Jemma Simmons is a terrible liar (needanewplan) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-06-01 07:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, cosima niehaus, jemma simmons |
Who: Cosima and Jemma
What: Ramifications from Jemma’s latest dreams
When: 1 June 2018, early morning
Where: Their place
Warnings: Low beyond reference to creepy Kree
Status: Log | Complete
It had been bad enough to see another Monolith, to have it drag them all through (well except for Fitz) to a place run by the Kree. To try and get a signal out to Fitz on their location only to realize that they weren’t so much in space, but in the future. A future where the Earth was destroyed. The stark realization of what that meant.
But then another Dream happened. Because of course it did. Being in the trawler with May, the worry of being killed before they got back to where they’d arrived. Seeing the state of that place. The overcrowding, people fighting over the ‘kindness’ of being given food. And then someone had been stabbed and Jemma’s training kicked in and even after being told to keep her head down, to fit in… she did the exact opposite and raced forward to save the man because it was who she was. The fear and whispers of those in the Lighthouse. Of being taken by the Kree to see the person in charge… Kasius. The girl who handed her towels and clothing and how she didn’t hear her question. Of the intimidation of the Kree woman with the killing balls. Her ‘conversation’ with Kasius. His obsession with ‘perfection’, having to come up with lies to explain how she knew medicine in a time and place where people weren’t given the tools to learn so that they remained pressed down. Of seeing a man killed because he’d have a small and minor scar.
“You are a beauty worth cultivating. But you must.learn.silence.”
And pain. There was pain and then complete silence and her vision swam and it was like her balance was off. Then she was being dressed, painted, taught and brought out again and suddenly she could hear. But only Kasius’ voice. Being ready for guests and a ship flying by the window.
Waking up, Jemma blinked to try and get her her vision to focus. She also could feel something on her forehead and she stumbled out of bed, her balance off and vaguely aware that everything was completely silent. Even so, she was more focused on the itching and got to the bathroom and stared in horror at the gold painted on her forehead, on her lips, the eye shadow. Turning on the water (yet she still couldn’t hear it), Jemma began to scrub her face violently to get the gold off.
Cosima had been a little worried about her own dreams of late. They hadn’t progressed past when Rachel had injected her with the cure. Or what she’d hoped was the cure and that Delphine hadn’t been duped and the cure wasn’t a cure at all. She knew there was more to come, and knowing her past dreams, not much of what was to come would be good. Though she honestly didn’t know what could be any worse than being responsible for Kendall getting killed. (She still didn’t know how Mrs. S didn’t shoot her for that one, honestly.)
Still, she was thankful for the reprieve, it allowed her to focus on her life here. Her work, of which the genetics of Miranda Lawson that Jemma had given to her were intensely fascinating and she wasn’t exactly obsessing over them, but she did spend a lot of time going through Miranda’s genome, and even comparing it to her own just to see the differences. There was also the wedding planning, which so far it was going smoothly.
The sound of running water was the first thing Cosima heard as she drifted into consciousness. She opened her eyes, but didn’t see anything distinct, no matter how much she squinted. She was definitely as blind as a bat without her glasses, and she reached for them on the nightstand, putting them on and the world suddenly came into focus. She glanced at the clock and yawned before she got up and stretched. She grabbed her sweater, pulling it on and she glanced into the bathroom. That’s when she saw Jemma was washing something off of her face. Curious she moved into the doorway.
“Good morning,” she said. After all, she couldn’t exactly know that Jemma couldn’t hear at the moment. Though when she got a glimpse of what Jemma was trying to wash off, she frowned a bit and stepped closer. “What happened?” It was obviously a dream thing because Jemma definitely hadn’t been wearing make-up when she’d gone to bed the night before.
There was no sound. Even in her desperation to get the gold off her face, Jemma was still aware of the fact that her vision was out of focus. It was hazy at the edges and her center of balance was thrown off. If she were calmer, she might realize that it had to do with the lack of hearing, the device in her ear that shut off her auditory processing. Right now though? She just felt all out of sorts and sickened because of what the make up signified.
She wasn’t even aware of Cosima’s presence. At least until she briefly glanced up and noticed a figure in the mirror. Between water on her face so that messing with her vision and the disorientation she still felt, Jemma initially didn’t put together who it was behind her and spun around reaching for the shiv that wasn’t near her at the moment.
Only when she spun did she put together that it was her fiancee and let out a slow breath.
When Jemma spun around, Cosima did take a step back, lifting her hands to show she wasn’t armed or anything. “Whoa hey, it’s okay, it’s just me. Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said. Cosima was, at this point, assuming that Jemma just hadn’t heard her at first. She wasn’t thinking that Jemma had actually lost her hearing. Sometimes upon waking from a stressful dream, one tended to be more focused on what had happened rather than focused on their surroundings.
“Are you alright?” She asked, not yet moving from where she was standing. It was clear that Jemma was on edge, and she didn’t want to make her feel trapped or anything of the sort.
And still nothing. There was no sound and if Jemma had been concerned about that before? Well… she now had the proof. But was she able to speak? The biochemist had to think back. She knew the Superiors could speak yet they never seemed to hear anyone. Okay. So in theory she should be able to speak.
She was also trying to read lips but it wasn’t something she was great at, especially when she was internally panicking.
“I can’t hear…”
She didn’t even know if the words came out but she had to try.
If Jemma hadn’t been able to speak, that would’ve made this a hell of a lot more awkward. But at hearing the response, that did explain things a bit. And it also told Cosima she needed another method of communication so Jemma could understand her. Though she did nod to indicate that she heard Jemma. Then she got an idea, so she held up a finger, the international sign of ‘hold on a moment’ and she dashed out of the bathroom to grab a notebook and pen.
Coming back, she wrote down ‘Dream thing?’ and turned it so Jemma could read it. Sure it was an awkward method of communication, but given that Jemma could obviously still see, this was a good form to use. She then wrote another question, ‘Can I help?’ She wasn’t sure if it was something she could help to get Jemma’s hearing back with or if Jemma just needed a hug or tea or something of the sort, but whatever the help was? Cosima was there to give it.
Okay good. She could at least speak still. That was something since it was bad enough to lose all sense of sound and for her vision to feel disoriented even as it began to normalize as her body adjusted to the foreign object that was now lodged within her head. So while Cosima went to go get something, Jemma turned back to the sink and got the last of the makeup off and was drying her face as her fiancee returned.
Notebook and pen. A bit rudimentary but it wasn’t as if they had many options available to them.
“Yes, the bloody Kree.” Because of course it was the Kree. Not like Cosima really knew all that much about them. But Jemma was both out of sorts and also frustrated. So saying bloody Kree seemed to be the proper response. As for if she could help? That was a bit trickier. She didn’t know how to remove the object or what damage might occur if they tried to do so forcibly. So she just shrugged helplessly. She had no idea what could be done about this. She was sure that an answer would come at some point in the Dreams…. She hoped. But for now? There wasn’t much to go on.
Cosima definitely didn’t know much about the Kree, but she knew enough to know that it wasn’t good, even without Jemma adding the British curse word before it. So she did frown a bit at that revelation. Because of course the Kree would make a comeback somehow. And seeing the shrug, Cosima wrote something else down then showed it to Jemma.
‘Tea? If you want to talk, I’ll listen.’ Cosima wanted to help fix whatever had happened to get Jemma’s hearing back, but she wasn’t certain if her fiancée even knew what would help. And Cosima didn’t know if the Agency would have any answers either. Which was frustrating, but that was how it was sometimes. There wasn’t always a clear-cut answer that they could go to right away.
Jemma knew she should probably ask Kitty if she had any ideas. They did dream of similar enough worlds and Kitty was familiar with the Kree. But she still was uncertain about what could be done about the situation currently.
“Tea, yes, tea would be good.” Did she want to talk? Not really. It was all just too much. She at least had the months between dreams to deal with the Framework fallout, well mostly. But suddenly she was only a few hours out of that trauma and into this and Jemma’s mind was a mess. Not to mention how completely uneasy Kasius made her feel. The tension. What he had said before she lost all ability to hear and then how good it was of her that she was learning quickly because of the guests…. For now though, tea.
Cosima nodded a bit. She wouldn’t force Jemma to talk, not in this situation. Clearly waking up unable to hear was a trauma unto itself, and she should let Jemma try and calm down a little from the dream before attempting to delve into it.
She then headed into the kitchen and put the kettle on to make some tea. She grabbed a couple cups and some tea from the cupboard. While the water boiled, she took the notebook in hand again and wrote another question. ‘Do you want a hug?’ She figured she should ask given how Jemma couldn’t hear, first of all, and second of all she was obviously on edge from the dream. Thus asking first.
It was strange to talk and not being able to have that full on conversation. The notepad helped but it was missing something. That and well, Jemma only knew she was talking because Cosima was asking questions so she had to assume that she could hear her and that she wasn’t just opening her mouth and mouthing her answers.
For now, she followed Cosima to the kitchen, warily looking around. Things still seemed as if they were being viewed through some sort of filter but it was getting more manageable. As for the question? She just nodded. God she needed a hug after all of that.
Just as it was strange for Jemma to be able to talk but not have a full conversation, it was strange for Cosima as well. If lip reading was one of Jemma’s skills, or if Cosima knew sign language, this would be an easier conversation. But as it was, it was going to be a mix of gestures and a pseudo-game of charades combined with writing things down instead of speaking them aloud until they figured out how to get Jemma’s hearing back. Cosima was assuming Jemma’s hearing could be restored as opposed to there having been some accident in which Jemma lost her hearing.
At the nod, Cosima put the notebook down and went over to Jemma, pulling her into a tight hug. She rubbed her back soothingly, doing her best to give her as much comfort as she could through the hug. Even if she tried to be reassuring by saying something, Jemma wouldn’t hear it, so it was conveying that through touch instead. Which tended to be a better way to communicate than through words.
Jemma let out a shuddering breath as Cosima hugged her. One of these days her dreams wouldn’t leave her like this. But with everything that had happened in the latest dream and the fact she now couldn’t hear? She was unnerved and needed the hug. She also hated how much it would impact Cosima. She knew how talkative her girlfriend was. WIth this...well… they would figure something out. They had to.