[Log] Alec and Annie Train
Nov. 13th, 2018 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
st_ayedhidden Annie was following Alec down the hallway.
"Please!" She implored. "Pleaaassseee?"
"Don't you have other people who will train with you?" Alec glanced over at the little red-headed shadow he seemed to have developed. It wasn't that he didn't like Annie, but he had no idea what to do with her. Alec was always worried he was going to mess up and say something wrong or do something wrong and the girl would go from being a cute, nice Peter-like child to something more like him and that was nerve-wracking. He still had Peter's lecture on not swearing in front of Annie at the back of his mind, too.
"But you know things they don't," Annie countered. "And you've helped my dad, right? I want to learn what you taught him."
There was no way Alec was teaching any of the lessons he had taught Peter to Annie. He glanced to her again. "You're too young to be training anyways. Aren't you supposed to be like.... playing will dolls or something? You're eight. Can't you just be a normal eight year-old?"
Annie pouted stubbornly. She didn't like it when she was dismissed because of her age.
"I do play with toys," She said, "But I want to get stronger too!"
Alec exhaled and rubbed his face with his palm. Was Peter going to kill him if he helped Annie? Alec might if the roles were reversed. Then again, Peter looked at being a superhero a lot differently than Alec did. Still... helping the young girl to fight didn't sit well with Alec at all. "You know... you're just as stubborn as your dad."
Annie grinned widely.
"Thank you!" She said happily. "Does this mean you'll train me?!"
Alec rolled his eyes. "Yes. But only if you listen to what I say and don't complain about what kind of lessons they are."
"Deal," Annie agreed quickly.
Alec had no plans to teach the girl how to fight, but he did gesture for her to follow him and he led them outside and across the Madonna Inn property to the overly-pink tennis courts. He looked at the tall fence. In one swift motion, he was up and over the fence and landed on both his feet on the other side, never having touched the fence once. He turned and looked at the girl through the chain-links. "First lesson. Getting over this fence in one jump."
Annie watched in amazement. She knew that Alec could do things because he was different from a regular human, but she had never seen any of his abilities in action before. She wondered if he was as strong Peter, too. When Alec landed, Annie continued to look amazed.
Annie was a determined child. She looked at the top of the fence. She crouched and with all of her might, she tried to jump over the fence the same way that Alec did. She couldn't quite meet the top of the fence in one jump. She clanged against the fence and then dropped to the ground.
She let out a huff of frustration and tried again with the same results. What am I doing wrong?
"You're not me, kid." Alec used the door in the fence to come back to the other side. "Lesson number one. You're not me. You're not Thor. You're not your dad. You're you. So whatever you want to do in life, you have to figure out how Annie is going to do it, not how other people do it. Sure, when you're older and taller and stronger, you'll probably be able to jump the fence in one go. Right now? You're eight. You can't help that, so use it to your advantage instead."
Annie looked to Alec and then to the fence.
"I need to do it in two steps." She said.
"Please!" She implored. "Pleaaassseee?"
"Don't you have other people who will train with you?" Alec glanced over at the little red-headed shadow he seemed to have developed. It wasn't that he didn't like Annie, but he had no idea what to do with her. Alec was always worried he was going to mess up and say something wrong or do something wrong and the girl would go from being a cute, nice Peter-like child to something more like him and that was nerve-wracking. He still had Peter's lecture on not swearing in front of Annie at the back of his mind, too.
"But you know things they don't," Annie countered. "And you've helped my dad, right? I want to learn what you taught him."
There was no way Alec was teaching any of the lessons he had taught Peter to Annie. He glanced to her again. "You're too young to be training anyways. Aren't you supposed to be like.... playing will dolls or something? You're eight. Can't you just be a normal eight year-old?"
Annie pouted stubbornly. She didn't like it when she was dismissed because of her age.
"I do play with toys," She said, "But I want to get stronger too!"
Alec exhaled and rubbed his face with his palm. Was Peter going to kill him if he helped Annie? Alec might if the roles were reversed. Then again, Peter looked at being a superhero a lot differently than Alec did. Still... helping the young girl to fight didn't sit well with Alec at all. "You know... you're just as stubborn as your dad."
Annie grinned widely.
"Thank you!" She said happily. "Does this mean you'll train me?!"
Alec rolled his eyes. "Yes. But only if you listen to what I say and don't complain about what kind of lessons they are."
"Deal," Annie agreed quickly.
Alec had no plans to teach the girl how to fight, but he did gesture for her to follow him and he led them outside and across the Madonna Inn property to the overly-pink tennis courts. He looked at the tall fence. In one swift motion, he was up and over the fence and landed on both his feet on the other side, never having touched the fence once. He turned and looked at the girl through the chain-links. "First lesson. Getting over this fence in one jump."
Annie watched in amazement. She knew that Alec could do things because he was different from a regular human, but she had never seen any of his abilities in action before. She wondered if he was as strong Peter, too. When Alec landed, Annie continued to look amazed.
Annie was a determined child. She looked at the top of the fence. She crouched and with all of her might, she tried to jump over the fence the same way that Alec did. She couldn't quite meet the top of the fence in one jump. She clanged against the fence and then dropped to the ground.
She let out a huff of frustration and tried again with the same results. What am I doing wrong?
"You're not me, kid." Alec used the door in the fence to come back to the other side. "Lesson number one. You're not me. You're not Thor. You're not your dad. You're you. So whatever you want to do in life, you have to figure out how Annie is going to do it, not how other people do it. Sure, when you're older and taller and stronger, you'll probably be able to jump the fence in one go. Right now? You're eight. You can't help that, so use it to your advantage instead."
Annie looked to Alec and then to the fence.
"I need to do it in two steps." She said.
Alec nodded. "Sometimes it's better to take more steps if you're going to succeed.... Okay, I'll show you how to do it so you don't make any noise."
