( CLOSED ) MY LONELINESS IS KILLING ME.

[manipulative]

Who: Katherine and Stefan | Wanda and Amos.
What: October stuff.
When: Spookytober.
Where: Around Deer Country.

Content Warnings: Dead people.

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[ 🧟‍♀️ ] GHOST CHILDREN.

[manipulative]

[ it would be a bold-faced lie if katherine didn't admit that she had been hoping october would open a door for nadia to step through again. halloween is meant to be a special day; she remembers her mother telling her stories about how ghosts used to walk the earth. sometimes she thinks it had been a story she had told her to try and get katerina to sleep, but after the life she's led, she knows that's not necessarily untrue.

although it's not halloween yet, katherine hopes that she'll see nadia again. it's a new world they find themselves in and she can only hope her daughter hasn't lost her way to her.

when she wanders up the stairs and down the hall towards nadia's room, she always does so with the hope that she would see her daughter again. it's a hopeless wish to have, but it's one she suspects stefan would share with her.

so, when she opens the door and slips inside, she doesn't expect to see her. a little nadia sitting on her bed, looking rather pale and stiff and very much unlike the girl she was back in deerington.

standing at the threshold, she grips the doorframe so tightly it begins to splinter. ]

Stefan! Get in here!

[prescind]

( he'd been downstairs, making them something to eat when he hears her frantic cry. the food's quickly forgotten as he moves as quickly as possible up to where he's heard her voice.

he pulls up behind her, not out of breath and looks to see what's caused her to yell. when he sees what he sees, he opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. )

That's —

( that's nadia. that's her nadia. )

[manipulative]

[ she nods and doesn't turn around to face him. it's nadia, through and through, looking a little worse for wear. katherine doesn't remember her ever looking that pale and grey before, but she knows that it's her daughter no matter her being pink or blue or even rainbow. ]

She was just sitting here. All quiet and by herself.

[ although she tilts her head as if she's about to look at stefan, katherine doesn't. she doesn't look away from nadia. she doesn't want to. ]

[prescind]

Something looks...different.

( stefan can tell it's nadia too but it doesn't look like the nadia's he's come to know and love. there's something off about her that makes stefan's stomach churn a bit. )

Have you said anything to her?

[manipulative]

[ quietly, ] … No.

[ that sounds dumb now that she's answered that question. she hadn't thought to speak. she'd seen nadia and she had wanted to call stefan immediately…

perhaps out of a fear of what she knew was to be true. something was off about her. katherine didn't particularly want to experience that offness by herself.

from her perch by the doorframe, she clears her throat and raises her voice a little: ] Nadia.

[ nadia doesn't turn around; she doesn't even move. ]

[ 🍷👻 ] INVISIBLE AND DRUNK.

[manipulative]

[ she's definitely not human. she knows that better than anyone. if she was human, she knows she'd have a bruise on her leg from where she accidentally hit it against the side of the table and she'd have a headache from all the alcohol she's been drinking.

she knows she's still a vampire. a glass remains shattered in the sink from an accidental overestimation of her strength.

katherine walks into the living room with her fifth glass of wine, the bottle in her hand. she sits beside stefan, folding her legs beneath her. it's with a smile that she regards him. everything feels so good. there's a lightness to everything. it doesn't bother her that they're in the same house they were in when in deerington but that they're in a completely different part of deer country. nope. doesn't bother her at all.

instead, she drinks because she can. she drinks because it's an unofficial date night where they don't have to worry about blood seeping from the walls and strange creatures following them home.

she reaches out to brush her hand roughly against the side of his face. ]

You're very handsome.

[ she giggles. that's hilarious. ]

[prescind]

And you're very drunk.

( does stefan know how she's drunk? no, he doesn't. he's going to assume it's something with this place, something with the blood that flows through her veins that's making it so she can get drunk.

it's probably been a long damn time for her. he chuckles as she sits down and reaches to brush some hair out of her face. )

Feeling pretty good, huh?

[manipulative]

No, no I'm not.

[ scrunching up her face, she shakes her head and smiles. wrinkling her nose, katherine clears her throat and tries to appear as stoic and sober as possible... ]

I feel very good. [ she nods; her words come out a little thicker than she'd like. ] Why do I have to be drunk to feel very good, Stefan?

[ watching him intently, she bites on her bottom lip and laughs lightly again. ]

[prescind]

You don't have to be drunk to feel good but you're usually not this...giggly.

( that's not a bad thing, katherine, before you get all up in arms. )

You don't think you're drunk? I've seen you with your wine today.

[manipulative]

[ sitting up a bit taller, she tilts her chin up defiantly and declares, ] I can handle my wine, I'll have you know.

[ very fine! just watch her take a sip of it; her eyes never leave stefan as she takes a good, long sip. smiling as she pulls the glass away, she keeps looking at him, chin tilted up defiantly. ]

Not drunk.

[ a very convincing argument. ]

[ 🎃 ] YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT.

[manipulative]

[ she'd be lying if she said she wasn't someone who enjoyed dressing up when given the opportunity. after all the different disguises she's had to wear over the last few centuries, she's always enjoyed bringing out her best costume on halloween.

this halloween, though, she doesn't choose to wear a previous disguise. despite knowing she has corsets and dresses from various time periods she could easily slip into, she doesn't want to be katherine or katerina. she's a little addicted to being someone else.

it's easy to twist stefan's arm into dressing up. all she has to do is bat her eyelashes, tell him he's going to dress up, and that he's going to make her very, very happy. besides, she thinks he wants to dress up, too.

sitting on the edge of the bed in her black latex sandy outfit, she holds two pairs of heels in her hands. one's black and the other's a bright bloody red. she purses her lips as she regards them before peering over to stefan. ]

Which shoes do you think go best?

[ she holds them up, hooked to her fingers, and waves them around for his attention. ]

[prescind]

( stefan doesn't hate dressing up for halloween but it's not his favorite thing to do either. he's grateful that the costumes she's decided to pick mean he doesn't have to do much. he's basically dressed save for the matter of his hair.

and he's busy looking into their mirror and trying to figure out what to do about that when she asks her question. he turns around and looks at the shoes. )

You should wear one of each. That's something Sandy would do, right?

[manipulative]

[ she rolls her eyes. ]

That's something Kenickie would suggest.

[ kenickie, who was stylish and yet so oblivious at the same time. katherine's beginning to wonder if she should've dressed up as rizzo instead. peering down at her shoes, she scrutinises them for a moment. ]

Are you even sure you've seen this movie?

[prescind]

It's been...a few years.

( stefan pops his collar, pulling on it and twisting to see how he looked before he glances at her. )

What should I do with my hair? Leave it as it is?

[manipulative]

[ katherine takes her time in eyeing stefan from his shoes all the way up to that popped collar. she's having second thoughts. perhaps it would be best that she keep him inside. no one would be able to see him and see how hot he is.

she looks at his hair and tilts her head to the side as she makes a show of eyeing him. ]

Come here.

[ she sits up a little straighter against the edge of the bed and wiggles her fingers. ]

[ 🧟‍♂️ ] GHOSTS.

[explosion]

[ it's not surprising to her to know the junkyard hasn't appeared in the trench. it seems as though only a few things from deerington have appeared in its so-called next chapter—her house, a few other houses, some businesses, a good portion of the people…

the car they'd been working on hasn't come over.

she invites amos over to her house in wilful machine for the sole purpose of bringing forth her car. it's homely with neatly trimmed hedges and an even neater yard. if she's going to conjure her car, she wants him here to make sure that it has everything that a car needs from its engine, steering wheel, lights, and indicators.

standing in her large backyard, she plants her hands on her hips as she looks at the expanse of area that she has to pull her car to. she's a little hesitant to do it. wanda's not quite sure how the trench will feel at the idea of her tugging something from beyond its borders through. ]

Did you want a drink?

[ she peers up at him expectantly. yes, she's stalling. no, you're not allowed to call her out on it. ]

[rocinantes]

( amos doesn't get too many invitations these days. it's not because he's a complete shut in but he's protective, having given out his heart a few times and had it stomped on when people have left. and it's happened each time, people leaving.

he doesn't want to deal with it again. still, he doesn't say no when wanda invites him over and soon enough, he's standing in the middle of her backyard.

she's hesitating but amos doesn't call it out. )

Sure. What've you got?

[explosion]

Anything.

[ she perks up a little at that. wanda is the miracle, the person who can make anything appear. while she's a little worried about having someone over and trying to call forth something that may no longer exist in the universe anymore, she's only human. she perks up when there's a chance to show off.

her isolation in sokovia had been of her own doing, and while wanda sometimes wishes to follow through on that plan here, she knows she shouldn't. can't. people in deerington are like cockroaches. they never, ever leave her be.

and she's a little selfish wanting that company. ]

Even something that is strictly a space-drink. Name it.

[ and she will create it. ]

[rocinantes]

Martian blue space beer.

( that doesn't even exist but she says she can create anything so he's curious if she can figure out if something is real or not. )

Been craving one.

[explosion]

[ immediately, she knows he's full of shit. wanda doesn't give it away, though. she looks at him intently before she nods. ]

What does it taste like?

[ of course, she could simply make it up, but it's better to make him meet her a little halfway. ]

[ 🎃 ] HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR TAKE TWO.

[explosion]

[ wanda doesn't believe amos has never heard of halloween.

he may try and sell it to her with a crinkle of a thick brow or a very short and amos-like text, but she knows better. she doesn't even try and cheat and tap against the surface of his mind. he has the same little twitch to his cheek that pietro did when he told silly fibs. she doubts baltimore was devoid of dress-up.

she's dressed in an old costume. she's a little inspired to wear it with the appearance of dead pietro and vision last month, and with the sudden ghastly rendition of her twins… a part of her is hopeful that if she wears her old outfit from westview, perhaps her children will find her. it all makes sense to wanda. be the beacon and the children who are searching for said beacon will follow.

she waits for him in willful machine, determined to start within the bustle within this particular city before moving onward to the next. no matter what he does, no matter what he says and how he may drag his feet, she's going to ensure amos has a good time. and, if it all goes to plan, he'll admit he's heard of halloween before.

with a furrow to her brows, she narrows her eyes as she gives amos a once-over. he wears an incredibly impressive halloween costume.

sarcastically, ] I'm blown away by how innovative this costume is.

[rocinantes]

( she's not wrong in that amos knows what halloween is. but he's not a very halloween-y person when he finds out that he has to dress up, he does his best to get a costume together that will astound people.

so, he writes the word 'astronaut' on a piece of paper and pins it to his shirt. it's not completely wrong since he did spend most of his time in space and that's what astronauts did.

so, when wanda makes the comment, he grins. )

I thought it was really inventive. Glad you think so.

[explosion]

[ it's so beyond sad. that's why she loves it so much.

looking at his feet, she notes how he hadn't even thought to try and change his shoes to really sell that he was an astronaut. ]

I think you'll win the Best Dressed award by a long shot.

[ the creativity was astounding. the piece of paper looks wrinkled. ]

[rocinantes]

Glad to hear my costume is so appreciated. I was a little worried but then I thought...no, this'll work.

( he looks her up and down and smirks. )

Yours is nice too. Not as nice as mine but still.

[explosion]

[ peering down at herself, she smiles, grateful that her costume has been accepted. it wouldn't matter if no one understood what she was going for. all that mattered was that billy knew that she was wearing it just for him.

she plants her hands on her hips. ]

I'm old red riding hood.

[ she peers up at him, brows furrowed. ]

Do you know red riding hood?

[ don't lie. ]