.

Truthfully, Halo was legally required to attend Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters, but Shawn didn't need to know that. Even if she weren't, she didn't have anywhere else to go, and as she presumed, like a number of the other students living at the school. 'A target? All this place seems to be is another foster home or orphanage, just with mutants. There's no clear-cut hierarchy of governance, just a bunch of teens and twenty-somethings with questionable qualifications, and some... omniscient artificial intelligence running the building itself.' Despite a few weeks of therapy, she still didn't improve upon her opinion of the school, even though Dr. Nowak, prior to his death, had spoken highly of the institution. Obviously, it had changed when they lost Xavier and his crew, but Halo had no experience from that era of the school.

"Exactly! Young mutants and a highly advanced A.I.!" Shawn exclaimed after Halo's last sentence. "Those make this place a target. I know a little about the days of Magneto and how he looked to recruit mutants of our age to be his superhuman terrorists - someone will want to do something like that again." He was trying not to be excited at the idea. "As for Danger, if any mastermind found out about her they'd do anything to get their hands on her." He shook his head. "Or I'm letting my imagination get away with me."

A quirked eyebrow and a slightly cocked head met Shawn's apparent enthusiasm at the concept of the school being overrun by some fanatical faction. 'A few weeks ago, on the night of the day I arrived, there was an intruder and the school was on lockdown. Two students died and three were critically wounded. Didn't your sister tell you that?' There was no use sugar-coating it, not that Halo ever did such a thing. 'Your... imagination... isn't too far-off from reality.' She cocked her head in the other direction, relaxed her brow, and waited to see what his response to that would be.

Shawn was again lost for words. Something like that had happened? People had died? "She didn't tell me," he said quietly. Another frown creased his chitin-plated brow. "But her insistence that I practiced my shooting now makes sense." He focussed back to Halo. "I'm sorry if my words upset you. Were you hurt in the attack? Any of your friends?"

Halo didn't look or sound upset, and she spoke of this unfortunate incident as if she were simply talking about the weather. 'I didn't know anyone who was hurt,' she stated. 'Most of us were inside the Danger Room at the time. We had just found out the entire staff of the school, including Professor Xavier, were gone,' she added with her typical bluntness. The girl shrugged a tiny bit, glanced down at her notebook and decided to close it. Whatever homework she had, she could finish later in her room. Besides, she was unsure exactly how much of the current conversation, if any, she wanted to share with her counselor. 'It's surprising she hadn't mentioned that,' she then said, without sounded at all like she were actually surprised.

"She tries to look after her little brother, even protecting him from scary truths, it seems," Shawn said with a sigh. "I'll talk to her about it sometime." He suddenly smiled at Halo. "I'm glad to hear you were okay during that incident," he said sincerely. He truly meant it - he couldn't imagine wanting anyone to be hurt in such an assault.

'Seems like you could use a little more edification rather than protection.' Aside from looking as solemn as she usually did, Halo seemed otherwise unaffected by the gravity of the conversation they were having. She capped her pen, slid it back into her shirt pocket, then let her shimmery eyes wander for a moment: Down at the table, up at the ceiling, and before they eventually found their way back to Shawn. 'Thanks,' she said with a starkness that might lea one to believe that most people didn't say those sort of things to her, thus she certainly didn't know how she was expected to reply. 'I guess it could have been worse, though.'

Shawn found Halo's eye contact unsettling - something told him she didn't often get as personal as this. He realised he had her off-guard. How do people not talk to her like this? he thought. He decided he didn't like breaking through her shell; this was a glimpse at what she tried to hide from everyone. But how did he change his tack at this stage? Could he? Did he really want to lose this opportunity to get to know a fellow student? He couldn't decide, and the silence between them was growing. "I can't imagine how it must have been like," he finally said. "I'd hope I could be counted on to make a stand when the time comes."

'There was already a commotion because the school was on lockdown,' Halo calmly said, then paused, trying to recollect the events of that evening. 'We were told to report to the Danger Room, only to find-out that the entire administrative staff was, for all intents and purposes, deceased. Most of the student body were sitting ducks when the intruder arrived.' Her eyes focused on nothing in particular as she droned on about what had happened, then she cut her gaze sharply back to Shawn. 'Maybe you better have a little better sense than to rush into a situation like that, since the first responders were the ones hurt or killed.'

Shawn nodded. "I could definitely do with better sense, I know that. But I hope, whatever happens in the future, that I'll do the right thing." Halo's response had effectively cut off any more talk on the topic. He studied her for a moment in a frank, non-judgmental manner before his mouth opened again. "You've got a fairly cool style. Is it expensive getting those kinda clothes?" Her almost gentlemanly attire was sort of fetching, but more than anything, also incredibly endearing in its uniqueness.

Halo hadn't ever really thought much about what she wore. She considered herself fortunate enough to even have clothing at all, especially clothing that actually fit, which hadn't always been the case. The girl was tall at an early age, so her sleeves, shirt bottoms and pant legs of her varied collection of hand-me-downs were frequently at least a little too short. A subconscious memory of this caused her to tug at her left shirt cuff with her right hand-- she'd stretched-out many a sweatshirt and jersey top sleeve in that manner in her younger days-- and she shrugged a bit. 'It's what was provided for me by my guardian the last several years. Mostly, it's from thrift stores, I think. Besides, men's clothing isn't fussy and there are fewer choices, so it's... easy,' she monotonously admitted. 'It's not something I waste much time thinking about.' True to her nature, she was being truthful but blunt, and it was easier to just wear what she was given, although she was probably going to have to go shopping on her own at some point. Trying to follow the structure of what she assumed was polite conversational exchange, Halo added, 'Your clothing is...' and she stopped for a seconds, unsure of how to proceed, and took a long, hard look at Shawn,' ...contemporary.'

I suppose that's the best way to put it, Shawn thought with a small smile. Halo didn't seem to throw opinions round much, just state the facts as they were. He could get used to that. "Do your clothes restrict your abilities in any way? I'm just wondering if you've ever done any Danger Room exercises and whether you had to change for it or not - I've wanted to do some training there but never had a chance to, and don't know much about it." Would Halo see his veiled invitation to train together?

Even though the problem actually lay with her (which she didn't, of course, bother to consider), Halo thought it somewhat peculiar that Shawn didn't seem to stick to one topic for too long. Instead of grilling her aggressively, he was more on a gentle exploration with his inquiries. She found this a little off-putting. The young woman had been waiting for the conversation to come back around to powers. She's skirted the entire truth of the subject earlier, and he had't come right out and asked what it was she did, so, instead of being entirely forthright, she simply explained, 'I have specific garments I have to wear when practicing my powers to a certain degree. And the Danger Room is...' Pausing, her smooth brow crinkled slightly in thought. '...it's a... strange combination of architecture and technology. It's underground. People go there for training and sparring with simulations. You could probably practice shooting there.' If she's made any assumptions about what the other student had just said, she gave no indication whether she understood one way or the other.

Another non-committal answer. Shawn had expected as much - she was easy to figure out after a short time. "Well, if you ever want a sparring partner I know I could do with some practice. And if you wanted to learn a bit about shooting, I'm more than happy to help out with that." There. The invitation had been made. It was up to Halo to see whether it would be rejected or accepted, and Shawn was prepared for either outcome.

Folding her hands and resting them on the table in front of her, Halo kept her attention upon Shawn for several long moments. Her head was slightly cocked and she didn't blink at all until right before she started to speak. Once, twice, she blinked, shrugged ever-so-slightly, then finally said, 'If you want to.' Technically, she was supposed to train for her own betterment, and she had very little interest in actual sparring-- mostly, she was used to being instructed to do either constructive or (more frequently) destructive tasks with her power, rather than learning how to fight or defend herself. Lacking any sort of subtlety, Halo unclasped her hands, pushed her left cuff back with two fingers and glanced down at her watch before looking back up at Shawn. 'When would you want to do that?' she asked crisply, all business, and sat back in her seat to more easily get her phone out of her pants pocket.

Well, well. She'd surprised Shawn. "Now if you're free," he said, slightly stumbling over the words. Her acceptance was the least likely of the two scenarios he'd pictured. He now wondered if he was ready for any sort of combat training - this was quickly over taken by the realisation that he needed any sort of training.

'Right now?' Halo asked, pronouncing the words very clearly, despite the question's rhetorical nature. The young man seemed a little ill-prepared in his response, however, and she'd already, personally, at least, fulfilled her perfunctory meeting that Tory had scheduled for this afternoon. Then, even though she already knew the answer, Halo brought her calendar up on the screen of her phone. The glow from the device highlighted the preternatural shimmer in her dark hair and caramel-colored skin. It was just a ploy to stall for time, of course.

Shawn shrugged. "Well, y'know, if you're free," he said before continuing. "I mean, we'd have to get changed beforehand into something suitable." Was she actually accepting the invitation or had she now decided against it? He considered whether he would actually be any good during training, but he also thought about how Halo might act in sparring. Would she hold back or go all out? He tried to put these questions out of his mind.

Although lying by omission or not telling the entire truth was one thing, it was typically unlike Halo to willfully lie. Her eyes flickered from the screen of her phone to Shawn and then back again, and she allowed a silence of several seconds to pass before she spoke. 'I don't have anything scheduled,' she quietly conceded before drawing her attention to the other student once more. Halo didn't actually need to change-- she always wore her specially-designed garments underneath her street clothes-- but he didn't need to know that. She wasn't exactly sure what type of sparring would be taking place, but from personal experience, she presumed it would be ill-advised to even think about using her powers, anyway. 'Danger Room or Gym?' she inquired, allowing him the choice.

"Danger Room," Shawn said firmly, standing. "I'll see you there." With that he headed for the door, his grin hidden from Halo. If she wasn't going to be his friend, at least she wasn't ditching him. Out of the den, he allowed himself a small giggle, eager to take part in any activity with another student.

'Fine,' Halo responded with her usual lack of enthusiasm. As Shawn hurried to leave, she took her time standing, returning her phone to her pants pocket and gathering her notebook. With one arm, she hugged the spiral-bound pad of paper to her chest, glanced down at her wristwatch, then also took her leave of the den.

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