ichoosefight | 66,03 - in the eye of a bajillion hurricanes

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66,03 - in the eye of a bajillion hurricanes

[ Video ]

We're really on the ball with the comfort parties these days. [ It seems like only weeks ago that she had to be a radio DJ just to lighten the mood. What's a girl to do when she's outlived her usefulness? ] You know what would be funny? If we had a pirate costume party, just to be contrary.

[ She makes a face. ] Only not really, because I'm sure we'd either be turned into pirates ourselves or be overrun with angry port police. [ Sigh. ] It's just our lot in life.

[ Private to Wanda ]

Hey. I'm your new warden. What've you been up to?

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Probably a smart idea, when there are ninjas on the loose.

What sort of training?

Endurance and strength training, unarmed combat, anything I can get anyone to teach me. Tony only taught protective magics and I was stripped of too much of my power to defend myself.

Who's teaching you now?

Seven of Nine mostly, and Luke. [She doesn't mention Arthas.] Iroh for meditation practice.

I work dinner shift if no one told you. [Her voice is still flat but her expression has a bit more animation.]

*BARK!*

I also train with Fozzie.

Fozzie, huh? What does he do?

Right now I...I gotta train him not to be too aggressive normally or he could panic and get bitey when things get weird. Once he's got his foundations I can start training him to be my backup. But for now it's a lot of heel, down, settle.

[A fluffy gray head the size of a basketball obscures the screen briefly; Wanda struggles with the half grown pup as he tries to lick the screen. In spite of her manner she's gentle with the dog, if grumbly.]

Hah, he's cute.

[ She hums thoughtfully. ]

I'm impressed with how much training it sounds like you're doing. If you want, I could ask the Admiral to give you some of your powers back to help defend yourself, but I think it's good to have a physical basis too.

Yeah. I'm just glad right now that I trained him not to bark. The ninjas would probably have killed him.

Well...thanks for that. I um...I started doing it to keep myself more steady. I got a pretty good routine down but...we can sort out when you want to meet and I'll adjust things.

Look, if we're gonna do this I should warn you that I'm pretty blunt. On the other hand that means I'm not a manipulative ass. If you wanna meet up sometime soon I'm okay with it, though I'm not exactly Social Girl these days.

That's okay, I've made friends with bigger hermits than you could ever be.

When do you do most of your training? I don't want to mess up your schedule, we could just chat before or after.

Mmmnf.

...maybe.

I do my first round from late morning to lunch, and my second one around eight. Every other day I have meditation practice after lunch. Late afternoons are always free.

Alright, you mind if I stop by before your eight o'clock?

I'll be ready. Just drop by when you can. Look for the door that whines at people.

Whining door, okay, I think I should be able to find that.

[Wanda paces around nervously for a while, picking up, making the bed which is actually just a crash mat and a quilt, and carefully reshelving all of the books she has piled on her desk. Every time someone goes past in the hall Fozzie snuffles at the door and whines hopefully, and she looks up, tensing slightly.]

[ Steph arrives just a touch later than she probably should have and knocks on the door which does, in fact, whine in response. ]

[Wanda opens the door in a peculiar way, doing it from behind the door while the dog steps forward to sniff and wag.]

...hi.

[The room beyond looks a bit off because the mattress is on the floor, while everything else is up at normal height. A tall bookshelf dominates the remaining furniture, stuffed with notebooks and an assortment of nonfiction and graphic novels. There's an entire section on anarchy and survivalism.]

[One of the drawers smells faintly but unmistakably of cigarette butts.]

Come in. Move over, Fozz.

[ She kneels down to give the Fozz a good rub and jabber some baby talk at him, then stands up and looks around the place. ]

Nice place. You read a lot?

[Fozzie is all for this, though she's been training him long enough that he doesn't jump up. There is lots of butt-wagging and air-lickles though. Wanda watches quietly, and her eyes soften a fraction.]

Yeah. I didn't get to have a normal education, so I've been...playing catchup. [With things like The Anarchist's Cookbook.]

Not a bad way to spend your time. [ Not that Steph cares that much about her own education, but hey, reading is fun. But then she gets a bit fidgety and awkward. ]

So uh, feel free to not answer this, but... well, I know there was something going on with you and Franklin? What was that, exactly?

[Wanda goes quiet for a few minutes, seeming to withdraw into herself, face even paler than usual.]

Franklin and I...I thought we were friends. We fought dinosaurs together. He never threatened me or did anything to hurt me. But then I went to him for protection while another vampire was rampaging around. And he flipped out and tied me to his bed and held me captive there. For days.

[Her eyes track quickly to the drawer that stinks faintly of cigarette butts, and then she drags them away.]

Some of the Wardens sorted it out, and Luke came and rescued me. But I uh... [She scratches the red part of her hair awkwardly.]Yeah. Everything changed after that.

Sorry. You're not the first. [ Although HAHA trying to tie Steph up would have been interesting. ]

Is that why you train so much?

I know I'm not the first or the last to get kidnapped in this shithole. It didn't make it any easier to go through. [She scowls.] But it was all entirely preventable. If I had had my powers back, or enough that I was comparable to him, I could have defended myself. But I wasn't even allowed that.

And you bet your ass that's why I train so much. In this place there is no goddamn justice, no protection for the innocent, no nothing. Either I bitch up and learn to defend myself or I get hurt. No one else can be relied on.

[ Steph was actually talking about herself and Franklin there, but her gaze is level. She's very much use to these kinds of outbursts. ]

Welcome to the Barge. There will still be times when you can't use your powers, even once I ask the Admiral to give some of them back. Learning to defend yourself hand to hand is a good idea for anyone and everyone on board.

[Her head drooped slightly and her mouth worked.]

My father's here now. Which means I have to train even harder.

[ Warning lights- ]

What's that mean?

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