[Open]

[cmdreffingshepard]

Who: Shepard and YOU!
What: Various wanderings around Baedal. Specific threads for Kincaid's and the Arena.
Where: VARIOUS PLACES.
When: Various times, sukkardi/shundi.
Notes: All CR is welcome! I'll be putting up a couple of open thread starters but if anyone has ideas, just let me know and we'll get something going!
Warnings: Possible violence of the sparring sort in the arena; I'll update if anything else comes up.

Shepard is the kind of person who prefers a somewhat regimented kind of life - so it's no surprise that she quickly falls into a bit of a routine in Baedal. As long as she's not worrying about the basics - food, shelter and clothing - it's a matter of finding her way around and thinking about higher-order things - like keeping in shape.

Comments

[nolimitation]

The gym is one of the few reassuringly familiar things here in the city. Sure, it's a little more upscale than anywhere she frequented at home, but the layout of the place, the setup, the general atmosphere is close enough to something she'd expect to find at home that, if she ignores some of the obviously non-human clientèle, she can imagine that when she walks out the door, she'll be on the street in Boston again. It's a nice illusion while it lasts, anyway.

She's running through a few cool down stretches when Shepard walks in. The military bearing catches her attention right away; she smiles a little, and gives a small nod of greeting. It's old habit - when you're one of the few women in a profession as male-dominated as the military or law enforcement, you welcome your comrades whether you know them or not.

[cmdreffingshepard]

Shepard has seen a few more women here than she might have at an Alliance training facility, but they're still rare enough - and the unspoken camaraderie that comes with being a woman doing a strength training work out and obviously in military or law enforcement - she knows it well.

This woman looks friendly, but Shepard can tell by the way she moves, the way she carries herself. She's done her time in service, somewhere. "Is it just me, or is this place a little anachronistic, given what I've seen of the rest of the city?" she asks pleasantly.

[nolimitation]

Olivia grins, pausing in her stretching to straighten again and shrug. "I guess that depends on your definition. I think everything here is a little out of place, but I guess this place does stand out a little more than most."

She tilts her head a little as she asks, "Are you new here? In Baedal?"

[cmdreffingshepard]

"Yeah, I am," she says immediately. No point beating around the bush. "I'm Shepard. I don't mean to interrupt your workout. I just... I was struck by it. The fact that there's a Roman coliseum across town, and then this place."

[nolimitation]

"You're not interrupting," she answers with a little shake of her head. "I was just finishing up, actually. My name's Olivia, and I'm fairly new too - been here a few months, but I'm still sort of finding my feet." Her smile broadens, and she adds, "I guess the whole patchwork nature of the place isn't helping with that..."

[cmdreffingshepard]

"Yeah, it's... pretty weird," she admits. "How are you handling it? Finding work okay and all of that?"

Among other things, Shepard is interested to know if it takes people a while to assimilate, or if there are a lot of transplants who fall through the cracks.

Not to mention - do people like it here? Is it considered a terrible place to be, or is it a positive experience overall?

[nolimitation]

There's a fleeting grimace, and then a smile as Olivia shrugs. She's not happy here. She misses her home, her family, her team, her job. Just the knowledge, the fact that she's been trapped in another strange universe yet again makes her furious when she allows herself to think about it. But she's surviving.

"It could be worse," she says, sounding rather more sanguine about it than she feels. It has been worse, for her, when it comes to being abducted to alternate universes. That doesn't make it good. "I've got a job, an apartment... They do make it relatively easy for us, at least."

[cmdreffingshepard]

"That's true enough. Small favors," Shepard says sympathetically. She knows the feeling. Her universe may not be in the best shape right now, but it's hers, dammit, and she was going to do her best to save it.

Now she's stuck here, and stuck trying to work off the frustration of not being there anymore.

"At least I'm not stuck sitting on my hands. I have to feel useful."