in the morning light [OPEN]

[selfrespecting]

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.

Comments

[halfwinchester]

Well, you probably made a girl really happy, if that's any consolation, too. The girl in the diner seems to really like feeding the herd.

<sub>[But Adam nods at the remark about the stairs. He gets what she means about the lack of an elevator--getting around the mansion is tedious on most days, though personally Adam doesn't mind the long walks to get anywhere.

He'd originally chosen the tenth to get as far away from everything as he could. Literally one step at a time to come crawling out of his mentally traumatized shell. Now, it just seems like part of the routine. Stability. He can count exactly how many stairs it takes to get from his apartment to the clinic, and that's something he can rely on for the most part, especially now that things are changing faster than he'd thought possible.]</sub>

Uh, Cooper.

_{[Adam shifts, glancing down at the table. Don't make fun of his name choice, Martha.]}

Turned out one of those big mastiff dogs.

[selfrespecting]

You're right. Tohru's a sweetheart, I'm just relieved that she put up with me.

[Martha may not know everyone in the mansion, but she's known Tohru essentially since she got here, seeing how they live on the same floor, which also houses the diner. They've also spent a few conversations commiserating about their respective jobs here and the times when they've been short on helping hands.

Thankfully, that's been better for Martha as of late, thanks to people like Adam here.

She wouldn't see any reason to make fun of the name Adam's picked out for his pest. No, Martha's more surprised by the kind of dog that it is.] Oh my god, so he's massive. I hope that your room is big enough for him.

[There's plenty of open space outside the mansion, but a mastiff could probably trash someone's room in a matter of seconds.]

[halfwinchester]

_{[Adam hasn't been able to escape Tohru's vortex of unconditional kindness, so for once he can't be too skeptical of the sweetheart status.]}

We're stuck with each other, putting up with each other's all we got.

<sub>[He smiles to show this isn't a strictly pessimistic comment. Aside from the occasional serial killer, there are worse crowds to be around, and really, though the road getting here hadn't been worth it in the slightest, it's thanks to Wonderland that he's met the people he has. He's learned more with the clinic's practical, hands on approach than he ever had in school. Even if it might not seem so, he's gradually changing. Evolving. Not always in the worst way possible as Hell had been designed to do.

If anything, Adam's more amused by Martha's (valid) concerns. Yeah, his room doesn't stand a chance when Cooper gets going.]</sub>

He's doing all right. Mostly sleeps and eat. There's not much I can do to take him back now--guess we're stuck with each other, too. Actually, he's got this weird fear of rubber gloves. The clinic would give him a heart attack.

[selfrespecting]

[No one can accept that. It's almost smothering, how nice Tohru is, to the point that it would almost be suspicious if she wasn't so utterly genuine. Martha is a fan.]

Guess you're right about that.

[Martha's had plenty of chances to make friends here, and it's having people she gets along with stuck here with her that makes the entire thing bearable. If it weren't for that, her morale would have probably dipped a lot lower. There are still rough spots, of course, but overall she's doing well. She can only hope that Adam is too, and having a furry companion may help.]

A fear of... rubber gloves? That's odd. I wonder if it's the smell or the sound that they make when you put them on or what. [Martha shrugs, since she's hardly an expert on dogs.] He probably shouldn't be in the clinic anyway, for sanitary reasons, although I'd feel bad if he had to be cooped up all the time...

[Maybe they could place a bed for him in the back room, although do they even make dog beds that large?]

[halfwinchester]

_{[Ah, well, Adam can probably explain that one.]}

I blew one up for him once. He's not big on balloons when they pop, either.

<sub>[That is to say, Adam's not a dog owner who's above taunting his pet and giving it phobias about inflatable objects that pop in its face.

He shakes his head in agreement with Martha's statement, still smiling. She and the other doctors are trying to run a good, clean place here, Adam wouldn't want it seen it turned into a halfway house for every creature under the sun, either. They've already got Tom and sometimes his cat, they don't need a dog, too.]</sub>

I try to take him out at least once a day. If you go walking outside a lot, you should meet him. It's for him to get used to people.

_{[Like owner, like dog. And Martha's good people, so out of the majority of those staying in the mansion, Adam counts her as one of the select few he won't hesitate to stay "hi" to outside of working hours.]}

[selfrespecting]

Oh, poor thing. [Martha's going to give Adam the benefit of the doubt here and hope that he did that to try and give Cooper a fun toy, without realizing that if it popped, the dog would be startled.

That would just be too cruel, wouldn't it?

At least he seems to agree that the clinic is no place for a dog. Tom has actually taken responsibility for his cat, so Martha doesn't mind because she's not dedicating part of her work day to cleaning up after it.]

I go walking a fair amount. [Not to mention the t'ai chi.] I'll have to keep an eye out for you two.

[Between Cooper and Lucky, Martha's going to end up befriending all of the Wonderland pets, isn't she? Or at least the canine ones.]

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Hanging out with domesticated animals and having them rest their head in his lap while he watches television is a hell of a lot more relaxing than hanging out with some other company in Wonderland, like the monsters it summons up from time to time (Adam could do without a zombie bringing its head anywhere near him again.) A dog is relaxing, in a strangely similar way to putting his concentration into clinic duties.

A necessary distraction. He can't be the only one who could use one, either. After what Martha's been through, maybe she could use some pet therapy of her own.]</sub>

Yeah. I'll bet you'll get along.

_{[Martha's all right, and animals are supposed to be good judges of character, aren't they?]}