Participants:
| Scene Title | Some of Us |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Some of us don't want to believe you, you've got nothing to say |
| Date | June 14, 2021 |
The House Above the Sea
Fringes of the Pelago
Kendall had promised to meet Robyn at the southern dock to the main market of the Pelago, and so he waited, hand held out like he was holding an umbrella in the rain. And to judge by the shape of the water falling around him, there really was one there keeping the water off him, if invisible. When she showed up, he led the way across the waters to his home, though he might've rowed a little fast to see if she could keep up. So long as he's still within sight it's OK, right? Hopping out of his boat on their little makeshift dock, which now has space for four boats, he turns to wait for her to arrive, crossing his arms with his one hand held up again, rain falling in a circle around him.
Robyn isn't too far behind him. Her boat is slow moving, fighting against the wind and oncoming rain - it's clear that she's uncomfortable with this particular form of travel, at least when left to navigate it on her own.
As she pulls up to the dock, she barely pays Kendall much mind, instead taking in the sight of what he had referred to as the "House Above The Sea". As she ties her boat, she swallows and looks up - though still not at him, and offers an absent observation: "I still don't get the name. Aren't most houses above the sea?"
The irony is entirely lost on her.
Still, she's quick to step to the dock, and to something much more solid than the wobbliness of the boat.
There’s a splash and the sputter of water being spit out as Morgan’s head rises out of the water right next to where Robyn docked her boat. She’d been bored, and the water was nice, so she decided to go for a swim to relax a little before she went out to train. “Hey, watch it!” she calls out towards Robyn, “You almost cracked open my head with your oar….Roux!?”
Her anger is stopped in its tracks as she paddles to the shore and drags herself out of the water. She grabs her towel off the rack quickly and wraps it around her body as she rushes over to Robyn. “God what happened to your face!? Who attacked you?? You can tell us and Nadi and I…well mostly Nadi…will handle them.” She says as she starts fussing over her, either not noticing or choosing not to comment on the hair. Very nonchalantly offering to beat the shit out of someone for her.
"God, I guess you don't know what a book is, either." Kendall rolls his eyes. Uncultured swine in any universe, it seems.
When Morgan pops out of the water and starts fussing over Robyn, Kendall smirks. You know what? This is funny, he's not going to say a damn thing. Robyn can explain for herself who and what she is, he's just going to get out of the way and let things happen. He leans against the ladder leading up to the house and grins, a trifle maliciously. Damn, this would be a perfect time for popcorn, maybe the agrokinetics can work on that next.
When someone comes abruptly rising out of the water, Robyn is quick to grip her oar and brandish it in Morgan's direction like a sword. It's something she only holds for a moment before letting out a held breath and lowering it. She looks tired, sighing as she tosses the oar back to the boat with a flourish. She's a bit on edge still and it's showing.
"Kendall." Her voice is more stern than Morgan is used to, tone flat as she looks back over her shoulder. "You didn't tell me- you know what, never mind."
Looking back to Morgan, Robyn shakes her head. "I'm not Roux," she remarks in that same stern tone. A hand rises up, running down her scar. She forgets it's there more often than not at this point, having it pointed out is always a bit… off putting. She stares at Morgan with an eyebrow raise, shoulders sagging. "Uh, and you are?"
Morgan is about to laugh at the prank Roux is trying to pull on her, but Robyn seems really serious, and Roux is a terrible liar. “Oh sorry. You must be her twin sister then? Roux never mentioned you.” She’s about to say something, stops, then glances at Kendall and smirks evilly.
“I’m Morgan, Ken Doll’s” She jerks a finger in Kendall’s direction, “sister. I guess that kinda makes us sisters-in-law, yes? Cuz Kendall and Roux are basically married. Just haven’t found a priest who isn’t at the bottom of the sea I’m afraid…” She gives an exaggerated sigh and shrug of her shoulders. “And your name is?” She asks as she absent-mindedly reaches over to a small table on the dock and starts putting her watches back on, she’s never far apart from them after all.
Kendall spreads one of his arms out in an exaggerated shrug as he's rebuked. "Hey, you knew me and Nadira, supposedly, how was I supposed to know you didn't also know Nadira's baby cousin, Morgan? Whose entire existence, as you might be able to tell, can be summed up with 'cute, but a brat'." He rolls his eyes at Morgan, and just to mess with her makes one of her watches vanish. Oh, it's still there physically, but she'd have to rely on her own power to be able to pick it up. "Ignore her, we are not married."
He still isn't doing any explaining for who Robyn is, raising an eyebrow at her.
"…Sister." This is clearly something that Robyn hadn't considered before, looking thoughtful for a moment as she quirks an eyebrow. "Yeah, sister. That works." Still, though, she scoffs at Morgan. "I doubt that," she remarks in a slightly amused, if sad, voice. "Neither of them are the type."
With that, she offers Morgan a slight bow. "Either way, it's nice to meet you, Morgan." Notably, she skips over sharing her name to instead turn her attention back at Kendall. "I'm afraid I can't linger. I'm here on business." Not that she actually expects that to dissuade Morgan. "Do you know where your cousin is?"
Morgan rolls her eyes at Kendall’s denials, chuckling to herself “Could have fooled me, the way she trails after you like a lost puppy. You have to admit your relationship is weird for a pair of exes.” She snickers a bit to herself at Kendall making the watch disappear, knowing it was really just showing off to Robyn, he knew she could still see the watch perfectly well. Well…not see it exactly, it was a little hard to explain. To show off a little herself, she draws some of the radiation out of the watch with a wave of her hand, concentrating it to form an outline of glowing, ionized air, revealing the watch to Robyn. Then she picks it up and puts it on her wrist.
She raises an eyebrow at Robyn bowing to her, as well as her strange response. ‘That works’ usually meant whatever the person just said was bullshit to get out of a tough question. But, who else could she be if not Roux’s sister? She turns to Kendall, who she knows quite well, and notices he’s…guarded. Morgan crosses her arms and narrowed her eyes, beginning to grow suspicious. “Okay you’re acting weird and KD’s acting weird. I’m not in the habit of letting people into our hideout who won’t even tell me their name, let alone tell them where my cousin is.”
Deliberately she steps between Robyn and the door, trying (and mostly failing) to be threatening. “Long-lost family members don’t just show-up around here, especially ones Roux has never even mentioned before. And trust me, she’d have told me.” She isn’t actually sure if Roux would have told her, but she decides bluffing is her best option here.
"Probably best to wait until Nadira's here for her to explain herself. So is she here or doing her water thing?" Kendall completely disregarded Morgan's commentary on the subject of him and Roux. "Hideout." he snickers as Morgan goes full on kid there, and is further amused when she tries to be threatening. "Morgan, you weigh like 90 pounds, she could probably pick you up and throw you." Kendall, on the other hand, is still leaned up against the ladder leading up to the house, being a bit more subtle about blocking the way.
"Well… no harm in letting her in, I guess. All she's got is a small knife." At least, Kendall assumes so even as he levels a suspicious look her way. "Let's go up." Putting actions to his words, he turns and climbs up the fire escape. "And towel yourself off before you go in, don't leave wet footprints everywhere even if Nadira can get rid of them."
“No one will be picking Morgan up and throwing her,” comes a voice from inside of the building, growing louder as the figure moves toward the fire escape. Having been attracted by the sound of voices, Nadira emerges and peers down from above like some kind of queen ruling her domain. One of her hands holds the top of a full mesh bag, the water still dripping from the container of whatever it is she’s been collecting. With the soaked bag and the Egyptian woman’s hair entirely wet as well, one thing is clear.
She’s thought this of interest enough not to even spend the moment to dry off first before investigating. “What is all this then?”
"Cute." It's not meant to be condescending, but it's not hard to think Robyn means it that way as she stares at both of the people trying to block the way forward in their own little ways. There's threats she could make - you realize now that I'm here you couldn't stop me if you tried or some such - but for once, she knows better than to offer threats. Not when she's trying to accomplish what she is. "Just be patient, Morgan, I'll…"
Thankfully, Nadira's voice offers a welcome distraction from the farce. "Nadira." Robyn looks up at the other woman, offering her a soft smile that contrasts with her previous tone. It's good to see her old friend again, even if this isn't the same Nadira. "Kendall was insistent I speak to you about matters I would rather not air out in the open."
Morgan doesn’t dispute that the stranger could probably throw her, but that doesn’t stop her from being indignant about it. “Well I could give her cancer so who really wins?” she says with a huff.
Scarce are the words of greeting out of Robyn’s mouth that Morgan is climbing the ladder to meet her cousin. She starts babbling to her in arabic, barely pausing to take a breath «”Nadi there’s this lady here and she looks like Roux but she’s clearly not Roux and she’s acting super shady and she won’t even tell me her name and Kendall’s acting weird too and she says she’s Roux’s sister but she’s clearly lying and now Kendall just wants to let her waltz right into our base!!!”» She ends it off with a loud gulp of air and then points down at Robyn, glaring.
"Oh hey Nadira, a weird thing showed up." Kendall hastily clears the ladder before Morgan comes charging up and babbling something in a different language, and glares. He probably should get them to teach him that one of these days, though to judge by how he mangled French, might be for the best he doesn't try.
And in case Nadira couldn't infer what 'weird thing' he was talking about, he gestures to Robyn, then moves over to one of the couches that sit in front of the outdoor fireplace, frowning at the others. He heard his name, he knows at least that much, and knowing Morgan, she's calling him stupid or something.
"It is not a base," Nadira replies in English to Morgan's Arabic, though the younger woman is offered a smile in response. Whatever it is she said other than the base comment seems to have given her some vague sort of context, but she still looks at Robyn a bit warily. She does, after all, have a striking resemblance to Roux and that's certainly something that can't just be explained away with the suggestion of a sister.
Her gaze shifts to Kendall for a moment, studying him a long moment as if to somehow read his mind before she looks to Robyn and gestures to her to join them as she moves away from the fire escape to allow for the not-Roux to join them. She moves over towards the couches as well, a flick of her wrist sending the droplets of water from both her hair and her bag away. She takes a moment to check the couches to make sure they aren't wet before she settles near Kendall.
She raises an eyebrow in his direction. "Weird thing."
"Rude." Making sure to say this loud enough that it can be heard by all three of them, Robyn pairs it with an intentionally noticeable roll of her eyes. "This isn't worth it," she mutters to herself as they begin to refer to her as a thing. She know she could find Roux on her own if she wanted, if she really went looking. This was her best lead, though, as much as she was increasingly hating every moment of it.
It's only a moment later when she pulls herself up the lip of the ladder and back into view of the others,silently brushing herself off as she steps forward. A quick glance over to Kendall, and then to Morgan, and she turns her attention to Nadira. A wry smile forms across her lips as she crosses her arms. "For what it's worth, you're all the weird ones to me." She certainly sounds like Roux too.
Morgan flops down on the couch next to Nadira, not really bothering to continue to dry herself off. There were more important things going on. “What’s rude is refusing to tell us your name or who you are!” She crosses her arms indignantly while switching back to english. “You’re obviously not her sister, and if you’re some kind of shapeshifter you’re really bad at it because your Roux impression is all wrong.”
She gives a snort at being called ‘weird’, being just barely young enough for that insult to actually still have some sting. “Forgive us for being weird about some psycho walking around wearing our friend’s face…” she mutters just barely loud enough to hear. She starts fiddling with her watches, a nervous tic that Nadira and Kendall are very familiar with. She’s talking a big game, but something about this stranger just…freaks her out. Like she’s about to say something that will explode her young mind. She’s not sure if she actually wants to hear it.
"All right then, go on and explain to them what you told me, doppelganger." He picked outside seating instead of in the house proper for a reason, gosh, even if they do have to actively keep the couches dry in the rain. The couch Kendall sits down on is now fully protected, rain sliding off a larger 'umbrella'. At least they can sit down and be comfortable while listening. "She says she wants to find Roux." he adds, since that is the most relevant bit of information in all this. "I'd like opinions on whether or not we should let this happen."
Kendall is mostly talking to Nadira about this, of course, since Morgan is being young and excitable. "The last thing I want to do is upset Roux without a damn good reason." He levels a look on Robyn at that, leaning back and crossing his arms.
“The situation is strange,” Nadira clarifies, though the smile that stretches to her eyes fades a little at the suggestion of this woman meeting Roux. “I do not know you, friend, but if you are coming here with the purpose of meeting Roux you should know she is beloved to us and that we will not put her in harm’s way.”
She folds her arms, but steals a glance at Morgan. “Easy, Mo. She will explain.” That, it sounds like, is not up for debate.
"Finding Roux is a gross oversimplification," Robyn notes, looking down at her wrist like she glancing at a watch that doesn't actually exist on her arm. Her flick up, focusing on Nadira for a moment before she looks back up at her. "I know you, Nadira. Just… not you." That sounds strange even to her as it comes out of her mouth. Quickly, she sucks in a deep breath and sighs.
"I look like Robyn Roux because I am Robyn Roux," she states as simply as she can, with no fanfare, an odd wavering like tone to her voice. "I'm not a doppelganger," she remarks with disdain, gaze snapping to Kendall as she does. "I am her//. Or well… another version of her." Her shoulders roll, and she glances down at the floor. "I'm here on my own business, to try and save where I come from."
Yeah, it all sounds just as insane when she says it out loud as it did when Hall and Gates talked about it previously.
"And that involves making my way to our mother, Charlotte Roux. And I think she deserves to come along on that trip."
It's a good thing she's taken precautions in case anyone reacts poorly to this.
To the likely surprise of everyone, especially her, Morgan wasn’t that shocked by the stranger’s explanation. She has a young and malleable mind, and she’s grown up in a world where a not insignificant number of people could bend physics to their whim. Alternate universes weren’t that crazy of a leap to take from that. She’d even read about theories involving such things in a textbook recently.
But just because she could accept her explanation as plausible doesn’t mean that Morgan was about to trust her. “Okay, sure, you’re alternate-universe Barbie. That still doesn’t make me trust you at all.” She leans forward and clasps her hands together looking at Robyn intently. “First of all: the last time Roux went on a field trip she almost got exploded.”
She leans back again and a smirk crosses her face. She’s about to show this stranger that while she’s young and emotional, she's pretty smart too. “Secondly, if your mom was in any of the settlements along the east coast, Nadi would have found her by now. And I doubt she’s in another country. Which by process of elimination means you're asking us to let you take her inland.” Her cocky face morphs back into a glare and a sneer, “I don’t know how your world got fucked up by the flood, but here you can’t just travel over land as you please.”
Kendall frowns when Robyn brings that part up, but he already heard that part… but he still doesn't like it. "You never answered my question by the way. How many of you are there? And no, I'm not talking about how many of you there are so don't get any ideas." He's still mad about that. "How big is the invasion from Earth 384?" He picked a random number for that. And you're not taking her anywhere without me. I'm not letting her get dragged off by a bunch of strangers and… exploded?"
At that, he turns and stares at Morgan. Seems like she heard a few conversations he didn't, what the hell. "What do you mean, exploded?" Even after asking that, he holds up a hand. "Later. Tell me later. Yeah, going inland, that's like a suicide mission, people go inland and are never seen again." A trifle dramatic, perhaps, but it's no less valid. "I'm not going to let you drag her off to get killed looking for someone who probably isn't even alive anymore. If she is, why didn't she ever come to see Roux?"
"You are asking for an extreme leap of faith," Nadira replies. "I have seen enough strange things to understand that such things could be possible, but you are asking for something that I am not sure you are really aware of. Roux has been searching for her mother for a very, very long time. I have seen her come back time and time again disheartened at the lack of progress. I have helped her in her search. To just come here and offer such vague assurances, as desperately as Roux might be to find her mother you are not reassuring. How do we know you even have a way to find Charlotte? How do I know that you are not…"
She seems to think for a moment, the reference not quite coming to her immediately. "… Highlander?"
"Highlander?" Robyn blinks, her voice seeming to break uncharacteristically. "You think I want to kill her?" She seems genuinely offended and bothered by this, staring at Nadira like she just hurled a very rude epithet at her. "Don't you think she's been through enough? I do." Looking between the three of them, she sighs. "Alaska," she offers. "Near a very important mountain range. That's where she is. She also doesn't know that Roux is alive, or that I'm here."
Hopefully, that answers the baseline of their questions.
"As for trusting me," she continues with a nonchalant shrug, voice wavering a bit, "You kind of just have to. There have been over travellers here before me, and others from your world have crossed to mine before. I know it's a big ask, but it's all I have." Quirking an eyebrow, Robyn turns her back and starts back towards the ladder. "And should you choose not to give it to me? Well, I'll be on my way… but I'll still be looking for her regardless. I want her to get what I'm getting. I want her to see her mum again."
"Highlander?" Judging by the perplexed look Kendall gives her, he hasn't seen that movie, and now never will. Pity. However, Robyn provides the context, and he frowns. "Better not. And how do you even know all this?" Then Kendall blinks as he thinks back over what she said.
"Wait. Alaska? Who even lives in Alaska? That's the most random place ever." He thinks about it, then shakes his head. "Also about the furthest place you can even get from here, why didn't you make your magic science portal drop you closer? That's going to be a hell of a long trip, and you'll be going across the Mainland. I mentioned it was dangerous, right? Like, really dangerous." As if emphasis actually works to import seriousness on it all. When she goes to leave, though, he jumps up and moves to intercept. "Hey, you still have questions to answer."
The tone Robyn takes with Nadira makes her straighten up in her chair. "You do not know her. Even if you say you are her, people are made up of their experiences. I do not know your motives and you come in here and act as if I am to believe you and just let you take someone I very much care about to head somewhere dangerous?" She leans forward, her eyes scanning Robyn as if to determine motive simply from observation.
"What has happened to you? Other than the outward appearance, you seem much more callous and hardened than her. You have given me no reason to believe that you will not harm her. Give me something. If you know me, even if it is not me, give me something."
Morgan does not like the direction this is going. This Robyn, to her, seems single-minded, almost bordering on obsessive. What else would explain her desire to drag her alternate self on a suicide mission? She could sympathise with the desire to see one’s parents again, god could she ever, would she be any different if she had the chance to…best not to think about it. But what would this Robyn do if Nadira and Kendall denied her access to her other self? Would she fight them over it? Would she try to kill them to get to Roux? No, if there is even the slightest chance she’ll go that far, she has to be stopped. She’s clearly underestimating Morgan, which means Morgan is in the best position to get off a surprise attack.
Morgan tries to keep her face neutral as she swings one of her arms behind the couch, in a deliberately relaxed-seeming posture. However, around the forearm she has hidden from view, she begins charging radiation, pulling from the atmosphere and from the radon inside her watches. Nadira is the only one with the correct angle to directly see the glow from the ionized air around her arm, Robyn and Kendall might only notice a bit of the glow peeking off the top of the couch if they’re looking directly at it. It’ll take her a minute or two to charge, she’s hampered by only using the three watches on her hidden arm, but once she’s ready if she sees even a flicker of shadows moving she’ll fire first and ask questions later. In the meantime she doesn’t say anything, hoping her silence will help Robyn forget she’s even here and discount her as a threat.
When Kendall cuts in front of her, Robyn stops short of him with an eyebrow quirked and an amused smile on her face. "Kendall, Nadira, I know you're both smart enough to know that there's no quantifiable way I can offer you the proof you want. I need your faith here, because that's all I can really offer." There's an unnatural waver to her voice as she speaks, but it doesn't stop her from continuing.
She doesn't turn back around as she talks, instead taking a deep breath. "Callous? I guess. I know that in 2010, the Vanguard exploded a nuclear bomb in Antarctica, and flooded the world. I know that, uh… Roux drowned and nearly died during it." She pauses, looking down at the floor. "I saw the whole thing through her eyes. For a while, I thought she had died there. Until I was told otherwise by a friend of hers who crossed over to my world. Even then, they thought she had died when they crossed over, too."
Looking up and back over her shoulder, she turns just the slightest bit back so that she can look a bit better at Nadira. "We didn't have a bomb go off in Antarctica. The man who nearly sacrificed himself to stop it is here with me, in fact." Maybe that's the key difference to that scenario, knowing that Richard is actually from here, and not where she's from. "Instead, we had the government turn on- you say 'Specials', our word was 'Evolved'."
Turning her attention back to Kendall, looking ahead at him with indifference. He's heard most of this, now he gets to hear it again. "I lived as a musician. Rising pop star and everything, working at a radio station, doing concerts, releasing an album… at least, until things got real bad. I lost a lot of friends, and I ended up joining a group of revolutionaries. Eventually, it all boiled over into civil war. I gave everything to that cause, life, body, and soul. I sacrificed my lovelife, my eyesight, my ability, my family… and eventually we won. Next thing I know, I'm working for the government and- surprise! Fucking… parallel timelines."
Huffing out a sigh, she rolls her eyes at her own statement. "I've been time travelling before, I should've known it was possible. Hell, I have two daughters from another timeline." A pause, and her shoulders rise in a shrug. "And a son," she adds, even though Matthew isn't like his faux-sisters. "My mother died in the war, my father weeks after I was born. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't here for selfish reasons, but I also know how bad she also wants to see her mom again."
Squaring her shoulders, she closes her eyes and thinks for a moment. "As for how we know where Charlotte is, it's complicated. Part of it is that we have a guide with us who used to live with them in Alaska, as of earlier this year. Beyond that… I'm not willing to say without speaking to the others I'm here with yet." And no, she's still not saying how many there are. "And if you think I'm callous… be glad I'm the Robyn who's here." Better her than Bright, or Virus.
"Why don't you think it over. I'd rather do this the right way, with help. With her friends. But I do intend to find her one way or another." And then Robyn starts walking again, up to Kendall, and-
though him, before vanishing as she hits the edge.
Instead, Robyn - the actual flesh and blood woman - stands back at where the boats are docked, looking up where they stand with a glow to her eyes and her arms crossed. She was never up there to begin with.
Not a lot of new information for Kendall, no. He still listens impassively, though keeps glancing towards Nadira to see what she thinks of this. He's mostly ambivalent about whether or not to believe her. On the one hand, it does sound kinda important, and it would involve letting Roux see her mom again. On the other hand, she's still shady as fuck.
During one such looks, he catches sight of Morgan being sketch and frowns at her, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. As such, he's caught off guard when Robyn moves toward him and then through him, and he flinches, jerking away and looking around when she vanishes. He's naturally used to things not being what they seem for obvious reasons, but that still messed him up. "Hey!" It's a moment or two before he's able to find where she went, and scowls over the edge. "How did you do that?"
Many of the interloper’s revelations might have shocked Morgan, her walking right through Kendall definitely would have, but sometimes in one’s life they run into a piece of vital information that turns the world on its head. One piece of vital information that drives everything else from one's mind. There was no flood in Robyn’s world. There. Was. No. Flood. In. Robyn’s. World. The sheer impact of that revelation punches her in the gut and her concentration drops, causing the radiation she’d been charging to disperse back into the atmosphere. But that doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters.
Once Morgan has control of her faculties again she jumps off the couch and runs to the edge of the fire escape, leaning over and looking around. She spots Robyn after a moment, and she’s scared Robyns about to leave, so she doesn’t bother with the ladder. She swings her body over the railing and lands on the docks with a thud, yelling “WAIT!”. She tries not to let the pain that rushes through her legs at her awkward landing show on her face.
“Take me with you, please, to your world.” she implores, all traces of hostility in her face gone. “I can help you find Roux, I can help convince her to go with you. And…and…” She takes a moment to gather herself and her thoughts before a realization strikes her face. “And you need me! The mainland is a radioactive hellscape, you’d die of radiation poisoning before you hit the great lakes. But I’m a Radiokinetic, I can control radiation! Which means I could shield you and anyone else you bring from the fallout.You NEED me.”
The desperate emotion behind Morgan’s eyes starts to overwhelm her and tears flood out the corners of her eyes. She surges forward and with both her hands grabs onto where she thinks Robyn’s wrist is. “Please let me come, I can help, please.” She looks down, no longer able to meet Robyn’s eyes. “I just want to see my Dads again. Of all people, you can understand that…”
There's a concerned look from Nadira initially as Morgan springs from the couch and is already down the fire escape in half a second. While she's not in as desperate a spring to her feet, she's up quickly and heading over towards the edge to peer below at both Morgan and the real (?) Robyn. The look on her face changes from concern to something else, though it's hard to read as she listens to the abrupt plea from the younger woman to the woman they've barely known.
"Mo, I understand your feelings but that is a very large journey to jump into so abruptly. Please at least give the situation some consideration. Give things a moment, please."
After all, if there was anyone to jump into something without thinking—Morgan would certainly be on that list.
Morgan dropping down to the dock with such force causes it to wobble underfoot, a growinglook of panic forming on Robyn's face. It's only when Morgan grabs her wrist that she steadies out and her expression shifts to something more resembling surprise. It takes a long moment for everything she's saying to catch up to her, but once it does her shoulders slump slightly.
She exhales a sharp breath, before abruptly stepping to Morgan and leaning down a slight bit so she can wrap her arms around her in a hug. She knows exactly what Morgan means, which makes her response that much harder. "I'm sorry," she whispers in a low voice, hugging her a bit tighter as she speaks. "I can't do that.. This…" Her voice takes a weary tone as she continues, "This was a one way trip for us."
Leaning back, she shakes her head and looks down at the dock. "And even if somehow, it ends up not being that, our method of travel… it requires special equipment we've already lost some of. Otherwise, the trip will kill you."
Lips thin, and she hugs her again. "I'm so sorry. I truly am."
"H-HEY!" When Morgan vaults over the side of the railing, Kendall snatches at her, but she's already up and over. He sends an exasperated look over at Nadira when she runs to the platform over the antics of her cousin, and joins her in looking over the edge, looking like he's about to follow suit. Given Morgan just jumped off the edge to a semistable floating platform, it would probably be a bad thing if he did the same. Instead, he runs to the ladder and slides down the rails, running over to grab her arm, but pulls away instead. "What are you doing?!" he hisses at her, gaze darting over to Robyn and hardening to a glare. Now look what you did.
"Morgan, she told me she knows a version of Nadira and I wherever she came from, so we're there too. Which means your parents probably already have a Morgan. Why would they want another one?" Kendall isn't trying to be mean, honest. "Besides, she said she's going to Alaska. That's way too dangerous a trip for you." Nevermind Morgan's comment about the radioactivity of the Mainland, which is… probably accurate.
Kendall steps back and crosses his arms, staring Morgan down. "No way. You're staying here. See? She even said there's no way back." Kendall already shared his opinion on that, no point bringing it up again. Noble sacrifices are fantasies.
Morgan’s surprised when Robyn hugs her but, while she doesn’t necessarily hug back, she relaxes in her arms and buries her face in her shoulder to hide her tears. Then Kendall has to go and ruin the moment.She gently pushes Robyn away and whirls around, bringing her fist up and punching Kendall right in his nose.
“I don’t know why it’s so easy for you to just forget about your parents, but some of us aren’t lucky enough to not care anymore!” Pointedly ignoring some of his, very salient, arguments, she shakes off her hand, that punch probably hurt her more than him, then turns back to Robyn. “You said yourself that other people have made the trip between dimensions before, presumably without the equipment you have, so the must be a way…”
She dries her tears off with her bicep and looks up with determination into Robyn’s eyes. “I won’t find a way there by sitting around here. Maybe you’ll discover a better way back. Maybe your mom will know a way if she’s so smart and important and all. But if I don’t try then I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. So I’m going and that's final.” She turns back and looks at the other two out of the corner of her eyes. “And Kendall was always going to end up going too because Roux is going to go, and he’d never let her go without him. And all three of us going means Nadira will have to go to keep us all alive.” She crosses her arms and smirks triumphantly. “So why don’t we stop arguing about who’s going and who’s not when it’s already a foregone conclusion, and start discussing how we’re gonna break this to Roux?”
Nadira's descent down the fire escape is much slower, much less panicked a pace to join the others. When she's settled at the bottom, she turns to face the trio with a much more stoic expression. "Please do not argue, you two," she notes with almost a parental chiding. "Morgan is right. We need to focus on Roux. If this is as you say it is… she deserves the chance to see her mother. Her mother. It has always been what she has talked about and what she has wanted. I am not one to deny her the chance."
She lets out a slow breath, almost as if letting a thought escape rather than air. "I believe Roux would go alone and jump headlong into danger if it meant a reunion. I also do not think she will do so well seeing herself. It is a tricky situation."
Kendall's glare is met with one of Robyn's in turn, standing in the rain as Morgan disentangles from her and turns her attention to Kendall. When she decks him, she can't help but snicker. "Kendall Alex Cunningham," she remarks as she raises a hand while he's off balance, places it against his chest, and pushes him towards the water, "kindly shut the fuck up."
Reaching up to gather her soaking her, she wrings a bit of it out - while her dupe had been up talking to them, she had been standing in the rain. "I didn't mean for all of you to end up in the rain with me," she notes, shaking her hands as if that might get the water off of them. "But truthfully, I don't believe this is as tricky as you assume it is." She huffs out a sigh, shivering as she looks past Morgan to Nadira. "She knows I exist. She knows this is all possible."
Pursing her lips, she spreads her hands in front of her. "A few years ago, an… associate of mine came through here. Magnes Varlane. He made his way to the Commonwealth Arcology, where she was staying at the time. There, the two of them met… and he told her about me. About the existence of other worlds, and how he had gotten trapped on a sort of… cosmic bogus journey."
There's a determination in her eyes as she steps past Morgan and closes the distance between herself and Nadira. "I don't think she'll react poorly. With shock, absolutely. Hell, I can't guarantee I won't. That said?" She takes a deep breath, looking into eyes both familiar and alien. "I don't decide who comes. I can't promise anyone space on this trip besides Roux. That's something you'll have to take up with other people."
Getting punched in the nose was no big deal, he can take it. Getting pushed right afterwards, though, has Kendall flailing backwards and ending in the water with a yelp. There's a moment of sputtering as Kendall checks his nose to make sure it wasn't damaged, then he climbs up the ladder that just appeared out of thin air, only to disappear as soon as he gets both feet on the docks.
Even despite busting out his Full Name (he never told anyone his middle name, not even Nadira!) it wasn't Robyn's words that make him hold his tongue. Instead, he looks over at Morgan with an unreadable expression, then he turns away from all of them, crossing his arms. As a contrast to earlier, it's less a defiant pose and more a defensive one. And he does stay quiet when Robyn speaks further, still staring out across the water.
If Morgan is shocked at the knowledge Roux knew about other universes, she doesn’t show it. Roux keeps secrets, that’s just what she does. She also doesn’t worry too much about Robyn passing the buck about them coming, she’s confident that they’ll see she’s too useful not to bring. And she and Kendall could just follow them if they refuse to bring them. Easily solved.
She heaves a sigh and looks over to Kendall, she knows she went too far with what she said, even if Kendall was being an ass. It was a low blow.
She quietly approaches behind him when he has his back turned and wraps her arms around his waist, giving a little squeeze of reassurance. “Sorry.” she whispers into his back just loud enough for him to hear. It almost physically pains her to see her brother upset, even if he does deserve it a little.
As the two seem to have at least calmed in their fighting, Nadira turns her attention to Robyn. "We do not need permission to make our own trek alongside you. At the very least, Roux deserves familiar faces on the way there. It is a rough journey and not one I would wish on someone alone without those who care about them. I think we can all agree you should at least speak to Roux, but I do not think anyone can promise the results you seek. Please, be gentle with her feelings."
For a moment it looks like Robyn may turn to offer some sort of assurance to Kendall, but with Morgan already taking up that role she instead turns her attention to Nadira. The look she gives her leans towards withering, clearly a bit dismayed with… something.
"Sure," she remarks with a shrug, "do that. But apparently this trip is a bad idea to begin with. Doing it alongside us seems like an even worse idea." It's not meant to be confrontational, more a statement of fact. "But I've already told you that's not up to me. I'd love to have… " She wrinkles her nose, before looking down at the ground and scratching the back of her neck. "I guess familiar faces too, as weird as it would be. I just… I'm trying to not speak for others. I'm not exactly popular with my travelling group as it is."
Which should come as an absolute shock to them, almost certainly.
"I'm not asking for promises. I'm asking for a chance."
When Morgan goes to hug Kendall he pops like a bubble and disappears. Robyn isn't the only one who can make duplicates after all, and that's for the punch in the nose. He reappears leaning against the ladder again, still soaking wet, and since it's pointless now he doesn't bother trying to keep the rain off. He doesn't look her way, instead fiddling with a key he had in his pocket.
"Fine, then. If it's all the same to you, if Roux's going, I'm going. That way she can have some familiar faces too, like Nadira said. That aren't her own. I can try finding her, but no guarantees, I don't usually keep track of her whereabouts, I just know a few places she could be. But I'm gonna say this right now, if you do talk to her and she decides to walk away from you, leave her alone."
There's a pause, and he looks up and over at his little sister. "Also, Morgan's not the only one with a useful ability. Nadira is one of the most important people in the Pelago." Kendall could also bring up his own ability, but he won't for now, mostly because Robyn already got a demonstration earlier.
Well so much for being nice. Clearly Morgan should just never apologize for anything ever again. “Oh but you have such a charming personality Roux…Robyn…whatever we’ll think of a name for you later…why would they not like you?” Morgan goes right back to teasing and being a brat, as is her nature. “But you seem to be having a misunderstanding. You, and whoever you came here with, are in our world. We call the shots and if we say we’re going we’re going. So either get with the program and help us or get out of the way.”
She crosses her arms and tries to look intimidating and badass as she gives her little speech, it isn’t…ineffective per say. There’s the crackle of ionized air as Morgan’s arms begin to glow violet. Kendall’s not the only one who can show off with their powers to make a point. She instantly feels a little more tired from the effort of pulling out the radiation for her little show but she tries not to let it show on her face.
"I do not believe this is your decision to make," Nadira notes, leveling her gaze at Robyn. "Our Roux is much more personable even if she is like a scared cat at times. I cannot see where you have picked up these habits…" It's clear she's not particularly liking the traveler's attitude either. "Roux is our priority, we are here for her. What she decides to do is her choice. We ask nothing of you. You simply continue with what you are doing and we will look after our Roux."
Robyn's boots scuff against the doc as she turns halfway back to face Nadira. "I'd tell you all about how I picked up these habits, if I thought it would at all make a difference," she offers. "But suffice to say, it's the result of a lot of bloodshed and loss."
She raises a hand and waves it back and forth dismissively as she turns back to find Morgan putting her ability on display, Robyn's head ticking slightly to the side. "It is almost adorable that you're this naive in this sort of world," she offers to the young woman, before shaking her head. "But it doesn't work like that. You don't call the shots. I don't call the shots. No one does."
Reaching up, she brushes hair out of her face, and thrusts her hand out in front of her, palm out - and the area around her, and around them fills with light. Morgan isn't the only one who can talk about what they can do. It recedes almost as quickly, Robyn stepping past Morgan and towards her small boat. "But fine. Get out of the way it is."
"Her middle name is apparently Janestine." Kendall informs Morgan innocently. Given his own reaction to this revelation, he and Robyn can both guess how Morgan is going to treat this bit of information.
This time, though, when Robyn makes a move to leave, Kendall doesn't try to stop her. "If I find her, I'll tell her to come here." That's all he says on the matter, but whether he's going to put much effort in hunting her down remains to be seen.
If Morgan is impressed with Janestine’s ‘Oh I’m so world-weary and badass’ routine, she doesn’t show it (because she’s not). Instead she makes a finger-gun with one of her hands, concentrates all of the radiation she just pulled, as well as what she can take from the atmosphere, into a little ball at the end of her finger, then dramatically fires it into the air (she even gives the gun a little pretend “kick” to really sell it). The ball of radiation shoots upwards, staying tightly condensed, until it hits a point about thirty feet above them where it suddenly and quickly loses cohesion, causing the air to crackle in an ionized burst of violet light.
“That’ll be our signal that we found Roux. I would come quickly when you see it, she doesn’t tend to stick around for very long…Janestine.” she says. Then, because she can’t resist, she blows the imaginary smoke off the end of her finger-gun.
There's a tiny snort of amusement from Nadira as she observes both Morgan and Kendall, and rests her gaze last on the very unfamiliar familiar face of Robyn. "I do not recall you living here with us and experiencing the world as we have to speak so strongly of the nature of someone you have only just met. You are not from this place, yes? Do not wager that you know how it works more than any of us do." She shrugs her shoulders dismissively in Robyn's direction before looking back to her two kin and giving them a small nod.
Though Robyn glances back at Nadira, she offers no rebuttal - not a verbal one, at least, instead choosing to offer a simple and quick shake of her head before she continues down to the far end of the pier. A hand is held out to catch some of the rain - even standing in it, it helps her better judge if the storm has started to settle back in. She's no nautical expert, as everyone is surely well aware of by now, and that has her playing it extra safe.
Ultimately, she decides it better to climb into her boat and get moving rather than linger here and risk more arguments that wouldn't either side anywhere.