[OPEN] Girls Just Wanna Have Fun... I Guess

[cisskabob]

WHO: Cissie King-Jones
WHERE: House 25, the Hospital, the Dojo, the Schoolhouse, anywhichwhere!
WHEN: Late March, anytime before 4/02
OPEN TO: ALL
WARNINGS: N/A yet; will update if needed

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House 25 | OTA

Cissie and Tim have finally moved out of the Inn, claiming House 25 as their own. It's a cute little place, and she's pretty happy to start making it their own. She doesn't consider it giving up or anything like that; there's no way for them to know how long they'll be here, and as long as the Observers keep picking them up and dumping them in the wilderness, they may as well have a nice place to return to. It makes her feel better. And now it's Spring, which means she can spend time out in the yard, starting to clean up the yard and think about whether they'll be able to have a garden of some kind. If she's not digging in the dirt, she can be found inside the house, or on the porch with some tea and a book.

Hospital | OTA

She volunteered to help out, and Cissie is a girl of her word. Besides, she likes having something like a job, a schedule to follow. It also helps her to feel like she has a purpose here; it's something that was missing before, both in Wonderland and at home. Having the opportunity to learn more about medicine, and to help the few medical staff members in the village makes her feel better, even if all she really does is clean rooms and keep things stocked when she's not receiving lessons.

Dojo | OTA

Cissie knows that she's a young, pretty blonde teenager, and it's easy to be underestimated. A lot of times she relies on that. For her first few months here, she didn't even set foot in the dojo. But now that she's recovered from her adventures with Aqua in the forest, she doesn't want to get caught in another situation where she may have to run or fight for her (or someone else's) life--at least not without some solid practice under her belt. So she goes to the dojo now, at least daily, and does what she can. It may have been a few years since she wore a mask, but her mother started her training at age five. She knows multiple martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, she did gymnastics and ballet and tap, but more than anything... She misses her archery. She won't say no if someone wants to spar, either.

Wildcard! OTA

[Pick your poison! Feel free to encounter Cissie anywhere in the South Village; she spends a lot of time in the schoolhouse, takes daily jogs around but won't wander too far outside the village itself. Anywhere is fair game to run into her, though--literally or figuratively!]

Comments

dojo

[aguidingkey]

Honestly, Aqua has been keeping to herself a bit ever since Brigitte pulled her out of the fountain. It isn't that she doesn't have friends here she wants to see or talk to again; it's that even though she worked out some of her emotions with Brigitte, she still has a lot to process and handle and it will take time, especially since she's away from everyone who could really help her now.

She's been separated from Ven and Terra yet again and she's trying to cope with that, too.

So her wandering into the dojo while Cissie is there is mostly chance, the kind of happenstance that comes of walking into a building in the midst of her thoughts. Aqua blinks, finding herself somewhere she hadn't really meant to go. But then she spots Cissie, another friend, and decides that maybe being here isn't such a bad thing.

"Cissie," she calls quietly, lifting a hand to wave. "Hi. How have you been?"

Her particular word choice makes it seem like she's been gone or not as visible in the community for a while, both of which are true. Hopefully, she can find some measure of peace with this friend, too.

[cisskabob]

Cissie is working through some tai chi moves, focusing on her balance and the movements, when Aqua enters the dojo. If she wasn’t quite so focused on her form, she might have seen or heard the other girl enter. As it is, Cissie pauses and looks up when Aqua says her name, and when she sees who’s there, her face splits into a wide grin and she stops what she’s doing immediately to rush over to her and grab her in a hug, if she can.

“Aqua!” Cissie is thrilled to see her. She keeps an eye out for her friends around the Village, and it’s been a while since she’s seen Aqua, and she’s been quietly fretting, wondering if maybe she’s gone home like she knows others have recently. “I haven’t seen you around lately, I missed you! Is everything okay?”

[aguidingkey]

Not being an incredibly tactile person to begin with, Cissie's sudden hug catches Aqua completely by surprise. Aqua doesn't pull away, though. Once she gets over her surprise, she returns the hug. Cissie has become an important friend for her here and she wouldn't want that to change.

"It's..." Aqua's voice trails off as she pulls back from their hug, her face falling into a mix of emotions again. Talking it all out with Brigitte had helped, but nothing will ever fully take away her pain and confusion. Maybe one day they will fade into the distance of her mind, but right now they're still right at the front.

"I'm okay," she says instead. "I'm sorry if I worried you. I was sent home and brought back." She doesn't say that everything is okay, because it's not, not really. A lot of bad things happened to all of them and some things didn't have resolution. But... she's okay, in the long run. She doesn't bear any physical wounds from it all, just a lot of emotional scars that won't be leaving anytime soon.

Dojo

[skyward_eyes]

Combat is about the furthest thing from Nida's mind at this point, but that doesn't mean he can just abandon the dojo, right? This is a place he's responsible for, something he promised himself he would take care of. So here he was instead. Not training with his staff or hand to hand, but taking the otherwise empty space on the mats for some tumbling passes. Maybe he wasn't a proper gymnast, but so much of his combat style was based on acrobatics, that he dedicated himself to it regularly.

And seeing as he was a bit sick of the idea of fighting again just yet, he had instead chosen to focus on this particular skill instead. For his sanity.

[cisskabob]

It’s not a surprise to her that there’s someone else in the dojo when Cissie enters. She’s certainly seen Nida around, even if they haven’t actually had a chance to technically meet yet. She enters and stops to watch his tumbling pass. He’s good, and it’s been a while since she’s really had a chance to watch someone else do these kinds of acrobatics. When he finishes, she claps for him. It’s a sincere appplause, not mocking in any way, which is probably evident by the way she’s grinning.

“That was awesome,” she says sincerely. “You’re really good at that. Do you compete?”

[skyward_eyes]

The applause has Nida turning around and offering the young woman applauding there a deep and showy bow. Which he deliberately makes too deep so it forces him to 'fall' forward, which he turns into a somersault and from there bouncing to his feet with a smile.

"Thanks," he smiles. "I mean, the floor here is a bit hard, but I can soak in the hot spring later to help with that. And what do you mean, compete?"

[cisskabob]

Cissie gives a delighted laugh; yes, he’s showboating a bit, but she understands the urge to show off at something you’re good at, that you’ve practiced and worked at and that’s being recognized. She nods in agreement at his comment about the floor. It’s not ideal, not what would be found in a professional gymnastics gym, but it’s better than a basement floor or some of the places her mother has her practice as a child.

“The hot springs are pretty amazing,” she agrees, and gives a quick shrug. “Well, where I’m from, they have gymnastic competitions where professional gymnasts... compete for prizes. Sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s a medal, sometimes it’s nust to be the best. It’s an Olympic sport.”

[skyward_eyes]

"That sounds like something that might have happened back home too. Just not to my realm of experience. I mostly just learned it for fighting. But it's fun too. Along with climbing. Of course I can only do one of those in here."

Perhaps he can figure out just what to do now that someone else has arrived. Can't take up the floor space like this with someone else around. Maybe he'll just do flexibility focused stretches.

Hospital

[duel_wielding]

It's not like North's actually proper medical staff member. It was just something he had to do. To feel like he was managing to achieve something. Well, other than dealing with animals.

"Afternoon," he greeted as he slipped into one of the patient rooms, paper and a pencil in hand as he moves to open a cabinet. Clearly inventory taking day.

"I'm not in your way, right?"

[cisskabob]

Cissie looks up when he enters the room and offers a friendly smile. “No, not at all. I was just doing some dusting.” She holds up a cloth as proof, her smile turning a bit wry. “I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t fly for sanitary conditions where—when—I’m from, but we’re doing the best we can, right?”

[duel_wielding]

"It's not even remotely like when I'm from. Sonic sterilization keeps things pretty ship-shape," North smiles, because he gets it.

At least they knew about boiling things and alcohol and managing germs, right?

[cisskabob]

Cissie looks up at him with interest now. “Oh wow, you’re from even further in the future than I am! It’s 2011 back home for me.” She pauses and laughs. “On Earth. You’d think I’d know better than to assume that by now.” By ‘that,’ she means the idea that everyone is from Earth. She knows everyone isn’t, especially people from the future, at least in her experience so far. She holds out a hand. “I’m Cissie.”

[duel_wielding]

"2550s," North offers with a smile. "Earth is definitely the core of the human sphere, but it's not where I'm from. Only been a few times myself. As for the name..."

He tucks the papers aside and offers his hand. Is even kind enough to only offer a firm shake.

"North Dakota. Yes. As in the state. It's complicated."

house 25

[morphogenia]

Kamala is out enjoying a run when she passes by Cissie gardening. Honestly? This makes her so happy. She had worked tirelessly to make House Six her own. It's so nice to see a friend doing the same thing.

Kamala slows to a stop and waves at the other girl. She's a little sweaty and out of breath from her efforts. Her tied up hair is definitely more than a little frizzy too. Kamala is as chipper as ever. Spring agrees with her. "Hey! This place is so cute!"

hospital

[ethnobotany]

After losing so many of their medical staff in such a short period of time, Beverly had reached out to the community at large to see if anyone would be interested in learning more or helping out at the hospital or in times of crisis. Cissie had volunteered and Beverly's relief to have even one more person helping out is easy to see. When she walks in one day to see Cissie helping out before their scheduled lesson time, she smiles warmly.

"Hi, Cissie," she calls, making her way over. Her lips curl upwards almost wryly and her voice takes on a similar tone. "Sometimes I think we're fighting a losing battle against the dirt and dust."

heyo dojo.

[scathefires]

You know who's basically always down for sparring? This guy here. He spends a lot of time in the dojo since offering to help Nida by teaching hand-to-hand combat to anyone with an interest, and even if Jason doesn't have a routine of hunting down criminals here in the village, it's nice to stay active. It feels normal, and it's grounding, and it makes Jason feel ... not exactly good, but better than sitting around reading yet another instruction manual.

His face lights up faintly with a smile when he sees that Cissie's here today for a workout. "Hey," he says, giving her a nod in greeting. "What brings you to the House of Pain today?"

(No, that's not really what they're calling the dojo.)