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Interaction | Metamorph / Ja
AKA @DClassified
Location | Kilamanjaro’s Room
Kassy stared mutely at the transformed Daphne, her eyes widening. How could this be? When had it happened? She knew that Daph sometimes had trouble with her power, but this was something else entirely.
She stretched her fingers out, as if wanting to touch the glass case, but then quickly restrained herself. Now was not the time. She had to use all her energy just to focus on the mission briefing. So, metahumans were going missing, hm? And they had another chance at Kobra? She remembered the aftermath, the embarrassment of failing both missions involving Kobra. While the Kassy from before may have jumped at the chance to even the score, the current Kassy barely mustered a quiet “Yes, sir” before heading for the door after they were dismissed.
The Team was well out of sync. They were all in their own heads. She could tell that even without having to reach out for her teammates’ minds. It probably didn’t bode well. And it was all her fault. If she hadn’t lost control, if she hadn’t been there at all, they’d all be fine.
5 hours.
A part of her wanted to just go back to her room and sit in her pool for the majority of it. But no, if this was going to work, she’d need a disguise and a backstory. The disguise part would be easy enough. The backstory, maybe not so much.
Kilamanjaro, meanwhile, momentarily stood with a hand at his chest. He was still trying to understand the odd feeling that Daphne gave off. To feel the green more intensely implied more life opposed to death…yet their friend appeared to be locked in her form, like what happened on their first mission…One that he had failed, personally. Not this one, nothing would steal away his focus this time. In which case, this time they’d need to do disguises again, like for the circus mission.
That meant, as much as his instincts would dread, his headbush would have to be reshaped. Which, there was only one that he had trusted with that since he got here, and it made him purse his lips a bit. Regardless of possible reluctance at her emotional distance, she hadn’t been harsh to him so far. Thus, Ja turned to Kassy, with a K again since Casper was back, and stood with a wrist in the other hand.
”Do you think you’ll have time to help me with my disguise?” “...” Kassy looked at Ja, her eyes a little blank before snapping onto him.
“Oh. Yeah. Okay.” She was surprised he was asking for her help. Then again, it wasn’t like he had options. Who else could actually do his hair?
“Might as well do it now.” Without indicating that he should follow or not, Kassy walked off from the mission briefing room. She knew the others on the team would be taking care of their own business. There was no reason to bother them.
Taking her words as a prompt, Ja was soon to follow afterwards, but briefly eyed Daphne’s case as Martian Man took it away. They’d find a way to fix this…
After gathering the necessary tools from her room, she joined Ja in his own room. It was a strange entanglement of chaos and order with several plants within. SIlently, she bade him sit in a low chair while she stood, carefully combing and brushing out his thick mane.
For some time she was completely silent, simply oiling his hair and getting it prepared for braiding. Then, without warning, she spoke up softly. Her voice had little of the melody it used to have. In fact it was almost completely flat.
“I… I have to tell you something. About what happened in Atlantis.” Ja was between feeling chills go down his spine, and trying to force himself still as the whiskers whined to his brain. He maintained self control through the brushing and combing, and took Kassy’s sudden dialogue as a means of distraction.
”Okay, go ahead.” He egged her on with a soft edge to his voice.
Kassy took a careful deep breath. Might as well be done with it. It wasn’t like the team could hate her more.
"When you started to choke that Deluge member, and you heard a voice telling you to stop? That… was me." Her eyes were suddenly burning.
"I can get into people's heads and influence their thoughts. I wouldn’t have done it if there was a better solution." A tear slipped from her face, probably dropping in Ja's hair.
"I'm sorry. I just thought you deserved to know." A moment passed as Ja absorbed her words. Ambuya spoke of suchlike power in the past, belonging to sorcerers and masters of Vodou. She said to be cautious around those ones, as he should when around spirits. Though, with the way Kassy described her actions, it was sorrowful. Moreover, even though oiled, his sensitive hairs could distinguish between the previous liquid applied and the tear that dropped onto it. With that, he slowly turned his head around to face her.
”Thank you, Kassy.” He replied with a docile smile.
"If I had time for another plan, I would have-" What Ja said slowly sunk in. Her fingers stalled in his hair.
"Wait. You're thanking me?" A trace of suspicion slipped in her eyes.
"My power shouldn't be used at all. I don't understand why you're thanking me." ”Many things have happened to my head over the years…when the Red’s fury comes over my mind, it blinds me in the moment but returns the memories…What happened down there wasn’t the first time. Lives got lost in the past…and those memories still haunt me…so, thank you for using your forbidden powers to help me.”Kassy stared at him for a solid ten seconds.
"I… no one has ever thanked me for that. Ever." Her nimble hands started to braid again.
"It was always "filthy siren" this and "magical freak" that. Even my own family…" She stopped, hands trembling.
"I'd say you're welcome, but I don't think you get it." Without continuing to explain, she simply moved on.
"Assuming you'd even care for my help, is there anything I can do to help you keep your fury under control? Well…" Trailing off, she realized it was high hypocrisy for her to offer something she had proven she couldn’t do.
"Nevermind. I can't help you. Ask someone else." She started braiding again.
”Well…I do not think that the Red’s fury can ever really be contained…It is part of the Red; making it part of me. The wild within me is what makes my ability to connect with animals strong…I just need to keep my focus better… Ja replied, making sure to remain still. She spoke from a place of great suffering, one that he could relate to, given his own past. At the very least, Ja wanted to give her the support and understanding that Iwisa had given him.
And…I would not say “thank you”, unless I meant it truthfully. If it were not for you, people would have died. The Kassy that I’ve come to know and come to care for, isn’t bad. The Kassy I know is smart, and kind, and always tries to do the right thing. Even if it is hard for her, and even if it’s for people she doesn’t like…I don’t know any magical monsters or speaker machine sounds that behave like that.” Kassy considered Ja's words for a quiet moment, starting the next braid. Ja was a lot of things, but a liar wasn't one of them.
"I… guess it was the only option in the moment. And you don't have to thank me. You're my friend." A flicker of a smile. One that dropped quickly.
"By the way. Whoever told you to supervise me, tell them I don't need it. I'm not going anywhere. Just waiting until…" She suddenly had a lump in her throat.
"The League changes their minds." Indeed, Ja would have easily seen that her things were stored and her room bare. She couldn’t shake the thought that the call would come for her, and she'd be out. Might as well make it easy.
"There's plenty of magic with Casper back, anyway. You guys don't need me. Mind control is a villainous power anyway.” With those last few statements, Ja paused, turning his head to look up at her again.
“No one told me to supervise you…” He started, turning the rest of his body to face her more fully. Pulling up one of the small sleeves on his t-shirt, he revealed the scar lines before he continued.
“I am sure you have seen them before— times when we have gone swimming. Each is a memory of a friend that has met the end of their circle of life.” A hand of his took one of hers that had previously been braiding. He guided it to his right oblique area of his torso; a rigid, thin line could be felt beneath the fabric.
”M’Ssaiya was a friend of mine whom I had lost, not in battle with opponents but within himself. His mind often plagued him with many terrible thoughts about others and himself… Ja’s voice trailed into silence, eyes to the floor and he released Kassy’s hand.
”He was alone when those thoughts led to his destruction…I don’t want that happen to others that I care about…so…I did not want you to be alone.”Kassy delicately ran one finger over the scar before Ja let her go. She had seen them before, but didn't know each scar had a story and a person behind it.
"I'm sorry about your friend." She paused, trying to word the next sentence as gently as possible.
"As for… terrible thoughts… I've definitely had them. They've been worse lately. So I guess your watching over me isn't a bad idea." A deep sigh escaped her, and a confused look clouded her eyes.
"Why don't you hate me like the others? I just keep coming back to that question and I can't answer it. I put everyone in so much danger…"”You were pushed past your breaking point. Everyone has and will at some time…so why should I hate you for it?” Ja offered a small smile before looking up in thought.
”A man was afraid of bees because he saw them sting people on TV. That was all he knew about them, and he didn’t try to learn about them, so he hated them. So, he went outside, out of his way into the woods with a stick to kill all the bees in a hive. One bee flew past him as he walked deeper into the woods. Instead of wondering why the bee didn’t sting him, he swung at it with his stick. Threatened and angry, the bee flew back and stung the man. Who is to blame, the bee or the man?”“Huh?” Kassy stared at Ja, rather confused as to why he was suddenly talking about bees. She let the story roll around in her head while she braided.
"It's part of a bee's nature to sting, but only in self defense. And it isn't the bee's fault that the man is ignorant about them. Bees do good things, right? They make honey, and help flowers to grow, and-" It seemed to click then.
"Ohh, I get it. You're calling me a bee."Now that she thought about it, it was an excellent metaphor.
"You're trying to tell me it's not my fault. That's… well." She had to think about it more, but she didn't have a good argument against it.
"You're a lot wiser than you act sometimes, Ja."
“Ambuya— grandma, taught me many stories. I blame the Professor for meddling with things he did not understand. I cannot tell you or the others how to feel, but I know how I do. I think that the league, who are much smarter than me, would understand…So what reason would they have to change their minds?” Kassy nodded a little, recognizing the wisdom in this. She still wasn't convinced that the sandy ground she found herself on wouldn't crumble at any minute though.
"I can think of quite a few, but I won't bore you." She lapsed into silence, focusing on the rest of his hair. It was done fairly quickly.
"Alright, you're free."Realizing what had now happened, Ja touched a few of the braids. The slick sensation was still weird, but he beamed up at Kassy and bobbed his head around, flicking the braids everywhere. “This is great! Thank you.” He exclaimed with a chuckle. “Do you need help with your disguise?”
"Maybe." Kassy mused.
"I have an idea. I think I'll have to find some hair dye, and loose clothes. If I look overly casual, then it should make me seem different than I usually am." Indeed, Kassy was a very feminine young lady. She usually wore girlish clothes and lots of jewelry, even makeup from time to time. But she'd forgo all of that for her disguise.
"Can I borrow one of your hoodies?"Ja nodded without much hesitation, bobbling over towards his closet and pulling the door open. Inside were about a dozen plastic toys lined up on a shelf above the clothes rack. They were of different animals, and his clothes were separated beneath seemingly each by animal’s color. From the black and white of zebras to the multicolored chameleon, some were simple and some were fancy designer. He briefly eyed them, seeing several different hoodies sprawled within, before stepping back to let Kassy choose.
”My amai often sends me many clothes…modeling and all of that.”"Wow." Kassy murmured, impressed by the selection.
"Let me try this one." She pulled a red and black hoodie from the expansive collection and put it on. The sleeves were loose enough, but it was too snug in the front.
"Whoops. Nevermind." She put it back on the same hanger.
"Guess I'll figure something out."“You can keep it if you want, even if it isn’t for the mission.” Ja offered with a smile, stepping away from the closet and closer to the window.
"Really? Sure, why not." She took it back and folded it neatly over her arm, then joined him by the window.
"Thank you for everything. I mean it." She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a little squeeze.
"You've given me plenty to think about."”Anytime, Kassy.”
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