As a member of the X-Men, there were certain duties that Locke had to fulfill. One such duty was helping those who did not understand or, in some cases, feared, people such as himself. Locke’s powers did have some element of offense to them. He had struck down targets before with his golems, and the explosions caused by quickly abandoning the golem could be devastating when Fluffy was made out of a hard material. Concrete traveling outwards at a rapid rate tended to hurt. However, the primary purpose of Locke’s powers, the thing that he said that he used them for was defense. On that graduation trip Locke had hardly stepped foot onto the beach before using Fluffy to keep the others, and himself, safe. By using the armor technique taught to him by Cold Steel Locke had covered himself with enough layers of rock formed by the very volcano he fought to keep from erupting long enough to avoid being burned alive. Undoubtably Earthwalker was someone to talk to if you wanted to know how to keep yourself in the realm of the living.

Which was why he was fulfilling a second duty, to help those at the mansion who might not know as much. Teaching someone who was older than him was an odd concept. His first year of college had been preparing him for educating minds younger than himself. The age gap between Locke and Ms. Evelyn Summers was smaller than the difference between Locke and the kids that he wanted to help, but it was still strange. Children don’t teach their parents how to prepare a meal. To minimize the awkward Locke had requested that she met him outside on the estate grounds. Working with earth provided by the Danger Room’s programming was like making grilled cheese sandwiches with toast and spray cheese. Same sort of supplies but did not leave a good taste in your mouth. Outside, where the dirt was real, Locke was in his element and his authority could be easier to accept.

With the warm weather Locke hadn’t minded waiting outside for Ms. Summers. Well waiting wasn’t quite the right word, since he had been enjoying the ninety degree heat for the last few hours, heading outside as soon as his morning chores were done with. Maybe the best way of handling this was to humble himself to her. As Locke pat smooth a patch of dirt with his foot he considered such a course. His self esteem had improved in leaps and bounds since he first came to New York. No longer did Locke feel compelled to hide himself behind his hair, and he had gotten use to people asking about the dead eye. However, just because he had grown use to the stares and variations of “What’s up with the messed up face?” did not mean that he felt comfortable answering them, or even talking about his dad. No, if Locke was going to be able to help Ms. Summer it would be better if he acted against type and treated her as an equal, or better yet, treat it as if he was her equal.

His earth sense alerted Lock that someone was coming his way, and he could only assume that it was someone he was suppose to be with. Locke wasn’t known for his social butterfly personality at the Institute, and because he tended to leave others alone, they did the same with him. If someone was approaching him, they had to have a good reason.

Evelyn was less than thrilled about learning self-defense from a stranger. Age wasn't a big deal to her, but making a full of yourself in front of someone you liked was one thing. This was something different. Evelyn had seen Locke in passing, but she had never spoken to him and knew little specifics about his powers or what he could do to help teach her. All she knew was she was probably an accident waiting to happen, even with the echoes doing their best to help.

Meeting outside made it worse. Evelyn wasn't really the outdoors type, and even after her time at the mansion some of her 'rich kid' persona was still stubbornly stuck to her person. She didn't really have work out clothes, her attire more in the 'less nice' sort of variety, so the jeans, shoes and short sleeved shirt she wore were probably somewhat more presentable than necessary.

It didn't matter though. She was willing to work, needed the lessons, and would make the most of whatever happened. Slowly, she approached the figure in the distance, letting the echoes fan out and take note of her surroundings.

Locke gave Evelyn an awkward half smile, just a brief raising of one corner of his mouth. The smile ended quickly because Locke frowned and his gaze was directed towards Evelyn’s feet. Here he was, barefooted and wearing only one shirt instead of his usual three, but she was dressed like she was going to some sort of casual, public event. Didn’t anyone tell her that things tended to get dirty around Locke? He was in jeans yes, but there were holes in the knees and as usual, a fine layer of dirt on them. His hair had been trimmed, meaning that Locke once more took a pair of scissors to them and chopped at whatever angle he could reach. He no doubt looked more than a little grungy in comparison to the person that he was suppose to train. “Alright, first things first. Please take off your shoes.”

There were a few reasons why Locke had asked that of her, the least of which being that he didn’t want to mess up her footwear. Dance lessons echoed in Locke’s mind where he had been dressed much as he was this day, and his hightops had been removed at the suggestion of his teacher. Yes his feet slid a little more clad in only socks, but the cha cha didn’t sound like it was being performed by a scuba diver still in a wetsuit and flippers. Taking off shoes could be enough of a step outside of your normal comfort zone to throw you off, but it could be to your best advantage. “The ground here is uneven and I don’t want you twisting an ankle or anything with them on your feet.” Much in the way that Evelyn’s powers were constantly providing her with all sorts of tidbits of information, Locke’s earth sense was filling him in on the lay of the land. Height differences in the ground itself he could tell in the same way he knew how far a finger was from the fretboard of the bass while he played. The Californian’s frown deepened for a second, and he nodded his head.

He’d been authoritative without being cruel, providing a reason for his order that wasn’t abstract and made sense. The idea of instructing someone was novel, and this was really his first experience outside of his college courses where he would present activities to the class he’d have those in his care do. There was now powerpoint presentation, or games made with posterboard. It was just Evelyn, himself, and enough dirt to make an army of Fluffies.

As Locke faced her, Evelyn could read the emotions crossing his features. It was clear her choice of attire wasn't exactly meeting his approval, which was irritating in a small way. It wasn't like she had clothes to go play in the dirt, which seemed to be what Locke had a habit of doing. His clothing was saturated with the stuff, and it made her skin crawl a little in preparation. She wasn't really opposed to getting dirty like some girl's, but it didn't mean she necessarily liked the sensation. Dirt clung to your nose, and got in your ears. It stuck in the wrinkles of your skin and she disliked the sensation. Paint, now paint she could be covered in and not care. That was her realm.

This...This was something different.

Removing her shoes took some surrendering of her ego, and she slowly obeyed, keeping her mouth shut. There was something stern about Locke, but nothing mean she could see at this point. The echoes studied him while she undid her shoelaces, rather than just kicking them off with one toe shoving into the heel of the other. She took them off properly, if only to accent the difference. [Dead left eye. Scarred.] The echoes chimed up, and Evelyn glanced for a second to confirm the observation. [Powers likely associated with dirt and or earth.] That one was easier to assume, considering they were standing in so much of it, and he seemed to be wearing it. Most people didn't like hanging out in something unless they had a certain affinity to it. Especially when they had something like the danger room at their disposal. As her feet hit the dusty earth, she pushed her hair from her face and tried to pull her attention back.

"I'm not sure removing my shoes is going to stop the probability of me breaking something." She finally remarked, one hand lightly across her torso, the other dangling by her side. Not quite a defensive posture, but not quite at ease either. She wanted to learn, but she was also still learning and assessing her teacher. Age didn't matter to her. They would start on equal ground here, and from there the echoes would learn and she could sort out what she thought of the stranger now teacher.

"I'm not going to tell you to do something if I don't think it will help,"Locke said, trying to offer some reassurance to Ms. Summers that he wasn't throwing out random orders, even if the not twisting an ankle one seemed to make sense to him. He wasn't sure how she would respond to him saying that he was trying to figure out her weight. As inarticulate as Locke could be around girls, including his girlfriend, he had enough sense about him to know that anything related to weight with females was a minefield that can only be traveled if you are into guys. "Look at it this way. When the situation demands you defend yourself, your attacker isn't going to wait until you're comfortable. If this is awkward for you now and you feel unbalanced, you'll be prepared for the future."

Only you couldn't fully prepare for the future. Locke knew that going into the Danger Room was going to be a test of his skills every time. Things never felt right in there, and he had learned a bit of flexibility. However his last note worthy experience had ended up with the pins in his leg getting pulled out of place. He should have known that the person who controlled metal might be able to affect him, but the teen had forgotten about that aspect of his anatomy. So you couldn't be fully prepared, but you could at least know how to handle a few things. First up for Ms. Summer was getting dirty.

Even if his powers didn't draw dirt to him like some strange magnet, Locke would still end up messy with each exercise or excursion. There was blood with the shoot out, dirt from trees being pulled up by the roots at Christmas, and matter best left unknown flung at him by monkeys on the island. You can't save the world with out getting a little messy in the process, and you couldn't stay safe without doing the same thing. It was like how no matter how tidy an eater you were, if there is a two year old with food within a five foot radius of you, you'd end up with some sticky spot of skin.

Evelyn grumbled a little about it, but in the end she did take off her shoes, which probably made her as uncomfortable as it made Locke comfortable. "So what were you hoping to learn today? Something power based or just typical martial arts? Because I'll be honest with you," Locke took a deep breath, "I'm no Jackie Chan. All I do is wrestle with Fluffy."

Locke's remark took Evelyn a little by surprise, but the echoes quick analysis of his body language took away the rest of her fears. It was odd when someone managed to 'read' what she was thinking, but even people without echoes could be perceptive to facial expressions and nervous actions. Evelyn was clearly confused by what was going on, and it didn't take echoes to know that. Still, she had to pause at the remark before she nodded. Although fighting without shoes still didn't make much sense to her. Making her feel awkward to fight seemed like trying to drop her at a bottom of a hole and tell her to climb out. It felt like building some stairs would be useful first... But she wasn't the teacher. She was just the student in this situation.

The next question required actual answering, and Evelyn rubbed the back of her neck as she tried to think of how to explain herself. "I don't think I can really do power based training at this point. I mean, my powers don't turn off. It's all mental. My powers are mental I mean. Not me. What's a Fluffy?" She felt her stomach turn over and took a few deep breathes, trying not to make a fool of herself. She felt like she was back in school, standing in P.E. class. As the teacher gave instructions about their lesson the dread in her stomach would continue to grow.

She hoped a Fluffy was something fluffy.... but with all the dirt and earth and martial arts talking it sounded more like a joke than anything else.

Perhaps this would be easier if Locke knew what Ms. Summers’ powers were. The problem was that Locke had grown to be hesitant of asking that question. It was one of the most repeated things at the mansion, followed shortly after by stories of people running away from home. Not that it was going to make any difference because in the end, according to Ms. Summers, her powers weren’t something that she could turn off. In a way he was the same, though he didn’t have Fluffy running around next to him all the time. The earth sense didn’t turn off either unless he was not touching the ground, or, of course, there was an adapt nearby. “Alright, so no training how to use your powers,” Locke said, seeking clarification and confirmation.

Ms. Summers reaction to a casual mention of Fluffy was classic. Just looking at Locke it was hard to say what exactly his powers were. Oh the dirt thing was pretty easy to guess. It stuck to Locke’s pants, especially on the hems of his legs. There were plenty of people that did things with dirt or sand or anything else like it at the school, but Locke’s powers were the only one that manifested itself as a human shape, and his diversity of materials that he could work with was extensive. “Oh you’ll meet Fluffy. He’s never too far from me.” Especially with the gear that Locke had for trips away from the mansion. Locke had a backpack full of gravel that could make a golem roughly his height.

“So defense right?” Defense he could do. He was defense. “First thing is paying attention to your surroundings.” Of course Locke didn’t know how well Ms. Summers paid attention to her surroundings. “Knowing not only when you’re in danger but what there is around you to keep you safe.” Locke’s mind raced through the topmost layer of soil, feeling it buzz pleasantly. The earth wasn’t just a pile of stones and compressed dirt. Even the most stationary pebble had a life, but most people just did not see it. As always the dirt was waiting for him, ready for Locke to give it shape. “What do you see?” he asked, pulling some of the dirt together under the topmost surface. Fluffy needed to be formed underneath the ground, at least partially, before it could cause havoc above.

Reading people made awkward conversations easier. While Locke never asked directly, there was a question in his facial expression the echoes picked up on. She had been through it more than enough times, it wasn't such a big deal now to talk about her powers. At least for her it was just another part of life. "I've got hyper awareness. Voices in the head sort of thing." Sometimes it was better to cut to the chase. If he was going to work with her, he should be aware of what he was dealing with. Although she found it hard to believe anyone could really understand what she was going through unless they were a telepath and could hear all the noise...

And then there was the matter of 'Fluffy'. Locke didn't seem inclined to tell her more, and there wasn't quite enough for her to go off of. But the clues were coming in. Something that was never far away, guy with dirt on his clothes, some assumed power with earth but no real knowledge what. Maybe he was an earth bender or something. But that seemed like the easy guess to try using. It could be something like plants and the dirt just came from that. And the whole shoes things didn't just feel like it was for balance... She could be over thinking it. She focused back on what Locke was saying.

She couldn't resist a slight smile. "I've probably got paying attention to my surroundings down a little too well at this point." She remarked. The echoes honed in on the slight movement in the earth, and she turned her head that direction. "Is that you?" She said in reply. She was leaning back towards earth control again.....

Even if he hadn't asked it, Evelyn still answered the question of "What do you do?". Now if only Locke had any idea what to do with hyper awareness or voices in the head. awareness he could work with, since that was the power that the two had sort of in common. She said that she couldn't turn hers off, but Locke, while in a similar position, didn't always have that extra input. "Just paying attention isn't enough,"Locke said, noting how Evelyn hadn't answered his question. She picked up on the soft tumbling of the dirt as little clods of it were loosened up. No Fluffy yet, but she still noticed something that most didn't. He thought carefully how to say the next part, not wanting to sound like those math teachers who made him feel dumb for not getting the concepts of trigonometry or fair division. "All that you see isn't important. If it were any normal person could pick apart a magician's act. For right now, what matters is what you can use."

There, he had managed to give her a gentle nudge back to the question of what was around that she could use to keep herself safe. Maybe what he should do next was try and get Evelyn to pay less attention to what her awareness was telling her. It took him time and practice to understand what his earth sense told him, but Locke needed his powers to operate like any other person. When his earth sense was turned off Locke had problems with depth, bumping into things without meaning to, even in familiar surroundings. "Now take a deep breath and hold it, keep all your head voices tightly together," The idea was to get Ms. Summers to listen only to the most important bits of information that her powers gave her. He'd go half mad if he payed attention to how bugs moved about on the ground.

Locke abandoned the earth where he had been messing with it, testing out another spot. Heat and humidity had an affect on how well his powers worked. Sun dried earth on a day with low humidity made Fluffy more prone to crumbling, but generally it hit harder. Mud, caused by a good amount of moisture could make things stick together well, but resulted in gushing rather than hitting. He was not only getting a sense of his student, but also what would be the best location to take her by surprise from.

'Just paying attention isn't enough' was a somewhat direct statement that took Evelyn a little by surprise. Maybe she got used to paying attention being everything, so the idea she needed more almost sounded silly. The echoes were supposed to think for her, right? It seemed like trying to do much more could just be counterproductive. But the more he talked the more she realized what he was saying, and nodded in response. She didn't really know if it was going to help much, but she knew at least what he was aiming for.

"I usually just use whatever is on hand, I guess. I mean, I fight with sai, but at the museum I've picked up some of the other weapons. The echoes make it easier to learn..." She tried explaining. She wasn't sure if she was helping him at all. She just felt like the conversation was at risk of wandering in circles. She paid attention to his next question instead.

"I'll try, but the echos sort of do whatever they want.I can sort of 'herd' them..." It was hard to describe her process, but they buzzed with the slight activity of the earth. She glanced sideways, honing in on the movement. When it shifted, she picked up on it much faster, brow furrowing slightly as she tried to sort out exactly what she was looking at.

Here Locke was, claiming that he was not the Bruce Lee fighting sort, and his student used freaking sais. Where does someone even find those, unless they are looking specifically for children's toys that allowed them to act out the part of the turtle in red. For actual ninja tools of the trade, he was pretty sure that you had to capture a ninja and devour its heart, and that only happened on the third Tuesday of every other odd numbered month. Ms. Summers on the other hand had access to the items on display in a museum. If she wanted to use a t-rex bone to club her attackers, she just needed to decide if she wanted the femur or a toe bone. Somehow it did not seem right that she was teaching herself how to use weapons that Locke could only describe in the most vague of terms, such as three pointed pointy thing.

"You're over analyzing," Locke said with a grin. He had the same sort of tendency when talking to attractive girls sometimes, and he did the same problem with math and science work. Logic helped with learning other subjects, but too much logic in subjects that already had a heaping helping of it naturally built in it made for potato clocks that do not work. "What you use in the past isn't going to help right now. Well not exactly. You learn from the past experiences and your body will build up muscle memory. Reflexes." Locke thought about how many times he had used his powers without actively thinking of them. Fluffy had often caught people by surprise as the earth jumped up to protect the teen when his body first caught wiff of danger.

What he could see for defense was a really simple thing. There were trees around them, heck, Locke was standing underneath one. Part of why Locke had not brought Fluffy up yet was the roots that he was going to have to work around. He had first hand experience with what happened when trees lost their hold of the earth that held them. Locke wasn't going to risk having a tree fall down upon his head. Not only that but the trees, should Evelyn choose to climb up one, provided a blind spot in Locke's earth sense.

>>"You're over analyzing,"

Evelyn blinked and glanced back at him as she listened to what he was saying. She looked around where they were at, and wasn't really sure what they could use here. If he controlled the earth, anything like a rock would probably just be like throwing someone ammo. Trees were organic though, and she watched the movement in the earth. It was somewhat away from the tree.

"I guess I could just use the environment I'm in.... I always feel like I respond more in the heat of battle though. Trying to make discussions before I really know my opponent presents a challenge..." She wasn't sure exactly what he was doing with the earth. The echoes had guesses, but part of the process of deduction was putting pieces together. You only got results when you had enough pieces.

Locke shook his head, grinning in the way a parent does when their child misinterprates something. “I already told you, you won’t get to time to make sure you’re comfy when you have to defend yourself.” The time had come for action. Slipping his attention back towards the ground around where Ms. Summers Felt, Locke’s fingers twitched and the earth responded, leaping up and at Ms. Summers. The action was to simply catch Evelyn off guard, as the attack was followed up by a low wave of dirt to make her stumble backwards. It was easy for people to assume that anything involving the earth or stones moved in slow motion. Locke had believed the same thing at first with his golems. When he had to find water in a desert that the Danger Room had created however, Locke’s eyes were opened up to the possibility of his powers having a surprising element of speed.

The second attack that Locke made on Evelyn had been meant to keep her safe from the impact of the first one. Should she be sweeped off her feet then the first blow wouldn’t hit her in the chest. She had been given plenty of time to establish what she could use to defend herself, and he had to at least see how she would respond. No fully formed Fluffy yet, but just because the ground wasn’t walking around did not mean that Earthwalker was any less dangerous. Things were bad when Locke was still, because it meant that he could be in any place his powers extended to. Over time he had developed a thick skin, blocking out most outside stimulus when using his powers. Oh sure he could currently see Ms. Evelyn, but she was no more important in his actual field of vision than the tiny corner of the nose you can see. What mattered more was the information that he was getting from Fluffy.

Technically speaking the best way that Ms. Summers could defend herself at the present moment was to deal Locke himself. Without his input the earth would not keep it’s altered shape. And while he was the one who was controlling the attacks on Ms. Summers, the idea was for her to defend herself against Fluffy, not the man supervising. The wave meant to through Ms. Summers off balance continued on, curving and heading back towards her. Like the waves of the ocean escalating up into a crescendo, this new strike was building in power. Locke had been working with Fluffy, seeking as always to find new improvements. A few properly placed stones, combined with a hollowed out section allowed for a grating noise, like two cinder blocks dragging against each other, as Fluffy rasped out a simple command.

“Run”

Apparently the lecture part of the training session was ending, and Evelyn scrambled backwards as the earth jolted. A wave of earth rose in front of her, suspicions about earth control at least somewhat confirmed, and Evelyn stumbled, backpedaling towards the nearest thing that wasn't earth: the tree. That had been the echoes idea, at least. When fighting something elemental, it was always good to find footing somewhere something couldn't move, spin, splinter, cave in around you or something equally terrifying. If you met someone who could control water, you wouldn't go swimming, right? Right.

She stumbled, scrambled, and darted for the tree. She was pretty sure the earth yelled after her. Earth monsters...why not? CS had his own ice clone things. Darn elementals and their freaky control of the frickin WORLD.

Taking the last few strides at more of a jump, Evelyn caught the low branch of the tree and swung herself up. She wasn't much a tree climber when she was a kid, but a few Danger Room sessions, and she learned fast. The key was treating everything like it could kill you, because most of the time, it could. Life or death had a way of making you jump just a little bit and she higher. Off the earth, accomplished. Step two... Well, she hadn't quite thought that face. She could throw a pinecone at it... or...something.

Evelyn got the picture. It took time and a Fluffy charging at her for Ms. Summers to get moving, but the fact remained that she now was taking the threat seriously. No more were the objections that she needed to think things through. First rule of defense? Get use to working on the fly. Up into the tree Ms. Summers had went, presenting them both with an interesting development. Locke could not touch her as long as she was in the tree, and Ms. Summers had almost nothing to deal with the Fluffy that was circling round the base of the tree. Like a pack of hounds that had treed their quarry, Fluffy paced around the tree.

For now Locke let the earth reabsorb Fluffy. He wanted to be able to give Ms. Summers his full attention while addressing her, and keeping Fluffy going meant that he couldn't see where she was in the tree. If worse came to worse he could always summon it back in an instant. "Alright, you managed to escape, but that isn't enough," Locke said. He couldn't help but remember the test in the Danger Room he had to overcome to become an official X-Men. Escaping from the giant scorpians had been one thing. To try and fight against them was a task in itself, and still he had to find water.

"Fluffy still is around, and that tree is just giving you shelter for right now," Locke pointed out to her. It wasn't often that Locke found himself looking up to someone to catch their eye, having yet to finish growing. Bright summer sunlight trickled through the open spaces in the tree's branches, and Locke shaded his eyes against it with a hand. "Either you have to find a way of taking care of it yourself or getting someone to your position to help."