ultraviolents | inbox | in the night.

[ her eyes flick to wanda's hand on her wrist, an eyebrow slightly raised at the brief but intimate gesture. they go back to her face once it's broken and remain on her form as it heads towards the couch, settling into a seated position before elektra can voice her permission. ]

Sure, since you've already done it. [ but her tone isn't unkind. ] What did you see?

I don't know.

[ she does, and she doesn't. ]

Death. Small children lost; and then grown, still lost — I know them. And I also don't—

[ wanda's voice is halting, confused, and she scratches at her right forearm — something that seems habitual... there are welts and marks there, now, where she has been pulling at her skin. pulling scales from it. ]

...Elektra, I saw sunlight. I still see it.

[ her eyes move back up to her friend's face, glassy, brimming. ]

[ elektra comes to sit in front of her, on the table set in front of the couch. her eyes go to wanda's arm as she scratches and her eyes go a little wide at the damage she's done to herself. which seems like less of a concern to wanda herself as she goes on about what she'd seen, what she still sees. ]

Where? Everywhere?

[ she has to think for a moment; her eyes flit to the window— it flares soft and bright like and early afternoon, then fades. night again. night that stretches on without end. ]

N... no, not everywhere. It comes and goes.

[ wanda looks back at her friend's face, tries to center herself in it. noticing her expression, finally, she haphazardly tugs at her sleeve. ]

Did you see memories?

Yes.

[ she doesn't feel they're hers to share, but she'll share non-descript details of them that don't implicate those involved if it helps wanda to heal from this. ]

[ with her elbows on her knees, bent forward, wanda clasps her hands together. ]

Have they... affected you? The way you see things, the way you think?

Not in the same way it seems they've affected you.

[ but then they experience things differently anyway. elektra doesn't know the full extent of wanda's abilities, but she knows there's a certain amount of sensing the other person in them. ]

It was a second before I could come back to myself, the first time. It was like I was experiencing what they had as them.

[ wanda nods, staring fixedly down at her hands. as she suspected. she shouldn't have dared to hope otherwise. it wasn't symptomatic of the town; it was her, just her and her vulnerabilities yet again. finally, she speaks, not much more than a whisper. ]

I have sequestered myself in my room for a week, and it will not abate. Can I —

[ she feels her skin crawl at her daring, taunting her for how pathetic and useless she is, can almost visualize the next scale emerging, and she winces. ]

— can I stay with you two? For a night. Maybe two.

[ she nods after a moment, looking at wanda's hands as well. what she can see of the nails looks almost as bad as her arms had, dried blood and dead skin gathered underneath, and she wonders how long this has been happening. ]

I'll need to ask to be sure, but I doubt it'll be a problem. [ she doubts matthew will have a problem with a friend in need staying the next couple nights. ]

[ wanda nods. matt and elektra treasure their privacy as highly as wanda does hers, so she understands, as close as the three of them have become. it pains her to even ask, for that reason as much as to have to venture away from her shell. but something beyond her pride, something like wisdom above sea level and treading water, brought her here, even as she's dripping with rain. ]

Thank you. I promise not to make a mess.

[ a small smile, almost jocular, if wan. ]

[ privacy was a necessity for them in life and remains so in death, but as solitary as elektra had been (and still is, most of the time), she's grown to see the necessity of having people close as well. there aren't many she's extended that too (some of them are gone now), but wanda's on that list for sure.

the smile's returned, and elektra nods as she stands. ]

Of course. Want anything while we wait? Tea, maybe a towel?

[ wanda finds herself exhaling in relief on a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. she follows elektra to stand, not knowing what else to do with herself. tremors follow in her vision — her legs wobble, and yet they don't. ]

A towel would be wonderful, thank you. I'll help with the tea.

Edited 2020-03-01 04:18 (UTC)

[ she nods, gesturing towards the kitchen while she heads to the bathroom to find a towel. there's a bit of a tremble in her movements that suggest that she ought to find clothing for wanda, too, but she'll need to be dry before those will do any good. ]

There's a few options to choose from. [ since she moved in, there's been more variety in what's been stocked in the kitchen, though they're still usually limited to what the store has to provide. ] I'll be right back.

[ as elektra disappears into the hall, wanda moves into the kitchen area she's familiar with, finding herself glad to be here, glad to have come — here to a place where she's a frequent visitor, knows her way around.

in the cabinets she finds a chamomile blend, then pulls a kettle from it's home and fills it with water. it's here, she gets a good look at the state of her hands... her nails.

suddenly she's taking a sponge and scrubbing furiously, heart racing. ]

[ it takes her a few moments to find not only a towel, but a spare shirt and a pair of leggings for her to put on. when she comes back downstairs, she finds wanda not at the stove, but at the sink, scrubbing frantically at her hands. ]

Wanda? [ she calls out before approaching, setting the clothes and towel on the kitchen table as she comes closer. ]

[ by this point she's moved on from her fingernails, her hands — all the way up her scuffed and scratched forearms, where indentations marr her flesh, places where she's pulled foreign bodies out of herself, but they keep coming back.

she tries to answer but she can't stop scrubbing, she can't. ]

...It's not my skin anymore, [ she hisses out breathlessly, ] it's not. Elektra —

[ she doesn't hesitate, rushing over to the sink and turning it off before taking wanda's hands in her own. there are scales protruding from her skin, underneath the scars and indentations, and she finds herself taken aback for a moment before looking back up at her. ]

...Okay. Okay, we're going to fix this, all right? We're going to clean these up and bandage them so you don't keep hurting yourself. Is that okay?

[ she shakes her head quickly. ]

No — no, I can't leave them in there —

[ wanda tries to pull her hands back to her chest. ]

— please, Elektra, I have to pull them out...

So we'll pull them out, but not by you tearing up your skin.

[ elektra holds firm, but it's not easy. ]

We've got tweezers, okay? We'll get them out.

[ she falters in elektra's grip. okay, okay, they'll pull them out— ]

But they keep coming back...

[ it's only a whisper, but so full of thick and tangible fear. ]

...I'm a monster. I have always been a monster, and now I have the parts to prove it...

[ that sounds familiar, and it hurts elektra to hear someone else say it, to believe it about themselves. ]

We both are. Okay? I'm going to help you with this and we're going to figure out a way for you to live with it. But you're going to be okay.

inbox | in the night.

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