𝒸𝕆Ň𝓽Δ𝔠ᵗ 👌😈

[oorah]

𝓜𝓻. 𝓜𝓪𝔂𝓸𝓻

𝖙𝖊𝖝𝖙, 𝖛𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖔 (𝔲𝔫;𝖍𝖔𝖙𝖉𝖔𝖌)

𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 (𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖆𝖋𝖊 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊)

𝖋𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖇 𝖛𝖕 (𝔰𝔞𝔣𝔢 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔤𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔢)

𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖑𝖊𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖔𝕶𝖔𝖚𝖙 (𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯)

𝖔𝖈𝖈𝖚𝖕𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 (𝖘𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖕𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖊𝖈𝖍 : ₁₀₋₃ | 𝖕𝖆𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖑 : ₁₁₋₇ | 𝖋𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖕)

𝖛𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖗 (𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔫, 𝔠𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔠, 𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔩)

Comments

[oorah]

[ kamala is the only one here who truly understands the implications of what it means to be the punisher. there are a few others who know what he's done or what he's called, but she's the only one who sees him for what and who he is completely, and loves him anyway. other than micro, he's never had that before and he's honestly not sure how to reconcile it now. but when she asks him... if he understands retaliation? it's almost funny in a grim way. he clenches his teeth and shakes his head. ]

That's not you, Kamala. I know you'd be upset, but you don't hurt people just to hurt them. [ especially not for the likes of him. frank already has a veritable child army at the ready if he ever drops dead again. he really doesn't need the reminder. ]

[morphogenia]

[Kamala feels her face get hot. She wishes she was as good as he thinks she is. That's not really true, is it?] I actually did once. There was this girl, a girl like me, only she decided that what we became made her better than normal human beings. She could attack or kill them if she wanted to if she was in the mood to. It was like anyone who wasn't us didn't count anymore as a person. They were just things to her.

[She barely holds in a shudder. That way of thinking is beyond gross to her especially now.] Anyways, the stuff she said really got to me. It was a lot like the stuff people would say back in Pakistan that made my family leave so I hit her so hard that I ended up putting her in a neck brace. I wasn't protecting anyone by hurting her. I just wanted to get back at people like her for making everyone scared of us.

[She lets out a soft sigh. That actually wasn't easy to admit. She still feels guilt over it even if Kaboom remains a complete psychopath.] I'm not saying that I'd take it that far ever again. The couple seconds where I felt her neck move the wrong way definitely taught me a lesson. But it'd still be personal for me when I held them accountable. I'd still be tempted to stop holding back so much.... which totally makes it sound like it'd be your fault if something bad happened to you and I did the wrong thing.

[Kamala looks up suddenly and waves her arms. Yes, she is realizing this now that her pity party is done.] Sorry! Total jerk move on my part! Forget I even said any of that stuff. You're totally not accountable for my bad choices, okay? Which I'm not repeating!

[oorah]

[ frank listens patiently as ever, nodding even as he lets the girl come to her own conclusions. she hit someone who was trying to enslave humanity a little too hard. yeah, kamala is exactly who he thinks she is. but when she starts to apologize he looks visibly uncomfortable, shaking his head and reaching out his hand for hers. he covers her slim hand with his giant mitt and looks her in the eyes. as usual, she had cycled through something before he could even get a word in edgewise, but as ever he can't find it in himself to be annoyed. especially since he hadn't wanted to interrupt anyway. ] It's okay. You're still a good person, sweetheart. [ unlike me, he doesn't say. ]

You're right, I'd hold myself accountable if something happened to you. Especially if you were getting someone back for me. But I trust you. You'll do the right thing when it counts. [ somehow, his voice remains even for a change even if inside his chest his heart feels close to bursting. his eyes are wet with tears he won't shed. not while she's still here, anyway. ]

[morphogenia]

[She meets his eyes in return, eyes welling up in return. Kamala didn't come here to upset him. She wanted to share happy stories and indulge in her silly fantasies. Reality has a way of creeping in even when she tries to avoid it. Right now she's stuck with the weight of called good. To her it's not a natural state. It's something you have to work at every day. She can't do one good deed and claim that makes her good forever. It's a lot to live up to.

Her voice is shaky as she replies.] I don't want to disappoint you or my family. Ammi and Abu had to work really hard to get me stop acting like such a selfish brat all the time. I want to be someone all of you can be proud of which is my way of saying I am going to earn that trust. Even if it's scary to live up to something like that when everything around me isn't so great.

[oorah]

You're sixteen, Kamala. Do you know what I was doing at sixteen? [ apparently it's rhetorical because he just shakes his head. if she's a selfish brat then he was an actual piece of shit. which probably isn't far off from the truth. he squeezes her wrist once before pulling his hand away. ] You're still figuring out who you are. But whoever that person ends up being? Couldn't ever disappoint me. And I'm not someone you should be worried about letting down anyway.

[ more to the point: her parents sound like literal saints. it hurts that she looks up to him. ] Just know I'm gonna back you up. No matter what. Okay?

[morphogenia]

I actually have no idea. [She replies honestly before simply listening. Now it's her turn to get bright eyed. That was actually the perfect thing to say. She'll probably obsessively commit it to memory after this.

She rubs her eyes to keep from getting too emotional on him which really says a lot. Kamala has never lacked feels.] Okay. For the record? Saying stuff like that is why I worry about letting you down. You're a really good friend and a reliable grown up which is really hard to come by especially in horror films. You should really get used to people worrying about this.

[oorah]

[ sometimes he's disturbingly good at this. but that doesn't make it any easier to accept her gratitude or admiration. frank ducks his head, shrugging in a minute show of helplessness. ]

How about I start with just you. [ if he can get used to kamala relying on him, that's a step right? ]

[morphogenia]

[Kamala smiles fondly at him. Sometimes she forgets it isn't just her that has to grow here. The fact that he tries really just makes her admire him more.] I'm fine with that. Rome wasn't built in a day, right?