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 Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:44 pm
"Regula! Where have you been hiding?"
In his coach's defence, Regula had been away for a considerable amount of time. Life had taken a turn for the interesting and as a consequence he'd been forced to adjust his routine ever so slightly. Running in the mornings hadn't necessarily been in the realms of the possible at the start of this grand, new adventure that he was now one. Fortunately, the more he'd grown familiar with his position, the easier it was to return to some sense of normality.
"Overworked," came the man's response, a wry smile on his lips as he took a seat on the park bench to adjust the laces of his running shoes. He was a little early, but this was nothing new for the man. Truth be told he was rather notorious for being one of the first there and it was less to do with being a teacher's pet and more to do with the fact that he was a little particular about being on time.
"Just some unlucky shifts the last few months," he clarified and shook his head. That wasn't strictly untrue, he'd had several new 'shifts' that he'd never had before and it had taken some getting used to. Nevertheless, he was now relieved to be able to pursue some of his hobbies. He'd missed the social aspects of a couple of them and while most of them were winded most of the time during this type of gathering... it was nice to have company.
"Have I missed anything?" he added and glanced up. The first set of familiar faces were approaching, but there did seem to be one or two new ones who had joined in his absence. That was always nice. Regardless of their motivation for joining, a little bit of new blood always helped to keep things fresh... And sometimes, they had some genuinely interesting stories or reasons for joining.
"Not really, couple of new folks but we're mostly the same as always -"
A slight pause.
"Although we changed up the route a little bit so we'll have to see how you do with hills," A teasing reply, and one that received a raised eyebrow in return.
Suffice to say that Regula didn't know anyone who enjoyed running up hill, including himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't do it...but urgh, that was all he needed... Burning calf muscles at the beginning of the day, he'd be walking a bit gingerly for several hours after this. Maybe he'd put off the grocery shopping until his muscles remembered who they were.Sunshine Alouette I'm sorry this took so long, work beat me up a bit and I had some challenges getting caught up!
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 7:24 am
For someone as social as Paris used to be, this running club should offer her a good time. She got to meet new people while engaging in some much needed physical activity — the kind that didn’t involve chasing her kids away from things they shouldn’t be getting their little hands into.
Surprisingly, she felt a bit out of sorts. These days, new faces always aroused some suspicion in her. She couldn’t help it. The last decade in Destiny City had been… interesting, and that was putting it mildly. The more she attempted to leave the house and engage in activities outside of the safe bubble she’d made for herself, the more paranoid she became. The Negaverse had agents everywhere. There were Mirror Senshi wandering about, not all of them harmless. Any day that seemed peaceful could erupt into chaos in a matter of moments.
She could either face that possibility every time she left the house, or become a hermit.
Paris didn’t think she’d make a very good hermit.
So far, the running club seemed harmless, so long as she paced herself and didn’t fall into any bad habits. She arrived at the same time as a few others, greeting the people she recognized and introducing herself to those she didn’t.
“Hi,” she said as she approached a young man sitting on one of the benches. She’d not seen him before, but she assumed he wasn’t as new as her, based on the fact that he was already chatting. Not that that was always a good indication, but he seemed comfortable with the people and their surroundings.
He looked to be around her age, Paris observed. Dark haired, dark eyed, tall but not too bulky as far as she could tell, though her perception might be skewed a bit after spending so much time around professional athletes.
“I’m Paris Gallo,” she continued, a little unsure if she should offer her hand to shake. Some people weren’t into much physical contact, especially when it was hot and they’d all be sweating soon, if they weren’t already. She put a bright smile onto her face to compensate, and hoped she didn’t look too much like a dumb blonde or a pampered housewife — the first of which she wasn’t, the latter of which was debatable. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m kind of new, so I thought I should make my way around the group and get to know everyone.”Epine de Rose No worries! I should also apologize for being so slow in responding!
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:38 am
Familiar faces aside, it was nice to see some new ones. New blood was always good regardless of who it might be. It kept things fresh and in the grand scheme of things, without it these gatherings would simply die out. Regula would much prefer if his personal hobbies remained safe and he may have had no issues jogging in the mornings on his own, but he did like to be sociable!
It wasn't long before one of those new faces had crossed the distance between them and introduced herself. Really as one of the 'senior' individuals in this jogging club he really should have been the one to do that and a flicker of embarrassment did hide appear on his face. It was soon replaced by a warmer smile though as he rose to his feet and held out his hand to shake; he had no issue with introducing himself properly!
"A pleasure," he replied.
"I'm Regula and to be entirely honest, I've been here so long that it probably should have been me who did the introductions," he admitted and shook his head. Sure, he had been away for a month or two but he still knew enough of the faces to not feel out of sorts when he came back.
"How are you finding it anyway, something new you've picked up or just looking for some company?" he asked. Everyone had their own motivations for joining, while his had been the social aspect, there were others with more specific goals and he was genuinely curious as to what those might be. Sunshine Alouette I'm not always really fast myself so don't worry about delays. <3
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Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 9:56 am
”Technically both,” Paris answered, shaking Regula’s hand. Her grip was firm but not crushing; she might look dainty, but she had plenty of strong people in her life to teach her how to give a proper handshake. “I used to run a few years ago, but I was really just doing my own thing. Much less organized than this.”
She saw no point in going into further detail. She wasn’t against talking about her previous bad habits, but it wasn’t really an issue to bring up with a stranger. Talkative though she could be, Paris knew better than to cross into Too Much Information territory.
“I’m a dancer. Was a dancer? I haven’t done it professionally in a few years, but that’s not really the point. Anyway, when I’d run before, it was always for conditioning and not anything social,” she explained. No matter how much she told herself not to ramble, it still tended to happen on occasion. “But now I’ve sort of been missing normal adult interaction. I’m kind of a homebody these days, so I don’t get out much. I thought this would be a good way to stay active and see people who aren’t my family.”
Not that she didn’t love her family, but sometimes she missed having other friends. Even if she was never the type to develop many close relationships with people, all throughout high school and college, and for a little while after, she’d at least had people she talked to regularly. The deeper she fell into Senshihood, the more that changed. She lost friends to corruption. She lost friends to time and distance. Some left. Some went missing. Some she was too nervous to try reaching out to, afraid of what she might learn about their fate.
“How long have you been doing this?” she asked.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2020 6:42 am
He glanced at his hand appreciatively as it was released and then returned his gaze to the woman as she provided a reply. In short, some of her motivation for joining wasn't entirely unique, but there were elements of it that did make him raise a brow. For example, she still looked young enough to continue with a form of professional dancing so why would she have stopped? It wasn't really his business to pry but...
"Big or young family?" he hazarded with a half smile. He could only assume that was a part of the reason she had remained at home. After all, kids in almost every capacity required quite a lot of attention, energy and well, a lot of parent. There wasn't really a great deal of opportunity for any parent to do much for themselves until kids hit a certain point in their life and they could either be entertained elsewhere or fend for themselves.
...And even then, some had to work.
"Possibly both?" he added, his smile broadening.
"You still look like you could pick up the dancing again at a moments notice," he added before raising his eyes heavenwards briefly. A brief attempt to work out how long he'd been attending this group. He'd initially started running on his own, then for much the same reason as Paris, he'd ended up joining.
"I've been in this group for about three years," he said at last and pursed his lips. "Time flies, but I figured that I should be more sociable so I ended up here," he added and motioned to the group nearby. "Up until then I'd just done my own thing, my schedule doesn't really work out too well with the group's now and then due to the shift work but sometimes it's just good to speak to a human that isn't a work colleague," he admitted.
A brief pause followed.
"Otherwise I just kind of stick to my own morning and evening runs. Can't say I personally have any motivation for being here other than the social element mind you, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, you know?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 2:10 pm
“Both,” Paris agreed, her smile brightening as she thought about her family. “Three kids, all below the age of five, and my husband travels a lot, so I’m usually home with them. My in-laws help out a ton, so I could have easily kept dancing, I just… needed a break from something, and dance was the easiest thing to step back from.”
She didn’t regret it, though she did miss performing sometimes. Occasionally she thought about getting back into it, returning to the stage once her kids were older and in school and used to their own schedules, but she also liked the freedom that came with being a stay-at-home mom. Performing consumed a lot of time and energy. As much as she loved it, she also enjoyed putting her time and energy elsewhere.
“I still dance, just not as religiously,” she explained. “I work with the community center to improve their dance programs, or help my old instructor with lessons at her studio. It’s not bright lights and applause, but it lets me do what I love without taking too much time away from my family.”
It left her plenty of time in the evenings for Senshi business, too, but she couldn’t exactly say that to a stranger.
Having a secret powered life was such a hassle sometimes.
“I always figured the social element was the biggest draw to these things,” Paris continued, “and the reason most of us are here. Honestly, I have a much better time running in a group like this than I did when I was doing it on my own.”
Which was a bit of an understatement, the more she thought about it.
“What do you do for work?” she asked, lest she start rambling again.Epine de Rose Sorry for the late tag! crying I wanted to try focusing on the event while it was going on!
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 3:31 pm
"I'm a cop," he replied smoothly and clasped his hands together. It was safe to say that Paris was incredibly proud of her family and it didn't take a genius to spot that either. There was a warmth in her voice and the way her face lit up at the topic made this abundantly clear. It was rather endearing to say the least and he couldn't help but return the smile as well, such things were infectious.
Nevertheless the mention of the dance studios did cause a slightly impish glint to appear in the corner of his eye. If she had the capacity to teach children then he did have to wonder if they were as comically adorable as those that waddled into the dojo and asserted their authority. He could never take them seriously when they were that small, but their almost pompous and tiny forms, with chests puffed out in pride, were certainly a sight to behold.
"How old are your classes?" he asked curiously. Admittedly the community centre ones might be older audiences, but when it came to studios he could only assume it varied heavily.
"And what kind of dance programs?" he added. "Are they outreach programs or a little more like this?" he continued. He paused briefly, if only to acknowledge that he might be prying a little too much depending on how sensitive the nature of some of her programs were.
"Apologies but community outreach is something I find fairly interesting, I've seen some of it in action and it can be incredibly effective," he explained and cleared his throat. "It's fairly rare I have the opportunity to meet anyone who might be connected to them without being their in an official capacity," he finished. Sunshine Alouette I do the same, it's no problem! <3
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:02 pm
“That must be an interesting job in this city,” Paris said.
She could only imagine what it must be like, with all the insanity that tended to happen. Unexplained comas and mysterious disappearances; gruesome injuries and talk of magical phenomena; monsters roaming the streets at night, some of which were particularly beastly. Anyone not normally involved in that might quickly become overwhelmed by it. Hell, people who were involved in it tended to be overwhelmed by it.
But Paris put a bright, innocuous smile on her face, like she was more amused by the idea than anything. Maybe Regula was involved, maybe he wasn’t. In her civilian life, Paris truly had no interest in finding out. It was best to pretend ignorance.
“At least with the dancing, I don’t have to worry about Destiny City throwing a curveball at me. Just toddler tantrums. Which might be just as terrifying sometimes,” she joked. “I mostly focus on youth classes, so toddlers and pre-school aged kids, and some older kids during after school hours. My old instructor takes more advanced students at her studio, kids and teens with obvious talent who want to make a career of it. I show my face and help with lessons as sort of a ‘look, anything is possible if you work hard enough’ kind of thing.
“With the community center, it’s a lot more troubled kids needing an outlet, or kids from lower income families who might not be able to afford lessons otherwise,” Paris continued to explain.
She might not have any sort of full-time schedule, but she was proud of the work she did do. After growing up without a lot of the opportunities she had now, she made any effort she could to fill the need. It made the magical messes she got into at night a bit easier to handle; if she failed to help people as a Senshi, at least she knew she was helping people as a civilian.
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 5:25 pm
"Yeah, let's go with that," he agreed. His reply was vague, but there were some things that simply didn't get discussed and before he'd been awakened there were more than a few occasions when the unexplained had been cause for considerable concern. Regardless, someone had to be there to look after the city and while the powered spent the better part of their evenings causing destruction (intentional or otherwise), and the others seemed to cause considerable harm... someone else needed to be there to look after the day to day responsibilities.
Normal crimes didn't solve themselves.
Her continued explanation of who she taught caused an immediate grin to leap on to his lips though. If small children were as funny to watch at dancing as they were in the Dojo, then he was sure that was both hilarious and fulfilling. Entertaining given that their motor skills left some space for improvement, and fulfilling when they found their balance and came to terms with how things worked.
"I'll take a toddler tantrum over the city's general madness," he shook his head.
"It sounds like you give a lot back," he said finally and gave a nod. Others had already began to set off and while he didn't necessarily want to break the conversation abruptly, he was there for a reason. "Especially to those who need it," he continued.
"I take it your kids are mostly in to their baseball rather than the dancing though, or do we have a hidden prodigy in the wings to carry on your craft when they're ready?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:46 pm
Paris laughed lightly.
She was always conscious of how much she talked about her kids and made every effort to avoid talking about them too much around others. Some people just didn’t care for the subject, and that was fine. When she was younger, she wouldn’t have cared to hear about someone’s kids all the time either.
But when people asked, or made comments that necessitated a reply, she spoke of her kids with pride and excitement.
“Surprisingly, I don’t think any of them care much for baseball or dancing,” she said, far more amused than she was disappointed. “They’ve probably had enough of both to last them a lifetime already. Maybe once they’re older, they’ll show more of an interest, or they’ll rebel even more and insist on doing their own thing, which is fine even if it breaks my heart a little.”
Paris glanced away momentarily, watching a few of their companions take off. She winced guiltily when her eyes flicked back to Regular, but she kept a smile on her face all the same.
“Sorry to chat your ear off. You think we should head out?” she asked, then joked, “Wouldn’t want to be left behind.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 5:46 am
"Not to be competitive but I'm fairly certain you and I stand a good chance of getting to the head of the pack if we put our minds to it," he grinned as he set off.
"It's a shame that they aren't wholly interested in either hobby but I suppose I can see that," he pursed his lips thoughtfully. He'd rebelled a fair amount against the interests of his own parents and siblings when he was growing up. Woodworking, mountain climbing, trekking and even tennis had fallen to the wayside of his life in favour of his own pursuits. Not exactly a bad thing and he could still participate... but he could see where a kid might want to find their own calling.
"They might come back in their own time or they could put their own spin on it," he offered up with a warm smile. "There's an element of dance in other things, maybe they'll blend it," he winked.
"Although try to steer them away from Cricket as a comparison to Baseball if they ever find it, it's unbelievably tedious to watch and I wouldn't wish that on anyone," he warned, his tone teasing. It was a distinctly non-American sport and highly unlikely to catch their interest, but he genuinely found it to be the most boring sport ever.
...And dear lord did his father love it.
"But I wouldn't worry about apologising for the chatter," he added after a moment of thought. "It's not as if I can provide anything of decent substance and this is miles more interesting than the weather."
"Which I can speak about if you'd prefer but I would be falling into a bit of a stereotype there..."
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:00 pm
Paris laughed again, joining Regula as he set off.
“Well, I didn’t want to be too boastful…” she said.
It was much more enjoyable to chat with someone while jogging than it was to do so alone. Not that Paris hadn’t spoken to other members of the club previously, but some of them tended to keep to themselves and not all of the members she was familiar with showed up every time. She never knew who she was going to see or if she’d manage any sort of prolonged conversation.
She was still new, still learning the dynamics between members and figuring out where she fit in. Regula was a friendly, engaging presence.
“I mean, I probably know more about the weather than I know about most sports,” Paris joked.
It sounded like a joke, at least; the comment wasn’t actually that far off the mark. Other than dance and baseball, she knew next to nothing about other sports.
“For example… I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen Cricket,” she admitted. “It took me forever to figure out Baseball, and I still have no idea if I even know all the rules. When my husband and I were in college and I went to some of his games, I always had to have someone else explain it to me. If I hadn’t been madly in love, I probably wouldn’t have bothered.”
Paris paused in her rambling to make a face, appearing vaguely disgusted.
“Sorry. My relationship is gross. My younger self would be revolted.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 7:38 am
"Bat, ball, they run between to sets of posts," he waved his hand as he gave a very summarised explanation of what the sport entailed. It remained one of the most boring sports he'd ever had the pleasure of watching and to this day he still couldn't understand what his own father and brother found so entertaining about the damn thing.
"Arguably so tedious that all of the spectators bring their own picnics and a boatload of alcohol so that they can wash away the pain of watching 500 serves worth of play per day," he added. Suffice to say that he had managed a few hours in the company of his own family during one of the games and then promptly taken his leave. He'd ended up travelling further south to see his sister, someone with slightly higher standards in regards to what she defined as a sport.
"But I suspect if I had my eye on someone like you did I might be a touch more patient," he admitted. Not that he had met anyone who loved cricket in that capacity, in fact the one he did happen to have his eye on would have been a bit of a miracle if she could even play cricket safely, but that was beside the point.
...He was fairly sure if she declared an unwavering interest in something he found boring he'd probably find a way to get invested in some respect.
"And my younger self would have expressed his disgust in a similar fashion to your younger self too," he laughed and rolled his shoulders in a loose shrug. "But then he'd begin to understand why his older self has become so stupid once he met the person in question, so I wouldn't be too sheepish about that one."
A momentary pause.
"I hope he knows how much you dote on him though, if that had been cricket you'd have been in with a chance for wife of the year."
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:35 am
Paris could not hold back a mild grimace at the description of cricket. Regula’s aversion was sure to keep her from expanding her horizons in that direction. Fortunately, she knew no one who had an interest and thus felt she’d succeeded in dodging a major bullet.
She perked up a bit as their conversation continued in the realm of relationships. She could easily talk about her own for days on end, but she was sure that would get incredibly tedious for other people to listen to. Besides, she was interested in learning more about her new acquaintance, especially when he seemed to allude to some sort of romantic interest of his own.
Or she was reading too far into things, but Paris had never not been a little nosy.
“Do you have your eye on someone then?” she asked, taking on a teasing tone. “Unless your job keeps you too busy for that, too. There’s never a dull moment around here, so I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Destiny City was a pain in the a** like that.
“What sort of policing do you do, exactly? Are you a uniformed officer or a detective?”Epine de Rose I'm so sorry for the delay! I've been dealing with some stuff IRL beyond the normal baby-won't-stop-fussing. emo
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:37 am
"Ahhh," he gave a wry smile at that question. It was something of a crush and he couldn't even begin to ascertain if the feeling was mutual. That being said, he was also acutely aware of the fact that work and play really shouldn't mix. Not that Paris would have be aware of that, but work was most certainly a factor when it came to the apple of his eye.
"One might say I have noted some appeal towards another," he admitted with a shake of his head. "But that could be very much one sided and I wouldn't want to put her in an uncomfortable position," he pointed out.
"I won't lie though, work would be a bit of a factor in to whether or not either of us would even manage to find the time to socialise," he added. "Similar careers, equally unusual shift patterns," he pointed out. On the plus side at least his current career afforded him that excuse without causing suspicion, given what he was he had the capacity to be on graveyard shift, middle shifts, morning shifts or well...anything depending on the circumstances.
Unusual fit.
...Even if that wasn't really what he was referring to.
"But I'm just your run of the mill uniformed cop," he added and gave a shake of his head, wry smile still on his lips. "I prefer it, there's more chance to keep an eye on the community and well," he pursed his lips for a moment or two. How did he say it without being offensive? He didn't intend to be but there were those in the world who didn't like to have dirty laundry aired even if it did need to be discussed.
"Sometimes it's nice to be able to stop something from getting too out of hand and I can only do that in this role," he explained. "The kids are used to seeing me and by now I hope they know I'm fair, if they know I can be trusted then maybe they'll listen when I ask them not to do something that will cause them a world of hurt later, you know?"Sunshine Alouette All good! I'm on a mini hiatus at the moment myself due to work load RL and I'm trying my best to balance it. Take as much time as you need with life!
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