i'll stay silent if you want me to

[halfwinchester]

Who: Adam Milligan (halfwinchester) and Cora Hale (resent).
Where: In the mansion.
When: Sometime? We'll figure it out.
Rating: PG-13, maybe?
Summary: Adam and Cora are both rattled by what they see on their TVs. It's great when family members are brutally murdered, isn't it?
The Story:



<sub>[At first, the armor is an ironic change, one part strange and two parts amusing for someone who'd been bereft of a real body in the Cage and has been struggling with one ever since leaving. Creaking about in a state of numb sleeplessness is practically a living metaphor for his soul; not having to worry about bodily functions is a bit of a relief, all things considered. Staying up all night doesn't leave him feeling like shit the first morning and that's an improvement, even if playing the Tin Man is weird as hell.

He finds he misses the taste of food and beer, but for one of Wonderland's "events" (or so people keep calling it) it's bearable.

Things don't get unbearable until the creepy TV that'd appeared in his room starts trying to show him his mother. That's when his plan to quietly ride out this crazy train is derailed. He's already tired of reliving his worst memories in his head without Wonderland's interference. Why couldn't the fucking place pick a happy memory? Make them relive a favorite birthday party? Create a rainstorm made out of leprechauns and puppies?

At least he's not the only one pissed off and unsettled about this whole state of affairs.]</sub>

Comments

[resent]

[ cora would opt for a rainstorm of leprechauns and puppies over any event, even the ones that spits out rainbows and gold. as much as she's longed for a television for herself — and could've, very easily, have asked the magical closet of magic to give her one — having one appear in her room and broadcast something that was meant to remain in her mind's eye for the rest of her life, no matter how short or long it would be, made her incredibly unsettled. ]

[ the armour felt stiff and heavier than it did before. it was as if the weight of seeing laura, alive and well, just as she lived in cora's memory as, walking through the dark woods, with fear and confidence meshed attractively on her face, had begun to make cora feel as though she were in a pool and this armour was tying her to the ground. ]

[ so, cora decides to swim, and fight back, as she always has. the armour is heavy, the moons and wolves, humans transforming into the actual creature itself, carved into the metal of it give her a place to draw strength. she stumbles out of her room, hits her bulky shoulder against the doorframe, and tries to run. ]

[ even with all the strength being a werewolf gives her, she still finds it difficult to pick one leg up after the other, let alone keep her eyes up ahead and focused on what could potentially around the corner or in her path. the mansion of wonderland seems smaller, the width of its hallways tinier, but cora stumbles and bashes on; clipping her shoulders and hitting her knees as she goes. ]

[ but as long as it's not the television in front of her, cora doesn't really care what she happens to walk into. every bump reminds her that she's here, in wonderland, and that laura, the one who lives in her memory, is safe, even though, in reality, she's long gone. ]

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Night time makes it more difficult to tell who's who, or even who's a who and not just an elaborate piece of home decor, and that's one small comfort to venturing out past the claustrophobic walls of his room. It's a little late to be feeling self-conscious after what the TV had done.

Like Cora, Adam can't just do nothing once the broadcast is over and rain pelting the roof rushes in to fill the silence left by the blank television screen. He starts down from the tenth floor, moving slowly and methodically, putting his day of figuring out his armor to good use so that he can avoid tripping up on something, but that's when the metal whirlwind that is Cora comes charging along, and Adam, who's just made it to a new floor without incident, wonders if she's going to take him out like a linebacker.

Jesus Christ, it's not safe inside or outside.]</sub>

Whoa! Whoa.

_{[What is it? Where's the fire? Is something with the fucking TV that's making them risk barreling through a wall?]}

[resent]

[ a part of cora thinks about not stopping. but she thinks she recognises that voice — it's a little difficult for her to see anything but red — and finds herself skidding to a halt. she had finally built up the momentum within this armour and now she was coming to a stop? the armour was like a second, thick, unmoving skin; cora so desperately wanted to shed it like a snake. ]

[ she spins around. she almost loses her balance. but a wolf losing balance, even one with a headpiece the shape of a wolf's head, doesn't feel right. cora's always found herself grounded when she's in touch with her more animalistic side. ]

What? [ she doesn't mean to snap. but there's laura and peter and uncle peter who killed sister laura. and all cora can see is red the colour of blood. she doesn't need to see how this scene ends; she knows it by heart already. ]

[ she doesn't know why she stops. but a familiar voice within the walls of something so surreal ... one doesn't need to do the math. ]

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[She--it's a she, he can tell that from the voice that strikes him as one he's heard before--can do whatever she wants, provided she doesn't flatten him to do it. She's intense, this suit of armor ripping through the hall like a tornado. Like something straight out of a story or one of those movies with jousting knights.

And he really, really doesn't need to get in the middle of any more grand adventures. He's done the biblical thing and lived through what the TV's shown him. That's enough for a lifetime or two.

Adam backs up toward the wall, out of the way.]</sub>

Nothing. Just--

_{[Just what? Calm down? Stop running in the halls?]}

Careful.

[resent]

[ cora's silent. if she weren't wearing armour, he'd be blessed with seeing her brows pinched and her face in a blank statement of not being amused. but he's not, and neither is she, so when she's silent, it's almost a little eery, what with the lack of facial expressions. ]

I'll keep that in mind.

[ she will, but she'll continue to be reckless, as always. she makes a move to leave, but she stops, hesitating. ] Did you see a wolf run by?

[ she knows it's not real, that there's no way peter nor laura could be here, but cora needs to know, to be sure. she had been a ghost once, and now she was corporeal for those who thought her to be ash. ]

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[It is eerie, but then what's not a little weird about this? He's sure now he knows the voice and he thinks to ask and make sure, but he's struck by how awkward it is to get stuck in a staring contest with a metal suit.

He opts for the silent route. She can't see him sweat this way.]</sub>

You mean besides you?

_{[Her question's on the odd side of the fence... but who's he judging? She chases wolves, he chases other things that appear to him in his hallucinations.]}

[resent]

[ at the idea of him knowing what she is, who she is, however she likes to define herself, her heart seems to jump. quickly, though, she realises her armour is very much a wolf. cora is used to surrounding herself with people who know of who she really is, that she's talia hale's daughter, or that she's a wolf, beta, omega, a loner — however they like to spin it. in wonderland, she has an anonymity that she's beginning to get used to in beacon hills; people don't know her as the girl who should've died in the fire. ]

[ she'd roll her eyes at his comment, but she doesn't think to. he can't see it, anyway. it's not the kind of situation one does that in, either. there's more important things to do, like shed herself of this feeling that something bad that's already happened is happening right now. ]

[ rather impatiently: ] A real wolf. Fur, four legs, not made of metal.

[halfwinchester]

No.

_{[Seeing a real wolf running around the halls of the mansion sounds just as far-fetched as a metal one (or not far-fetched at all, depending on your opinion on Wonderland), but he answers with a point-blank honesty.]}

Just you.

[resent]

[ it feels a little surreal, being referred to as a wolf, when she knows she wears it proudly as well as secretively. the wolf she wears on her head is a dead giveaway; it's heavy and it's suffocating. she hates that she can't transform into one this very moment. ]

Have you seen anything strange? [ considering she's looking at someone she recognises in a tin suit, she thinks the answer is very much obvious. ] Outside of the armour?

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[He's half-tempted to ask the same question: other than you? Other than the both of them? As far as he's seen, there's nothing racing through the mansion hallways other than suits of armor. But then, that's not the only weird thing, is it?

He hesitates before answering. The silent, blank face of his armor tilts slightly in thought; it probably has more than a few similarities with his actual face.]</sub>

There's the TV playing midnight programs, but...

_{[But he's not pretending he's a special snowflake, that his TV set must be the only one doing something strange. He hopes he's not.]}

... that can't just be me.

[resent]

[ donning another costume — albeit one less hairy and possibly even uglier — isn't new for cora. it doesn't seem to really phase her (if she ignores how clunky and clumsy she feels at times within it) that they're both wearing armour. ]

[ she looks at him expectantly. the only fault to the armour is that he can't see her face change, either. it's nothing new, the curious frown, for she always seems to wear a frown of some sort on any given day. but this has to be the most interesting thing he's said since she almost ran him over. ] What? What's been on your TV?

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[He hesitates. He's not big on sharing and caring for no reason; it's one thing for someone like Cora to see how unstable his mental health is, but it's another for him to assign an explanation to it, to bring up that vast, vacant hole inside him.

Adam doesn't trust anyone in this place with that knowledge, aside from the people who already know the story. Talking about what Wonderland is taunting him with brings him dangerously close to talking about her.]</sub>

Someone who's not here. _{[Clipped and to the point.]} You?