· CLOSED ·

[carmesi]

WHO: henry creel & wanda maximoff
WHAT: a little roadtrip with only good things happening
WHEN: early february
WHERE: secondary settlement, tertiary settlement
WARNINGS: will be mentioned on subject lines if applicable!

Comments

[carmesi]

[the tertiary settlement is as one would expect; closer to the coast, the breeze smells of the ocean's salt, and it doesn't really hold up to the green and farming nature of the more landward settlements. the people here are slightly more tense—more so than when wanda last visited. isar hart doesn't really say much about it as he bids them farewell.

she can, however, imagine why the people are this way.

still, rowan's request for her to check out some disturbances has her immediately aware that something is amiss. it's not in the entirety of the settlement, but rather it's in the feeling of the place—its people. there's a dreaded kind of exhaustion among some of them that goes beyond their daily chores. someone like her, someone like them, can feel what is happening underneath the surface.

wanda gets down from her horse, holding onto the reins, then glances at henry once he joins her on the ground.]

Let's tie the horses and walk around for a bit.

[speaking with one of the families of the settlement who seem open and excited at the prospect of aiding the summoned, they can safely keep their horses sheltered in their garden-space for the time being. to further consolidate their loyalty for this one favor, wanda offers them a gift of soaps and scented candles, which they take in with excitement.

they walk now down the dirt paths of the settlement. they don't run into many others as they traverse between buildings, away from the main path, but they both hold a quietness to their voices when they speak normally, there's no fear of speaking their thoughts out loud.]

You feel it too, don't you?

[vecna]

Of course.

[He feels it, and it's... distracting. It's as though they're both walking through something cloying but unseen; like a funerary veil placed across the path, the buildings, woven into the spirits of the people, keeping them mired in a dread that's all too clear, even if the why is not.

For Henry, this does not make him wary so much as curious. He would like to think that he wheels and deals in dark and dreaded things where the mind is concerned; before his abilities were stifled for years in the lab, of course. But now? Old habits die very, very hard. He wants to know why this is. What's being hidden beneath the surface of this place. Secrets will always appeal, especially the dire ones.

His tone is hushed, but when he looks at Wanda, his expression is oddly pleasant.]

There's something... insidious here. Like an aura of something heavy, almost. I wonder how it manages it.

[carmesi]

[at this point, wanda has stopped taking notice of henry's more unexpected responses to circumstances. he's oddly pleasant about what — they're feeling, but she can't really fault him; for herself, as unpleasant as it feels, similar in some ways to the way the darkhold had ensnared her with its dark magic, there is still that familiarity, that odd sense of... not quite comfort, but a refracted kind of longing.

curiosity, mainly.]

Feeding on the fear and troubles of the people here, no doubt. [hush out their joy and hopes and dreams, transform it into something awful.] It's odd. Rowan said there was a disturbance in the woods, then why—?

[why would they be feeling this in town, in its people, faintly so, leading them in a specific path—for surely the two of them are following its trail down this gravelly road.

before walking towards a more open space in the town, wanda stops, turns to henry. there's a group of people milling about the general market area, going about their business. she and henry are mostly shrouded in the shade of one such stall, the sun high in the sky.

she scans the space with her eyes—until she locks eye contact with someone. red in her irises like a storm, as she tilts her head to the side, unblinking, getting a read of them. her voice echoes in the mind of the individual, loud enough for henry to hear, too.]

What are you afraid of?

[the answer is a little less confident; timid, almost.]

The Gods have abandoned the Ravn family.

[at wanda's question, eerily, everyone else in the market area raise their arms—]

Where?

[—point at the same path winding further down, towards a series of neighboring houses. and then the clamor begins, in wanda and henry's heads. accusations of being cursed, then complaints, desperate, about how it's affected them. they cannot sleep. their food goes bad. anyone who speaks to the child becomes ill. it grows in volume, louder and louder—

and then wanda draws back, pulling away from her connection amongst the people here. from one mind she anchored onto a dozen without so much as a flick of her wrist; telepathy and magic working in tandem. and just like that, they continue about their business, unperturbed, unaware of the two guests they had in their minds for a brief moment.

she starts walking in the direction they pointed.]

Shall we?

[vecna]

[Her powers continue to surprise him. Reading the minds en masse of so many, focusing her thoughts onto her query, and teasing out an answer in a way that would be eerie to most. But fascinating to Henry. Almost too fascinating.

The direction they indicate, towards the row of houses, is almost secondary to this sight. He can feel when her influence frees them, like fish let out from a net, and it's unlike the use of psionic powers he's seen before.

Though he supposes with her, it's magic, isn't it?]

...Yes. [Delayed reply. He follows.] That's quite a skillset you have.

[carmesi]

A witch should never be caught without a few surprises up her sleeve.

[the tone is light, gathering that henry finds this all too fascinating. there are truths that she hasn't shared with him, left it all instead to circumstance and the slow, irrevocable understanding that there is more than meets the eye for the both of them.

wanda continues down the path, getting closer to a house with a dark aura about it.]

Mental manipulation is one of those things people hate the most. I try not to advertise it.

[vecna]

[Like unfurling a secret kept wound tight. Henry is fine with the slow and quiet way they find out more and more about each other, holding up each string parallel and comparing it with his own.

Not that he could ever call himself a witch, of course.]

For good reason. Who likes the sensation of someone messing with your mind, your memories? ...It's like feeling helpless.

[lol]

[carmesi]

[she makes no further comment to that, his words stinging quite a bit. perhaps hitting a little too close to home. wanda frowns, quickens her steps, until they reach the home.

it certainly feels — strange.

wanda turns to look back at him.]

See what you can pick up from the family. [in their minds, that is.] Anything may help.

[and up the steps she goes, knocking on the door to be let in. the worn-out façade of the father greets them, and he had heard word that they'd be coming. rowan, is all wanda can think of, and she hopes that they can actually fulfill that promise of help. they are sat at tables, offered something that tastes more like hot water than any flavor they claim to have steeped it in.

wanda doesn't touch her tea, observes the parents, instead.

the mother seems exasperated, arguing that this is just getting out of hand. should her husband and son stop coming up with these stories, they would not be getting shunned by those around them. after some arguing back and forth between them, they agree to let them at least talk to their son.

out in the small pocket of a garden, the boy sits on the ground, playing with some wooden toys. wanda glances over at henry; he's got experience with kids, doesn't he?

wanda motions to him (feeling an awful lot like those televised cop series) to take the lead, as she walks around the little garden for a moment, looking over at the plants that seem to be struggling to live, dried and wilted as they are.]

Hello! I'm Oren.