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

[treadswater]

"Thank you," Annie tells Veena graciously, picking up the sock in one hand and offering more scritches with the other. The sock needs to be returned, but first...

Well.

Kitty.

"Mmm, that's true, too. Depends on what you're actually doin'."

[reincarnshaman]

From Trever's expression, if she looked, it's clear that he's used to Veena mind controlling people and doesn't expect to get his sock back anytime soon.

"True enough. So, what are you doing in here?"

Not that it's obvious, but sometimes it's better to ask.

[treadswater]

"Mostly just having a look. Kinda different from the places back home, and I. Missed doing certain things, I guess."

She glances up at the two men, then glances back down at the staff.

"'Course now I just miss my glass workshop, so. Um. Oops."

[engineermage]

"It's different from our back home too. It's much cleaner for starters," Kale said. "And less chaotic."

"Boring," Trever added.

Kale shook his head but didn't disagree. "You made glass?"

[treadswater]

"Nothing wrong with boring as long as there's something to do," she says with a huff. Not having anything to do (besides, really, her fiancé) is making her itchy.

Kale's question makes her look wistful. "I did. More pretty than useful. But I did commissions."

She glances down at her hands, and the tiny scratches and burns that speckle her skin.

"But not much use for that here, I guess. When they can just create everything."

[reincarnshaman]

"Our definition of boring is not having anything to do," Trever explained. "And currently we don't really have anything to do. No chores, no jobs, nothing Kale is allowed to build without getting into trouble, things like that."

Things Kale would enjoy building include weapons. Which is frowned upon.

"Sometimes pretty is useful," he added. "And while they can create like a glass bowl with just a touch of the computer pad, I don't think they'd be able to create anything..." Trever hesitated, trying to think of the proper words.

"Anything with a soul," Kale offered.

"Yeah. That."

[treadswater]

"It'd be easier if this was a proper ship. One at sea. Always things to do there." What she doesn't add is on a ship at sea, she could be useful.

It may come across anyway.

Then Annie smiles, real and pleased. "It doesn't seem that way. Least not with any of the...point at this picture and click. Down in the big replicator room?"

It's convenient. She can see why it's used for furniture. But not...pretty things.

[engineermage]

"I imagine there are things to do here... we just don't know how to do them." Kale sounds just as frustrated.

Though, when she mentions the big replicator room the twins' eyes gleam with sudden mischief.

Or plotting.

Whatever it is, it's likely not good.

"There's a replicator room that lets you make things the size of furniture?" he asked, a horrible, terrible grin on his face. This is a grin of bad things coming.

Well... things that will likely get them into serious trouble if they get caught.

[treadswater]

"Yep," Annie says, her smile turning...well. A little mischievous back. She doesn't really like to cause trouble, as such, but...

Well.

Bored.

And their faces are suddenly lighting up.

"Want me to show you?"

[engineermage]

"Yeeeesssssss."

[treadswater]

"Will you excuse me, pretty lady?" she asks Veena and then, sock in hand, gets to her feet. Passing the sock back to its rightful owner, she puts the staff back on the rack and leads the brothers to the turbolift and then the deck where the replicator centre is housed.

"Um, same with the ones in the walls?" Annie starts off. "But you can view things on that monitor, instead of just guessin'."

[engineermage]

As soon as they get inside, Kale gives a bit of a gleeful giggle and scurries off to the control panel, running his fingers over it and talking to it. But not in the way most people talk to the computers.

[treadswater]

Annie puts her hands on her hips and eyes the pair of them. Just because Kale is the one currently giggling doesn't mean that Trever isn't up to something, either.

"What have I done?" she asks the room, and the guys, after observing the giggling for a moment.

[reincarnshaman]

Leaving Kale to giggle and talk to the machine, Trever grins at her a horrible terrible grin. "Ever drink whiskey?"

[treadswater]

"Twice. Why are you-"

Oh.

Moonshine.

That's what they are doing, trying to make a still.

She's briefly torn on this, as it's not as if Finnick needs any actual alcohol with his edginess since they've been here.

On the other hand, getting tipsy? Sounds marvellous.

"You pull that off, a lot of folk around here will be shaking your hand."

[reincarnshaman]

"I think we should be able to. Our mum's family has been making whiskey for hundreds of years. The trick is been getting parts and hoping Kale's roommate is amenable. We don't want to get all the parts at one time because that might be suspicious and we're going to try and get them from around the ship from different replicators. But there are some bits that are too big for the little replicators to handle, you know?"

He crossed his arms, still grinning. They're not going to be able to make the family whiskey, mostly because only three people in the family know what it is, but they do know enough ABOUT it to make their own version. Also, making whiskey that's been known to make gods drunk is probably NOT something they'd want to have on the ship.

They're not completely insane.

[treadswater]

Oh, she knows. Taking little bits from here and there, never enough to draw attention, is a way of life in the districts. Be casual, act like nothing's wrong, nothing's illegal, and then you might get away with it. Probably get away with it.

And not every law broken is strictly about survival.

"If anyone asks, I'm saying I knew nothing," she says, which is true, but she's grinning. A little.

changed my mind. Just one of one

[engineermage]

Kale's giggling stops and he turns back to the two of them. "This is perfect. I'll be able to replicate those bigger parts that I needed from here. AND they've got designs for super soakers that I can modify."

Delighted mad cackling ensues for some reason.

[treadswater]

"I think they've got pretty much everythin'. Trick is, what do you do with it all."

Too much possibility, and she's not sure what to do. How to handle it all. Even now, it's tricky. But-

She grins.

"Glad to help out."

[reincarnshaman]

"I don't know. They don't even have money, apparently," Trever said watching his gleeful brother. "It seems to... easy to do things. If you know what I mean?

"I mean, Kale and I are well off, we're royalty for starters, but we still have to work to get things done. Like Kale makes electronic things... and here you can just replicate them."

[treadswater]

"I do, actually."

She hesitates, and then explains.

"I won a lot of money a few years ago. A, a competition." Which she, very clearly, does not want to explain further. "And it's one of the reasons I took up glassmaking so much. I get commissions, or. Did. I don't have to do anything any more. But, it. Doesn't feel right.

I can see, um. There being things in place so everyone can afford the basics. And don't starve. But. Not a lot of push to do things."

[engineermage]

"Nana liked to say that anything that seems to idyllic and perfect probably has something horrible and rotten hiding underneath it," Kale said coming into the conversation somewhat off in a different direction. "Which is what Trev and I are planning on doing a lot of sneaking around and figuring things out. There has to be something more going on than it looks like."

[treadswater]

Annie sighs, a little, and the set of her mouth tilts knowingly. "Yeah, I. I'm familiar with that kind of thinkin'."

The Capitol struck her that way, the times she's been there, although it wasn't until the year of the 71st Hunger Games that she had enough spare time (once Four's tributes were dead) to really appreciate it. The beautiful buildings, the beautiful clothes, party after party attended too by people who had no idea of the cost to the districts, they just wanted to dance their fear away.

"If, if you find anything, would you... Could you tell me? I could share some information, too."

[engineermage]

It's not paranoia if you don't think it is.

"Oh, sure. We'd be more than happy to share information," Kale said, "But what got me suspicious is that they don't want us to have their technology. You heard that when they gave us our welcome speech. Don't steal the technology. We can use it, but we can't steal it? Why?"

Getting onto a roll, Kale continued, "This Prime Directive thing is pure nonsense. We don't want to interfere with your way of life, but we're still going to keep you on this ship that's completely different than your way of life and expose you to technology and medicines that aren't what you're used to. You just can't bring it home to make your world better and healthier."

[treadswater]

You know what one of the advantages of having a habitually unsettled gaze? You can look for cameras and bugs without it being out of character. Annie rocks back a little on her heels and glances around the room, much as she has been doing on and off through-out the conversation.

"Depends if that's their purposes," she comments, although her voice is softer. "They don't quite know what to do with us, so. They could be making up things as they go along, too."

The Capitol would hate her thinking like that, but she grew up on an ocean that regularly made clear it was more powerful than any human government or machine, and she survived an arena where the gamemakers made some very, very big mistakes.