Third Injection - [video - action]

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor is curled up on her couch when she opens her book. She looks distant for a moment, as if she isn't precisely sure how she wants to say what she needs to say, and then she draws in a breath and shrugs.]

For anyone that knew her, Brigid Tenenbaum is gone. I've been in and out a lot lately so I'm not certain when she vanished but she has.

I'm sorry.

[There's a pause. Eleanor really has no idea how she felt about Tenenbaum, the woman was her tormenter and yet also someone who cared about her deeply, it created...conflicts. But she wasn't going to go into all of that. So, a change of subject.]

I've started school recently. Well, I suppose everyone has who's going. I've never gone before, I always wanted to but I was never allowed. Not counting that strange town we were in all, anyway.

It's...different from what I imagined, somehow. I mean, it's interesting, just...it's hard to explain. Mother always described school as something terrible, honestly. A place where parents who didn't care about their children sent them away to be indoctrinated. She taught me at home, said that she needed to 'control what I absorbed.'

[A faint smirk.]

It hardly worked at all. I think I prefer this way. [A pause, and the smirk fades into a real smile, possibly the first she's ever managed through the books.] Even the homework.

But I've been thinking...my childhood was hardly a normal one, and even for other children in Rapture, nothing was...what someone in a normal city would have experienced. I don't really know much about how school is 'supposed' to be.

What was school like where all of you came from?

[Action]

[Speaking of which, Eleanor could be found at school throughout the early part of the day, though she's a fairly quiet student who tends to hang around in the background of groups as much as possible. It might change later on, but she's still convinced people are going to realize she's a monster and start freaking out. So low-key is important to her. The only class she really actively participates in is art, though everything she works on has a somewhat dark tilt that would probably make a psychologist worry.]

[Afterwards she can be found going for a walk around the edge of the village, then to some of the stores to get things for the apartment now that Doctor Tenenbaum is gone, and a bit of browsing in the clothing store searching for more skirts. A trip by the battledome mostly results in her poking absently at the control panel for a while before leaving with no better idea of how it worked than when she arrives.]

[And in the early evening she can be found on a bench in the center of town, the ball-shaped helmet from her diving suit turned upside down in her lap. There's a pile of bits and bobs from various machines scattered on a white piece of fabric next to her, and she's humming softly to herself as she tinkers with the radio and light inside the helmet, trying to get it to work properly again.]

Comments

[maximoff_girl]

Wanda would always be happy for someone else to take the lead, regardless of if she knew the way or not. She walked in silence for a bit, uncertain if it was an 'awkward' pause, or a 'comfortable' one. For her part, she was pretty ok with not-talking. On the other hand she was pretty sure talking is what people did when they were around other people.

She eventually decides to say something. "... a lot of the people from my world spend time at the battle dome."

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor nodded at that. "It does seem popular." She hesitated before she continued. "The only person from my world was Doctor Tenenbaum, and she...was not one for physical violence."

Although she could imagine the woman doing so to protect one of her 'little ones' at least.

[maximoff_girl]

"... 'was'?" Wanda does not miss the usage of past tense. "Is she-- not here any more?" And was that a good thing or not?

[notyourutopian]

"Yes," Eleanor frowned. "She vanished while I was on a mission. She probably preferred to be back in Rapture anyway."

[maximoff_girl]

"I'm... I'm sorry to hear it." Wanda assumes it's a bad thing she's gone, given Eleanor's expression. "It's-- lonely to be by yourself."

[notyourutopian]

The other teen shook her head. "It isn't so terrible, really. I have more time to read. And I've never really had a chance to be alone before."

"Sometimes it's nice."

[maximoff_girl]

Wanda considers this. She is alone most of the time. And while she is uncomfortable in crowds of people... She still doesn't really like being alone. "... I think I've probably spent too much time alone to... really enjoy it. Maybe if I read..."

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor shrugged. "Maybe." She didn't really see how it wasn't nice but she wasn't going to argue the point.

She pointed out the dome when it came into view, then headed for the front entrance.

[maximoff_girl]

Wanda became slightly edgy, the closer they got to the dome. Stated or not, she sort of viewed this area as "X-men" territory, and she really didn't want to run into Wolverine or Scott or anyone who was going to start a fight with her. It was silly, she knew. She had every bit as much right as they did to be here. But that didn't change how she felt.

"... so what sort of-- set up are we trying to do with this thing?" Her voice is a little hushed, though there's really no reason for it to be.

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor shook her head as she looked around. "I don't know. Most people use it for exercise, right?" She paused. "Or...training. They always call it training."

Eleanor wasn't the sort to ever do that sort of thing before.

"Maybe we should do that?"

[maximoff_girl]

"... If that's what other people are using it for. ... I hope it's durable, then. ... there are-- people back home, who have a place like this. ... It was exploded though, so it couldn't have been that durable."

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor smiled at that. "Do you think we'll break it?" Assuming they could figure out how to work it, anyway.

"It might be interesting to try...I mean, surely other people must have damaged it before."

[maximoff_girl]

"I'm 100% sure we could." Or at least, she's sure she could. Her powers do, after all, run towards the 'make things not work' vein, more often than not. With the help of someone else? It had to be a given, right? "... Maybe we should just... see what it's like, first." She didn't want Wolverine getting mad at her.

[notyourutopian]

"Well, that means figuring out how it works." Eventually Eleanor spotted the controls and headed over to them, poking at them absently with no idea what to do or where to start.

[maximoff_girl]

Wanda trailed after, watching her poke at buttons, and looking around to see what, if any changes were being made. "Is there a green button? Green usually means 'go'."

She is so useful.

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor laughed softly at that, and then looked around until she found a green button. And pushed it.

Nothing happened.

"...Next guess?"

[maximoff_girl]

"Hmmm... Red? Red either means 'stop' or 'danger'." Again, with the being helpful. She gets a little closer to look at the buttons herself, not understanding any of them. "... I could always try and jump start it with a hex, but... I'm not sure how safe that would be."

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor nodded and reached out to hit the red button. There's a brief, silent shudder and then a bunch of stuffed dummies appear in the center of the room, all standing upright with no support.

After a few seconds, they slowly teeter and fall over.

[maximoff_girl]

Fallen over, or no, Wanda is delighted. "Oh! look! We made it do something...!" 'We' may be an overstatement, in this case.

[notyourutopian]

"I'm not sure that really qualifies as something, Wanda," Eleanor said with a little grin, moving away from the panel to tap one of the dummies with her foot.

"I thought they would be more lively."

[maximoff_girl]

Wanda's fingers twitched, as her aura came flickering to life. "... let me see what I can do." She'd brought things to 'life' before, though that was with full usage of her power.

What had been a very simple wrist-and-finger gesture in previous castings, was a much more involved, full arm gesture, requiring her to rotate her arms fully at the shoulder, almost like a swimmer doing the front stroke. Her wrist was still moving, as were her fingers, and for her efforts, she was able to get one of the dummies to sit up wobbly, before pushing itself to it's feet, unsteadily.

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor took several steps back in surprise, her dark eyes shifting from Wanda to the dummy as it jerked around.

"How are you doing that?!"

[maximoff_girl]

Wanda shrugged a bit, her fingers locked in a strange position as she held the hex. "Chaos magic? It's my mutant power... remember?" She could have sworn she had talked to Eleanor about this. More than likely, she did not do a good job of describing her abilities to her. Explaining hexing was always a troublesome, tiresome thing. It was easier to show. Eleanor's reaction was less than encouraging, however, especially since the dummy wasn't really doing anything... yet.

[notyourutopian]

"Yes but..." The teen just shook her head. She didn't know what she had pictured about Wanda's powers, but it certainly hadn't been this.

"I thought it would be more...destructive, I suppose. This is amazing." She moved a bit closer to the door, trying to figure out if she could see whatever the power was.

[maximoff_girl]

"Oh. Usually it is. ... destructive I mean." With a flip of her wrists and a push of her hands, she sends the dummy flying backwards, away from both of them. There's a momentary delay, before the thing explodes raining fluff and foam down upon the girls.

"It's usually more like that. ... that... is always easy to do." Her voice is a little grim. Because exploding things is not always the best thing to do.