Abby was on the hunt. She knew the likely places her prey would be. And didn't that just tickle you pink. She was avoided by the other students because of her shark-ness. Because apparently being a shark shifter equated eating people. But, Abby was able to ignore the irony to the situation. She was on the hunt.

Well, looking for someone.

She had heard about them from a few people now. Serena mostly. The older blonde seemed to really like Sam. But she had also heard a few not so nice things. Serena had seemed a little sad when talking about him. Rough couple of years is how she had put it. Drunk was another word used. Not by Serena, but still. Abby had sort of adopted Serena's opinion of not judging someone until she had met them. And she wanted to meet Sam.

So hunting. Kind of. She had gone to Doc to ask if he knew where the X-Men leader would be. Doc seemed to know everything. He had told her to try either the Danger Room, grounds, or Sam's office. She was pretty sure Cafas was using the Danger Room right now, so she figured she'd try his office first. It was one small location compared to the large grounds of the school.

Finding it wasn't too hard. Name plates were awesome. Even if they had to have them on their bedroom doors too. She knocked a little on the door that led to Sam Johnson's office.  She shifted her weight between her feet as she waited.

Sam shifted in his chair uncomfortably, he fell asleep again in his chair. It seemed lately that was one of the few places he could still sleep, his bed didn’t keep the nightmares from coming apparently the chair did and while he was supposed to be doing some paperwork.

Cracking his neck Sam leaned forwards and studied the half empty bottle and the empty glass. Did he pass out or fall asleep? All the same he didn’t have as many dreams when he passed out it was just sleep and sometimes he felt rested. This was not one of those times. The mountain of papers scattered across his desk and a few on the floor. New residents and special request. He yawned and ignored them standing and pouring himself another glass of whiskey. Stepping over his paperwork and towards his secret room entrance he stopped when he heard a knock.

Ice formed in his drink as he yelled, ”Come’on in!” the warm shower and coffee was gonna have to wait.

Abby opened the door and caught the scent of alcohol. So that was probably a correct rumor. She frowned as she entered the office. She closed the door behind her and looked around. There were papers scattered around and the man had a glass of amber liquid in his hand. Probably scotch or whiskey. Her uncle drank those on special occasions. But it wasn't even lunch time yet. Probably best not to ask about that. Her uncle liked to tease her with "it's five o'clock somewhere" anyways. This man would probably say something similar.

"Is this a good time?" she asked cautiously. "I can come back." Though she really probably wouldn't. It had taken a lot of courage for her to search out this stranger. Maybe she should have gone to Cafas first. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. She should probably just let him get back to work. It looked like he had a lot.

”Good as any.” Sam said eyeing the little kid who just entered his office. She was small, must have been ten or something along those lines. He didn’t interact with kids too much anymore since he was body jacked and kidnapped a few, he didn’t know if it was he avoiding them or vise-versa but not too many kids came into his office. She looked like a tinier Ghost so there was no way he could say no to talking to her.

”What do you need half-pint?” Sam asked. He didn’t sound irritated or upset. He used to call his not-real kids ‘half-pint’ other names, they were more of a term of endearment than anything else.

She had been about to turn around when he answered her question. It didn't seem like a good time. But she wasn't going to argue. She didn't think her courage would last long enough for a second attempt.

>>”What do you need half-pint?”

How to answer that? She couldn't just say that she wanted to find out if he was... what everyone seemed to call him. Well, everyone but Serena. Serena! Serena had mentioned her introducing Abby to Sam when she got better at defending herself. He was the self defense teacher after all.

"I was, ah, wondering if you were gonna have a self defense class this year. Serena taught me a bit earlier this summer, but I kinda want to take a class." There! That was a good reason to be wanting to talk to him.

Sam raised an eyebrow when she spoke. ”I always have lessons, no one really shows unless they want a private class.” she knew Serena too which meant the kid kept good company. ”Serena? Did she now?” Sam walked away from his book case and took a sip setting the glass down on his desk on the top stack of papers.

Walking over to the kid Sam crouched a few feet away so she was eye-level with him. ”Now what did Serena teach you?” Sam asked curiously wondering what one of his better students was teaching. Sam doubted it was any bad habits. Serena was like a sponge in most lessons, even when she was irritated by Sam.

”What’s your name squirt?” am asked curiously noticing her darker legs. He tried to run the face in his memory trying to figure out her mutation from the mansion records.

Private lessons were... she wasn't sure what they would be. She had a private lesson with Serena, but she knew Serena. She didn't really know this man. And from what she understood, he trained as much as Cafas trained. And she had seen Cafas after training.

>>”Now what did Serena teach you?”

”She taught me how to stand and dodge and punch,” Abby told him. There were other things, but she didn't really trust him enough to tell him all of it. Her name? Oh yeah, she hadn't introduced herself. ”I'm Abby.”

Sam smirked, ”Did she?” a smile reached Sam’s expression as he remembered the first time he had taught Serena. ”You know, she got that from me right? First time a had a class with her, what we covered.” Sam raised a hand up and held it a few inches in front of her. ”How hard can you punch Abby?” Sam raised his eyebrow now curious. Probably not the best idea to do to any kid in the mansion but it was something he had always done.

”How did you like learning rom Serena? Did she explain everything for you?” Sam asked hoping one of his students had retained all the information. He knew Serena had remembered it but remembering and teaching are two vastly different things.

He talked about Serena like she talked about him. That made Abby like Sam more. She didn't know why he drank alcohol before lunch. She didn't know much about him at all. But he cared for her friend. Probably near as much as Serena cared for him.

>>”How hard can you punch Abby?”

Abby licked her lip before shifting into her ready stance. She was happy she rarely wore shoes in the Mansion. She still hadn't figured out how to keep her stance with shoes on. It didn't take her long to get into her stance. She had been practicing going from different positions to her stance. Serena made it clear she wouldn't always be ready to fight. The little blonde could now shift into her stance in a few seconds. Still not as fast as she'd like, but a lot better than when she started. Ready, she turned her whole body into the punch, like Serena had taught her.

>>”How did you like learning from Serena? Did she explain everything for you?”

"Mhmm!" Abby grinned. This was easy to talk about.  Though she'd have to eventually find out what she really wanted to know. "She answered all my questions and explained everything really well. She didn't get upset that I took off my shoes either." That was a big point she liked about her lesson with Serena. Most teachers got on to her for not wearing shoes. Serena just let her be barefoot.

A smack was heard as his hand moved back a little. She had correct hand placement and it looked like her fist was good and tight.”Not bad, seems Serena knows the basics enough to teach.” he was proud of the blood manipulator that she was able to retain and teach the stuff he taught her. It wasn’t like it was a hard subject to learn but Sam didn’t take self-defense lightly. The ice-mancer knew he also wasn’t the best teacher.

”She explained everything?” Sam shook his hand pretending the punch hurt. ”That’s a lot to explain, and you understood it all?” Sam asked with his eye brow raised. A smirk surfaced again as he stood and took off his shoes. ”I don’t like them either.” Sam said as he walked back to his desk and reluctantly started to pick up the papers on his desk with a yawn.

”But, one of the things you got to remember is you won’t always have time to take off your shoes if you need to defend yourself, right?” Sam asked rhetorically, ”She tell you about practicing exactly what you want to perform?” he asked curiously.

Abby smiled shyly at his praise. She knew she had a lot to learn, but it was still nice to hear she was doing good. She hummed in confirmation to his first question. She was pretty sure he was messing with her when he shook his hand out. The dummies in the Danger Room hadn't really seemed affected by her punches.

>>”That’s a lot to explain, and you understood it all?”

"Not all of it. I know a lot of it will make more sense when I have a spar or something like that. I was kinda hoping to get something like that in a class." She moved back on her feet so she could watch him move around his office.

>>”But, one of the things you got to remember is you won’t always have time to take off your shoes if you need to defend yourself, right? She tell you about practicing exactly what you want to perform?”

"I know. But I don't wear shoes a whole lot. At least, not if I don't have to. I've been practicing going from any position to my ready stance. Every time I get startled, I mean," she tried to explain. She didn't really know what he was asking, but she did try. "I know if I have any questions I can go ask her, though she's gonna be in school again soon, I think."

”A class would be worth taking.” Sam agreed not really thinking that she meant his class. Most of the students now avoided his class or him. One because he kidnapped some kids and rumors spread like wildfire in the mansion and two now he drank more so he wasn’t even sure if still counted as a teacher. Sure he was still on the payroll and avoided the staff meetings but as far as his students went he only had a handful like Victoria who ignored the rumors.

Sam also smirked when she mentioned sparring the way she said it almost sounded more like it was something that you get than something you have to go through. She would be in for a surprise when she started sparring. Sam wondered when Serena planned on starting that.

”Yeah, how often do you go barefoot when you are in the city though?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. Sam didn’t know how old she was but she couldn’t have gone into the city often at least not without some supervision. ”I think she is doing school again as well.” Sam added feeling sorry for the kid it seemed she liked the subject a shame she didn’t have a teacher. It took a second for his brain to process what he was thinking. Sam yawned then snapped his fingers. ”You have an interest in learning from me?” Sam asked a smile reached his lips as he tried to not get too excited at the thought if teaching again.

Abby thought about what Sam said about going out into the city barefoot. She didn't really do that. The streets weren't really clean for her to feel comfortable walking barefoot on them. And there was always the possibility of stepping on something sharp, like a nail or broken glass. Huh. She hadn't thought about that. Now she'd have to learn how to fight with shoes. Or find shoes that didn't hurt her skin. The first option was more likely. The little blonde hadn't found a material that didn't hurt yet.

Getting confirmation, of sorts, on Serena being busy soon didn't help either. It didn't seem like Sam was going to offer. And Abby wasn't going to ask him to start a class just for her. And he was part of the X-Men. Her wanting to learn how to defend herself wasn't that big of a deal in comparison.

>>”You have an interest in learning from me?”

Or maybe he was just... really slow? Maybe it was the alcohol? Abby didn't know if she wanted to know the answer to that though. "Kinda," she admitted.

He had taught Serena. Serena was gonna be busy. He was also in the Mansion probably more than her fellow blonde. Cafas was a little scary looking after he finished training. Abby wasn't ready for that kind of training. Sam taught Serena. The lesson she had with Serena was... not easy, but it was a lot better than she thought it would be. If Sam taught Serena, it was likely Serena had taught like he had with her.

"If you're not too busy?" She tried. She really did. But she still glanced at the glass of alcohol.

”Kinda huh?” Sam repeated and raised an eyebrow. ”No good, I can only teach more enthusiastic kids, so if you want to learn from me I’m gonna need you to be a little louder and more sure.” Sam said grabbing a few more papers. ”You think you can be a little more excited?” Sam was teasing her a bit so she’d feel more comfortable around him. He did that to all his students he found it made them more motivated and a little more vocal.

”and I like to think I’m never to busy to teach, I enjoy it too much.” Sam said standing up then throwing his papers back in the desk. He’d get the rest later or have one of his assistants do some organizing. ”So, want to learn something?” Sam asked walking past her and placing his hand on her head before walking out of the room hoping she’d follow to the danger room.

>> ”No good, I can only teach more enthusiastic kids, so if you want to learn from me I’m gonna need you to be a little louder and more sure. You think you can be a little more excited?”

Abby flinched a little. She wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. But it really didn't matter. The little blonde wasn't really loud with people she just met. Serena was easier to talk to. Maybe she should have just waited until her friend introduced her to Sam.

>> ”and I like to think I’m never to busy to teach, I enjoy it too much. So, want to learn something?”

Oh. So teasing. She still let out a breath though. She turned and followed after him, wondering where he was going. Bet to just ask. "Where are we going?"