(Untitled)

[amazonofthe21st]

Early risers have probably gotten used to the sight of the blonde teenager coming down the stairs and making a bee-line for the elevators every morning. The time she appears varies, but never by much - a minute, two, and she's hurrying down the stairs in sweats, single-minded in her journey to the garage

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[raptorcanaria]

Dinah is already down there, as it happens, going through the paces on an exact replica of her bike which used to be Ted's bike, zooming through the aisles because it helps clear her head as miuch as a workout.

She skids to a stop near Rachel when she sees her - there would be hair shaking out of helmets, but Dinah rarely bothers with a helmet.

"Hi."

[amazonofthe21st]

That is a shame, because the effect really works for only a few biker chicks, of which Dinah would be one.

Rachel hesitates at the noise as much as the greeting, but smiles when she recognizes the face. "Hey. Dinah, right?"

[raptorcanaria]

It works better with the wig, which Dinah is not wearing.

"Yeah," she says. "Hi, Rachel. Going for a run?"

[amazonofthe21st]

"No," she replies, shaking her head.

That comes later, and always outside.

"Just a work-out. Is that your bike?"

[cutting_edgex23]

X does not forget her promises. Which is why, after her late night Security shift, she heads down to the garage.

It is entirely possible she is following Rachel's scent.

Or, you know, just following the instructions she was given.

Now she just has to make sure not to surprise the other girl with her own approach.

[amazonofthe21st]

That won't be too difficult. In this mood, Rachel is arguably alert, as much as she can be for being purely human at the moment.

Still, she's just woken up and wants to get started. If X doesn't step out immediately, Rachel's already getting out of the over-sweats in preparation to start her routine.

[cutting_edgex23]

It takes a bit of effort for X to make noise when she walks, but sometimes it is worth it.

Also worth it? Not approaching from someone else's blind spot. X remembered that, too.

And once she is within easy speaking distance --

"Rachel."

Beat.

"Hello."

[amazonofthe21st]

That's awfully considerate of her. Thanks to the noise and the direction she came in, Rachel notices her long before the speaking.

And her smile is brilliant, really brilliant. Not for the chance to teach but to trade.

"Hey, X. Good morning."

[evil_koala_626]

It would seem that another individual shares Rachel's carpe diem mindset. Some of Lilo and Stitch's best staircase sledding runs have been made at the crack of dawn. It might be that the cooler morning air offers less resistance. Or it might be that it affords them a head start to flee for their lives by the time Nani manages to get out of bed.

In any event, somewhere between the staircase and the elevator, Rachel's path intersects with that of a small alien. It's furry. It's blue. It has large eyes. Unfortunately, it only has four limbs currently visible, the tail is hardly worth mentioning and it possesses a wide mouth, so there the similarities to extraterrestrial species of her aquaintance probably end.

It also happens to be wearing a bra on its head with a dish towel tied around its neck and towing a Red Radio Flyer wagon along behind it.

[amazonofthe21st]

Right.

Okay.

She can deal with this.

After stopping in her tracks to stare for a while, anyway.

Granted, Ax wore underpants on his head once. But he was human at the time, and that was slightly less weird than seeing an Andalite with underpants on his head.

[evil_koala_626]

Stitch gets that look a lot. To the point where it occasionally takes him a bit longer than most to notice it. The wagon's wheels slow to a halt as the alien tilts its head back. And stares mutely up at her in return.

Blink.

Blink.

[amazonofthe21st]

Rachel stares back.

Blink.

Blink.

"I'm betting that's not your bra."

[river_meimei]

Some people go to the garage to train. Some people go to reconnoiter a new location. Others go to work on cars, or to drive motorcycles, or just to examine the multiverse's collected machinery with an engineer's keen eye.

And some people just meander into various parts of Milliways as the whim takes them. River is (mostly) one of the latter.

So she's down there already when Rachel arrives, clad in a fluttery skirt and fluttery sweater over a more practical shirt and bike shorts, with bare feet. She's perched on the roof of a pickup truck, peering with interest into its empty bed.

When the elevator doors open, she glances up with some interest.

[amazonofthe21st]

See, but usually it's empty. Usually there's no one there. Usually, if someone is there, the noise they make is clanky and loud and everywhere... as opposed to nowhere at all.

So Rachel's customary check-out glance is really only about head height, not paying much attention, and certainly not noticing fluttery outfits on top of pick-up trucks.

Sweats removed, carefully folded, and placed on the hood of the nearest car, Rachel begins to stretch.

[river_meimei]

River pulls her legs up to sit cross-legged -- it's motion, and there's slight noise, but it's quiet enough that Rachel might or might not notice -- and continues to watch.

For the moment, at least.

[amazonofthe21st]

The thing about occasionally having better senses is that you don't focus much when you don't have them anymore. And human senses are nothing to brag about.

Rachel stretches for a while - maybe ten minutes. Without interruption, she rolls straight into a handstand to start with, shifting from hand to hand to keep her balance.

[lt_blade]

Sonya's one of the early risers (an off-shot of being in the army), and seeing Rachel go about her routine is almost like clock work to her.

This is one of her first few times in the garage, but it's wide enough and after her talk with Marguerite-Sonya decided she's over due to focus on her own skills as a fighter.

Which is why she's carrying her punchingbag and tools over her shoulder. Her room's nice, but it's not totally sound proof and most people don't take too kindly to her working out at odd hours of the night.

Hence, her setting it up in the garage.

[amazonofthe21st]

The appearance of someone else with equipment in the garage at this hour is not like clockwork to Rachel. So it's call for pause when she first steps out of the elevator.

Then frowning.

Then informing herself, quite firmly, that this isn't her garage and no one's stolen it and no one needs to ask her permission.

Still. She is not especially happy about the invasion.

[lt_blade]

It's a big enough garage, and Sonya's had to make do with tinier areas in some of the army bases-and this place has air conditioning.

She duly notes the frown but says nothing as she starts hooking up a rope on one of the beams in the roof. She's actually setting it up near the side of the room and not the center, so (personal issues aside) she shouldn't get in the girl's way.

Before actually setting up the bag, Sonya tests the beam's strength by gripping the metal rope and hanging from it to see how much weight it could withstand. No sense causing damage to the place just because she needs to let out a few punches.

It holds.

[amazonofthe21st]

Okay. This is fine. They can ignore each other, get their work done. There's no audience involved.

If no one's sitting in the stands and cheering her on, Rachel can manage a routine with company just fine.

Probably.

Posture more relaxed, she strips out of her sweats and sets them aside, folded neatly, before beginning to stretch.