trans_9 | That Dizzying Moment When Past and Present Becomes One [Closed]

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That Dizzying Moment When Past and Present Becomes One [Closed]

If Eva has a personal raincloud, she's convinced it's storming today.

She sits on her feet in the garden, wrenching plants from the earth, not caring about the hard dirt digging angry separations between her fingernails and her flesh. What she'd really like to do is throw all the silverware and dishes in the house onto the yard, but she can't justify that luxury on Stacy. So instead she digs aimless holes and uproots weeds and flowers alike, up to her arms in earth, face smeared with dust.

She's keeping herself in the mechanical headspace where the only thing she can focus on is the movement of her arms, the way her shoulder's old wounds ache, the unbidden clench in her jaw. If she thinks about anything less physical, she'll think about Marco, scared and maybe sick in the Med Bay. She'll think about that violation on the Quarter from the psychic wave. She'll think about how much she could use Peter to lean on right now. She'll think about the possibility that they won't find a cure for Marco and that his last memory of her will be her betraying his physical safety to Kang.

So she doesn't think. She digs, she pulls, and she waits for Rory.

[trigger warning]

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Karen had finally gotten more or less used to being around Kang. He was still scary-looking, but she knew he wasn't going to do anything. So she was all right, now. Ish.

She hung back when Kang introduced her to the woman. She waved a little. "Hi."

Eva's in the side of the yard, gathering all her dead flowers and weeds into a big pile and smoothing the upturned soil back down. It's less satisfying work than just ripping everything up was, but now that the garden's been ravaged someone needs to take responsibility for fixing it again. As probably the only person who cares about the garden, and as the person who caused all this damage, she takes the task on without complaint.

She looks up when she hears Karen's little-kid voice. She smiles and waves one hand. She feels a pang of sorrow at how young Karen is to have lived through infestation. "Hello, you two. Karen, it's nice to meet you. I'm Eva."

The state of the garden didn't escape Kang's notice, but he didn't say anything, instead just quirking an eyebrow ridge at Eva curiously. If she wanted to talk about it later when Karen wasn't in earshot, he'd listen.

He knelt down and motioned toward Eva, smiling at the girl reassuringly, "It's okay. You'll like her."

Karen smiled back hesitantly, and nodded. Yeah, probably. At least Eva was human... "It's nice to meet you too, Eva. Um, are you a gardener?"

"Sort of. I'm trying to grow some flowers here and maybe some vegetables here. I got some artichoke seeds on XaXing that should taste better than the slop." She motions to some of the less-destroyed rows of dirt, the ones she'd avoided because there hadn't been anything to uproot yet.

"So, Karen, Kang tells me you've been a lot of help decorating the Tavern. Have you done anything else fun so far?"

Kang stayed silent and stood back up, just watching and listening for the time being.

"Artichokes?" Karen sounded somewhere between shocked and horrified. Why would anyone willingly grow artichokes?

"Um... not really... I bought some toys on XaXing, but I was stuck doing portal things with Gladys for a long time."

"Don't worry, Karen. I won't make you eat any vegetables," she says jokingly. "We have some toys in the house, too, if you'd like to take a look at them. Some Disney movies, too. Have you seen Aladdin?"

She glances up at Kang. It seems to be going well so far. Karen's a bit withdrawn, but what else can you expect from a child surrounded by strange people in a new environment, much less one who was a host?

"I thought you liked the circus. Remember the elephants?" Kang said, feigning a bit of hurt in his voice and smiling at Eva. "I think I saw The Little Mermaid in there too, if you don't want to watch Aladdin."

"Oh yeah! And the lions, too!" She perked up. "And the tightrope walkers, too. Thanks, Kang..."

Ooh. Disney. "I like Aladdin and the Little Mermaid. What else is there?"

"Did you see any trapeze artists? They were always my favorites when I was a kid," Eva says, opening the door for them to come in. "I'm not sure what other movies we have, but you're free to look through them. I pulled a few out and saw Fox and the Hound, Bambi, The Jungle Book..."

Figures Cassie would have plenty of animal movies.

"We can go back sometime, if you want, or anywhere else you want to go. We can even watch some of the Disney movies you haven't seen yet. I think you'd like Mulan or Hercules."

Those memories really were coming in handy sometimes, even if they still made Kang a bit uncomfortable. He doubted that feeling would ever completely fade. He entered the house, waiting for Eva and Karen to follow.

Karen looked up at Eva as she talked, and followed Kang inside. "Bambi's my favorite, actually," she said. It'd been a while since she'd had a chance to see it. Once it was safe, she'd have to invite Aftran over to watch some movies with them...

"Even I haven't sat down and watched Hercules, yet. Maybe sometime you can come over and watch it with me, Karen." She reaches over and puts a hand on Kang's arm, knowing how he got those memories - she doubts Disney was the moviemaking superpower on Krynn that it is on Earth. "I'll go set up Bambi, alright?"

The television's in the living room. Eva's made some quick preparations for Karen's arrival by putting some stuffed animals on the bed and pulling out the children's movies and laying them flat on the coffee table. She picks Bambi up off the table and fiddles with the VCR.

Kang was uncomfortable for other reasons besides the memories, but he was trying not to think about that with Karen around. He gave the hand on his arm a quick pat with his own and leaned against the wall, watching. It was nice seeing the girl smiling and happy.

"Okay! But isn't Hercules that one TV show?" she asked, a little confused. It wasn't one she was familiar with, but she knew her mother watched it sometimes. "Why'd they let Disney make a movie of it?"

"Why not? More Hercules is never a bad thing." She finishes messing with the VCR and the familiar Disney logo shows up on the television. She takes a seat on the couch near the wall, close enough that she and Kang can converse while Karen watches.

"It's different from the TV show," Kang said with a shrug, only half paying attention to the movie. He didn't really like Bambi all that much. Lowering his voice, he asked Eva, "Have you been getting updates on Marco?"

"Oh," she said simply. Well, maybe it would be less dull, then.

She took a seat on the couch as Eva set up the tape, and grinned when the video started playing. Whatever conversation Eva and Kang were about to have, she wasn't listening at all.

Once Karen seems sufficiently absorbed in the movie, Eva turns to Kang. "So what's it been that's got you all tense?"

"...you noticed?" Kang's wings rustled a bit.

"I'm not blind, you know." Besides, her observational skills were almost all she had during her captivity. She learned to tell a lot from a little.

Kang sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, "There's a bronze dragon on the ship. From Krynn."

Eva bites her lip and twists a lock of hair, clearly unsettled by this news. "Does he know you're here?"

"He knows. Lord Bight does, too, and knows this dragon personally."

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lol VCR my childhood

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