multiversallogs | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Steph," And then because she's got nothing to lose by asking, she adds, "Are you from the ceidary blue network? It's just that you look kinda familiar."

Finally nudging the dog away from the water, Jason attempts to splash a bit on his face, wincing (as Nate would) at the cold.

"No, Palm. Not that I ever use it anyway." He hesitates and then makes a shy attempt to continue the conversation. It's possible he may have to resort to being truly socially stupid to get this to end quickly, but that might also be memorable. Probably it'd be best just to let this come to a close as naturally as possible. "Do you attend TeeMuu?"

Steph frowns slightly, but it's more in confusion because seriously where does she know him from?, but it clears when he mentions the university, "I don't, but I work at the library there. You're a student?"

That would make sense. She's probably seen him around campus.

He nods, seemingly pleased to learn of this connection and letting the socially awkward elements of Nate's persona loosen a little at the prospect of some shared familiarity. "Chemistry."

That's a subject he can thoroughly bullshit, at least. But Jason doesn't really want to answer more questions for Nate. There won't be any opportunity to ask the questions he really wants to know, but casual conversation might yield something like her age.

"Did you just start...?" The direction of his eyes moves just noticeably upward and to the left, where people sometimes look when they try to remember things. Nate is something of an open book, after all.

"Chemisty always went over my head," It's true enough, she was never great at that part of Bat-training, "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty new to Baedal but I got a job early, so it's been good." She's lucky that it was Kate who came to let her out of the arrival room, it worked out well.

Without letting so much as a hint of his real smile into Nate's habitually sheepish one, Jason says as mildly as possibly, "Yeah, it has a lot of practical applications," and leaves it at that. He nods when Stephanie says she's new. Nate has lived here longer, so it gives him more confidence.

What he says next starts out mock solemn but ends up a bit more bitter than Nate intended. "Oh, well, welcome to Baedal, o fellow chosen one. How fortunate we are to have been ripped away from our lives so we can be stomped on by secret police."

An eyebrow goes up, because yeah, that sounded about as bitter as Steph feels about the situation and it makes sense, but it doesn't really fit with how 'Nate' has been acting.

"Secret police, the only thing worse than actual police." She's curious now, his bitterness seemed more genuine than the awkwardness he had going on before, "I hope you haven't had any trouble with them."

"Me?" Jason's laugh is faintly incredulous. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

The dog tries to wander off to sniff something else, having exhausted all the possibilities in the immediate area, and Jason lets it pull until his arm is fully extended.

"But you stay here long enough, you'll probably get to know someone who won't be." He shrugs. "Not much I can do. Not interested in politics."

Steph doesn't respond for a while, because she saw the post on the network, and she knew the militia was dangerous, but the way 'Nate' is talking about it makes it seem like butting heads with the militia is a death sentence.

"Jesus," it's quiet and frustrated-sounding, but she scrubs a hand over her face and tries to regain her composure, "I hope it doesn't ever come to that. It's not--"

Fair, is what she wants to say. But life isn't fair, and she's not gonna solve many problems by complaining about them. "Sorry." She's not sure what exactly the apology is for, it just feels necessary.

In fact he is, in his opinion, exaggerating a little, but not much. His expression softens — the entire process genuinely feels alien on his face, but it doesn't look weird — and he lets the dog tug him one step onward.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Jason tells Stephanie with painful earnestness. "Unless you're militia."

"Definitely not," the idea of being militia makes her feel a little ill, but she covers it with a wry smile and a look at the dog, "I think someone's getting restless. I should let you go."

"See you around, maybe?" Jason hunches his shoulder slightly, something that would be more obviously affected if it weren't for the coat, and gives Steph half a smile before letting the dog lead him onward and away.

He takes a circuitous route back to the house where he absconded with the dog in the first place to make sure Steph hasn't followed him, and leaves the disappointed animal in the yard. The glasses and coat he discards in separate locations. RIP, Nate.

"Yeah, you know were to find me," she smiles and gives a little wave, watching for a moment before turning away.

There's still a brief temptation to follow him, because something just didn't seem right, but she mentally scolds herself for acting so Bat-ish and heads home instead. Although she might sneak into the offices at the university and check to see if there's a 'Nate' enrolled.

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

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