Gym - OTA

[treadswater]

There was a time when Annie was in a gym at least six days out of seven. Ages eleven to sixteen, during her time at the Career Academy (a slightly grandiose name for quite a glorified school club, but it wasn't until Annie was a victor herself that she recognized the self-depreciating humour in the name). Before school and after school, training and training and training. After that, when she was washed out, no gyms, but she kept up the physical activity - and exceeded it, fishing being what it is. As a victor, she ran most mornings, or swum. Worked out. Sparred with Finnick. She'd noticed if she didn't, her mind got worse, her fits of hysteria (anxiety attacks, Beverly had called them) more frequent.

But it's been six months since she's done anything properly physical regularly. When her mood's been stable, she's turned the holodeck into a running track, but that hasn't been nearly anything like five or six days out of seven.

She's twitchy, which goes a way to explain how she winds up in the gymnasium, trailing her fingers over the bo staffs in their rack. She'd been good at spears in the Academy, and although the idea of stabbing now makes her uneasy, she's still good at wielding a staff. She can get her fiancé (tall, built, twice her size and lethal) on his back.

Annie picks up one of the staffs and hefts it, giving it an experimental twirl. It's well-balanced, and she smiles, quiet and shy and delighted.

But despite that delight, and how practically she's already dressed (boots, trousers, simple blouse under her loose jacket, hair braided), she doesn't make any further movements towards any of the practice mats.

Comments

[chaotica]

It seemed logical because it is logical. It takes logic of a different, slightly bent kind to insist that the only valid point of view comes from inside one's head.

He reaches the holodeck here, and pauses before the control panel.

"Know anything about jazz?" he asks, an eyebrow quirked. "Swing?"

[treadswater]

"They might be called different things by my time," Annie points out. "Or. Got lost."

Seas rose, countries fell, and all of that.

"So, no. Not by those names. I know harabe. That's one of the District Four dances. Although that's probably changed to, if you had it."

There's a certain amount of resignation in her tone: working out that different cultures are different isn't hard when so very many of your bearings have been taken away.

[treadswater]

"It's...."

She's silent for a moment, a long one. A little too long, perhaps, but she's visibly trying to sort through her thoughts.

"Overwhelming, sometimes. But it's..." She laughs, a little. "Amazing. Like you said. I thought...sailing in the stars only happened in children's stories."

[engineermage]

From the good nature rolling of the eyes Kale is doing, it's clearly he almost sort of finds Trever's reaction funny. In that "I'm going to strangle my brother later but I'm not going to do it right now because there's witnesses and I don't want to have to deal with getting rid of two bodies" sort of way. They have a very loving relationship.

"It's not quite like that," Kale said, glaring at his brother, "It's more like trying to tame an animal. It starts off not trusting you and I have to make it trust me. While it takes a bit longer than perhaps normal hacking, the upside of it is that I don't need to be at a terminal to access information and once she trusts me, she'll pretty much always trust me."

[makesbettermouth]

"We're lucky we get to live it," she smiles. "Not many people ever get this chance."

[notalwaysstrong]

"Yeah? I can think of a few programs off the top of my head."

He shifts, propping the hanbō on his shoulder, before reaching a hand out.

"Mack Gerhardt. Nice to meet ya."

[treadswater]

"Annie Cresta," she says, shaking his hand. Her own is small, but she's been working since a child and her grip is firm.

"What kind of programs do you use? Or...create?"

[treadswater]

"No," Annie murmurs, "they don't."

If her expression is sad, it's only for a moment before she shakes her head, looks up, smiles.

"Anyway. I'm thankful for it. But, uh. I should probably be getting back."

[makesbettermouth]

Amy cringes a bit, noting the expression on Annie's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..uh...okay! Don't let me get in the way!"

Cue all the nervous and awkward laughter and the backing out of the way.

[treadswater]

[ooc: I got a bit overthreaded, so, cutting things down. BUT :D Thank you for the thread! Poor awk girls. Hope we get to thread again with them, though, Annie likes her :-) ]

[makesbettermouth]

[OOC: It's okay!! They were headed to a wrap anyway. They are indeed wonderfully awkward, and they might make good friends in the end!]

[and_she_waited]

Oh yeah, that wickedness bodes well. She and Annie are going to get on like a house on fire.

Amy smiles, wide and brilliant.

"You're not goin' to leave me hanging, are you?" she asks, once she sees the spark starting to fade.

Come on, now - she'll tell you hers if you tell her yours.

But she is sensing a more important topic unfurling, and boredom isn't strong enough to make her ignore that.

"Course he is," she says, holding open a door for Annie even though this whole ship is automated enough to do it itself; it's the thought that counts. "At least when it comes to people. Nobody knows when a baby is goin' to grow up to be the next Churchill, but even if he lives an ordinary life, he's still touchin' all the people around him, isn't he? You take one person out of the equation, just one, an' it changes everything."

[notalwaysstrong]

"When I need to fight someone, usually. But I've got an idea of a few more quiet places."

[treadswater]

Leave her hanging? Well. That depends on how long Annie's courage holds out. She's never been able to talk about Finnick like this.

But, well.

Boathouse.

Annie nods and smiles a thanks at Amy for the door - automated, but, yes, it's the thought, and she likes the thought - then her expression turns a bit more serious.

"That's..."

She stops. Fiddles a bit with her engagement ring as she thinks, but more as just something to fiddle with than because of any association.

"I've never heard of anyone thinkin' like that."

[treadswater]

"I've heard 'bout that, conjuring people up to spar against."

Unsettling as fuck, honestly, although she can see the benefit. No one real gets hurt, and you can keep the variables down. But, still.

Unsettling.

"The quiet places are interesting. At least, to me. I've actually only been outside my district, I think it's like a state to you? Twice. And everywhere else is so different. Then you add in planets, but. Haven't looked at those."

[treadswater]

"Books aren't that common where I'm from. Expensive, you know? So, when I was little kid, in a little town...mostly, we just listened. Fisherfolk are great ones for tellin' stories. But at night, or on Sundays. Rest of the time, we're too busy."

Until she won the 70th Hunger Games, and had nothing really much to do. Her book-buying rapidly became A Thing.

(But not as much as Windlass Ward. The man practically lives in a library. Useful to borrow things from, though, and she can always give him her book lists when it's his turn to mentor.)

Steve's question makes her pause.

"I. It's. Strange, I guess. Nothing I could have ever imagined. I just really wish I had a window in my quarters. I could sit there and watch the stars for hours. I never expected it to be so clear, you know? Without the air. The technology, it's mostly what's in the Capitol. A bit more high-tech, but it's not strange. The ship's strange. Wonderful."

[notalwaysstrong]

"Yeah, I ain't tried other planets yet." Though, he smiles slightly. "But I've heard there's some peaceful simulations of a planet called Betazed. Heard it's gardens are beautiful."

[ikissdhimbck]

Wasn't terrible at all! Matter of fact, once Kate gets it her face lights up like the Fourth of July, and she looks at Annie with all smiles, vigor, and vim.

"Trick ridin' sounds like somethin' you could do on horseback."

If Annie notices a little of that mischievousness mirrored back at her, it ain't because Kate has experience with that or anything. No sir.

Ahem.

"Oh gracious, that sounds like fun! An' you know how to do this?"


[ooc: I apologize for my slowness, RL has been kicking me pretty hard lately. >_<]

[and_she_waited]

No worries, Annie. You spend enough time with Amy and she'll teach you.

Her motives may not be entirely pure, mind. But girl talk is sacred, and held in the strictest confidence.

(Besides, boathouse is just too juicy to let be.)

"You haven't?" she asks, a little quieter now.

She's picking up on Annie's small cues, enough that she knows there's something deeper to it. She just doesn't know what it is.

"You said you were from Mexico? Panem, you called it?" she asks, frowning in thought at the path ahead.

She swings a look back at Annie. "Don't you 'ave philosophers and scientists where you're from? Or really good history teachers?"

[treadswater]

"Hah," Annie says. It's soft, but bitter. It's also a deliberate sound, a scoffing she can make because she's here and the walls don't care about treason or sedition.

"The districts are the body of Panem. The Capitol is the head. We work for the Capitol and the betterment of all, and the Capitol loves and guides us, and... We ain't exactly taught much history. Least not the kind that I've been readin' on the computers here."

[treadswater]

[ooc: is ALL FINE. Observe how long it's taken me to get back to you on thiiiiis]

Annie grins at her. A bright, broad grin that lights up her face, lights up her sea-green eyes. It's a very daring grin. I dare you to do handstands, I dare you to do a flip.

"That I do. Miss doin' it properly, the Gulf's waves are a lot smaller than the ocean's. And, haven't really trusted the holodeck enough here. But back home, on Sunday's, we used to have little competitions. Showin' off who could catch the biggest wave."

[ikissdhimbck]

[ooc: <3!]


It's the kind of grin she'll see mirrored back at her, given enough time with Kate.

"Don't trust a room that can turn into anythin' you want it to, includin' the great horizon?"

She chuckles dryly. She can understand that feeling. It don't seem quite real, and were she a little less traveled she might not trust it herself.

Still hasn't really learned how to use it, even.

"At least it seems safe enough. I've stumbled into it enough times, an' never had a terrible experience. In fact, a friend'a mine has invited me t'go on a safari in a few days."

She's excited about it.

[treadswater]

"Pretty much," Annie says, but now, her smile is fainter, with a bit of a wry twist. There are darker reasons why she doesn't entirely trust the holodeck when it comes to water, more than just it being a computer trick.

Water and Annie can be...complicated.

So she'd much rather shift gears, crinkle her nose a little as she looks at Kate. "What's a safari?"

[ikissdhimbck]

Oh, Annie-belle.

Kate's eyes widen and sparkle, just as bright as the water reflects the sun.

"What's a — well. D'you know of Africa?"

[treadswater]

"Well...

No."

She smiles, impish and wry in equal measures.

"'Least not really. I read a bit about here, that it's a continent on Earth, but I don't really know much else."