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Bella heals some scars for Toad and catches Magneto spying on her /again/. Dirty old man.
"Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" Completely uniform in their black karate robes, the students Toynbee's martial arts class are... tired. But woe be to any one of them who fails to move when he commands it. They've been training for hours today, catching up from the past few days that he's been too busy doing other... things... to train them. So now they get to pay the price. Is it fair? No. Does Toad care? If you have to ask.... He too is dressed in a similar manner to the rest of his class, standing alone on a small stone surface while watching them perform. Each student is spaced evenly apart on the main platform.
Bella can hear the sounds of training from all the way down the hall and has decided to go and take a look. Her own training style is a little different. More unorthodox, and certainly not structured. She doesn't have the patience for such things. But it's always interesting to watch someone who does. Jeans, a few straps of leather she calls a shirt and bare feet. A stark contrast to the karate robes. She slides just inside the cave and leans back against a wall, arms crossing over her chest as she watches.
Toad's classes may be structured, but they're still unorthodox. Just ask the advanced students who are right now scraping barnacles off the side of the island while dangling from thin, perplexing chords. Eh, they'll get it eventually. "Jump kick!" "Hyuh!" "Side kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Stop!" Suddenly Toad leaps from his perch and into the thick of things, grabbing a small student by the collar and shaking him vigorously. "Kick from the HIP! Not the KNEE! Godammit, 'ow 'ard is that to bloody understand!!" The other students are grateful for the chance to rest, but the poor boy being cussed out looks ready to collapse.
It's better than Bella's students who have to follow in her footsteps. Two blades, having to use the metal and their own muscle to pull themselves up the face of the cliffs. If she can do it, they sure as hell can. No ropes for them. "It would probably be easier to understand if you weren't snarling at him like a rabid dog, puddin'." She says with an innocent wrinkle of her nose.
Toad snaps a glare in Bella's direction. "My yellin' ain't w'ot they got t'worry about, Mrs. Toynbee," he shoots back at her, then shoves the recruit to the ground. "It's when some other sonofabitch 'as 'is face all up in yohrs, that you go'ta learn t'fuckin' take it," he calls aloud to everyone present. "So if y'dun' like my yellin', that's just too bloody damn bad, now isn't it? 'Cause if y'can't take it from me, then y'can't take it from some bastard w'o's gonna yell AND kill you, and that means yohr USELESS to our leader! Now d'you want t'tell 'im that yohr useless? DO YOU??" A hush falls over the group, most using the time to stretch or rest their limbs.
Magneto keeps a careful eye on these proceedings from the shadows, as he has been for a few minutes now - having arrived at roughly the same time as Bella, however silently, and on the opposite wall - near the lake, where the odd mix of light and shadow thrown off the water and back across the rock works to further mask his quiet presence.
Bella pushes away from the wall as she begins to walk towards the collected recruits. "Come now darlin', you shouldn't go talking to me like that in public. You know it gets me all flustered when you act all manly and gruff." She rumbles at him and pauses for a moment behind one of the stretching students. She reaches out to press two fingers against the side of his neck. The boy shudders and falls to his knees after a moment and Bella can only shake her head and keep walking. "Weak. Lay off the sweets fat ass." A glance to Toad. "Put that one on a diet if you expect him to be able to keep up with you."
Toad rolls his eyes and narrows them very disdainfully at Bella. "Dun' fuck wi' my class, /dear/," he grumbles, then sneers at the rest of them. "Go take a shower, soak yohr feet an' be back 'ere in four hours," he barks. "An' somebody pick up this toffee-nosed bastard an' whiff a donut under 'is nose!" Two students comply, and the class quickly disperses. Toad stretches out his own limbs while he watches them walk away, then curls backwards until his palms are flat against the floor behind his ankles. His legs come up soon after and he keeps a handstand pose, gradually lifting his left hand until he's only balanced on his right. "Still want those scent markers in yohr garden," he asks Bella in a less 'I'm mad at the world' tone. Class is out, so he doesn't have to sound so much like a jerk. Not so much.
Magneto hardly moves as most of the class filters past within twenty or thirty feet, and is only noticed by one or two as a result - tired, furtive glances sent his way returned with bland looks until the last has passed, and he can turn his head back to Toad and Bella. Super Spy Magneto. 37 points of articulation. Ego not included.
Bella throws a soft pout in Toad's direction. "But it's so much more fun then fucking with my own." She says in the most innocent of tones. Not that she expects him to buy it for even a moment. He knows her better than that. "Mmhmm. Padraig just put in the new statue, I'd like that trapped as well. It was a gift to the Island and really don't want Creed messing it up." Too many scents in the room for her to have picked out Magneto before, too much movement as well. He'd better hold very still.
And Toad, who prides himself on knowing when he's being watched.... Is oblivious. Though when he finds out, he really won't care. For once he's not doing anything wrong! "Saw it. Gaudy, if you want my opinion." He bends his elbow, then pushes off the ground and back to his feet. Next week, his students get to learn to do that. Lemme rephrase that: His students WILL learn to do that. Or pay the price. "An' the scent markers won't deterr Creed, I 'ope you realize. 'E'd piss on 'em, take a shit, too. If yohr lookin' to keep 'is 'ands off, y'd 'ave an easier time askin' 'Umans not t'be stupid." His gaze does wander for a moment, taking a quick look around before falling back on her. "I got a li'l change I want you t'make. Shouldn't take a thought."
Magneto does. Hold very still, that is. Having lived as long as he has, patience is not a difficult virtue to harness, so that the slow and steady rise and fall of his chest is all that merges with the liquid shift of highlight and shadow that is the lake's edge.
"It is NOT gaudy!" Bella states with just a hint of annoyance touching her tone. "It's spectacular." She's actually rather attached to that statue. "Oh I know, but didn't we discuss other traps as well? And honestly it wouldn't be the first time he's used the garden as a litterbox. Filthy beast." She blinks, surprised as he mentions change. "Is that so? What is it?"
Toad smirks at her mention of other traps. "Thought y'didn't want t'be responsible if Magneto got 'is nose nipped off while snortin' a rose." So many traps come to mind, but not a one of them could be fine-tuned to detect the person invading the garden. It would be a lose-lose situation. When she takes notice of his request, he pushes back part of his robe to show her the scratched-out roman numerals on his collarbone. "'Ow long would it take?"
Bella sighs and frowns. "That's true. I don't want anyone else to get hurt, last of all Erik." She rolls her eyes. "How about something DNA coded? So it just attacks him? Whether he's tearing up the garden or not?" It's no secret she dispises Creed. A gasp as Bella's fingers reach out to trace over the numbers, anger hardening in her eyes. "Who did this to you?" Eyes dart up at his question. "Maybe a minute."
"Me an' my stupidity," is Toad's only reply, as he doesn't want to get into that story again. At least not to Bella, who is too much like Toxin, who he thinks he already told the story to, and if she didn't care, then who would? "Get rid've it. I dun' even want t'know that it wus evur there." And in the meantime, he'll think about her request for the garden. Admittedly, it would be fun to set up a gauntlet to trap his supposed-to-be best friend. They're always trying to think up clever ways to maim each other. It's all fun and games, even after somebody's been hurt.
Magneto sneezes. Not...the dramatic entrance he was hoping for. Damn. A shake of his head works to clear it somewhat - the silver of his hair briefly highlighted by the water's dancing light.
Bella frowns up at Toad and shakes her head. "When will the people on this island learn not to lie to me." She asks, fingers still pressed softly against his collarbone. "Your scent changes when you lie. Your heart rate jumps, /and/ these scars are not self inflicted. The thickest end of the scar is the top part, showing that it was done from in front of you, not by your own hand. The angle's wrong." Bladed weapons and the wounds they inflict, Bella's specialty. She doesn't have her very own torture chamber for nothing after all. "But if you don't want to tell me what happened.." Then she won't force him to. Her fingertips begin to warm as the skin around the scars begins to mold itself into new flesh. Eventually the scar tissue fades, leaving no trace of numbers in it's wake. The sneeze is heard, Bella's hand reaching down to draw a blade from her hip, pointed in that direction. Until she sees the silver. "Damnit Erik."
Toad narrows his eyes at her. He's not lying. He fully believes that it is his own stupidity that was the result in his capture, torture and branding. But since she's working on his skin he doesn't argue. Seeing the scar dissipate does make him feel a hell of a lot better, though--that is until he hears the sneeze. Whothehell??? He turns, straightening his robe in the process, then barely catches his own eyerolling once he sees that it's Magneto. Now he knows what to get the man for Christmas: Inbedded spy system with a little TV in his room whose channels give him audio and visual access to all of the island.
"Lovely to see you as well, my dear." Low voice resonating easily throughout the cavern, Erik finally begins to move forward, his outline growing increasingly distinct with each step he takes away from the heavy gloom of the far wall. "Forgive me for eavesdropping. I just happened to be in the area."
"Don't look at me like that." Directed towards Toad before her eyes flicker to Erik. "Isn't it always though?" A grin as Bella slides the blade back into it's holster. "Oh yes. You just happened to be hiding in that dark shadow, spying." She states. This is the /second/ time he's been caught doing this.
Bah. What's Toad supposed to say in a situation like this? 'Me an' the missus 'ere were just gonna 'ave a li'l 'ow's your father before movin' on.' Riiiight. Although the situation does put a mental smirk to Toynbee. Magneto, eavesdropping in his own kingdom. What's the world coming to?
"I've found that it can be somewhat difficult to get the truth out of individuals who are well aware of their mortality in my immediate involvement. Sans the presence of alcohol, of course." A glance to Toad, and a thin half-smirk to Bella, and overall, Erik seems rather at ease.
"Is that your pretty way of saying you don't think hubby here or I.. or both, can tell the truth around you?" Bella asks with an amused arch of the brow. She certainly hopes that wasn't directed at her. Because as they're both well aware she's far too truthful for her own good. Especially when it comes to telling Erik exactly what she thinks.
Oh come on. Has Toad ever lied to Magneto? .... Don't answer that. Although with his back truly against the wall--and throat firmly in his leader's grasp--Toynbee sings well to the tune of 'tell me what I want to know'. He looks between the both of them, silently, then hops over to where he earlier threw his dufflebag of goodies. Time to clean up and prepare for the next round of training.
Bella doesn't take offense. Nope, actually she seems highly amused to the point of giggling. "Well, atleast I'm in good company, dear." She beams, raising to her tip toes to kiss his nose. "You're so cute when you're snarky." A wink shot towards Toad as she begins to pad backwards, bare feet making not a sound against the floor. "But I'll leave you boys to talk. I've got work to do. Unlike some people." Another wink as Bella drifts from the room.
"Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" Completely uniform in their black karate robes, the students Toynbee's martial arts class are... tired. But woe be to any one of them who fails to move when he commands it. They've been training for hours today, catching up from the past few days that he's been too busy doing other... things... to train them. So now they get to pay the price. Is it fair? No. Does Toad care? If you have to ask.... He too is dressed in a similar manner to the rest of his class, standing alone on a small stone surface while watching them perform. Each student is spaced evenly apart on the main platform.
Bella can hear the sounds of training from all the way down the hall and has decided to go and take a look. Her own training style is a little different. More unorthodox, and certainly not structured. She doesn't have the patience for such things. But it's always interesting to watch someone who does. Jeans, a few straps of leather she calls a shirt and bare feet. A stark contrast to the karate robes. She slides just inside the cave and leans back against a wall, arms crossing over her chest as she watches.
Toad's classes may be structured, but they're still unorthodox. Just ask the advanced students who are right now scraping barnacles off the side of the island while dangling from thin, perplexing chords. Eh, they'll get it eventually. "Jump kick!" "Hyuh!" "Side kick!" "Hyuh!" "Front kick!" "Hyuh!" "Stop!" Suddenly Toad leaps from his perch and into the thick of things, grabbing a small student by the collar and shaking him vigorously. "Kick from the HIP! Not the KNEE! Godammit, 'ow 'ard is that to bloody understand!!" The other students are grateful for the chance to rest, but the poor boy being cussed out looks ready to collapse.
It's better than Bella's students who have to follow in her footsteps. Two blades, having to use the metal and their own muscle to pull themselves up the face of the cliffs. If she can do it, they sure as hell can. No ropes for them. "It would probably be easier to understand if you weren't snarling at him like a rabid dog, puddin'." She says with an innocent wrinkle of her nose.
Toad snaps a glare in Bella's direction. "My yellin' ain't w'ot they got t'worry about, Mrs. Toynbee," he shoots back at her, then shoves the recruit to the ground. "It's when some other sonofabitch 'as 'is face all up in yohrs, that you go'ta learn t'fuckin' take it," he calls aloud to everyone present. "So if y'dun' like my yellin', that's just too bloody damn bad, now isn't it? 'Cause if y'can't take it from me, then y'can't take it from some bastard w'o's gonna yell AND kill you, and that means yohr USELESS to our leader! Now d'you want t'tell 'im that yohr useless? DO YOU??" A hush falls over the group, most using the time to stretch or rest their limbs.
Magneto keeps a careful eye on these proceedings from the shadows, as he has been for a few minutes now - having arrived at roughly the same time as Bella, however silently, and on the opposite wall - near the lake, where the odd mix of light and shadow thrown off the water and back across the rock works to further mask his quiet presence.
Bella pushes away from the wall as she begins to walk towards the collected recruits. "Come now darlin', you shouldn't go talking to me like that in public. You know it gets me all flustered when you act all manly and gruff." She rumbles at him and pauses for a moment behind one of the stretching students. She reaches out to press two fingers against the side of his neck. The boy shudders and falls to his knees after a moment and Bella can only shake her head and keep walking. "Weak. Lay off the sweets fat ass." A glance to Toad. "Put that one on a diet if you expect him to be able to keep up with you."
Toad rolls his eyes and narrows them very disdainfully at Bella. "Dun' fuck wi' my class, /dear/," he grumbles, then sneers at the rest of them. "Go take a shower, soak yohr feet an' be back 'ere in four hours," he barks. "An' somebody pick up this toffee-nosed bastard an' whiff a donut under 'is nose!" Two students comply, and the class quickly disperses. Toad stretches out his own limbs while he watches them walk away, then curls backwards until his palms are flat against the floor behind his ankles. His legs come up soon after and he keeps a handstand pose, gradually lifting his left hand until he's only balanced on his right. "Still want those scent markers in yohr garden," he asks Bella in a less 'I'm mad at the world' tone. Class is out, so he doesn't have to sound so much like a jerk. Not so much.
Magneto hardly moves as most of the class filters past within twenty or thirty feet, and is only noticed by one or two as a result - tired, furtive glances sent his way returned with bland looks until the last has passed, and he can turn his head back to Toad and Bella. Super Spy Magneto. 37 points of articulation. Ego not included.
Bella throws a soft pout in Toad's direction. "But it's so much more fun then fucking with my own." She says in the most innocent of tones. Not that she expects him to buy it for even a moment. He knows her better than that. "Mmhmm. Padraig just put in the new statue, I'd like that trapped as well. It was a gift to the Island and really don't want Creed messing it up." Too many scents in the room for her to have picked out Magneto before, too much movement as well. He'd better hold very still.
And Toad, who prides himself on knowing when he's being watched.... Is oblivious. Though when he finds out, he really won't care. For once he's not doing anything wrong! "Saw it. Gaudy, if you want my opinion." He bends his elbow, then pushes off the ground and back to his feet. Next week, his students get to learn to do that. Lemme rephrase that: His students WILL learn to do that. Or pay the price. "An' the scent markers won't deterr Creed, I 'ope you realize. 'E'd piss on 'em, take a shit, too. If yohr lookin' to keep 'is 'ands off, y'd 'ave an easier time askin' 'Umans not t'be stupid." His gaze does wander for a moment, taking a quick look around before falling back on her. "I got a li'l change I want you t'make. Shouldn't take a thought."
Magneto does. Hold very still, that is. Having lived as long as he has, patience is not a difficult virtue to harness, so that the slow and steady rise and fall of his chest is all that merges with the liquid shift of highlight and shadow that is the lake's edge.
"It is NOT gaudy!" Bella states with just a hint of annoyance touching her tone. "It's spectacular." She's actually rather attached to that statue. "Oh I know, but didn't we discuss other traps as well? And honestly it wouldn't be the first time he's used the garden as a litterbox. Filthy beast." She blinks, surprised as he mentions change. "Is that so? What is it?"
Toad smirks at her mention of other traps. "Thought y'didn't want t'be responsible if Magneto got 'is nose nipped off while snortin' a rose." So many traps come to mind, but not a one of them could be fine-tuned to detect the person invading the garden. It would be a lose-lose situation. When she takes notice of his request, he pushes back part of his robe to show her the scratched-out roman numerals on his collarbone. "'Ow long would it take?"
Bella sighs and frowns. "That's true. I don't want anyone else to get hurt, last of all Erik." She rolls her eyes. "How about something DNA coded? So it just attacks him? Whether he's tearing up the garden or not?" It's no secret she dispises Creed. A gasp as Bella's fingers reach out to trace over the numbers, anger hardening in her eyes. "Who did this to you?" Eyes dart up at his question. "Maybe a minute."
"Me an' my stupidity," is Toad's only reply, as he doesn't want to get into that story again. At least not to Bella, who is too much like Toxin, who he thinks he already told the story to, and if she didn't care, then who would? "Get rid've it. I dun' even want t'know that it wus evur there." And in the meantime, he'll think about her request for the garden. Admittedly, it would be fun to set up a gauntlet to trap his supposed-to-be best friend. They're always trying to think up clever ways to maim each other. It's all fun and games, even after somebody's been hurt.
Magneto sneezes. Not...the dramatic entrance he was hoping for. Damn. A shake of his head works to clear it somewhat - the silver of his hair briefly highlighted by the water's dancing light.
Bella frowns up at Toad and shakes her head. "When will the people on this island learn not to lie to me." She asks, fingers still pressed softly against his collarbone. "Your scent changes when you lie. Your heart rate jumps, /and/ these scars are not self inflicted. The thickest end of the scar is the top part, showing that it was done from in front of you, not by your own hand. The angle's wrong." Bladed weapons and the wounds they inflict, Bella's specialty. She doesn't have her very own torture chamber for nothing after all. "But if you don't want to tell me what happened.." Then she won't force him to. Her fingertips begin to warm as the skin around the scars begins to mold itself into new flesh. Eventually the scar tissue fades, leaving no trace of numbers in it's wake. The sneeze is heard, Bella's hand reaching down to draw a blade from her hip, pointed in that direction. Until she sees the silver. "Damnit Erik."
Toad narrows his eyes at her. He's not lying. He fully believes that it is his own stupidity that was the result in his capture, torture and branding. But since she's working on his skin he doesn't argue. Seeing the scar dissipate does make him feel a hell of a lot better, though--that is until he hears the sneeze. Whothehell??? He turns, straightening his robe in the process, then barely catches his own eyerolling once he sees that it's Magneto. Now he knows what to get the man for Christmas: Inbedded spy system with a little TV in his room whose channels give him audio and visual access to all of the island.
"Lovely to see you as well, my dear." Low voice resonating easily throughout the cavern, Erik finally begins to move forward, his outline growing increasingly distinct with each step he takes away from the heavy gloom of the far wall. "Forgive me for eavesdropping. I just happened to be in the area."
"Don't look at me like that." Directed towards Toad before her eyes flicker to Erik. "Isn't it always though?" A grin as Bella slides the blade back into it's holster. "Oh yes. You just happened to be hiding in that dark shadow, spying." She states. This is the /second/ time he's been caught doing this.
Bah. What's Toad supposed to say in a situation like this? 'Me an' the missus 'ere were just gonna 'ave a li'l 'ow's your father before movin' on.' Riiiight. Although the situation does put a mental smirk to Toynbee. Magneto, eavesdropping in his own kingdom. What's the world coming to?
"I've found that it can be somewhat difficult to get the truth out of individuals who are well aware of their mortality in my immediate involvement. Sans the presence of alcohol, of course." A glance to Toad, and a thin half-smirk to Bella, and overall, Erik seems rather at ease.
"Is that your pretty way of saying you don't think hubby here or I.. or both, can tell the truth around you?" Bella asks with an amused arch of the brow. She certainly hopes that wasn't directed at her. Because as they're both well aware she's far too truthful for her own good. Especially when it comes to telling Erik exactly what she thinks.
Oh come on. Has Toad ever lied to Magneto? .... Don't answer that. Although with his back truly against the wall--and throat firmly in his leader's grasp--Toynbee sings well to the tune of 'tell me what I want to know'. He looks between the both of them, silently, then hops over to where he earlier threw his dufflebag of goodies. Time to clean up and prepare for the next round of training.
Bella doesn't take offense. Nope, actually she seems highly amused to the point of giggling. "Well, atleast I'm in good company, dear." She beams, raising to her tip toes to kiss his nose. "You're so cute when you're snarky." A wink shot towards Toad as she begins to pad backwards, bare feet making not a sound against the floor. "But I'll leave you boys to talk. I've got work to do. Unlike some people." Another wink as Bella drifts from the room.