Ororo Munroe (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
calmbeforethe) wrote2013-04-10 09:47 pm
calmbeforethe) wrote2013-04-10 09:47 pm
05 . action + voice
[It's been some time since the TERRACE draft. While it was not her first and while Ororo was no stranger to violence and war and even death, it is always difficult to come face to face with them as she did a week ago. After all, she may treasure peace,but given the nature of her powers and the situation they were caught in, she was forced to see that she was also quite good at making war when she needed to. And although she loved her powers dearly, times like the draft reminded her how destructive they could be.
Now, a week and a bit later, she intends to remind herself that that was not all her mutation was good for.
So after her morning Danger Room session at the Battle Dome, Ororo spends some time at the Flower Shop and the Item Store, both located in the center of town. In the former, she hovers over packets of seeds thoughtfully, also selecting a few already potted plants that she figures she might transfer to her budding garden. In the latter, she looks around for any helpful tools she might find useful - trowels, shovels, a spritzing bottle for the more delicate plants, and even considers a wheelbarrow for several minutes - ultimately she decides it's too much effort to bring it all the way back to the house. She does end up making multiple trips - not that it was too much of a bother for someone who could fly.
In the afternoon, she can be found in the garden in front of House 16. No gardening gloves for her, Ororo likes the feeling of sinking her hands into the earth. And anyway, yesterday's rain made the soil loose enough to work with easily. She goes about things generally quietly, though there are snatches of quiet conversation as she speaks fondly to her plants and, on some occasions, even softly humming to them. It's a lot of work, but that was fine. She found it therapeutic. And though she likes working alone, more often than not she at least had a little black raincloud to keep her company.
During a brief break from her gardenwork, Ororo decides to address her journal.]
As much as I love snow and frost, I must admit that spring is a favorite season of mine. It is so full of life, and color, and growing things. Rebirth. [She smiles serenely.]
Do you have any plans for this spring, Luceti? I know I will be busy coaxing my garden to bloom again after a winter's worth of sleeping.
Now, a week and a bit later, she intends to remind herself that that was not all her mutation was good for.
So after her morning Danger Room session at the Battle Dome, Ororo spends some time at the Flower Shop and the Item Store, both located in the center of town. In the former, she hovers over packets of seeds thoughtfully, also selecting a few already potted plants that she figures she might transfer to her budding garden. In the latter, she looks around for any helpful tools she might find useful - trowels, shovels, a spritzing bottle for the more delicate plants, and even considers a wheelbarrow for several minutes - ultimately she decides it's too much effort to bring it all the way back to the house. She does end up making multiple trips - not that it was too much of a bother for someone who could fly.
In the afternoon, she can be found in the garden in front of House 16. No gardening gloves for her, Ororo likes the feeling of sinking her hands into the earth. And anyway, yesterday's rain made the soil loose enough to work with easily. She goes about things generally quietly, though there are snatches of quiet conversation as she speaks fondly to her plants and, on some occasions, even softly humming to them. It's a lot of work, but that was fine. She found it therapeutic. And though she likes working alone, more often than not she at least had a little black raincloud to keep her company.
During a brief break from her gardenwork, Ororo decides to address her journal.]
As much as I love snow and frost, I must admit that spring is a favorite season of mine. It is so full of life, and color, and growing things. Rebirth. [She smiles serenely.]
Do you have any plans for this spring, Luceti? I know I will be busy coaxing my garden to bloom again after a winter's worth of sleeping.
action
I'll be honest... it'd take a lot of tempting to get me to drink some.
action
action
action
action
[Pausing, he absently wets his lips, a meaningful, considering gaze shifting to her hands.] Need help with anything?
[Didn't hurt to ask; he has no intentions of imposing his help. She has always shown him nothing but respect, especially so in vulnerability when he wrestled with his jacket in a clumsy, hurried effort made difficult by his dead weight of a prosthesis. It isn't something he could ever forget.]
action
... How have you been, Captain? You were on the draft to TERRACE, were you not?
action
Yeah.
[And moreover, he had been among the draftees very much willing and itching to fight, not for the Malnosso, but to put himself to good use and to shake off his restlessness in the way he knew best. There isn't the chance to be be drawn deep into personal troubles when one collapsed exhaustedly into a cot at the day's end.]
Hit a couple of rough patches, but all things considered, I had it easier than most. [A kid died on the battlefield; one who lived on the same god-damned floor as him. A flicker of the impotent rage and heartsickness he had felt upon hearing of the incident triggers a sudden tightness in his chest.
His jaw tenses and he swallows, doing his best to will it away before catching her eyes.]
Thinking about looking into some of that 'filial magic' or whatever the guide calls it so I'm better prepared the next time I'm out there. [If having a chitchat with Nala meant he could save someone's life or his own, especially if medical supplies were limited, it would be an incredibly useful addition to the skills under his belt.] ...What about you?
action
... It was a tough time for everyone involved, I think. Having it "easier" does not make your experience any less difficult than it was. [She smiles very faintly.] I am just glad you made it out well enough that you stand before me, now.
The magic sounds like a good idea, however. I've never really entertained thoughts of looking into it. Perhaps I should. [She trails off thoughtfully. And doesn't quite answer his last question - she's a little distracted by her own thoughts, and at the same time she doesn't really like talking about herself in that capacity often. But it's more of the former reason, than anything.]
action
[Spencer offers her a smile in turn that is mild, closed albeit sincere, though it begins to fade as she leaves his question unaddressed. Married life has taught him a thing or two about attentiveness and the importance of trying to gauging the needs and emotional state of another from little clues; he notes Ororo's preoccupied look and how she peters off and can only guess at what’s being left unsaid. Better to ask, experience has taught him, than just assume she might not want to spill her thoughts.]
You okay?
[He keeps his concern low-key, holding the restaurant door open for her.]
Re: action
[She lifts the flowers she's carrying slightly while they enter the restaurant. His considerateness doesn't escape her notice, and she gives him a tiny, grateful smile.] ... Gardening helps. There's just something therapeutic about helping things grow after a grueling week like that. [It's a bit like PTSD therapy, she supposes. But it works, so.]
action
I hear you. We’ve all got something we enjoy doing – and sometimes just need to do.
[Nodding once in acknowledgment of her smile, he lets the door fall shut and awaits a waiter or waitress to show them to a table.]
action
Indeed. And you, Captain? Do you have something that you just need to do as well?
action
Well, I think I need to use the restroom. [Cracking a small smile mid-response, he makes it clear he's just pulling her leg. There is room for a corny joke in nearly all situations.]
All jokes aside… [He sinks into his seat with a sigh.] …the draft was pretty much the answer to that question. Sometimes I think I might have been one of the only people actually glad to be sent out.
[Lifting a hand, he slides off his shades, tucking it into his shirt.]
action
To his comment about the draft, though...]
Hmmm. You'd be surprised at how many people share your sentiment. After all, how many people use training at the Battle Dome as a means to let out some steam? [She shakes her head. She understands why, of course. But she'll never see the appeal herself.]
action
I know. [Pause.] But there's a big difference between squaring off against holograms and the real deal. I don’t just mean it in the sense of the threat they pose to someone physically.
[Encounters with virtual enemies are lacking in visceral thrill and pure adrenaline, the battles having no meaning beyond keeping one’s skills sharp. Admittedly, it’s just not as satisfying to neutralize a holographic threat, either.]
Sure as hell better than nothing, though.
action
... Well, have you looked at alternatives, Captain? Surely there's something else you enjoy and you can occupy your time with. [A hobby, a pastime? something?]
action
Swimming's something else I've always enjoyed. Heh, when I was a kid, I took to it like a duck; never wanted to get out of the pool and my parents would practically have to drag me out if they couldn't tempt me with something to eat when I got hungry. Unfortunately, me and water don't get along anymore. I, uh... float like an anchor, as you probably guessed.
[He huffs a laugh despite himself.]
action
I imagine all that water cannot be good for your arm, either. But that's a true shame. I don't know how I would feel, if something that I truly enjoyed doing was taken away from me like that.
But mountaineering... That sounds exciting. Have you been to the ones here in Luceti? You could make a trip out of it.
action
[He offers a half-shrug after a moment and the thin-smiled equivalent of, ‘what can you do?’.]
Could be worse. For every thing I can’t do anymore, there’s something new that I can do. Things I never could before the accident. I got in on some climbing back when a shift changed this whole place into something straight out of the Ice Age… remember that?