( CLOSED ) THEY'RE LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH.

[manipulative]

Who: Katherine, Stefan, A Space Robot, and Wanda.
What: October scary stuff.
When: All month.
Where: Around!

Content Warnings: Applicable content warnings go here.

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[explosion]

[ she tilts her head to the side as she regards the compass. the only thing they'll lose if they follow it is perhaps going in the right direction… but considering neither of them know where that is, wanda doesn't consider it much of a loss to begin with. ]

But you've met one? [ she cocks her brow and peers up at him with a teasing smile. that answer left so much room for assumption. ]

[prescind]

A dragon?

( he laughs at how eager she seems before he shakes his head. )

Not unless you count in books and movies.

[explosion]

[ disappointed!!

wanda's hoping to mark off her bingo square of meeting someone who's met a dragon. if aliens can be real, she thinks dragons have a good chance, too. ]

Hm. [ she smiles; she doesn't appear anxious about their current predicament. ] Then I guess we'll learn what it's like to follow a dragon together.

[prescind]

You have dragons where you come from? Or dragon less like I am?

( he doesn't think he wants to really meet a dragon. he might be a vampire but fire would...definitely hurt if he got burned. )

They don't seem to really be a thing in any worlds I've been to.

[explosion]

I'm not quite sure.

[ it's a genuine response and one that has her narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. how much does she say? given that she's been inside of stefan's mind and knows the most vulnerable parts of him... she knows that she can trust him. ]

Aliens exist where I'm from. All sorts of them. And a talking tree... I think a dragon is possible.

[prescind]

A talking tree?

( stefan frowns because that's...different and he's read a lot of books. )

What's a tree talk about?

[explosion]

[ wanda chuckles. ] I have no idea.

All he said was "I am Groot". [ she frowns thoughtfully as she tilts her head to the side. she begins to walk, keeping an eye on the dragon compass. ] I think that's his language. Have you ever heard of a Groot Tree?

[prescind]

I have...not.

( groot tree? biology and botany wasn't his strongest subject but —

he's pretty sure that's not a type of tree. )

What's a Groot tree?

[explosion]

[ she shrugs wildly. ]

I don't know! [ she laughs. ] I think it's a tree from outer space. He came from space, I think. He'd have to be from space—he was talking to this raccoon.

[ wanda's motto is simple: anything weird? it's from space.

she's quick to gently smack his arm. ] We should check and see if there is a Groot Tree here.

[prescind]

Where would we even — look for a Groot tree?

( wanda, you were the expert, you were going to have to provide something here. )

Where do they usually grow?

[explosion]

In the ground.

[ she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth to stop herself from smiling too widely. she comes to a stop and looks at stefan before pointing over his shoulder. ]

That could be one. You should go see.

[prescind]

I think you're setting me up here.

( for some kind of embarrassment. )

Trying to get me to do something ridiculous.

[explosion]

[ with an innocent smile, she shakes her head. ]

No, never.

[ of course, she does have something planned. all she needs is for stefan to follow along. ]

I think you should see the tree… unless you're scared.

[prescind]

I'm not scared.

( don't call him out like this, wanda. )

I'm not scared of a tree.

[explosion]

Then go see the tree.

[ she smiles sweetly, although her sweetness has a slightly sinister feel to it. she clasps her hands behind her back as she watches him. ]

It looks like a very nice tree.

[prescind]

( he doesn't want to go see the tree.

but he's not going to be told he's afraid of trees anyway so he sighs and goes up toward the tree. )

It's just a freaking tree.

[explosion]

Is it?

[ wanda follows him at a distance with her hands clasped behind her back. she stands on the tips of her toes as she wiggles her nose. the tree groans softly before its bark peels back to reveal a small, hollow mouth that widens as it yawns. ]

[prescind]

( just as stefan's reaching up to touch the branch, it moves and he steps back several times before making a face.

he glances at her. )

That you?

[explosion]

[ she smiles at his reaction, but she's quick to school her expression into one of innocence. she cocks her brow. ]

What's me?

[prescind]

Uh huh.

( stefan eyes her quietly before he looks towards the tree again. )

Whatever, as long as it doesn't eat me, I don't care.

[explosion]

Are you afraid of people-eating trees?

[ with his back to her, the tree yawns again. it's mouth is empty; it lacks any teeth. it stretches its thin branches out as if to raise them above its head. it doesn't try and eat stefan. ]

[prescind]

Curious how you know it's people eating.

( stefan is a vampire and he's strong but wood is...something that hurts so he keeps his distance though he doesn't run. )

Seems like you're in cahoots with it.

[explosion]

No!

[ wanda feigns a look of utter shock at such an accusation. ]

I'm just saying... We were talking about space trees and then people-eating trees... This tree could be a vegetarian.

[ and, much like groot, she quietly manipulates it to move its branch-arm so it can take a chomp of a leaf. ]

[prescind]

Trees are trees.

( they weren't going to eat people or vegetables. )

They eat the sunlight. That's what their diet is.

[explosion]

[ she snorts in amusement. ]

Trees don't eat sunlight. They steal it.

[ if he was expecting a scientifically accurate correction, he'd be very, very wrong. wanda likes to make up stories—and she thinks that's better than the truth sometimes.

so, she makes the tree extend its arm, stretching it with cracks of bark falling to the ground, and forming a fist as if it's trying to steal the sun from the sky. ]