explosion | RUBILYKSKOYE INBOX.

( He did not hurt me. )

[ which is not the same thing, really, as being okay. ]

[ It's seriously not, Mavis!

But Wanda doesn't press, able to read between the lines. She noticeably pauses, going quiet as she considers. The way she dealt with obstacles in the last few months was too violent—something she's sure Mavis could be capable of, but that's not the solution she wants to give her. It's not very useful; it only makes everyone afraid of her. ]

( I can show you how to make someone stop. But I think I'll need to see what you can do so far. )

[ As much as Wanda wants to find Felipe herself, she recalls the Duchess's words. What happens when you do everything for everyone and you end up disappearing? ]

( We can try it on one of the townspeople. Just… make them stop. Make them go still. If you can do that, you can stop anyone from attacking you again. )

( How does that sound? )

( What if it doesn't work, and they want us to leave? )

[ that was how the kuruko felt. the knowledge of that power had led them to drive her from their home, from her own community. she may be open with the void-touched about her power now, but she is not remotely as comfortable with the people of rubilykskoye finding out. it's too likely that they wouldn't tolerate it. ]

[ Wanda doesn't have the best answer for that. Hadn't she left Westview? Hadn't she let Wundagore shield her from everything she had done and from everyone she had hurt? But Wanda can't let Mavis think that's the end of the story for her. It shouldn't be. ]

( It will work. )

[ Because Wanda knows that it will. She won't accept any other ending. ]

( They won't ask us to leave. They know that they need us. There is a reason why we're here; there is no one like us. )

( There were no Kuruko like me. They told me to leave, anyway. They lived without us. )

[ they could do it again. ]

( They won't. They need people like us. )

[ Wanda doesn't speak from experience. Mavis describes what she's lived a few times over, but perhaps Rubilykskoye will be different. She wants to believe it can be. ]

( You can't let their fear control you. That isn't for you to bear. Your people never should've made you. )

( They were protecting themselves. )

[ there's a defensive edge of warning to it. aristaeus has tried this angle, too. reassuring her that there was some wrongness in the kuruko's decision to exile her in the first place.

but they are gone now. how can she bring herself to admit their wrongdoing? isn't that at odds with honoring their memory? ]

[ Aren't they always trying to protect themselves? Wanda's always found their strikes a little too pre-emptive.

She remembers sitting on the eery Raft on a different level than her friends, bubbling with anger. How is that protection when it had been a punishment born from their fear? ]

( What about you? Are you not allowed to protect yourself, too? )

( Easier to survive here, with them, than alone. )

[ if that means not using her power to protect herself from them, or testing it on them, or even show it to them, then ... so be it. she'll be a little shadow of herself, something palatable. she learned from her mistake. ]

( You won't be alone. I'll always be here with you. )

[ And for her, but Wanda feels that there's something a little more powerful knowing someone will always be by your side. ]

( If it will make you feel better, we can ask who would like to help you learn. No one can hate you for asking for permission. )

[ And the townspeople seem more willing to help the Void-touched than the civilians Wanda bumped shoulders with at home. (Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that their town has remained standing unlike the cities the Avengers have desecrated without looking back.) ]

[ it goes a long way, what wanda offers. especially when paired with the fact that she knows she has aristaeus and john. she has people, even if she doesn't keep this town, this community. she will have people.

but it's also not quite the same as having a place. so she has to sit with it. ]

( I will think. )

( You let me know what you want to do when you're ready. )

[ It's thought gently. ]

( This isn't something we can do in a memory. It won't prepare you… I don't want you to get hurt if you try it. )

[ However that hurt may manifest—on herself or on the person she cares about. It won't show her the complexities of someone's response when Wanda is not subduing them. And while Wanda thinks to offer that as an alternative, if Mavis is afraid of being attacked when weakened, Wanda doesn't want to warm her with a butter knife when she needs a steak knife. ]

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