deercountry | ( CLOSED ) WE NEVER LEARN, WE BEEN HERE BEFORE.

No, not that I've seen. It's something called a protomolecule hybrid. The protomolecule was...some alien thing that could enhance people, ships, that sort of thing.

( he gestures to the remains of that thing that she'd just killed. )

That was one that had been bonded with a human. Turned it into that.

[ she scrunches her nose slightly in distaste at that. it sounds so eerily familiar. hadn't she bonded with the mind stone to become... well, this?

looking at the confetti on the ground, she furrows her brows for a moment in sympathy. she should've pressed more inside of it; she should've done something different. if that was a person... ]

Do you know if the person was... [ she presses her lips together and tugs her brows a little tighter. ] Were they still there?

No.

( amos shakes his head and nudges at the confetti. )

No, they were long gone. There's no way to get them back after that. Once they're like that, it's over.

[ that only makes her feel partially better.

wanda's tired of hurting actual people. to think she missed out on the chance of saving them... he relieves her of that responsibility, perhaps purposefully.

she keeps her gaze on the confetti. ] Do people volunteer for it? To be... enhanced by that thing?

I don't really know. I don't know a lot about it.

( he's just seen what happens and he's not impressed with it. he doesn't want to deal with more than he has to. he shakes his head. )

They could but I don't know. Wasn't really involved with that sort of thing.

[ she nods. so, it's just an unfortunate circumstance and even more so of one given this creature found them through that portal.

she looks down at the confetti and toes it with her shoe. ]

You have a free gun now.

[ she gestures with an innocent wave of her hand towards his newly made gun. ]

Yeah.

( he'd nearly forgotten about the gun in his hands. he tightens his hands on it before he sighs. )

Are you okay?

[ again, she nods. she sighs quietly. she is; killing things, destroying things... it's all part of her m.o. these days. she's just grateful the thing wasn't an actual human crying for help trapped inside of very ugly skin and a very bony body. ]

I am a little disappointed. I was hoping for a friendly alien like Marvin.

Who?

( you had a little more of a cartoon filled childhood than he did, wanda. he shakes his head and sighs. )

Those things aren't friendly. They never will be. I don't know why but they're just...they turn feral when the protomolecule gets into them.

[ to bring some levity to what has been a very strange portal appearance, wanda holds out her hand, palm up, and easily conjures in a spiral of red glowing magic marvin the martian. he waves his hand at amos.

yes, wanda is a fan of the space jam movie. ]

I hope it doesn't come back. [ she smiles at marvin, who she controls. looking up at amos, ] But if it does, I will kill it again.

[ just so he doesn't have to deal with it. ]

That one's definitely not coming back.

( he glances around. the portal that opened up and dumped the hybrid out seems to be gone. he sighs and shakes his head. )

So, let's hope you don't have to do that. I'd rather not see one of those things get loose in this place.

[ and marvin the martian easily disappears from her hand as quickly as he had arrived.

wanda regards him with a frown. ]

How many of those things are there?

No idea. Never took a poll. There's not an army or anything that we known of.

( amos shrugs before blowing out a breath. )

The protomolecule isn't easy to get a hold of. And we've been trying to keep it contained because it can do that shit. But if someone gets a hold of it, that sort of thing can happen.

[ really, how can you not take a poll, amos?

wanda glances at where the protomolcule once was. she's slow to step away and begin walking without any destination in mind. she simply wants to be away from it and... find more.

she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel exhilarated from what has just transpired. ]

Contained rather than destroyed?

We don't know how much there is.

( so, they contain what they can but it keeps popping up. he shrugs. )

It's alien. It's powerful. Someone's always going to want it for themselves and they'll hide it away if they can.

I could get rid of it for good.

[ she has no proof to that claim, but wanda knows it deep in her bones. she could do it. she is capable of anything. isn't that why agatha had deemed her so dangerous? ]

You will never have to worry about it ever again.

It's not your fight, Wanda.

( he steps closer to her and shakes his head. he doesn't even know how she'd do that but she seems to be powerful enough that she'd do just that. )

Besides, it's not like it's something that's around all the time here. So, don't worry about it. We got other things we have to focus on.

Like...

[ she wiggles her fingers and curls them into her hand as she mulls over what could potentially be a lighter topic of conversation. despite what the trench has to offer, it... doesn't have a lot to offer in terms of that. ]

Your shoes. Do you own just one pair?

What? No, I do not own just one pair.

( he rolls his eyes and scuffs at the ground with his boot. )

But I don't need a lot of shoes. I wear boots. I get a couple and that's enough.

Ah.

[ wanda peers down at amos' boots and lifts her brows in an intentional "huh". shaking her head, she looks straight ahead and purposefully pulls a judgy face. ]

That makes a lot of sense.

How many pairs of shoes do you have?

( is it like one hundred? )

Shoes aren't something I need a lot of.

I have at least thirty.

[ she purses her lips together and smacks them as she mentally counts them. ]

Maybe thirty-one. I need to buy some new sandals. [ wanda glances down at her feet, which are snug in a pair of stained white sneakers. ] These are getting very dirty.

Jesus fuck.

( amos just laughs and shakes his head. )

That's too many goddamn pairs of shoes. What's the point of all them?

I like to have choices.

[ she laughs and feels her skin heat just a smidge. when she had been in westview, she had an entire closet dedicated to her shoes. wanda knows where it had come from: her dreams as a young girl. all she wanted was what she saw on her television shows. all she wanted was what she didn't have.

sheepishly, she looks away and tentatively offers, ] I've also... never had that many shoes before.

Well, whatever. If that's what you want, so be it.

( he's not going to shit on that. he will never have that many shoes in his goddamn life but if it makes her happy. )

Never gift me shoes. I don't need them.

( CLOSED ) WE NEVER LEARN, WE BEEN HERE BEFORE.

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