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In despair, there is hope~me and yaracyrrah

"It means we need a bigger meter," said Hope. Not only was John holding charge, he was holding more charge than he could have gotten from this generator, which meant that he was still holding charge from the blackout he'd caused an hour ago. That was quite a feat. Moreso because he showed no outward sign that he was holding any charge at all. "It'll take me few minutes to find one," Hope went on. "Please don't leave the room."

John waited. A few minutes later, the lab door opened and a new piece of equipment floated in, followed by Hope. "Don't touch this until I say I'm ready," she said, as she set the much larger new meter down several yards away from the smaller one. She returned to the control room and said, "Okay, now touch the new meter."

She was glad he couldn't see her reaction. The meter wasn't quite redlined, but it was damn close. John didn't show any sign of being near overload, but God forbid he ever did.

"Okay," Hope said. "I'll be right in." A moment later she opened the door of the lab. "Okay, enough with the heavy equipment," she said cheerfully. "It's time for a trip to the beach."

((I'll pause here for John to have thoughts or ask questions if he wants to.))
 
".........Say what now?" John asked, surprised by her sudden suggestion.

"Is that part of the tests, or are we done and that was just a random suggestion?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. Indeed, he showed no outward signs of the large amount of energy stored in his body. He had the ability to use that energy in outward means, like energy blasts or powering stuff, or he could choose to augment his physical abilities. But, since he was unaware that he had the ability to do so, it was simply stored in hid body, waiting to be used. There was really no telling just how much energy his body could store. Only time and experience would answer that question.

"I mean, I'm not complaining about a beach trip. Sounds fun and all that. Just, it's a bit unexpected." he said, laughing lightly.
 
Hope grinned and laughed with him. "It's part of the tests. We need someplace to put all the energy you're holding, and the sky is our best bet. The ocean is for emergency grounding." She was no longer grinning. If John ended up needing to ground in the ocean, he'd probably kill every fish for miles around. Hopefully he'd be able to focus his discharge into the sky. It still might make weather, but Ororo was standing by in case of that.

The beach wasn't far. Hope led John out onto the sand and then said, "Okay. Aim for the sky, in that direction"--she held her arm out toward the ocean, angled halfway between horizontal and vertical--"and try to project as much electricity as you can." She stepped well back, telekinetically shielded herself as best she could, and waited for the big boom.
 
John did as she said, not sure how well this would work. After a bit of concentrating, a quick bold of lightning shot out from the palm of his hand, going through the sky above, dissipating the clouds it passed through. With the energy traveling through his arm, he felt the tingle of static electricity along his arm.

"Wow, didn't know I could do that." he said, looking at the palm of his hand, before holding it back up and doing it again. With each subsequent bolt, it got weaker and weaker until the energy in his body was all gone.

"I think that's it. Can't seem to do it anymore." he said, looking at the palm of his hand. His hand was unharmed, but it tingled a bit. Sort of like how it felt when ones hand went to sleep.

"What next? More tests, or do we get to relax on the beach?" he asked, shaking his hand, causing the tingling to fade a bit.
 
Hope was visibly more relaxed now. "We can relax for a while if you'd like. There are always more tests, I'm afraid, but now that we know you can control your discharges, it's not urgent."
 
"Sounds good.........but we seem to be a bit overdressed for the beach." John replied, before tugging his hoodie over top his head, draping it over his arm. But even then........it was the beach. It was still quite hot.

"Well, that helped.........but only a little." he added, taking a deep breath as he began to sweat, just a tad.
 
"Very true." Hope wasn't sweating; she was used to this climate. "Let's go see if we can hunt up a bathing suit in your size." She led him back toward the dorms.
 
Looking around for a male swimsuit in his size might end up being quite akward. But he'd suck it up and deal with it if it meant the possibility in seeing this sexy red head in her own swim suit. Though, as he thought of such things, he also thought of Cable glaring at him, threatening to rip his head off.

Not knowing his way around, or anyone here, he just followed Hope around and let her do all the searching, simply telling her his size, and they eventually managed to borrow a pair of swim trunks from another male student his size.
 
Hope's swimsuit was disappointingly modest: a blue one-piece, designed for speed, not show. Then again, it revealed plenty: her lithe toned figure; her nicely rounded hips; her slim waist; her moderate but eminently respectable bust. She politely ignored John's lingering gaze. "Race you to the beach? Last one in the water gets dish duty all week."
 
Even still, John was pleasantly surprised by how good she looked, even if it wasn't a skimpy two piece. When he heard her offer for a race, he grinned and then took off without a word. He was in pretty good shape, but so was she, and she had been trained since a young age to survive, which involved being in great shape. It'd be a close one, if not a draw between the two. And indeed, it was close all the way to the water, at which point he just dove head first in, hoping that might put him ahead just enough to make it first.
 
John was faster than Hope had expected: he almost beat her. That wouldn't have done, however, so she cheated, giving herself a telekinetic boost to help her pull ahead at the end. Her feet hit the water just a few feet ahead of John's headlong dive. She dove in herself, getting fully submerged, and then surfaced and waited for John to do the same. "Not bad," she said. "Did you play sports in school?" He looked like he might have.
 
"In school, no. Did alot with friends, at the park and what not though." John replied, after he surfaced in front of her. He was completely unaware she had cheated to win. Still, even if he had won, he'd likely have played the nice guy card and helped her with the dishes.

"I guess I'll be on dish duty then. But, doesn't mean I can't still do this......" he said with a mischevious grin, before splashing a bit of water at her face.
 
Hope didn't even have to think about blocking the splash; her combat-trained reflexes telekinetically walled the water away from her body. She almost escalated by burying the impudent manling with a big wave from behind, but she quashed the impulse. John had overcome the bad first impression he'd created, but that didn't mean she was ready to encourage his flirting. "No splashing," she said firmly. "We can talk or swim."
 
John wasn't expecting the blocking of the water, but it at least gave him an idea of her powers. Still, he was half expecting the ocean to suddenly freeze from the ice queen. She wasn't an ice queen though. She just wasn't........open and playful with anyone until she trusted and considered them a friend.

"I'll go with talk. I'm not much of a swimmer. I can float...........and that's pretty well all I know how to do in the water." he replied, laughing a bit at his lack of knowing how to swim at his age.
 
"A few times. May not be able to swim, but I still enjoy it. Water feels nice and cool and relaxing." John replied, ducking down a bit so just his head was above the water.
 
"Yeah." Hope remembered occasions in her life when water had not been nice or relaxing, but she pushed those memories aside. She moved a little farther from shore and began to tread water, keeping her head comfortably above the gentle waves. Of course her father had taught her how to swim quite well.

Out of nowhere she asked a serious question. "What were your plans in life before this happened?"
 
"Good question. I guess my answer to that would be a common one in this day and age. That being..........I honestly don't know. There were a number of things I had thought about getting into and possibly making a career out of, but I kind of took my time in that regard. Which I guess was a mistake cause.......well..........now things are pretty well being decided for me. I mean, I know the X-Men aren't gonna force me to be one of them, but with bad guys out there that would want me to use my power for their gain, or die if I resist, do I really have much choice but to stay here?" John replied. While not quite as complicated as her life, their path's were quite similar. She too, had been forced down a path against her will. She lost all chance at living a normal, quite life from the moment she was born. Even though she had found a loving father in Cable, fate had been quite cruel to her.
 
"Yeah, the truth is you're pretty much stuck here. Sorry about that. I'm in the same boat, but I've never known anything different. You have to suddenly adjust."

After a moment she suddenly added, "I know I'm kind of a jerk sometimes, but I'll try my best to help you."
 
"Heh, don't worry about it. Sure, I got the feeling when we first met that you hated me, and I'm pretty sure you actually did. But, you've been quite helpful here, even while being rather annoyed that I'm stuck living with you and that Cable guy for a while. I'm sure I didn't make the best first impression anyway. So, I don't mind your stern way of acting. If anything, I like it. It's refreshing to talk with someone so honest, as opposed to the kind of person that will lie and put on a smile out of worry for hurting your feelings or something." John explained. In truth, he quite liked how forward and honest she was. He was no doubt attracted to her, but he knew now to try and make a move on her unless he was sure she felt the same. With a girl like her, making a move on her when she wasn't fond of you..........would lead to quite a bit of physical arm.
 
"Yeah, refusing to stop and give a girl directions was definitely not the best first impression." Hope grinned, making clear that she had forgiven him by now. And then her grin got even wider as she said, "And I'm glad you're not a wimp who can't handle a girl who isn't a pushover."
 
"Are most guys scared of you or something? I'll admit, I am a bit intimidated by you. But that's not really a bad thing. If anything, it's an attractive quality to have." John replied, smiling lightly. It was hard to get a read on her, with how no nonsense, and straight to the point she was.
 
"Well, it's hard to tell sometimes whether a guy is scared of me or just scared of my dad. But yeah, most guys are scared of me. If you're only intimidated, I guess I should have been more of a hard-ass." She grinned.
 
"Heh, so you were intentionally aiming to scare the crap out of me? Good to know. Want me to run like a scared little child from you and cry in fear?" John replied, that little part about running away screaming being an obvious joke.
 
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