sixthiterationlogs | open | we always are together

Entry tags:

open | we always are together

WHO: Kamala Khan
WHERE: House 6
WHEN: Dec. 13th; late afternoon aka KAMALA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
OPEN TO: residents of house six, assorted cr of Kamala and the other house six residents - basically everyone who knows Kamala, Frank, and Jessica and is on good terms with them. It's basically everyone.
WARNINGS: Possible mentions of horror settings or past trauma since Kamala does live with Frank Castle and Jessica Jones who are their own warning. Honestly this is a rated G birthday log.

She wakes up super stoked to be alive. It's not unusual for her honestly. Kamala is more excited than usual if only because it's not every day you get superheroes coming over for your birthday. Granted she's seeing them more as ordinary people who do incredible things sometimes. That's a positive change as far as she's concerned. It doesn't change the fact that Kamala from like age seven and up would have seen this as a dream come true. Who is she to question the wisdom of tiny Kamala?

She spends a decent portion of the day (following breakfast) getting ready for guests. She styles her new, shorter hair cut as elegantly as she can, dresses in the hunter green dress and pants outfit given to her by the Observers because screw them it's pretty and they can't ruin it with what they pulled after.

By the time she finishes, it's time to greet guests and see what Frank's done with the rest of the house while she's been hiding out in her room to obsess over her appearance. She'll go around greeting whoever shows up, shoving food at them, and generally be grateful they came. It's her seventeenth birthday. She's away from her home, childhood friends, and family. Having anyone here today means a lot more than she lets on. It's about the only thing allowing her to feel happiness instead dwelling on what she's missing.

(ooc; ~~top levels will be posted by Frank in like five minutes for setting info. please hold for those!~~ feel free to tag those or make your own starter ~~once they're posted~~. I'm flexible.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jess was game to stagger her pace and appear to arrive sometime after him but it seemed silly once the time came. Kamala's not so immature that she needs to go above and beyond in maintaining her privacy. She will assume they were colluding on village intel or checking on Jess's house well before she questions if they were cuddling for warmth.

Once inside, Jess feels like an icicle in an oven as she struggles to get out of her jacket. With frozen and drunk fingers she finally manages to keep her hold on the zipper tab and tug it halfway down before fumbling it again. Overwhelmingly glad to be out of the cold, Jess registers the emptiness of the house and a bit of noise and that's it. She's happy to be on her own as the blood in her fingertips unthaws. Jess gradually gains momentum as she unzips her jacket, slips one arm out and shoves the sleeve down and off the other. She shucks off her fingerless gloves with hooked thumbs, then rubs her hands together vigorously and takes in the state of the house.

The truth is she doesn't really care what is going on with those two as long as they're getting along. Again her stab at romance sucked. She's not looking to ship anyone, but superheroes in fictional stories. Kamala is trying to desperately cover up the super obvious clean job happening here. The animals are all settled for the night. That had been priority one. She's been clearly picking up around the house too. The path to the kitchen sure seems suspiciously clean. It's almost like all the dirty dishes have been picked up too.

"What? No! I'd never clean on my birthday. That's crazy! I'm... clearly drinking wine or something else adult-like! Don't come in the kitchen!" She shouts back at him. It'd be more convincing if he didn't walk in a second later to see her in her work clothes, hair tied up in a messy ponytail, and a plate clearly hidden behind her back. God she's so bad at lying to adults. Sometimes even she knows it.

"Frank! Hi! Just finished drinking like half your stash. Sorry not sorry. I'll go pray about it once you guys leave the kitchen or talk to Matt. He seems like he'd judge me hard enough for it."

Kamala is literally the most precious person he's ever met. And it probably says something about him that she knows he'd rather she drink all his wine than clean up the house. He hefts Bruno under one arm like a football and holds out his other hand for the dish, fixing her with a firm (but bemused) stare.

"How long ago did your buddies leave?" He hates to think of her here alone cleaning while Jess and he were getting high by the fountain like a couple of delinquents, honestly. He figured at least Billy and Peter would hang around longer.

Her preciousness seeps into the hallway and living room and presumably every vestibule of the squatly packed house. Jess hopes she had a little help in tidying the place up before everyone cleared out but the roof was hardly on fire so it couldn't have been that burdensome a task. It might help her in winding down, too, after all the flitting about she did socially. To go from a ground floor thronging with people to just having Jess and Frank to hang out with, must be the interpersonal equivalent of dunking your head in cold water.

Jess hangs her coat up to dry, pockets stuffed with inside out gloves, and heads to her room to drop off her bag and the sloshing contents within. The scuff of her boots announces her proximity as well as her eavesdropping. She listens in on them with her door flung open and half-heartedly straightens out the blankets and sheets on her bed while she's there.

She hands over the plate with her head bowed meekly. Okay he caught her. This is exactly why Kamala hates lying. She's just too bad at it!!! "About forty minutes ago? Peter had to check on an experiment and Billy has to get home to his brother so...." She shrugs. They're nerds. Partying late just isn't their style.

Her head lifts up at a sound that is so distinctly Jessica. Even if Kamala never discusses it, one thing that has never left her is her sensitivity to sound from her time in Reims. She is hyper aware of it and their various sources despite not wanting to be. "Jess is back?" She asks Frank out of blue before smiling. "Hey, Jess!"

"Well, leave the rest of this to me," he settles on, expression exasperated but impossibly fond as he carts the dish back over to the sink to unceremoniously drop it in.

If he's not prepared, he can be even worse than Kamala at lying. He knows no lie is even required, but it's unusual for Jessica and Frank to hang out when they're not in the house and he could've just said 'yeah' or nothing at all. But instead he ends up with a really dumb statement.

"We were... out." Which implies 'together.' He grimaces, staying behind to put the kitchen back in order so she can greet Jess on her own.

The bed is poorly made within thirty seconds, but Jess fusses with it and musses it back up for another thirty. Then Kamala hollers unexpectedly and Jess steps back like she's been caught with a dead body.

"Uh," she tests her voice before raising it, a good call since it feels both soaked and crackling somehow. She clears her throat quietly and yells back, "Hey!" and then winces at herself for the intonation of a follow up that goes unuttered. Why is she so bad at being casual? She's gonna blame the weed. The whole two tokes she had of it. She spares the bed a final appraising glance, which she regrets, and leaves her room.

"Any hot water?"

Kamala blinks a few times. She gets the feeling this should be more dramatic than it actually is to her. "Oh.... okay? That's good, right?" She asks quietly before catching Jess' request. "We still have herbal tea which is close enough!" She goes to grab some of the lukewarm mixture so she can join Jessica like the mom friend she is.

Frank gets to work on the last of the dishes, letting Bruno stand on the counter next to him even though he really should make him stay on the floor. The "dog" is giving him the soap eye anyway for not holding him indefinitely after cruelly abandoning him for a couple hours at most.

"I can boil some fresh if you want coffee," Frank offers over the din of the water without turning around. Then to Kamala: "You feed the animals yet?"

"Tea's fine," she tells him as Kamala halfway to fetched it already. Don't undercut her generosity, guy. Jess lingers in the bedroom doorway with her shoulder to the frame. Jess is just looking for something warm to pour down her throat -- seriously, as cold as she is, warm will do. Hot would probably put her into shock. She'll accept Kamala's mug and chug down two mouthfuls immediately. After a "thanks," of course.

The kitchen is full with Frank and his paw pal. Jess's next destination is her chair in the living room, if none of the other critters are curled up in it (coughpeakitten?wheeze).

"Fed and gave them extra pets so they won't feel unloved today. We were so distracted." Kamala promises as she pours that cup. She makes what she feels is a wise choice to not comment on the fact one of their dogs clearly resents him.

She heads straight for Jessica, not at all surprised to see their pea kitten curled up on her chair. "You're welcome!" After she passes the cup over to Jessica, she goes to scoop her up. Unlike Frank, she is not so easily manipulated!!! Even if it's fake meows break her heart a little. "Ugh, don't get started with me! You know that's Jess' special spot." She will move onto the couch for cuddles.

Maybe she can be manipulated a little.

Frank puts down fresh water for the dogs/cats and peeks out the window, everyone looks happy/sleeping. With all the dishes drying, he plucks one up to pour a little leftover tea for himself and go to join them in the living room, remembering to shuck off his boots by the door as an afterthought before sitting down heavily next to Kamala and the as yet unnamed kitten. He pulls the pillow out from under him and throws it meekly at them, super careful not to actually hit the baby with even the edge of it.

"That's for being responsible on your birthday." He hates it!!!! Then he sighs, acquiescing just as fast. "Did you at least have fun?"

As Kamala relocates the mewling tribble, Jess gives its head a brief scrub of her fingers as if commiserating. It's not her special spot, buddy, honest, it's just a threadbare easy chair. You probably spend more time in it than I do.

What's done is done and she's not complaining. Jess has a seat, then folds over to pry her boots off her feet with her tea on the ground. She tucks one socked foot under the opposite thigh upon straightening up. Reclining at last, Jess observes the two of them with her head propped up by the back of the chair. They make a decent family. Though she doesn't know how he expects Kamala to be irresponsible in a house packed with animal dependants. Full of pent up relief, Jess permits the smallest amount through, acknowledging that she might as well appreciate what she hasn't screwed up yet.

Kamala lets out the most dramatic huff at this vicious and unprovoked attack!!! The pillow harmlessly bounced off of her arm, but still. She's plotting revenge even as she speaks. "Just for that I'll continue being responsible on my birthday!" Truly the greatest threat a teenager can make. She is quick to relent if only for a minute. "Of course I did! My favorite superheroes showed up (minus Captain Marvel) and I got to look like a Disney princess! It was pretty much a solid win for Team Kamala." She's grabbing the pillow and smacking him in the arm with it now that he won't expect it! Revenge!!!

"... And that's for tossing a pillow at me while baby one is around!" A beat. "We should really come up with an actual name, huh?" She can't call them both baby.

He hazards a glance back at Jess and she looks... content. It's good, he thinks, if super weird. It's long enough to be caught off guard by the pillow swinging back for him and he spills some tea on himself with a frown. At least it wasn't hot.

"Yeah, remind me to frame that portrait." Like seriously it's gorgeous??? Cap should quit his day job that he's not doing anyway. The rejoinder gets a solid bob of his head as he takes another gulp of the lukewarm flower water. Goddamn you, David Lieberman, for making him like this. "That's a good point. Who's left...?"

He's so far beyond thinking right now, and he leans back so he can see Jessica and Kamala at the same time so he can ask the former, "Wanna weigh in on this?"

Content. Drunk. Six of one, half a bluhblahbluhbla

"On what?" Jess wastes the words before working out what he means: Pet names. He's not requesting an arbitrator in their pathetic pillow skirmish. (Her verdict would be that they're both losers. Neither of them are out for blood. Jess has seen dance moms apply makeup with more force than that.) "Naming which one, that one?" She nods to the cat-something hybrid that's planted to Kamala, unmoving so as to not get caught in the crossfire.

"Absolutely! It's so beautiful... and weirdly accurate. I should really redesign my mask when I get home." It is the most basic domino mask ever. Kamala rubs her thumb over the kitten's small frame as it essentially glued to her side. "Yep! Our only guideline is that it has to be after a R&B singer. You should take the lead on this one since I got to consult Frank on the rest." She says it like it's an actual privilege, but really she considers it one. Kamala has enjoyed playing this game with Frank. Why wouldn't Jessica?

Yeah, he saw Kam's face when she thought Cap was onto her. Priceless tbh.

"We've got Aretha Franklin, Aloe Blacc, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Bruno Mars and Patti LaBelle so far." He's not sure if Jess is going to play along, but he figures he may as well give her a fighting chance since he honestly doubts she knows all their names as it stands. Plus he can always blame it on the weed if it comes off patronizing or whatever. "What do you think?"

In one ear and right out the other. Was Bruno Mars one of Kamala's suggestions? And which one is it? Oh wait she doesn't care. (That's not sarcasm. She legitimately forgot for a second.)

"I think you're missing Nina Simone," she drawls so there can be no mistaking her lack of investment. She's just commentating on his egregious oversight, that's business as usual. Speaking of business, Jess sips her tea.

Uninvested or not, it's a good call. Kamala claps her hands together which instantly gets a dirty look from the cat, but whatever. They have a name now!! She can deal with having her second favorite source of warmth moving suddenly on her.

"Nina would be perfect! She looks like a Nina." No, no one ask how Kamala knows that. She just does.

He just laughs, the image of Jessica unwittingly naming a kitten at Kamala's request is just too much for his heart to handle in this condition.

"You know, I think you're right. That was a serious oversight."

Really?

"Really?" Jess affects a pout for the kitten's sake, to whom she turns her attention. "Shit." She mouths a soundless "sorry" to it, as well. For the name, not the language. Nina the feathercat. Ugh. Why does she think Trish would like that?

Kamala looks between the two and huffs again. She's positive Jessica nailed this. Why does it feel like she's missing something here??? "Really! Nina is perfect. Aren't you a little bit proud of getting it on the first shot? Frank and I are never this quick!"

"That's true, we usually roll it around for a few hours at least before settling on one." Bruno had been especially controversial as Jessica would totally be interested to know. He leans over to scratch at the animal's head with one finger, smiling to himself dopily. Stupid cat prozac endorphins. "I think she likes it. Don't you, Nina?"

"You two are gross," she mumbles halfheartedly, draining her tea to a quarter full. Oh yeah, the key ingredient in tea is water. Must be why she's sobering up a little. While at least one of them gets drunker on the agonizing wholesomeness that's transpired. Jess shakes her head and rests her eyes, her lips cracking into a vanishing smile from a vanquished laugh. Goofs. She's not one of you. Dorks!!!!!

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