3903/Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect
Date of Scene:	18 February 2018
Location:	Manhattan
Synopsis:	Lar helps Drake practice using his powers to his advantage.
Cast of Characters:	Mon-El, Slipstream

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Mon-El has posed:
    Lar had been meaning to check on Drake for a while, with all the insanity that had been going down as a result of the communications blackout. He'd gotten a bit distracted, to say the least, coming back to Earth only to find things in a state of chaos on top of news about violent Daxamite zealots having caused a disturbance. And the fact that one of them was still at large. Another day in the life, right?

    At any rate, he's finally managed to find some time to stop by Drake's apartment complex. Peering through the walls, he searches the building to see if his friend is anywhere inside.

Slipstream has posed:
The apartment complex has been empty the day the Internet went out, all save Drake who has no family to go home to. With the net out and no ability to play the games, the team went home to their parents and other loved ones on PTO. Down in the gym is Drake, currently running on a treadmill with a pair of headphones over his head as he listens to music from whatever version of an iPhone or iPod is. He has had his share of visitors lately, which has kept him somewhat occupied, but for the most part it's been him and his console games, at least those that do not require the web.

Mon-El has posed:
    Oh, there he is! Lar spots Drake exercising in the gym, and makes his way inside the atrium. Yes, using the door this time. He comes up to the glass door to the gym and waves at the only person inside. Nope, not going to break the door. He'll let Drake open it.

Slipstream has posed:
Giving a glance over at movement from the corner of his eye, Drake reaches out and taps the panel in front of him to slow the mill down so that he can step off it. Wiping his face off with the back of his hand, he waves back and heads over towards him to open the door. "Hey." He breathes out a bit winded. "What's up dude?"

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar smiles and enters as soon as Drake opens the door. "Oh, I just thought I'd check in on you, what with all the chaos going on because of the comms blackout. But I'm happy to see that you appear to be doing all right. I would have come sooner, but things have been.." he shakes his head, exhaling. "Chaotic. How have you been?"

Slipstream has posed:
"I'm okay I guess. Bored mostly but been trying to stay busy. Jessica thinks it's a good idea for me to work out more, so I've been doing that. Trying to stay in shape." He lifts his shoulders upwards into a shrug. "I heard about the crash from Laurel. That sounds a bit intense. No clue where he's at yet, huh?"

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar sighs. "Yes, I figure she might have told you about that. I...saw him at the crash site, probably trying to get a message out. He almost killed a human woman who showed up to investigate the wreck. Would have, if I hadn't shown up. I managed to knock him out, but I don't know where he went after that." Yeah, he probably shouldn't kicked him so far away.

    After a pause, he asks, "Drake, have you been practicing how to use your abilities to your advantage at all?"

Slipstream has posed:
"Eh. Here and there. When I get to go hang out with someone." Drake says as he shrugs his shoulders, peeling out of his sweaty shirt to reveal his lanky frame as he wads it up to lob into the laundry. He snags a towel to wipe himself down, then finds a fresh shirt from a bag he brought with him. "Dazzler and I mess around with them once in awhile. I got a meeting with Tony Stark soon so maybe something will pan out from that."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Well," Lar starts, walking around the gym a bit until he finds a closet filled with balls and picks up a grey and white volleyball. "I was going to offer to help you practice, too. Would you like that?" he asks.

Slipstream has posed:
"What did you have in mind?" Drake asks as he unties his sneakers, then grabs his usual ones to tug them on. "So far I got the jumping part down. It's just that it wears me out after about I dunno... nine or ten skips. I got to the point now where I can do it on command. It's just making sure I land where I want to is the tricky part."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Perfect." Lar grins, bouncing the ball up and down a few times as he walks over to the middle of the gym. "Catch!" He chucks the ball at an angle perpendicular to Drake's position--quite a bit faster than a normal human could manage to throw but not fast enough to cause any injury should Drake succeed in intercepting it.

Slipstream has posed:
As the ball is thrown, Drake blurs as he steps off his foot, zipping right past the ball as he flails to catch it. He trips over his feet and runs smack into the wall with a loud thump, then topples to the side with a grunt. "Ow." He mutters to himself from the floor. "The short distance part is what I'm working on."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Practice makes perfect." Lar chuckles, floating over to the wall where the ball has bounced off. He examines the two objects for a moment, checking to make sure either is damaged, but it looks like they aren't. Good. "Let's try it again, yeah? You ready?" he asks, taking the ball back to the center.

Slipstream has posed:
"Oh boy. I can't wait to lick the wall again." Drake says with an amused grin as he pops back up to his feet. Swiveling his hips to loosen himself up, he readies himself again. "Usually Dazzler and I do this outside involving a light construct football." He grins at him.

Mon-El has posed:
    "You know what? Yeah, let's do this outside. So you don't have to run into the wall again." Lar chuckles. "That is, until you get better control." He heads for the door, taking the ball with him. "Football, oh, yeah. That's the one people like to watch while eating pizza on the couch, right?" Once outside, he picks a field about half a mile perimeter in a park nearby.

    "Hey Drake, I was wondering. What's Pokemon?"

Slipstream has posed:
"I think every sport is one that someone can watch on the couch and eat pizza with." Drake says as he follows after him with his usual saunter. "What's poke'mon? It's a cartoon. It's about a kid who walks around the world throwing balls at cute animals to catch them, then he uses them in combat. It's Japanese cockfighting really."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar keeps walking until he's reached the center of the field, tossing the volleyball up and down a few times again. "Cockfighting?" that reference is lost on him too. "Right well, let's do this again. Ready?" he smiles, holding up the ball.

Slipstream has posed:
"It's when people take roosters or dogs and they make them fight each other for money and bragging rights. It's what Poke'mon is. This kid named Ash Ketchum walks around, collects cute animals in balls, then throws them out in battle to fight other cute monsters so he can say /he/ is the greatest poke'mon warrior in the world or some shit because he got his cute yellow mouse to beat the shit out of another differently colored dumb animal." Drake says as he trots out into the park, feeling the grass beneath his feet. "And yeah, I'm ready. Let's roll."

Mon-El has posed:
    "I see. Sounds familiar, we had races like that on Daxam." Lar laughs. "You really don't find it entertaining at all do you?" he asks, given the less than flattering description.

    "Right, here we go again!" he throws the ball again at the same speed, and the same angle.

Slipstream has posed:
"Poke'mon? Nah. I think it's stupid." Drake says as he waits for the ball to leave his hands. He waits to time it, then pushes off with a zip as his body blurs forward to give chase and catch the ball. At least he tries. He mostly fumbles it clumsily and drops it to the ground with a thump.

From the distance as someone watches, a voice is heard. "Go fuck yourself, mutie! We don't want your kind here!"

He pauses and shouts back, "I'm not a mutant! I was bit by The Flash!"

"Oh! Okay. Enjoy your day then!"

"Are you kidding me?" Drake grunts out with a roll of his eyes. "People these days."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Hey, that was better, at least!" Lar says with a smile, going to pick up the ball again. "Keep it up, and you'll have a handle on this in no time." Then that random person starts shouting. He frowns, peering at the offender, then shrugs. "Yeah, I think they're just afraid of people who are different. But maybe that can change, if we can change."

tHe chucks the ball again, this time at a little bit of a closer angle. Perhaps Drake needs a lesser challenge to start with and build upon.

Slipstream has posed:
"Nah, they just don't like mutants. So if I was born with these powers they'd have a fit, but if I got them another way, they don't care? That makes no sense at all. People are just stupid." Drake says as he blurs again to catch the ball, this time snagging it in his hands. "Touch down!" He says as he prances around with it in a circle, holding it up high before he lobs it back to him.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar frowns. "Hm, perhaps they don't know how to express their feelings." he muses.

    "Nice!" He catches it as it's thrown back to him. "You're getting better by the minute. Like I said, practice makes perfect. Now, let's try a longer distance. We'll keep moving up from there." He moves back to the center and throws it again, this time at a bit of a wider angle.

Slipstream has posed:
"I think they're just racist asshats." Drake says as he gives him a smile, then watches the ball soar over his head. He shoots off again in a zip, reaching out with his arms to snag it on the way down with only a bit of a fumble. He is obviously not the athletic type and catching seems to be harder than the bursts of speed he utilizes. "So, how are you and Kara doing?" He asks after throwing it back.

Mon-El has posed:
    "'Asshats'?" Lar repeats. Now -that- one just sounds weird. "So, they have donkey hats? Or is that the other meaning of 'ass'?" he asks, taking the ball back. "Kara and I are uh...we're doing fine." he tells Drake with a nod. "We might not agree on absolutely everything, but we try to understand each other..."

    He smiles as Drake seems to get the positioning right, just not the catching part. "Let's play a bit of a different game. I'm going to try to hit you with this ball, and you have to try to dodge, all right?"

Slipstream has posed:
"It's just a term for jerks." Drake says as he looks amused at his friend for a moment. "Good to hear about you and Kara. Are you two officially dating now or something?" He steadies himself in wait as he says he is going to throw the ball at him. "Okay. Ah .. ready when you are. Just don't break my face or something."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Oh, 'jerks' means a terrible or mean person? Right?" Yeah, Lar really is pretty clueless. Then his face flushes a little at the question of whether they were official or not. "Uh...maybe, I don't know. I told you about the...situation with my parents."

    "I know, I've been practicing the control thing myself a bit lately. So in a way, this is good for me too." he grins. He once again takes the ball back and turns it toward Drake. "Ready, set, go!" At this, he chucks the ball again, this time much faster than before. If he gets hit, it'll certainly sting and might bruise, but nothing too severe.

Slipstream has posed:
"Yeah, but the parents thing is a non issue now that you're both on Earth." Drake says as he limbers himself up a bit, then whips to the side when the ball comes for him. He poofs away in a blur, appearing a few feet away as the ball bounces along the ground. He turns and trots after it. "I only got a few more jumps in me before the watch will go off and start yelling."

Mon-El has posed:
    "1 - 0, with Drake in the lead!" Lar announces with a laugh. Even as Drake trots after the ball, Lar is on top of it already, picking it up and throwing it after him again. Only this time, since he'd already been on his way toward it anyway, the distance is much shorter and thus the time he has to react is about cut in half.

Slipstream has posed:
As Lar zips past him to snag the ball, Drake whirls around and gets pegged by it in the back. "Ow! Duuude." He says as he gives a few turns to try and rub the spot on his back that stings. This time he zips forward to snag the ball, then blurs forward as he launches it back at him. The ball shoots out of his hands, whipping towards Lar blindingly. "Woah!"

Mon-El has posed:
    "1 - 1!" Lar calls out again. The ball zooms forward once more at a superhuman speed, though this isn't -quite- fast enough to outpace a Daxamite. He whips backward and to the left, letting it sail past him. "Well, would you look at that! You can carry objects with you while you are jumping. I didn't know -that-. That's pretty amazing, imagine what you could do with that!"

    Dashing after the ball again, he grabs it and sends it flying after his friend once more. "We'll keep going until your alarm goes off--then we can take a break."

Slipstream has posed:
Bobbing on his feet, Drake whips himself to the side to dodge the ball, then reaches out to snag it in mid-air before it hits. He turns and launches it back at him with a quick over hand throw, using his speed to fire it back. "Yeah, that's kinda neat. Though it's not as fast or as hard as yours." As he continues to burst in their back and forth, he starts to slow down into a bit of a limp as his watch begins to beep at him and glow red in warning.

Mon-El has posed:
    The ball comes flying back at Lar much earlier than he expected it to, and it pegs him in the shoulder, causing him to stagger just a bit. The ball itself though, isn't so lucky. It seems Drake had thrown it so fast that it kind of...crushes itself onto the Daxamite's body. Flattened, it falls to the ground. "Oops..." Lar says, looking a bit sheepish. "I was--afraid that would happen." he laughs. "Anyway, that was pretty great. I think you won that round."

Slipstream has posed:
"Geezus dude. Things bounce off you and break?" Drake asks with a blink of his eyes as he gives a shake of his head. "That's crazy. I'm definitely not going to try and run into you in the future." He leans down to pick up the flat ball and gives it a wiggle. "Not like we ever used this back at the team house. None of us are really into the whole working out thing."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Yeah..." Lar admits at the first question. "That's what happens to basically anything that hits me while moving that fast, really. Unless it's someone stronger than me, that is."

    "I um, hope it wasn't too expensive?" It didn't seem like it, but he isn't sure.

Slipstream has posed:
"The ball? Nah. You can get them for like five dollars or something I'm sure. It doesn't matter, we'll snag a new one which will go unused for another year." Drake says with a grin to him as he flips the flat ball on top of his head for a wobbly looking hat. "You want to snag something to eat? I'm kinda hungry after working out and zipping around." He says as he taps his watch a few times to calm the beeping noise.

Mon-El has posed:
    "Phew, that's good." Lar replies, looking somewhat relieved. He nods at the suggestion of food. "Sure thing. To be honest, I haven't had a lot of time to explore more Earth food." he admits. "Though I have been meaning to get around to it soon, since everyone seems to love to go on about how amazing it is." he winks.

Slipstream has posed:
"How are you living on Earth and not eating Earth food?" Drake laughs at the idea of that. "I took Laurel out for Italian on Valentine's Day." He says with a cheeky grin on his face as he gives his shoulders a rock. "Brought her some flowers and candy also, her favorite kind from what I remember. She really liked it."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Oh, I don't really need to eat like you do." Lar explains. "Since this planet is so close to Sol's yellow star, the radiation is enough to sustain me and all my abilities. So enjoying Terran cuisine is purely recreational for me."

    He smiles at the description of time spent with Laurel. "Glad to hear it. Oh, Valentine's Day, that was a few days ago wasn't it? Kara told me that it's a day when couples like to share tokens of affection for each other."

Slipstream has posed:
"Yup. So, what'd you get Kara for V-Day?" Drake asks curiously as he lifts a brow up at him. "You /did/ do something for her, right? Even though she's Kryptonian, she's on Earth and she's been assimilating real well." She pauses. ".. You didn't get her anything, did you?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "Well, I didn't know what it was!" Lar says defensively. "I just happened to ask her what all the red and pink and white symbols were about while we were sparring on the moon."

Slipstream has posed:
"Annnnd.. after she told you it was a day of love, you didn't whisk away to get flowers or candy for her?" Drake laughs as he rolls his eyes upwards. "Duuuude. That's like a huge clue right there. You could still get her something though. Flowers is always a good gift idea."

Mon-El has posed:
    "I don't think any candy or food would have survived the trip from the surface." Lar points out, chuckling. "Or flowers, for that matter. But she did not mention that flowers were often given as gifts on that day." Then he frowns thoughtfully. "Although, there was plenty of imagery of flowers, so maybe I should have figured it out on my own."

Slipstream has posed:
"Coulda had flowers and candy waiting for her at her apartment. Make it a surprise." Drake suggests to him. "Can still make it a surprise. That way it'd look romantic and very generous. You can even say it was all your idea, that you were inspired by the idea of Valentine's Day and you wanted to do something nice for her. Followed by taking her to dinner. I'm telling you, Italian is like the way to a girl's heart."

Mon-El has posed:
    "That's true." Lar admits. "I did not think of that." He laughs at himself, rubbing the back of his head. "To tell you the truth, I've never done anything like that before, or thought about doing it. On Daxam, the girls always came after me." he sighs. "She did mention she loved strawberry ice cream...so--um, what is 'Italian' like?"

Slipstream has posed:
"Italian is a lot of pasta, meat sauce, soups." Drake says as he takes his phone out to pull up a few items such as lasange, etc. "They also have strawberry Italian soda which is super good. You can also get Italian ice cream, so you can make the best of both worlds that way." He grins at him. "And Kara is definitely the type of girl you need to chase, not wait for her to chase you. She and I talk a lot you know." He hints with a grin to him. "I'm her Jimmy Olsen."

Mon-El has posed:
    "I know she is, I just--I'm still getting used to it because it's not something I've ever done before." Lar replies, exhaling a bit as he peers at Drake's phone. "Oh, okay. I think I've seen places with food that looks like that before."

    "Well, let's go eat for now. And I'll see what I can do about um, taking Kara to dinner. And getting flowers. Hopefully without destroying them accidentally."