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Even in her human form - the one she identified the most with, not a copy of someone else she saw - people were somehow able to recognize she wasn't entirely like them.
"Freak!"
She didn't necessarily mind, she didn't need their approval to exist anyways. She just did. And she was happy with how she looked; pretending to be someone she wasn't made her feel worse than anyone ever could.
"Disgusting!"
Still, every once in a while, she wanted to just be a human without being harassed for it.
"You don't belong here!"
Humans were smart - you can have complex conversations with them. And not all humans were absolute jackasses! Some didn't realize she was different at all, and others were polite and simply didn't mention it. But too many are too obsessed with being a 'noble hero' to break the norm of leaving Nimona alone for extended periods of time.
“Get out of here, freak!”
She wouldn’t be able to stop them, not without changing who she was. Not without hiding herself. There was no way to ‘blend in’ while still being authentic to herself.
“Nobody wants you here!”
In the cover of darkness, Nimona shifted into a field mouse, and easily snuck into the store through the vents. Technology was changing. She had been skeptical of it all at first, and would continue to be, but this one seemed helpful. It was a portable device that played music, with attachments that were designed to block out the rest of the world while doing so. Despite tripping off the alarm, she got away easily.
She was able to fiddle with the device enough to get it to work, downloaded some loud songs she recognized, then set about her life.
She got a side eye from someone on the street, but the person didn’t even try to say anything to her.
Yeah, music was much better.