869/Playing tennis without rackets

Playing tennis without rackets
Date of Scene:	30 March 2020
Location:	North Woods
Synopsis:	J'onn and Nicole start training with Telekinesis while playing tennis
Cast of Characters:	J'onn J'onzz, Nicole Adams

---

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
It could be said that renting one of the tennis courts in the northwoods was difficult, or expensive. Truth be told, it was so very easy for J'onn. Shapeshifted into the same tall human that met Nicole at her workplace, now some time ago, after a brief exchange of texts it was agreed to meet in this exact spot, and that means, at the edge of one of said tennis courts, slightly secluded from all the others. J'onn, or john as he'll be called today, is sitting on a bench watching two men play, waiting for their match to be over to claim the court and waiting for Nicole to be here.
His dress code is as casual as it can be, just a simple pair of black pants, a pair of tennis shoes, white, and a shirt that is white as well.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     It had indeed been a while since the blonde barkeep had met J'onn at the Good Room, and truth be told, she had been a little reluctant to text him. Events had transpired which spooked her to no end, and she was loath to explore the intricacies of her gift. Yet at the same time, she had no idea where else to turn, and so finally agreed to meet 'John' in the North Woods of Central Park. It was a calming, soothing place, with the barest hint of green beginning to dust the tips of every branch, and red-breasted robins hopping merrily about in search of insects or other goodies to eat. It was still a little chilly, so she's dressed in black slacks, boots, black turtleneck, and a long, hooded, black wool swing coat that's buttoned up the front. The hood, however, is left down, her hair long and free of any restraint.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz is, apparently, watching the game with a fair amount of interest, his eyes following the player's movements, following the tennis ball as it moves from left to right. His hands rest on his knees, his back straight as he waits for Nicole, pretending that he isn't aware of her exact position from over a mile away.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     The tennis court isn't very difficult to find, though it wasn't Nicole's usual sport, nor did she have any of the necessary equipment to play. Still, it was a beautiful morning to be out and about, which couldn't help but bring a smile to her face as she approached the bench upon which John sat. "Good morning," she calls out, holding her hand up in a wave. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz turns his eyes towards Nicole as soon as it would be believable for a human to be aware of her presence, and returning the wave motions towards the empty bench next to him "morning, Nicole..." he greets her with a smile "what, the weather? The sky? the tennis court? the players or the day in general?"

Nicole Adams has posed:
     "All of the above. The day in general... the change of seasons, new life coming to the place." Nicole smiles and settles down on the empty part of the bench, rubbing her hands together. "Maybe soon, I won't need this thick coat, yeah?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz nods in understanding "ah, yes, I agree it is quite a Beautiful day!" he states with a glance towards the field, where the man dressed in red is loosing to the one dressed in white. "so how have you been?" he inquires

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Nicole smiles and shrugs. "It's been... interesting." Though just /how/ interesting, she leaves out the specific details of! Well, at least till the two current tennis players are off the court, anyways! "Normal nights at the club... we've had some pretty good music groups going through there the past few weeks. It's made for some fun times at work." Canting her head slightly to one side, she asks, "What about you? How have you been?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
It's evident, by now, that the superior skill of the player dressed in white will have him winning quite often. Though, the player in red seems quite, eager to learn! On the contrary, the white one seems, somehow, boasting a bit too much...
And while the tennis ball flies at high speeds towards where the red player will never be able to catch it, it changes its course, to end right on the red's racket, to be sent towards the white player, to be missed by its racket, giving the red one a probably not deserved point! "can't stand boasting like that..." J'onn mumbles, turning then towards Nicole, "I've been fine, thanks, can't complain, really... Just the usual life, nothing special." he admits with a smile, whilst the two players shake hands and prepare to walk away.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Covering her mouth to hide a smile, Nicole just watches the minor display of telekinesis. Yeah. She saw what he did there. But if anybody were to ask, she saw nothing. Nope, no way, no how. "As do I," Take that, white-shirt player! At least the interchange between the two tennis players was civil enough, with neither one the wiser for what had just transpired. "Life is special, it's just up to each of us to figure out how."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
The two players gather their gear and start to walk away, someone rushes in to clean the field, and then John and Nicole are left alone on the bench, and in the court. "on that, too, I agree... Did you manage to think about what we spoke about, last time we met?" he asks, referring to telekinesis and its uses, most likely.

Nicole Adams has posed:
     "Besides stopping monsters from destroying the city?" These words dropped completely deadpan from Nicole's lips, her expression gone from mildly amused to dead serious in the space of a few heartbeats. She shrugs, looking out over the empty court. "i suppose the gift could be anything I wanted it to, but the big question is, what do I want it to be?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz shrugs "the gift is that, just that... It's like a potential, that can or cannot be trained according to your desires and needs. So I guess, answering that question would be a start, at the very least." he states seriously "so did you defend the town from monsters intent on destroying it?" he asks, as if it was the most average topic to talk about

Nicole Adams has posed:
     "There was a creature that a few people were fighting," Nicole begins, cautiously. "They had their hands a bit full. There was some broken glass lying on the ground, and I used that to slice the creature's throat." Nicole shrugs, looking a bit on the grim side of nonchalant about the whole thing. "Got a ripping headache for my trouble, but at least the creature was stopped before it could kill anyone or do more damage."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
"which is good..." J'onn simply states "the, killing it before it could do more damage part, not the headache part..." he considers "did you control several shards of glass at once? That's why you got the headache?"

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Nicole nods once in affirmation of John's assessment of the situation. "One shard of glass wouldn't have done the job. But there were a lot on the ground, plus I threw them at fairly high speed. I didn't have time to stop and think, 'Can I do this?'. I just did it, and oh did I feel it afterwards." She grimaces a bit, running her fingers through her hair. "Too bad I was spotted by the others fighting the monster, but hopefully they've since kept their mouths shut about my gift."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
"which is how things usually work in training..." J'onn says serenely "indeed, at least they have been quiet... Right?" he winks "but anyways, what do you plan to do with it? dDo you plan to train that gift or leave it as it is?"

Nicole Adams has posed:
     The comely barkeep seems to consider this for a moment. Should she just leave it alone and try to go on with a normal life? But, as much as that notion might appeal to her, she knew that no life would ever really be 'normal' for her, not as long as she had this gift. No, there was only one clear option. "Train it. I just don't know how, or who to ask for help other than you."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
"ah, telekinesis is not such an uncommon, gift... Come to think of it there's quite some people that can use it, though, at various levels..." J'onn starts, extending his right hand and letting a tennis ball slowly float into it. "you'll have those focusing on fine control..." he says, letting the ball bounce and roll, draw figures in front of him, moving around his head, zipping left and right just to return to its previous position "and those focusing on power..." he adds, the ball starting to vibrate, until it is crushed and falls down, broken. "then we have those focusing it in, new ways" the broken ball, slowly, starts to reassemble itself, until, somehow, it is a tennis ball again! "thing is... Which kind of telekinesis do you think you have?"

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Shrugging, the golden-haired woman watches the display, agog and a little bit in awe of such a gift. For a brief moment, she actually smiles, allowing herself a moment of awe and wonder, and for just a few heartbeats, the sense that she was not alone in her gift. "I don't know," she admits. "My family was virulently anti-mutant. My uncle Wylie came out as a mutant when I was seven, and he was cut off from the family for it." She sighs a little bit, ducking her head. "I saw how flesh and blood treats its own, and yet people can accept someone like Superman so easily as one of their own, even though he was from another world. It made no sense. It was so... hypocritical. Soon as I turned 18, I cut ties with my family and moved here to New York. It's been about keeping my gift under wraps up till now, but I don't think that's going to work for me anymore. It has to be trained, but I don't know how, what kind of telekinesis I have, or who to look to for help."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
"I can't say humans are the most sensate and logical of creatures, at times..." J'onn states with a shrug "but it's still a good race, worthy of being saved, and protected..." he lets, perhaps, one too many thoughts escape his mouth, but it is a smile that he aims towards Nicole "I can, if you want, help you to train your telekinesis... I'll of course need to see what you can do, and I'll push your limits... But you'll be stronger, at the end of it, more capable, both in terms of power, and skills... Telekinesis is something that requires both, the power is the strength of your mental muscles, the skill is the agility that you give those muscles..."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     Nicole raises her eyebrows, glancing sidelong at John, and then... just smiling. "Something tells me that maybe Superman wasn't the only one from another world," she muses. "But that's fine. Listen, we all have our own stories to tell. You don't have to tell yours. You are who you are here and now. And that," she adds, turning to face John more fully. "...is what I would hope would not only be a mentor, but a friend as well."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz chuckles lightly "now now, don't rush to conclusions!" he states with a slightly amused grin "but you may be right, maybe..." he adds, sending the tennis ball flying away towards the court, where it bounces on the ground. "of course, Nicole... After all, the two things work better if done together, learning from a friend is sometimes way better than from just a mentor!"

Nicole Adams has posed:
Nicole Adams nods, and smiles, her hand shifting slightly at her side, as if she were reaching out to capture the tennis ball as it was sent careening away. It slows, halts, then makes an arc on the ground to come skittering back along the surface of the court till it comes to rest at John's feet. At least she could start working those mental muscles here, without being judged for it. "Indeed! And maybe with a small element of fun to it. Learning the use of a gift may be serious business, but isn't that how all creatures learn at some point, with a touch of play involved?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz grins again, glancing around "who knows why I chose a tennis court..." he states, looking at the ball moving, "want to try playing, without rackets?" he asks with a mischievous expression "and, no worries, there's noone in a radius of a mile... And if someone comes close enough to see, he'll suddenly remember he has something to do elsewhere..."

Nicole Adams has posed:
     "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Nicole chuckles and jogs over to the other side of the net. Would she be able to handle stopping something that was flying at her, as well as throw it back again? This should prove an interesting exercise! "Got to admit, this is going to be a couple of firsts. I've never played tennis, either!"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz stands, walking to his designated side of the net, letting the ball float and gently hover in front of Nicole "well if it can be of any consolation, I'm not much of a tennis player, myself! I tend to avoid sports, for various reasons..." he admits "service is all yours, miss Adams!"