Pushing It [Renee]

[Tomer Berelowitz]

Tomer spent a good amount of time trying to convince himself he did not dread powers training, because it was an over-used and over-dramatic word. Everyone had to train, and it would definitely be beneficial even if it seemed daunting now, but... yes, dreading was the right word. From what little he'd heard, diligence and dedication were great, encouraged even, but a lot of powers had aspects that simply could not be controlled. Tomer knew the paralysis was never going to go away, even before the doctors had said so. He could feel how it all worked, how much left when he let it out, how much remained, and how fast it filled back up. And in those first days, it had been overwhelming. Empirical proof of what his life had become, what it was going to be for its remainder.

So he dreaded powers training. Not for what it might do to help, but for what else it might show him he couldn't do anything about.

With a power like his, Tomer's sessions were best held outside while they could be. There was no place other than the ground to sit on the training fields, so Tomer just paced a little while he waited for his trainer. Physical therapy, right? And the walking built up more stored energy. In jeans and a short-sleeved buttoned shirt, the braces at his neck and arms were visible, though they were neutral colored and lay very flush against his skin. The crutches were the cuff type that only came to his forearms, and all the practicing had paid off. While Tomer didn't look like someone who'd been using them his whole life, he didn't look like a novice either. He was pretty proud of how quickly he'd figured them out, though he still hadn't found a good method for stairs that didn't involve him sliding up or down on his butt.

Something fluttered in the breeze. Tomer couldn't look down far enough to see what it was, but lifted his foot in case there was something stuck under it. But no, it was that other Annoying Problem (stairs being the first), an untied shoelace. Well... hopefully there wouldn't be much walking during training. He'd have to tie it later when no one was around to watch him flail. It was a measure of how far he'd gone from who he was, that he couldn't bend over enough to tie his shoes anymore.

[Deleted]

This was going to be a tough case. A delicate one, too. Tomer Berelowitz had the misfortune of have a particularly debilitating side effect to his power manifestation, one which would in all likelihood affect him for the rest of his life. No, according to Sean, it would affect him for the rest of his life. While she had Tomer's file at the ready and had spoken with Sean at length about the boy(apparently he was Josh's nephew), Renee still wasn't convinced she was prepared to handle it, despite all her experience in working with training young metas.

How should she approach this?

On the one hand, she could be obviously sympathetic to his situation, but that might come across as insulting to a child who would have to learn to not depend on others. After all, there might not be anyone else around at time to depend on, requiring Tomer to have to depend on his own strength, however it might fail him.

On the other hand, she could ignore it and treat him just like everyone else, which could easily come across as insensitive. While it still was probably the best approach, Renee feared that it might be misconstrued as her trying to hard to be "accepting" of his disability. It was true that Tomer's situation pulled at her own emotional heartstrings, however many meta-children had stories which were just as tragic or perhaps more so! But what right did Renee have to put any one person's tragedy on a scale against another's?

Really, a delicate situation.

Renee shook her head. No matter what she thought, the reality was that she was a trainer and Tomer was her student. Sink or swim, she had to do what she could to help Tomer with understanding the intricacies of his power and how to manage them effectively. Stepping out onto the field, she located Tomer rather quickly and headed towards him. "Tomer?" she called out to him upon approach. Renee stopped and stood like a supermodel, tall and confident with all her weight balanced evenly between both legs. Today she had opted for jeans, skinny and tight which cuffed just above her ankles, upon which were yellow flat sandals that exposed her red-painted toes. Her pink blouse was slightly transparent and long sleeved, knotted together at the waist, and left unbuttoned and opened, revealing a blue camisole with floral lace lining the wide neck collar. She had her red hair pulled back and tied low with a simple black hair-tie, leaving her porcelain face free and unobstructed. Renee offered the boy a friendly smile. "Hi, it's nice to meet you," she started, placing her hand on her hip instead of offering it out to Tomer. "I'm Renee. I'll be your trainer today." She chuckled and shrugged a single shoulder. "Do you have any questions or concerns before we get started?"

[Tomer Berelowitz]

Turning when his name was called, Tomer was a little surprised at who his trainer was. The lady was very pretty, and the way she was dressed suggested... a country outing or a picnic. Still, clothes notwithstanding, she certainly looked capable and confident, which was something of a relief to Tomer.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Renee. I'll be your trainer today. Do you have any questions or concerns before we get started?"

Yes, he had one right away. "Is... that what you want me to call you? Instead of... Ms. something?"

Tomer was too used to public school and the formality of it. Calling a teacher (or... an adult in an authority position at his school) by her first name went against his grain, though if it's what she wanted to be called he'd have to deal with his own discomfort and do what she asked. There were adults in his life he called by first name (and one of them was at the school, something he'd have to watch), but none of them were instructors.

As for questions or concerns... nope. Tomer couldn't think of anything. But he admitted, "I've never tried. Controlling. Anything. I just... let it out."