trans_9 | Routine [Weekly-Open!]

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Routine [Weekly-Open!]

It was amazing how quickly one could get used to things. The eerie suspicions of living inside a 'benevolent' Reaper still didn't leave the commander, she couldn't exactly keep that from her normal daily activities.

One of those activities meant keeping fit. Most of the crew would probably see her at one point or another every morning.

From the minute she woke up and had her first cup of coffee, Shepard was already making her rounds. A nice, even paced jog around the ship for an hour and half. Usually she wouldn't go further than three miles, but the combat suit she wore in place of the plant suits made the exercise a little easier than it should.

Afterward her jog, came the Sensorium. She was kind of fascinated by what the section of the Reaper-ship could do. There was a lot virtual reality could do in her universe, but the experiences the Sensorium had to offer were leagues beyond anything Shepard had seen. With a few creative thoughts, it took the less than tech-savvy Shepard only a few minutes to build herself a simulated training room. The architecture wasn't too extravagant, a simple studio on top of a skyscraper. The floor of the studio was covered in mats, while the walls were lined with other athletic gear. None of it was real, but it would do well enough for now. For several hours afterward, Shepard would either use the equipment or call up various AI partners to spar against. humans, Turians, Assari, Krogan; all of them had different fighting styles and the Sensorium did well in making each virtual opponent react like they should and gave the commander quite the workout, though occasionally leave her some bruises to nurse for the rest of the day.

Shepard did this every morning almost like clockwork, a nice routine schedule that helped bring clarity to the rest of the day. None of it was private time either. If anyone wanted to talk to her, who was she to stop them?

[This log basically can take place any morning throughout the week. If you tag, be sure to point out what day they visit so we don't cause too much of a weird time-bendy thing.]

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Morning routines were commonplace activities for Aeneas, only his particular ones were normally carried out in the City by his half-renovated hovel and involved copious amounts of pleasant humming and whistling. They were vocal hobbies that he’d picked up recently, mostly from Matt; the tunes were a little less complete than the action itself, but Aeneas found their coherence less necessary than the soothing, distracting effects they produced in relation to his scatterbrained consciousness. They were also a new product of his recent bout of social obscurity, merely gaps to fill in where conversations with the various humans of this vessel would usually occupy, but they were sufficient, if not entertaining to partake.

Alas, this separation was coming to its close. Aeneas’s two-story flat was nearing completion, though its insides remained unfurnished and aesthetics would eventually need to be attended to. What to do when that work was done with?

Well he could invite others over, have them take a look around. That seemed like the thing to do, yeah? Humans were curious, they enjoyed investigating new spaces, and they had the most interesting artistic tastes when it came to interior decorating. Plus the company would do him some good. It had been far too long since Aeneas last had a decent conversation with Matt, though he had spoken to others that knew him, and he’d stopped actively looking for Katara when he suspected that she’d left medbay. Arha had taken on some new responsibilities and seemed far too busy to bother with the alien, and thus Aeneas had left her well alone until she got her priorities in order.

Hadn’t it been long enough?

This morning, Aeneas was determined to interact with someone. The creature woke up especially early to tend to his standard procedures—sorting through his electronics, reassembling the line of pillows that constituted his bed, checking to make sure that the slabs of insulation and outer materials over the roof weren’t leaking—and then he resolutely made his way to the Mess Hall to get breakfast. Now that was a new concept, getting food immediately after waking, but apparently humans made a big deal out of it, so surely there had to be others up at this hour?

And indeed there was! The alien nearly bumped into her on his way past the Sensoriums, turning a corner a little too subtly as the jogger came his way. Aeneas’s muzzle turned rosy on impulse and, all thoughts of discussion effortlessly destroyed by his inherent bashfulness, he ducked his head to continue on his way, trilling a hurried “Excuse me,” as he pressed himself to the wall and quickened his step. His lavender eyes consequently refused to acknowledge anything that was not directly in front of his forelegs.

Shepard had hoped that after talking with Williams, the rest of her morning exercise would be done in relative peace. It wasn't a surprise that Ash brought a rather down mood afterwards and Shepard really didn't want to think farther than that. She was a good soldier and the fault had been hers.

All that thinking nearly got herself crashing into one of 'Stacy's' residences. She nearly leaped to the side, the ceramic shielded boots squeaked against the floorplate as she tried to evade. A little shocked and winded from her jog, the blonde commander looked up at who she nearly ran into...and wondered if maybe the Reaper was in her head again.

Shepard had seen a lot of aliens in her mildly young life (god, she was already nearing middle age) and seen plenty of weird things in other worlds. Hell, every so often that she visited the Citadel, there was some new alien species walking around that she never seen before.

The one that was in front of her, definitely beat anything that she's seen yet...except maybe the Hanar. Those guys are just weird and for some strange reason made Shepard a little self-conscious on her gender.

She took a step back, giving Aeneas the look over as it fled. There was just nothing about the alien that really registered as 'normal'. Just what kind of habitat did that race stem from?

"It's..alright." Shepard answered, though still a little thrown off.

[Shepard won't pursue, so if you want continue the log, you probably need to have Aeneas come back. XD]

Aeneas’s gait did not slow for several paces, for his legs were determined to take him as far away from this uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible, but then his mind caught up to his muscles and recent memories caused him to reconsider. ”No,” came the gentle subconscious chiding, ”You promised that you’d talk to someone this morning—you failed to specify who! There is no excuse for this behavior.”

Then the obligatory groan rumbled within the alien’s throat and he stopped, though reluctantly. ”Apologize.”

Aeneas did not want to apologize.

”Now.”

The creature lowered his ears and turned, mortified, but he kept a brave face and managed a smile. Immediately afterwards he was glad that he did; this female’s suit was intriguing, definitely not what Aeneas had been expecting from a casual passerby—if this one even qualified as such, as he was beginning to wonder—and thus he at least had discovered a new curiosity to pursue. The baffled gaze on her face, however, was far from unusual, and in a way it forced Aeneas to explain himself, perhaps to keep her from getting the wrong idea about what his species was like. Not that he knew what his species was like regardless, but you know what I mean.

“—Sorry, so sorry,” trilled Aeneas with a scratch of his ear, a casual and friendly wave passing through his broad tail while the translators processed his speech, “That was—rude of me. I did not mean to in—inconvenience you—“

Such as he was doing now through incessant rambling. Way to go, Aeneas.

"Don't worry about it." Shepard answered, shaking her head with a disarming smile. It was obvious that she was still a little confused by Aeneas' appearance. Mostly, the confusion came out of just the almost randomness of the alien's physical make-up. Blue striped fur? humanoid hands? Four-way beak? tuning fork tail? Shepard wasn't exactly especially religious, but it seemed like whoever decided on creating the universe, it just couldn't make up its mind for Aeneas' species.

"I'm Commander shepard." She held out her hand, hoping that an almost standard greeting wouldn't be considered something troublesome for this guy.

...it was a guy, right?

The same could be said for Aeneas’s first observations of humans—odd, flat-footed bipeds that they were, nigh hairless apart from an inconvenient little tuft upon their scalps. Definitely land creatures, but even that sort of locomotion seemed cumbersome for a creature with an s-shaped spine and no tail to complement it. How on Walrum were they supposed to stand upright?

Regardless.

“T-thank you,” purred the alien, still rather nervous, though the smile and friendly gesture helped (both of which he returned, brow curving upwards as he clasped Shepard’s hand with his own smaller, distinctly webbed appendage), “I am Aeneas.”

Gender notwithstanding. The signs were quite obvious, if only she knew what to look for. One of the only recognizable ones might’ve been his awkwardness around any creature that emanated feminine pheromones, though this was only by happenstance, because he was awkward around most creatures regardless of sex.

“…Have you eaten yet this morning?”

"Nice to meet you, Aeneas." Shepard smile warmed. Her previous career of being a Marine gave little experience in diplomacy and while growing to be a commanding officer and eventually Spectre, she still felt a little shy with relations between her and new races. Seeing it not blow up in her face is always a nice bonus.

She shook the webbed hand of the alien with a firm and confident shake, folding her arms to get a little more relaxed posture. She didn't exactly see the reason why Aeneas was nervous around her, but she could tell he was pretty hesitant about something.

"I was planning on it after I finished my exercise." She answered. "So tell me about yourself, Aeneas." Exercise can wait. Getting to know your new crew took more priority.

Sometime after acquiring her weapons and armor, Ashley did a jog at least once a day on 'Stacey' somewhere as to keep in shape. She wasn't ignoring Shepard and the Normandy crew exactly, just trying to figure out where she fit in that's all. Spying Shepard as she slowed down, Ashley gave a fair wave. "Commander."

Shepard had relatively just started her jog when she caught sight of Ash. She didn't even slow down for her companion and a small part of her wanted to just ignore the Gunnery Saergant and act like she didn't even see her. That wasn't who Shepard was though and definitely wasn't someone she wanted to be. Shepard could admit to herself that her and Williams had some issues, especially after Virmire, but that didn't mean the Commander would/should ostracize her subordinate.

"Gunny." Shepard replied, nodding her head and motioning with her hand for Ashley to join her on her jog. "Already on three, going for six if that's alright with you?"

If she wasn't wearing the hard suit, six miles would be insane even for someone like Shepard. Six miles though, was the only way she was going to break a sweat when wearing the suit.

As much as Ash wished she could help it, sometimes she slipped into old habits. So she gave a brief nod beofre speaking. "That's fine, Commander." She followed Shepard on the run, hoping to find some info from her. "Commander, what do you know about this place?" It was mostly curiousity at most.

The Major didn't often wander around the ship, though when she did it was universally for the purpose of snooping. Active camouflage made the task simple, and usually she found nothing of interest, eventually got bored, and went back to her habitual occupation in Neuropathy.

But not today.

After all, fighting— or at least killing was her business. Her job, if you wanted to be technical, was to kill for public officials when they couldn't do so for themselves, for whatever reason. Public Security was a generalized, publicity-friendly way of saying government killer. Something about an attractive woman beating the tar out of a series of virtual opponents just made her smile. So, off went the camo with that soft, tell-tale click-hiss, and Motoko leaned against the simulated practice-room wall to watch. Oh yes. Watching was good.

The sound of of Motoko's active camouflage shutting down surprised Shepard while she faced against a Krogan. Her head instinctively turned toward the sound, knowing full well that an unexpected sound wasn't exactly a good thing. What stood in that direction was definitely someone she wouldn't mind taking a break just to watch even longer. There was no time for that though and Shepard turned back to the more attention-seeking VI-Krogan.

Her eyes only briefly caught the Krogan's fist filling her view before a nice chunk of pain splashed across her face.

She stumbled back from the punch, shaking the stars that danced in her head. Her free hand came up to move her jaw in case of dislocation. There wasn't any, which was good. Still hurt like crazy though. The VI-Krogan took advantage of the opening and growled into a charge. It left little in options and Shepard did the one thing the VI wouldn't except.

She headbutted him. Didn't exactly help curb the pain around her head. Ow, or her neck.

Shepard followed through though and within seconds, the VI-Krogan winked out in defeat. She stood over where her opponent had laid and rubbed the areas that screamed for attention.

"And what brings you here?" She asked. The commander didn't even bother to look back at Motoko, her focus currently more toward easing the aches than on some mysterious attractive woman...for now.

She didn't answer the question, only smiled in a faint, disconnected way that was not at all at Shepherd, despite being pointed in her direction. It wasn't a blink, exactly, that separated the point between complete disengagement and when the Major properly took notice, but it might have been.

Motoko's body was normally held artificially still. She didn't have to shift her weight, or breath at differing rates as a natural human did to keep comfortable, and for that reason she often simulated such low-level discomfort externally, to avoid standing out in a crowd. That's all it was— camouflage. She had been still, and now she moved, shifting her weight from one leg to another in a smooth roll of her hips, a motion that was as artificial as could be and calculated to express a certain level of derision, no more.

"Commander Shepherd, isn't it?" As if she was capable of forgetting.

Shepard turned her head to give her guest a sidelong glance when there wasn't any answer to her question. She recognized the woman almost immediately. One of the people that answered her questions, wasn't it? Now that she had a time to give the woman a careful look, Shepard couldn't find anything not to like. She was obviously human, her skin tone and features were of Asian descent. China perhaps? (Like Shepard's been on Earth long enough to know the difference.)

Definitely a lovely physique to behold and a bust to never leave, so why did she feel like something was off about her? Without losing her sight of Motoko, the commander turned herself around toward her guest. Her hands slid down to rest on her hips while her lip curled up in an almost trademark smirk.

"You're talking to her. I never got your name when we last met, miss..?"

"Major," She corrected, abruptly, and supplied Shepard with the pseudonym that passed for her surname, "Kusanagi."

She could see she was being evaluated, and it twisted that little smirk just a little farther into view. Motoko allowed herself to lean back, ever-so-slightly, in a subtle invitation. This was, after all, a very expensive shell: it would be insulting not to be checked out by those of a compatible sexual orientation.

"This is your training sim?"

Shepard's smirk grew a little wider when she caught Motoko's invite. She took a step closer, not letting herself be rude in refusing such a generous offer.

"Major." Shepard corrected herself. By Shepard's own universe's rank structure, that would place her under Marines, with the same level respect of Shepard's own commander status. Which was good, any lower rank and the smugness would have irritated the young commander while any higher rank would have just made this early exchange slightly disappointing.

"For now, anyway." She admitted. "Seeing as how a lot of people tend to visit it, I can't really claim it as mine for much longer."

It was already the second day since she used sensorium and her Monday morning had almost no peace. Then again...

"Not that I mind your company." A quick attempt to cover her poorly worded mistake.

Mordin had figured the new scheme out and had been waiting near the Sensoriums when Shepard arrived. He nodded politely and stepped forwards to speak with her, his usual brusque manner firmly entrenched.

"Good morning, Commander. Good to see you are keeping active. Keeps one healthy, mentally and physically."

There was a lot of uncertainties in Shepard's life, kinda came with the territory of being a N7 and a Spectre. Things just tended to happen and new allies were always what you didn't expect. Allies from the future were certainly unexpected and to first meet them when you're naked just made it all down right uncomfortable.

Still, Mordin seemed like a good enough guy. She slowed herself to a halt in front of the Salarin. Despite having the temperature control on her suit set to a nice cool temperature, she was still sweating a little. Maybe nine miles was pushing it.

"Comes with the job description, Doc. Don't want to get a cramp when I'm trying to run away from something." She wheezed. Her hands held the rest of herself up by pushing against her armored knees.

"Something I can help you with?"

"Just saying hello, Shepard. Also thought it would be wise to check in. See how you are getting along." Mordin nodded and began to pace back and forth.

"Have several theories about ship, was wondering if you would like to hear them. Most fascinating. Like the Reapers ship, but incredibly different. Excellent science lab, too..." He's starting to ramble. Uh oh.

"I'm surviving." Shepard commented and added a shrug. That was really as best as she could describe it. How else could you be while knowing that any action could be tainted and manipulated by some gigantic ship.. It would be an understatement to say that the thought didn't worry her, but she wasn't going to let herself overthink until she went crazy in paranoia.

Unfortunately, she didn't know Mordin well enough to catch the warning. Seeing him excited though, the commander wasn't sure whether to admire the optimism or regret her decision. "I'm all ears."

Wedge had still been waiting for a chance to speak with Shepard, and this had seemed like a good opportunity. So he had fallen in next to her on her job in silence and completed the run with her, only a little out of breath (he wouldn't have been at all out of breath ten years ago. Not even five. Damned desk jobs). He paused at the entrance of the Sensoriums, stretching his aching muscles out as he watched Shepard go to town on the simulated bad guys. Finally, he spoke.

"Commander Shepard, General Antilles. I was hoping I could get a few minutes of your time."

Frankly, Shepard was a little surprised Wedge managed to keep up. From what she understood, not many of other humans were as capable in physical prowess as her or Ashley. That wasn't necessarily too weird since both her and Ash grew through the gene therapy they received when they enlisted and Shepard still had left overs of her parent's own modifications. It all kind of added up. The guy should be lucky he didn't start up where the commander had begun.

He fairly good looking for his age, Shepard observed. Definitely athletic and from uniform pace that he moved while jogging suggested some military training. You just lose a lot of that personal touch of flailing after being grinded down in basic.

The Commander tried to not glance over at the guy too much while they continued their job, doing her best not to let her mind wonder on a mere stranger.

Which was good, considering that what introduced himself as quickly killed anything hinting that interest. Actually, finding out that Wedge was a general made it even more awkward. There was a lot of ranks mixed up in Stacy and Shepard still had no idea who to really show proper respect to. After defeating a VI-Human, she halted her normal selection and stood there.

"Of course..sir. You wanted my experience of commando training, right?" She asked.

Really, really weird.

"I did, yes." Wedge huffed quietly, still catching his breath. He'd thought he was in decent shape, but obviously he needed some work. He straightened and ran a hand through his hair before he spoke again.

"I was wondering what sort of regimen you were thinking of putting together, primarily."

"Yes sir." Shepard answered, her body instinctively closing together to stand in something of military rest.

"To be honest, sir," She started, a small grimace twisting her face. "I have to know the experience of all of those who you want me to train. I can try to teach what I was taught in formal academy. I'd only suggest that if there were a steady amount of military personnel amongst your squadron. If not, I'd probably would suggest Guerilla training, which I've been more trained to teach. It would teach them similar skills, but not as robust or intense as true commando training."

Shortly after Reyna had begun to explore her new surroundings she had been delighted to discover the Sensoriums. The concepts of advanced holographic and robotic technology were not unfamiliar to her, but to the best of her knowledge none of the member races of the Republic had developed anything even remotely as advanced as what seemed to be available to her here.

Once she'd determined that the Sensoriums were operated as much by thought as by keyed commands it quickly became one of her favorite places to visit. She especially enjoyed using it as a place to swim, stopping by in the early hours almost every day to indulge her passion for it. Some days she took a leisurely swim in her favorite lake on Alderaan and on other days she gave herself a hard workout in a competition-sized pool.

She was running late today and found that her usual Sensorium was already in use when she finally arrived. Reyna's disappointment quickly turned into pleasant surprise when she recognized the attractive commander she'd met shortly after her awakening. Grinning, she leaned against the wall near the entrance, hips cocked provocatively and arms crossed under her impressive chest, as she called out a greeting.

"Good morning Commander." Reyna flashed a the other woman an impish smile. "Is getting beaten up by virtual opponents your idea of 'exercise' or are you secretly a masochist?"

By now, Shepard had come to expect people interrupting her morning routine. While she wasn't captain anymore, it certainly seemed like she still had enough people wanting moments of her time. Not that she minded the company too much. Just another thing that gave Shepard's new life a small sense of norm.

She had just finished her first gauntlet of virtual opponents when a sweet voice chimed in her ear. While looking quite exhausted, Shepard turned around with a smile for the former diplomat. If lovely women kept coming walking into her simulation, there was an underlining fear she might come to love this ship after all.

"That depends," Shepard teased right back, stepping over to a chair that carried a bottle of water. Her smiled widened as she took a quick swig. "Are you always this beautiful or am I just lucky?"

Real smooth, Shepard.

Reyna laughed and rolled her eyes at the mildly corny rejoinder, her outward amusement masking her surprise at the way the causal compliment made her heart skip a beat. She chalked it up to the fact that Shepard looked exceptionally good just now, what with being all worn out and sweaty from her mock battle. There was just something about a soldier that turned her head...

Giving herself a mental shake, Reyna push away from the wall and sauntered over to where Shepard was standing, he boot heels thudding softly on the floor as she walked. When she was only a few feet from the attractive blonde Reyna planted her hands on her hips and tossed her head suggestively.

"Definitely the former and possibly the later," she answered with a grin. Hooking a nearby chair with the toe of her boot, Reyna dragged it over and plopped down onto it, her legs straddling the back and her arms resting on top. "Seriously though, is sparring part of your training program?" There was an eager glint in her eye and it was obvious that she found the idea highly appealing.

Hearing Reyna laugh brought a easy smile across Shepard's face. There was just something about the woman's laugh that made the rest of her feel a little softer around the edges. Maybe it was the fact that Reyna's plantsuit was still quite a nice fit with those round curves she seemed to...

Shepard let out a deep breath, action that made little difference in between the light pants of exhaustion. If her mind was already running into those thoughts, she obviously hadn't had enough exercise today. she tried her best not to let her eyes wonder again and remain militarily proper.

Her eyes brows raised at the question, setting the water bottle down before leaning against the wall. It would make all her work for nothing if she sat down so quickly.

"Usually." The commander nodded, her head turning to glance over at the exercise mats that dominated the center. "You get used to that kind of a program when you're a mean for so long. I've been commanding officer for a year now, but old habits die hard, I guess."

Not that Shepard was one to let herself go for the sake of being a position of power. she actually wasn't much of a fan of arm-chair leadership, something any of her crew could tell Reyna. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked back at the diplomat with a grin. "The holograms are new though, never had them back home. I usually had to find an ensign to pick on or seemed too cocky for his age."

Reyna graced Shepard with a knowing little smile when she caught the other woman checking her out. She didn't mind it really, and she could hardly expect anything else given Shepard's proclivities and the fact that her plantsuit clung snugly to her literally everywhere. It had taken a while for Reyna to get used to having her generous curves constantly and prominently on display, but once she had Reyna found that she rather enjoyed being able to turn heads simply by walking down the corridor.

"I'm sure many a young ensign retired to their quarters battered and bruised after a session with you commander," Reyna remarked only half jokingly. "I'm sure that were they here now they would very much appreciate you exerting yourself sparring with a virtual opponent instead." Reyna chuckled quietly.

"I must admit that I'm sorry I didn't arrive sooner and only witnessed the last few moments of your current session. You are quite impressive to watch in action commander." Reyna's beautiful gray eyes lingered on Shepard with open admiration and even a hint of desire. "If you'd don't mind having an audience I'd like see the whole program next time."

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Routine [Weekly-Open!]

How about Monday? I like Mondays.

Monday is fine, I'm just going to assume it takes place after meeting with Ash (below)

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Monday should be good

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Re: Monday should be good

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I'm just going to put this as a Monday too

Tuesday

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Wednesday

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Thursday (Srsly? Thursday?)

Re: Thursday (Srsly? Thursday?)

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