InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Brian Kinney Operating Manual"

Jeanne-Marie "Aurora" Beaubier (jeanne_marie) wrote in x_aftermath_x,
@ 2008-10-01 22:10:00

Entry tags:

aurora, shadowcat, zap

Who: Aurora; tag Zap and Kitty
What: Rooftop yoga session
Where: The roof of Xavier's
When: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 (dusk [plz to be excusing mun's stupidness, kthx])
Status: In progress
Rating: PG

Jeanne-Marie had put out an open invitation for people to join her in her yoga sessions. The counselor had recommended that she be more social, which was not an easy feat for Jeanne-Marie to accomplish. She was awkward when she spoke to people, and generally kept to herself, quiet and unassuming. But yoga might be one place where she could spend time with a few people, not having to force conversation simply to fill the time.

Things were strange around the mansion, and Jeanne-Marie needed the escape. She headed outside into the crisp autumn air, taking in the surroundings. The trees had gone to their fall colors, bright reds, oranges, and yellows dotting the grounds around Xavier's. She ascended to the roof, her feet touching down lightly. Jeanne pulled the purple mat from under her arm, spreading it across the flat turret of the mansion, then kicked off her shoes, stepping forward onto the mat. She stretched her arms out in front of her, then folded forward at the waist, pressing her palms into the mat.

She'd start the actual poses soon, but she wanted to wait for other people to show, if they were coming.

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zapster
2008-10-02 07:59 am UTC (link)

Zap was not a flyer. She was a faller. She did not have the convenience of the shortcut those graced with flight (or even floating) had. She had to take the damned stairs. But that was okay. This was all in the name of exercise, right? Still, from the sub-level to the attic was a hike. When she finally made it to the exit out onto the roof, she was a bit winded, but not too much worse for the wear. The Canadian gal was already prepared, standing atop her purple mat and looking tranquil as can be in the gorgeous, autumn surroundings. And graceful.

Zap pulled her tattered mat with frayed Velcro fastenings out through the window and it rolled a few feet before she tromped it back into submission. It was mostly used paired with a balance ball, or by Booger for 'floor naps'. "Hey." She squinted into the dimness. The sun was all but gone and the air was cool. Probably better that way. After all, the half-Native had almost gotten a tan over the summer. Couldn't have that. "I think Kitty's coming." She'd passed through the dorms on her way up, but the vampire femme had to wait for the sun to take its leave.

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jeanne_marie
2008-10-02 12:49 pm UTC (link)

Jeanne-Marie heard the commotion coming from the attic window, and she turned her attention there, quietly happy that someone had decided to join her. "Hi," she responded, smiling softly. Jeanne-Marie nodded as Zap told her Kitty would be joining them. "Glad to hear it."

She sat down on her mat, folding her legs. Leaning forward, she let her arms stretch out in front of her, working on loosening up her back. "Have you done a lot of yoga before?" Jeanne-Marie was willing to teach, if she hadn't, but wanted to get a good baseline. She wasn't all-knowing in the yoga department, but had the basics and a few more advanced moves down.

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(Anonymous)
2008-10-05 06:13 pm UTC (link)

Her shades were drawn – and Kitty’s shades were almost never drawn. A small compact fluorescent light hummed in the corner, casting harsh shadows against her rounded face. She sat at her desk, drumming her fingers against the wood, trying to flip through a book, but unable to focus for more than a few sentences. Her room was a jail, the disease was a jail. Not being able to go outside during the day was the hardest part of the transformation, much harder than the hormones, the urges, even the attack. She desperately wanted to just sit in the grass under the sun, read a book, water the flowers; whatever she was doing didn’t actually matter. It just mattered that she wanted to do something. It was infuriating to sit in the dark. She had become more nocturnal, sleeping longer in the day, waking up a few hours after the sun hit its peak, but she rationalized it as taking away the desire to go outside during the day.

She had been invited to a yoga session on the roof with Zap and Jeanne-Marie, and she quickly accepted. While she had been feeling more awkward around the uninjured, the invitation gave her hope that maybe she could regain some ounce of sanity and normalcy. Yoga on the roof was far from normal, but for the X-Men, not much really was. Dancing at a young age forced her to take advantage of her natural flexibility, so maybe this would allow her to return to a happier place – a more comfortable place. She hadn’t learned the Sanskrit names of yoga poses, the breathing or any of the spiritual stuff, but she knew that a lot of what she did during regular dance stretches was actually yoga. She hoped to learn today – and distract her from everything else.

Once her cell phone alarm buzzed to signal sundown, she peeked out the window, saw the sun hidden, grabbed her borrowed mat and phased up through the floors, taking an angled pathway to avoid private spaces. She couldn’t fly triumphantly through the air, but she could manage a lot of floating and hovering and walking up invisible staircases – which had an allure of its own. Popping up through the roof, she saw the two other women settling, Jeanne-Marie already in preparatory stretches. She sighed softly in the darkness, smiling dimly and greeting gently, “Hey guys.” Unveiling her own matt, she slipped off her shoes and stepped onto it. She had changed into a dark leotard, ankle-low leggings and shorts earlier in the day, so as she widened her stance into second and reached down to the floor, bending her hands at her elbows, her clothes did not interfere.

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	prydegoeth 2008-10-05 06:13 pm UTC (link)
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zapster
2008-10-05 07:19 pm UTC (link)

"Heya," Zap greeted the sneaky one. Just as some women saw some of their own features in a negative light, and were envious of differing features on other women, Zap was envious of Kitty's whole build. She was always so fragile-looking and petite and graceful. Her mutation aided that, certainly. As the other two women began to move and stretch in their snug-fitting workout wear, Zap unrolled her own mat and stepped atop it with her already-bare feet. Shoes, you say? What are those?

She focused on Jeanne-Marie and while she began mimicking her 'warm-up' moves, she opted to answer the older gal's question. "Does standing behind Betsy in the gym while she does it count? Because I've done that a few times. The DVDs always distract me so I end up wandering over behind her and asking her questions while she's trying to breathe properly." Zap grinned here, sheepishly. "I'll just follow along." She didn't want to be a bother, and she could learn from watching - she did it every day with Eva. "I bet it feels good to stretch out in the open, huh?" she asked Kitty. While the younger girl probably felt trapped all day, coming outside was a bit of a switch for Zap too. They could enjoy the outdoors together, then... As she bent and followed their lead, she thought on Aurora's situation as well. She knew from personal experience that Jean-Paul was a bit of a handful when he wasn't diseased... so he must've been a trial now. Still, the same could be said for Ronan. She smiled hopefully to herself that they could all three get some peace of mind in the next little while.

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jeanne_marie
2008-10-06 09:09 am UTC (link)

Jeanne-Marie gave Kitty a smile as she appeared on the roof, returning her greeting with a nod. "Welcome. Glad you could make it." Jeanne-Marie stuck her legs out strait in front of her, folding forward at the waist and letting her hands cover her toes, working on stretching out her legs. She watched as Kitty did the same, seeing that the petite girl was probably the most flexible of the three of them.

Her head swiveled slightly as Zap answered her question. She chuckled softly, smirking. "I'm sure that counts in some way. It's okay, though. I figured we could work on the relaxation parts, since we're all a little wound up. Nothing too complicated." She smiled warmly at Zap, then watched the interaction between the other two on the roof.

Word spread quickly, even to Jeanne-Marie's near hermit ears about the infections, and Jeanne-Marie knew now that her brother wasn't the only afflicted, even if he hadn't mentioned it. It seemed they were all dealing with the vampirism, just in differing ways. Jeanne-Marie wished she could offer more help than yoga on the roof, which seemed a bit trite, but it was all she could for now. And if it helped either of them, then it was worth it.

"Ready when you two are to get started," Jeanne-Marie said quietly, trying to avoid interrupting their conversation.

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prydegoeth
2008-10-10 10:27 pm UTC (link)

As Zap spoke, her jaw clenched. She thought she heard animosity or derisiveness or even sarcasm in the older woman's voice, and so merely glanced up and smiled. As she straightened up, she searched her memory of Zap's voice, and found less to get mad about. Breathing deeply, she nodded and said, "Yeah. It's," pausing, she searched for the words, "it's hard. Really different." Her gaze drifted off towards the horizon, where the sun had just set, and she stared at the spot for a moment, as if trying to will the sun to return. She didn't want to have to get used to this. She was just getting her life started - her physics degree, a few housing options in Chicago, a plan to run for city office. It felt as if her life had been stolen from her. As she felt her eyebrows raise and face wrinkle, she consciously dropped her expressions and breathed deeply again. Now wasn't the time. Turning her gaze towards Jeanne-Marie, she nodded and smiled. "I'm fine. Will you lead us?"

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zapster
2008-10-11 09:24 am UTC (link)

'Wound up' didn't begin to cover it. Zap was usually wound up - but that was the mutation talking. Storing up to 1,000,000 volts in her body at any given moment didn't help, either. Zalika's eyes stayed on Kitty as she made her response, and she offered a fretful smile before she realized Kitty wasn't going to take what she'd said the wrong way. Aurora looked as anxious as a very relaxed person could look to get going. So the sparkplug nodded along with Shadowcat. Her fingers wrung at the bottom of her t-shirt and she shifted her hips back and forth to loosen up the lounge pants she'd yanked on before haulin' ass up to the roof. After a long, calming breath, she finally spoke again, "If it's any consolation, it's nice to have people awake when I am, now." She rarely slept. Now there were others up at all times of the day. It felt less lonely. She imagined, however, that those staying up at odd hours believed it was more lonely.

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jeanne_marie
2008-10-13 10:31 pm UTC (link)

[[OOC: Sorry for the delay, school is kicking my butt]]

Jeanne-Marie returned Kitty's smile, nodding softly. "Sure, I'm happy to." She was slightly nervous, not knowing Zap or Kitty well, but willing to put the effort forth in teaching simple yoga poses.

She moved to her feet, pressing her hands together with her fingers extended and bringing them to hover in front of her chest. She took a deep breath, then smiled at both Zap and Kitty. "Let's go ahead and start with Downward Facing Dog, get the muscles stretched out." She breathed deeply again, folding her body at the waist and extending her arms, extending her feet to plant behind her as her arms stretched and her fingers splayed on her mat. She focused on pressing her hips backwards, closing her eyes and working on keeping each muscle in the right place. Each of these things she vocalized to Kitty and Zap, and advised them to focus on their breathing.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, no matter what kind of ideas Jeanne-Marie might've had rushing through her mind. It would be simple to relax up here, even with company. "Just breathe," she said softly, then let her knees lower to the mat. "Go ahead and release, kneel on your mat, then press your hips back to your heels and stretch your arms out long in front of you. Focus on making your spine as long as you can." She raised her head and looked at Zap and Kitty, checking how they were doing.

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prydegoeth
2008-10-16 04:56 pm UTC (link)

Breathe. Right. That was always Kitty's weakness. Often she would find herself tense and stressed out for the little things she took too seriously; rolling her shoulders and taking a deep breath became an at least hourly habit. She sweat the small stuff, and little details became completely overwhelming. As she pushed her hips back and tried to breathe, she could only worry about how shallowly she breathed and how deeply Jeanne-Marie breathed. Maybe she should do this more often. Great, now yoga was just another thing she'd have to perfect.

'Stop thinking,' she told herself harshly. "Just breathe," was Jeanne-Marie's accidental response, and Kitty tried not to laugh. 'Just' made breathing seem so easy. Of course, she always breathed to live, but she constantly had to think to slow her breath, slow her heart rate, slow her mind. Breathing seemed the way to slow everything down, but honestly, it felt like trying to slow a bullet train on a frictionless track. Catching Jeanne-Marie's gaze as Kitty tried to compare their stances and mimic her instructor, she offered a greeting smile before returning her gaze towards the ground and closing her eyes. Inhale. 'It's simple, Kitty. Why can't you get these simple concepts sometimes?' Exhale. 'Simple concepts - like maintaining a basic awareness of your surroundings.' Inhale. 'Maybe if you didn't get hurt, no one else would.' Exhale. 'Breathe.'

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zapster
2008-10-18 04:48 am UTC (link)

She couldn't help having the thought, which produced a smirk in turn, that Jeanne-Marie was the least likely twin to be interested in a position called the 'downward facing dog'. Zap held in a snicker and followed the lead of the women before her. This wasn't so bad... not really. She felt a bit stiff, but she was keeping up otherwise. She raised her eyebrows in acknowledgment when Jeanne-Marie looked around.

Zap didn't think her spine could get any longer, as she stretched her arms forward. She took in several slow, deep breaths and released them just as slowly. Evidently, yoga wasn't a chatty practice. She spent so much time alone or in silence, that she found herself wanting to attempt striking up further conversation with the women in her company. Jeanne was preoccupied with leading and Kitty seemed lost to the world, concentrating on her body instead of her fellows. The electrokine decided to follow suit and closed her eyes. Almost silently, she began to hum an indie chick song she was fond of and stretched as far in front of her as she could, comfortably. Breathe in, exhale...

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jeanne_marie
2008-10-18 06:18 pm UTC (link)

Jeanne-Marie smirked to herself at Zap's humming, then relaxed her shoulders until her nose met the mat. With another deep breath in, she sat up, letting her hands rest on her thighs as she sat on her heels. "Okay, let's go ahead with something else. We can move into the Warrior poses." Jeanne-Marie stood on her mat, then stepped forward, anchoring her foot against the slightly sticky rubber of her mat.

She explained each motion, and the position the body was supposed to be in. "Bend forward at the front knee, until it's at about 90 degrees. Then bring your arms out to your sides, palms even with your shoulders. Twist at the waist, then focus on holding that position." She spoke slowly, not in a demeaning way, but to keep her brain from speeding through the motions. Having to contain the energy that built up in her body as her muscles moved was part of the exercise for Jeanne-Marie, to keep her from rushing through things at light speed, literally.

Jeanne-Marie flexed her toes against the mat, feeling a bit of nervous energy building in her stomach. Talk, she thought to herself. "So how are the two of you doing, with everything going on?" She all but blurted out the question, her eyes looking a bit scared. She hated that it was so hard for her to converse normally with people, afraid that either something might send her over the edge and back into that mental chasm that would allow Aurora back out, or that they would find her too frosty to hold a conversation. Jeanne-Marie told herself it was overreaction, but there was still that hesitation there.

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prydegoeth
2008-10-21 11:53 pm UTC (link)

As she stretched, deepening with each exhalation, she found herself to be remarkably inflexible. Admittedly, in comparison to Zap and (less so) Jeanne-Marie, she was flexible, but when she recalled even a year ago, her muscles, hamstrings especially, were much, much more loose. In fact, stretching now was frustrating - as were most things in Kitty's life now. She needed to trim the fat from her life, all of that shit that she didn't need to do, didn't need to get done, or wasn't even existent. Will she probably go back to school for a Master's? No, so she should stop studying like she will. Is it really necessary for Kitty to make sure the jet stays clean and maintained? No, other X-Men are the mechanics, not she. Should she keep jerking around the men in her life? Will she really continue to be an X-Man, or is she destined for other things?

She wanted to focus more on the simple things - not the little things that overwhelmed her life, but the simple pleasures. Dancing used to be one of them. She used to like to build hardware with Cypher. Geeze, she sometimes just liked to do the dishes. What happened to her childhood? She never even really had an honest one. She should go back and make up that time..

As she moved forward in the poses, following Jeanne-Marie's instruction and smiling slightly at Zap's carefree humming (even if her smile was twinged with jealousy), she continued to ponder these things, finding yoga and absolutely wonderful place to clear her mind and trim the fat. That would be her new mantra. Trim the fat. She only became distracted when her lead foot slipped slightly, and when her yoga instructor blurted out a question. "Uh," she began, glancing over at Zap, seeing if the other woman would answer the question first. "I'm - I'm fine, I guess. I mean, you can probably guess," she explained, finding it awkward to maintain the pose and speak, letting her arms droop slowly down to her side. Her eyes drifted over towards Zap again, waiting for her to continue with Kitty's idea.

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