|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:10 pm
A week after the adventure in the Alps found Beth feeling more like herself. Between visits with other Chosen, finally contacting her blessedly normal friends back home, and her deciding that her best course of action was, well, action, she was starting to see something like life after the birds. She dragged herself from her isolation in her dorm to take advantage of the more or less free yoga instruction. Not only did it take her mind off everything, it was a way to be active. And, with all the lovely food at the cafeteria--and what her friends kept offering--she knew she would start packing on more pounds if she kept moping about. She was grateful for the length of her yoga pants, as it saved her from having to worry about the scars on the lower half of her body. But it took her an age to find a long sleeve athletic shirt in the limited active wear portion of her wardrobe. Beth promised herself as she settled for a windbreaker (which didn't match) over her tank top and sports bra that she would go shopping for something better soon. As she settled into the routine, compressing from Cow pose into Cat, she started to accept that maybe things would be okay. Mika_Yumi I hope there's enough to go on! I tried to leave it so you could jump into the lesson or pick up after Savasana!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 1:07 am
Sylvia had been trying to push through exercising every day, but she wasn’t on her usual schedule. She was usually one to vary her routine, alternating strength and cardio. She had been so tired and sore since returning, though, that she hadn’t paid much attention. She’d skipped the first two days, then started with two days of cardio in a row just to keep her mind off of things, then an admittedly sad day of weights to try and push through some of the soreness. Then she’d rested again.
Finally, she decided that perhaps she should try some yoga. She would still be sore, and she was still somewhat afraid of being able to focus and not let her concerns get the best of her; but she had to get back into a real routine, and she had to stop being afraid of being alone with her thoughts.
So, she tied her hair into a bubble on top of her head, donned some black exercise capris, a bright pink sports bra under a flowy, color-splattered tank, and forced herself to march down to the gym with her yoga mat in tow. A class was just about starting when she arrived, and she set up on the side of the room and settled in with the rest of the small group. Despite her concerns, she easily fell into familiar motions and found herself relaxing more than she expected.
It wasn’t until the end of the class that she realized there was someone she recognized also in attendance. After rolling her mat, she crossed the room to meet Beth with a smile. “Hello there.” She took a deep breath and sighed, “A nice change of pace from last week, hm?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 4:00 pm
Beth stayed in Savasana far longer than any of her peers. Seeking enlightenment, of course--never because it was literally lying on the ground and she was in need of a nap. She was sweating in the windbreaker, despite the light fabric and (relatively) light activity. She had pushed up the sleeves as much as she dared, but it hadn't been enough to cool her off significantly. Lying on her mat, she felt herself dozing slightly before a vaguely familiar voice shook her from the pursuit of nirvana. She cracked her eyelids to stare up at the woman who had spoken. At first she was confused--though the warm smile that spread across her features gave no indication of her surprise. It was an expression of welcome, though her mind raced to place her face. It was her hair that finally made it all click into place. Hair she'd admired at their first dinner, though the content of their conversation escaped her. Hair tucked under a hood as they worked to board up weaknesses in the hotel's structure. Pulled as she was from her solitude, it took her a second to respond. "...Quite. I think I prefer this to the metallic feathered fiends."She pushed herself up to sitting and looked around. "Maybe I should find somewhere else to nap," she mused aloud and turned over to begin rolling up her mat. "I know there wasn't exactly time for introductions, but I'm Beth. Chosen of Hera." She wasn't sure if 'Beth-Chosen-of-Hera' had a nice enough ring to it for how much she was saying it. But the other girl's name was completely slipping her mind and one usually gave one's name first in the hopes of the favor being returned. WC: 290, Total: 505
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2016 7:05 pm
It took the girl a moment to respond, but Sylvia couldn’t blame her given their recent activity. She’d also approached her while she was still resting in corpse pose, which was just about as relaxed as you could get. A chuckle escaped her with Beth’s comment, “Me too. It seems a much nicer way to get exercise…” More of a giggle followed, “Maybe. You could probably find somewhere more comfortable, at least.” She gave a wink.
Sylvia couldn’t actually remember if they’d officially introduced themselves at dinner that first night, but there had been a lot of people to meet at the time, so she wouldn’t be surprised if they had. In any case, since Beth seemed to have also spaced the information, she didn’t feel as badly about it as she would have otherwise. She nodded, “There was a lot going on. I’m Sylvia, Chosen of Aphrodite.” She still wasn’t sure if offering your associated god or goddess was standard, but since Beth had offered the information, she saw no harm in it.
“So, how are you doing since getting back?” She hadn’t really seen much of Beth after they’d parted ways in the hotel, and she had seemed a bit frazzled when trying to work on reinforcements. It could never hurt to check in and make sure she was okay. Even now, even if she had made it mostly physically unscathed (though Sylvia did wonder about the windbreaker Beth was wearing and whether or not it was necessary during yoga), there was always the possibility that she could be unsettled and needed more time, or help, to heal in other ways.273; total 561
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 6:57 pm
Beth was grateful that her head was tilted towards the ground as she finished rolling up her mat. She still wasn't sure how to respond to such offers of concern. Certainly casual acquaintances didn't need to hear how she dumped most of her clothing into garbage bags and hid them under her bed because she couldn't look at herself in them anymore. Keeping her voice at a pleasantly neutral tone, she replied, "Well, I'm not covered head to toe in bird crap, so I'll call that a win." She stood, rolling her head from left to right to stave off the resettling of tension that always seemed to recur once the lesson was over. She quickly used two fingers to slide down each of the sleeves of her windbreaker before asking, "And I hope you're keeping your spirits up after that debacle?"WC: 142, Total: 647
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:31 pm
Sylvia gave a sympathetic groan. “To say the least of it.” She hadn’t been covered in the toxic bird waste, thank goodness, but it didn’t take being covered in it to know how awful that must have been. s**t was bad enough on its own, being covered in it was less than fun, and to add physical injury to the insult was just overkill.
She gave a shrug of her shoulders, a half-hearted smile passing over her lips, “Doing the best I can. I certainly made it out better than some, so I can’t complain too much.” A small grimace crossed her face as she remembered those in the infirmary, and everyone else who’d been scratched and burned and beaten down while she was able to escape nearly unscathed. She knew that it was simple luck, or even the fact that she was small enough to fit behind her shield, and somehow able to pull through and kick some a** with the bulky thing. Still, she felt a bit guilty when she thought about it, for some reason. “But it’s still a lot to come to terms with.” Even without the same scars others had, no one could say that the journey had been easy.
She shrugged, “Lots of self-care and distractions. Which is sort of what this was supposed to be,” she looked around the room as an indication. Then she turned and smiled back at Beth, “Though I hadn’t really planned further, so I’m not sure what I’ll do next. Maybe spend some time reading or something.” Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if she shouldn’t try some sparring – she could only get more comfortable with fighting if she practiced, right? But frankly, she wasn’t sure she was ready, and having already had her exercise for the day, she was not enthused by the idea of working her muscles more.[315; total 876]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
