Dragon King woke up feeling rather fresh that day. There was nothing on, and he was feeling slightly bored so he decided to wander off to the gymnasium.

In the hallway as he passed, he paused for a moment as his nose detected the delightful aroma of freshly brewed coffee. He paused, closed his eyes only for a second and fully savoured the smell. Should he stop for a coffee? Ah but no, training came first, then came the treat. And with that, DK resolutely arrived at the gymnasium, which to his delight was deserted.

DK decided to start by first doing some warm ups on the mat. At first he was unused to the smell of the gym, the feel of the mat beneath his bear feet. He was wearing a t-shirt and loose cargo pants.

His mind calmed and he almost slipped into a medative state as he methodically worked through the squats, the “spiderman” push ups, some rolls, the sit ups. After that, feeling a little braver, he started to practice a simple martial art set on the mad almost below the unparallel bars.

His movements were smooth, they flowed, he loved this set, it was so simple and yet so delicate, so soft and yet so strong. Unconsciously a smile played across his lips. Then as he finished, still in the swing of things, he did a spinning jump, grabbed hold of the lower bar and started to swing on it. He was boyishly enjoying it. he swung up and let go, revelling in the feeling of almost free spinning in the air before landing with both feet on the bar in perfect balance, he was enjoying himself so much that he did not notice another person enter. The girl that entered got a full view of a move he decided to challenge himself to do on the spur of the moment. He first hung upside down by his feet from a bar, then using his abdominal muscles only, he swing himself and finally swung himself up and let go with his feet to catch the bar with his hands, swing and then let go, hitting the mat and rolling forward. Getting up and coming to a sudden stop directly in front of a very beautiful girl.

Time seemed to stop.

Lori padded cautiously through the hallways of the Sanctuary. Well, she'd made it through the night. Sure she looked a bit rumpled: hair uncombed and shirt wrinkled, but it was early. Early enough that the hall ways were silent and she had the bright idea to sneak out of the room and poke around for bit. The floor was cold against her bare feet. She'd have to see about getting some shoes before she left this place. For now, she was content to slink around in the earlier hours of the morning.

She passed several closed doors and she didn't especially think she should go poking her nose into everything just yet. So when Lori found an ajar door, she decided to slip inside. And she wasn't disappointed. There was a muscle bound boy clad in sweats and a tee smiling and enjoying himself in a juvenile way. She found herself smiling along as she stepped lightly onto the mat.

He suddenly tensed himself, doing an intense sit up of sorts and then his hands were on the bar instead of his feet. Her brows started climbing up the plane of her forehead. He swung around and let go. His momentum took him over his feet so his landing turned into a front roll and he popped up to his feet again just inches from where Lori was standing. She could have dodged, but this was more fun. She put her hand against his chest to make sure the larger man's momentum was finished and he wouldn't barrel into her... just in case. He looked pretty surprised and that made her smile all the more.

"Hi!" Her voice echoed strongly throughout the mostly empty room. She took her hand from his chest, satisfied that he wasn't going to clobber her. She wiggled her fingers at the man. "Sorry to sneak up on you." It actually pleased her that he hadn't noticed her until now. She wasn't exactly a very sneaky person. "Nice moves. You a gymnast?" She asked pleasantly idly wondering if the Order was a mostly male organization.

DK froze, his mind running several thoughts at the same time. Firstly he was inwardly hitting himself for not being more observant, and loosing himself in his training. It was at times like these he missed the desert. Find a deserted sand cave and you could almost be sure that nobody would disturb you.
The second was that he was disturbed by a girl, a pretty one at that, one that looked like she had just woken up. All in all a stunning vision of beauty, he paused like one does when your breath gets taken away by a stunning sunrise, she was stunning. Dragon firmly halted the few useless noises that threatened to escape his lips. He could feel her hand on his chest, and yet through all this he was calm, his heartbeat was a steady strong throb.

With the mental shake of his head DK collected himself, *well at least she had stepped back* he thought.

“Hello there, sorry, (almost as if to apologize for pausing) I did not hear you come in!.” he smiled a warm smile that reached his eyes, it was an honest smile, nothing false there. He extended his hand to Lori. “Hi, my name is Dragon, you can call me DK.” He was not really sure what to say.

The larger man froze for a long moment before relaxing enough to stand at his full height. Lori craned her neck up toward the man. He had to be a full foot taller than her, but her confident smile never wavered. She never seemed intimidated by larger men, instead it was almost like a personal challenge to tame them in some way.

A few strange starts of words bubbled up from his chest and died in his mouth. Ah. He was one of those then? Relatively innocent when it came to women, let alone pretty ones. And then he seemed to remember himself and his manors, not that Lori was big on manors. But it was cute, a large man fumbling over himself (if onl for a short moment) over such a small girl.

“Hello there, sorry, (almost as if to apologize for pausing) I did not hear you come in!” He had one of those smiles that warmed the whole face, no cunning like her smile, but a real kind of warmth that Lori's smile never seemed to hold. He extended his hand to Lori. “Hi, my name is Dragon, you can call me DK.”

She slid her hand cooly into his without breaking eye contact and shook hands firmly with surprising strength for her size. Not supernatural strength, but a solid hand shake from a confident woman. "Lori." She supplied her real name as Geo and Abyss already knew it, it would be all too easy for any lies to be exposed in the name department at least.

"Don't let me stop you from your work out, Dee Kay." She let her hand linger in his before placing her hand on her hip, taking an equally strong stance. "I'm just poking around, don't mind lil ol' me." She teased before breaking eye contact for the first time since they'd met. She glanced around the man to the impressive facilities. It was certainly something she could get used to. She then glanced down with a slight frown at her leggings, jean shorts, and rumpled baseball tee that'd been borrowed from Venus' closet. "I'd join you if I were appropriately dressed."

Her hand was cool, as she slid into his, and he enjoyed the firmly returned handshake. So her name was Lori! Interesting! She was confident this one, perhaps even slightly flirty? No matter the reason, not too many people nowadays seemed to enjoy looking at people when they talked, or maintaining eye contact for that matter.

"Don't let me stop you from your work out, Dee Kay."

At this Dragon let out a hearty chuckle. “Not a work out really, I guess you might say I was just chilling and having fun.” Again he smiled at her, that heart warming smile combined with his easy going manner, that he unconsciously projected when he was relaxed served to make people feel comfortable and at home.

"I'm just poking around, don't mind lil ol' me."

Again he chuckled, “Little referring to your stature or your presence? If so I seriously doubt it.” he said as he twinkled at her.

“Impressive is it not?” said Dragon as Lori looked around the facilities, I have not been here long and I’m not used to it either.

He smiled at her comment on attire. “Nonsense! What a pathetic excuse! Come join me.” He said as his right hand swept towards the interior of the gym with a flourish, with head lowering slightly in a sort of slightly exaggerated and playful bow.

“Not a work out really, I guess you might say I was just chilling and having fun.” He protested with a disarming smile. Dang. This one was good, but she wasn't letting her guard down that easy. Not that she appeared especially on guard, but that was rather the point. If things got sticky, she'd be ready. So far she'd been avoiding those kinds of confrontations, though.

“Little referring to your stature or your presence? If so I seriously doubt it.” Lori watched his face carefully, surprised when he... did he just get a twinkle in his eye? Lori had to laugh right along with him.

“Impressive is it not?” said Dragon as Lori looked around the facilities, "I have not been here long and I’m not used to it either."

"Yeah, so far I have no complaints."

He only smiled at her excuse, ever the jovial one. “Nonsense! What a pathetic excuse! Come join me.” He playfully waved her into the gym. What a goober, but it worked either way. Lori stepped farther onto the mat, giving him a polite berth as she passed. She mostly just marveled at the equipment. There were work out machines, yes, but she was most interested in the gymnastics equipment like the uneven bars Dragon had swung from. She hadn't had access to a gym like this in years... since, well... high school when it had been mandatory to take some kind of tumbling outside of the dance team.

Lori spun around a bit unsure of even where to start anymore. Sure she hit the gym quite often, but that was a set routine on machines with weights and on treadmills and such. She turned to DK and he was still smiling.

He was so honestly ... happy. Must've been extra endorphins from the work out or maybe even some part of his mutation, although, Lori gave him a good once over with her eyes, if she were the betting type Lori would be putting money on a physical mutation. Most people that bulked out were more aggressive than jolly. It made her smile something more innocent and real. You just didn't come by people like this every day. "What's your gift, Dee Kay? Spreading snuggle bunnies and good cheer?"

Well at least the girl had a sense of humour, DK chuckled to himself, he was in a good mood.

Observing that she seemed unsure where to start, he put forward the query “How long since you last went to the gym? And by the by what type of stuff do you do in the gym? I’ll make random guess that you don’t pump irons, although I could possibly be wrong!”

Observing that she was giving him a once over, Dk responded, “So see anything you like? Perhaps you have discovered that only micrometer of me that is aesthetically pleasing! Thought I lost that years ago.” Dk was totally at home joking about himself, he liked his looks, but has no illusions about making females swoon as he passed, who knows it might happen, but it was not high on his priority list. But this female, she was slightly intriguing.

"What's your gift, Dee Kay? Spreading snuggle bunnies and good cheer?"

Dk “humph”-ed in response to this. “Snuggle bunnies? Good cheer? Heaven forbid!” he actually managed to say it with full sincerity and a straight face, really! He was outdoing himself!!

“You want to inquire into the particulars of my mutation? You don’t say! Hmm, care to chance a guess? and while we are on the topic, what is your mutation? Right back at you baby!”

Oh!! DK had not had such an enjoyable verbal sparring contest for a long time, at the same time for the girl to know his mutation, she would first have to earn some of his trust, as there was something about her. DK may not be the best social diplomat but he did have a knack for getting to know the essence of people, like what made them tick, and there was something about his one that she kept hidden, he wondered what it was and if she would be willing to trust him, as he tried trusting her in turn.

“How long since you last went to the gym? And by the by what type of stuff do you do in the gym? I’ll make random guess that you don’t pump irons, although I could possibly be wrong!”

"How long..." She mused, having to actually think about that one. "Last Wednesday? ... I think?" She laughed at the pumping iron comment, actually she did use weights, but typically thought it best to use her own body's weight. "Yeah, just that pumping iron is so droll, ya know?" She winked casually at him. "And I really enjoy core training and legs... not to say that tumbling isn't fun too." She didn't bother to say why. Everyone worked out for different reasons, but her reason wasn't for the aesthetic appeal.

“So see anything you like? Perhaps you have discovered that only micrometer of me that is aesthetically pleasing! Thought I lost that years ago.” My, my he was a silly one! Lori laughed obligingly. "Oh, lost your youth so many years ago, eh?" She rubbed her hands together eyeing the equipment again. Lori often begrudged her own youthful appearance. She looked maybe 19 when she was really in her mid-twenties. Looking youthful wasn't new to her... maybe not on DKs level, though.

DK “humph”-ed at her snuggle bunny comment -- mock pouting. She chuckled again. This guy was entirely too much. “Snuggle bunnies? Good cheer? Heaven forbid!”

"Yeah, honestly the only guy jollier that I can think of right now is Santa!" She grinned roguishly.

“You want to inquire into the particulars of my mutation? You don’t say! Hmm, care to chance a guess? and while we are on the topic, what is your mutation? Right back at you baby!”

"Baby?" She arched her brow turning back to face DK at that comment. She advanced toward him and jabbed her finger at his chest, her wire metal bangle clinking against itself with the motion. "If I had to guess your mutation," she said the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth, "I'd say it's something physical... fast twitch? strong? something manly?" She she spoke the small point of contact where her finger touched his chest went from a feeling of static electricity to one of the lower settings of a taser. He was a big boy, lots of muscle mass... it wouldn't hurt him too bad unless he was a real baby and it would be funny to see those muscles dace involuntarily.

"Just to let you know? I'm not your baby." She increased the charge output slightly before withdrawing her finger, the effect was that a visible arc of electricity jumped from her finger to his chest. "have a guess at mine yet?"

(OCC gmodding with permission)
“Hmm, tumbling? You enjoy that too, do you do martial arts? Brawling perhaps?” DK hazarded a guess.

“Ah yes my dear I am old, very very old.” Dk said as he imitated the pose and voice of an old man, bending his back and peering at her over imaginary glasses, again he smiled and twinkled at her, which always seemed to make her smile a true smile, one that was from the heart, DK called them proper smiles.

“What, you Dare compare Me (dramatic flourish) to Sanat? Shock and Horror!” he furrowed his brows in mock disgust and the burst out laughing.

"If I had to guess your mutation," she said the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth, "I'd say it's something physical... fast twitch? strong? something manly?"

“You say the word mutation almost as if you are afraid of it, and I view it as an ability rather than a mutation, but call it what you will, for I care not. Manly? Strong? Many claim to be manly and strong but are unable to deliver or to act as a true man. Me? No, I would never be so deluded as to think that I have reached such heights. I..”

DK stopped mid sentence as the electricity hit him, he let out a small involuntary shudder and then his training took over and at the spot where she was touching him, the molecular structure changed to that resembling rubber, although she was not aware of it, so to her it would just seem as if he was forcefully containing it, so there was no involuntary dance.
"Just to let you know? I'm not your baby."

The arc did not affect DK. He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Ok, ok, chill chill, no need to get so uptight. So I would guess that you are a electricity controller possibly more, what a real shocker.” The sarcasm was back again as was the smile. But inside he knew that she had stepped over a line and needed to be shown that people needed to be respected.

“Since madam has graciously allowed me to experience the joys of her mutation, allow me to return the favour.” As he said that his right hand shot out and gripped her wrist, the one that had shocked him, and pressed it to his chest, which, under his t-shirt now had the conductivity of rubber, and created a vacume so that her hand was now stuck firmly in place to his chest, although she would not be able to feel anything unusual except that she would not be able to move her hand. As Lori reacted to this, DK repeated it with her other hand so that it looked like she had placed both her hands on his muscular chest.

Dragon King gazed down at her, sighed and shook his head at her futile attempts to escape.
“Ah the uses of the chest lock.” He said as he put his hands on his hips.
Looking her straight in the eyes. “It is not very polite to shock people, I don’t mind teasing and all that but some respect would be appreciated.” Stern face aside, the smile returned. “I though that as your physical age got older so would you mental one, but perhaps..(a smile crepped across his face) not, I wonder if it has stunted growth (twinkle), Perhaps?” this would get a reaction out of her, he knew it and she would know it. the question was that could she stop herself reacting!! This was getting more and more fun each passing minute, for how often does one have the chance to slightly restrain a stunningly beautiful girl!!

“Hmm, tumbling? You enjoy that too, do you do martial arts? Brawling perhaps?”
"No and no. I'm a lover not a fighter." She lied smoothly. Truth be told she was almost always up for a bit of both. She was in the prime of her youth, strong, and confident... so why not?

Lori was interested in his antics about being old. He had seemed entirely honest about things as of yet, but she really couldn't tell if he was joking or not. How old was old? She was still learning out their subspecies. Honestly she hadn't given much thought to the fact that some might have longer than a single lifespan. She laughed and shook her head at more of his antics. What a silly man.

“You say the word mutation almost as if you are afraid of it, and I view it as an ability rather than a mutation, but call it what you will, for I care not." She couldn't help but frown slightly. He'd called it a mutation first. As for being afraid... she needed more information about mutants in general. This was probably the first time she'd thrown herself into their company. "Manly? Strong? Many claim to be manly and strong but are unable to deliver or to act as a true man. Me? No, I would never be so deluded as to think that I have reached such heights. I..” He trailed off mid sentence distractedly. At first she thought it might be her, but she soon discerned differently. Though Lori detected no visible change, his chest did not jerk with muscle spasms. A flirtatious miscalculation perhaps, she mused. Her smile was slowly fading... as was his.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Ok, ok, chill chill, no need to get so uptight. So I would guess that you are a electricity controller possibly more, what a real shocker.” She rolled her eyes clearly not amused. The day someone came up with a new response to her revealing her gift was the day she'd die happy. He seemed amused enough about the situation though. It was always so interesting to see the differences in ways that people reacted. This one was so easy going though he seemed to have an edge now. Excellent. She was getting to the real person not just the doughy, jovial exterior.

“Since madam has graciously allowed me to experience the joys of her mutation, allow me to return the favour.” She allowed him to take her hand not that she'd really had time to avoid his swift movement, and it wasn't that she trusted him either. He curiously pressed her hand against his chest. She watched the movement curiously and then cautiously pulled back at her hand... except that it was stuck. Curious indeed!

While she was marveling at her immobilized hand, he pulled her other hand to his chest and set his hands on his hips, confident in his domination over her. Normally she might have gotten angry, but he'd engaged her mind rather than her sense of self preservation. She knew people and she just wasn't intimidated by Dragon... not yet.

“Ah the uses of the chest lock.” He looked her straight in the eyes and she calmly returned his gaze curiously with no sense of fear whatsoever. “It is not very polite to shock people, I don’t mind teasing and all that but some respect would be appreciated.”

She smiled then, sharing it with him as he smiled too. Oh she respected him, but probably not in the way that he expected. She didn't value personal space or even personal identity. What did it matter to her if he was a Senator or a bum? No what she respected was the fact that he hadn't just taken it and the fact that he showed an ounce of brainage beyond silliness. He'd showed some quick thinking and ingenuity when he'd diffused her shock. He'd then showed an interesting line of thinking when he'd taken her hands captive, though the fact that he called it a chest lock implied that it was a move he'd used before. It was times like these that she wished that she had enough weight and strength to drop and use leverage to throw him (and his goober smile) over hers shoulder by the perfect grip he'd given her. Seeing as he was an entire foot taller than she and most likely twice her weight, Lori only smiled vacantly, ever confident in her abilites and quick thinking skills.

“I though that as your physical age got older so would you mental one," She smiled at the obvious rib. "apparently not." She conceded quickly. Raising the charge in her hands to test his reaction and possible futility. He seemed to not notice as he kept speaking. The only tell that she'd done much of anything at all was the sudden extra warmth under her hands.
"but perhaps..(a smile crept across his face) not, I wonder if it has stunted growth (twinkle), Perhaps?” Her smile never wavered though internally her ire was building. She swiftly considered what tactics might work with this one... she settled on helpless and innocent and surprised... mostly surprised.

"You can't blame me for being this size, I was born this way!" She tilted her face so that it was even more obvious that she was having to crane her neck to see him a this close of a distance. "Not everyone's a giant, though the boys all seem really big around here." She let a look of intimidation creep into her eyes. It should have been natural given her size. She didn't struggle at all now. Her eyes were wide and she let her body language portray how helpless she must've felt. Except that she didn't... her back up plan was already in motion: magnetic fields manifesting near the heavy metal loading plates for the weight lifting machine. Nothing really changed. She'd have to feed them to make them strong enough to lift and move the plates. They were there just in case to make sure he didn't really end up with the upper hand. She knew she didn't have the control to make the manipulation quiet so she'd have to rely on speed. Manifesting the field early helped immensely in that area. "Are you some kind of density manipulator? Your pores or something? I just can't figure out how you got my hands." she asked and the curiosity was entirely real. She looked into his eyes innocently waiting for an answer.

(occ sorry for the short reply, the next one will be longer)
“Who said I ever blamed you for your size?” he smiled as she craned her neck.
Dk noted that she gave of the signals of being helpless. Did his enhanced hearinf hear a creaking of metal? Naa it must have been an illusion. Should he tickle her, why not!

"Are you some kind of density manipulator? Your pores or something? I just can't figure out how you got my hands."

“Haha, wouldn’t you just like to know?” (He raised an eyebrow) “Then again, is it martial arts? Or is it an ability? Can it be learned? Or must you be born with it?”

Through all this looking down at her, DK made sure that his eyes never strayed lower than her face, he was a gentleman. Acting on childish impulse he used both hands and tickled her on the waist as he let her go. After the tickling his hands pushed her backwards slightly, not enough to shove her over but enough to get her back on her feet again. “Ahhh well, enough of that.” He stood and awaited her response.

“Haha, wouldn’t you just like to know?” He arched his eyebrow and she took the brief pause as an invitation to get a word in. "Yes, I would." “Then again, is it martial arts? Or is it an ability? Can it be learned? Or must you be born with it?” It was her turn to arch her brow. He was obviously teasing her now.

She put on her best, 'oh no! i'm intimidated. whatever could you be?' face. Meanwhile one heavy plate was already on its way, careening through the air toward the back of his head... that's when the tickling started. Her control faltered, though having the magnetic field to focus on helped. What was with these boys!? Instinctively she dropped her weight so that her ribs were out of comfortable tickling range, but he dipped slightly with her. That meant the first weight flew close, yet, harmlessly over head. The weight zipped right past both of them and slammed loudly into the wall. The tickling had made it hard to control to strength of the field.

Oops. If he had hair it would all be sticking up from accidental static discharge. Not that it would hurt him. Stupid rubber-suction body guy. He gave up on the tickling, straightening his posture with a dismissive, “Ahhh well, enough of that.” And a shove that freed her hands. He could probably see the metallic plate now. Crap. What a waste of an ace.

"Tickling is a form of torture, you know!" She was tempted to shove him or... or throw something. This guy was troublesome! She'd only given him a low-level zap, after all! A playful shock!

The loud crash of Steel hitting the floor jolted DK from his thoughts. “Sheesh!”

He looked Lori in the eye, and said, “I am sorry if I startled you or made you feel threatened, I did not mean to.”

He I go again, rubbing people up the wrong way, sigh… if his brother were here he would pat DK on the shoulder and say “Well done, master of sensitivities.” But alas His brother was not here.

He looked down, what was with him and putting people off!!

He looked her in the eye and instinctively Lori crouched slightly. A bend of the knee and spring ready toes... except he said something very non-threatening. And that alone threw her off balance. “I am sorry if I startled you or made you feel threatened, I did not mean to.”

"Tcha!" Didn't mean to? What did she have an invisible sign that said 'Tickle me, I shook sparks.' taped somewhere on her back? Lori obstinately folded her arms over her stomach, leaving her fight or flight stance. DK was either a master deceiver or a mental juvenile... considering who she'd met in this complex as of yet she was voting the latter. He'd shown promise, intelligence even... but he didn't have the wisdom to back it up. "You'd make a horrible villain you know."

He looked down like he was the one who was uncomfortable, embarrassed, uncomfortable. It was she who had been held helpless and had allowed herself to be put into that situation in the first place and here he was... ashamed of himself! She didn't even have to prompt those feelings for him. He supplied them all on his own! Lori had a few facial twitches that told of her internal emotional struggle.

On one had she wanted to point and laugh at the guy (those were her maternal feelings coming out) on the other... she still wanted to throw things. 'No, I should stay on every resident's neutral to good side until I figure out what I'm doing.' She took a deep breath and let it out in a huffy sigh. With the breath went most of her frustrations.

"Bah. You can make it up to me." She waved a hand at him dismissively. It was time to find out who here was the fool. "If you're done here, pussycat, you could show me the way to the kitchen." Lori put her hand up to her sleep-rumpled hair. Sure she'd felt threatened when he'd had her essentially helpless, but if he was just going to relinquish control of the situation so easily... well, someone had to steer this boat.

When she said "Bah. You can make it up to me." he knew she was not that offended, and that it was ok.

“Well if you wish to let out your frustration you could always punch me , and I will not return the punch, but then again, I am sure you will get over it! ah well..”

“Pussycat? Sure madam cub, follow the leader.” He said as he gestured towards the door. Confidently he led her through the maze of corridors to the kitchen.

“Here we go, feel free to help yourself, the lounge is right through that door. Would you mind putting the kettle on? I will be right back, just need to take a leak.” Said Dk as he disappeared throughthe doorway.