fandomtownies | Outside the Clinic, Wednesday Afternoon

Entry tags:

karla,
simon tam

Outside the Clinic, Wednesday Afternoon

The area immediately outside the clinic seemed to be a good spot as any. "I'm keeping my promise, River," Karla whispered, as she stepped outside. The sky was threatening, and the ground was still wet from an earlier shower, but the air was clean and fresh and it wasn't raining now.

She wished briefly that she was wearing something nicer or had some music, but that hadn't ever stopped other-her or River from dancing in that other world, and it wasn't going to stop her here. "Shall we?" she asked.

[Both the road and the clinic are open and public places, though Karla's here for one.]

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Awkwardly, Simon held out his hands to her. "I have to confess I'm not very good at dancing," he said. "I apologise in advance if I step on your feet."

Karla laughed. "That's okay," she said, offering him her hands. "I've had a lot of practice." She began to slowly climb the air. "It'll be fun, I promise."

Nervously, Simon followed her. He had even less experience of walking on air than of dancing. "How... does this work?"

"I'm a witch," Karla explained. "I'm using Craft to firm the air beneath our feet is all. It's pretty close to what I do when I'm floating an object from one place to another, except with me."

Helpful, no?

She stopped climbing when they were about six or so feet off the ground. "This seems a good height, don't you think?"

At least it was some kind of explanation, even if it didn't make much sense to Simon. He looked down. It could be worse. It could be in space.

"This... is fine."

And then he tried to remember something about dancing.

Always more helpful to know there's an explanation, even when you don't understand it?

"I don't know much about dances from this world," Karla said, skipping over the part where she thought it was more like gyrating than dancing, "but I know a lot of fancy, Court dances. People say they're like ballroom dances here? Or we could always do what River and I did, and that was clasp hands and make up dances as we went along."

"Uh, I'm not very creative when it comes to dancing," Simon confessed, "But we can keep it simple?"

Karla smiled. "Don't worry," she promised. "It'll be fun no matter what." She held out her other hand to him. "I can start if you'd like."

And make it look like she was following, if necessary.

"Please." Simon took her other hand, and tried to follow as best as he could, just like he had done when River had insisted that he dance with her. "What else did my sister say?"

Oh Simon, talking and dancing did require some practise.

"She gave me a plant," Karla said, in between snatches of humming to give Simon something to follow. "She picked a flower for me. A forget-me-not. And I found a bowl and filled it with earth and reminded it what it was like to have roots and grow and it lived. And River was so very happy. Her smile is amazing, isn't it."

"It is." Now Simon smiled, for a moment forgetting that he wasn't very good at dancing. "She used to be so happy here. And now I don't know what to do."

[I thought I had pinged back. *facepalm*]

"Why not?" Karla asked, confused. She spun, then caught Simon's hand again and stepped closer. "Where did she go? I was assuming she'd graduated."

"She did graduate." Simon stumbled a little. "She was supposed to come back home, but she never did. I came here to find her and was told she'd been kidnapped by a teacher named Kerrigan. And then she returned for a weekend, and when I finally found her she told me she was going back to Kerrigan and that I mustn't try to follow."

"Kerrigan?" Karla was so startled, she missed a step and nearly stumbled. "Kerrigan was a teacher? Who kidnapped River?" That didn't sound anything like the Kerrigan she'd met in the other world. And while she knew that they were all very different people from their counterparts, Karla had assumed that all of the people from this world were better than those in the other world.

"You tried to follow anyway, right?" It was barely a question. It was just what males did.

"I haven't yet ~~because my mun hasn't got around to writing the plot yet~~. She told me she didn't want me to." Simon looked at Karla. "But I can't just leave her and let her go."

"I will help you, if you like," Karla promised. "River was a good friend to the other-me, and continued to be a good friend to me once I crossed over, even though the me she knew was elsewhere. I'm a Black Widow-Healer-Queen who wears the Sapphire. If there's anything I can do, please ask."

Simon probably had little to no idea what that meant, but considering they were outside, dancing on air, Karla assumed he could hazard a guess or two.

"What does a Black Widow do?" was all Simon could think of asking. The other two titles made sense.

He appreciated her offer, but what could she do?

"A Black Widow is a witch who heals the mind, weaves tangled webs of dreams and visions, skilled in prophecy, illusion, and poisons," Karla explained. "At the very least, I may be able to weave a web and see what information I can glean about River. Also..."

Karla trailed off, unsure how to say this without being rude. Normally, that wouldn't bother her, but she truly had liked River. "Your sister walks with at least one foot in the Twisted Kingdom, which is how my people speak of madness. When she is home, I may be able to help her. If she wishes."

"I've tried to find a cure," he said. "They experimented on her, cut into her brain. But she seemed better when she was here. As if the place itself healed her. And then she just disappeared, and when I saw her again..." He shook his head. "Something had changed.

"Had changed?" Karla asked, intrigued. She couldn't help it; her Healer and Black Widow instincts were pinging her a bit. From what little she remembered of her dreams and the few short hours she'd spent with the girl in the other world, nothing with River was that simple.

"Still, any help I can provide is yours."

"Something about her was different. I can say how." Simon had stopped and he looked at Karla. "And thank you for the offer. I really have to go after her, I know that."

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Outside the Clinic, Wednesday Afternoon

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