[MINGLE] Great Shakes

[sixthiteration]

WHO: EVERYBODY
WHERE: EVERYWHERE
WHEN: 13 July (afternoon, main quake) - 14 July (morning, last aftershocks)
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Potential injuries, PTSD, and anxiety

---

The sun is still high when the earth begins its initial, almost benign sway, but seasoned villagers know well enough that what follows will be far from gentle. Vibrations ramp up swiftly, exponentially, until within the space of a few seconds, the whole world is shaking — Dishes pinging down from shelves, young trees sifting free of the earth, shingles dislodging and tumbling like rain.

After 20 seconds, the worst is done, and after 30 the shaking has ebbed completely. Some will have escaped relatively unscathed, but others will not have been so lucky...

...and the aftershocks are still to come.

Comments

Closed to Kamala

[3ofswords]

After firing off a series of messages to everyone still alive, conscious, and with a working watch--Kira tries to put aside what every lack of a reply might mean and minds his fucking lists.

The schoolhouse is worse off, shocking no one; Mark and the animals are fine. As names trickle in, either through the device or from the people passing through, he stays behind the bar with the books and a bucket of the weirdly vitamin rich peaches, handed off to the shaken up and less seriously injured.

Throughout the day, the glasses in the cabinets rattle with the windows, the lights flicker but hold. It's unnerving, more-so knowing his poor dog is probably in the cellar, smart enough to express the level of spooked he's starting to feel. Whatever his stupid journal said on the subject, he's never felt anything like this outside of brief explosions, the tremors of heavy vehicles or artillery. The latter didn't do much to the buildings downtown.

Watching another round of shingles slide off the roof, falling past the nearest window, he decides that upstairs trumps outside, when nature inevitably calls. The stupid books will be fine, he indicates for someone else to take the post. He might as well see what else he can bring down while he's up there, and make sure nobody is trying to wait this out under a bed.

[morphogenia]

She came here with Frank to check on people. There is of course safety in numbers thing. She's pretty sure that is why they're lingering here even if as usual they're both off doing their own thing. Kamala for her part is trying to learn more about the strangers here. It's during her quest that she starts to put two and two together. She smiles because the timing is so terrible but, her mischievous side wins out. She follows him upstairs and looks for her opening. The second it happens, Kamala doesn't hesitate. She's punching Kira with everything she has which really isn't much now that she has zero weight or muscle behind her.

"Hi!"

[3ofswords]

In Kamala's defense, Kira did tell her to assault him on sight. In Kira's defense, he didn't realize he'd reveal his very obvious identity in the context of an earthquake, and be walking out of the inn bathroom with a towel in his hands when she made good on it.

"Oh my fucking god," he wheezes, somewhere between her sharp little fists in his ribs and the sudden shock. The towel presses against his side, and he turns to look at his assailant.

"Tiny Dancer," he accuses, breaking into a smile as another afterhshock teeters him into the doorway. One hand grips, the other drops the towel as he reaches to pull her in with him. "Your timing sucks, kid. I love it."

[morphogenia]

She looks so proud of that accusation that she's practically beaming with joy. Kamala got Kira so good. It's honestly every bit as sweet as she thought it would be. Of course the aftershock would ruin an otherwise perfect moment. He rescues her before she can struggle to remember how to keep safe. "Yep! That's how I roll!" She lets out a nervous laugh. Ugh this sucks.

[3ofswords]

"Let's say our overlords have the bad timing," he says, though he wonders how much of it is their fault anymore. When it was just a script running in their heads, preparing them for whatever launch sent them back through the fountain, you could blame a lot on the Observers. Now it might just be the usual things. Giant plates of dirt slapping together miles under the ground, or whatever.

It's about as good for his blood pressure as sudden shots to the ribs.

"You here with Frank," he asks, watching a loose piece of rail rattle on the stairs down the hall.

[morphogenia]

Kamala would shrug if it weren't a terrible idea. It is though so instead she nods. Maybe they do. Truthfully she doesn't know enough about these Observers to offer an opinion. "Yep! We're here to help and you know possibly get hurt together? Go team?" She jokes as she watches that rail fall down with Kira. This is freaky.

[3ofswords]

This is, at least, probably a natural disaster--not man or observer made, not a script running to shake them like a kid with a snow globe. But he's with her: anything that makes the indoors less safe than standing in an open field adds a little more nausea to the general feeling of anxiety.

"Hoo," he audibly sighs, "this sucks." Probably, when a teenage girl is huddling in a doorway with you during a natural disaster, and you've got about ten years on her, there's an air of confidence or competence you want to project. Kira doesn't have enough of the latter, and the former was built on the literal ability to know how a situation would shake out. "Let me guess, he went to go check on my dog."

[morphogenia]

"Yeah." Kamala agrees without being able to hide her nerves at all. She has no idea what to do, but follow their lead. So far everyone seems to know what they're doing so good for her really for picking up on that. His follow up gets her to laugh. They've already figured him out, haven't they? The man has a one track mind.

"Yep! I think yours is his favorite." Definitely not the lazy bones that Kamala is totally fond of.

[3ofswords]

"Aurora is the logical favorite," he says, just because it's easier than addressing hey, this thing we're standing in is kid of shaking apart. The village water cooler is a goddamn nightmare sometimes--he can kind of see why Frank sticks to dogs and their related conversational points.

Glancing at the ceiling, which at least seems intact, he waits for the world to settle. "She's the baby and friendly to a fault. Frank gave off super serial killer vibes day one and she still took him her half-eaten peach."

[morphogenia]

Kamala can only follow his lead. She plays it cool and talks about dogs. It helps they all have that in common. She loved spending time with Lockjaw and then Max. She enjoys spending time with whatever crazy dog is following Frank around that day now. It's comforting to think about in a way few things are right now. It's how she can keep calm and not shake around this total stranger.

"Don't let him fool you. He just has bad taste in clothing and a scary face. Aurora was smart to figure it out right away." What could that be?? That he was weak for food and tiny creatures tbh.