exsiliumlogs | the water is rising ; ( closed )

Entry tags:

the water is rising ; ( closed )

Date & Time: after the zombies, before christmas?
Location: a/the swimming pool
Characters: gamora & collette
Summary: awesome ladies swimming and meeting each other for the first time
Warnings: none

[ She hadn't swam, actually swam in years. There hadn't been time recently, and beyond that there hadn't been an opportunity. Finding out that the Hold had a swimming pool had been a perfect opportunity to apply some of her restless energy that she couldn't spend in the training rooms or hadn't taken out on any unfortunate animated corpse. Five mile swims - back and forth and back and forth. It wasn't the same as swimming in the ocean, but it was good enough.

This morning found her in the water once again, steady strokes as the muscles remembered the proper forms required. Focused on the task at hand, and resolutely not thinking about the consequences of the disappearance of one metaphysical sorcerer from Exsilium. The problem was the fact that she couldn't tell if it was his own doing or simply something the Initiative did. Gamora considered the likelihood of him returning without letting her and Quill know how to do it themselves or bring them with to be a very slim one but he'd always been needlessly messianic. If he felt that returning to meet his fate was the better option, he would have done it. Still, Adam's absence meant they were down their best way to get out of this place in a timely manner.

D'ast him. With a grimace, Gamora pushed off from the edge again, falling into a backstroke that left her scowling at the ceiling. ]

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( Collette swam daily, with few interruptions, for the sake of ongoing health and the energy she got out of the exercise. It felt good, reassured and centered her, if the timing of her swims changed from week to week. She liked to keep her schedule flexible, which was a kind way of saying her patterns tended toward repetitive behaviors on no trackable timeline.

She was, after all, a teenager who both needed certain repetitions, and yet who also disliked the fact they were required at all.

Yet as on each day when she makes it to the pool, she knows the rhythm of setting up, getting down off her chair and to the pool side, pushing her chair back and putting on one of the locks so it wouldn't make a break for chair death at the bottom of the pool. making sure all three of her towels are on hand but not in immediate soaking danger. Checking that her hair is back, braided tight against her head in lieu of the headcap she didn't have, Collette let her attention wander to who else was in the area.

People weren't usually hanging out poolside.

Lifting her hand to wave, fairly sure that exercise would be pointless, she smiles and calls out: )

Good day for a swim!

( Meanwhile she looks at her companion, wondering if she's seeing properly. Is that green? She squints, but throws herself forward into the water before she comes to a decision on what she's actually seeing. Still holding on to the edge of the pool, she breathes in deeply, enjoying the feel of the water. Looking at the person swimming in another lane, she waits for them to head back her way before trying again: )

Come here often?

[ So unused to anyone actually being around (and talkative), Gamora's taken aback by both the presence of someone else and the friendly greeting. The scowl drops, and she pauses in her laps to actually catch a better look at whoever's interrupting. Keeping herself afloat with slow kicks and circles of her arms she turns her attention on the other - young, by the looks of it, and Terran.

If she turns out to be a miniature version of Phyla-Vell before she flarked around with cosmic entities, Gamora will give up. The universe can only stand so many happy-go-lucky individuals before something kills them all off, anyway, but its tolerance for them is vastly higher than her's. ]

Every morning.

[ Or close enough for it to count. ]

( She's surprised at the answer -- realizing now her schedule must be entirely insane. Hah! Treading water with her arms Collette smiles. )

I must keep barely missing you, then! I'm usually a morning-ish swimmer too.

( She tilts her head up to glance toward the ceiling, deciding on a course of action today. A decision eludes her, attention redirecting back toward the only other person here.

Sometimes she wonders if there should be a lifeguard on duty. Hmm... maybe if he were young and attractive and very well trained in CPR.

Hey, dreams were fun! )

[ Talkative it is, and Gamora's scowl deepens. ]

Not in the habit of sticking around when I'm done.

[ She pushes off then, still in a backstroke - if the girl insisted on talking then she could keep up. Gamora was hardly going to stop just to chat.

It was hard in the Hold to actually find something that challenged her. The entire place was crawling with people eager to spar or fight but most had skill or strength - never a combination of the both. It was difficult, and more than anything she wished for another mandatory mission. Or monsters. Or anything, really.

But swimming was one thing she do to over and over again until her muscles ached, no matter how long that took. It was something, Gamora supposed. ]

( For now, that effectively ends the conversation. Collette doesn't mind -- this woman with the intriguing green skin (or was that a trick of the lighting?) is here for the same reason she is.

Falling into a backstroke, Collette focuses on the movement. It's not as hard with this stroke compared to a few others to find a good rhythm, her body following a line where her legs stay in better form without that automatic control most people had.

Less resistance, better speed, smoother progress. Beyond everything, it's a nice feeling of buoyancy and motion relying on her and her alone. She hits the far side, touching the lip with her hands and turning around and starting on another lap. All arm movement here, nothing to help with propulsion from her legs, and it's always been enough. )

[ She's not dumb, nor unobservant - it doesn't take much to put the chair and the fact the other swimmer isn't using her legs at all together. Strange. Not in the sense that it happens, Gamora knows a far number of ways to paralyze someone with her bare hands after all, but the fact that she's remained so.

So when she passes by, Gamora lifts her head enough to say something to Colette. ]

They don't have the tech to fix that where you come from?

[ Blunt and to the point. As if there's any other way for her to operate. ]

( Collette switches strokes before answering, hearing the latter part of Gamora's sentence. She smiles, tight lipped against the water, and answers in short bursts. )

Nope! No way to fix bad genes yet.

( One way of pointing out this wasn't new, and wasn't an accident. )

Got that where you're from?

Depends on who you ask.

[ Responded once her fingers touch the wall, speaking clearly back to wherever Colette is. ]

The universe's a big place.

[ She twists then, to start in on a breast stroke. Repetitive, really, and definitely not as challenging as swimming in the ocean was. But that's hardly an option here, much to her dislike. ]

Yeah, we're just learning how big. I don't think anyone we know who's alive still is big into genetic manipulation, though.

( Falling quiet as she swims, it's not until she hits the other side that she finishes her statement. )

Later generations, sure, but not in someone already around.

Recently found out there's life elsewhere in the universe?

[ That puts whoever she is above a good chunk of the people here, so far as Gamora's concerned. She doesn't kick off right away when she reaches the side that Collette's on - instead opting to give her a better look over. ]

In the last few months it went public.

( Collette uses her arms to push off the side again, floating still in the water for a moment before turning around and starting on another run down the lane. It's slower, and she gives herself enough time to speak with the stroke she's currently using. )

Some of us have known for years, but circumstances kept it quiet. Most our first contact was via abduction or our subjugation. Doesn't make for good first impressions!

[ A second or two later, Gamora follows - quickly catching up and overtaking Collette. Not by far, and she keeps a steady pace when she does. ]

That's the universe for you.

[ It happens, and Gamora's trained herself not to care. The piddling push and pull of politics in the galaxy doesn't mean anything until it starts to threaten the fabric of space/time. ]

Hah!

( Collette muses on that for a moment. )

Guess the universe and Earth have more in common than the big guys running around with spacefleets wanted to believe.

( She doesn't sound the least bit bothered by this. Really, accepting that people are jerks some of the time -- or most of the time -- is part of life. You get past that and focus on the awesome things. Wasting time being upset at what you can't change is a drag, though keeping it in mind is prudent. )

But from what I hear, we won, so humanity will live on to get muddled up with things in space!

They're too busy with their own empires to care.

[ Which can sometimes be a blessing and other times a giant flarking pain. ]

Terrans are good at that.

[ Quill and Rider being prime candidates there, along with Moondragon. So very few humans make it as far out into space as they did - they're the exception to the rule as far as Gamora's concerned. ]

( She'd laugh if she weren't still swimming, smiling as a sort of internal compromise. )

Especially teenagers.

( Making jokes about home makes it easier.

She holds on to the wall at the far end, letting herself float, mouth closed. There's something about this lady that makes her curious in a way that Wrex had, too. )

How many different alien races look something like you and me? Two legs, two arms, no tail, mostly hairy on the head, obvious...

( She shies away from saying breasts, going for, of all words: )

Differences between guys and girls? I mean, the universes are big places, but so far nothing close to home looks anything like we do.

( Not to co-opt Gamora into humanity, but wondering at the fact people from vastly different places could be outwardly so similar -- OR MAYBE IT WAS ALL A LIE? She's excited that there may be other possible explanations. )

[ That gives Gamora pause, because she's never actually thought about it before. They're all their own species and as she'd never had anything to consider home - traveling around the universe with Thanos - she's not conditioned to think of one as normal and the rest different. ]

The three major races of the universe - the Skrulls, the Kree, and the Shi'ar are all bipedal with noticeable physical differences between the sexes. After that, it blurs together, but at a guess - most are similar enough.

What are those guys like?

( Major means important, or at least more present than others. Collette finds herself wanting to know more. )

Annyoing.

[ Her tone is not directed at Collette, but more towards the races themselves. Too busy fighting amongst themselves to be much good to anyone when they need to be, and when they finally do act - it's too late to be of much good to anyone. ]

Guess some things are universal!

( As far as answers go, that one sends Collette laughing, taking a break from twenty questions to resume a more concentrated swim.

Good to know aliens were annoying to each other all across the universes. It has a certain normalizing effect. )

[ Gamora does the same, falling back into powerful strokes as she pushes herself. Again, harder to do without the ocean's push and pull against her but it'd do for now.

Minutes pass before she speaks again, pausing against the wall. ]

Take it your invaders weren't bipedal.

[ She doesn't wait for a response before kicking off again. ]

( Collette saves her response for when she pulls herself up on the side of the pool, calling a temporary break. She feels her hands pickling in the water. It's a better sign to get out than most others. )

More like slugs. Or blue centaurs with scythe tails. The Hork-Bajir are kind of bipedal! They use their tails like kangaroos, for extra support. Then there are the Taxxons... they have dozens and dozens of feet.

( She shivers. )

And hundreds of teeth. Eugh!

[ Gamora's knowledge of the universe and the races in it is pretty solid - trained in ways to recognize the major ones and more than a few of the minor ones. But those? She's never heard of them and the idea is strange. ]

And all of these tried to invade your planet?

[ She keeps swimming, but doesn't expect an answer until she comes back closer to Collette. The idea of Earth being important enough to have more than a few alien races fighting over it in any universe itches at her - but maybe something was different about the Earth for her. ]

( Collette squeezes the water out of her braid. She holds off on answering until Gamora's back in range. )

The ones working with or controlled by the Yeerks, yeah. The Yeerks had the Hork-Bajir enslaved, and the Taxxons worked with them 'cause they thought at first the Yeerks could help them? It didn't work out like either of them planned.

It rarely does. You'd think people would stop making alliances after a while.

[ She pauses at the edge of the pool, standing instead of treading water. ]

Alliances aren't always bad ideas. You've got to hope that you're on mostly equal footing, or you can out-think the ones who've got more power than you do to make sure you're not messed over in the process.

( Thanks, Andalites. )

Not taking a chance on others at all can lead to failure sure as anything else.

And yet they fall apart as soon as someone gets power hungry.

[ A shrug, and Gamora pulls herself out of the water. She'd been swimming long enough before Collette came and could feel the ache beginning. ]

Not so bad in war, I'll give them that.

( Collette hums, feeling it's more complicated then that, but not caring to debate about it. They fall apart, and that's a simple truth. )

Kind of good to have a few that last through a war before falling apart. Even if they're not really there, thinking they might be one day can be pretty powerful.

( Illusions and beliefs being what they are. )

You've been at war before?

The Annihilation War.

[ It's, surprisingly enough, not the most terrible thing she's been involved with. But a good chunk of the universe decided to go and die so it's up there. ]

I ran special ops.

( Collette's eyes widen in curiosity and surprise. )

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You're totally amazing, aren't you?

<small>( And she shakes her head. )</small>

Okay, an Annihilation War sounds pretty horrible. Annihilation of everything?

[ Compliments and Gamora don't really get along well if they're spur of the moment or don't really have anything to do with her ability to break people in half. ]

Near enough. Billions died, we were losing.

[ They'd taken down flarking Galactus. Losing was an understatement. ]

( Ouch! That makes Collette's head dip down, thinking about the weight of that many sentient creatures. People, really, even if -- well, apparently most of hers kind of had the bipedal thing going on, which was cool. )

When did that change? Or is that when you're from?

Few years back - one of the other leaders of the United Front tore the leader of the Annihilation Wave inside out.

[ She never did get to have 'congratulations on defeating Annihilus with your bare hands' sex with Rider. D'ast. ]

( She whistles. )

Talk about one way of putting a permanent end to things. Or at least that brand of thing. What've you been up to since then?

( More than asking idly, she looks and sounds sincerely curious. )

Saved the universe.

[ A shrug, and she says it like it's no big deal. A twist of her hair to get rid of the excess water before she lets that fall down around her shoulders. ]

Oh, only that?

( She laughs, shaking her head. )

You make it sound like it's no big deal.

Guardians of the Galaxy. It's what we did.

[ It's no big deal if it's practically your job. Until a good chunk of them died and they disbanded and Gamora was reminded of why she really hates the universe. ]

Edited 2013-01-29 07:56 (UTC)

"Did?" What's the past tense for?

( Nothing says sticking together forever better than the breaking apart party. )

Don't do it anymore.

[ C'mon Collette she thought that was obvious. ]

Yeah, I get that, but was there any particular reason why?

( Come on Gamora it's not the obvious it's the explanation it's always the story! )

Hard to have a team when half of them are dead.

[ THAT'S ALL THE STORY SHE'S GETTING. ]

Yeah, it would be. Sorry to hear that.

( Such is the seriously sucky side of war. )

Definitely tosses a wrench into operations.

People die, it happens.

[ She's died once or twice. It was one of the best times of her entire life. ]

You get used to it.

I figure it's more you learn how to live on anyway, not spending all your time missing them. But sure! You get used to it.

Half the time they come back anyway.

[ Standing up, and tossing her towel in whatever publicly provided bin the Initiative has. ]

Now that's news to me...

( Collette lifts a hand to wave at Gamora. )

Hope to see you around again, swim partner!

It doesn't happen to everyone.

[ ~~Just main characters unless you're Mar-Vell and then you're kind of forever dead.~~ ]

Suspect I will if you're here in the mornings.

I'm a pretty good at being an early riser. Later!

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the water is rising ; ( closed )

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maybe one day i'll learn not to typo (this is a lie)

<3 i do worse and never catch a thing

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