( open ) sometimes rocky sometimes pulp fiction

[faradize]

Who: lightning (faradize) & and all of yall
When: 03.13
Where: CERES gymnasium, novus/replea
What: one time opportunity to train with lightning or annoy her at work at a low, low price.
Rating/Warning: PG-13 for club setting/potential alcohol/idk

---

▍CERES GYMNASIUM, 3:00 PM
[ early that morning, a text is sent out. though it isn't encrypted, it has a sense of anonymity to it; as if the poster isn't necessarily trying to conceal their identity, but still skirt the line of going unnoticed. there are a spare, few impersonal lines on the screen. ]

Come to the CERES Gymnasium at 1500 hours if you'd like to train. There will be a locked movement room near the back. Knock.

Don't come if you aren't capable of holding your own.

- L

[ lightning had been here for a few days, but honestly, she felt like all she had done so far was waste her time. she'd made no progress in finding out what was truly going on here, and certainly none on getting back home, so she wanted to seek out training partners for two reasons: the first was so she didn't get rusty for when she inevitably would have to fight, and the second was for more allies of convenience. people to exchange information with.

as lightning said, there is a room at the rear of the gymnasium with a large mirror against the back wall. lightning can be seen through the window, wearing long yoga pants and a plain t-shirt, doing some light kick exercises. knock? ]

▍NOVUS/REPLEA, 10:00 PM - 6:00 AM

[ later that night, lightning is at work. she'd actually found this job wasn't so bad; it kept her on her toes, and she heard many whispers of current on-goings while there. she did hate the uncomfortable, garish uniform though. it was a bit hard to move around in, not exactly ideal for the job she was assigned, but still doable.

feel free to bother her at the door, while she's on break and hanging around the bar area listening to patrons, or as dawn breaks and she's preparing to head home. ]

Comments

[novus]

[abhors]

[ It's somewhere shortly after midnight, and Kogami is working overtime to track down a lead regarding a drug trafficking case. It sounds huge, but it's really just a routine procedure to him, and one of the nicer ones compared chasing murderers. When he walks past the nightclub, just at it's peak hour, he spots a certain bouncer he met the other day.

It's surferchick83... or Lightning, as she introduced herself. He's pleased, but not entirely surprised to see her outside of the game. That said, he greets her from a relative distance. ]

Nice suit. [ It's not. ]

[faradize]

[ there's an audible, annoyed click of her tongue at Kogami's snide comment, but she doesn't look perturbed to see him. in fact, she's kind of glad to see he's still around — he was probably the most capable person that she had met insofar. without moving from her post, she puts a hand to her hip. ]

Bit late to start your night.

[abhors]

Hate to disappoint, but this isn't my sort of scene.

[ He casually approaches her post, but stands on the side so he's not in the way of the other potential patrons. They're both on duty right now anyway, so he's not looking to waste too much of her time. ]

This is where they got you working?

[faradize]

It was one of the least terrible suggestions, so I took it. Boring, but I'm well suited.

[ if anyone's good at damage control, it's her. ]

They stuck you in a faux law enforcement position? I see you skipped the academy.

[gym]

[beaconed]

[ Training is something he's very interested in lately! Although he doesn't know who this mysterious texter is, nor is he entirely confident in his ability to hold on his own, but... he wants to prove everyone wrong! He's not going to be a joke anymore!

So, he knocks. ]

Uh... hello? Is L there? This is... J.

Jaune.

...J-Arc. Yeah.

Wait, c-can I go back to being J? It's J here!

[ Unfortunately, it will be a while until he stops being a joke. ]

[faradize]

[ oh god, what has she gotten herself into. despite her caveat, she should have expected some, well, bumbling people to stumble their way here.

either way, she'll unlock the door and look the boy up and down once, rather unimpressed but overall an inexpressive look on her face. she beckons him inside with a head motion, choosing to ignore his rather awkward introduction. ]

Come in.

[beaconed]

[ The only thing this teenage boy has going for him is that he's 6'1 so Light will probably look up more than down.





Also she's pretty. ]

W-Whoa........ L's a girl? --I-I mean, yes sir! Ma'am. Lady?

Oh, c-can I make a suggestion? It's about... actually, nah, forget it, i-it's stupid.

gym;

[flaredo]

[ Knock, psssht. Yang's a little more accustomed to blowing doors up.

... Which she won't do because there's really no reason to, but her knock is less of a knock and more of a musical number of knuckle rapping that she's totally making up as she goes. ]

[faradize]

[ Enough.

lightning opens the door mid-tap, abruptly ending yang's little number. sorry, she couldn't take it for long. her expression is rather unimpressed, but after giving this girl the once over, she can tell she's seen her fair share of combat. ]

I assume you're here because of the post.

[flaredo]

[ Rather than be dismayed over her mini-concert being thwarted, Yang grins at her instead, offering a quick nod. ]

Cryptic, but interesting. Training's better if you don't do it solo, anyway.

one of those kooky bars

[kirkwalled]

[ guess who wasn't supposed to be on shift tonight!!! hawke. guess who is on shift tonight because she misunderstood a text and made a joke and it just sort of ended up with an "ok c u in 3 hrs" and now hawke is here and wondering why people expect her to learn what text messaging is. SHE CAN BARELY HANDLE THE CEREVICE. STOP TEXTING HER, ROBOT BOSS!!!

anyway. at least her co-worker is hot!

so, have a hawke who totally ditched the tie, coat, and vest and is busy folding up her sleeves as she approaches lightning. is that blood on her face? maybe. probably. honestly, who cares. ]

Soooo, what's your name?

[faradize]

[ there were certainly something to be said about the professionalism of the staff. for the most part, lightning remains as steely as she was prior after being — approached by this woman, giving her an unwavering but disenchanted gaze. ]

Lightning. [ but you can call me 'not gonna happen' ]

[kirkwalled]

[ whoa, what a chatterbox. but there's a beat of awkward silence there while hawke waits for more before ... ah. ]

If you're not aware, this is the part of the conversation where you ask for my name in response. It's supposed to help build camaraderie between co-workers. You know, knowing their name and everything.

gym.

[souperb]

[ there's familiarities to the post, and it's curiosity that brings milla to answer it. not that training is a waste of time on its own, without the added need to answer the question "but how good is this no-nonsense woman lightning at punching things, anyway", but both added together means she's here.

there's a sword sheathed at her side when she knocks, just once, to follow the directions on the post. and then she speaks, as if this is what's supposed to grab lightning's attention. evenly: ]

It's Milla.

[ now let's beat each other up. ]

[faradize]

[ a familiar voice. truthfully, she was a person she was hoping to see more of; she seemed capable, distrustful, someone who questions things. she seemed to be exactly the type of person who, if she had to, she'd want to associate with.

she motions to open the door, looking down to her side. ]

I see you came prepared. [ she glances at her gunblade, propped up on a wall in the corner. she wasn't sure if she'd get the chance to use it today; maybe she would. ]

[souperb]

There's no point if I don't. I wouldn't want to add to the bunch that waste your time.

[ a light jest, though she also has a feeling some of them might pop up. where cerealia had it's capable fighters that lightning would maybe get along with, there were also... people who were capable fighters and acted like they weren't, and then there were people who just.

no....

milla steps into the room, eyes also trailing to the gunblade. ]

... A broadsword? [ ah, wait. ] No...

gym!

[undauntingdawn]

['don't come unless you're capable of holding your own', huh? nice and self-sure there, anonymous, but color riku curious after receiving that mysterious text. a couple days have passed since arriving and he hasn't had much time to really train so why not?

upon arrival at the gym, it only takes a few moments to find the room, but knocking doesn't happen immediately. instead, he opts to observe the potential sender of the message first. not bad on the moves and not too suspicious of a sender. yeah, this could be fun. riku's version of knocking is firmly tapping at the door once. hey, at least he did knock instead of simply keyblading it.]

[faradize]

[ she appreciates him not keyblading it.

lightning has to peer around the door to make sure someone actually is there, then approaches, unlocking the door and opening it without any real haste. a kid, probably a little older than hope with similarly colored hair.

hope.. she pushes thoughts about him to the back of her mind when she sizes the boy up. ]

Here because of the post?

[undauntingdawn]

[hey 17 is not a kid!! ...just, not adult officially...

similarly to lightning, riku sizes up the host of this little training more closely now that they're face to face. definitely fit and knows how to deal a solid kick if the earlier show was anything to go by. the training ought to be worth it or at least better than training alone.]

Yeah. Couldn't just pass up a offer like that. [a beat] Judging by that warm-up, it isn't too bad an offer, either.

[Gym]

[niceguypose]

[Rock Lee will never turn down the challenge. When that time comes, he is right outside the door and immediately begins knocking. ...In fact, he will keep knocking rapidly until the door is opened.]

[faradize]

[ she's coming, she's coming. once she reaches the door, she opens it mid-knock. she wasn't going to wait for him to finish, after all. she quickly recognizes the boy as one who had greeted her and answered a few questions she had when she first arrived.

he was a bit. much as she remembered, but if he thought he could hold his own, she wouldn't reject him. she'd at least see what he could do. ]

You. [ a small pause. ] Never got your name.

[niceguypose]

[He manages to pause just as the door opens! He smiles and gives her a thumbs up.]

Ah... I apologize!! I did not ask for yours either. [All he got was a dislike for birthdays.]

Allow me to introduce myself! I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast... Rock Lee!

gym

[feytality]

[Maya may or may not be capable of holding her own in a training. But that isn't going to stop her from showing up, anyway! Whoever this mysterious L is... they're in for, uh, something.]

[She goes the extra mile when she shows up and knocks three times, whispering loudly:]

The password is purple bananas!

[nailed it]

[faradize]

[ except there sure isn't a password, what the heck!! either way, Lightning motions to unlock the door, wondering why her life continues to get wackier and wackier. when she opens it, it takes her a moment to realize that this is someone she knows — someone from her first game of ViViD. ]

It's you. [ she pauses for a second to recollect her name. ] Maya.

[feytality]

[It's her lot in life, surrounded by teenagers and cartoonish sidekicks. In this case, it's both.]

[Maya puffs her chest out as Lightning opens the door, quite proud that she'd cracked the mystery password that definitely existed all by herself. And she does also recognize this woman]

Hey! So you were the mystery person behind Fight Club, huh? I should've known! You seem like the butt-kicking type.