[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

[morphogenia]

Kamala is here to help with Frank. Where is Frank at this point? God only knows. She's used to him doing his thing while she does hers. Instead of chasing him down, she goes to do her job. Right now her job is picking up pots and pans. Kamala offers up a meek little wave in greeting to Karen as she approaches, but otherwise there's no hesitation. She gets started collecting the pots nearest to her.

"You're going to have to help me with where these go. I don't actually live here."

[digging]

That prompts a soft, helpless laugh. "Neither do I," Karen admits with a glance around, only able to guess at the system she's sure Kate has in place in the normally well-ordered kitchen.

"I'm kind of wondering if it isn't safer to just stack things on the ground, maybe just against the cabinets, and leave the organizing for someone who knows better," she adds, looking down to the little pile she's got started on the table in front of her. "Aftershocks are a thing, right?"

[morphogenia]

Kamala snaps her fingers. That actually would be the smart thing, huh? "Oh, you're right! I didn't even think of that." She's revising her strategy to match Karen's. She leaves the first pot she collected on one side while putting the pan in her hand some way down. "How many do you think we'll have?"

[digging]

"I have no idea—" Karen begins, and as if they've called it up by a mere mention, the room begins to sway again with the first aftershock. Karen reaches out to Kamala's shoulder as if there's any real way she can protect the girl from what's happening, especially when it lasts a fraction of the time of the original quake. The pots and dishes ping and clatter, and one pan falls from the kitchen table, but other than that, it's not too bad.

"You okay?" Karen asks after the swaying stops. Physically, obviously Kamala's fine, but Karen herself is pretty damned scared by these quakes, and apparently they're in the same boat as far as being new to the phenomenon.

[morphogenia]

Kamala latches onto Karen when the ground shakes. Sometimes she forgets she lost her powers up until the moment she wills herself to be big and nothing happens. She can't protect this woman or herself... or at least that's what she thinks still. She quickly pulls away once it seems to have stopped and shakes her head. She's not okay. She hates feeling helpless.... Oh wait. She was supposed to lie there, wasn't she?

"Sorry, I suck. I've never been through something like this before."

[digging]

"What? No, you don't suck," Karen is quick to reply, her brow pinching as she watches Kamala pull away, her body language.

"Look, if you suck, then I suck, because I haven't been through anything like this ever in my life. I have no idea how people live someplace like California if they have to deal with this all the time." She shakes her head, reaching to scoop up the pan that had fallen from the table. "Give me a nor'easter any day, at least I know it's coming."

[morphogenia]

Kamala blinks slowly. She hadn't put it together until just now, but this is another Earth-America person!!! "Oh my God so it isn't just me! I would totally take that right now too!" She claps her hands together and looks so relieved. "I'm from Jersey City! How about you?" She has temporarily forgotten the pans and pots situation. Whoops.

[digging]

Technically they have had some whopper storms recently, but it's hard to see them as anything remotely on par with all this shaking out of nowhere, something that apparently both of them are having a tough time dealing with.

"New York City," Karen replies with a little smile. "Not too far away." She starts to slide the pan back on the table, then thinks better of it and deposits it into the sink.

"I'm Karen, by the way. You live with Frank, right?"

[morphogenia]

Kamala views those storms as a blessing since the programming of rain=not being murdered is hard to shake. When you live your life in fear of knocking over a plate and getting torn to pieces for it, you learn to appreciate any reprieve. That's neither here nor there. Kamala's eyes light up as she makes another connection.

"I do! Which means... oh my God. You're the Karen!! It's such an honor to finally meet you!" Kamala claps her hands together in excitement. "Frank told me so much about you back in Reims. All good! I promise! You're basically a legend. I never actually thought we'd meet in person...! This is awesome!"

[digging]

"A legend," Karen echoes, her brow creasing although she can't help smiling, too, if only at Kamala's enthusiasm. "I guess I'll believe you when you say it was all good."

No, she knows that much; Frank wouldn't talk shit about her to someone else, his sense of honor would never allow for that. That he talks about her at all is a little surprising, though.

"I'm glad we're finally meeting, too."

[morphogenia]

"Ha! I can totally back it up with evidence." Kamala seems to have finally remembered what she's here to do. The pots and pans are starting to get organized into two separate spots on the floor. "Karen Page: conspiracy solver, journalist, and helper when it comes to recovering precious family memories. He basically made you sound like a superhero. You should hire him to be your hype man when you get like super famous someday."