Running is something that I've always done [open]

[controlledvariable]

Who: Steph Brown. Open
What: Training/stress relief
Where: Mog Hill, anywhere else you might wanna run into her
When: Newdi evening, after work
Notes: Feel free to run into her at any point during her evening.
Warnings: None yet.

Meditation has never really worked for Steph; she hates sitting still and when she tries, she ends up getting too distracted by all the movements she wants to make to actually relax. Running has been her form of meditation, so it's what she plans to do when she finishes work for the day and finds herself still feeling stressed out.

She heads home, changing into her work out clothes - the under layer of her Batgirl suit, a loose, long-sleeved shirt and sneakers - then goes out again. She wishes she had her iPod with her, just because it'd make it easier to tune out the city sounds, but she manages without. The thoughts that have been troubling her the last few days slip away, leaving her with nothing but the thump of her footfalls, the controlled rush of her breathing and the prickle of sweat as she pushes herself to run harder.

Her route takes her out of Mog Hill and in a loop through the nearby neighborhoods until she's back near the Valhalla Inn. Rather than going straight back to the Inn, she stops at a park close by to warm down. She stretches first, then starts going through series of kata; she doesn't get them perfect, but they help work out some of the tension. She would normally practice on bad guys, but she's too tired to risk patrolling tonight; Babs would yell at her if she got herself killed. Babs would probably yell at her for doing something like this in public, but it's not like martial arts is all that exotic, so Steph figures she can just say she learned all this at self defence class or something.

She'll be there until late, until her muscles are sore and her mind is clear, then she'll walk the rest of the way home.

Comments

[controlledvariable]

"It's handy to have after being dumped into a strange city," she puts the CiD away after a moment. "Definitely, I've started sharing most of my important information in person. I'm... not sure if there's a postal service, but I wouldn't trust it either and letters take a lot of time anyway."

[djravenfall]

Kaitlyn wrinkles her nose at the thought of snail mail, though she can't help but laugh a bit. "God, I didn't even think about that. I hear those words and all I think of is the band." She grins a bit, pulling her CiD out of her pocket and looking down at it. "I wouldn't use it even if it was an option, though. I have no idea how big this place actually is, but I imagine it's still faster just t' do things in person." She brings up the map just to remind herself how to do it, and then closes it, slipping it into her pocket.

[controlledvariable]

It takes her a second to get the reference, marked by a kind of blank look and then a laugh, "Oh, right." Steph is not very music savvy.

"I guess letters might be useful if you wanna do a lot of correspondence at once, but yeah, usually it's easier to just go and see someone."

[captaincocksure]

He holds up a hand again. It's fine; he doesn't need to know the details. He knows the people at Hellsing well enough to know that they'd let him know if he needed to know.

"You're right; it is dangerous, and that's exactly the situation where you need to be able to trust the people you take orders from. I guess I have a better understanding of that since I became a captain myself. My people need to know they can put their faith in me and the decisions I make."

[controlledvariable]

"I'm guessing you had to work a little harder to get that trust, you're a little young for a captain, yeah?" She doesn't know how the promotion system for spaceships work, but she always thought the higher ups in the military and stuff were older people.

[djravenfall]

"Eh, place like this?" Kaitlyn remarks, looking around them as they walk, while this time trying to remain aware of where she's walking. "It seems interesting enough that I would hand deliver everything if I could anyway." She catches Steph's reaction to her mention of the band, but she makes nothing of it. Not like she could go grab a CD or her iPhone anymore anyway and remind her who they are.

"THough I guess first I gotta find more people t' deliver mail to. That should make for a fun weekend, eh?" She looks over at Steph with a widening smirk. "It'll be fun, though. Unless I meet someone really weird. Or a complete tool, every place has 'em."

[controlledvariable]

"Good point, I got most of my exploring done just trying to find people," The new arrivals tend to cluster around Mog Hill, but Steph had met some people out further and it had involved a lot of wandering around lost and looking desperately at her CiD map to try to find her way.

She smiles back, "There are both weird people and tools here, I'm sure you'll manage to avoid them."

[djravenfall]

"With my luck?" Kaitlyn replies, hands on her hips as she looks over at Steph. "I'll run int' every single one of them. Hopefully not any that can, like, fire lasers from their eyes or want t' stab me with claws or somethin' like that." She grins, watching for the inn in the distance.

"But I guess that's what makes things excitin', eh?" She seems genuine in this sentiment, maybe even a little wistful. "Won't have t' worry about getting bored, at least."

[controlledvariable]

The comment about claws makes her think of Laura, but while Laura might be a little weird, Steph doesn't think she needs to warn anyone about her, "If you do meet ones that can shoot lasers from their eyes, I'd advise running away very fast."

"Oh, definitely, if you get board here you're probably doing something wrong," Steph grins. Most people would disagree with that sentiment, but she's not most people, and she approves of the fact that Kaitlyn isn't either.

[captaincocksure]

He nods. He's not bothered by the question--it's true, he's terribly young. And he feels it, a lot of days. "I am, yeah. Most people in Starfleet who are my age are finishing up their last year at the Academy. After that you go into service, and most make captain in about eight to ten years. I, uh." Jim shrugs. "It was a field promotion."

[controlledvariable]

"You must be good," She's fairly sure a field promotion would have to be earned by doing something really important, "And I'm sure it's a lot better than waiting ten years to get into the top spot."

[captaincocksure]

"Oh, I just. You know. Saved Earth." He grins. "And it's better than waiting ten years, yeah. But..."

He wonders if it's oversharing, saying too much to someone he's just met, but this place seems to inspire that in a person sometimes. You're all thrown in together, camaraderie more a necessity than a choice.

"...sometimes I feel like the ten years might've given me the insight to be better at the job. Or at least the experience so I wouldn't have to fight for some people's respect. I don't know."

[controlledvariable]

"As you do," not that it's... that unusual for people she knows to have saved the world, but it's still an impressive feat.

She listens to what Jim says, it makes sense, and she feels bad that he has to worry about something like that. She has no idea what it must be like to have so much responsibility.

"I think you'll always have people whose respect you're gonna have to fight for. And while experience might be good, it's definitely not the be-all-end-all. Obviously your superiors trusted you to do a good job." She hopes she's not being dismissive of Jim's worries, she's just trying to reassure him.

[captaincocksure]

He smiles; he understands what she's trying to do--encourage, not dismiss, and he's grateful for the effort. Especially from someone he's only just met. "They do. I just hope the rest of my crew feels the same. I try to make sure they can."

[controlledvariable]

"If they haven't committed mutiny yet, you're probably on the right track. I doubt they'd put up with a captain they didn't trust." The Bats don't have a rigid chain of command aside from 'Bruce is in charge' and she's knows people don't put up with his shit if they don't trust -- Helena is a perfect example.

[captaincocksure]

"That's true enough. Hell, I committed mutiny, once, with a captain I didn't trust." He shrugs. "I wasn't entirely in the right myself, either." He's learned from that experience, grown.

He flashes her a sheepish but brilliant smile. "Sorry, I just kept talking. I don't mean to keep you from your practice."

[controlledvariable]

"I think we've all commited mutiny once or twice." Or like twenty times, whatever, "Does your old captain hold it against you?"

"It's fine," because really, what else is she supposed to say to that smile? "I think I'm responsible for at least half the conversation."

[captaincocksure]

"No, he doesn't. He's my first officer now. And a damn good one." He can admit that, these days, now that he's come to see some of the wisdom of logic and patience.

Some of it.

"Okay, good." He gestures at a bench. "If you're not gonna practice, should we sit?"

[controlledvariable]

"That's an interesting role reversal theree," She's completely lacking the context of course, and from the way Jim has explained it, it does sound kind of confusing her.

"Sure, I probably should've stretched after I stopped but..." she gives a Kanye shrug before walking over to the bench. Rather than sitting on it propery, she perches on the back of the bench with her feet on the seat of it.

[captaincocksure]

"I guess. Works for us, though."

He joins her, perching on the back of the bench. It would seem weird to sit properly with her up there, not to mention he worries she'd think he was trying to be inappropriate or something.

"So how long have you been studying martial arts?"

[controlledvariable]

"Um..." she has to think about it for a bit, trying to figure it out, "Self-defense is pretty much a compulsary course in Gotham schools, but I didn't start doing it properly until I was about fifteen. So four years ago. It's been on and off since then."

Mostly because her teachers would abitrarily decide they were going to abandon her every now and then. Cass was probably the most consistent teacher she ever had, "A fair bit of it's self-taught, I guess."

[captaincocksure]

Jim frowns faintly; he wonders, what the hell kind of place is this Gotham that they teach self-defense in the schools? But he doesn't ask; that's passing judgment, and they taught him not to do that in Starfleet. Every place and culture is different, and just because it's so different from his doesn't mean he gets to point out that he feels it's wrong. He may not have the whole story.

"I think a little improvisation is a good thing," he notes. "Teaching yourself, learning on your own. I think adhering too rigidly to the official disciplines can make you predictable. And you don't ever want an opponent to be able to predict your next move."

[controlledvariable]

Gotham is... Gotham. And Steph wouldn't mind any questions, she's just so used to saying it's name to be enough. Everyone in America from her world knows exactly what Gotham is like.

"I've never been predictable," she grins, taking what Jim said as a compliment, "Though I did get in trouble for biting opponents."

It's hard to tell if she's joking.

[captaincocksure]

The grin he breaks into is anything but professional. Joking or not, he approves of that tactic. "I'm fond of headbutting, myself, but I haven't quite perfected the technique of delivering a solid one without scrambling my own brain for a second." He shrugs. "I did a lot of bar fighting before I enlisted and got proper training. Old habits die hard, I guess."

[controlledvariable]

"I think most people have that trouble with headbutting," Wearing a cowl is surprisingly helpful, considering it's designed to absorb shock.

"I've never learned to bar fight," because bar fighting is totally it's own recognized style, "I mostly specialized in school yard brawls."