The Dorm Lawn, late Friday morning [11/23]

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

Cassandra wasn't sure whether it was the time she'd spent in her room or the meditation this morning or some combination of the two, but she found that she was feeling remarkably calm. It wasn't something she had expected, especially with the recent anniversary, but that didn't change how she felt.

It had been a while since she had practiced any of the softer styles she had been taught, and today felt like the day for it. So she was out on the lawn going through a series of slow graceful movements, flowing smoothly from one to the next.

[ooc: Open.]

Comments

[intraspective]

"What's that called?" Ino asked curiously, as she paused to watch.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

Cassandra finished the form before turning to Ino. "Tai chi chuan. I haven't practiced it in a while."

[intraspective]

She smiled, "You looked pretty good to me, but I admit that I don't know anything about that style. Well, any style from this world really."

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"There are a lot," Cassandra admitted. "I know most of them."

[intraspective]

"Are you good at most of them though?" It was asked curiously, then she laughed, "If that's the case then it's no wonder I lost so easily."

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"I guess," Cassandra shrugged. "It's all I learned until I was eight."

[intraspective]

Ino blinked. "You learned all of that before you were eight?" Colour her impressed.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"Instead of talking, yeah." It had been a pretty demanding curriculum.

[intraspective]

It had to have been. Ino stared. "You didn't learn to talk before that?"

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"I was fifteen," Cassandra explained. "I just started learning other stuff when I was eight."

[intraspective]

...

Ino was never ever going to complain about her training schedule again. Never.

"Doesn't that make it hard to interact with people?"

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes." Most of the time. "But... not always because of the talking." Cassandra frowned, considering, "Because I didn't know how to talk, I learned to... understand the way people move."

"Most of the time what they mean is not what they say."

[intraspective]

"Everybody lies." Ino agreed cheerfully, "They even teach us how back home."

"So, like, body language?" she asked, tilting her head, "How much information can you get out of that anyway?"

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy stopped to watch, recognizing many of the moves, but not quite the form. He started trying to copy it.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

Cassandra realized he was there, but din't feel any need to interrupt her workout. The moves were already slow and deliberate, so there was no need to change anything to allow him to follow.

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy had always been a quick learner when it came to this sort of thing. Before too long he had picked up the rhythm and was only a step or two behind.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

She finished a series of moves and paused, watching Billy while he caught up.

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

It didn't take him too long. "That was nice." he said. "Never seen that form before."

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"My dad taught me when I was four."

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

"My foster parents taught me how to hold a gun when I was four. Not how to shoot it, just how to hold it."

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

She nodded, "Early."

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

"Yeah I had an unusual upbringing. They started teaching me explosives at age five, and by six I was sneaking into places."

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"My dad was never all that big on explosives." Not that she didn't learn them later, of course.

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

"My dad was all about anything that could further his aims. Didn't know he was my father till I was ten."

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

"Didn't know mine until I was sixteen." Despite the fact that he had raised her.