002 A Dream of Spring

[theladyofwinterfell]

Who: Sansa Stark
When: throughout May
Where: Queen's Residence, around Draega + slums
What: Palate Cleanser & Street Rats for Influence, open prompt to commission sewing/clothing.
Warnings: TBD

( starters in comments )

Comments

palate cleanser

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa is wary of webs after having been caught in one of the nightmare webs last moon but when Lady Abigail offers to teach some of the strangers how to make their own webs, she decides that learning how to craft a web might be the best way to get over her fear of it.

She wears Purple Dusk, so there are people darker than she both among the court and among the strangers, but Sansa wants to do her best job anyway. She's gotten used to probing webs to see what strength they are before going into them blindly, at least, and she tries to pull away from herself a bit and see the strands for what they are instead of getting lost in the memories. She's not very good at cleansing webs, not at all, but she's gotten a knack for the trap webs. Perhaps she just has too much practical experience. )

Do be careful - I've woven a trap into that one and I don't want you triggering it on accident. It's not entirely pleasant, I can assure you.

[mollymocked]

[Molly pulls his hand away from where he was about to inspect the strands, remembering the web he pulled her out of and how her memories entwined with it. These are nasty fucking things, and he doesn't have any particular skill in weaving them, even with a darker Jewel.

Cleansing, however, is fairly easy.]

Well, if a Black Widow stumbles into it, they're gonna have a bad day. I'm still hoping they've gone back to their swamp and plan to stay there after those three got executed.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Quite. I've experienced a great many things that lend themselves to cruelty. There's plenty to be woven into those trap webs. The cleansing, though, I'm not very good at that.

( Molly is one of her favorite people so she doesn't want him to wind up in one of her traps - he doesn't deserve that in the least. )

I'd still rather heal than frighten, though.

[mollymocked]

Well, it works out in our favor, then. I'm shite at the trap ones, but the cleansing ones I do all right with. I'm hoping we need more of the latter, anyway. I don't want any more needless fighting between groups for awhile.

[He steps away from her trap and finds himself at a more comfortable distance. A wry grin creeps across his face with sharp fangs but too much childish glee to be a threat.] I spread joy wherever I go. The webs just makes it easier.

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa laughs quite suddenly, amused at the idea of Molly spreading joy wherever he goes. He's certainly brought joy to her life and she can at least agree with him so far as that goes. )

Well, you've certainly brought me joy. Let's work as a team, then, and put up cleansing webs and a few traps? Hopefully we won't need as much of the latter and you can help me with the former.

[mollymocked]

Teamwork makes the dream work. [He sing-songs a he taps his own Jewel as if he's waking it up- wholly unnecessary and needlessly dramatic, but that's Molly in a nutshell.] All right. Wake up, you. Let's show the lovely lady how this is done.

[He can work quickly and nimbly, but for Sansa's benefit, he slows the process, taking it step by step to show her tricks and loopholes for making clean and efficient cleansing webs that, hopefully, will work for a lighter Jewel. Molly is no stranger to the idea that he's accidentally good at things because his Jewel is darker. He's still untrained in magic, still skeptical of it. He might as well be an Opal.

But in a matter of moments, there's a web and he steps back.] Does that track?

[theladyofwinterfell]

( Sansa takes a look at it, examining the threads. It seems that they warp and weft in a different direction from the trap webs but the principle is, in fact, quite the same. She thinks she can replicate it and gives it a try.

Though her Jewel is lighter, she succeeds at her task and she looks to Molly with a grin on her face. )

It seems I can only learn by example. Thank you. Maybe I can stop weaving trap webs and start cleaning things instead.

[mollymocked]

[He reaches up and pleasantly ruffles her hair.] Or you just need someone with beginner's luck to pretend he knows what he's doing. This is so not how I use magic where I'm from. I barely used it at all before this. I made Caleb do it, and now I can do things he can't. Not really sure if I'm into that or nor. I feel like people have expectations of me now.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Never let anyone see you do something well. It means you'll be called upon to do it over and over until you cease breathing. Of course, you could try to make a living of it, if you're clever.

( Sansa tips her head a bit and admires their handiwork again. )

I've never had need of gold before this place. I was the lady of a castle. I wanted for nothing.

[seeingscarlet]

[Darkly, Wanda finds that the trap webs are easier to pick up, or maybe circumstances are simply more in her favor this time. There are no longer burns on her neck to bother her and the Residence is a much nicer place to work than the amphitheater. She knows there is probably a perfectly logical reason for it.

But it's hard not to think of what she'd done to the Avengers and countless other people she'd seen as her enemies at the time without feeling a stab of guilt. Wanda's certain that not everyone who's good at this is a monster...but it can't hurt, can it?

She can't even say that there aren't very good reasons to be afraid of her.]

I don't like that we need these. If someone gets caught in them accidentally...

[theladyofwinterfell]

They could be trapped in a very unpleasant memory. I have quite a few to pull upon and I think that's why I find the traps easier than the cleansing. I wouldn't want anyone to have to experience my memories for very long.

( The trap she'd just woven had been watching an execution. For Sansa, it's her lord father, but she has no idea what form it might take for the target who unwittingly stepped into it. )

I suppose it's a necessary evil, though. I am glad to see you've healed clean, Wanda. It seems I didn't do a terrible job of it.

[seeingscarlet]

I don't want to make it worse. It sounds like everyone has been through so much already.

[Wanda frowns and sets her completed trap web beside Sansa's. Hers is a little different - Wanda has no shortage of nightmares, hers and otherwise, to draw upon, but this web preys upon its victim's worst fear. In practice, it's not terribly different from Wanda being there herself to inflict it upon them.

And she has no idea what it might show...or what might happen afterwards. If they're lucky, it will never be triggered at all, but Wanda would still rather weave cleansing webs. There's little chance of those backfiring and causing more trouble, at least.]

You helped a lot. I was sure it was going to scar.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Scars are nothing to be ashamed of but it would have been a pity if it had. I'm glad it did not. It means I'm getting better at my craft.

( Sansa weaves another web, this one alongside Wanda's. It's another trap, a subsequent one to follow Wanda's, and she doesn't think a person could get through both of them with their sanity intact. )

I hope this catches anyone else who means to bring harm to the city. I don't...sometimes dark deeds must be done for right causes but I don't necessarily like being a weapon to be wielded.

[seeingscarlet]

I didn't want to give them that.

[She might be a monster. Wanda's not sure, and she's not sure if it even matters how she sees herself if the rest of the world has made up their minds. But even if she is, she isn't Ross's monster to be kept locked away until he decides he needs her.]

I can make more trap webs if you want to work on cleansing webs. I don't like them as much, but...if we need to make more I don't mind.

[She is good at them, like it or not. And saving Sansa the discomfort of making them would count as a win. Wanda's certainly done worse than this.

(But she does wonder what Steve would think of this. Would he be making that face at her? Would Vision?)]

[theladyofwinterfell]

I need the practice with the cleansing webs so perhaps we can switch off for a while and then switch again. I have...plenty of fodder for the traps, it's not like I'll run out.

( Sansa starts working on weaving a cleansing web. She's gotten better at multitasking while doing these webs and Wanda is someone she likes; she'd like to know her better. )

Are you finding Draega well, then? Is there anything you need?

[seeingscarlet]

[This is still a new way of working to her, so while most of the time Wanda's eyes remain their usual green, Sansa might catch them flickering red sometimes. Her traps tend towards the same kinds of deception that her waking nightmares do: something harmless or alluring enough to draw the victim in and then snapping shut upon them once it's too late to easily pull away. Queen Fayura and Lady Abigail are both excellent teachers, but so was Strucker.]

It is...different. I'm not used to being around people like me.

But I can feel that everyone is afraid, maybe more than they want to admit.

[theladyofwinterfell]

I'm not afraid of you. Perhaps I should be - you have great power - but I am not afraid of you. You have a kind manner and you seem to want to help Queen Fayura. Why would I be afraid of anyone who wants that?

( Sansa has faced up against powerful women before and come out alive from it; Wanda seems more inclined to work with her, not against her, and she doesn't know why someone would be afraid of her other than not understanding her. That, in and of itself, causes plenty of war. )

[breadmuffs]

[Caleb, conversely, is steering clear of even attempting a trap web. He has no doubt that he could, but he fears putting too much of himself into one. Though, certainly, Caleb has horrors enough to wield.

No. Thank you. It's enough of a puzzle and meditative enough to work on the cleansing webs.

He tires more quickly than he'd like, still, and in a pause in his work he's been - visually - inspecting other webs. Not physically, of course. Even still, Sansa's warning causes him to take several steps back from the web that she's indicating.]

Thank you.

[For the warning, he means, even if he hadn't had any intention of getting close enough to touch it.]

They are, ah, fascinating constructions, aren't they?

[theladyofwinterfell]

Quite fascinating, I suppose, if you're not trapped within one. Now that I have some idea how they work, I think I could get out of one, but I couldn't do it when I walked into one a few weeks ago.

( Sansa tips her head a bit and offers her hand. This is someone she doesn't know other than recognizing he's another Stranger brought by the Queen. )

I am Lady Sansa. It is my pleasure to meet you.

[breadmuffs]

[Caleb takes her hand gently - almost gingerly - and bows over it slightly. He hopes that's enough deference. You never can tell with nobles. (Which tends to make him antsy, though it only really shows in the way that he holds himself, the way his movements are very precise.)

And the way that his voice is a little softer, when he speaks again, raising his head.]

Lady Sansa. It's a pleasure. My name is Caleb Widogast.

[He lets go of her hand, turning his head to look her web again.]

I'm...sorry to hear that you were trapped in one. The one we were shown by Queen Fayura was...quite enough for me. And not the same, I gather.

[theladyofwinterfell]

No, it wasn't quite the same but it was awful in its own right, to see the one Fayura showed us. No one should have to endure that. I am loathe to even have my enemies walk through one.

( Sansa nods a bit at the mention of his name, dedicating it to her memory. She's learned most of the Strangers faces, at least, even if she hasn't had names to attach just yet. )

It's my pleasure to meet you, Caleb. How long have you been in Draega? I know your face from the palace.

[breadmuffs]

Not very long. I arrived in time for the spring festival so...two months.

[His lips quirk in a faint (and faintly awkward) smile that's also very fleeting.]

An interesting two months, certainly. And yourself?

[theladyofwinterfell]

Before the spring festival, actually, so about three months. Long enough to know my way about the place, for good or ill. Tensions have certainly...escalated.

( Sansa is trying to learn the politics of Draega as quickly as she can but with the balances of power shifting as they do, it seems a bit like trying to keep hold of slippery silk. )

[breadmuffs]

[Caleb makes a sound that might be a laugh but might also be a cough, it's...hard to tell.]

From my slightly more limited experience, that seems to be true. This past month was certainly different from the first.

[Festivals to...attacks. And young broken girls. Caleb grimaces slightly. Politics.]

The symbology of these webs does, ah, seem appropriate to the situation.

[Complicated, he means.]

[theladyofwinterfell]

It does, doesn't it? Webs are tangled things unless you were the one who made them. I'm afraid we might be making more of a mess than we were tasked to clean up.

( Sansa knows that her work in Draega is meant to be good but who defines what good is? Isn't good merely a matter of perspective? What she perceives as good may not be so to those opposite her and it requires compromise and careful evaluation. She fears that she's at a disadvantage in this place she doesn't know all that well. )