So, he was being asked to give the new guy some pointers and run a simple mission with him? Sure, why not. It wasn't like he was doing much important work at Haven yet, he might as well contribute in a way. It was probably a good way to gauge him, since Artair was under no illusions he could be, difficult, for some people to deal with.

What he would have liked was some info about him, or at least more than just a name. Having flash backs to his first meeting with Serena, the only thing he had was a name, Derek Menes. Not much to go on, thanks Devon.

Sighing and returning to his practice, he figured he might as well get some forms work done while he waited. Moving into a standard form and leveling the practice staff, he silently ran through a series of exercises, letting his body take over and his mind focus on his other training, slowly pulling out knives and setting them floating around him, trying to do both tasks at the same time. So far he'd been able to keep it up, but trying anything more complex was still an issue. An very obvious issue when one of float weapons shattered from the stress, send a physic shock into his brain.

Every. Single. Time. It was f------ annoying and it took everything he had to not scream in frustration. Obviously he was missing something but he just couldn't get through the wall. Clearly not today at least, not with the headache he had now.

Scattering the other weapons and toweling himself off, the noise of someone entering the training room made he raise his head, was it time for Derek to be here already?

Derek always felt better when he was at least fifteen minutes early. To him arrival tastefully early to something whether it be class or training showed interest.

And Derek was interested.

After the initial shock of having the Adonis, Devon Hadden invite him to the Haven headquarters, Derek had finally got himself together. He got up early that morning, made sure he had a healthy breakfast of a boiled egg, oatmeal, a serving of raspberries, and a tall glass of orange juice. He wanted to be completely prepared for anything that Mr. Artair Hawke had prepared for him.

Dressed in a green t-shirt, khaki joggers, and a pair of sneakers that were decent enough to wear around, but also warn down enough for him to practice in. With a duffle bag over his shoulder and a wide, happy smile on his face, Derek entered the building. He signed in before heading toward the training room.

Toweling off was a guy around his height with wavy, amber hair. His skin was fair; a little on the pale side. Did this place double as a modeling agency or was it just Derek and his raging male hormones? With a smile, Derek waved at him.

"You must be Mr. Artair Hawke? I'm Derek Menes." He greeted. "I have a change of clothes if this is too dressed up." He walked over to the man and offered a handshake.

Dropping the towel to one side before taking the offered hand, he gave a quick firm shake while eyeing the guy up and down. Decent build and height, young but not a kid. He'd do. "Nice to meet you, but I'm not one for formality, just call me Artair."

"Should be alright, as long as you can move freely that's all you need." The guy seemed, cheery, to say the least. Well, he could hardly fault the enthusiasm and as long as he could take advice well enough, and didn't do anything monumentally stupid, they should get along fine. He couldn't be any more trouble than some of the people he'd met already. Christ the only way he could top one was to get shot. Twice.

"I'm guessing you've got some kind of idea why you're here, so lets start with a few simple questions. First, whats your power do, and how much control do you have over it?" Bluntness was needed here, there was no point sugar coating the question when you needed to know how capable the person watching you're back was.

True, he might not be the highest trained person around, but he could hold his own at least.

"Oh, feel free to ask any questions, it's better you ask something you don't need rather than the other way around." He was very much of the opinion there were, mostly, no stupid questions. Wanting to learn, that was an admirable trait.

Oh, nice handshake. Derek made sure to return it respectfully before pulling away. "Oh, sorry, Artair. My mistake." He smiled and took a small step back. The guy seemed nice enough. He had an accent though and couldn't decide if it was Irish or Scottish. For some reason he always got those two countries mixed up.

Derek looked down at his clothes, then back up at Artair. He hoped that his clothing wouldn't get in the way of him fighting. His joggers were loose enough to make for ample room. As far as he was concerned, he was dressed okay. "I think I'm okay." He answered, giving his pants a once over before making a final decision to keep what he had on.

"Uh, well, I can influence the behavior of animals and communicate with them," he paused, "I'm also like a, ah, animal magnet in a way? Animals seem to flock to me if I stay in one spot for over ten minutes." He explained. "Though, I'm not proficient in my abilities, I know what I'm doing. Most of the time." He answered. "I hope that answers your question."

Derek had a lot of questions to ask. "...I know Haven works as an organization that fight for the rights of minorities especially mutants. I know that members have to be invited before joining and that Ze-- Devon is one of the figure heads. Am I missing anything?"

Artair raised an eyebrow at the the description Derek gave him. Animal manipulation was tricky and usually near impossible to categorise as far as powers went. They could be pheromone based, psychic or even weirder. He'd ready somewhere about on who used vibrations to get a similar effect. Cool power though, scary good for scouting and information gathering. "Interesting power you've got there, pretty useful too. Must have been an interesting experience when you discovered it."

He didn't seem to be missing anything, although if Devon hadn't mentioned how some of their actions weren't entirely legal, he wasn't about to say anything. All today was about anyway was making sure he was fine with a little vigilantism, and making sure people were safe of course. "Seems about right, the only real thing you need to remember is we want to help people. That's all that really matters."

Giving the chipper guy a grin, "Since you shared, might as well show you what I'm working with. Easier to show rather than tell."

Forming the images in his head, he pulled out a pair of shimmering knives and left them floating in the air. "As is pretty apparent, I can make weapons, move them about a bit. Watch out though, they're pretty sharp and pack a nasty amount of weight behind them."

"I've got decent control, just don't leap in front of them and you'll be fine."

Derek rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. It sorta saved me from getting mauled by a dog so," Derek shrugged his shoulders. He could remember the event like it was yesterday. If it hadn't been for that dog breaking lose, Derek wouldn't never discovered his powers. Prior to that, he just assumed that animals knew what he was talking about and it because he told them to. Now he knew that it was so much more than that.

Derek nodded his head. "Which I admire. I love how humanitarian and good this organization is." He said with a wide grin. "I hope I can become a real asset for the Haven."

"Woah," Derek watched in amazement at the knives while also taking a step back. "That's --- wow. Your powers must really come in handy." He made a special note about Artair's powers. "I think I heard about this from the Mansion. Being able to form objects out of sear will power or mental strength," the newbie paused. "I would demonstrate, but," Derek looked around, "There aren't any animals around. That's a con to my powers, unfortunately."

"With your power you're an asset out the gate. But that's not what really matters. As long as you care, you've a place here." Few enough people genuinely wanted to help others and fewer still who'd take that extra step into action, as long as Derek did what he could, that's all anyone really could ask.

Smiling, he didn't really need a demonstration, "Don't worry, I believe you anyway and as much fun as having a horde of mice and birds flying around, I don't think the cleaners would be best pleased." He also didn't need some kind of Disney song starting. "I swear to God though, if you start singing to the animals you won't hear the end of it. Ever."

"But don't worry about fights. If everything goes well, we shouldn't have to. If something goes wrong, your job will be to watch my back, keep them off me while I deal with them. You able to handle that?"

"What I do need to do though, is get a gauge of your more physical skills. Now we could chat, but that's no fun. Fancy a quick spar?"

Derek nodded his head. "Yes, sir. I mean, Artair. Sorry, force of habit." He smiled nervously at Artair. He couldn't mess this up. Doing so would result in letting down his future Haven mates.

"Yeah, that's true. Which is why I haven't used my powers in orders at the Mansion." He, returning the smile. Derek would probably be punished with picking up the droppings that the animals would leave after they assisted him indoors. When Artiar said that if he started singing that he would never live it down, Derek started laughing. "Well, since you brought it up," Derek cuffed his hand around his mouth and looked up and off to the side. Taking in a deep breath, Derek acted like he was about to sing before stopping. "Trust me, I'll be doing none of that."

"Yes, I can. Though, I do have a few questions. Number one: When made an official member, do I get a partner? Second: Do I get a badge or have to wear a uniform? And second, can we do a bake sale and have the procedes go to the Young Mutant Foundation?" Derek counted the questions off on his fingers.

"I'm ready to spar." Derek wiped his sweaty hands on his joggers. "I've never really learned how to fight, but I'm a quick learner."

Artair burst out laughing. Good, the guy could roll with the punches and wasn't afraid to hit back. He had to much of people here being to nice on the surface, or getting offended by friendly banter. "That's a relief then, I'd hate to have to break up a perfectly good musical moment."

"OK, lot to answer there. You can work with as many or as few people as you want, we don't any fancy matching skin tight suits like the X's which I know, little bit disappointing. As for a bake sale, feel free to speak to Devon to organise that kind of stuff. Haven has a lot of outreach programs, so I'm sure if there not one you'd like to work with, he'd be happy to set it up with you." Enthusiasm was hard to fake, so seeing so much of it was pretty encouraging.

Good sparring always helped loosen the muscles and get his head in the game. "Great, and don't worry, I'm not exactly a master fighter myself, so it's not like you're the only one who needs some training."

For basic defense, some staff training was the best way to go. It was intimidating, had plenty of reach and if push came to shove, it was a dirty big stick to hit someone with. "Here, simple staff fighting is one of the best places to start. Plenty of options and keeps the bad guys at arms length." Offering a training weapon to him, he grabbed his own well one from the floor.

Derek laughed along with Artair. "Yeah, no. I'm not the singer. Well, I do a little, but not enough to summon a flock of birds or anything like that." He shrugged his shoulders with a grin on his face. "If anything, the animals would run in the opposite direction."

"Gotcha. I'll remember everything." Or at least he'd hope so. He did have a notepad and pen in his duffle bag, but decided not to waste time with running to get it, jot down the things that Artair said, then running back in his place after putting the writing material back. If Derek wanted to succeed here, somethings will just have to be committed to memory.

Derek took the staff from Artair, "thank you," then moved it from one hand to the other. "I feel like I'm in the first season of some superhero show on Binge." He grinned. Derek spun his staff around in his right hand. "Like, uh, that show Herc with the guy with super strength. Have you seen it?"

Artair wasn't generally one for TV, or maybe more accurately he didn't have the time for to watch TV or anything like that. "Yeah, I get that feeling but if you want superhero's can't beat the X's. They got the jet, the mansion and lets be fair, nothing screams hero like those skin tight suits."

Couldn't say he'd ever watch a show called Herc but it sounded like some bad version of the old Hercules stories. "Sorry mate, can't say I have. With uni and now training, I've not had a lot of time to watch stuff you know? Fairly sure the last thing I marathoned Chums, maybe six or seven years ago." It had been pretty much the only thing on in the hospital and while he'd not been a fan going in, he had to admit, it was pretty damn good.

"Lets start with some simple forms then we get onto a quick spar. We'll do a couple defensive and an offensive one, to keep your options open." Keeping the guy alive and relatively unhurt was the best place to start. Running him through the forms and stances, he had to give the guy credit, he was a quick learner, if he had a good head on his shoulders he'd be fine.

"Not bad, you've got decent reactions which always helps and as long as you keep it crossed over your body  you should be fine."

"You have a point there." Derek nodded his head. If he wanted to become a superhero he should stick with his original idea of being an X-Men. Though, that was no longer what he wanted. He wanted to change things. Change the way people thought and do some good along the way. At Haven, he could see himself doing just that. TV wasn't for everyone and he felt that Artair, along with the other Haven members probably didn't have time to with being a very productive organization.

The training went better than that Derek initially thought. Panting a bit, he stood up from his form and rolled his shoulders back. "Thank you, Artair." He nodded his head at his fellow mutant and moved his staff to his left hand. "Being at the Mansion has helped me a bit." He added with a grin.

"If you don't mind me asking, what attracted you to the Haven?"

"Don't worry Derek, you don't need to be a hero to help people." Small things had a hell of lot more power than people thought. It was the little things a person did that could really change the world, the little acts of kindness. 

He was up at the mansion? That was interesting, strange that he was here though. Even with his own reservations about the X's and their ties to the police, the mansion was a good place in his book. They did far more for mutants than he ever could hope to in his life. Oh and Doc was a life saver. Fixing broken ribs in a few minutes rather than weeks? That was worth it's weight in gold. "Aye, they're pretty good at the whole training thing, so thankful a friend bullied me into lessons there. You been at Xavier's long?"

Smiling at the question, it wasn't a hard one to answer. "That's pretty easy, actually. I came across some anti-mutant thugs abusing a kid." His voice hardened at the next comment, "She was only 10. Serena, a friend gave me his number and I needed back up. Gave him a call and agreed just like that, dropped everything for a stranger. He helped me deal the scum, saved that wee girls life how could he not have my respect after that?"

"Afterwords, we had a chat and he invited me to check the place out, see how I'd feel about helping more people like that lass. Couldn't really say no after that." A warm smile threatened his face, Sarah had proven more than worth the new scar from that fight. They all were.

Derek nodded his head. "I know, I know," he bit his lip, "I just want to help. Be apart of something bigger than myself." He shrugged his shoulders before glancing down at his shoes, then back up at Artair.

"About two weeks. I really love it there. I keep myself busy and participate in projects and challenges that will increase my overall being." With the help of Xavia, his friends, and Jorge, Derek was really growing there. He felt like a apple seed that was starting to blossom. The Mansion was a strong and sturdy foundation. Period.

He listened to the story that Artair was telling of how he got involved with the Haven. It was something to admire. To Derek, the Haven simply seemed like good hearted people who fought injustices with super good looks. But more so good hearted people. And good looks.

"That's inspiring. I honestly want to do that. To stop crimes like that. No one should feel afraid of being who they are." That was coming from a place of hurt. He quickly regain his composure. "Hm...so now what? Is the training session over?"

“Aye, it’s good for that. They’ve got some really good people up there, ones you can tell care about what they do, you know?” Meeting more and more of the current and former mansionettes was having a pretty good effect on him. Christ, without Serena he wouldn’t be here now and as odd as his interactions with Xavia were, he couldn't say she wasn’t fun to talk too.

It could sound heroic from the outside, to someone not there but at the time? It was brutal. Artair had not expected to do so much to them, hurt them as bad as he had. “Good attitude, but don’t let it get you carried away. Always make sure to keep your head clear or you’ll end up getting yourself, and others, hurt.” Softening his voice slightly, “Look, I don’t mean to sound like I’m scaring you off. I just don’t want to see you do something daft and get injured. I’ve already made that mistake myself.”

“Should be fine, we can head out in a sec, just need to go over some info first.” The place they were heading up to had taken a marked uptick in violent crimes against mutants and Haven wanted to know why. “I’ll explain most stuff on the way, but the main thing that needs to be said, keep yourself safe. You’re no good to anyone if you’re not looking after your own safety.”

“Other than that, I’d suggest we don’t head out with any weapons, they look to obvious. If trouble starts I’ll make sure you’ve got something to fight with, just stay within 30 feet of me if you want to keep it.” One annoying detail of his power, it’s range was fairly low, not that he bandied its weakness about to anyone.