She woke up feeling her chest was trying to pound out of her body from anxiety. The familiar thought of oh gosh the- echoed through Karmi's mind.
Before SFIT, the thought was usually oh gosh the twins, or the dreadful feeling of having to go through another agonizing day of school. SFIT was better, the thought was usually replaced with oh gosh did I turn in that paper for Professor Percival's class? Or oh gosh I forgot to edit chapter 6 and it's being posted today!
Nowadays the thought is always oh god I'm so sorry Hiro- before remembering that she was back to normal, the voice in her head no longer urging her to serve she-who-shall-not-be-named. Karmi groaned, stirring in bed and looking over at the clock by the nightstand. Oh gosh, I'm still on vacation and I woke up at 6 AM.
Going back to sleep wasn't an option, once Karmi got up, she stayed up. So she quietly maneuvered out of her bed to not wake up the sleeping twins, and made sure to bring her phone when she left the room.
"Even thousands of miles across the ocean, I still can't get that voice out of my head." Karmi sighed, as took the long way to the lobby and lay down on one of the couches. Ding! She looked at her phone, a message on it's screen.
Juniper: Saw from chat that you were online. You okay?
Well, at least Karmi could take solace in the fact she wasn't the only one in the group who had trouble sleeping at night thanks to Sycorax.
Karmi: Eh could be better :/
Juniper: Aw. Want me to call?
Karmi: Sure
Not even two seconds later and the familiar funky pop music that High Voltage used to play during their shows softly played from her phone's ringtone. "What's up fellow early bird?" Karmi answered the phone.
"Trying to make tea." Juniper panned the camera to show she was in the kitchen. "I have no idea how to use the coffee maker."
"Google the coffee maker brand and see what the instructions are from that."
She blinked. "Ohhh, I didn't think of that."
Karmi chuckled, she didn't blame the dancer, it was really late on her end. "Why are you making tea with the coffee maker?"
"Because it's too early in the AM for coffee." The blonde sighed. "I like the stuff Hiro and Ari's aunt makes, but not when I have another nightmare."
"I was afraid you'd say that." The bags under those cocoa brown eyes were evidence enough. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
Juniper shook her head. "It'd just be repeating myself at this point, but it was about you-know-who." A hand went to rub her eyes. "I'm so tired of nightmares about her."
"Mood." The biotech major yawned. "Shame we can't exile her to Antarctica."
"Or Mars."
They both snickered. "I'd feel sorry for the astronauts there." The mental image was too hilarious to put into words. "Kind of can relate to them, stepping into uncharted territory, that's what I felt like when I was walking through the Dalmatian household."
That got her friend to perk up in curiosity. "Yeah, you didn't give much info yesterday." Juniper grinned. "Spill?"
"Gladly!"
Teen Dorks Squad group chat:
Rach: I miss sleeping in ;-;
Meg: Same
Hiro: Same
Ari: What's wrong with waking up early?
Rach: How could you say that?!
Karms: ROFL
Hiro: Hey Karmi!
Karms: Hey, woke up early and couldn't sleep
June: Same I've been up for HOURS
Meg: Aw, want me to come over? : (
Ari: ^?
June: you guys don't have to
Meg: I wanna make sure you're okay
Rach: Awwww
Hiro: Awww
June: djsjdsijsxjz that'd be nice
Rach: So what's up with everyone
Karms: selfie,jpeg
Karms: Chilling in the hotel lobby, bored
Rach: Not gonna visit the wild dalmatians?
Karms: Well that'd be rude.
Ari: Give them a call!
Hiro: Ari idk if they have phones
Karms: I gave one of them my number so *shrug*
June: Katie knows how to type so anything's possible
Rach: My cat steals phones
Rach: How do you know that!?
June: When me and my mama were having our big fight(™) and Ari was hanging at my place, Katie gestured for me to text her friends that she'd be running late
June: Also for some reason Mika got accused
Hiro: WAIT THAT WAS YOU?!
Rach: WHAT
Ari: Oops I forgot to tell them
June: Oops?!
Karmi winced at the group chat. Yeah, I'm not getting involved with that. She had heard a little about that from Honey Lemon during the sleepover, and it hadn't been a very good time for either Ari or both members of High Voltage. Before she could suggest changing the subject, her phone rang as an unknown number sent her a text.
? ? ?: Greetings, this is Dawkins, one of the dalmatians, we exchanged numbers during dinner?
For further proof, he also sent a selfie of himself posing while working on something in the bathroom. Karmi shot a quick "brb" text to the chat before updating her contact information.
Karmi: Yeah I remember, your nose is too close to the selfie camera btw
Dawkins: You sound like my sister
Karmi: Which one?
Dawkins: Dolly
Karmi internally winced at the mention of the Dalmatian.
Karmi: I also remember the kibble pump
Dawkins: Sorry about that by the way, some of my siblings don't have good human experiences, or good humans before being part of the family.
Karmi: Oof. Yeah neither Diggs or Domino had good human experience before we adopted them either
Dawkins: I knew about Domino but sorry to hear about Diggs, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders.
Karmi: Yeah he does. Sidenote: why are you up so early?
Dawkins: It's easier to do repairs with less coming and goings and Dylan reminding me of what I have to fix every five minutes -_-
Karmi: Ouch. Yeah I love my little siblings but they are exhausting to deal with.
Karmi: Is it hard having a lot of siblings around?
Dawkins: Not really. My littermates and Dolly are just so bossy
"Huh, he didn't say Dolly was his littermate…" Karmi noted. Not like she was going to question who was or wasn't related to each other, blood didn't matter when it came to family.
Karmi: I'm assuming you and Dylan are in the same litter : O?
Dawkins: Yes. Dafydd isn't as annoying but she still can be bossy sometimes.
Karmi: Have you tried talking to them about it?
Dawkins: Not with Dylan.
Karmi: Well hope it gets better for you.
Dawkins: Thanks. How come you're awake at this hour?
Darn, I hope that wasn't coming up. She grumbled.
Karmi: Bad dreams : (
Dawkins: I figured.
Karmi: Let me guess, your siblings with bad human experiences have them too?
Dawkins: Well not all of us have nightmares due to humans, some of my siblings used to live on the streets.
Karmi: That's terrible D :
Dawkins: Indeed
But that got the gears to whir in her head.
Karmi: If it's no trouble, is it okay if I ask why Dolly doesn't seem to like me?
Dawkins: Not really my place to say, but it has to do with her biological mother. That's all I can tell you.
Karmi: Oh dear. I can guess how she feels. My biological father wasn't considered a nice person either
Dawkins: Huh, I thought Zachary was your biological father?
Karmi: He's my dad but not by blood.
Dawkins: Fair, thank you for telling me though.
Karmi: Sorry to hear about your sister btw.
Dawkins: It's fine. Got to go now, but it was nice talking with you.
Karmi: Same n.n
She closed her phone with a small smile, it was nice to make a new friend, and Karmi felt as if she could handle today after-all.
Meanwhile…
"Dawkins!"
The scientist bristled as his littermate's red eyes peered from the bathroom door. "What do you want, Dafydd?!" He demanded, tail and back fur bristled from irritation.
She took a few pawsteps back, caught off guard by his loud volume. "I just wanted to remind you that Daddy's getting off from work early." She pawed one of her curled ears. "So you could take the afternoon off."
"Oh." Dawkins felt his ears flatten against his head. "My apologies for snapping, I thought you were going to come in here and boss me around like Dylan does."
Dafydd rolled her eyes at the mention of their oldest littermate. "You really need to tell Dylan how you feel, maybe then he'll get that branch out of his butt."
"Don't you mean stick?"
"You heard me!"
Oh Dafydd, always the dramatic one. "Speaking of parents, do you know when Father's coming back?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I think in a few weeks? As long as Papa's human is cool with it." The gardener gestured. "Man, surprised Dolly threw a fit about Domino's human considering Papa has one."
"Well, not all humans are as nice as his human." Dawkins only met the owner of his birth-father Dandy, on one occasion when he was a young pup. The middle-aged woman had given some of her old things to them when Doug joined the family, she seemed to understand why Dolly and her littermates flinched whenever she was around them. "You're not gonna let her live down the kibble pump thing, are you?"
"I mean, can't believe she used it as a weapon of deliciousness!" Dafydd gestured. "Dog forbid if another crazy teenager tries kidnapping us, we should have one that fires hot water at the next intruder!"
Dawkins winced at the idea of boiling intruders alive. "You've spent too much time with Dante."
"Bold of you to assume I got that idea from our brother."
Rumble-Rumble-Rumble! Both pups jumped as the bathroom door closed from the stampede of pups running down the stairs chanting "breakfast" as they bolted to the kitchen. "Guess everyone else is awake." Dafydd giggled. "C'mon, can't enjoy that afternoon off without some grub to fill your fuel tank."
"Please stop using metaphors." Dawkins groaned, following his littermate down the stairs. "You're confusing me."
Breakfast was just like last breakfast, except some of the pups asked Dolly to shoot the kibble pump at them. "Y'know, like you did with Dom's human! It was fun!" Dakota exclaimed.
"We're not doing that because it's rude." Dylan protested, shooting his sister a look. "Right, Dolly?"
The skater dog huffed, her large ears raised in annoyance. "You use the kibble pump as a weapon one time…"
The doorbell rang. "Oh, I wonder if that's a delivery." Dylan looked over to Delilah, who was getting ready to head to work at the hospital. "Mum, may I get-"
DJ beat him to the punch. "I'll get it!" He jumped up from his seat and ran to the hallway.
"Make sure to check the door!" Da Vinci called after him.
Some of the pups perked their ears as they DJ use the paw scanner to open the door. When he came back, Domino was with him. "Hey, look who came over to visit!"
"DOM!" Many of the pups chorused, dozens of paws waved at the runty pup.
He chuckled and waved back. "Uh, hi guys."
"Surprised you got to come over, thought you'd be on a leash." Dolly rolled her eyes.
"Dolly, that's rude!" Delilah chastised her, Dolly had the decency to sulk from shame. The doctor looked back up to the guest. "It's nice seeing you again Domino, do your humans know you're visiting?"
"Yeah." Domino barked. "Baymax went with me while I came over." He turned his head to the front door, where the robot was waiting outside. "My humans' kids are going to be hanging at the arcade, and it's dog friendly so I wanted to ask if any of you would like to come with me to the arcade?"
"Are your humans staying at Thunderbolt Lodge?" Delilah raised a paw. He nodded, and she turned back to the pups. "Then, I see no problem if any of you want to join Domino."
"Woah, wait a second!" Dolly protested. "We can't let the pups go off on their own!"
"They won't be." Domino argued, his brown eyes glaring at the top dog. "Are you just saying that out of concern? Or because you don't want them to be around humans."
The pups winced. "Youch, Dolly just got roasted." Dobie commented.
She growled. "Dolly." Delilah warned her. "If you're concerned about the pups, one of the older ones can go supervise."
"I'll do it." Everyone looked at Dawkins. "What? What did I say?" He narrowed his eyebrows at their gaping mouths and wide eyes.
Dylan was the one who spoke up. "Dawkins, you never want to watch over the pups."
"I don't want to watch all of the pups." He clarified. "I can handle supervising a few."
"A few, he says." Dolly gestured. "I'm sure everyone here wants to go to the arcade, right?" But when she turned to the pups, most of them were silent. "Right?"
"I don't like arcades, they're loud." Dalston complained.
"And not much room for me to run around in." Delgato pointed out.
"And they're filled with humans!" Duck added. "With their grubby little hands."
Domino nodded. "Fair point, anyone else wanna come?"
A few paws shot up, Dolly couldn't help but roll her eyes, she didn't know why her siblings were so interested in a human just because their littermate had one.
Maybe she was being paranoid, but their family didn't mix with humans, and Dolly liked it that way.
"Just give it a chance, dear." Her mom seemed to read what was on her mind. "Your father and I work with good humans, and we're still fine without one."
Dolly huffed, but Delilah had a point, some of her littermates worked with humans, but they were still independent and free. "I'll try…" Maybe Domino's humans were the same way, as long as they didn't give her siblings any ideas of turning into pets, maybe she could co-exist with them like how her family co-exists with the humans they work with.
"That's all I ask of you." Delilah smiled at her.
Domino was glad DJ was going with them, although he wished Diamond could come as well. "Sorry, dude, I'm already going to spend time with Triple D." He explained. "I'm like their cheerleader when they do their acting shoots." The pup didn't want to push it so he let his larger littermate be and set off with the group they had.
Some of the pups going with them were ones Domino didn't recognize, as he briefly was introduced to them the other day. But the ones he did recognize were Dakota, Disco, Dubaku, and Doris. Some of the others were Dingo, one of Dolly's littermates, Denzel, who wanted to visit the arcade again, and Denim, one of the boys who had also occasionally gone to the arcade.
Everyone else he didn't recognize were chatting amongst themself in excitement as the group of pups walked to the Thunderbolt Lodge arcade, there were a few raised eyebrows from the people in the hotel, but they didn't comment. "Isn't that the pup that the family of five plus the robot owns?" One of the hotel staff pointed to Domino.
"Yep." The clerk, Charlotte, had an all-knowing grin. "Knew this was gonna happen, dogs of a breed tend to flock like birds of a feather."
"...Charlotte that makes no sense."
"Shut up and pay me the 20 pounds from the bet, Vincent."
"Aw come on!"
The pups didn't catch any of the gossip, making a beeline for the arcade. It looked like every other arcade out there with the games lined up, the carpet soft with colorful patterns, except a lot of the games were dog-themed. "What is with everyone in this town and dogs?" Domino shook his head.
"It's a dog's world in Camden!" DJ gestured. "C'mon, let's go find your humans."
However, before Domino could scent them, Denzel spoke up. "I think I see them!" She pointed her paw at one of the claw machines. "Karmi's the one with short brown hair, right?"
Domino squinted and sure enough, the biotech major was trying one of the claw machines with her little siblings cheering her on. "Yep, that's her." He padded over, his ears picking up her grumblings.
The claw machine kept missing by the inch of a stuffed animal's leg. "Darnit! Curse you obviously rigged claw machine."
"Don't insult the claw machine, Karms." Haley frowned at her. "It won't let you take any prizes then."
"Oh, sorry Haley." She shrugged. Domino let out a small bark, she turned around and smiled at him. "Hi, Dom!"
Domino waved. "Um, where's Diggs?" He raised both of his ears with his paws, to imitate how the german shepherd's ears looked.
"Diggs is with Mom and Dad!" Haley answered.
"Oh, I was hoping he'd be here, but not surprised." Domino shrugged. Diggs was more of an outdoors dog than one who'd sit inside and watch tv anyways.
Dawkins noticed the claw machine, and tapped it with a paw. "Oh, the twins want me to try and get one of the plushies, but I'm having trouble with it." Karmi explained to the scientist pup.
He looked up at the machine. "Ah, I bet I could hack the system."
"Please don't, I just got here." Domino complained.
"No, not like that!" Dawkins leapt onto the claw machine console. "Even rigged machines have a key to figuring them out."
"I think he wants to play." Ryan stated.
Karmi raised an eyebrow at her little brother, but shrugged. "Is that true, Dawkins?" The scientist pup nodded. "Alright, maybe you can get closer than I did."
She inserted the coin into the slot, and the machine booted up. Everyone watched with bated breath as Dawkins was playing with the console. "Can you try getting the duck plushie?" Haley requested.
"Shh, let him focus." Karmi told her.
"Oh, okay!"
Seconds passed until Dawkins pressed his paw to lower the claw machine. "Aah, that's too far away!" Disco exclaimed.
But to the kids' surprise, the machine not only picked up the ducky plushie, and a strange green frog plushie. "Huh, I was just aiming for the duck. I don't know what that is." Dawkins murmured.
"Ooh, I know what that is!" Doris raised her paw. "It's a Pokemon!"
"Here you go, Haley." Karmi handed the ducky plushie to her little sister, who immediately was squealing and gushing about the fluffiness of the plush. Then, she handed the frog plushie to Dawkins. "And here's the Bulbasaur plushie, did you plan for that?"
He shook his head. "No I did not, you're not going to keep it?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Don't give me that look, you helped me get my sister the plushie she wanted, it'd be a jerk move for me to take the other one too." Karmi rolled her eyes, figuring that the strange look Dawkins was giving her was about the plushie.
"Everytime your human can reply to what we're saying, it freaks me out dude." Disco stage-whispered to Domino.
He shrugged. "Eh, you get used to it."
"Let's do the racing games!" Dakota exclaimed, racing over to where the cart games were located.
Dawkins sprinted after her, dropping the plush. "Dakota! You have to stay with the group!"
Dubaku picked up the plush for him. "Huh, I've never seen Dawkins this animated when he's not inventing before." He muttered, looked up at Karmi. "Guess he found a new friend in you, hmm?"
"Ah, we should catch up to him." Karmi watched friend chase after his sister. "C'mon Haley, Ryan, doggos. There's still other games to play!"
"Yayyyyy!" Both humans and pups cheered.
As the group caught up with Dakota and Dawkins, Karmi had felt at peace for the first time since she had arrived in Camden, and was eager to see what was going to happen next in their time in the dog-friendly town.
And another chapter of KCA is done! Feat: Dawkins!
I feel like Karmi and Dawkins would be friends bc they're both geniuses, and also I want them to be friends.
This chapter isn't meant to be super long, just a fun one that fleshes out the Dalmatian family, also I really love my version of Dafydd, I feel like the 101 DS fandom should characterize the pups that are mentioned only in the pup song more often because it's free real estate on characters.
Dafydd has middle child energy and has to mediate her brother's shenanigans, rip.
But anyways hope you enjoyed this chapter of Karmi's Camden Adventure! Be sure sure to check out Fallen From Power next week, which updates the same time as this fic!