2022-03-22 - Catatonic Country Girl

(TXT to Ava) Ravn : Could I possibly talk you into doing a house call at 5, Oak? Shit kind of hit the fan pretty bad, and there's an injured kid.

(TXT to Ravn) Ava : I'll be right there.

(TXT to Ava) Ravn : My hero. We can't quite just call the police. Well, we can, but there'd be Difficult Questions.

It's 4am, and what do you do at 4am after a Very Traumatic Experience that has resulted in bringing back a Very Traumatised Unknown Teen to your kitchen?

You make pancakes, of course.

Una's being quiet, because her roommates are still fast asleep upstairs, but that's no reason not to make sure the kitchen smells as comforting and reassuring as it possibly can. The backdoor's open into the pre-dawn air, and there's coffee percolating through the pot while Una flips pancakes, turning to glance over her shoulder every so often at the non-responsive Katie.

She-- Una-- looks like she hasn't slept. And like she'd probably prefer to go upstairs and get changed, preferably into something that includes a bra, but that would mean leaving the aforementioned Katie and... that's not going to happen.

Ravn certainly is a sight. Sweatpants, t-shirt, muddy feet -- and an unruly mop of hair, but that's the usual status quo. He looks like he just fell out of bed and then walked home from someplace, well, muddy.

He too is hovering near the girl. He doesn't want to burst the trauma bubble before the actual medically trained person gets there. He does want Katie to know that she's not alone, and she's not in any further danger. He lets her see that he's texted the doctor too. Dr Brennon is how Ava's listed on his phone.

It is a very short sprint from 1 Oak to 5 Oak, especially when you just go right across the lawns. It's a good thing she invested in the house, after all. Because she's there for emergencies. There isn't even a knock as Ava comes in, assuming someone left the door unlocked for her. She's still in a nightgown, but she's slipped a long robe on over it and bunched a sash around in and put on a pair of slip on shoes. Look, she even wore flats for this. That's how important this was.

"I'm here." With her medical bag slung over her shoulder, Ava moved into focus long before she approached the table with the teen girl seated. She wants to make sure there's no 'sneaking up' on the poor thing. Hearing the muttering, she looks up at the others. "Was she Lost?"

The door's open, but Una still starts-- visibly-- at the sound of Ava's approach, and her voice. She's got a spatula in one hand, and a frying pan in the other, but neither of them seem even remotely important, given the way she looks at Ava: hopeful and relieved and shattered and a genuine mess, physically but also, it seems, emotionally.

"It was just a Dream," says the redhead, expressing her relief at Ava's arrival through her voice, if nothing else. "'Just' a Dream. It was a nightmare."

"Three nightmares, I think. And their riders, feeding on our fears." Ravn shudders. The folklorist is still pale as a sheet. "And poor Katie here -- has no idea what's going on. I don't think she's even listening to us. But we need to know that she's okay, and maybe find a way to -- well, break her out of catatonia. I'm not actually sure -- I mean, I'm not a doctor. You're a doctor."

Doin' great, Abildgaard. Keep it all together.

Ava does a quick health assessment on the girl, doing her best not to touch too much and potentially freak her out. One form of Catatonia into another wouldn't be helpful here. "She might not even be able to really here you right now." Ava states. "Are you two all right?" she wonders. Nightmares are a bitch. She knows, that's part of the reason she has a particular prescription in her bag that may come into play later to help this poor girl.

Digging through that bag, she pulls out a little tube like pack that fits between two fingers. "I don't know if you can hear me. But if you can, I'm going to try to wake you up now, okay. You're in a safe place, with friends. But this isn't going to smell very nice." She crushes the packet between her fingers, holding it under the girl's nose.

Una's, "No," is blunt, but truthful. No, she's not all right. No, she may never be all right again. (That's probably not true, but it almost certainly feels true right now.)

"But she got the worst of it. She's just a kid. And they got us in a Dream so we weren't even ready for it."

Pancakes are secondary-- tertiary, lower still-- to all of this, but it's something to do with her hands.

Ravn doesn't want to hover over the girl while Ava is examining her. He's not certain what the examination might entail exactly -- but given how his back feels and how there are visible marks on Una and the girl alike, he suspects it might involve some sort of undress. So he walks over to stand by the window, back turned upon the display to offer some kind of privacy.

"Literal nightmares," he mutters. "Black horses, with riders who tried to suck something out of us. Came up from under the bridge over Gray Pond, played on our fears. It was ... pretty damned bad."

"You're going to need to talk to someone about this. Both of you. All three of you, honestly. Assuming we can get her out of this." Ava frowns. An eyelid flutter occurs, Ava's brows lifting with hope. Then the dam breaks and she lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh sweetheart," she whispers. Her voice is soft and soothing as she brushes a hand over the girl's head. "We'll see if we can help you find her, okay, love? Right now you just cry as much as you need to." Soft green threads of healing power work their way through her fingertips as she brushes the girl's hair, trying to ease some of her physical pain away. The bruising may not be that bad, but she's just a child.

Talk to someone? Oh no. Nope. No.

Una sets down the frying pan, but mostly because the coffee is ready, and she probably needs a bucket load. At least. Maybe two. Besides: busying herself with mugs keeps her hands busy; so does delivering one to Ravn, and then two more to the table, in case Ava or Katie need one. It's coffee! It cures everything.

As she passes, one hand extends as if to touch Katie, though it hovers and then fells back again. Instead; "You're going to be okay," she promises, just quietly.

Long Danish fingers curl around that coffee cup and Ravn shoots Una grateful look. "I'll be -- well, fine is a big word, but, back to normal. Heaven knows I've talked to a dozen therapists in my life. Thing about it is, you can find out why the thing in your past bothers you, but therapy doesn't make it go away. So the monsters can still get you."

While Ravn might usually be clueless, even he can't possibly miss the glaring eyes of the Doctor from over the teen girl's shoulder. Or the fact that she is literally mouthing to him 'shut the fuck up' and gesturing to the literal child he's saying that around. "What is wrong with you?" That part is verbalized. He's just determined to make her more mad at him. But then Katie is looking up at her and Ava's expression immediately softens, her head tilting. "Did I? Well then, good. You shouldn't have to deal with that kind of weight." Ava brushes away some of the tears from her cheek. "I'm Doctor Brennon. I was hoping you could tell me your name. And your last name, so we can call your family and let them know that your safe and we're bringing you home."

Is Una aware of the weight she's still carrying? If she is, there's no immediate indication of it: she's still busying herself, adding pancakes that no one is likely to eat to a plate, and pausing for sips of her coffee every so often when there's a lull in the pancake making. Anything, it seems, to keep her hands busy.

She's not angry with Ravn, the way Ava clearly is, but the glance she aims at him is-- not appraising, not as such, but certainly thoughtful, and perhaps searching in a different way.

Ravn must have caught that look. Either look. He puts his coffee cup down where he's standing, on the window sill. "You're probably going to want to do a physical. I don't think Katie wants me here for that. I'll get out of the way and go find a shower."

And that's him heading for the door, hoping to heaven that no one else is noticing the fact that his hands are shaking.

Ava spots the shaking hands with a frown and sighs. They're going to have to talk, soon. But right now is not the time. Right now she has to put her focus on the young girl in front of her. Miller, Miller. She tries to place the family in her mind. Does she know the Miller family? Una, would you be willing to look up the Miller's for me? See if they're in the phone book?" she wonders with a hopeful look. "That--" she winces. "That's called a Dream. Though, that one seems like it was far more of a nightmare than anything else. Sometimes they're nicer than that, but sometimes they're bad, like what you went through."

"People who have the Shine, that glowing light that you see around folks like the one you can see around me and everyone else that was in this room? We get pulled into them sometimes. Sometimes people who don't have it get pulled in, too. But they have a harder time getting back out. Or they can't remember it afterwards the way that we can. A lot of things will happen now that you'll remember, that people who don't glow will forget. Because if they don't glow, they're supposed to forget. It protects their minds." Ava takes a breath. "Do either of your parents glow?"

It's harder to tell whether Una saw the state of Ravn's hands, but that doesn't mean she doesn't follow him out with her gaze. She can't talk, given she doesn't seem to want to process this verbally any more than the Dane does, but--

Ava's request at least gives her something to do. "Yeah," she says. "Let me see if we have a phone book. I'll find it."

First, though, she'll set that plate of pancakes onto the kitchen table. Likely, no one will eat them. But they're there, and maybe she intends it to be comforting: not everything can be absolutely terrible if there are pancakes, right?

The name Miller does indeed ring a bell to Ava. In fact she had an appointment for tomorrow for a teenager named Miller. Something about auras and night terrors. The likelihood in Gray Harbor they are different people is slim, especially given the givens. The girl looks from Ava to Una and the door Ravn walked out of. "I...I just thought I was having migraines," She says weakly. "Dad made an appointment for me...I've been having so many nightmares I can't stay awake at school," Her voice is more sure now. Probably part of the effect of the healing from Ava. The soothing calm of Spirit will fade eventually.

"Did...did I make him mad?" Katie can't help but ask about the Dane, her eyes going back to the door. "I've never seen an aura around 'em," She admits to Ava at the question, her face scrunching up as she thought about it. "Can...can you make it stop? You're a doctor, is there a pill or something?"

"Thanks, Una." The coffee set by her is picked up finally so that Ava can take a short sip before a long sigh. "You didn't make him mad at all. I did," the doctor assures. "Plus, nightmares are scary for everyone. Including adults. He needed some time to himself to deal with how they effected him," she offers honestly.

When Katie clarifies, Ava nods firmly. "You want to know something kind of funny? The doctor that you have an appointment with? That's me," she tells her with a little smile. "No wonder your name sounded kind of familiar. The thing about us, those of us who Shine, is that we can't turn it off or make it stop. But we can learn to control it better, and eventually learn to do some pretty neat stuff with it. Right now, you're having nightmare and trouble because you don't have any help. But I'm going fix that, okay." Her eyes scan the girl, checking the power levels thoughtfully.

"Hmm. Una!" She glances to the woman and gestures her over with a smile. "You guys are the same power level in mental magics, I want to show her something, if you don't mind? If you guys just look at each other, don't even talk, just think. You can send each other thoughts. Like walkie talkies. That's something only people with powers like yours can do."

Una half looks as if she'd like to edge out the door herself (maybe to go scream into a pillow), but Ava's gesture gets her to pause. And, look: despite her own trauma, there's a clear desire to help, and deep, deep empathy for the teen's trauma.

So Una pauses, and gives Ava an uncertain little nod. She moves around the table to sit opposite, clutching her coffee between both hands. "Kailey showed me how to do this, only a week or so ago," she tells Katie. "So it's new to me too. And it's a little scary, but I promise it won't hurt or anything."

I just want to say hi, she attempts-- attempts!-- to project to the other girl, promptly wincing when her attempt reaches, instead, definite shields.

For Ava, then, a quick shake of the head. For Katie: "It's ok. You don't have to."

"But...but I don't WANT it!" Katie all but wails, the tears gathering in her eyes again. That lower lip trembles and the poor girl looks from Ava to Una to Ava. "I don't want a walkie talkie in my head. I don't want those things sitting on my chest, making it so I can't breathe!" She begins to breathe quicker as her head shakes. "This is horrible! How do you live like this is, if you're just gonna disappear?" She's trying hard to keep stay calm.

So it is when Una tries to talk to her, she is clumsily rebuffed mentally by the teenager. Who shakes her head and puts her hands over her ears like a little kid. As if that would actually help. "No no no no no. This is supposed to happen in comic books!"

Well, there goes trying to make it exciting for the poor girl. That backfired. Ava offers an apologetic look towards Una. "Sorry. I thought it might make it seem more fun. Just made it worse." Ava reaches out and gently puts her hands on Katie's wrists. "Hey, hey. We don't have to do that part if you don't want to. I'm sorry. I was just trying to show you some of the good parts about having the Shine, okay? I'm sorry. I am." Her face is earnest and apologetic as she gazes at the teen.

"It sucks. I know. I was six when my world got flipped upside down. I was pretty excited about it myself until I got pulled into my first Dream. Then it was terrifying. I'm sorry that I can't take this away from you. I'm sorry." She tries to pull the hands away from the girl's ears so that she can hold them instead. "But all that I can do is promise to be here for you, and to help you. And promise that you aren't alone. Okay?"

Somehow, despite everything, Una's composure is undaunted (and where was that when she really needed it?!). "You're not alone," she confirms, quietly. "We're going to help you. When you're ready. I--" She glances at Ava. "I'll let you get her home. But... Katie, you know where I live now, okay? So if you ever need a friend."

Now, though, composed or not, Una needs a moment.