10357/Between the Mirror of Death and Youth

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Between the Mirror of Death and Youth
Date of Scene: 08 December 2019
Location: Long Island City, Queens
Synopsis: A strange mirror remains a problem. A house is not!
Cast of Characters: Scarlet Witch, Venom




Scarlet Witch has posed:
Long Island glitters with a few sparse patches of bright light, strings winding around balconies and outlining windows. The odd tree sticks out on a balcony, an effort to bring nature back to a place long brought to heel by mankind's grip. Electrified remnants of the holidays act like tiny beacons among the darker spots where gentrification leaves its mark, scooping out some paragon of long-ago growth just in time to set down the concrete roots for another building. These properties are the missing teeth in the imperfect smile that flickers along a string of lightly commercialized streets that interchange their places with brownstones and the occasional fancier condo tower. In their shadow walks Wanda Maximoff.

She might look like a regular to one of the many galleries trying to hawk their wares to the well-heeled, though more the artist than the moneyed lady who lunches (at 10 PM, no less). Burgundy coat and smart, dark boots give her a shield of protection against the cold, but little more. Nothing to identify her as other or else, the stamp of a city dweller there as she halts at the sound of the wind moaning through a fence wrapped in plastic. The sign attached to it promises the opening of some new building as of September, already months delayed. Sufficient for her to stop and briefly pull a phone from her coat pocket, strobing the beam across the metal scaffolding wrapped in pink sheets of insulation. Gaping, empty windowframes mournfully stare at the Christmas spirit. The beam of the flash turned to flashlight strobes off a bright rectangle and she has to lift her hand protectively against the destruction to her night vision.

There, in the middle of the three-storey condo arrangement, stands a mirror. The sort of great oval ones that rest on their own wide base, popular ages ago, and sold from IKEA to high-end furniture stores. Condensation licks the surface, and it's enough to give her pause.

Venom has posed:
For reasons he was never quite able to rationalise, Eddie Brock had always loved Christmas. They were not warm in the Brock Household, his father saw to that. He never got many presents; he never even seemed to garner the faintest interest from his father. And yet, there was something magical about the season. The lights, the songs, the films on the television, it was all so magical. There was just a certain something in the air.

It was growing darker, and colder, and yet, people smiled, at least some of them did. It was festive. There was cheer. And supposedly goodwill to all men... and women. Venom was suited up, having swung by. He was out patrolling, looking for innocents that needed his brand of protection. When he landed on the outcropping of a building, he was perfectly positioned to look across at a strange mirror. He regarded it, squinting those oh so expressive white eyes.


Scarlet Witch has posed:
There is something magical to the hints of pine, the red ribbons on doorways, the clever use of limited space to create a glimpse of the holiday spirit. Somewhere down the street, a car door opens. The sounds of Little Drummer Boy, one of its ten bajillion variants, slip out into the cold air past a frisson of farewells between driver and passenger. Those lyrics rise and fall on a swell of festive cheer, before fading away with the driver. The headlamps strobe a path as the sedan goes to haunt another block, not reaching quite so far down as Wanda's darkened patch of the neighbourhood. She is still peering past the construction notices into the incomplete building, perhaps considering heading in. Perhaps considering the wiser course of action, hastening on. The next commercial strip isn't so far away, and surely will have some small plates restaurant serving up charcuterie or at least a decent glass of wine.

A certain chill of something in the air settles her resolve. The flutter of plastic doesn't change the fact that mirror gleams oddly, and she sets her hand against the chainlink fence. Giving it a slight shake gives a sense of how solid it is. Locked, of course, she starts climbing around the plastic with only a tense look over her shoulder. Explaining why she's trespassing to a beat cop might be awkward.

But there is a wrongness to the mirror. A subtle malevolence, there like a foul taste under a holiday treat. It's palpable to anyone familiar to it, keen to the odd. Behind the filmy glass surface, shapes cavort behind a fog. It's quite apparent from anyone watching it for a while, the extended silhouettes stalking past the glass. Another hunches, covering its head with peculiarly long arms. The whole effect is like a blurry black and white movie being projected onto a wall. That is, up until a palm smacks into the glass from the inside, with enough force to rock the glass a little.

Wanda hasn't totally crested the top of the fence when that happens, but she yelps in surprise.

Venom has posed:
Now that was an odd sight. The woman climbing over the chain link fencing didn't look like a thief, and the building was still under construction, so what would there to steal? She didn't look like she was homeless and needed shelter. So, the next things that came to Venom's minds, there were two of them, was some kind of covert meeting, or espionage. That wasn't really in the holiday spirit at all.

Venom was watching Wanda, and despite the symbiote being able to see in all directions, it's attention was elsewhere. It caught glimpse of the blurry movement, but not enough to catch it. Even if something is in your field of a view, you can only really appreciate where the focus is, with the rest being a mere sideshow. Deciding to look into it further, Venom shot out a webline, which came from the top of his wrist, unlike Spider-Man's, which came from under. And he swung across the street, doing a somersault into one of the open windows. Because it was such a smart move for a woman like Wanda to sneak into the building, only to see someone like Venom. That'll end well, right?


Scarlet Witch has posed:
A moment perching atop the chainlink fence gives Wanda a vantage over a muddy yard. The recent frost and thaw cycle hasn't done any favors, though several weeks of rotting leaves blown into the corners offer a softer landing. She wrinkles her nose slightly, staring into the open frame past those semi-complete walls. With practically no front yard to speak of, the building has three broad concrete steps leading up to the front door - not installed, of course - and then the three stories revolving around the small foyer where that mirror stands in plain sight. It practically beckons. But there, straddling the spot awkwardly and hoping the posts don't fall, she might be having second thoughts. Her lips purse, eyes narrowed slightly.

If Venom's vaguely obvious, she might respond to motion. The bounce of the mirror happened only the once, but the hand pressed up to the glass slides away towards the bottom frame. Something disturbing indeed, and that must be the thing her senses and intuition scream warnings about. Slinging her leg over, she kicks off from the fence and lands in a tripod position, knees buckling, gloved hand to the ground. No random city girl might do that so easily, but gymnasts are common enough. Or dancers; she has the physique of one, as she rises. Dusting off her pants, she slowly approaches the building, her own shadow running long behind her in fraught anticipation. Closing in on the building probably gives a fine view of how unassuming she is, dressed well and robbable of that pretty headband if Venom really wants a few extra semiprecious stones for its collection. Right? She comes in at an oblique angle, taking in the roof, the doorway, the empty windows. Probably looking for signs of life as much as he is. No shouting hello, she lifts the phone and flicks on the flash, but turned in against her chest. That way, no ruining her vision. Just lights her up slightly as she crosses the threshold. Just in time for something terrifying, right?

Venom has posed:
Venom could do subtle. He did it well, when he wanted to. He could hide, and skulk, and keep to the shadows. But inside of a construction site, he felt no fear. He wasn't attuned to the forces at work involving the mirror. And he felt that he was confident in his surroundings.

He stood up straight, his posture perhaps a little too rigid, his days as a body builder getting the better of him. If not for the symbiote correcting the damage he was doing, he might have had long term problems from that. But instead, he stood up, barrel chested, muscular, in a very form fitting black suit with just the faintest hints of white accents.

Although, it was no mere suit. It was part of him. So when she crossed the threshold to see him standing there, he gave her a toothy smile, saying, or beginning to say, "why hello there, this is a 3-story, 2.5 bedroom, Brownstone, which, upon completion, will have hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, and even an outdoor space."

It was all for fun. He was guessing at that, but Venom was pretty scary to look at, and a bit of a goofball. He tried to soften his appearance in the easiest way he could, though he remained at the ready to use a webline to haul her back in, in case she fell backwards.


Scarlet Witch has posed:
The construction site probably won't offer more danger than a few stray nails lying around, and some wiring not up to code. The work at the higher levels is in better states of completion than the ground floor. Drywall isn't in below and the windows have yet to be installed, but the shelter offered by the insulation-clad walls is tempting for those who need a place out of the cold. Walking over the bare wood floor, Wanda doesn't leave much sound. Light on her feet or smart about how to distribute her weight to smother noise, she approaches a little closer. It makes her going utterly still that much less significant.

At the source of movement and then a voice, there she is. Her right hand drops to the side, phone screen sliding against her leather coat. She practically quenches the light, shoving it against her pocket. At least there, she has a stolen star glowing brightly away, the sparkling blue-white LED beams quenched a little. At least it was. A second after, it clatters to the ground and displays a lock screen image of her and a young man of similar facial shape, a shock of white hair mingling with hers.

Toothy smile indeed. Her eyes dominate her face, going to the size of saucers, blood fleeing away from her complexion. There's no stepping back, her body tense as a twisted spring. "Wh-what?" The sound comes at a rather high tone, inflected clearly by the accent that marks her as from somewhere east of Berlin and south of Moscow. A blink, another, the reflexive shock settling her to wobble. Oh, she might just fall after all.

Venom has posed:
With the distance, Venom easily stretched out an arm, catching and cradling the woman's back, and neatly ensuring that she didn't fall back through the threshold and into a not insignificant drop. "There, there, I have you." He said, trying to sound soothing, and used the 'I' in the situation, as they didn't want to scare her anymore than she probably already was. He slowly but deliberately tried to guide her away from the drop, and began to play the pronoun game, "the name's Venom. Now, why did you break into this construction site?"


Scarlet Witch has posed:
That's how woke romance novels begin: the plucky investigator shows up and something terrible happens. She is startled by this mysterious figure. There are quips! A reflection in the mirror shows the whole event in detail, if reversed: her fall, his catch, shadows and burning scarlet coming together, ricocheting apart. She might reflexively seize on something unseen, calling out for the unknown forces of the invisible world to secure herself, but it proves to be unnecessry. No tumble down the steps into the mud, but it's forestalled by her unusual stillness. The security of Venom's balance is a thing to be thanked - later, when her wits are present, settled in. A hint of a shaken breath slides through parted lips and she slides her foot forward, trying to regain footing without toppling. She hasn't screamed; an advantage, really.

"Venom," his name is given with pointed deliberation, perhaps. Or care to produce the English word with approrpiate weight. One step, one path, and she follows his route to avoid a calamity. Still, her eyes are wide, traveling her surroundings to place any further hazards. "Wanda. I saw the mirror." It isn't necessary to do more than nod at the oval metal, silvered and purely weighty. "It seemed off. If this is your place, I apologize for interrupting you."

Venom has posed:
The reporter in Eddie would have loved to quote the famous phrase, go woke, get broke, adopted by so many reporters that he respected. Perhaps that's why he was often a struggling reporter. He refused to bow down to the woke, SJW, me too, or whatever it was being called these days, and liked to tell things like they were. He was old school.

In answer to her question, he said "no, this isn't. It's not often that a woman, dressed as you are, breaks into a construction site. There's probably a story there." It was always difficult trying not to use possessive words. Long ago, Eddie and the symbiote had agreed that ordinarily, Eddie could refer to himself singularly, but when suited up, they were a we. It worked for most situations, though not one when a woman was in shock and liable to get herself seriously hurt if she ran. Venom was scary enough without adding the royal we. Turning to regard the mirror, he asked, "how so?"


Scarlet Witch has posed:
The brilliant character juxtapositions that define sudden encounters apply here: one so mundane, one definitely not. A girl who speaks with clipped statements and a journalist embodying the art of words are odd figures, nontheless, and their replies intertwine dozens of smaller, less visible tells. Her shoulders are tight, still. Hands don't open or close, stable and still. The watchfulness speaks to an anticipation of something going oh so wrong, standing on the fragile edge of the unknown. In a zombie apocalypse, possibly not the person to rely on to act first.

"A boring story," she replies, though there's a hint of a wry laugh not quite brought to her lips. "Out of place mirror intrigues woman. It looked strange to me, that's all. Nothing but art, or decorations." A beat to follow as she observes their reflections in the mirror. There, yes, but the asymmetrical silhouettes still ghost through the background, barely more than pale grey next to the brighter colours and true black of the physical, the mundane. "Why are you here?" The tables turn, simple as that. No force or demand lies behind it, giving the man an even regard.

Venom has posed:
"Ah, yes, that story. Out of place..." he purposefully leaves it blank, "intrigues woman. It's an old one." The symbiote, speaking in his head said, 'fine, you can ignore us, just this one time, if it'll help the girl. But we're getting Chinese on the way home. And chocolate, Swiss chocolate, a Toblerone and some Lindt.' Venom says, "okay," it's usually not that easy to respond to the symbiote, "I was concerned, for you, for the property. I wished to help, if there was anything to help with." That was most definitely not Venom's reputation.


Scarlet Witch has posed:
It's a mirror. Simply that, sparkling and exciting. "Thank you for your concern. I have seen this is but a rather suspect mirror. Something wisely taken by the developer in the morning. I can call them." Wanda's principled ideas on that front are quite plain and smartly laid out, easily decided on. Commanding the idea with a certain blithe ease, she shakes her head a bit. If Venom means otherwise, she seems to turn the other cheek to negative possibilities. "You have not seen anything odd here tonight?"

Just to be safe. Because this clearly isn't strange, and his own reputation being what it is... well.

Venom has posed:
Venom gave her an odd look. He still wasn't sure what she was up to. He wasn't sure if he trusted her entirely. Maybe it was her background. It could be a language barrier thing. He had recently been learning Russian as part of personal interests, and an ongoing story, but she didn't seem to have a Russian accent to him. Probably Hungarian, Romanian, somewhere in that area of the world. "No, the only odd thing tonight has been a woman sneaking into a construction site." He was teasing her. Which was weird, coming from someone who objectively speaking, looked like a monster.


Scarlet Witch has posed:
It might well be a language barrier, though her Transian background straddles a wartorn nation and a crossroads of Europe constantly convulsed by trouble. It could be someone who doesn't trust mirrors; there are enough of those in the world not to be too strange. It could well be something about leaving belongings in unfinished houses that tempt people, like her or helpless artists, to go take a look. "Sneaking? I went in over the fence very obviously, I will have you know," she retorts. Yes, to a monster. There is an oddness there, too, maybe clearer than anything else that she isn't exactly /normal/. "If that's all, then we do not need to worry about it being a trap. Lovely."

Venom has posed:
The symbiote inside Eddie's head, 'offer her a lift home. It's starting to snow outside.' Venom then says, "if that's all there is, can I offer you a lift home, or to the nearest cab?" There were criminals out there that needed him, and this was an odd, but memorable, experience for him. The fact that she was taking him in, so easily, didn't help matters. He was starting to think that she needed help, perhaps from a good psychiatrist.


Scarlet Witch has posed:
"That's a walk down the street?" Wanda asks after a moment or two, piecing together Venom's intention. It's not like she has the usual cues to go on, just his voice and the general stance of his position. Miss Muffet and her tuffet this is not, though she still gives a particularly quick glance back to the mirror. "I do not take cabs often. There is a good cafe around the corner, though. Not so far, and you can make sure I make it back to the light." Where /are/ the subways on Long Island? There are busses, at least. Public transit isn't too much of an issue, and less so when she can simply step through the walls of reality into another location. But manners die hard.

Venom has posed:
"Or we could websling?" He offered, as he walked towards the open window, shooting off a line of webbing, which latched onto the top of a nearby building. "It's safe," and he offered an arm, to clutch her close to him so that he could websling them there. "Do you trust me?" He asked, echoing the line from a Disney film, but he was no Aladdin, and she no, well, actually, some of her costumes weren't that far off from Jasmine.


Scarlet Witch has posed:
Trust. It's a strange thought. The shot of webbing snaps in front of her and the sorceress turns her head, watching it anchor somewhere off into the darkness. Dare she? The flicker of golden motes dance in those jade green eyes, and she offers her hand. It loops around the man's arm, anchoring there. She is strong, that's a certainty, though nothing out of the ordinary. All the oddities rest in other places, not that Wanda evinces her magical nature unless it counts for the red lights below being flicked to green when she goes by.

Venom has posed:
Accepting her hand, and pulling her in close enough that he can secure her in his much stronger arms. By day, Eddie was a body builder, and symbiote amplified his innate strength. Holder her close to him was not an issue, so long as she accepted it. This had proven to be an unusual night for him. With her now secure, he said, "hold on," and he lifted them both up and off, jumping out of the window.

He would fire off another line, from the arm around her, managing to hold her in place without being too tight. He was basically just using his upper forearm to keep her in place, putting his free arm around her for added support whenever he switched off hands. The swinging was exhilarating for most first timers.

Seeing the streets below was a magnificent sight, and it was surprisingly fast. He swung through, gaining altitude as the buildings rose, until he used one of the bridges to swing back towards Manhattan. He'd clearly missed the coffee shop she intended, but would lower them, slowly, until he could land near a coffee shop. He was creating quite the scene, with the crowd around surprised to see him. One man even screamed, "aiie, it's a monster!"

Venom, who jumped so that his feet landed on the side of a building, tipped an imaginary hat, "we must be off. Merry Chirstmas, Wanda."