Focus and Friction (Open)

[Yulia Sokolov]

The job at Hammel was a blessing, had been a blessing, always was a blessing. Even in her current state of disarray this was an anchor. She was a decent enough trainer, perhaps she pushed too much sometimes, but her entire training had been so dramatically different that it had taken some time for her to get used to how things were done here. This was something that she could always do, no matter what and that was like a breath of fresh air. How was it that civilian life could be so much harder than her time in the military? Well, a few reasons came to mind.

First of all she had not needed to think back then. Not in the same way that she did then. She now had to decide whether or not she wanted to actually do something as opposed to how she wanted to go about something she had no choice but to do. Options, as it turned out, were freaking terrifying. Self motivation beyond survival was also kind of strange, at least in Lia’s opinion. Maybe due to it she did feel like she lacked some purpose. The idea of herself as a teacher had yet to really click into focus.

The other reason was something that she liked to think of as a cultural difference, but she knew the truth. She was still living in that past, because it was something she knew and something that now felt same to her since she was physically separated from it. She knew that she needed to get out of that mentality as it wasn’t doing her any good, but it was just beginning to crack. Well for now she could slip back into her professional world for a little while. Work was always easy on the thought process, the goal at least was clear.

So Lia waited for her next trainee, not even looking at the list. She didn’t want to read about them, she wanted to see what they could do. Then again it might be one of the students that she knew already, either was looking at the printed name seemed a waste of time especially since she was already focused.

[Naomi Green]

Time for the trainee/trainer roulette. Naomi knew it all too well. She'd prove to listen and respond to whatever was being asked of her, and to complete whatever tasks. Of all Naomi's classes and lessons, the ones that she gathered here, working with whomever the trainer happened to be, they would be the ones that mattered most in the end, the ones that she actually gave it all for. It certainly helped that she spent an unhealthy amount of time training herself.

So the Brit arrived slightly early for her session. She was dressed to train, meaning exercise pants and a tank-top. Recently she'd added fingerless gloves to her training as well, as she often needed to slam metal into her palms, or manipulate such things in incredibly subtle ways. Having some small bit of protection was certainly preferred over the alternative.

Naomi stepped in, not even bothering to look at Yulia, not at first. Trainers were replaceable; like shoes or cars. You used them until they no longer proved useful, then you accepted the new one. She did finally look over at Yulia, and had to pause to blink. Something about the woman felt... different. Perhaps it was just Naomi's mind playing tricks on her though.

"Hello," she said. Somehow, the word had a very "European" feeling to it. "I'm Naomi Green. I transferred here fairly recently, and I believe that I am your next appointment."

And now friendly smile and wait for a response. Usually the line of numbers along the left forearm got at least a look or something. Right now, Naomi was hoping that her "scary" record hadn't gotten passed along too. She was trying ever so much to create a new image here.

[Yulia Sokolov]

Yulia looked at the girl who entered the training room. She was not familiar with this student but as yet she did not say anything. It was strange how much could be told about a person in the first few moments before they so much as spoke. Yulia was a near expert in all of this. She was a trained agent, or had been, and observation was everything. She didn’t do all that much interpersonal, but once trained it was hard to forget what she had been taught. Things just seemed to stick in her mind. The way that the girl ignored her was telling, though Lia tried not took apply a meaning to it as yet. After all these western teenagers could be strange. This one was, without a doubt, with such an odd tattoo. Now where had she seen that before?

So Lia instead waited for some sort of response from the girl. In the meantime Lia finally flipped open the file and skimmed it over, focusing mainly on the ability listed there. Well this was an interesting one. She had never seen anything like this before, at least not in Russia, but that wasn’t uncommon. After all she had never met another Meta who could do what she could do either. Then again, given Lia’s power, that was a blessing.

Still Lia just held the space until the trainee spoke up. It was then that Lia herself made her first motions of opinion, nodding slowly and glancing down at the paper again before closing the file. Lia’s hand dipped into her pocket and in the space of a moment withdrew and flicked a nickel towards Naomi. At the same time came the first command. “Repel.”

Yulia straightened a little more and fully turned to Naomi, forcing her still somewhat injured back into form. “I am Ms. Sokolov and I will be your new trainer here at Hammel. I see that you used to attend Kosher? I am not all that familiar with their methods, so I will assume that you will learn how to quickly acclimate to mine.” Finally Lia gave her own smile. There was something about this girl, something focused, and that was something that intrigued Lia, but also made her wary.

[Naomi Green]

The usual looks, then "Repel."

Naomi's hand shot up, and she did exactly as ordered. The nickel flew away from her, pushed by her power as she carefully altered the magnetism about the coin. She paused it several feet from Yulia, figuring that this was what the trainer wanted. Naomi could have kept it going, possibly even started drilling it into the wall, but there was courtesy to consider.

"The pleasure is mine, Ms. Sokolov," replied Naomi, keeping her tone brisk, formal. "I'm quite certain that your methods will be most amendable to my own. I assure you, I shall be as apt a student as you could wish."

Naomi flicked her wrist then, and the coin spun slowly in the air, still hovering just within Yulia's arm's reach. This was simple; easy. Naomi had long since learned the finer bits of control, and demonstrated slightly now, moving her hand only slightly as she directed the fine metal object. No, control was hardly an issue. It was power, the power to move something larger, to do something greater.

Power was everything.

"I await your orders, instructor."

[Yulia Sokolov]

Lia was impressed by all of this to say the least. She was used to trainees who could not so much as blow out a candle with their aerokinesis. This sort of control was refreshing. At the same time it was something worth taking note of, especially in a student. Given what Naomi could do it seemed odd that she should be so advanced in her control. She did not think of Kosher as a school that focused so much on fine mastery, after all wasn’t it like Hammel? Hammel encouraged control and more, but she hadn’t seen such focus in a while. This was clearly the work of extra training, or perhaps one heck of a trainer.

“Clearly I will not have to concern myself as to whether or not you study.” Yulia noted that, her own accent only slightly twisting a few words. She was mostly impressed by the ability that this girl had to hold it, not just repel it. Yulia observed this for a moment, and observed how she made the coin move. She went through nearly every motion with it, leaving Lia little to command still. So she simply held out her hand so the exercise could be completed. “Alright, draw it back to you, then place it in my hand.”

Once this was completed then Yulia considered what to do next. There was no shortage of things to work with in this room, but what did she want to do first. This girl was the opposite of what she usually dealt with. They had brute force but no control, and Lia had a feeling this was the opposite. Lia had been the same way in a sense. It had taken time and practice in order to have the control, focus, and finally stamina to kill.

“So, I will ask you this, how long do you think you could have held that coin for? Control is excellent, control means focus and discipline. However this will be different for every single object that you deal with. I am sure you have some idea of this already, but control is only part.” She glanced around at the tools in the room before fetching two of the metal weights in the room. One was five pounds and the second ten. She pointed first to the five pound.

“Try to lift that, do not move it beyond a dead lift though.” Just in case she did not want the girl to try to move the object beyond her ability. All the while Lia’s mind kept drifting back to those numbers, and a couple of the words in that file. Kosher. Incident. Transfer. And those numbers…

[Naomi Green]

"I spend at least two hours a week in private training sessions, in addition to any time we spend together. Often in addition to any assignments given," replied Naomi. There was hardly any reason to lie about training to one's trainer. Besides, clearly this woman was no fool; she could easily tell that Naomi practiced and that Naomi's control was much better than most her age. Then again, Naomi would likely have been on the verge of graduating, had her history of discipline problems not interfered.

Naomi pulled the coin back, letting it land on her palm, sticking there for a moment. Making her own body magnetic was perhaps the easiest trick that Naomi could do. Then, she pushed outward, forcing the coin toward Yulia, till it landed in the trainer's hand. Flat, and:

"Heads," called Naomi. She couldn't quite resist showing off slightly, pulling and adjusting her gloves. "I've held coins for some time before. I often carry them about my person, to practice with," certainly not because Naomi was fairly certain that she could embed coins into people. "My control is quite good, it's--, well, it seems as though you've figured that out already."

This woman was proving remarkably astute, and it was putting Naomi on her guard. Most trainers were coherent about their powers and the usage of them. It was about teaching the student, treating each little snowflake like the special creature they so obviously were. This woman seemed to be decidedly more.

So Naomi nodded, extending her hand, fingers splayed, to the weight. The five point weight lifted fairly smoothly, though strain was staring to play across Naomi's face already. Her arm moved, though slowly, arching back and forth, as if guiding waves, and the weight followed suit. Naomi took a deep breath, focusing intensely on the object, knowing that she needed to expand. An object of this heft was doable. She could do this. Yes, now that she had the weight, she could definitely deal with one object like this, and did so, directing it smoothly.

[Yulia Sokolov]

Perhaps part of the motivation behind Lia’s sort of training spurred more from identification, as opposed to philosophy. She still did not always identify herself as a teacher, or think of herself in that way. Training was not shaping to her, well, not exactly. She didn’t see it as her job to shape necessarily, it was her job to provide options in regards to this. That was something she could easily do. Also part of Yulia’s internal identification lay in her military years, and before. As such she had been an observer, privy to much power variety as well. Kinesis was something she knew about, just on the basic level without specialty. They tended to either lack control or lack force, or both, but wasn’t that the case with every ablity.

Lia nodded, taking mental note of what the girl had said. It showed clear dedication, which was important, but it left her with another question. That mainly being motivation. She knew that some Metas did like to hone their skills to fine perfection, or were forced to. However she seemed young still to fall into such an intensive category.

Lia leaned slightly against the table with her papers as she watched Naomi lift the weight. Her eyes flicked back and forth between her trainee and the motion of the lifted object. The motion was smooth, surprisingly so, but the flickers of strain were also clear enough. With that in mind Lia had two options. She went with the one that she thought was the more difficult of the two.

“Maintain that, do not drop it until I tell you to.” After all holding tended to be more difficult than short bursts of direct energy. It required that focus be balanced and tempered, and when had that ever been easy? She could have asked Naomi just to go on to the next weight, but if she truly wanted a solid basis to work off of then this was the better course of action. Now, Lia decided to see how much she could process and hold at the same time.

“It appears that you have all of the control mastery that you need, given your range. As such I am assuming that now you are training for power, yes? If that is what you want, that is, to truly reach and train beyond your naturally given limits then I will not go easy on you. Not at all. My ability was trained to that point, and it is not an easy thing to do. I know you train often, and as useful as it is to be able to manipulate a coin toss, I intend to see significantly more from you. You have the fine toning, let us see if we can build the muscle to stand behind it.”

[Naomi Green]

Now that the initial strain and jerk was over, Naomi had settled in. Holding the weight would prove easy enough, especially as long as they didn't add anything to it or do anything spectacular. In fact, Naomi even looked over at her trainer, raising a brow slightly.

"Yes ma'am," first, with the command. A slight shift as Naomi took a more comfortable position. She knew that her ability didn't precisely require hand motions, but it always helped her maintain her focus, and she had no intention in branching out now. Certainly not for something like this. You never tipped your hand that much.

Miss Sokolov continued, explaining Naomi's training regime, which didn't sound that far off from what she'd realized for herself, what she'd been insisting in her private sessions, either alone or with her various training partners. Again, Naomi looked over at Yulia, and again, there was that hard determination.

"I assure you, I am quite capable of intensive training. I did not achieve this kind of control by accident," said Naomi. No, it was born over years of practice and insistence from at least one trainer. There was a bit of curiosity at the half mention of Yulia's power, but Naomi wasn't biting.

"If you intended to go easy on me, I don't think our relationship would last long," Naomi said. Perhaps a slight threat, but it wasn't as if Naomi's record wasn't available to anyone who worked closely with her. She shifted again, adjusting her grip. Really, keeping her arm outstretched was the biggest challenge here, and that was almost dull.

[Yulia Sokolov]

Lia watched as Naomi did as she asked, holding the object. It was clear enough that this was not hard on her yet, but Lia wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot. Now in all fairness she should have made her hold it, made her hold it until she dropped it. Of course the weakness was no always in the ability but in the body’s ability to maintain composure. As such Lia did not give any further immediate commands. What she was looking at now was the girl’s arm.

Given that she was not about to dive into incredibly intensive training with a student she had just met, she would not push all too much today. However, Lia was noticing something else that seemed to be a bit of a weakness. It was really in Naomi’s reaction to her words. There again was the insistence, there again was the assuredness. Lia’s eyebrow twitched up and she nodded at Naomi as she continued to hold the weight.

“Of course you did not, but you will not achieve any more by getting ahead of yourself.” Already Lia could see that this might be the worst kind of trial. Sometimes the brilliant ones were the most difficult. Lia wasn’t worried about being challenged in her knowledge or expertise, but simply annoyed by impatience. However Naomi’s last words did earn extra explanation.

“When I am satisfied with your basics then we will move on from there,” she said, her voice cool and even as always. “It is your job to impress me, not mine to impress you. Your arms could be stronger, these are things that should not be overlooked.” She would wait a few more minutes and then see how Naomi’s control on the motion of the weight would be. She didn’t want to make her move through things too quickly and therefore move from true force into momentum.

[Naomi Green]

Getting ahead of herself? Naomi hardly thought she was doing that now. Nor did she particularly like the trainer's tone. Naomi could almost feel the ice sliding over her body, her eyes hardening. However, she remembered, if belatedly, that Miss Sokolov was the authority, and that listening to her would be the most productive way to achieve the result she wanted.

Which meant biting her tongue. Though Naomi couldn't quite keep the look of displeasure from her face. Still, she followed her trainer's command, holding the weight upright. Her arm was still trembling, if slightly, and Naomi knew this was perhaps a sign that she should exercise more. However, given that she knew that she could simply switch, and that such time would be better spent...

Naomi moved her hand slightly, directing the weight so it was in front of her. The other arm extended, till Naomi was certain she was exerting control over the weight with both, and then she dropped her more tired arm, rotating it slightly. Again, no need to show that she technically didn't need her arms at all, not yet, but this should deal with that little arm problem.

"Please let me know what you wish me to do, Miss Sokolov," said Naomi, her voice tight. "I'm quite willing to adhere to your instruction."

[Yulia Sokolov]

Yulia continued to wait then, to see if Naomi would drop the weight, or what would happen. She was not sure, not given what this girl had shown her so far. She needed to track patterns here, to see what truly needed work and what was momentary lapse, and then there was the matter of putting all of that into action… It was a challenge but one that she enjoyed, she enjoyed being the one who actually got to do the planning, and wondered if her trainers had ever felt the same way.

She watched now as Naomi switched arms, smoothly in all fairness. Lia generally understood what Naomi was doing simply because she had seen many with some form of kinesis, really good kinesis. She knew how far they could reach with their ability, and she had seen it used in all different sorts of forms. As such, she knew that there were a plethora of ways to channel through. This seemed to be the way for Naomi as far as Lia could see.

“Put it down,” Lia said then. She had seen enough of that for now. “We should work on strengthening your arms, I think. Physical strength, when one correlates it correctly, will increase your mental strength when it comes to activities like this. It’s a good focus point that is a little more challenging than trying to do mental curls.” Lia chuckled lightly to herself at the thought.

“Alright, try the ten pound one now. Take it slow though, do not strain yourself on it, that is important.”

[Naomi Green]

Naomi slowly lowered the weight to the ground, feeling slightly relieved at it being removed. It was less the weight itself, and more the focus that got her, though she was hardly about to say that. Still, the comments from Miss Sokolov nearly had Naomi rolling her eyes. Sokolov really thought that physical training would be helpful.

"As you wish," said Naomi. She kept up the straight face. A hand extended toward the heavier weight, and Naomi slowly lifted her arm. More pull, more difficulty, and much more focus. It was hefty, especially for someone like Naomi, who was far more used to manipulating smaller objects. But she still managed, keeping her arm upright. The strain, for the arm, was the same as before. Mentally, not as much.

"Is there anything you'd like me to do with it, Miss Sokolov?" asked Naomi. She drew the weight closer to her, moving the arm, making it hover a few feet from her. She needed to push herself. This shouldn't be as much of a strain. Too much delicacy and control, not enough power, and that bothered her. Her brow crinkled and she nearly cursed, but the weight stayed more or less motionless in the air.

[Yulia Sokolov]

Lia continued to watch Naomi as she attempted the next weight. She knew that this would probably be more difficult. After all Lia’s own ability had been trained up a considerable amount in order for her to do what she could do now with it. Then again, Lia had started from nearly nothing, and the military had a vested interest in what she could do. That always made a difference.

She watched the signs of struggle as Naomi lifted the weight. Now she had some idea of what might be part of the problem. All the same Lia did not ask her to drop the weight, instead she observed for a few moments longer. “Where is your focus right now? Is your focus on your force or on your control? As advanced as your control is I think it may be limiting you right now. Don’t worry about controlling it right now, don’t hold it is tightly, just lift it. Let us see what that does.”

“Try whatever you would like with this one. If it is easier for you to hold it still, do that, if it is easier for you do move it, do that. Find your closest comfort level with this and we will work outwards from there.” It was all well and good to balance, but Lia thought that there might be a possibility that motion here would help. The push and pull might favor Naomi’s ability. Now, she could be wrong, but it seemed worth a shot, and instead of telling the girl a series of instructions she wanted her to find it. She didn’t want Naomi to focus on her commands right now, but get into the place she needed to be.

“Tell me when you find it.”

[Naomi Green]

"Control, where else would it be?" asked Naomi, her voice tight with annoyance. Yet she couldn't find fault with Ms. Sokolov's suggestion. The magnetikinetic relaxed slightly, trying to loosen her control. This proved a much more complicated mental exercise than she'd figured, and even with the thought of "I need to relax" going through her head, Naomi was still tense and focused. She licked her lips, shifting her weight as she tried to determine what the best course of action was.

Most likely to listen to her trainer. Relax. Do what feels natural. What felt truly natural was moving the object, as Naomi hardly needed to hold something straight, except for when she was allowing someone to use it or charging something. She began weaving her hands, almost as if casting a spell or working a dance routine. The weight wobbled slightly, but as soon as Naomi had a rhythm down, she had it easy, her hands moving smoothly. She gestured, picking up the other weight and balancing them.

Her control wasn't loosening though, still tight, still focused. It was a block, and Naomi was mentally pushing against it, but it wasn't about to budge. There was still that expression of complete focus and intensity. At least, until the rhythm developed fully with both weights. Then she seemed to need it less, instead looking at Ms. Sokolov.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of test? I can lift roughly half of my own weight before strain starts to make things difficult; I haven't pushed it further than that," she shifted. "But I believe I've found my 'level.'"

[Yulia Sokolov]

Yulia chose to ignore the annoyance from Naomi and instead she just waited as she found her space. While she did that Lia took another good look at the girl’s file. Her brows knitted together a little as she did. This was quite the history, and she had a feeling that she didn’t have all of it. Still Lia was concerned. After all as a teacher there were things that she had be taught to identify. This seemed like a clear warning to her, though not of an incredibly serious variety. After all these students were still developing and changing all of the time.

Lia looked up after a few moments to observe Naomi again. She figured that she knew part of what Naomi’s problem might be when it came to force. Her control was too strict, she didn’t seem the sort to be able to let go. From what Lia could tell so far this reflected in the girl’s personality as well. As such patience would be required on Lia’s part, more patience than she was necessarily used to exerting here at Hammel. On the bright side, Lia had stores of that.

“Very good, and it isn’t a test, not exactly. When you want to train up a power, as you do, you need to find the space you are most comfortable with, the space that takes the least effort. This means ideally that less of your focus will be on controlling the motion and more of your focus will be on just moving. There are ways to have control without mentally gripping as hard as I think you might be. Mostly these things just take a good amount of time and experimentation, but I am sure that you know this already. Given what I know from my … old work, I might be able to speed up that process some.” Lia knew well that her trainees didn’t need to know about the military.

“What I need to know from you is what your goal is. I know that you want more force, but how much, and why?” If Naomi could already move half her weigh object wise then why did she need more? Of course there was the chance that she might need to use it one day on something large but, maybe? Those numbers too, they were still bothering Lia, because she knew in the back of her mind what it was, but she just couldn’t bring it foreword to figure it out.