driftfleet | "My mind's like a deadly disease..."

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"My mind's like a deadly disease..."

Who: Wanda Maximoff
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Starstruck
When: Now

Broadcast - Text

[Wanda's presence, both in the Fleet's comms and aboard its vessels, has dwindled, slowly but surely, over the course of the past month. There was period of time, around the beginning of the month, when she couldn't be found or reached at all--save for by Misty, Vision and Pietro. More perceptive fleet members might recall that her disappearance occurred around the time that rumors of a dragon and its rider terrorizing Solrius were circulating about. However, she did pop back up a little while later, seemingly as though nothing was wrong. However, those that know her well may have picked up the subtle tells that there was something she was not saying. Something that she was trying to bury. And so, she became more and more scarce around the Fleet. At least, until now...]

What do you think happens after death?

[The message is short and simple. Anyone familiar with the festivities of the month of October, perhaps this is simply her way of trying to get into the spirit of things?]

Starstruck - Action

[Friends and shipmates of Wanda's, if they want to go looking for her, will find her either holed up in her bunkroom aboard the Starstruck, or in a corner of the ship's kitchen or shuttle bay at times she thinks no one would typically wander in. By the look on her face, it is clear something is troubling her.]

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[A pause as Wanda considers. Well, she did try and warn Natasha that their talk might not be so pleasant.]

I'm on the Starstruck. Shuttle bay.

[Whether or not Natasha wants to show up now is entirely her choice.]

[Natasha is sufficiently warned. On the other hand, she's sufficiently concerned that she doesn't at any point consider not making the trip over. There's a very real possibility that she won't be what Wanda needs right now, especially if the topics of death and the afterlife are weighing on her, but there is some benefit from trying.

There may be ways to redirect the conversation somewhere Natasha has less disappointing opinions.

It's not long before she's climbing out of the shuttle, glancing around for signs of the girl.]

[Looking around, Natasha will be able to spot Wanda off in a corner of the shuttle bay. She's sitting on a cargo crate, positioned in such a way to be out of line of sight for anyone that might enter the bay from the ship's hall. Her choice of spot seeming reflecting her desire to keep out of the way, and best be on her own without interruptions.]

[When Nat lands, Wanda looks up. She doesn't give wave, but there is a flicker of a weak smile in greeting. She then goes back to staring, a thousand miles into the distance, at a spot on the floor a few feet in front of her.]

Hey.

[Natasha joins her, sitting near enough by to be a physical presence in Wanda's space without crowding her.]

Nice spot you've picked out for yourself.

[Wanda stays silent. She stays staring at the same spot on the floor, her eyes seem to be searching for something there that Natasha cannot see. She does, however, give a small nod in response.]

[Clearing her throat softly, Natasha accepts this is going to be every bit as hard as she might have feared going into it.]

I get the feeling you didn't come for the view, though.

[Her voice is gentle as she continues.]

It's been a while since we talked. Maybe a good time to catch up?

[Wanda knows this is really not the place Natasha probably wants to be right now. Which makes it all the harder for Wanda to ask her what she wants to. Nat's earlier responses over text seemed proof enough that she didn't like nor wanted to converse about the topic that's been hanging over Wanda for the past month.]

You didn't have to come.

[Wanda then turns to look at Agent Romanoff.]

Why did you?

I do a fair number of things I don't have to. Strictly speaking.

[Her lips tighten slightly at the question, though. Natasha would prefer not talk about herself, but she may have to give a little to get Wanda to open up.]

I came because I want to. We were going to try to be friends, right?

[Wanda knows she's being difficult, but she's also trying to spare Natasha from anything that she doesn't want to be a part of. Wanda doesn't necessarily believe her talk of "wanting to be friends" is hollow, following their last conversation together. However, she also doesn't want to strain something to the point of breaking, when it currently seems so fledgling and fragile.]

Something happened. In the last system. Something awful...

I don't think I'm capable of simply moving past it.

[That's ominous, isn't it? Especially considering the context is a conversation about life after death.]

Is it something you think you should be moving past?

[That was, in fact, one of the many answers weighing on Wanda at the moment.]

I don't know.

[And she's clearly unhappy with the fact that she doesn't.]

Maybe we should take a step back from trying to move past it one way or another and give a moment to what it is you're hung up on.

[Wanda studies Natasha for a moment. Her expression giving nothing away as to what she's thinking or feeling. However, signs of worry and of a hurt begin to subtly etch themselves onto her face. She turns her gaze down to the hands in her lap.]

[Then, slowly, one of those hands travels upwards to undo the first two buttons of her top. She then tugs the collar of it to the left with two fingers. It's enough for Natasha to be able to see the beginnings of what appears to be a deep, grisly scar. It starts about an inch below where Wanda's left collarbone meets her neck, and likely extends a fair ways down in her chest. Given the position of such a scar, the wound would have been life-ending, and yet... Wanda is sitting here before her. How could that be possible?]

[Natasha's lips part slightly,her brows drawing together briefly in surprise and concern.

The expression is brief, smoothing after only an instant. Then her gaze drops and she starts considering what she's seeing, what it means.]

Mind if I ask how that happened?

A dragon.

[She answers flatly, little humor or sarcasm in her voice. She knows it sounds ridiculous though, so she shakes her head and makes a sound somewhere between a huff and a chuckle.]

In the last system, there were rumors of some great beast terrorizing some towns on one of the planets. Alan Walker made a post about it on the network.

Pietro and I... we thought maybe we could do something to help those people.

[She then gestures down her chest with an arm, apparently tracing down the length of the scar. Her arm stops about near the bottom of her abdomen and then just drops back into her lap. Any trace of humor, however fleeting or weak it might have been, now plainly gone again and replaced with that look of pain she's been wearing practically this whole conversation.]

This... was the result.

I see. I'm sorry to hear that.

[This isn't a situation Natasha is particularly prepared to deal with. This side of deal is less within her experience, oddly enough. And it's been a long time since she put much thought into what would happen to her once she died.]

How did things end with the dragon?

I would have figured it was obvious.

[She motions weakly back up towards the scar.]

I figure that's how it ended for you. I meant... is that it?

[She manages not to ask if Wanda died for nothing.]

[Wanda looks away. Perhaps her answer might enlighten Nat as to one of the many things that are hanging over her, beyond the circumstances of how she came to bear such a wound and still be walking around in the Fleet to talk about it.]

I don't know what happened to the dragon or its rider, if that's what you're asking. Being killed makes it hard to keep track of such things.

[It's hard for her not to sound bitter.]

You'd have to ask Pietro, but I doubt he wants to talk about what happened anymore than I've wanted to.

[Natasha's breath catches in her throat, a soft sort of half sigh. She won't argue with Wanda. The girl's feelings are valid in this.

But it's not how Natasha would think about it.]

Maybe I will. But I'm not going to ask you how he's handling this.

I don't expect you have to to know how he's handling it.

He watched... he had to witness his sister dying right in front of him.

[She shakes her head, trying to hold back some tears of anger and shame that are threatening to bubble up and over.]

[Natasha had been there at Sokovia when Pietro had died. She knew what Wanda's reaction to that had been. It's not too far of a jump to guess that Pietro's reaction was similar seeing the reverse.]

[Natasha is aware she's not handling this well. Somehow, like quick sand, it seems like trying to correct her missteps just make it worse.

Even when her corrections mean not pushing.]

I imagine how hard that was for him. I wasn't trying to imply it was a mystery...

[But there are things going on here that Natasha fundamentally doesn't understand. Not on an emotional level, and even on an intellectual level, Wanda doesn't react in predictable ways.]

[Wanda just sits and watches Natasha now. Her expression still sullen and unhappy. Though, it's not exactly clear who or what she is now upset about. Perhaps just simply at everything, at all of the things that have culminated into this moment.]

[She then, finally, looks down and away, letting out something akin to an exasperated-sounding sigh.]

I know you came over to try and help, but... I don't think there's anything you can do. What happened... happened... I'm still just struggling to make sense of it all like you are now.

[She tries to give Natasha an out.]

I know this... isn't really your forte.

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"My mind's like a deadly disease..."

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