entrancelogs | in the morning light [OPEN]

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in the morning light [OPEN]

Who: Martha Jones and OPEN.
Where: The grounds, near the gardens. (Also the clinic!)
When: 4/14 - 4/18
Rating: PG
Summary: Martha's determined to stay fit and be more prepared for any future dangers. The answer to that? T'ai chi.
The Story:
It's not that Martha's meant to slack off on her morning exercises. It's just that sometimes she has to work and ends up too lazy to get out of bed early enough to exercise before her shift. Either that, or there's an event that comes around and completely distracts her and throws her off of her routine.

Since February there haven't been any serious dangers that have hit the mansion, but that only makes her more convinced that something's coming, and soon. She's already given up one death out of five now, and she doesn't intend to let her life slip away from her again.

T'ai chi is more of a defensive form of martial arts, but it's a place to start, at least -- and with help from Blake, she's gotten decent at it. So each morning on this particular week, Martha forces herself out into the dewy mornings to train her body. She usually picks a spot out on the fields, not too far away from the gardens. It's also a way of clearing her mind, a meditation of sorts, and she finds that it puts her in a good place for the rest of the day.

Does she need to learn some actual offensive methods too? Most likely. But she hasn't quite worked herself up to ask around for that yet.

Later on in the day, Martha can be found in the clinic, as usual. She's just gone out of her way to make her shifts the afternoon ones, at least for this week, so that she can become more serious about her own training. Wonderland offers plenty of free time and she would rather make the most of it.

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Souji hasn't talked with Martha in awhile, so when he sees her on the grounds he heads in her direction. He doesn't want to interrupt her, though, so he waits nearby while she goes through the forms, watching. Most of his combat training has been pretty impromptu, so he's always impressed by people who take the time to learn and work on this kind of martial art.

When Martha seems to be at a stopping point, he claps quietly.

Martial arts isn't something Martha ever would have looked into if she hadn't come to Wonderland. Mainly there just isn't the time, and while she's trained herself in other things -- tracking, stealth, even some usage of firearms -- martial arts had never been on that list.

But here she is, doing what she can if only to give herself peace of mind. As she takes a moment to pause, some sweat sliding down her face, she hears what sounds like clapping and glances over to see Souji doing just that.

"Oh, please, I..." She laughs and waves him off. "It was nothing." Martha grabs up a towel she set on the grass nearby and rubs it over her face and neck as she walks over to him. "Morning, Souji -- how've you been?"

"Not too bad." A lot has happened, but it would be odd to recount it all at the moment. Despite that, when he asks her the same thing, specifics wouldn't bother him. He's been out of touch with some of his friends lately. "What about you? There's been a lot going on."

It's far too easy to be out of touch here, isn't it? Martha wishes it were easier to keep in contact with everyone, and it shouldn't be that hard since they all have each other's numbers, but sometimes that can get exhausting.

She stretches as she starts to cool down from the work-out, considering what to tell him. "It's business as usual, really. That was quite the ball that the Red Queen threw, wasn't it? Did you go?"

"Yeah. I saw an old friend from home there." His expression softens for a minute in a small smile before returning to normal. "What about you?"

It would strike him as odd if Martha hadn't seen anyone she knew, either from home or from her time in Wonderland.

"I saw... someone from my future," Martha replies. It's a complicated situation, as she'd originally met that version of the Doctor here in Wonderland, but she isn't going to bore Souji with the details.

"It was only briefly, though. This old friend of yours, was it Yosuke?" Martha's well aware that Yosuke had been here alongside Souji for quite some time, even if he'd eventually been sent back home. Seeing him here without any of his memories of this place wouldn't be easy for Souji, though it could just as easily have been someone else.

"Yeah. Even just for a little while, it was nice to see someone from home." He'd met someone else from his world, someone from the past, who he probably couldn't have met under any other circumstances. It's a complicated story to explain, though, and he'd have to tell someone else's story in the process.

To shift the topic a little, he adds, "I didn't have any trouble with the Mirrors, either."

Martha smiles and nods, relieved that Souji can make the best out of what happened. He seems to be good at finding the silver lining in things, which is impressive as Martha knows how hard that can get here. He's always been a steady force here in Wonderland, one that she's grateful for.

"Me neither," she says with a shake of her head. "Maybe the Queen of Hearts didn't give them orders for once." It's a little upsetting to realize that without the Queen telling them what to do, most of the Mirrors wouldn't mean any harm.

Most of them. Souji sighs and looks up at the sky, with it's little overly-pleasant fluffy clouds.

"I worry a little that she's angry over it and she's going to do something about it."

That's a valid concern, and Martha can't help but let the worry seep into her as well, now that it's been brought up.

"Isn't it her choice whether they come here or not? Or do you think that the Red Queen dragged them over somehow?"

If the Red Queen has that kind of power, then it's something they need to keep in mind. If anything, it's surprising that the Mirrors don't end up over here more often in that case.

"I'm not sure. The glass in the mirrors was gone, and my Mirror and I were on this side at the same time."

The normal rules weren't being followed. Then again, that many extra people coming and going all at once wasn't normal either.

"It's a little weird that she...invited? the Mirrors in the first place, since the party was supposed to be some kind of reward or apology."

"I guess she didn't want them to feel left out, but they're not the ones who were affected by all of those new buildings."

Martha lets out a sigh, somewhat annoyed by it now that she's thinking it over in those terms. She hadn't seen her own Mirror around and none of the others had bothered her, though, so she can't complain too much.

"I wonder what the point of all that was. Are they really trying to expand Wonderland? I wonder if we'll ever end up with any permanent additions."

She wouldn't mind that much, if they did. She's gotten rather tired of the current rooms and areas, having been through them so many times.

"That'd be nice." Souji can relate to the feeling of monotony. "But she made it sound like she wasn't expecting it to work out the way it did."

There are a lot of hints, most of them not-so-subtle that something is coming, sooner or later, and that it won't be pleasant. The mixed together events, the visitors from the future at Christmas and their warnings about the Jabberwocky, the Red Queen's comment about things being too 'threadbare' for the changes...

Souji puts a hand on his hip and looks upward for a few seconds in thought before making eye contact with Martha again.

"I think if Wonderland did change permanently, even in small ways, it wouldn't be a good sign."

Souji's right, it had sounded as if things had happened unexpectedly, and if the Red Queen can't even control this place, then who knows what they're in for?

She'd rather not let the conversation get so negative, but she also realizes that Souji has a point, and Martha's always been a realist about things.

"Seems like we're just waiting for the inevitable to happen, as much as I hate saying it. If only we knew the circumstances of how the jabberwocky showed up, maybe we could do something about it."

But as things stand, they may as well be sitting ducks.

Souji frowns, trying to remember the last time it showed up.

"...It usually starts on the other side, I think. I'm not sure why, but it might be because the Core is there. We might have to work with the Mirrors to get this all figured out."

But not his own Mirror. Ooooh no.

It does seem like the Core is all tied to this in some way, seeing how that mission in the future had also involved it. Granted, that had gone horribly wrong, but it sounds like the Mirrors will be the first ones in danger.

"Well, we could ask around, see if anyone knows of some Mirrors who are a bit more reasonable, and then start there."

It's a project, which gives Martha reason enough to focus on it. Her own Mirror might be helpful to an extent, because even if she's reserved and self-conscious, at least she's not raving mad.

Souji nods. "I think there are a few, at least."

He wouldn't say he knows many of the Mirrors, but it stands to reason that everyone's opposite isn't a total jerk or a lunatic. There has to be some law of large numbers that dictates they should catch that kind of break occasionally.

"I keep wondering how much anyone's actually working on this." Kid is building a time machine, and there's the other-Crowley who wants to make some kind of trap, it sounded like. There has to be some way to get everyone on the same page, though, working toward some common goal less nebulous than "don't let everything go to hell."

"It sounds like various people are coordinating on it." What Martha wants to know is how much any of this planning will really do to help in the end. She doesn't have too much she contribute personally, though the clinic will at least be ready to handle the injured when the jabberwocky eventually shows itself.

"A few people have already been storing supplies as well. I think frequent reminders are a good way to keep everyone on task, though."

Which means informing the newcomers and mentioning it over the network from time to time.

"Yeah. I don't really like keeping people worried, but you're right. And we probably should stay worried in this case."

Too much stress is a bad thing, but just the right amount of stress keeps you moving.

"We may just have to accept that this is something worth worrying about, yeah." Martha's not thrilled with the idea either, but it's far better than ignoring it and pretending it's not going to happen.

At least this conversation has given her some ideas on how to approach the issue, which she appreciates.

"As long as we remember to have some fun along the way, too." Souji thinks they've talked about grim topics long enough. "It's almost summer."

Well, Souji's got a point about that. Summer is just around the corner, and while Martha's already gone through one of those here in Wonderland, she takes a moment to consider how to make the best of it.

"It's too bad the ocean isn't exactly safe," she says, resting her hand against her chin. "It would be nice to take a swim."

"I think it's alright if you stay close to the beach. I've never heard of anyone getting hurt there."

At least, not hurt by Wonderland itself.

"It's not really any good for fishing, either way."

"That's a shame." It might have been nice to eat some freshly caught fish, but it seems like most people just take things out of the closets.

Martha will keep that in mind, though. So long as she doesn't swim out too far, she may be able to enjoy the beach after all.

"Thanks for the chat, Souji. I should get back to my exercise, but you have a good day, will you? And let me know if you end up heading down to the beach this summer, I might want to come along."

Souji smiles and nods at that. "Yeah. Thanks for taking a break to talk to me."

He waves and turns to head back toward the grounds.

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in the morning light [OPEN]

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