Limbo wasn’t so bad anymore. At least Dove wasn’t thinking it was the end of the world. She had friends, she was starting to get a handle on her powers and there was still the chance that after all this, she’d have some semblance of a life, because her powers weren’t entirely uncontrollable after all.
She’d had a good few days, between Easter and training with Mason going really well, and that by itself just made her smile wider, slipping through the barrack doors with her goodies in her hands, climbing up the stairs towards Raven’s floor. She had some snacks and a notebook she was slowly filling with poems and sonnets she remembered Raven liking, just so her best friend had those to fall back on, even with her book club thing going on.
It was time for some quality best friend time, so Dove wrapped her knuckles on Raven’s door, bouncing on her heels with a swishing ponytail while she waited for the other girl to answer.
Raven was aware she needed to get out more. While she got out into the facility and interacted with residents here and there, a good chunk of her time was spent in her suite, or in her room, and almost always she had a book in her hands.
At least this way she was less likely to swap bodies with someone randomly, accidentally.
She was sprawled out across her bed with a copy of Karen Russell when she heard a knock at the door. There weren’t many people who sought her out here, so she could make a relatively educated guess regarding who it was. “State the password and then you may enter,” Raven called, not moving from her spot on the bed. If it was Dove, as she guessed, they could have a little bit of fun with it all; if it happened to be someone else like her handler, or JP (unlikely), or Aidan (unlikelier), then it might be a little more embarrassing.
Shoving her book off to the side, Raven rolled onto her stomach and held her chin in her hands, watching the door and awaiting a response.
Dove grinned, remembering back to when Raven lived with her and they played password games, things her parents rarely understood but just let go, “Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” She probably said it too loudly, too quickly, but it wasn’t like Dove was overly bothered with what people thought anyway.
If no one knew Lewis Carroll that wasn’t her fault.
Raven laughed loudly. “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy!” She rolled off of her bed and skipped to the door, throwing it open, all the while wearing a beaming smile of her own. “I was half hoping it was someone a little more random; I’d really love to have heard JP’s attempt at a password.”
Reaching for Dove’s wrist, Raven tugged her friend inside and shut the door behind them. It wasn’t exactly the same as when they’d briefly lived under the same roof; but it was thankfully close.
“My suitemates are going to love our impromptu poetry slam, I think.”
Laughing at the image, Dove hopped inside the room as Raven gave her a tug, “It’d be something dark, maybe a little morbid but with an eerie quality, like Poe or maybe Mary Shelley.” She liked JP, they didn’t talk a lot but he was a fairly okay guy. She liked that he was firm in his own convictions, although he gave the impression of ‘would be a dick’ in the real world.
But then, a lot of people would maybe be like that.
“Or he’d just stand around and say inappropriate words.” Which was likely not great for the neighbouring rooms. “I think this place needs a little bit of culture.” Although, a poetry slam wouldn’t be a bad idea, it’d be kind of fun too, if more people liked to join in.
“They just wish they could roll with us.”
“Hmm, something dark and morbid,” Raven echoed, “That sounds right up my alley!”
Raven laughed at the image of JP standing outside just saying inappropriate things to get her to open the door, especially since it would likely only have the opposite effect. She’d be likelier to let him stand out there cussing and saying explicit things just for the sake of a good laugh – especially if nobody involved cared a thing about what Raven’s suitemates thought about the shenanigans.
Which, coincidentally, was exactly how she felt about her and Dove’s Lewis Carroll poetry slam. “My dear, I’d say you’re 100% right. This place doesn’t even have a library or plans for continued education. We might as well educate and entertain.”
She smirked darkly and waggled her brows. “Wish away, Limbo!”
Raven walked back to her bed and shoved the book off onto the floor, bouncing onto the mattress and leaving plenty of room for Dove to join her. “What have you been up to today – any good gossip I should know about?”
She liked how complex the people here were; you couldn’t tell just from looking at them where they fell on the intelligence scale, if they were jocks or nerds, if they were the sort to get in fights or if they were super friendly and sweet. Dove kind of liked that they were all on the same footing there.
“You guys would be able to just kill it at some macabre recital.” Dove didn’t mind the slightly darker of literature, the imagery was astounding sometimes, but it wasn’t her prefered reading -she liked the slightly more romantic of writings.
Sprawling on the bed, dropping the bag of popcorn and some bars of chocolate into the centre of the bed, “I was training the other day there, with my powers.” She couldn’t help the grin -not just because she was using her powers, and getting better at it, but her training session with Mason had been really fun.
“Have you met Mason Matthews yet?” It was hard to remember who knew who and if other people were on teams with each other.
“I’ll let him know – maybe pick his brain. He doesn’t seem to mind when I do that.”
As Dove released her armful of junk food onto Raven’s bed, her eyes lit up. “Mmm, yes! You don’t have to bring me treats, but boy am I ever glad that you do.” Raven immediately went for the bar with the darkest chocolate and began tearing off the packaging so she could take a small bite.
Raven’s eyes narrowed as she caught sight of the large grin that was spreading on Dove’s face. Sure, Dove would appreciate the opportunity to train, especially with her powers, and if it had gone well she’d be happy, but no that happy. Raven chewed her chocolate and didn’t push, certain that if Dove had a moment – she’d let the secret out of the bag.
Mason Matthews. There it was.
“Mason? Yeah, we’ve met,” Raven nodded, her own grin starting to spread. While Dove’s lit up her entire face, Raven’s made her expression somewhat slyer, somewhat mischievous. “He, Aidan and I were talking conspiracy theory podcasts. So…,” she nudged Dove. “You were training with Mason, I take it?”
Dove knew she didn’t need to share her candy, she had an abundance though, since she tended to pick up bits and pieces at the shop whenever she was passing, stocking up for rainy days and the like. And sharing with Raven was just natural, it was enough to make her feel better about stuffing her face.
Lounging, although she was careful to not make a mess of Raven’s bed, Dove started picking at some of the chewy candy sweets, balling the papers up in her hands. “Oh, that’d be pretty cool. I wonder if we’d be allowed to set up something like that, just to keep ourselves a little busy.” It would be nice to have things aside from training and the occasional leisure activity.
“Mason has his own forcefield, it’s part of his powers. And we’re allowed to train with our powers on together,” because usually they were both on lockdown. “I think I’m really getting the hang of not just being a wave of concussive energy.” She thought maybe Mason had something to do with that, his constant encouragement that she was doing okay. “Mason’s been a really great training buddy.”
“Well I don’t know about how cool it would be, but it would be a fun time. It was plenty of fun just hanging around and telling outlandish stories anyway.” And since there wasn’t yet an abundance of things to do to occupy one’s time (especially for one who liked to keep her mind busy), telling hilariously ridiculous stories was one effective way to keep from clawing at the walls. “I also don’t imagine they’d ever let us do something like that. Wouldn’t want us to have too much contact with the outside world now, right?”
Raven rolled onto her side and propped her head up. She watched her friend carefully as she spoke about the progress she was making with her ability, and how much Mason had been helping her. Dove was normally an enthusiastic person, but there was a slight twinkle in her eye, even now, that was difficult to miss – and Raven doubted it was only about her progress with her abilities.
After finishing a piece of her dark chocolate, Raven nodded slowly. “I’m glad you’re getting the hang of things,” she replied, sincerely. “And that you have such a nice training buddy to get you on the right track.”
“Maybe it could just be a Limbo thing though, like set up a weekly podcast from the leisure room through the base, like a little reward for no one trying to kill each other all week.” She didn’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed to do things like that, if they were all completing their training and following orders.
It wasn’t like they had a lot else to do between training, and really, if they were expected to stay there and do as told, there should be something they could do for fun, right?
“I’m glad too, maybe someday I won’t need them turned off all the time.” She was hopeful, at least, that she’d be able to control her powers rather than being controlled by her powers instead. Dove’s eyes narrowed a little at the way Raven said ‘training buddy’ though, and while yes there was probably a reason for that, Dove just shook her head. “You don’t need to say it like that. Mason has a forcefield, and illusions like you, so it means he can protect himself if I lose it and a blast gets free. It might still hurt him, but he’s at least got some shielding.”
And he was very friendly, and smart, and funny. He made her laugh and blush and helped her not feel terrible about her powers and not having control. “Although, he is a really good training buddy for numerous reasons.”
“Huh,” Raven tilted her head to the side, considering Dove’s advice. It actually wasn’t a bad idea; and people having something that was – at least theoretically – entertaining to look forward to might help curb some of the worse behaviour around this place. That was an optimistic outlook on the whole thing, but Raven thought that, at least for a while, it might work. “Maybe I’ll talk to Holly and see what she says.”
She offered her friend a reassuring smile. “You will. I know you. When you set your mind to it, you do it.” If Dove wanted to master her powers, she would. Raven had no doubt in her mind.
Raven hid her deepening grin behind her hand as Dove tried to qualify why, precisely, her partnership with Mason was working so well. She didn’t doubt a single thing that her friend explained – it was all very reasonable and logical – but there was just a little too much protest behind it for Raven not to read a little more into it.
“He must be good,” Raven nodded in agreement, “I haven’t heard you gush this much since we were planning our dates to senior prom a year in advance.”
With a small giggle, she poked Dove’s shoulder. “I’m teasing. I’m glad he’s helping and that it’s working out. Really.”
Dove really hoped that Holly could do something with that, maybe enough that Julian, JP and Raven could make something fun work out for themselves. Even getting others involved, it’d be really cool for them all, something fun and different, keeping people engaged, and maybe help to not feel like they were just rats in a maze.
But Raven had a point; Dove rarely didn’t manage something when she really set her mind to it. She wasn’t the sort to give up, she didn’t believe in half-assing anything, and if she started something, then she was going to finish it. “I feel like I’m finally starting to get it, y’know? And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s okay. Because one day, it’s gonna work all the time, and I’ll have control like the older agents do, and I won’t be a threat to anyone.” And maybe that would mean, when the SEA passed, when they were finally let out, she could just go home, and be normal.
She did know that Raven was teasing her, but it wasn’t exactly wrong in what she was saying, “I know, but… maybe I do gush a bit, and, I guess it’s kinda not wrong.” Mason was nice, he was funny and sweet, but also very smart. He hadn’t exactly had the easiest or best life, but he never really seemed to be down about it; he was a realist, she felt that might be the best way to put it. “He’s sweet, Mason, and I think I like him, maybe a lot? He tried to make me feel better about something he had no control over by getting a ridiculous amount of candy.” And that, right there, that was like heart eyes territory.
It helped that Dove had gotten to know Mason a little better too, that she knew he was funny and intelligent and just hid it well behind that sarcasm and brashness.
And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s okay.
It was one of the most level-headed things she’d ever heard Dove say. Dove was always the eternal optimist to Raven’s raging cynic, but her friend spoke with such determined belief, such pure hope for the future, for her future, that her heart swelled. She wanted nothing more than for all of that to come true for Dove; for her to gain the control that many of the older agents had, to get out of here one day without fear of herself or her abilities, to live the life she ought to.
Raven set her gloved-hand on top of Dove’s. “You will,” she agreed. “And you’re right—it is okay if it doesn’t always work. You’re going to figure it out. If anyone can, it’s going to be you.”
She smirked and laughed softly when Dove mentioned how Mason had attempted to make her feel better by giving her a bunch of candy. “It’s almost like he knew there was no better way into your heart than to ply you with more sugar!” She flicked an empty foil of chocolate in Dove’s direction, giggling all the while.
“But tell me,” she continued, her tone becoming somewhat more serious. Raven set her chin in her hand and batted her eyes innocently. “Should I get my matchmaker hat out or should I leave this one up to you and fate?”
She was going to figure it out, she had time too. It wasn’t like she needed to get it done by this summer. Sure, she would like to get a grip on things quicker, but that didn’t mean she needed to. Turning her hand, Dove gave Raven’s hand a quick squeeze, because she knew her power wasn’t the only one that was hard to deal with. She couldn’t remember really, the last time she and Raven have been able to touch without being careful about it.
“We will. We’ll figure it out.” Dove didn’t believe that there was no way for Raven to not have some hope for getting her powers controlled to the point of skin contact again, Raven was just as determined as Dove when she wanted to be.
The mention of matchmaking though, that had Dove shaking her head a little while she was suddenly interested in her lap, “I um, well it might not need any help.” It wasn’t like Dove was sure, but she had the inkling that Mason might like her the way she liked him, it was just going to be something to figure out if and when they could. “I think it’ll be okay, on it’s own maybe?”
We will. We’ll figure it out.
Raven smiled softly in response. Dove’s support meant the world to her. Even if Raven couldn’t always properly express it, Dove Wilson was family to her, her sister. Her mother was back in Brazil, and Raf was out there somewhere, too – but Dove had given her a home when she needed it. She had helped Raven come out of her shell when she otherwise would have remained more reserved, barred from the rest of the world. She was incredibly lucky to have someone like Dove in her life.
“You’re right, as usual. We will.”
The way Dove was suddenly staring very intently at her lap caused Raven to chuckle. “I have no doubt it’ll be all good without my meddling, but you know. The offer will always stand. And I expect regular updates on how things are developing, capiche?” Honestly, she’d expect nothing less. They tended to share most things, anyway. And as for the growing friendship—and beyond—between Mason and her best friend? Well, he’d be a fool not to fall head over heels for Dove.