3942/A Wind in the Dark

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A Wind in the Dark
Date of Scene: 23 February 2018
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Summary needed
Cast of Characters: Deadwatch, Scarlet Witch




Deadwatch has posed:
Not long ago, a disheveled Nolan limped (more heavily than usual) into his office. Or herhaps staggered is a better term. Bleeding from a few cuts on his face and forehead.. his cheap suit ripped (lightly) in a few places.. The heavy metal door of the old below-street-level bar turned office and living space swung open and he groaned as he entered the shadowy space, looking like he was being propped up by something other than his forearm cane-cructch.

Slumping into a chair at one of the old tables he groans and painfully and casts his crutch aside.. "Goddamn it.." he seethes, clutching his ribs and before the cane can hit the floor it suddenly stops and shakily floats to the corner without him paying the least attention to it. He grits his teeth and pulls a cigarette from his coat, propping it between his teeth, then pats his coat down again for his lighter. "Fucking Vantoase... Why the FUCK was there a romanian wind spirit in Gotham anyways?" he complains loudly to the empty space... Unable to find his lighter he gets flustered, until a zippo floats from the bar-turned-desk, opens, and flicks on. He looks grateful.

"Thanks, lovely.." he rasps and leans over the flame, inhaling a few times to get the cherry going.. Then the lighter folds closed and floats to rest on the table he sits at. Nolan leans back and stares at the ceiling, smoke cascading from his nostrils.. he coughs once, then growls.

"I need a fucking drink..."

A bottle if vodka, mostly empty, floats from the shelf behind the bar.. along with a slightly dirty snifter glass. The cap unscrews itself then the bottle upends and pours it's remains into the glass.. Nolan sits up a bit, haring the pouring, and looks relieved. "You are an angel..."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's sleep had been disturbed. Well, it had been being disturbed for some days now for various reasons - all of them but one male - and then this.

There had been a tug upon the plane she had come to associate with the spiritual. It wasn't a plane that very often troubled her. Few things managed to disrupt it enough to make waves. It was, by its very nature, a place where there was an ebb and flow in response to all things, especially humans, but mostly all things. It was as malleable as reality, only without the same substance. More like herself - a reflection of, or mirror, but unlike herself, it had no means to affect things around it. It was merely reactive, waiting to be used by those who knew how.

Wanda followed the tug, and found herself brushing against a familiar presence. It was a thing that brought a smile to her lips before it also made her brow crease in consternation. He was something of an anomally to her life, as well as someone she found herself inexplicably drawn to. A thing she was finding happening with an all too alarming frequency of late (and thus the sleepless nights). This one, at least, she knew she could get an answer to, or at least reassure herself by dropping in..

Which she does. Nearly quite literally, suddenly appearing in his office.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight is just draining his glass when he feels that..resonance.. the sensation of soul and spirit crossing the threshold of his 'sanctum'. Because of course an abandoned prohibition era speakeasy would be his sanctum, right? The wards inlaid into the relatively ancient brick shimmer darkly as someone or something pass through them. He coughs, feeling the wards bypassed, though strangely not violated, spewing vodka and struggling to stand when a familiar visage, and aura, appears right in the middle of the small stage; More a cement rise really where almost a hundred years ago a jazz band play but now where a silver magical circle has been etched.

Blinking those bloodshot mismatrched eyes of his, he stares at the Witch in Scarlett, the slums back into the rickety wooden chair. "Well.. you coulda called first.." he gripes... then frowns after a moment of silence and shoots a look at an empty space behind the bar. "Well I /was/ going to get a phone hooked up /eventually/."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda is about to offer greetings, greetings with a smile, even, as she realizes he's in no danger and her visit is really more of the social sort, when his words hit her. She freezes in spot, the smile fading from her lips, immediately being replaced with something more apologetic and abashed.

"I.. that is, I did not think. I felt you and was worried. I came.."

All her words fading away as she realizes her mistake. And that she's done the equivalent of letting herself into a locked home that she does not own. She hadn't even thought to consider wards, or asking permission. She could not even say she was so worried about him that she /had/ to bypass those things, only that she wanted to see him again and in her excitement at an excuse, had forgotten to.

It was just another example of how off kilter she was these days.

A slow crimson creeps up upon her cheeks. "I can go. I am sorry. I only thought.."

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight is more empathic then many people would give him credit for. And not just in the psychic sense (see what we did there.. psychic Sense.. hyuk hyuk). Like, yeah, he can see people's auras for the most part. When he touches them, reaches into them, he can even read their souls... He just doesn't tend to empathize with the /Living/ all that much. Not that he can't. He just doesn't. Not /usually/...

But see her flush, hearing her stammer.. the concern.. well, he can't really be /mad/. grumpy, sure.. Thats a normal state for him. But not mad.

"No. Don't worry about it.." he grumbles and then shifts uncomfortably in his chair again, clearly favouring his left side. "The damned wards are touchy anyways.. if they thought you were a danger, then you wouldn't be here.. they are quite literal like that.." he says, the rolls his eyes and looks at that empty space again. "Well they /are/!" he complains, like he is having a completely seperate conversation. "How is it /my/ fault?" *Pause* "Yes I /did/ read the book! I did exactly what it told me!" He then looks back to Wanda as if nothing had just happened. "So yeah... It's not a problem."

Maybe /she/ isn't the /only/ one off kilter.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Oh, now she's giggling. And blushing. Both things in equal measure. She could, she supposed, hear the other side of the conversation, but that would be *rude* and she's already been rude enough for one visit. Besides, it's much more amusing this way, watching him argue with someone off-stage and behind the curtain. Like some bad interpretation of the Wizard of Oz.

"Of course I would not harm you." The flush on her cheeks pinkens from its scarlet,a nd remains a pretty swipe over her cheeks, making her look younger than her years, as if to emphasize her innocence.

"I felt something, and it was attached to you. So I came to be certain that you were okay."

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight nods, once, and reaches for the bottle of vodka with his bad scarred hand. "Well.. yeah... like I said. It only stops things that would try to harm me. It's not a privacy screen." he says off handedly, then grits his teeth in exhasperation. "Yes yes, I get it. It was /supposed/ to be a privacy screen.. and I flubbed it up. What do you expect, i was dead tired.." *pause* "Whats so damned FUNNY?!?" he says, turning in his chair and glaring at the empty space behind the bar and then shakes his head, as if he had an answer. "Thats not what I meant and you know it." he grumps and then turns his back on the bar and pours hismelf a new glass of vodka.

Or would, but his bottle is empty. "Jesus H Christ..." he says in disgust and tosses the bottle over his shoulder.. where it suddenly stops before it hits the wall and floats to a tash receptacle.. with a bunch of other bottles, all empty. NOlan picks up his smoke and takes a drag, then winces painfully.

"Anyways, I'm find.. Just fucking dandy. I didn't think I caused THAT much of a ruckus in the ether.." he says. Which is being honest. He just doesn't realize that he has as much of an impact on the Dark, the realms of the spirits, as he actually does. A storm cannot see itself for the wind, after all.

"Someone found an old amulat... and no, it's not one of THOSE items. This one had an evil gypsy spirit in it... a Vantoase.." he says. "It possessed some young girl, using her to steal diamonds from a jewelry store..Then tried to sacrifice her to take over her body permenantly."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda listens, nodding, her amusement tempering to something lighter. More indulgent. Her gaze follows the bottle he tosses, and its stopping mid-air and subsequent moving to the trash bin causes her to nod appreciatively.

"That is an interesting trick you do. Or perhaps it is you have spirits, yes?" She has a sudden thought about that. That perhaps there are those that have attached themselves to him, and it is these he speaks to, and those that do.. well, it's not quite his bidding as much as they interact with him.
She does tsk lightly, though, when he says he hadn't thought he'd caused such a ruckus. "You are not aware, are you?" More tsking ensues. "You made enough of a wave that it woke me."

Wanda frowns then, pondering the matter.

"It is maybe that I am, well, I think we are connected, perhaps, now. A little, maybe. So you make a wave, and I feel it bigger because I am a boat upon that water. If I were only on the shore watching, it would seem so much smaller, yes?"

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight shifts again in his seat, one of the slightly bloody marks on his forehead dribbling a little.. Not that he seems to care. He looks like he would rather have another drink and smoke then tend his minor wounds (or maybe not /so/ minor, the way he favours his ribs.

"Trick?" he asks, then frowns, like he truly doesn't know what she is talking about for a second, then ohs, as she brings up spirits. "I don't /have/ spirits, lovely." he finally says. "The /world/ has spirits. I just... hear them." he says. And see them, he doesn't say. See them EVERYWHERE. Maybe thats what gives his even bloodshot eyes, with mismatched red and amber pupils, that slightly manic glimmer. Or maybe he is just a wee bit mad.

"Thats what I do. I guess i didn't explain that last time. I hear them, and they hear me. Well, they hear everyone, really. the Veil of The Dark is one way. People can't see through it to see the But spirit world, but the ghosts and spirits can see from their side of it. But they /really/ hear me."

Another bottle floats up from behind the bar and settles itself on his table. This one is cheap bourbon. And a moment later an orange pill bottle sets itself beside it. "Thank fucking god.." he murmurs as he reaches or the bottle but it slides aside. he frowns and tries for it again but it remains out of his grasp. "What the hell?!? What are you..." he suddenly falls silent and slumps a bit as if someone is having stern words with him.. then the pill bottle shakes and rattles, trying to get is attention. "Fine..." he gripes and picks up the bottle and pops it open, palming a few pills, then tosses them in his mouth and readches for the bottle, which STILL slides out of his grasp. "What the fuck are you doing?" he says around the mouth of pills. Then looks away, uncomfortable./ "You're not the boss of me. I I'll wash it down with whatever I want to." he says and finally grasps the bottle before it can get away, twists off the cap, and takes a long pull of the bottle.

Again he coughs, winces, and sets the bottle down. "Not my boss.." he repeats, then looks at Wanda. "Sorry.. you were saying.. Connected?" he asks, vice a bit hoarse. "I don't see how. Not saying it's impossible but.. Very few people are attuned to my 'frequency', sunshine."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda manages a shrug, though her smile is unsettled as she takes in his wounds properly, and correctly ascertains that he's hiding the non-visible ones.

"I am not like most people. You did not remember that?" She shakes her head at him. "What you are to the spirits, I am to.. well, it's simplest to say am aware of all that is? It is not easy to explain. But it is true. If it is possible, then it is in me."

Again, she tsks, moving forward now, to take the bottle herself, and hold it within her hands. "And you, you are lying about your hurts. So. We decide, do you take your pills and behave, and I pretend I do not know you are hurt, or do we see which ones I can fix?" The vodka bottle is waggled. "You know, I can make it so that this is only water." Or worse. She can make it so any alcohol is nothing more than water to him, only she doesn't tell him that. Not yet at least.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight fixes her with a look that could probably blow the atsmosphere off a planet like a solar wind.. or at least he THINKS that what it could do. Really, it is just stern mixed with exhasperated and irritated. "I /did/ take my pills." he complains. "I /always/ take my pills. SOmetimes more then some people want me to. But i do take them. They.." he motions aroudn the room, "They just don't like me mixing them with alcohol.. which is TOTALLY HIPPOCRICTICAL!" he says in one direction in particular, "Mister 'Champagne and Methadone'. yeah, I'm talking about /you/." he accuses an empty corner. Then shakes his head "God I would kill for a methedone Mimosa..." he utters under is breath. "Guess I picked the wrong fucking decade to go clean.." He adds, then takes another swig of the bourbon, feeling the burn mix nicely with the powerful painkillers and anti-psychotics. He probably has a differing definition of the meaning of 'clean'.

Setting the bottle down he rocks in the chair a bit. "If either of us were like 'other' people we wouldn't put ourselves through this shit, Red." he finally tells her and finds that his smoke has burned to ashes, so reaches into his coat for another and.. winces.. pulling back his hand.. tehtips of his fingers red with a wee bit of blood. "I'm not lying about being hurt. I just didn't /tell/ you I was hurt." he rasps. "There is a difference. Besides, this is ephemeral. I /always/ hurt. Every day. This is just a /hurt/. Fuck, that little girl had /moves/. Like a midget on PCP.. Punched like Ivan Drago taking out Apollo Creed."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Well, now, /that/ she wasn't going to just let go as it was. Consider that bourbon.. well, consider it water. If he was going to insist upon being a jerk about it all, he was going to find out what being Wanda meant.

"You'll find the alcohol works again, when you stop that." Or at least stop doing it in front of her. She's willing to concede that point.

As for the other, "Fine. You always hurt. But you do not need those hurts." She points to the blood dribbles on his forehead, and then to his chest where she knows his ribs are broken. "Those we can fix. The others I will let you own. They are yours."

And unless he stops her, she will tend to those particular wounds of his. Just those, though.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight blinks once, looking away from his blood tainted fingers.. his eyes going wide. "Wait.. what? NO! You wouldn't dare...?" he starts, reaching for the bottle and taking a quick swig... and finding it is no longer burns nicely. It still has the flavour.. he can TASTE the alcohol.. But.. That is it. He can TELL it has no effect now.

"Damnit! No! You have no right!" he yells, suddenly looking a bit angry.. and hurt. He quickly turns away, looking at the bar. "Stop fucking /laughing/!!!" he yells, trying to get up but finds he can't.. His legs are too unsteady from the mixture of booze and meds BEFORE he nullified any ongoing effects. "It's not /funny/, you assholes...."

Suddenly he realizes that Wanda is no longe where she was standing, but walking closer, an intent look in her eyes. The intent to /help/. And that seems to scare him even more.

"What are you.. wait.... What are you going to...."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Shhhhh," Wanda says simply, suddenly gentling herself. All about her is an aura of calm and peace. "Only this," her fingertips touch his forehead. "And this." A slow point to his ribs. "No more. I do not wish to take what is you away. Only to remove hurts you do not need to suffer, yes?"

She does stop, though, to allow him a moment to deny her. And to allow herself a scant amusement to his reaction to her fixing his washing his pills down with alcohol in front of her. "The other, I will remove when I go. But you will remember, yes, not to do that in front of me, no? I like you too much, one Nolan Voight, to allow you to do such harm."

It's really only then that it occurs to her that maybe he hasn't had someone care about him before.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight sits there in the rickety chair, trapped by his disabilities both mental and physical, his wounds both inflicted by his showdown or self inflicted by his addiction, and fear as she reaches out to touch his forehead.. to motion to his chest... No, it is VERY clear that no one has ever really cared for him. It explains why he gets scared when he gets physically close to the living. The dead have, more or less, been much more kind.

Why does it /matter/ if I do that in front of anyone?" he asks, tensing up as she gets even closer, unable to look her in the eye when she shows that she does care.. and then she heals him.

The wounds seem to fill with dark inkyness as she uses her Power to coax his body to heal itself... He inhales sharply, unable to speak as that Darkness from within him fills the small rents in his flesh.. as it shifts within him to set his ribs.. And then he cries out.

It is /not/ her fault.. Even she cann tell that. She was healing these new wounds but whatever empowers /him/, whatever that Darkness he is connected to him really is, it cannot let him off lightly. She can feel it within his spirit, in his very soul, this oily darkness, this primal force, /allowing/ her to heal him but only that which was inflicted tonite. It doesn't /hinder/ her ability, no, but The Darkness will not let Nolan off scott free. The ribs *crack* painfully as they set. as they weave themselves whole again, each fragment inching into place.. The small cuts BURN as the close, leaving faint scars. Nolan grits his teeth, shaking like a taut string, his body tight... and then gasps as the power flowing through him ends and his shoulder slump as he gasps for his breath.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda closes her eyes, and her ears - all her senses - to his response. It's that or allow his cries to hurt her, and much as she /could/ just stop and allow him to heal over time, she also believes that the wounds would hurt longer and with more zeal if she left them.

She knows her choice hurts him, and by the time she is done, there is a dampness on her cheeks that she wasn't able to still, her eyes moist and sorrowful. "I am so sorry.. I only wished.."

She wonders then, if it was selfish. If her need to heal him was only for her. So that she didn't need to see his pain, or that she might feel better about herself for 'helping' him. Or, more, if her feelings for him carried some obligatory weight where showing her care in this fashion was a necessity. A thing borne of her need and not his.

She doesn't know. Everyone she's cared about before now have come with darkness within them. Darkness that has always brought her pain for her loving them. Except perhaps.. Though she does not allow those stray thoughts. It is already enough to admit she cares. The other things, they are still fodder and fuel to keep her up at nights.

Quietly, she speaks again, "You may drink now. I should not have done that, either." Once again seeing that her attempts to help have only done more harm. "I should not have helped you at all. I am sorry."

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight 's head is slumped foreward, his breathing a bit ragged... he doesn't seem cognizant of anything she is saying, or aware of what she is thing.. He just sits there, shoulder heaving as he swallows air back into his lungs.. then he becomes very still and shudders a bit.. and slowly raises his head to look at her.

With eyes as black as obsidian.. The pupils having swallowed the puoils.. the whites... Everything.

And he smiles, crookedly at her.

"Wishes... what we wish for hurts others the most.." he says, though his voice is not his.. not fully.. There is a second voice, a femine dulcet overlaid on his baritone. He rolls his head a bit on his neck, like he is getting the kinks out, the motion too fluid to be completely human. "Little Sorceress of Scarlet.. So much power yet so very very fragile. Conjuress of Chaos. You know what they say about chaos, yes?" He/She/It asks through his lips.

"A butterfly flaps it's wings in Gotham, and causes a tsunami in Tokyo.. You are that Butterfly, Lovely. But while a tsunami may wipe clean an entire city from the face of the Earth, the butterfly that caused it is still just that. A fragile thing that can easily be broken."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda turns to hide her tear streaked cheeks, uncertain of what to do now. Uncertain of the dulcet tones and teh feminine voice. Things she probably could suss out if she weren't caught in her own web of guilt and pain. Much as when she helped her father and stripped Hope of her powers, she isn't sure now that her actions were the right ones. If she shouldn't have just allowed Nolan his pain and left him to suffer what he must. Or would.

"I.. I should go."

The vodka bottle is set down, carelessly, on the corner of his desk. Or what would be the corner of his desk were she paying attention. It is a measure of her distress that she not only misses, but that the bottle begins to fall, heading for a certain shatter upon the floor.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight tsks and rolls his./her head again on his shoulders. "I don't think so.." he/she says and makes a motion with Nolan's heavily scarred hand. A dark wind whips through the room, tables siding to the sides. to resdt against the walls. papers scattering. And the heavey door to outside slams shut.

And for a moment there is silence.. only puncuated by the shattering of the empty vodka bottle.

"You are not going anywhere, lovely. Not yet. Not after I spend so much effort setting this meeting up. So many little traps and deceits to get us to this point." He/she says. Nolan/Not Nolan rolls their shoulder and studies their hand, scarred and tattooed. "So much better than riding that little girl. I can /feel/ in this body. Even the pain is delicious after so long... Though I am not sure I enjoy being a man." He/She licks their lips once and then settles their solid black eyes on Wanda. "

"Not that it matters, Wanda Maximoff... What matters is I have a message for you...."

She He/she narrows their eyes now.

"Stop being an idiot."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
If she weren't wallowing, Wanda might have been better prepared for this whole matter.

Only, she was wallowing. And she really wasn't expecting this. Not only that, but by the time things had shifted about the room and the confrontation had begun, it really would have taken significant effort on Wanda's part to undo what was done. Not that she couldn't have just teleported out - but here was where Wanda knew she was beat - the thing, whoever or whatever it was, had Nolan. And not it knew that Wanda had a very soft spot for the man. A soft spot that could be manipulated.

It did, however, suffice to grab Wanda's attention and drag her out of her feeling sorry for herself. Wanda pulls a web of protective magics about herself like a cloak, and glimmering in the power of that, holds herself steady, prepared to be on the defensive, "Who are you, and what do you mean, stop being an idiot?"

Try as she might, Wanda couldn't make her voice sound as imperious and secure as she wanted.

Deadwatch has posed:
The posessing spirit gets a knowing look in his/her eye, a gleam within the Dark shrowded occular orbs. Like she can see more than Wanda, but INTO Wanda. THROUGH Wanda. "Who are you?" he/she mimicks in a higher pitched voice. "What do you want.. Wah wah wah.." they make a flighty hand gesure, almost dismissive. "What are thoughts, /emotions/, but whispers in the wind? Well, butterfly.. I /am/ the wind." they say. "I can taste your wallowing like a sour wine. Your mother would be so dissapointed in you." he/she scoffs airily.

"And yes, before you ask, I knew your mother. Who do you think BOUND me to that damned amulet. Your crippled riend here /did/ Say I was a /Romani/ wind spirit, after all." they shake their head. "But thats neither here nor there. For all her faults, for all her self recriminations, for as much as I hated that bitch for trapping me in that horrid stone until I discharged this task, I still had to respect her for her determination. Her decisiveness. She didn't wallow like a spoiled school child."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"What do you know of my mother," Wanda throws back at the thing, having moved past her wallowing now to something of an edge of defensive anger as she considers which mother it might mean. Or if there even is a /which/ mother - she'd never been able to get an answer from Magneto that satisfied, and she knew already that she was and was not his child. That she was both things, her being and genetics both Magneto's and Other, the Other being a name she dared not dwell upon too often for fear of what power it might give.

"Fine. I did wallow. You did not stop here to only taunt me. You want a thing. My attention, it is yours, so what is it you want? I am not such an idiot that you would waste all this effort only to say that."

Deadwatch has posed:
The spirit places their hands on Nolans hips and gives Wanda 'a look'. "Apparently I know more about your mother than /you/ do, child." they say then purse their lips a moment in thought. "Hmmm.. This cripple is stronger than I gave him credit for.. even with the poisons in his blood and the pain he is starting to fight back. I thought I would have longer. I guess this goes to show that even spirits aren't all knowing." they say with a sigh, then fix their attention once more on Wanda.

"All I want from you is my /release/ from this curse once I have discharged my task set forth by /her/. I want to be a /free/ spirit once more. So let me be about it." they take a deep breath.

"Your mother saw that one day your spirit would erode, being weakened by your self doubt. By your guilt. She knew she would not be around to help you. So she wished a message be given. And that message is 'Get your head out of your ass'"

They make a flighty hand gesture again. "I mean, that's the /gist/ of it. I am sure she said something much more poetic and flowing but she trapped me in a stone for years so... I get to tell it as I wish." she smirks. "But I guess I can expend on it a bit, in my own way of course. From what /I/ see. Your are crippling yourself with your guilt. You constantly second guess yourself. You blame yourself for everything, even hurting this cripple. Well guess what, butterfly.. The world /hurts/. Thats how you know you are alive. It's how you /learn/. But only of you don't wallow in it. So grow a pair, butterfly. Deal with it, You hurt people. Big fucking whoop..." they blink then. "/I/ don't usually talk like that. I think the cripple is colouring my lanhuage a bit.."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda can't help it, she truly can't. A burble of laughter escapes her, even as the Scarlet Witch tries to cover her laughter with a hand held to her lips. No avail, though, the ound breaks forth like a babbling spring brook. Truly she can't help herself. There's something so comical about the visage of Nolan, and Nolan's gritty language erupting from what can only be described as.. well, Wanda pictures a super-imposed female upon him. Something rather more exuberant and free. Boistrous and exaggerated. Rather more Djinn than the bittered cross between gumshoe and wizard that Nolan was, leaving Wanda with the unmistakable feeling of *pirate!*.

"That is all?" She manages words in spite of her laughter. "You were cursed and tasked with only to admonish me to take my head out of my ass?" It seemms such an odd, odd geas to be placed under, and leaves Wanda thinking that there must be more to it. She nods, though, realizing that there has been much foolishness about her. A foolishness she's allowed so that she might avoid addressing the other matters she has been avoiding - yet another foolishness. And it strikes Wanda that maybe she doesn't get to have this, this innocence that she seeks. That maybe what she gets is something different.

It leaves her a little saddened.

Deadwatch has posed:
Who knows why this has been set up as it has. The feminine spirit wearing Nolan like a cheap suit seems like she agrees with Wanda, though, throwing up their hands in exasperation. "I know, right? I mean who the hell goes through that kind of trouble and effort to send a message like that? I mean no offence but as much as I respected your mother, may she totally trip and fall in a pothole on the Witches Road, she was a weird one. I mean, if she could see all this happening, down to the point where Mister Limpy here would not only /find/ me but also adviceme when he'd be distracted enoughf ro me to take over his body, well.. Why couldn't she have just /mailed/ you something. Like in back to the Future?"

They blink again. "Which is a weird thing to say since I never SAW that movie.. or ANY movie period., Gods be DAMNED, this infuriating ma is infringing on me.. How /rude/!" They stomp their. "Not yet, Gimpy, I need a few more minutes then you can have this broken down body back..." they tell themselves, then refocus on Wanda.

"Really, if I had more to tell you I would but.. I don't. Not beyond that you will be getting a few other messages. I bet they will be strange too, considering how this one is going." they sigh. "I swear if I could find her I would hit that woman. I would totally hit her, if you know what I.... GAH.. STOP IT! STOP PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH!"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The laughter wants to come out, but Wanda resolutely schools it into submission - even if she can't school the smile that insists upon fluttering over her lips, only serving to make it more than clear that Wanda is only *just* winning the battle not to laugh.

"Please, Nolan, if you do hear, please to let her finish. It is not like I have so many messages.."

Only she knows it is likely a lost cause. The man is surly and obstinate as much as he is so many ohter things, and even if he can hear her, Wanda has no idea if he might allow her this based on there very small aquaintance.

"Then I listen," Wanda murmurs, slowly becoming more serious now. "I will look for the messages." Even if she hopes they come from slightly less willful sources than this combination of Nolan and wind spirit.

Deadwatch has posed:
The look on Nolan's face, controlled (mosty) by the spirit is hard t read. but then they nod. "He says 'fine'. But I don't believe him. Something about this man is.. infuriating. And sad as well." she says, almost thoughtfully and looks around the room a moment.. and their eyes go wide. "Oh... Ooooooh. So this is what he sees.." they say, their voice becoming hushed a moment, but then they quickly shake it off.

"So yes.. Keep listening. /I/ don't know what these messages are, or how they will reveal themselves, but your mother was a tricky one. Just remember to not always listen to /yourself/. Not when you try and blame yourself for things that you really have no power over, even when you feel you DO have power over them. because having power over something doesn't mean you have /control/ over it. Sometimes you try and trick yourself that way, and that is dangerous for a Witch. You have big boots to fill. And a bigger Bodice. I mean, you fill yours out nicely but she was like, daaaamn girl..." he eyes narrow suddenly. "Stop.. It.." she hisses and then reaches up and twists her own ear, then releases it.

"My advice, Wanda maximoff. Accept that sometime you hurt people, and yourself, because thats better than actually killing them. Better to be in pain and focused, then dead." theythen motion to themselves. "So.. you gonna release me? Because hs is starting to sing The Safety Dance song really loud in his head."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's cheeks flush scarlet and her eyes widen. "Nolan!" she protests when the commentary about her bodice is relayed. You'd almost think she hadn't heard a word of the rest of it, even though she has. The words sinking in bone deep, and deeper still, leaving her both drained and filled all at once.

"Yes, yes, I release you. Go now, shoo before he tries to actually do the dance."

Though really Wanda shouldn't have conjured that image in her head.

Deadwatch has posed:
The Spirit wearing Nolan's face looks greatful and nods. "Thank /you/. And I promise not to be TOO much of a bitch from here on out. I don't think this guy will let me get away with this twice, for one. Be /careful/ around him, okay. I may not be the nicest shade but he.. He isn't quite as he seems..." He voice is actually scared a moment, but then Then he/she shudders and a dark shadow peels OUT of Nolan's body... a vaguely feminine shape. Nolan wavers where he stands and falls back into his chair, groaning a little. The shadow waves to Wanda, then looks to Nolan... and gives him the finger before she fully fades away... Quickly.

Nolan breathes heavily, gripping the arms of the chair and looking unfocused.. his eyes back to their mismatched blue and amber. "Fucking /BITCH/..." he gasps. "When I get my hands on her..."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's lips press together to keep her smile from breaking into something wider, or erupting into laughter again. "You are funny. And you do like me." Well, for some value of like. He likes her bodice, at least. Or, rather, how she fills it out. That was something of a revelation - if one she should be blushing over still.

"It is okay, and if you did not fight so much, it would have been over so much sooner and been so much simpler."

She admonishes as though it was /such/ a small and simple thing, and as though she hadn't been thrown by the experience herself.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight 's eyes keep darting around, looking for the shade.. He squints at the bar, then the corner. "You guys are DICKS. You could have helped me out there!" he says to no one. There is silence, which seems to infuriate him more. "What do you mean I /deserved/ it? After all I have done for..." he stop suddenly, as if interupted, then a moment later looks away from the empty spaces. "Whatever.." he murmurs..

When Wanda speaks, smiling at him, he looks up at her.. shocked. "I.. I'm what? I'm not /funny/." he says, then actyally BLUSHES as she states that he likes her. "Wait! I don't! I mean. I don't NOT like you.. I mean.. " he sputters, protesting maybe a little too much, and something brings him up short as he turns to the empty bar. "Stop LAUGHING! It's /not/ funny!" he says to whomever... and his cheeks turn even MORE dark red as he covers his face. "I wasn't staring at... Oh my god! Shut up you guys!" he moans.. then peeks through his fingers at the Scarlet Clad Witch. At her FACE!

"I wasn't /fighting/. When I came too and found her in control I /was/ going to fight but.. I saw a womans face in her memories.. A lot like your face but.. different. And I could feel the spell on the spirit. So I let her give her message. But I wasn't going to let her off /easy/. She broke my ribs.. while in the body of a litle girl with a rainbow dash backpack! I coudn't let her get away scott free!"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
There's a soft 'ahhh' of understanding from Wanda - or something akin to it - as he speaks of his injuries, guessing (possibly wrongly) that he'd been somewhat unable to harm the girl. Or at least been made to think twice before doing so. She was beginning to think that maybe her outlook of such things needed adjusting.

The rest, though, leaves her watching him in bemusement, trying to figure him out.

"It is okay," she murmurs finally, 'releasing' him. "You do not have to like me. I only thought.. but it was only that you like how I look." Which only causes her to sigh. It's more than once now, in only a handful of days, that she's found she's been liked for her looks. It is, she knows, a merely human thing.

Deadwatch has posed:
She isn't wrong.. not about the girl anyways. Nolan is many things. A lot of them at the moment may seem silly, of course, but he has a real dark side he doesn't let out around most people. He can hurt people. he can also kill people. Without any remorse. But children.. No, he would never hurt a child. Which is WHY he has broken ribs. He may whine about the circumstances, but he CHOSE to take the spirit powered hit.

He drops his hands and, unable to look her in the eye, turns his face away slightly.. his face still beat red, which makes his freckles stand out even more. "I never said I /didn't/ like you." he says, a bit haltingly, embarrassed. "I barely /know/ you. I mean, yeah you are attractive. Like..y'know.. way out of my league attractive..." he has a hard time saying any of this, the way he always halts, cheeks burning darker and darker. "But you're more then a bodice and nice hair and smelling great and... and I really need to shut up because I don't know /what/ I am saying."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Now she does laugh, but it is a light thing that embraces them, not a thing that creates a divide between them. "You did too say you did not like me. I heard you. Then you did that sputtery thing and covered your eyes." She mimics his hand gestures, right down to how he peeked between his fingers.

It's a heartening thing that he would not harm a child. At least not unless it was very necessary. And she understands darkness. She has it within her too. Sometimes it is a roiling thing that threatens to break and consume her. It's a thing that terrifies her, even when she strives to do good - because the line between light and dark is a thin, fine thing. Without one, there can not be the other. And where one has greatness in the light, so too, is there equal greatness in the dark.

~All shall love me and despair~

That. That is the thing that frightens Wanda the most. The deep secret she harbours within. The thing that breeds the guilt that stays her hand too often and makes her falter.

The reason for the binding of the spirit to send admonishing words in the absence of she who bore her.

"I do barely know you, either, but I like you - " Her words are halted, and she seems surprised. "What do you mean, out of your league? There is a league? I am somehow not okay to be liked?" She seems genuinely perplexed by this concept.

Deadwatch has posed:
Nolan Voight sputters again and throws up his hands. "Okay, I said it but I didn't /say/ it. I don't know what I said. I don't know /what/ to say. I don't talk about things like that." he says, and for all his frustration he is sincere. he really don think he knows how to talk to people in a way that conveys what he means.. or feels.

Because he doesn't get people..

~You're part of the whole, Nolan, yet you'll never be whole yourself~

That is /his/ secret. The words someone once old him, one dark night in a run down tenement only hours before he he went off that deep end and would spend 13 years in prison. Hours before he let the darkness in fully and.. did what he did.

He pushes that aside and slumps a bit in his chair.

"It means you're, like, a 10 and I'm like a 6.. or a 7 if you're drunk and squinting." he tells her, not that this explanation is any clearer. "I'm trash."