fandomtownies | The Roof of Midnight Manor, Sunday Afternoon

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The Roof of Midnight Manor, Sunday Afternoon

After her trip to JGoB's that morning, Arden changed into a sports bra and yoga pants, and headed up to the roof with some waters and a small mat. If she wanted to get good at, oh, any of the things she was trying to learn to make herself even slightly more dangerous than your average bunny, she was going to have to start working out more on her own time. It was hot enough that she wasn't looking for a wild workout, but she could do some yoga. That was supposed to make people stronger and more flexible, right?

She spread her mat out on the roof and started stretching, recalling some of the poses she'd learned in Ms. Diaz's class last workshop and eventually shifted into cat/cow pose to start loosening up. She used to be pretty flexible, time to see if she could get that back.

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Kamala had been doing her run/rooftop jog around and just happened to be heading home when she saw Arden on the roof.

“Hey you!” Kamala said as she descended down to the roof top using her hard light stepping stones. “What’s up?”

"My overall soreness levels!" Arden said with a laugh that was also a groan. "Working out sucks. Why can't we all just be effortlessly strong and in shape?"

“Ugh. Tell me about it,” Kamala groaned as she flopped down on the roof. “There are days Id love to have Captain Roger’s super serum so I could have permanent abs. But I guess I have to do it the old fashioned way.”

"Professor Amicitia's got us working with swords that are like, three-quarters my height and, like, double my bodyweight," Arden also groans. But she holds her form! Like a fucking champ! "I've gotta get even a hint of muscle definition to keep up."

“Isn’t a sword like that just way too big for you?” Kamala asked, incredulously. “I mean if you had super strength, sure. But that sounds massive!”

"It's huge!" Arden said, though might have been exaggerating a tiiiiny bit. Teensy. Itty-bitty. "If I ever tip over backwards with that thing on top of me, I probably won't be able to get back up again without help!"

"That seems like a hazard if you ever actually get into a fight," Kamala chuckled. "Maybe you should go for one of those fencing foils?"

"No fencing foils in class," Arden said. "But I'm choosing to look at it like...an excuse for me to get good and also if I ever pick up a normal sword, it'll be so much easier. You know? Like when you run with weights on."

“Do you anticipate getting into a lot of sword fights anytime soon?” Kamala teased. “Or are you just doing this for fun?”

"I'm mostly trying to like..." Arden made a kind of flailing motion. "Find normal person ways of defending myself so when bad things happen, I'm not running away and hiding behind like, you...Cal...Gray...even Lydia. It's embarrassing."

Kamala paused for a moment, internally debating something for a moment.

“You know, I’ve actually been thinking about that,” Kamala said. “I think you’re right about training. But I’m thinking you should come to my world to train.”

There was an emphasis on this that included a very large eyebrow movement. “You know. Away from your world. And not with swords. “

Look the girl had no rum with her so she felt the need to speak in code.

A very subtle code. Night unbreakable.

"So uh. Last time I did some...non-sword training...I had a panic attack and also, uh. Nearly did some property damage. Cal had to keep me from falling off the roof."

“And you could be with me. A woman who has giant hands to catch you,” Kamala said slowly as if emphasizing the super secret code. “And also in Jersey City I know a few places that could use some property damage. And! And! Home cooking from my Ammi afterward.”

That last part was not a code.

...Okay but Ammi--err, that is, Mrs. Khan's cooking was a really good argument, Arden couldn't pretend otherwise.

She looked around. "Am-scray, Jimothy," she said and, once they were alone, looked at Kamala. "Okay, but what if I hurt you?" she asked. "You're not invincible."

“Worse, what if you use your powers and hurt someone who can’t produce their own personal hard light shield,” Kamala sai summoning a barrier between herself and Arden and then dismissing it. “Look, I know you’re worried about hurting me but the alternative could be worse. When I first went out and tried to help people I ended up breaking a kid’s leg. I wasn’t ready. I mean I saved his life and all but I could have been better. I just think that practicing in a safe space would be good for you. And I promise you won’t have to drink any of Abbu’s attempts at sweet tea.”

"He tries so hard, though," Arden protested, mostly by rote. "And that's the thing! I'm not gonna use my powers. If I get used to them and start using them by habit in your world, I'll end up forgetting myself and using them in mine. And that's dangerous!"

“Okay, first of all you’re dashing my dreams for us to clean up Jersey City as a dynamic duo… but I get it. Then instead of focusing on using your powers you can focus on controlling them,” Kamala replied. “So if something happens on the island or whatever you won’t accidentally use them. Or hurt someone. I can ask Bruno to help! He did all these studies on me when I got my abilities. He might figure out something you don’t know.”

"...What kinda studies?" Arden asked, alarmed.

“Nothing bad!” Kamala said, immediately holding up her hands. “He did a bio-scanner thing he cooked up from some open source software and a swabby thing from my mouth. He wouldn’t do anything bad to you.”

And then a bit more fiercely: “I would never let him do anything bad to you.”

"I know, I know," Arden said. "Just...habit, I guess. I'm not human and medical testing will show that, so it's something I've avoided for years."

"Okay, well if you don't want that, I understand," Kamala said, nodding her head. "Just know that despite everything that happened between me and Bruno I know he'd still drop everything if it means helping me. And he always has my full trust. Plus you're not the only one not exactly human."

Kamala raised her hand. "Hello. My name is Kamala. Mutant hybrid human/alien from another dimension mix."

"I know, I know," Arden said. "But you weren't raised knowing that and being afraid of someone else finding out. Did you know you were a mutant human/alien hybrid from another dimension when you were doing the tests?"

She sighed. "I'm just lucky my mom's genetics didn't kick in till I was with Callista, so all my childhood blood work was fine."

"I didn't know about the alien thing until after my powers kicked in," Kamala said with a shrug. "And I know it's not as big as a deal for me as it is for you. But... I mean we have people with weird abilities all over the place on our world. Did I mention at one point there was a talking raccoon on the Avengers? So I think someone with wind powers isn't going to freak people out too much."

Well, at least until there's an MCU convergence with the X-men. Then things will get weird.

And then Arden would have Sentinels on her cute ass, which: rude.

"It still boggles me y'all are just so...open about everything. Like the first person with powers just decided to throw on spandex about it and everyone else that came after was like, 'Oh, sure, I guess that's what we're doing now' or whatever."

"Well, our first hero was pretty well publicized in the 40s and then the next big hero literally had a press conference," Kamala said with a shrug. "I mean, I keep my identity hidden but that's because I want to keep my family safe. Clearly no one else has that concern in my world. I don't get it."

Then again most heroes in the Marvel universe are orphans. Let's not dig too deep into that.

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