The Other Kung Fu Chick

[feminine_menace]

The doc said YT is okay for skateboarding practice, as long as she doesn't do anything too crazy, so she's been just sort of cruising over the hills. She's roaming further than usual, because she's looking for someone.

She hasn't seen the kung fu chick since she went to the infirmary the other day. YT's kind of curious about her. And she also wants to learn her name, if possible. Maybe learn some of that cool stuff she was doing. After all, YT's planning to join a war effort soon, and afterward, being able to fight like that - or at least half so well, maybe even a quarter - would certainly be useful in her own world.

YT returns to the spot where she first saw the kung fu girl practicing, hoping that maybe she's back there today.

Comments

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph laughs. "Except when they're possessed by tofu."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I heard about the tofu." YT looks very uneasy. By her way of judging things, being a yuppie is a fate worse than death. "But even with the tofu, it's just temporary. Most people spend their whole lives being drones. In a box."

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph nods. "Yeah, I guess. But isn't it sort of the same thing, being drones and being plugged into a computer all the time?"

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Huh? Oh, you mean the Metaverse. It's not like that. People go in and out. I mean, there's some bitheads who're goggled in a lot, like my pod Hiro, but he works there. Although he also wears a gargoyle rig - that's, like, a portable computer - with a Metaverse overlay, which is so geeky it's not even funny. I make sure he gets a healthy dose of Reality every now and then. Juanita keeps him in line, too. She's his girlfriend and the smartest person I know."

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Man ... talking to you is totally like something out of a book," Steph says, grinning. "Future tech or something, like Tim used to like. I totally want to visit your world some time."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Actually, it is out of a book, sort of," YT says, smirking. "A book called Snow Crash. Hiro doesn't know yet, though, so please don't tell him."

"Sure, if you're one of the bat-folks, I think you'll do okay. But I'd have to come back here from Reality first. I got in here from the Metaverse - don't know how that worked, but it did - and from what the computer sprites've told me, code and matter don't mix too well." YT sighs and props her chin on one hand, kind of despondently. "So if my door turns up, I don't think walking out of it would be a good idea just yet."

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph grins at being called one of the bat-folk. She is, but it's always nice to be reassured.

"Yeah, when we went with K to fight off the tentacle thing, they couldn't actually fire out of Milliways ... bit of a problem. Don't worry, I can't get anywhere without someone else opening the door anyway. My door just leads to -- wherever. Heaven, or Hell, or whatever."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

YT drums her fingers on the table. "I'd been wondering about that," she says. "I know there's some other dead people here. Some of them are Bound, and some aren't. It seems kind of weird that people end up here after they die, because they have something to deal with first." She shrugs. "Better than ending up in Purgatory or being a ghost, I guess. But then, after that, you either stay here or you just go, poof, forever. What's the point of that?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph goes a little quiet, sipping her coffee, for a moment.

"I dunno. I'm waiting for someone to tell me... I don't even know if it's unfinished business or if I'm gonna be re-re-thingo, you know. I mean, death isn't always permanent, in our world. But ... I try not to think about that."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Sorry," YT says, kind of hunching over her coffee cup. "It's just kind of bothered me since I heard about it. I've gone most of my life without believing in God and this whole thing looks like it's gonna break my streak."

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph nods, sympathetically.

"I don't ... Well, I never really believed in an afterlife either, apart from a sort of ... Well, y'know. When I died I pretty much figured if there was a down, that was where I was heading. This, though..." She gestures at the warm, welcoming bar.

"Well ... I still don't know what comes next. I just ... don't wanna find out, that's all I know."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"I didn't think there was anything at all," YT says quietly. And then because that's one of the most uncomfortable things you could say like ever, there's an awkward silence.

After that, YT changes subjects. "So if I wanted to learn kung fu stuff," she says, "would you be up for teaching me?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Sure!"

Steph's just as glad for the subject change.

"I mean, I'm not that good — not compared to T-the current Robin or anything. But I was still Robin. It'd be awesome to have someone new to train with."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

YT grins. "Yeah, well, you're better than I am. I just know some brawling and dirty tricks. Although Batgirl seems to think I have kind of a talent for it." She'd gotten enough nods of approval from Cass to see that. "And where I come from, I could use it."

[alwaysroomforhope]

"B.G. taught me a heap," Steph says, with a fond grin. "Yeah, I'll totally teach you, if you like."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Awesome," YT says. Her pod's got swordfighting, maybe she can have kung fu. "Maybe we can start tomorrow or something. Whenever's good for you." She's pretty excited about the idea.

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph grins at her, and names a time. "Down by the lake, tomorrow, just where -- oh, right, where we were before. It's a good spot."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"That's great," YT says, and finishes the last of her coffee. "I'll see you there. Hey, do I call you sensei now, or what?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

That gets a snort of laughter.

"Only in front of people I wanna impress. No, seriously, just Steph."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Okay, Steph. But can I call you sensei or Great and Wise Master if it's funny?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph giggles. "Deal. Especially if it's just after I fall on my ass."