open | she'll always be seventeen; that girl has love

[morphogenia]

WHO: Kamala Khan
WHERE: Fountain, Inn, around the village(s)
WHEN: June 21-23
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: Near-drowning, mentions of potential death scenarios and horror game elements

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Fountain-

It feels like a dream at first. Who wakes up underwater without a clue as to how they got there? Anime heroines. Maybe she fell asleep while streaming something, she thinks. Ammi will be mad at her for being wasteful again. It is a short-lived reflection. Kamala quickly focuses on holding her breath once the common-sense kicks in. Now isn’t the time for daydreaming. The unpleasant burn from water filling her nose and ears makes this real enough to take seriously. She pinches her nose with her thumb and index finger to be safe. Precious seconds tick by as she thinks about what she should do. The obvious answer is kick her way to the surface. She might have done it any other time. She knows her own strength. She can take whatever is waiting for her at the surface except for one thing. That is what holds her back. The last time she woke up in a strange place, seemingly unbeatable monsters ripped you bit by bit for making a sound. It is possible they took her back somehow and she ended up in the wrong spot like the others did in that dust storm.

Her heart fills with dread. She needs to shrink. It will minimize the sound; give herself a shot at survival. She closes her eyes and wills it to happen. There is no soft glow or weird sensation that comes with her cells rapidly responding to her will. Okay now she’s panicking. Her heart beats rapidly in her chest as she prays for her body to respond. Go small. It is our best chance. The only response is her lungs burning for air. She must ask herself some very hard questions quickly. Is it selfish to go up there knowing she is going to make noise and get whoever is nearby killed? Is it better to drown than be ripped limb from limb? She must decide which is the least selfish way to die.

In the end, her Ammi decides for her. She can hear her scream for her beta. Maybe this is all a bad dream. She is scaring Ammi with this behavior again. Kamala kicks hard until she reaches the surface and hangs onto the side of the fountain like a lifeline. Water pours from her nose, mouth, and ears as she struggles to breathe. She doesn’t know what will happen next. Will her mother pull her into her arms? Will a monster kill her? The only thing she can control is the need to get air into her lungs. She vomits water along the side to accommodate that need.

Eventually her body starts to settle. The spots behind her eyes fade as oxygen reaches her brain. She looks around, visibly disoriented. Neither outcome has happened. No monsters or mother to greet her. This place isn’t Reims. Is it one of the cities mentioned by the others? Somehow the bugs are still alive there in that case. Kamala has no way of knowing why or how of any of this. She can only proceed cautiously.

Every move is painful to her. She flinches at every slosh of water, at her feet when the touch the ground, and the weight on her back that doesn’t belong there. The clothes, hunter green scrubs of all things, that do not belong to her make noise as she moves. The water dripping from her hair and body does too. She wants to cry. Why not when everything is working against her? At least it will make her feel better. She quickly shoves the thought away. She needs to be brave like that boy who had the creatures running past him and never made a sound. She needs to try even if it feels like she is doomed to fail because of things outside her control.

She moves her soaked hair close to her chest to minimize the dripping noise and very slowly starts to walk. The terror and determination are plain to see on her face as she advances with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Any direction is better than no direction. Proceed with caution when approaching the soaking wet teenager since she is visibly spooked by whatever noise you will make.

Inn –

There is a party outside. People are making noise like it is a given. Kamala is so exhausted by her fear and near-death experience at this point that she doesn’t even try to stop them. She thinks back to her conversation with Frank suddenly. It is difficult to figure out what is real and not. Her answer was so simple yet sincere. It doesn’t matter if you are with the people you love. Her family isn’t here. Nakia and Bruno are not here. It is so exhausting to be strong without them again, she thinks. The fire ahead of her looks comforting even if it is noisy like the people outside. She takes off her backpack and curls in front of it like a child. She just wants to sleep for a while. Why not when everything is already so dangerous? She pulls the backpack into her arms and pretends it’s her sloth as she drifts to sleep.

Whenever someone tries to wake her or comes to close, Kamala quietly asks the same thing without fail. “How can you tell when something is real or not?” Maybe she’s getting a fever. This was not one of her better plans.

Wildcard -

Kamala will be wandering around until she starts to get an idea of what is happening here. Feel free to encounter her around the village or villages as she figures out what exactly is happening here. This can be anywhere from her first through third day. Obviously after the first day she will be in a less depressing state so I would recommend then!

Comments

[morphogenia]

She doesn't absolutely zero to discourage the dog. Kamala rewards Aretha with ear scratches before ditching her for sweet, sweet coffee. She feels a tiny pang of guilt. She sort of did. She knew a trip was coming, but.... well. She'll explain. "I didn't forget. I guess my sense of time is still funny. I'm lucky to get five hours of sleep back home in between school and all that other stuff I do." She threw herself back into superheroing hard since coming home. No one should be surprised by that. It was burning her out even if she didn't admit it to herself.

Kamala takes a long sip of coffee. "I have my stuff together already. I just need to do my prayers and eat before we go." At least she isn't backing out if only because it doesn't even occur to her as an option. She's always been consistent about running off with Frank as long as he allowed her to follow. It certainly helped she doesn't actually have much to pack. She's starting over again. Lucky her.

[oorah]

"I've got a lot of free time too," he admits, looking down at the floor. Being Mayor Hotdog had taken its toll the same way Ms. Marvel had for her. He isn't sure how to cope with being just one among many. No special resources or insight. In fact, he's been completely displaced from everything comfortable to him, save her. He's so grateful to have her, and that makes him feel even worse than it did the first time.

Frank gets up suddenly with a scuffling scoot of the chair, trying to force himself to make noise. "I'll go start on breakfast while you do that." Pray. He'd always respected her religion, but that for him meant keeping his distance. Aretha takes a flying leap off the bed and skids into one meaty thigh, effectively impeded from any further forward momentum by the solid appendage. He reaches down to scratch her head idly though it's obvious his heart isn't in it. After another moment's hesitation, he turns to go back down the stairs and get their 19th century shit rolling.

When she comes down after a while, there will be a sprawling breakfast waiting for her of fried eggs and spicy potato hash with shredded groffle. They're about as delicious as they are adorable, Frank had discovered, and 100% halal.

[morphogenia]

She knows what he means even if he doesn't say it. This is hard, isn't it? To go from being relied on by so many to no one. She doesn't know how to live this. She knows how to be with him. It's almost scary how easy it was to move in with him again. It's easy to let him take care of her. She wonders if that makes her selfish or ungrateful to her biological family.

Well. That's what prayer is for. She goes to wash up so she can get through it. It takes some time as always so Frank has more than enough time make breakfast. It is fantastic looking once she gets downstairs to see it with her backpack in hand. Whatever sad thing they might have shared earlier gets totally reset. She's all smiles as she looks it over and resists the urge to scream. She's not dumb. She knows the fact that he's trying to keep quiet is more of a choice than a need now. She's back to playing along now that she isn't cranky.

She pulls him into a quick hug (after setting her pack down) instead of shouting and books it to the breakfast table with light steps. Time to dig in. She's so hyped for this.

[oorah]

He smiles softly as he sits down with her, waving Aretha off. Your table-surfing days are over, lady!!! There are laws in this house. Frank is caught for several moments just watching her eat, thinking of the last time they would have done this. And then before, with David in that atrocious basement. He blinks water out of his eyes before it can get creepy and starts in on his meal quietly himself.

When that's done, he takes their plates and rinses them but leaves them to be washed for when they get back from their trip. Doublechecking to make sure they both have everything, he shoulders his pack and some of her gear so she only has her backpack to tend to. But as he toes the front door open gently, it hits a small box on the porch, making it skid noisily a few inches. He flashes her a confused look, but Aretha goes to sniff at it. It's probably not a bomb, so it's safe to open??? Ish. Honestly, the porch-drops in Reims have made him way too chill about this. He signs to Kamala, Want to do the honors?

If she does, inside she'll find her own wedding bangles, as well as the bracelet Bethany made for Frank that he was never seen without after he was elected. There's a third item though, a very similar picture to the one the Natives had gifted him that very first day. Except among the whole brood of Liebermans is none other than Max the pitbull, smiling big with his new family.

[morphogenia]

She can feel his gaze on her. Kamala learned long ago to ignore what other people might find odd when it comes to Frank. It helps he has amazing food to distract her with. The rest of their morning passes without incident save for that box. She looks as confused as him to be left gifts. She nods at his question. Kamala is happy to handle it.

She opens it with all the restraint of a little kid at Christmas. Kamala is rewarded with finding her bangles first. It's clear the only reason she isn't screaming is because of current company. She happily hugs them to her chest before putting it on. She quickly goes in for the rest. The bracelet gets a curious look before she makes the connection. The picture comes last. That is what gets Kamala.

She's happy about the bangles, but this warms her heart completely. Kamala is teary-eyed as she hands both items over to Frank. He'll understand why. They all look so happy. She's happy for them in return.

[oorah]

He blinks a few hundred times as he takes one item for each hand, excess supplies dropped to the floor unceremoniously. Frank is getting more desensitized every day - every moment really - to making sound. He wouldn't even blame her for screaming now. Tears instantly fill his eyes as he looks back and forth between the two things. Tiny demon girl, his gossip buddy and under-porch friend; late night patrol partner and biggest supporter Beth. Someone he'll probably never see again so having something crafted by her hand is beyond special. And then there's the photo. They all look happy, and of course most of all Max. Frank misses his best friend and brother and just as he'd taken to doing in Reims, he traces each of their faces reverently before tucking the item into his breast pocket. Next he fastens the closure on the bracelet around the wrist not bearing his teal communicator and steels himself.

Ready? he signs before picking their stuff back up and kicking the door closed with his heel. It's only enough to make a soft click, but it's still progress. This really ought to be business as usual. Strange items (or dogs!!) showing up with zero explanation. He sets this firmly in the venn diagram he has set up in his head of things all worlds like this share and things that were unique to Reims or the Villages here.

[morphogenia]

She feels a small swell of pride in her chest as she watches him. She wonders if maybe all his sensitivity about noise can't be traced back to how much they left behind or was taken from them. The thought never gets too far. Kamala stops staring for an inappropriate amount of time at Frank and goes back to following his lead.

Some things never change. She signs at him with some delay. She almost forgot how much these bangles weighed.

[oorah]

"Nah, sweetheart. Guess not." He swallows before setting off the porch to start their adventure. It's somehow the end of an era and the beginning all at once, butterflies swarming his insides as he tries to remind himself this is regular camping not camping-for-their-lives. Aretha runs circles around them and brays like she's on the trail already and it inspires a twitch of a smile he doesn't feel yet - but he thinks he will. He has everything he needs now.