Honing my Attraction {open}

[Cole Kessler]

"Oh, so now you got jokes?" Cole said as he narrowed his eyes looking at her through his peripheral vision. "Besides, Naomi, beuatiful, mysterious women are my specialty. I can fake accents when I need to," Cole told her, "trust me." He said with a near perfect English accent. He looked around the room, "Though, I suppose you're right. It is always the beautiful, mysterious ladies that screw the movie Hero over." He chuckled.

Stepping over to a wall he searched for a power outlet, but could find none. He thought for a moment, then found a loose BB on the floor and took it into his hand. He looked up at a nearby light, "Whatever happens, just keep spinning those BBs you've got." Cole told her confidently. Levente would probably have his ass for this, but Cole was felt like breaking a rule or two, maybe more. He reared back and launched the BB toward the light. It hit almost dead center and busted the bulb inside it. Cole could almost see and feel the energy that remained in the lightsocket. The sparks told him where to extend his hand. It was almost instantaneous as a connection of energy flashed to life between the meta and his chosen powersource.

The blue lightning almost lit the room like a sun. He allowed the power to channel into his body, seemingly recharging him. A blue aura flew through the air nearest him and his grunts were audible even over the hissing and snapping of the electricity. Cole outstretched his other hand, this one toward the ring of BBs. Must remain in control.... Cole yelled in his mind.

[Naomi Green]

"Your British accent is horrific," insisted Naomi. She smirked regardless, keeping her true opinion to herself. The comment had been laid out there, and Kessler couldn't claim that he hadn't been warned ahead of time. Still, there was perhaps a part of Naomi that happened to wonder if that was a future that might not occur.

Keep spinning? Naomi raise a brow, but extended her will upon the metal. It started swirling about her hand, running in circles, gliding over her pale flesh. Just a few more inches and it would encounter her tattoo, which she certainly didn't plan on showing. Truthfully though, she hadn't planned much of this encounter, and it had proven to be one delightful surprise following another.

Tossed BB, burst light. Naomi's eyes remained locked upon Kessler even as the energy flashed into being. It didn't surprise her that he had a trick, nor was the flash all that startling. But her heart certainly raced at the channeling. The aura arching. It stretched, moving toward the metal near her skin.

Naomi sucked in a breath, forcing herself to remain as calm and collected as ever. The electricity arched toward the BBs, touching it, licking at the power. Those sparks lit upon Naomi's skin, just touching her. She carefully moved the metal, forcing it just away. Still, the dancing blue sparks were getting dangerous near her flesh, and she wasn't quite sure she particularly liked being so close to something so deadly.

Still, she was looking at it as an exercise in control. Which is why she remained blank, forcing herself into that stoic position.

[Cole Kessler]

Cole could feel his adrenaline rushing, his pulse heightening beyond normal or even human limits. His breathing was quick, shortened even, but it was to be expected. The time was coming to finish his lightshow. He could see the sparks desperately reaching for Naomi and adjusted his hand. The beam lost contact with the floated BBs and found a nearby fuse box. "Shit." Cole cursed under his breath.

A bit reluctant, he dropped the hand he'd aimed to the light socket. The hand extending the arch of electrical energy clenched into a fist and the energy lost contact with the fuse box. It violenty hissed and popped as the arch retracted back toward Cole. He thought it was over, but alas, he lost focus. The arch, rather than dissipating, reversed it's direction. It rose, seeming to look down on its master. It held for a little bit of time then, without warning, it crashed down onto him.

Cole stretched his arms out, the arch diving straight into his skull. It was severe enough that it seemed to light up his body, the shadows of his bones showing through the skin. In a flash, it was over. Cole's body lay on the training room floor, unconscious.

[Naomi Green]

Naomi could tell things were not going well. The arching electricity was starting to spiral out of control. To be expected, given that nobody had perfect control. It would require quick thinking in order to prevent complete disaster, and Naomi was hoping for that. Though, yet again, she found herself desperately wishing for greater actual power than she had. A little metal in the right spot would go a long way though.

Forcing her will out, Naomi flung BBs at Kessler. They caught the edge of the bolt. Yes, it would still hit him, and yes, it would likely still render the man unconscious. But it wouldn't kill him. Wouldn't do nearly as much damage. Still, that much of a shock definitely wasn't good for a human body.

"Bloody hell," muttered Naomi. The light show was one thing. Seeing bones was another. If she hadn't moved, he'd likely be worse. If she left him now, he was bound to be. Naomi hurried over to him, bending over to press her fingers against his throat. Pulse, if jagged. Not dead.

Naomi flung another hand out, calling toward where she knew they put a direct line to the infirmary. No way was she going to move him, not in his condition. They'd need medical help to come to them.

In the meanwhile, Naomi was trying to direct her BBs, pressing them against Kessler's skin and drawing them out. To suck away any excess power, though she already knew she'd been shocked before. Counting on her power to protect her from this felt incredibly foolish.

She stared at Kessler, cursed, and bent over, her hands moving to first aid regardless.

[Cole Kessler]

Cole laid silent on the ground. Ten minutes passed, then ten more. It wasn't until a half an hour later that Cole regained consciousness. A loud cough rattled out of his lungs and his eyes fluttered open. Naomi's face was blacked out by what little light was left. He tried to sit up, but his body rocked with pain. He groaned as he tried his hardest but was unsuccessful. "Ya'know, I forgot how much that hurt." He said weakly, trying to make a mockery of the situation. "

One of the workers from the infirmary had just entered the training room as Cole had roused back to the living realm. The worker had helped Cole before and knew exactly what he needed. "Lose control again, Cole?" He said kneeling down to Cole's side.

"Hey, Jonah..... Why does it always gotta be that I lost control?"

"Because I know how over-confident you can be, kid."

"Eh, good point." Cole said as Jonah helped him sit up and gave him a bottle of Gatorade, "Nah, this time was different." Cole explained as he popped his neck on each side, "It was like the day my powers manifested for the first time. I used an electric source to feed my powers, but it fought me for control. I put Naomi in danger, too." Cole said as he took a drink.

"Hold that thought, Cole. Let's get you up and ready for more." Jonah interrupted the story. A little shock-therapy to Cole's spine and legs and he was up and completely fine. "There you go, Kessler. Take care."

"Thanks, Jonah. I owe you a beer next time you're at the club." Cole said as Jonah left with a wave and he turned back to Naomi. He took another drink and looked at Naomi, "And that, that is why I'm contained. You didn't get hurt did you?"

[Naomi Green]

Time passed, and Naomi regularly checked on Kessler. It would be such a shame to lose one of the few people Naomi had already grown to tolerate. Training someone else was such a hassle. Besides, Naomi certainly didn't want it on her record that she was in the room with someone who had burned themselves out. Suspicious eyes were likely already looking at her; she didn't need more.

Thankfully, better trained personnel arrived just as Kessler was awakening. Naomi quickly moved out of the way, wrapping her arms around herself and studying the situation closely. While Naomi realized that there was a certain professionalism in emergency health care that stipulated complete calmness in the face of something like this, she also could recognize when someone was actually treating something they considered "normal." It came from being on the opposite end of a few not so normal injuries.

Kessler apparently did this before. Often enough to know an infirmary attendant's name. Naomi let the two men talk, nearly rolling her eyes. Even after being zapped, Kessler was still acting and talking like someone from a B action film. At least he seemed more or less fine, though the necessary electrical shock therapy did earn a raised brow from Naomi.

"I'm perfectly fine," she said. She held up both arms, even rolling back her sleeves, proving that she had nothing more than a few light burns where she'd nearly touched the electricity. This did have the interesting side effect of baring the numbered tattoo that ran along Naomi's left arm, which might have been part of her plan. Regardless, she lowered her arm and leveled her gaze at Kessler.

"That wasn't an issue with containment, but control. You pushed yourself, discovered a limit, and will have to learn to deal with it. That's what we should be doing, and this is precisely why," she nodded toward the wall. "Think of what you could accomplish if you were allowed to push yourself beyond your own boundaries. The possibilities are boggling."

[Cole Kessler]

"No, that limit shouldn't be there anymore." Cole said sternly. "You don't understand, Naomi. The ower source fought me for control. I've used an energy source to fuel my power plenty of times and it has never felt anything like that....., except once." Cole explained, "I was sixteen when my powers manifested. I was set-up to be the starting QB for my High School football team, was dating the projected prom and homecoming queen, and had that tormented past that some girls just find so intriguing and attractive. I wasn't a jock in every sense of the word, I was an athlete, but I was friends with everybody."

Cole took a drink of the gatorade Jonah had left him, "I was walking home after practice when four dudes jumped out and started beating the shit outta me, my ex-girlfriend's doing." Cole walked over and sat on the bench. The images in his head were so vivid, as he recalled it it was like he was living it again. "It was storming hard, and that's why I had walked home, I like storms because they calm me down." True, the majesty of any thunderstorm always took Cole's stress away and helped him relax, "The wind coming off of the storm was enough to snap a powerline over our head. They circled around me, shouting all the while; telling me how they were gonna break my legs and/or put me in a coma."

He could hear the words in his mind just as if he was hearing them all over again, "And they probably would have, but then it happened. The snapped electrical line discharged and an arch struck me. I laid on the ground for a moment and then stood up, the four of them still there, still trying to decide if they should run or continue to assault me." Cole looked at his right arm, "I looked down and saw that I wasn't hurt, just pissed off. And the power arch discharged again, this time, though, it didn't dissipate." Cole had only talked about this one other time and that was explaining it to his parents. "The energy crawled through the nerve endings in my arm and up into my head. I felt all-powerful, like nothing could stop me. But at the same time I was scared, more of what was happening to me than anything. I was scared of being rejected by society if everyone saw me as a freak." He said as he took a drink, "I was just a boy, I couldn't stop it from taking control. Three of them, the ones who were just following the biggest guy, ran away, but he didn't. He charged me and almiost got himself killed. That was when I learned I could manipulate it, the energy I mean."

As Cole finished the story, he stood up and walked over to Naomi again. "You can ask Jonah....," he chuckled, "What happened just a little bit ago, has never happened before. But for that moment that it did....." He paused, "I felt like I did at sixteen. For that brief moment, I was that scared little boy again."

[Naomi Green]

{sorry; this got buried somehow}

Naomi listened closely, perhaps more closely than Kessler would have anticipated. Her attention focused upon the young man, and her mind hung on every word. How he was the athlete, something that she'd more or less discovered on her own, judging from what she knew of him. His past explained a good deal to Naomi, and offered her a good deal more.

"You are not a little boy, Kessler," she said. Her voice was as solid as ever, her expression as emotionless as ever. No, not quite emotionless, there was an aura of calculation there, the look of someone trying to figure out how to use the situation to their own benefit. Perhaps a touch of something else, something that was instinctive in Naomi, not a planned reaction: sympathy. It tinged her voice more than anything else, though she couldn't figure it out for herself.

"You are a man, and one in control of a good deal of power. That you used this power to injure a human is of no consequence," that she obviously meant. "What matters now is what you do with your power, where you go from here. You can grow beyond this."

She paused, locking eyes with him, her own gaze confident, in what she hoped was reassuring. "Besides, I was here the whole time, ready to balance you out and aid where I can. It's highly unlikely that electricity is going to do much to someone who can bend metal to her will."

[Cole Kessler]

"Fair enough." Cole said with a smile, "And thanks for the reassurance, Naomi." He said. He wanted to hug her, but he really didn't feel like having his testicle kicked into his stomach(not that Naomi would do such a thing), so instead, he merely gave her a wink. He walked over and dug threw his bag, bringing out a bottle of prescription medicine. He popped a pill into his mouth and took a swig of gatorade. "I have a prescription." Cole defended, "Otherwise I wouldn't be taking them."

He dropped the pills back into his bag, "Apparently my last check-up at the doctor, which my step-mom forced me to go to, revealed something the doc had never found before. My powers, I think, have started to cause my heart to beat irregularly. I've been able to feel it for a while. Everytuime something goes wrong with my power or I push too far, my heart skips a beat because of all the energy."

He took another drink for safe measures and then looked at her, "So are you gonna tell me what those numbers inked on your arm represent? Or am I just gonna have to guess?"

[Naomi Green]

Again, Naomi said nothing. She simply watched as Kessler took the medication, downing the water. The explanation made sense. Their powers did have a tendency to have side effects that weren't altogether pleasant. Naomi's own power prevented her from appreciate most standard technological devices, not to mention the irritability. Though, honestly, could anyone really tell if it was her power making her like that?

"Rather late to have your powers present themselves, though I hear that does happen," agreed Naomi. She paused, raising a brow, "They do manifest at puberty or thereabouts though. Apparently you're a late bloomer."

Naomi was quite willing to discuss Kessler's physiological development, except he'd brought up something else. She looked to her arm, moving it forward to roll up again. A slight turn would bare the numbers completely, showing the tattoo for what it clearly was, what it clearly represented.

"It's a replication of the identification used upon the Jewish peoples during Nazi Germany," she explained. "I'm sure you've heard of it, even in this terrible schools. Where a group of humans rounded up those they believed genetically inferior, genetically different from the norm. Those poor unfortunate souls would be labeled and shuffled away, out of the sight of the normal people.

"One might say it struck a chord with me," she finished, rolling the sleeve down. "I also find that forgetting such things is detrimental to our well-being."

A pause, while she studied Kessler. "Speaking of which, are you able to walk? I don't believe I'm going to be able to carry you."

[Cole Kessler]

Did she just call him a late bloomer? "Late Bloomer? No, I don't think so......" Cole defended, "I think they were always there, but they never had an in. I was rarely around any kind of sparking wires or any electrical source."

Cole picked up his book bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. He wasn't planning on leaving yet, but his back felt semi-naked without him doing anything that prevented him carrying it. He studied her as she revealed the full row of numbers that was the tattoo. He listened to her as she explained why she had it, "Yes, Nazi Concentration Camps, I know." Cole laughed, "I do pay attention in school, ya'know." He took another drink of his gatorade, "I am a big history buff and World War II happens to be one of my favorite subjects."

Cole thought more, "That doesn't mean I enjoy global conflict, nor do I enjoy other people being in pain or dying." He stated before hand, "And yes, the History of our race is taught in all schools, so I would say forgetting it is detrimental."

Cole walked up to her, "And yes, I can walk."

[Naomi Green]

Powers that didn't set in until something kicked them into motion? That made sense, Naomi supposed. They had quite a few things to test for such incidents though, and it struck Naomi as rather strange that none of them had caught Kessler before his rather magnificent display. Surely he would have given blood. Oh well, it was just one more sign of the incompetence of humanity as a whole.

"Britain spent most of its time ignoring everything that happened," said Naomi. "Though I suppose the appeasement idea worked in the short term. Such things never work further out though."

It was hard to tell if she were still discussing history, or something heavier. Given that this was Naomi, the answer was likely both.

She watched Kessler walking closely. Not just to see if his claim was true; that much was rather obvious. Naomi wanted to see how well he walked, to see if he was attempting another round of his masculine pride exercises. Wherein he'd strut and pretend to be better than he was in order to not worry the little lady. She was almost tempted to fling a BB at his leg and see just how deft he was.

"I'm glad to see you're more or less upright," agreed Naomi. She arched a brow as she met Kessler's eyes. "But you'll forgive me if I feel it necessary to escort you to either the infirmary or your dorm. I can't help but feel a little responsible for your rather unfortunate accident, and I would rather not have your collapse on my conscience."

[Cole Kessler]

Cole listened as she spoke of Britain's part of the Second World War. They had a bigger part than what she was speaking of, but Cole's mind didn't want to argue. Hard to imagine that he wouldn't argue with her given his argumentative nature.

He watched as she let the sleeve of her shirt re-cover her tattoo. He couldn't help but get the feeling that there was more to it than she was letting on. He couldn't help but sense that her reason for having her skin permanently marked with numbers ran much deeper than a historical reference to the Jews in Nazi Germany under Hitler's laws. "There's more to your tattoo than that, right? There must be. I highly doubt that, given your words on my containment and everything else you said earlier, someone would have numbers inked into their skin permanently for the sake of history being remembered."

She offered to walk him to wherever, Cole didn't know what to say at first. "While I appreciate the offer," Cole said after he'd thought up the words, "I don't live on campus anymore and I don't plan on spending the night in the infirmary either." He told her. He could ask if he could stay with her or if she wanted to stay with him at his apartment, but no, "You can, however, escort me to my car. That is unless you've had enough of my company?"

[Naomi Green]

More to the tattoo than history? Naturally. Someone didn't permanently alter their skin for something as simple as a history lesson. Still, Naomi had a beat of hesitation. Usually what would follow would be an in depth discussion of meta treatment, one with all Naomi's fervor and passion. But now, instead, a beat of silence, before:

"We are them," she said. Her eyes went to her arm. "We are the ones that humanity is choosing to shove aside and imprison in camps for their benefit. They commit horrors and atrocities, murdering millions upon billions, then decide that we are the ones who are the bogies. They expect us to calmly allow ourselves to be labeled and registered, put into special schools and separated from them, while they continue to destroy this planet slowly.

"It's a mark of their foolishness, and a constant reminder that to stop resisting is to give in to the very people who would send us to death chambers, if given the opportunity."

All said with an eerie calmness, only rising toward the end until the passion within Naomi reared its head. She ended by locking eyes with Kessler, as if daring him to challenge her, to shove her away. It held for only a moment, before she asked the question again:

"Are you certain you want me to escort you to your car? I attract difficulties."

[Cole Kessler]

So that's what it is.... Cole said as she met his gaze with her own. She was daring him to argue with her. Cole laughed as she finished. Cole wanted to argue with her about it. She made it seem like she hated humanity for the crimes they commited against Metas only because of one small difference. "That makes sense, actually." He said instead. Her words, for some reason, made complete and total sense.

She asked if he was sure he wanted her to escort him, "You attract difficulties? Well, I'm haunted by a psycho-chick in the form of an ex-girlfriend so I think we'll be alright." He said with a small smile, "She pops up at the most inopportune times. Anyway, it's your choice if you wanna walk me to the car. I can make it alright though."