[open] Too many words, too many lies. I can't quite see the truth when I look in your eyes.

[nosamurai]

Who: Haruno Sakura [nosamurai] and YOU!!@eleventy-one!1
What: Sakura is out jogging and it's the morning and -- that's that!
When: Some morning this week. FRIDAY see we can forward date this.
Where: The S. S. Thor, anywhere legal, she's an ambitious jogger?
Warnings: n/a
Notes: Shenanigans if you want them! Also prose or action bracket or *do this* or

Comments

[chuugoku_monban]

At some point along her route, Sakura may come across something of an odd sight. Well, perhaps odd to most. Sakura might not find it TERRIBLY odd. Either way, it wasn't ordinary by any means. Along the path there were a series of pillars. What their purpose could be was not immediately determinable. Or important, for that matter. What was interesting was what was on top of the foremost one.

On top of said pillar was one Hong Meiling. She was upside down. Thankfully she was wearing trousers, or else that would be quite embarrassing. Not that she seemed to be aware of the world beyond her at the moment. She appeared to be deep in upside down thought. Or at least upside down concentration.

Oh, and she was also balanced on one finger.

[nosamurai]

Ahh, balance. Sakura could admire balance, particularly under the circumstances she was observing right now. She recognized Hong Meiling, slowing down to a walk, and eventually a stop as she considered the other woman.

Chance had partly dictated that Sakura look up; chance and an eye for advantageous ground. She'd found it more difficult lately to ignore the threat of something happening, even if not necessarily to her most important people. Her hardwiring under Tsunade's training had left her conscious of what happened to any of the people around her, in an immediate sense. If she could help, if she didn't have to prioritize, if she had to wait like she felt she was obligated to, when it came to Naruto, then she would be there. She'd help

[chuugoku_monban]

Meiling seemed to hear Sakura, one eye popping open to look over at the kunoichi. With a soft smile, she hopped off of the finger, flipping herself down to the base of the pillar and landing softly on both feet into a kneeling position. It was a good morning, wasn't it?

"Hey there, Sakura. Morning work out? It's an important part of an active and healthy lifestyle, yanno."

[nosamurai]

If nothing else was apparent in that moment, it was at least obvious that Meiling had great control of movement.

"I like to get out in the mornings when I can. I really only stopped when I was sick a little while back." She shot Meiling a smile, if it was a bit self-aware. She'd eventually realized about her posting a recording while she was asleep, recovering, but it was more the fact she'd gotten sick at all that bothered her.

Space borne pathogens and inadequate vaccinations being what they were...

"If I'm interrupting your own, please, don't let me keep you away from it."

YEAH I WENT THERE

[virulentfacade]

It was easier here. Here, he didn't need to be alone--he was never alone. There were people everywhere here. Ones he hated, ones he liked. Being alone was the worst sort of feeling one could have. Envy had spoken to Ritsuka just recently of the weakness of animals because they were so dependent on others. It wasn't that Envy was dependent. No, he could take care of himself. The only thing for himself that he couldn't do was create a supply of the stones, but before Dante had vanished from the ship, she'd made him a large batch. They would last until he could trick one of the alchemists here into making him more. But being alone was different. It was the first thing he'd ever learned on the day he'd been born and it hadn't stopped hurting over the four centuries since he'd been alive.

But the easiness made it more complicated. It made it more complicated because he had to think more. When he talked to the monsters or the humans here, they brought up things they weren't supposed to know. Things they weren't supposed to say. And when

ROTFLMAO WHY HELLO THERE MONTH FOUR MEETING

[nosamurai]

Out of the many things on her mind this morning, Envy had not been one of them. His first voluntary contact with her had been to yell, worked up into a frenzy over something one of the other refugees had said, in all likelihood pushing the buttons he left out in the open for anyone with discerning eyes to see. Or maybe only for those who recognized the signs; Envy was like watching an exaggerated tableau of Sasuke, or at times Naruto, even Kakashi, Sai, and Tsunade. Ino, too, though she didn't actively recognize this latter echo of a friend who'd once inspired her to be something, rather than lay back and be the doormat for her peers and their own need for control in a world where strength (and sometimes age) were the best ways of getting anywhere noteworthy

HELLO DARLING I'VE MISSED YOU

[virulentfacade]

The girl was fast. Faster than Envy had expected. One of the faster humans he'd met had been Ed, yet he hadn't been fast enough. Not for Envy. Most humans wouldn't have been able to move out of the way of his rush--most wouldn't even have noticed it until he hit them. She should have been slammed against the wall by now with her head in a daze and her eyes glazed over. That was what the little homunculus had expected. So when she jumped back with a weapon in hand, it struck Envy that she wasn't just a simple little human the way most were. That being the case meant he'd need to pay close attention to what she did.

A rapid flip backward kept him from running straight for the arm she was blocking with. He landed in a crouch with one hand splayed on the floor and one foot out a distance to keep his balance. Beneath the few strands of thick green hair that had fallen into his face, he was grinning up at her (up, because right now, she was taller as he kept low to the floor). The girl seemed, what, surprised to see Envy? Confused maybe?

IT'S BEEN FAR TOO LONG

[nosamurai]

An opening she was unwilling to give

On your mark, get set....

[its_a_promise]

The destruction of everything she had known was no excuse to slack off. If anything, it was a reason to work harder. Strength to fight the unknown. Endurance to earn back her world. Speed to compensate for her missing arm. Precision to make her style deadlier.

So Soifon ran. She pushed both her endurance and her speed, alternating between the use of Shunpo and regular running. Even without the aid of various stepping techniques, the small woman was still exceptionally fast, weaving in and out of crowds and obstacles rapidly. After all, what else would one expect from the fastest in the Gotei 13?

She did have to admit that it helped take her mind off things. The shinigami had known little else besides training and striving to be stronger for the course of her life; the familiar was comforting.

At some point during a non-Shunpo interval, Soifon had darted passed another runner, albeit one that was moving much slower. There were so many humans on the Thor. Did they all have the limited capabilities of the humans from her world?

... go! /resisting urge to instead shout GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL

[nosamurai]

The morning jogging scene in this section of the ship was usually tame. In fact, Sakura rarely found too many bothering to work on cardio, though she figured most species probably required it to some extent. Other than the slugs from the Scorpio sector of the Milky Way Galaxy, as some trivial fact asserted itself in the depths of her ever-curious brain

It's so on

[its_a_promise]

Hmm? What's this

Sakura doesn't know how bad she's going to lose this is hilarious

[nosamurai]

The Captain of the Second Division and Commander of the Onmitsukido was indeed not going to be outrun by a girl; not that the girl knew it yet. Sakura noted the increase in the other woman's speed, and found part of herself amused that this whim was turning out to be a little more than one-sided. She didn't think much on how she stood out, at least among most the humanoid population; and it didn't matter as she picked up her own pace, judging how long she could maintain this before knowing she'd have to step up her game.

This is ridiculous, she told herself, And fun, she finished. It was both parts true, and accepting that (in light of the fact no one she knew was watching, as far as she could tell), she could tell the self-conscious part of her brain to shut-up for a little while

[bullet_reporter]

Early morning jogging was a habit that Gary picked up at a young age. It was partially the fault of his natural energy levels-one finds it difficult to lie in bed at six when one's lungs are screaming for fresh, biting air and one's legs are erratically twitching under the covers-and partially because he lived in the city, went to a city school, and found that he moved much faster than the bumper-to-bumper traffic while on foot. Efficiency, natural impulses, and coffee; it was a beautiful combination.

On the ship, however, this cycle was badly unbalanced. The artificial lighting was no substitute for a rising sun and coagulating fog, and even then there were no real daylight hours for the crew and passengers. No matter what time Gary found himself waking up, there were people in the halls. Everywhere. And what was a tranquil jog without the tranquility? What was an unimpeded walk down the street when it's full of barking aliens and vendors and trollies of supplies? This would definitely take some getting used to

[nosamurai]

Sakura didn't particularly like the Vogons. It was nothing too personal; they were actually responsible for most the paperwork Sakura found herself confronted with whenever she wanted answers, and that was an annoyance when viewed over time for how much of hers it ate up, but beyond that there wasn't much to say. Their appearance, their "poetry," their mindset were all things she didn't find herself needing to agree with. So she didn't. She just kept them in mind

ffffffff sorry this is so late D:

[bullet_reporter]

Gary had been a bit late turning around, so it seemed, because when he did the female runner was nowhere to be seen. He frowned to himself; it was too bad, really, jogging was always so much more enjoyable with semi-reliable company. Perhaps she'd gotten stuck behind the mass like everyone else moving in the forward direction. Perhaps she hadn't seen him use his abilities to continue along that path. That was all well and good, but now Gary was alone again, and he was wondering if he should've stayed behind and made snide remarks about Vogons and soundwave-eating fish when suddenly--

--There she was, popping from the air almost a minute later than she should have in a pool of energy, as graceful and as proper as any trained athlete in whatever skill she'd just employed. Gary, ever the suave conversationalist when it comes to powers and unexpected meetings, pretended not to see her. It wasn't until she was obviously planning to address him did the awkward reporter smile and give the recognizing gesture (Ah yes, I remember you from a

ahaha no worries I'm on tortoise speed atm AS YOU MIGHT SUSPECT

[nosamurai]

Sakura kept pace, allowing herself to lift the corner of her lips up into an acknowledgment of the humor one might find in his statement, though there was something there, about customs. I'll think about that later.

"If that's the case, then after catching a little of their poetry, it's the most acceptable form of artistic expression from them that I've found so far." Cultural centrism stayed strong even after four months. Part of her doubted much of it would go away even if -- the universe forbid -- she spent the rest of her life here. She had no idea if a long or short existence would be preferable to that end.

"Not that I've looked for much in the way of Vogon society."

They weren't the most endearing aliens. (Those were the ashball aliens. They? They were adorable. And sooty.)