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

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

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.

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Kait can't help but laugh, amused. There might even be a little bit of a snort, which has her raising a hand over her mouth. "Green? That's one way t' stand out. I'm not sure what I'd do if I was green!" Then again, with real superheroes, apparently, anything is possible.

But oops! She's been "caught". It's only fair, though, since she asked Steph, isn't it? Kaitlyn chuckles a bit more wryly this time. "You've got me!" she says, raising her arms up as though she'd just been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. "Yeah, I'm not exactly- we call people with powers Evolved where I come from. Or mutants, depending on who you ask, I guess. But that's me." There's that little bit of bitterness again. "The jury's still out on boring, though."

"She can make herself not green, it's one of the perks of being a martian shapeshifter." It's nice for Steph to be able to talk about her friends without having to come up with a bunch of lies.

"I guess evolved sort of makes sense, although 'mutans' sounds kind of... derogatory," her mouth twists in a slight frown, the idea of humans hating non-humans is just so weird to her when she comes from a world with Superman, "What sort of powers have you got, if you don't mind sharing?"

Kaitlyn mouths out the words martian shapeshifter after Steph says them, as if to make sure she heard the other woman correctly. Whoa. "Well. That sounds handy as all hell. I guess particularly for a martian shapeshifter." Those words, their so weird to say. It continues to amuse Kaitlyn more than anything else, really. "See, that sounds just so wow to me. I love to meet a martian shapeshifter."

Ah, and there's the big question. "Well, it is," is stated rather simply, Kaitlyn shrugging her shoulders. "It's sad, but... I guess there's only so much you can do about people hating people who are different. Not that that stops me from trying." She clears her throat and sits back a bit, bringing both hands to rest up on the table.

"Nothing... amazing. Probably not to you, at least," she replies with a bit of a chuckle as she leans forward, and in front of her, both her hands begin to glow with a soft light. It might be a bit of a... display for a public place, but hopefully it isn't too noticeable to anyone else besides the pair of them. "I can do stuff with light. Photokinesis, is what it said on my registration card."

"If she ever shows up in Baedal, I'll introduce you to her, she's one of the sweetest people I've ever met," It's totally true, M'gann is so lovely that sometimes Steph doesn't even know how to deal with her.

"Yeah..." the frown deepends, Steph might not have powers, but she knows that some people look down on her because she's poor, "It's good that you won't stop trying. I'm sure you're doing some good."

Steph might be used to people with powers, but that's still cool and her eyes widen when she notices the glow, "That's awesome!" But then the rest of what Kaitlyn said sinks in and Steph is frowning again, "Registration card?"

The glow fades quickly, Kaitlyn fingers flexing a bit before she draws them back, taking a moment to grab her cola for a quick sip. "It's nice when the power goes out," she replies with a grin. "I actually learned a lot of stuff I never would've otherwise. I met someone once who could do the same thing, she dropped a bunch of physics books in my lap, and it was just- nuts. But that helped me learn how to do things like making things invisible by bending light away."

This is going to become a makeshift science lesson if she doesn't move on quickly, so she decides to do just that. her lips quirk side to side at thought back to this topic, though, and she nods slowly. "Like I said... the government didn't exactly approve of Evolved folks. Lots of rules, and regulations, and registries. It got way beyond the point of public safety and into oppression. A pair a' my friends ended up getting moved into an Evo-only neighborhood a few months back."

"I can imagine it'd come in handy during a black out," she grins a little, even more impressed, "You can turn stuff invisible? That's really cool, it's good she decided to give you that physics textbook."

"I'm sorry," she reaches over to put a hand on Kaitlyn's arm, "I wish there was something I could do to help, your government is completely out of line."

Kaitlyn offers back a small smile at the touch to her arm, before shaking her head a bit. "It started smartly enough, at least. I mean, I dunno what it's like on your world, but where I lived, it was kinda like, you know... one day you're normal, the next you wake up and you shoot microwaves from your hands, or you can fly. People got hurt, and- hell. There was a huge explosion in Manhattan because of one, that's what started the whole mess. So I guess I don't blame them, it just got... abused. Really easily, really fast."

She sinks back a bit in her chair, shrugging a bit as she closes her eyes. "The thought's appreciated, though. There were a lot of people who tried t' help, and when they couldn't, helped people get the hell outta dodge. That was what I did, when I wasn't working." Seeing how Steph seems to feel, and given that she isn't even there anymore makes it a bit easier for her cop up to what was technically less than legal dealings.

"What's it like, where you come from, anyway? I mean, if there's superheroes, there's got to be villains, but if even a martian," it still feels weird, "can get on fine there, it must be rather nice." There's a hopeful tone to her voice when she asks, almost as if she's hoping this is really the case.

"They shouldn't punish everyone for the actions of one person." She sighs and gives Kaitlyn's arm a gentle, reassuring squeeze, then sets her hand back on the table.

"You were doing the right thing, then. No one deserves to be stuck in a situation like that and if the government won't give them a way out, then citizens should," Steph has a lot of feelings about this sort of thing, working as a vigilante and watching the ineffective justice system makes her question the goverment a lot.

"Some people still hide themselves, but it's for different reasons. They don't want to be a superhero 24/7, you know? And they wanna keep their family safe from, yes, supervillains, so they pretend to be normal humans when they go to school and work and stuff," She's still trying to be reassuring, "And not everyone does, M'gann - that's the green girl - rarely pretends to be human. And there are others like that."

"Oh, Lord. You don't have t' tell me about people still hiding. I mean, I knew a kid once, who wanted so bad to be a superhero. Never really thought about the consequences of his actions, though, and it kinda made life hard for the people who knew what he was doing. Good heart in that guy. Not a lot of brains." Kaitlyn's smiling again now, which largely means the reassurances are working.

"See, that's so neat," she continues, propping her chin against the palm of her hand. "I mean, I'm sure it makes things hard sometimes, but there's so much freedom in that." She sounds a little jealous, even, but rather than say anything like that, she decides to finish off her drink instead. "It's just nice to know that things go better in some places."

"That's what the masks and codenames are for, as long as they don't do stupid shit and lose the mask," she doesn't want to point out that kids like that usually end up dead. "Having a good heart helps too"

"We seem to be pretty lucky back home, I wish other worlds were better. Though at least Baedal is somewhat accepting." She kind of wants to go to all the other worlds and kick people for being jerks.

"A mask and codenames don't raelly help when you leave calling cards and everyone who matters know who you are anyway," Kait says with a laugh. "He gave it a shot. Thankfully, he was smart enough to give it up when things got a little too real."

Her fingers drum on the table as she slouches back a bit. "Well, hey, maybe if this whole universe thing crosses anymore wires, you can help me smack some sense into people. Or something, I dunno." She chuckles and shrugs, amused by her own silly idea.

"That would make things a little trickier. I'm glad he got out before anything bad happened," It makes her feel like a bit of a hypocrite to say that, considering she never quit when she probably should've.

"If I ever get a chance to go to your world, I will be more than happy to kick some bigot's asses," despite how unlikely it is to happen, Steph is being genuine.

"Yeah, and maybe if I ever end up in your world, I find a costume and f=go around blinding badguys. Though I guess The Flasher wouldn't make for the best superhero name, would it?" Kaitlyn can't help but grin at her own joke - it was a good one, she doesn't get those often!

She slouches, glancing back towards the door. "I do want to get home, but at least there's worse places I could be stranded. Though for now I'm almost up for finishin' that run. Or heading back to my place and passing out, I haven't decided."

Steph laughs, "There's already a 'Flash', but he's a speedster and he gets a lot of bad jokes about his name. You could go with 'Flare' or 'Spectrum' or something."

"Yeah, compared to your world, Baedal doesn't sound so bad," she finishes off her lemonade, "You probably shouldn't run too much today if you're a little out of shape, you'll pay fo it tomorrow."

"A speedster? Well, I guess that makes sense. Less trite than what someone like that could've gone with," Kaitlyn replies with amusement, before letting out a small yawn. "It's not just that, I think. I mean, I'm not in horrible shape, I think? There's just a difference between runnin' from guys with guns, and running for exercise. Like, doing a 3 mile run instead of a series of sprints." She gives a small shrug, not really sure how well the analogy works.

"But you're probably right. Not after this soda, at least," she continues, glacing sidelong at her empty glass. "I'd rather pay for it tomorrow instead of tonight."

"There's one who calls himself Professor Zoom, which is possibly the worst codename in existence," she grins, then nods for what Kaitlyn says next, "I get it. There's speed and there's endurance. Plus, running from guy's with guns usually gives you the extra advantage of adrenalin."

She wrinkles her nose; the mix of coke and more running wouldn't end well, "Yeah, I wouldn't advise running on a stomach full of soda. Are you stil staying at the Inn? We can walk back together if you are."

Audibly snorting once more, Kaitlyn laughs as she rises up out of her seat. "Professor Zoom? Sounds like someone in a bad eighties tv show or somethin'," she says as her hands slip into her pockets, a glance give over towards the door.

"Yeah, I am. Figure I might as well until I find another place t' stay," she replies casually, rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet. "If you're not plannin' on exercisin' more, the company would be awesome. Not that you haven't already been." She flashes a thumbs up and turn back towards the door, making sure this time to hold it for Steph.

"He's one of our supervillains, and a total asshole in general, I've heard," She's actually not lying this time, she's never met Prof. Zoom, but she's heard stories.

"That was my theory; you've got free board for two weeks, might as well make the best of it," Steph stands up as well, following after Kaitlyn, "I'm ready to go home."

"Well, as long as his name isn't, like, Francis Von Zoom or something really lame like that. That's about the only thing that could be worse than runnin' around callin' yourself 'Professor Zoom'," Kaitlyn replies with a grin as Steph passes her. "Hey, can't argue with a warm place t' sleep for two weeks, eh? Takes a lotta stress off." Well, until one focuses on the stress off finding a place to live.

"Alright. Sounds like a plan t' me," she says as she turns back in the direction of the inn. She thinks. She lost track a bit amidst their run. Which leads her to stop and spin and place as she looks around, before looking a bit helplessly over at Steph.

"I actually don't know his real name, but lets hope it's not Francis Von Zoom," That's actually true, she never cared enough to read Batman's files on the Flash's villains, "Definitely not, it's much better than being stuck on the street until we find a job."

She smiles, watching Kaitlyn's confusion with faint amusement, before gently grabbing her shoulders and pointing her in the right direction, "This way."

Steph starts walking, assuming Kaitlyn will keep up.

"Oh." Well, that was definitely not the direction she had been facing. That's a little embarrassing. Scratching at the back of her neck, she tries to act like nothing ever even happened as she moves to catches up to Steph.

"So, have you heard a' anything interesting happening lately? I haven't really been keeping track of things since I got here. Any recent earth shattering cataclysms or exploding buildings?" She's mostly joking. If either of those is actually the case, well... "I've been trying to follow the network, at least. The cohort thing. Which is interesting."

"There was a militia raid, it was broadcasted on the network." She's suddenly a lot more subdued than she had been before. It was a pretty awful broadcast and she kind of hopes Kaitlyn missed it.

She sighs and tries not to let it get to her, "Keeping up on the cohort is tricky, usually I just skim anything I missed."

"Jesus," Kaitlyn replies somewhat worriedly. She did miss that, to the best of her knowledge. The word "raid" holds a certain amount of weight with Kaitlyn, and there's a noticeable sense of worry in her expression. "Yeah, I've missed a bunch in it already, but I'm not sweating it too much yet. Seems like there's a buncha people showing up lately. Kinda neat, actually. I guess? I dunno."

"We're working on it," it's meant to be reassuring, to let Kaitlyn know that people aren't just sitting idly by. She won't give any indication to who 'we' is, even if asked.

"It makes me worry if something might be happening to cause so many new arrivals, but hopefully it settles down soon." One of her theories about this place is that there's some sort of barrier between different universes, and she's worried that the more people who come through, the weaker that barrier will get.

We're? Kaitlyn has enough experience with people dancing around their associations to catch that little tidbit, but she also has enough experience to know not to press it, just in case there is, in fact, something to it. She still eyes Steph for a moment curiously as she wonders if there's something she isn't being told.

But, whatever. She shrugs it off, instead offering a nod to Kaitlyn. "Who knows. Maybe these things go in cycles. If something is happening, hopefully it's nothing terribly awful." That would certainly be her luck, though - get there right before something awful.

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