(no subject)

[invocate]

WHO: Li-Na, Kaguya, Eren, Leon, Haru + OPEN
WHERE: All over town
WHEN: All of Jan
WHAT: Various encounters + ONE OPEN PROMPT
WARNINGS: n/a


[ooc: Starters in comments! If you want to do anything with Li-Na this month, HMU @ anacrusis and I can write something up.]

Comments

KAGUYA -- PEKOYAMA DOJO (1/7)

[invocate]

Li-Na checks the address on her phone one more time, making sure she is at the right location. After all the buildings moved around in November, Li-Na has felt a little uneasy making plans to meet someone at a specific time and place. If the place just isn't there anymore when she arrives... But the dojo is right where it is supposed to be.

"Okay, this is it."

Tucking her phone into her jacket pocket, she goes inside.

[saburai]

[ Typically, the dojo is locked when classes aren't in session, but today is an exception - since Kaguya'd arranged to meet Li-Na here, she'd unlocked the door right before the appointed time. For her part, she's focused on tidying up the dojo when the other girl arrives. The entrance catches her attention, and so she'll lift her head in greeting: ]

Ah, welcome. I hope it wasn't too difficult to find your way here...

[invocate]

[Li-Na shakes her head]

Hello! No, my phone gave me good directions.

[she shucks her coat, glad to be in from the cold air outside]

[saburai]

I am glad to hear it.

[ She nods, moving to put away the last of her cleaning supplies; they won't need that for their training. ]

If you take off your shoes, we can get started shortly.

[invocate]

Okay.

[Li-Na removes her shoes and leaves them by the door. Sock footed, she folds her coat over her arm and looks around the dojo while she awaits further instruction.]

How long has your family run the dojo?

[saburai]

My parents owned a dojo before I was even born. The one here in Recolle was started after we moved, a little over a decade ago.

[ Once her supplies are put away, she'll turn back to the other girl. ]

Let's move into the training room. You said you had no prior martial arts experience, is that correct?

EREN -- RECOLLE RECRETATON + FITNESS CENTER (early Jan)

[invocate]

With the woods made nearly impenetrable by the darkness cast by the dome, an inside venue is necessary for her meetup with Eren. The rec center is the most convenient choice, because there is always someone doing their own thing in the workout rooms whenever classes aren't being held. By chance, one of the small workout rooms is free and Li-Na quickly commandeers it.

"This is good. Plenty of room for two people and no one being nosy."

Dropping her bag in one corner, Li-Na starts her warm up stretches.

[usurpers]

In the mean time, Eren starts off with his own hops to build up the heat in his muscles, starts some minor jogging to get to know his surroundings, then some stretching that couple into a repeat of his own warm ups. Lifting his knees all the way up to his chest and hopping forward, he reigns some kicks to their dummy, making sure its at a good angle before skipping into gear.

“Ready to start when you are,” he huffs, waiting by the impact dummy first, so he can demonstrate and observe.

[invocate]

Li-Na carefully warms up the muscles in her legs, because if there is one thing dancing has taught her over and over and over... it's that she has muscles in places she didn't even know. She does a series of grande plié before shifting to the splits, legs pointed to the sides. After leaning forward to press her chest to the floor, she swings her legs together and stands. After stretching her feet as well, she walks over to where Eren is with the dummy.

"Ready."

[usurpers]

Li-Na’s stretching is probably ten times more effective than Eren’s on a general whole— and possibly that much flexible. It’s impressive to see, to say the least, and he might bring it up later, but, different technique, different skill. He nods and rubs his palms together, tightening the straps of his exercise gloves as he speaks; lean, fingerless gloves with a bit of lightweight knuckle padding, only because he’s more used to his hands.

“Right,” he murmurs, giving the dummy a gesture, then walking over. “So you’ve never done any martial arts?”

It’s just to be sure he knows exactly where to start, somewhat. He’s not really a teacher, but he did learn from really good ones.

[invocate]

Li-Na shakes her head.

"No, I never had much interest in it."

Until now. Until she got the boots and saw the way the girl in the memories could fight with them, protect people with them.

[usurpers]

“There isn’t much too it,” Eren starts, getting into the fighting stance he knows best: arms up to guard his face, torso, while his legs are kept apart, one forward, and the other behind him, body sideways. “If you can get form down, the rest is clean cut.”

Especially for someone who should have memories of them and dances. With their trusty sandbag, Eren steps opposite of Li Na, who should be on the other side of the bag dummy so they can see each other. He swings his back leg up; it’s hard to break everything down without looking awkward, so it’s only a little retarded. Just as he pulls his knee closer to his chest, his arms swing back to balance, his front foot pivots to accompany the body’s twist, before landing a hit with his shin.

“Back leg kicks are best for power, since you use momentum to reach your hit.” Pulling his leg back into position, he picks it up again, this time held halfway, to pat his shin. “You might need to get used to the impact first, so— try it out.”

And to demonstrate again, Eren does so.

LEON -- RECOLLE RECRETATON + FITNESS CENTER (early Jan)

[invocate]

For her meeting with Leon, Li-Na snags a long room with mirrors. She has a feeling they might need a bit more distance, rather than simple floor space. She turns to Leon as she sets her things down.

"We only have it for an hour. They have an aerobics class in here in ninety minutes."

The mirrors are making her want to grand jeté from one corner to the other, but she restrains herself.

[hairstroke]

"Only an hour?" For a split moment, he frowns at that. It didn't seem like it would be enough time but there wasn't much he could do about if they already had a class scheduled. "Well I suppose that's fine. One hour should be enough time to show you some of the basics.

There's an aura of confidence that surrounds him after he says that. Granted, he's always self-assured in himself and his abilities.

Unfortunately, he had to cut warm up time a bit short. Which should be fine as long as Li-Na was comfortable as he wanted to spend the most time on footwork drills. In his own work out clothes, he's quick to stretch his legs, doing a few lunges in the process. He finishes by doing a few jumps in order to get his body warmed up for their exercise. "I'm sure you already know this, but make sure you stretch your legs. We can start whenever you feel warmed up."

[invocate]

Li-Na looks up from where she is pressing her chest to the floor while doing the side splits.

"Almost there."

Sitting up, she swings her feet together, then stands.

"Okay, what comes first?"

[hairstroke]

As he watches her, Leon's quite impressed. He expected it since she's a dancer but she's quite flexible. One day, he wants to watch her dance just to see how it's like in person.

"Alright. Since we only have an hour, I'll skip the basic stretching since we already warmed up. Watch me carefully"

He thought about trying some basic fencing drills but with Li-Na's skill, he figured that they can do something more intermediate. In the back of his mind, he had a feeling she would be able to keep up with him.

First thing he does is get into an En garde position, with his right foot pointing out to be lined up with the heel of the other foot.

"What we're doing to do is get into this position and lunge. Hold the lunge for thirty seconds and then rock back on your back leg and then rock out. We'll start things off by doing this three times."

[invocate]

One of the reasons Li-Na is so accomplished in ballet is her proprioception; she is very good at knowing exactly where her body is placed. So when she sees a position she wants to take, she can usually hit it the first time she tries. She watches Leon carefully, noting not just his foot placement but also where he centers his weight. And then standing next to him, but a about half a stride behind, she follows his instructions. Each time she makes small adjustments after comparing her positioning with Leon's.

[hairstroke]

As he was showing her the ropes, Leon made sure to watch Li-Na to check and see if she got the form right. When he sees that not only is she spot on but he was also impressed with the improvements that she made in order for her to adjust. Of course, he expected that she would pick it up quite easily due to her dancing background.

"Not bad at all. I'm impressed with how well you're keeping up."

HARU -- SWEET STEMS (mid-Jan)

[invocate]

One of the biggest downsides of winter, after the cold and the cold, is the lack of plant life. Sure, trees are still there, and bushes. But the flowers and other colorful plants are either dead or dormant. It is a stark contrast to Hong Kong, where even in the 'winter' season plants continue to thrive.

Suffice to say, Li-Na is desiring a little color in her life, even if it's just for a few days. So when she passes by Sweet Stems on her way home from dance practice one afternoon, she pauses in front of the doorway, then walks inside. Maybe flowers will do the trick, for a little while.

"Hello~"

[gunsandveggies]

Haru isn't the only worker here at this time, but she is the only one aware of Retrospec. It's a little difficult, trying to talk about things that don't have to do with what's happening right now. While Haru's been scrambling to keep her own garden alive, the other employees don't see a reason for it, claiming that this "eclipse" won't hurt the plants.

Well, she thinks to herself, if we're not going to sell solar lamps or the like, maybe she can at the next farmers market.

It's as she's thinking this that a customer comes in, and Haru tilts her head at the familiarity. She's seen this one before, though she usually makes a beeline to Chiyo. As Chiyo isn't working today, Haru instead takes it on herself to smile and greet in return, "Hello!"

She steps up to her, hands clasped in front of her, "Can I help you with anything?"

[invocate]

Li-Na flips back her hood, glad to be in out of the cold. This shows her dark green hair, though her braid stays coiled in the hood. Tucking the flashlight she's been forced to carry around into her jacket pocket, Li-Na gives the sales girl a smile.

"Yes, I want to buy flowers. Just a small... cluster."

That's not the right word, she knows it's not, but they use the same character for both words.

"I want something to liven my room."

[gunsandveggies]

Green hair, huh... It could be a dye job, but it could also be something gained from the Retrospec. Haru's eyes do linger on it, though she gets her head back in the game soon enough.

"Well, you've come to the right place! Actually, I've seen you here before, right? I don't think I've ever caught your name."

As she talks, she leads Li-Na to another section of the store, where all the flowers are.

"We have cut and potted flowers as well as seeds that grow in winter. Which would you prefer?"

[invocate]

Li-Na isn't surprised when the girl stares at her hair for a moment. Everyone has been staring at it since it changed on Christmas morning. She is not getting used to the stares exactly, but she's no longer startled when they do occur.

"Yes, I sometimes visit Chiyo. My name is Li-Na. What is yours?"

She follows the girl around the store, taking in the various plants. It's so nice having green and blue back. The plants just didn't look right when their leaves and stems were gray.

"Oh! I did not know you have ones in pots! I think I would like that best. Something that is still alive."

[gunsandveggies]

"Oh! I'm Haru. It's a pleasure to meet you, Li-Na!"

There's a certain section she stops at, all the potted plants and flowers that look so vibrant and alive. There's several in rows, including pansies, marigolds, sweet peas, and violets.

"These," she says with a gesture, "as well as a few others, grow well through winter. Would you like something easy to take care of? Though - with this... darkness, it may require more care than usual."

The last sentence is approached with some caution. Retrospec user or not?

OPEN -- EXPRESSIVE (all month)

[invocate]

Even with all the fun exploring going on, Li-Na still has here shifts at Expressive. Luckily they're over by two, which leaves plenty of time to go poke around in the tunnels with a group of rather questionable interesting people. But until then, she's here, making coffee and doling out pastries.

Whenver the bell hanging over the front door chimes, Li-Na looks up and if someone is walking in, she gives them a bright smile.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to Expressive!"