i am hung with graveyard flowers;

[rhinemaid]

Who: Ilde Decima and Hasi; OPEN
What: The water helps her.
Where: The Gross Tar; initially near her waterfall territory in Raven's Gate, after that various areas.
When: Givdi with Hasi; open after that through Shundi.
Notes: Specify time/place (if not Raven's Gate) if you tag in, please!
Warnings: Descriptions of LM:A-related horrors to follow in the thread with Hasi; discussion of rape & related fall out in thread with Jae.

When she finally goes down to the water, it feels so good that she hates herself for a moment sliding in, her clothes on the bank under an illusion. It soaks into her skin like she belongs there and she's glad that she got there first, that Hasi isn't there yet, because sinking into it hurts a little and it's-- not anybody's business what internal conflicts she's having. She just died. She's allowed to feel...whatever this is that she's feeling, and whatever it is she's going to feel it at the bottom of the river for a while, her tail catching light as it flicks up before she dives.

She'll surface, eventually.

Comments

[supersonic]

There's a sinking feeling in his stomach as she talks. The way she explains it--the gifts, the air of mentorship--alarms him infinitely more than if she'd simply expressed affection for Erik, because it's so very familiar. He gives a small, tight nod.

"He's very good at that, being kind." His words are sharp, bitter, but nostalgic too, because he remembers what being under Magneto's wing was like, at first. "Right up until he needs you to kill for him – or die for him – and then, well, you're no more important to him than a bullet."

"I would not call him family, whatever the world, and I cannot stress enough the danger of calling him friend."

[rhinemaid]

It isn't new information, not exactly; Remy had made it clear that she's to be wary, and why, and for the most part she's kept that in mind, doing the social math of whose judgement she can trust on the fly. The problem is that Ilde is easy to sway and harder to untangle, that she's always looking for approval, that she's just not quite sufficiently discerning about where it comes from. The word is 'susceptible'.

She watches Pietro for a few moments, dark-eyed and inscrutable, thinking about Sonja's army, how they are weapons first, and how Lucas chose her because she would hurt to lose. (She wishes Sonja were here.)

"I already died," she observes, and it's an oddly abstract statement; she tucks her hands behind her back like a child chastened. "I know I'm not supposed to trust him."

(She wants to; she wants to trust all the people she cares about, she wants to be important to them, she wants them to hurt for her-- she doesn't want that, except she does.)

[supersonic]

Pietro is beginning to suspect slightly off statements are something he should get used to from her. Fortunately, he comes from a world where dying is something people do occasionally have the chance to talk about after the fact. The admission gives him pause, but the look he gives her at that has an uncomfortably empathetic edge. "I... 'died' once myself. He killed me."

You know, in case she needed a more concrete example of why this is a terrible idea.

"It's not only a question of trust. My father destroys everything he touches – mere proximity is enough." Which isn't the fairest assessment (not even of his actual father, let alone an alternate he's yet to so much as meet), but Ilde can probably guess that much from the unnecessary harshness in his tone. He shakes his head. "I have no desire to lecture you, however."

Even if he is starting to wish he could build a large, impenetrable plastic wall between her and Erik.

[rhinemaid]

The reflexive response to that is Sonja will kill him if he tries anything but Sonja isn't here and it's a sharp, painful reminder of that absence. It's reaching for something and clasping air and some part of her withdraws, under her skin, to where it's quiet and she doesn't feel the hurt.

"Remy said we're being careful." It's probably not that difficult to infer that Remy's not actually any fonder of Ilde's aforementioned proximity to Magneto than Pietro is coming to be, though debatable as to whether or not he's inclined to relate to the other man even theoretically. Nice guys, these ones.

Careful means what you keep close to keep an eye on it, she thinks; she keeps this in mind.

After a few moments, she swims to the edge, pulling herself up onto the bank beside him and trading her tail for feet and the glossy illusion of humanity (...and a dress, because people tend to object to her nudity more when she looks almost human). "He reminds me."

Her tone is a slight concession, slotting his not-lecture into the same category of those reminders she knows don't go amiss.

[supersonic]

Oh, Remy again. "Two uses for him in one sitting. I am in absolute awe." His tone is droll, however, and without venom, because he does in fact agree with the general sentiment; he just couldn't possibly express said agreement, of course.

And she is a little distracting. He's grateful for the dress, yes, but the fact that she can simply create one--or the illusion of one, at any rate--out of nothing is a fascinating feat in itself. He gives her a sidelong look, his expression a hint softer.

"You could do with better friends, you know." Just a thought.

[rhinemaid]

It's not the most creative dress in the world, little more than the appearance of fabric spun loosely around her body, but the ease with which she calls it up is something all the same; there's a great deal that Ilde is capable of, but illusions will always be her greatest strength. (There's a psychoanalysis to be made there, but she isn't interested in hearing it.)

Following his suggestion, however, she's quiet for a short time-- transparently going through her acquaintance in her head to see if she can think of anyone she thinks Pietro would approve of. (Everybody likes Hasi.)

...eventually, clearly pleased with herself for having applied logic to the situation and totally won: "You'll do. You can't not approve of yourself."

(What this suggests about her social circle is best left unexamined.)

[supersonic]

Did she just— (Yes, yes she did.) Surprise isn't an expression that crosses Pietro's face very often, so enjoy that, Ilde, and it's followed by what may (god forbid) be a smile. He doesn't mind her, he decides. She's strange, but he doesn't mind her.