Playing Catch-Up (OPEN)

[tempredmental]

WHO: Keith, OPEN
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: MerMay and Storms
WHEN: During their respective events
WARNINGS: Storms bring talk of parental death, war, abandonment, loss (and this Voltron was a kid's show)

OOC: Just a note that this is for both events. Life ate my brain with a new job, so I missed a lot and I've been completely exhausted as a result. Sorry for falling off the face of the internet. I will gladly match format.

MerMay

This was normal, right? Nothing weird about suddenly being a mer and not having any memory of being anything else. Keith swam around the dome like it was just him walking around Temba. Everything else about being there was the same... he'd been brought there from another reality, he'd been on water filled ships in Drift Fleet... everything except it was all shifted as if he'd always been a mer and nothing else.

This was his life.

How did he explore the planet if they were stuck in a dome? Who knew? But, he'd been to Sh'Ka... somehow. The logistics of it weren't important. His brain didn't even really think about it.

Today, he was grabbing some stuff for dinner... fish, some vegetation... obviously, no cooking. Temba didn't have any way of heating things up. They weren't close enough to any volcanic vents, despite not being far from a volcano. But, that was fine. It wasn't the first time he'd done without hot food...

=====

Storms

The weird mermaid event was over now... and the warning message about the storms had come through loud and clear. Keith wasn't sure what had been meant by the multiple cold spots on the weather radar compared to having been one big spot previously. That said, he was curious enough to stick around and find out.

He might regret that later, but he knew how dangerous the storms could be. He still remembered the first one with one of the storm ghosts leading him off a cliff. Thankfully, it hadn't been a really high one, but the storm had affected his durability due to his Galra side, and he'd fractured his leg in the fall. He wasn't willing to make a repeat of that.

So, he was going to be careful... but that didn't mean he wasn't still going to have to see some memories...

Comments

Storm

[deal_me_in]

Cayde was never one to stay in one place, even when danger was brewing. Scratch that, especially when it was brewing. He knew the risks, but he also knew that it was a toss-up as to whether others knew or not, or cared.

Why he made it his business to make sure no one got in over their head? Well, maybe he was just too nice a guy. At least it wasn't a blizzard. Rain was still a pain but it wasn't stopping him any, although wet cloaks made for lousy dramatic entrances.

"On the bright side, at least it doesn't look like there's any reverse dimensions?"

Re: Storm

[tempredmental]

"Heh... yet." Keith wouldn't be surprised if there was something else they hadn't noticed about these storms... He sighed. "So what are you braving this weather for?"

[deal_me_in]

"Hey, don't jinx us!" the Exo laughed. Only Cayde could laugh in a storm, but he was of the mind that it was the best thing he could do when he couldn't shoot whoever was responsible for them in the face.

"Looking for openings," he replied.

[tempredmental]

Keith just made a face, even if it was slightly amused. Honestly, he was pretty sure they were beyond getting jinxed.

"Openings for what?" he asked. He pushed some of his wet hair from his face. It was long enough already, but having it drip down his nose was really annoying.

[deal_me_in]

That was just a sign that he needed a haircut, in Cayde's opinion.

"The ones pulling the strings have to slip up at some point. Won't figure out anything hiding from these things."

[tempredmental]

Never.

Keith nodded. "Yeah. I can see that." He glanced out at the storm again. "That message we got, right? About how it looked different on the screen? I wanted to see if we could tell from down here why it might have looked different. So far, it just seems to be that it's spotty instead of one big storm."

It was a slow creep around them, and Keith didn't really seem to notice right away... but the fog was starting to get a bit denser...

[deal_me_in]

He's got a knife, just say the word!

"I'm thinking that was just a matter of Agrii perception. The storm is spotty though, which...kind of makes sense when you think about how that kid was describing it."

Cayde looked up, glad he didn't have to worry about floppy wet hair to get in his face. Maybe that was why he noticed the subtle shift in the atmosphere around them. His optics narrowed as he glanced around. "Hm....that a good thing or a bad thing..?"

[tempredmental]

Not happening, dude.

"Yeah." Keith was reminded of watching weather radars back home, as they had to learn to interpret those for flight school. Sure, the Agrii kid's description wasn't loaded up with weather jargon, but the description was accurate enough, and the image in Keith's head definitely fit the idea of spotty storms.

Honestly, though, it wasn't Keith's hair that was messing with his perception. The storm was. He did, however, frown a bit in concern over Cayde's words before finally noticing it himself. He sighed, a frustrated sound, like he was annoyed about missing something he should have noticed. But, he stood up a bit straighter, more alert, like he was waiting for the worst.

Fast building fog like that was never a good sign, especially in storms on this planet.

They weren't wrong to be alarmed. The area around them began to shift, what was left visible of the town fading quickly into the thick grey mass, and, as it faded, the rain disappeared, and they were... not in Temba.

It looked like a military base in a desert. Keith narrowed his eyes. He knew this place. It was the Garrison base in Arizona where he'd gone through flight classes and military training. But... why were they here? And it looked like it was the past, definitely not how he remembered it looking the last time he'd been home to see it.

"The storms can do this now?" he muttered to himself.

Keith was on edge... he had good memories here, but he also had bad ones... which would this be?

[deal_me_in]

Whatever he was preparing for, an entire scene-shift certainly wasn't it.

"What the-"

Cayde whipped around, half expecting to see Temba at his back but everything around them looked pretty convincing. He couldn't even feel any rain, a point that made him glance skyward just in case.

"It's changed us and opened up weird dimensions, you're questioning environmental changes?" he pointed out. "This isn't mine. You know this place?"

Storm

[stitch_witch]

Storms were not something Lark was often in town for, amazingly enough. The woman had rather ample luck, often finding herself far from the city when storms came around. Which made today that much more interesting. What was a bit of rain after all?

It wasn't a bit of rain. She had left Little Bear at home in the hotel and gone out to gather just enough extra food supplies to get them through a few days. And of course that was when a storm rolled in. Which was leaving her huddled up against the rain, annoyed.

And without her magic she could hardly expect herself to just tie lines to buildings and expect that magic to tell her which way to which building. So there was Lark, a bit lost in the overwhelming rain, trying to find her way.

[tempredmental]

Keith wasn't sure what was worse... the storms, which left him feeling like everything around him was muffled and toned down for every one of his senses, or the screaming moon, when it felt like every ounce of him burned with energy and the tiniest thing could trigger sensory overload.

Honestly, both. He just hated them both.

But, as he also hated feeling trapped in one spot and honestly felt like he already knew what to expect around here with these things, he'd been out getting some necessities and burning off some excess pent up energy in addition to trying to figure out what the warning had meant in regards to it looking different when this one hit.

He was beginning to realize that the difference in appearance was indicating "spotty" instead of a big singular storm...

"Lark?" This was the first time he'd ever seen her around when a storm hit. She looked utterly miserable, and considerably lost. "Hey... you alright?" He moved closer.

sorry i'm not going to be around for most of the night after this. But I will be tomorrow

[stitch_witch]

Honestly, it was not often that Lark was around when the storms hit. Luck, or perhaps guidance from Mila that put her out of the way of the better part of the harm storms might cause to someone with magic so tied into the core of their being. So yes, miserable was an accurate description of how she felt.

"Not really," she admitted, and was it just her ears deceiving her or was her breathing a little labored? No, the fact that she was dizzy from perhaps not enough air suggested that it was in fact difficult for her to breathe right now.

An asthma attack then, an poorly timed. How miserable.

no worries

[tempredmental]

Keith cringed a bit. She sounded worn out and exhausted, honestly. But, he wasn't exactly familiar with asthma, so he definitely wasn't going to be able to figure that out on his own.

"Do you need help?" he offered.

[stitch_witch]

"Yes," she says, her voice rough as she tries to catch her breath. "Somewhere safe. To sit. Breathe."

[tempredmental]

Keith wasn't sure what the building they were near was, but it was inside, at least. He reached out, offering her some support if she wanted to lean on him before starting to move and find an open door for them to get inside. He remembered that, with these storms, they had to get inside something far away enough from everything in order to not be as affected, but... would this building be large enough for that? He wasn't sure. But it was better than nothing for now.

If it didn't help, then he'd just have to carry her somewhere else until they found something large enough to get away from the rain and weather.

[stitch_witch]

The offered support is gladly taken, and Lark lets him guide her along. Her entire focus is on taking deep, measured breaths. That was the most important thing for her. To not end up dizzy and falling over.

But it's getting rather unlikely that she's going to make it without falling over.

[tempredmental]

Keith was definitely ready to carry her if he needed to, and, if she stumbled or showed signs of falling, he'd scoop her up and do just that, even if she tried to protest.

Once inside, he moved towards the center, as far from the outer walls as possible to see if it helped. Hopefully, the building was big enough.

"What else do you need?" he asked.

MerMay

[faceguy]

Leo's out and about, because he can't stand being in the warehouse he lives (lived?) in with his brother right now. Unaware that Donnie is simply trapped in Sh'ka, he thinks he's all alone, so staying out and around the other residents of Temba is the only way to keep from drowning (hah!) in that feeling.

Gathering food is good, too. Gotta eat, after all!

He has himself a nice little stack of clams going. Though he has no idea how he's going to prepare it. Cooking has never really been his thing, only doing it when he has to. Not that there's anywhere to really cook, but...

He looks up from his clam collection when he sees another fish-person swim by. Does he knows this one? Hmm...

He raises a flipper in greeting anyway. "Hey!"

[tempredmental]

"Hm?" Keith paused in his swimming, twisting in the water to look for who had called out to him. "Hey?" Keith had met a few of the talking turtles before... Raphael, Donatello... but not this one. He spun, flipping his tail powerfully to propel himself down to where this turtle (wearing blue this time) was gathering up some clams. Keith was pulling along a satchel with him through the water that he'd been putting his spoils into.

"What's up?"

[faceguy]

“Gatherin’ clams.”

He indicates his stack.

“You want some? I don’t wanna be… shellfish.”

He laughs at his own pun.

[tempredmental]

Keith stared for a moment, almost like he didn't get it, but then he shrugged.

"I mean, it's not like you don't have a shell," he countered. He'd spent a decent amount of his childhood around a man who prided himself on dad jokes. He was used to it.

[faceguy]

For a second Leo is afraid this guy might be humorless, but then he proves to actually be on the same page! Oh, that is excellent.

Leo can't help but grin even bigger.

"You get it. I'm being shell-pful!"

[tempredmental]

Keith twisted in the water with the grace of a skilled fighter, someone who was aware of his own body movements and position relative to the space around him. He dropped down towards the seabed where the turtle had gathered up his clams, slowing to a float mere inches from the sand.

"Might get confusing. How many clams for a clam?" Keith wasn't sure if the pun might be too much, but calling money 'clams' was kind of a thing where he was from, at least.

[faceguy]

Ah, so this guy knows how to move. Interesting.

Leo laughs, swimming back from the clams. He parsed the joke, at least.

“I think I can let them go for the low low price of free.” He shrugs. “It’s not like there’s any current-cy here anyway.”

A pause, and then he lights up. “Ooo, current-sea!” That adjustment might be hard to even notice, though.

[tempredmental]

Keith had to think about what might be the difference there for a second because spoken words weren't exactly visible, but he did get it after a moment and grimaced a little.

"A double pun?" he asked. "Don't you think that's a little much?"