Third Journey :: Cosplay

[one_one_se7en]

He rises up through the stairs, his reticule levelled until his eyes readjust to the light, and sees instead masses of people... All dressed in curious regalia, reminiscent of the worlds he had explored, but in a more imitative style than cultural style he had seen in the nexii he had visited... Not to mention many of them seem to be feeding on snack foods rather than full meals they'd devour too quickly. Turning to the windows, he realizes it's a twentieth-first century Earth. No supernatural presences anywhere.

As he turns around, he realizes the cyan lines of the HUD are no longer there, and his eye level is lower. Something's off. Even as he walks, he doesn't so much hear thuds, but clicking. There is an advertisement on the wall about a “Convention” in oriental kanji, denoting the location as... Tokyo.

He puts a hand forward to lean on the wall to inspect the writing -- but the limb that moves forward is the delicate arm of a girl... and from the little he sees of the body, it's the gloved arm of a young senshi rather than the metal of the MJOLNIR.

...

He -rather, she- looks below.

"Not again."

Joan hears herself in a feminine voice.

Comments

[one_one_se7en]

While Ami returns to her civilian form, Reach notices her body does not change. Most disturbingly... She was still Joan. In civilian clothes, and she was still Joan.

As long as this form lasted, she would have to learn more on how to use it.

.......

She stares at Ami. And at the chopsticks. Without lifting a finger. Wordlessly asking her if she is serious.

[waterfell]

Oh, she's serious. And it's not quite as strange as it seems.

"It's an exercise that can improve focus. Your mind should be concentrating only on this." And focus, that related to power.

[one_one_se7en]

"Zen."

Another thing Spartans constantly practiced for. They constantly meditate -hell, she sometimes got to contact other dreamers this way-, and even used some of that mental guidance for the MJOLNIR.

Joan feels cheated. And yet she picks one of the damned things.

[waterfell]

Though she's mostly teasing Joan by bringing her here, Ami does take a pair of chopsticks herself. She has decent success; she sometimes lacks the true emotional calm for this exercise, but she has excellent mental focus. The butterflies she reaches for generally end up in her grasp.

[one_one_se7en]

Mendez didn't only strengthen Joan's body, but her mind as well. Just as she was trained for the ways to fight and to make her stronger, the hours of meditation were just as important.

Time slows down for her. The butterflies move slowly enough for Joan to see their movement.

Then snatches one out of the air.

[waterfell]

[It's the sort of thing that requires that perfect focus - the very reason it had been considered training to awaken more of their power: That single-minded focus, that heart purely thinking only of one thing for that time.

Without the advantages of Spartan time, Ami has never found it a perfectly easy exercise. She does well enough, but not enough to be remarkable. After awhile, she stops and watches Joan instead.]

[one_one_se7en]

[--Unfortunately, the focus doesn't last as long. With a body different from that of a Spartan, eventually her focus has to shift, and her fingers turn a little clumsier.

Joan tries something different. He focuses on one at a time as they rise, catching them, ignoring the rest -- one by one, taking the bigger ones, and reducing their size as necessary.]

[waterfell]

[There's a sound that can only be laughter. It's definitely coming from Ami. While the exercise is one used in the senshi's past life, she'd mostly been teasing Joan with it.]

It would bother you to do less well than this, wouldn't it?

[one_one_se7en]

[She blinks. And slowly turns to her.]

... It would.

[Even as senshi, Spartans are competitive.]