A Little Athleticism Never Hurt.... Much.

[Cole Kessler]

OUTFIT:Sunglasses hat Black/red undershirt shirt shorts shoes

Cole had been bored since the night of the Concert. That had been the most fun he'd had in a while, really. Getting to see most of his old bandmates had really pulled him back into happy mode and it made him even more happy that he and Anna made it official and his parents approved. He'd woken up this morning, sent out a mass text and went to his parents' house just to stop by and say hi, dropping Hoss off in the process to make sure nothing happened to him while Cole was out and about.

He was just so happy to have the Firebreather back as well. The car sported a new blue and white paint scheme as well as some newly added chrome trim on the front grill. The roar of it's engine just enthralled him into speeding. the wind blew though his short, shaggy hair as he relaxingly smoke a cigarette while he drove. His stereo blaring some of his favorite music, mainly the songs he'd sang at the concert, and he sang along as only he could.

As he pulled into the school parking lot, Cole stepped out of his car and checked his phone. He quickly typed out a few replies to the responders to his mass text and then typed out another message. This one to his girlfriend, Anna, telling her to meet him at the training field entrance. Which is where he headed. Getting a full football game together was no easy task, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Cole. What was really nice was that Zac had agreed to quarterback the other team. Which meant that, in a way(a big way in Cole's head), it was Cole versus Zac. Cole smiled at the thought as he leaned against the wall, newly lit cigarette in one hand. And a football in his other.

[Zachary LaRousse]

Leave it to Cole to talk him into playing football. Even yet, leave it to Cole to talk him into playing football with a bunch of people still angry with him. Oh how he needs to learn to say no to the man really.

But then, he figures, this’d be a good way to distract himself from all the drama happening around him. Namely JD and Robbie.

So there he was – clad in (what might constitute as his favorite) a sleeveless hoodie, black shorts and winged shoes – sitting on the side of the school building overlooking the training field, waiting for the mastermind to come in view. He wasn’t really much of a sports guy, so he was rather surprised that he suddenly got nominated (almost unanimously at that) as the ‘quarterback’. Oh joy. He barely knew the first thing when it comes to participating in plays, let alone leading one. Let’s all hope he won’t mess this up then.

Especially since he told Cole that in order to make the games interesting, they should have a bet – have the loser (or the one in the losing team) serve as the other’s slave for at least three days, maximum a week.

Why did he have to suggest that before knowing what the game was? And why did Cole have to take him seriously at that?

In any case, there’s no turning back now. At least his teammates have usable powers. Telepathy to connect them altogether, telekinesis for those times when the ball needs to move a few paces to the left – yes, he’s not above using powers. Says games are all about using whatever advantage you have to win after all.

“What’s taking the man so long?” he grumbled, staring blankly at the field.

[Naomi Green]

Leave it to Americans to screw up football.

Then again, they were still sticking to their own measurement system, so what was one to expect, really? Naomi certainly didn't have high expectations for Americans in general, though she was willing to budge on a few of them. As for the two young men currently engaged in gearing up to make complete idiots of themselves, well, the jury was still out on that. She had heard about this, and had even received something resembling a personal invite.

So she'd come out to the field. Wearing a beret and scarf and looking more like she was about to head to the museum as opposed to a football game. At least she had enough sense to wear sensible shoes, as she carefully walked over the field. She looked toward the two boys, again wondering why precisely she'd dragged herself out here to watch them make fools of themselves in a sport that Americans had made up to make fools of themselves.

She didn't find herself particularly drawn to either either. Kessler was tolerable, could sing well enough, but seemed rather dense. Zac had more intelligence, and, in Naomi's opinion, was slightly better looking. But she just wasn't quite sold on him either.

"Bloody hell, I'd better not become their damn groupie," she muttered. Where were the benches? She just needed to sit through this stupid social event, and she'd have another piece of ammunition for the inevitable counseling session.

[Anna Pierce]

Anna rode on her bike to meet Cole. She didn’t have a bike like Cole, instead she had a bike powered by her own legs to get across campus. Her family did’t have the money to get her any real vehicles, but at the moment she was trying to raise her own money for a bike of her own. But that would take a while and until then she zipped around on her mike and dreamed of the day when she didn’t have to peddle her way to see her boyfriend.

Boyfriend...it was official now, their parents knew about it, his parents approved, which was good. Really Anna had only not told two people. Adam and Artemis. They were both over protective of her, Adam was the typical big brother to his little sister and wouldn’t approve of any one dating her. He wasn’t like this with the other girls in the family, but her and Adam were always close, almost as close as her an Artemis. Artemis and Anna always looked after one another, and she wasn’t sure how Artemis would react to the idea of another guy stepping into Anna’s life.

As Anna arrived on the training field and dismounted her bike and saw Cole waiting for her. She tried not to laugh at his glasses, besides that he looked ok. Anna knew they were planing on playing football, and Anna planed to just be a cheerleader. Last time she played football it had been family rules, which meant that by the end Anna had been punched in the face and boob. After that and a few of Ambers and Annie’s ignores a new rule, no girls but Alexis. Ever science then Anna had avoided playing with guys, even if it was Cole. Speaking of Cole, She came up to him holding his hands in hers.

“Hey babe.” She said.

outfit

[Cole Kessler]

"Hey there, beautiful." Cole said with a sheepish grin as he wrapped his arms around her. A light kiss shared between them and Cole smiled as he looked at her, "You look amazing, baby." He said as he turned them around and walked into the field.

He spotted Naomi sitting nearby, and was glad she had decided to show up. She didn't strike him as the American Football kind of girl, but he'd invited her along anyway. The majority of players had already shown up. Fourteen well-conditioned young men stood circled up between he and Zac. Those young men, plus Cole and Zac, gave them exactly enough players for a game of Eight-Man Football.

Cole walked through the group as he and Anna parted for her to go sit down. He walked over to Zac and tossed the ball to him, "Looks like somebody can't get enough Ru-Ru." Cole laughed as he gestured to Naomi, speaking softly enough that only Zac could hear him. "You're sure you wanna do this, LaRousse? I mean, letting me boss you around for a few days?"

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac spent the next five minutes idly playing with the training field grass, picking and throwing them around as Cole’s supposed ‘players’ (read: the other ones he’d managed to manipulate to play this silly game with) slowly trickled in, eventually forming a sizable little group.

Had things been a little normal around school still, the pompous teen’s usually all over the group once it forms, laughing, teasing and happily diverting all attention to him. But since he wasn’t Mr. Popular anymore (he had to accept that fact sooner or later), he simply resigned to looking at a distance, trying to distract himself but juggling his thoughts back and forth from possible (offensive and defensive) plays to witty insults to the late mastermind.

“Well, if he’s managed to somehow deceive you into coming here and not even play, I’d say you’re very well be one in the making,” Zac shrugged as he heard that familiar British voice, not even needing to turn to the side to know who it is. He picked up a few more blades of grass and aimlessly threw them in front of him, letting out a yawn of boredom in the process. “So what’d he tell you that convinced you to come here? Or did you just come here to poke fun at what Americans call football and insist that the game’s supposed to be played with a black-and-white checkered ball?”

Yes, he’s bored. So bored that his supposed comebacks haven’t had even the tiniest bit of wit in them.

A sigh of relief escaped the animal mimic when he finally heard Cole’s voice. He chuckled a bit, and ignoring Cole’s attempt at being shady, didn’t even try to lower his voice when he answered. “Well duh, even in my troubled state, I can still make a girl or two hopelessly fall in love with me.” Hooray confidence. “Whoever said I’m going to lose Kessler?” replied the teen with a smug grin, “So are we going to start this or are we going to exchange useless taunts and waste time for the next five minutes or so? Shouldn’t this all begin with a coin toss or something?”

Great way to show your team you know what you’re doing Zac.

[Naomi Green]

"I'm fairly certain you wouldn't want me to play," called Naomi. She was slightly perturbed to have been called out like that, but, then again, she had been invited, and so far she was on friendly terms with the duo. She detoured from the benches, taking a couple of steps closer to the one who'd recently addressed her.

It had come to Naomi's mind that nobody seemed to be around Zac, and that he seemed almost surprised at the fact. This brought to mind what he'd confessed to her over the lunchroom table, and she couldn't help but feel slightly sympathetic for the young man. True, his own foolishness had brought this on, but that didn't make his fall from grace any softer. Worse, Naomi could almost recognize the situation as being far, far too familiar.

"Though it seems rather sad that I'm the only one you could manage for a cheerleader, Ru-ru," said Naomi, glancing at Kessler and a girl she could only assume was his woman holding hands. She looked to the lonesome Zac, raised her brows, and turned to head for benches or whatever passed for seating. She still hadn't quite decided who to cheer for, though, if she were being wholly honest, she wasn't likely to make a single peep. At least she could find a seat and pretend that this wasn't going to be an absolutely miserable time.

[Odion Martins]

The training field hadn’t been occupied when Odi had arrived. He didn’t appear to be doing much, other than going unnoticed. It wasn’t like he was trying to socialize with anyone, and really he didn’t want to. After being burned pretty badly by Rhett, he had no desire to even be here. A soft sigh escaped his thin lips, wondering why he had come here. It had been a bad idea, really he was grasping at air trying to be in Rhett’s life once more. There had always been something wrong with the blonde, so why did Odion keep chasing him?

A group of people had interrupted his thoughts and rather than leave, he stayed to observe. Odion loved to people watch. The interactions between people taught him how he should, or should not, behave around others. Social wasn’t something the red head was, nor did he interact well with others. He was lucky enough to come off as... accidentally adorable. He was charming when he needed to be and was careful with everything he said.

What really caught his dark blue eyes, and hears, was a girl who sat nearby, obviously not interested in playing the game but wanting to be around anyways. Kind of like he wanted to be – just an extra in the crowd. What was so interesting about the girl was her accent. She was from England no doubt, a place he had roamed and loved, like much of Europe. She also looked strangely... familiar. No one here looked familiar.

Now Odion was simply staring at the brunette, trying to put her face into whatever memory he thought he had of her. And then it hit him and he snapped his head away suddenly. They had been in detention together in Kocher. She had nearly tried to kill someone at a dance he had attended, and then she disappeared and that’s when Odi came here. This really was a small world.

[Anna Pierce]

Anna walked over to the benches. She had considered bringing a book, but decided agents it, as Cole probably did want her here to watch. Really she wasn’t into sports at all. She found them dull and dreaded days where she was forced to watch. For these and other reasons she tended to always have something to do when her sisters soccer games popped up. But now it was her boyfriend, which made it slightly harder to get out of. Besides she wanted to see him, just not tackling guys. All she could really do during this game was sit and wondered who decided that rolling around in the mud with another guy was “manly.”

Anna smirked to herself as events on the training field unfolded under her eyes. From what she could see and gather, Zac and Cole had a bet about being the others slave for the past few days, something that Anna wasn’t sure she liked, if for no other reason then the fear that if Cole lost, Zac would make him do something stupid. She also gathered that the other girl there was not an American, as they referred to it as “american football.” Anna had always wondered why americans called it football.

Then there was the other guy. He had yet to say anything but he was staring at the other girl. Ahh now here was a question, what to do? Should Anna continue her pattern of anti-social behavior, or call that guy out. Both sounded fun, and she didn’t want to sit here alone and quiet threw the whole game. So the choice had been almost made before it was asked.

“You seem to have caught some one’s attention.” She said to the girl and motioned to the guy.

[Cole Kessler]

Cole chuckled as there group seemed to try and gather enough people as if to rival the group of players nearby. "Well, seeing as how we haven't a coin, Zac, we'll do ti this way: You pick first," Cole said gesturing to the group of young men, "And I get first possession, or vice versa. Either way we do this, you won't be beating me today like you did at Beer Pong." Cole smiled.

Naomi spoke to Zac, but used Cole's nick-name for the Prince of Hammel, "Naomi, did you just call him Ru-Ru?" He said, placing a hand on Zac's shoulder, "Sounds like someone's been listening to me too much, sorry, bro." He said as he looked back to Zac.

Then another approached them, a boy Cole had seen around but not spoken to, nor made an attempt to socialize with since he'd gotten here. He was about to give the boy a lesson on respecting women, in which staring overtly was not considered. But Anna, the wonderful girl he saw her as, beat him to it. Ignoring the conversation there, he removed his hand from Zac's shoulder and cross his arms, "So what'll it be LaRousse? First Pick or First Possession?"

[Zachary LaRousse]

“What makes you think I wouldn’t want you on my team?” teased Zac, cocking an eyebrow up as he turned to Naomi. Not that he’d really pick her of course, considering the size of the guys she’d be playing with (even the smallest of them, he thinks, could easily topple her ten times over). “I mean you’re sneaky and I don’t think you’re above playing dirty. So long as not everyone sees anyway. Who wouldn’t want that on their team?”

He’s not exactly sure what Naomi’s up to (his lack of his usual resources is preventing him from doing quite the background check on her; a shame really, since she’s the most interesting ‘puzzle’ he’s encountered so far), but he hopes he could lure her out with simple taunts.

He could hope.

In any case, he didn’t have much time to think about Naomi’s secret as Cole suddenly appeared with a rather familiar blonde in tow. “Since when did you two come together again?” Seems the beating he (Cole) got the night they first met each other didn’t stop either from dating. Odd, but not off-putting anyway.

“Careful Naomi. Talk like that more often and I’d be inclined to believe that you’d want to be more than just my sole cheerleader.” The wink he haughtily sent should be more than enough to convey Zac’s message. He didn’t really notice the guy who came and joined Naomi and Cole’s girlfriend, as he was a bit too focused on deciding who to choose for his team.

“First pick, as usual.” With his lack of experience putting him at a huge disadvantage over Cole, he needed to be smart with his team members. First choice was Gene, the only telepath among the pool. Communication is the key after all and what better way to be sneaky and make his whackadoodle plans heard other than directly projecting it from his mind. For the most part, he got those players he’d want on his team – like Ike, the guy who could manipulate his density at will, and Migs, the one with probability manipulation. Cole did get a number of those he would’ve wanted to be in his dream team, so he had to make do.

Zac didn’t bother suppressing the laugh that came soon after the whole teammate choosing was done. “Just like our elementary gym class days, don’t you think?” chuckled the heir, “In any case Cole, is this when you say play ball?”

Immediately he nudged Gene, nodding at him to prepare having all eight of them in mental contact.

ooc:
This took so long, I'm sorry.
- Jam

[Cole Kessler]

"Oh, no, Zac.....," Cole said with a smirk, "This is where I say: Now let's get this ass-kickin' over with. TDs count as one point, with the score to win at twenty-one." And with that the teams took their positions. Instead of the traditional kick-off, the boys went with a throw-off. In any instance, it meant the same, just a throw rather than kick.

Cole readied himself, allowing Jeff, his first pick and fastest teammate(besides himself), to catch the ball. Cole took off; lead-blocking for Jeff who was full speed behind him. Cole was going as fast as he could, Jeff staying behind him until Cole got tangled up with Gene. Cole held Gene up just long enough to allow Jeff around him. Gene let off and gave chase, but to no avail. Cole hooped and hollered as Jeff raced the final thirty yards to score. As they all headed toward the endzone, Cole looked for Zac, "Better step it up, Ru-Ru. If not it's gonna be a long game for y'all."

Zac didn't respond, but his team did. Though, their spark didn't come as Team Cole's did. They were stopped on the return, hard. Cole had just leveled Migs, but both got right back up. Zac broke the huddle after calling the play. The Prince of Hammel took the snap and dropped back to throw. Cole came flying in on a blitz, slamming Zac to the ground just as he got rid of the ball. Cole stood up, helping Zac up after just in time to see Gene break the plane and score to tie the game, "Nice pass, LaRousse." Cole said in false praise, "Won't happen again though."

The teams would go on to trade-off scores in the first half of the game, marked by one team reaching almost half of the score to win: Ten. However, this was a tie ballgame because of a new rule Cole had started using: The redemption drive. It was the only way a game could go to halftime with a tied score. A team scores for the tenth point, and the other team gets a redemption drive to tie the game, or close the gap. If they do not score, the game has a leader rather than a tie at halftime.

As they took the halftime break, Cole grabbed his bag and pulled out a case of waters, "They ain't cold, but they'll give you some refreshment." He said as he tossed one to everybody, "Halftime's ten minutes. Rest up and get ready." He explained as he cracked open his water bottle. He looked at Zac, "How you feelin' Ru?"

[Naomi Green]

"Hmm?" said Naomi, responding to a blonde girl she'd never met before. She leaned forward slightly, noticing the other boy seemingly staring at her, or at least the boy that Anna pointed out. He seemed vaguely familiar, like someone that Naomi had seen before but didn't really care about. Perhaps the most striking thing about him was a more "European" look than most.

Her attention was soon pulled away by the usual childish antics of the two she was going to be forced to call friends. "You do what it takes to achieve your goals, Ru-ru," she called, smiling. She barely noticed the goading, if it was intended to be that. Naomi had already written Zachary LaRousse off as your standard pretty rich boy, the type who figured either his looks or his father's money would solve his problems. If he was planning something, she barely noticed.

More eye rolling, and Naomi wished she'd brought something to throw at "Ru-ru." Blissfully, Kessler started the game up. Naomi watched the division of teams with some interest, wondering what was behind Zac's choices. Certainly not outward physical prowess, judging by some of them. He must be picking for meta ability. Again, Naomi found her opinion rising just slightly.

Then the game. Mildly diverting, really. Soccer was far superior, involving much more skill and much less brute force. Not to mention being a quicker game overall. Naomi felt her attention starting to slide, and she took to simply admiring the players. Possibly even the two that she considered friends, though she knew full well that hell had a better chance of freezing than LaRousse had of finding Naomi in his bed.

They stopped playing, and Naomi rose, figuring that the painful game was over. She hadn't really been paying enough attention to notice the score, and it looked like Kessler was already getting out the water bottles. Wait, nobody was dismissing... so it wasn't over? Naomi plunked down on her seat, blew out her lips, and looked around at the crowd again, wondering if anyone else had picked up staring as a hobby again.

[Odion Martins]

Apparently Odion had blended in so much that the group thought he had followed all of them here. Idiots the boy thought to himself, watching the boys play American football. It looked like they were having fun, and hey, anything could happen when a clash of powers was to be had. There technique was minimal, but he doubted they were strategizing as much as he would in the same situation.

The blonde girl had been talking about him, but he wasn’t exactly sitting with the girls, he was simply nearby. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself, but seeing Naomi had caught him off guard. Really he was only expecting to see one person he knew when he came to America, and that would be Rhett.

She didn’t seem to recall him like she did her, and Odion considered himself as having the upper hand. There was no reason to start speaking to Naomi, and so he didn’t. He simply sat there and gripped the bench underneath him, trying to look casual. So long as that stupid blonde girl didn’t point him out again, things wouldn’t have to end awkwardly. Odion simply didn’t function well in large groups.

He smiled at Naomi as she rose to leave, before plopping back down again. Funny, he had thought about doing the same thing, but appearing socially awkward drove him to stay put in his spot – not that staring at a bunch of boys running around without saying a word was any less questionable.

[Zachary LaRousse]

As it was, the whole game (or half-game if you want to be technical about it) seemed to go like quite the blur. Zac’s played a whole lot of team sports before (he wasn’t athletic, but he isn’t some pushover either) but he’s never been too confused with what to do as he was earlier.

One thing he won’t admit though, is the fact that having Gene create a mental link for his team proved to be rather detrimental for them overall. While it worked well in the beginning, when people started panicking (Janus most of all), they began shouting through their link. Not only was it irritating, it was distracting as hell too. And since only Gene had training to cope with the whole mindtalk-multitasking, he and his team fail more times when he barks an order than when he doesn’t.

And he thought he was a genius.

In any case, the halftime break was more than welcome. He hopes it’ll cool his team down a bit (he could sense that they’re slowly getting frustrated, and it’s not just because he has a mental link with them) and even let them reflect on the whole telepathy scenario. Maybe they could work on a whole different strategy while they’re at it.

“Hey cheerleader,” he winked at Naomi, motioning her to come over, “You’re my supporter right? Massage my shoulders. They hurt.” Tackling Cole was no easy matter. Or his big, burly teammates for that matter. “Don’t make me say please,” he teased, taking his sweaty hoodie off as he uncapped his water bottle for a drink.

Apparently his rest period wasn’t about to last without a hitch. As it was, Liam – one of his teammates – accidentally slipped and sprained his ankle. Lucky him Howard was a biomanipulator and had fixed it, but since he’s not all that good yet, he advised Liam to sit back for the rest of the game. “So does this mean we’ll forfeit?” asked Benny. As if it were that easy.

No way will he let himself be Cole’s slave that easy.

“You. Redhead. You’ve been watching us play right? You’ll be Liam’s replacement.” And no, he wasn’t asking.

ooc:
Crappy as hell. Please feel free to kill me if you please. D;.
- Jam