InsaneJournal

Who: Wanda and Melanie
When: Sometime in early June (approx. first week)
Where: Melanie's old dorms
What: Chatting
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete.



Melanie was still troubled by her dream. She’d been on the run from some kind of alien invasion, Jamie was with her but Wanda wasn’t. In fact it seemed like Jamie might have been her only sibling, which made no sense. Why would she not dream about Wanda? She adored her sister, was particularly protective of her, so to not dream about her was concerning.

She wasn’t sure whether to tell Wanda or not. She was a sensitive girl and Melanie didn’t want her to think she’d been left out by Melanie’s subconscious. But she couldn’t lie to her either.

Sighing she removed the cakes she’s brought for them from the fridge and put the coffee pot on. She’d invited her sister round since it was probably one of the last times she’d be in the dorms before finding a place of her own.

Wanda was similarly troubled by her own dream. She hadn’t told Melanie, but she’d had a dream where she’d taken over her sister’s body. It was scary to remember the dream and how real it had felt, how much Melanie had hated her. It almost made Wanda reluctant to see her sister today, but she knew that was ridiculous. Melanie loved her, no matter what crazy things Wanda’s subconscious tried to tell her.

Still, it took her a while to convince herself to knock on Melanie’s door. She stood in front of the door for a whole half minute, biting her thumbnail and staring at the door like it was going to bite her. The second she realized what she was doing, though, Wanda rolled her eyes at herself and knocked on the door, summoning up a wide smile.

“It’s me, Mel!”

Hearing the knock and call Melanie hurried to the door, opening it and hugging her sister, “It’s so good to see you” she told her honestly, squeezing her before letting go and ushering her in, “Coffee’s on and I have cake” she informed her with a grin.

She looked at her for a moment and tilted her head to the side, “You okay? You look really pale, are you working too hard?” she asked in concern.

As soon as the door opened, the fear drained out of Wanda, and she leaned into Melanie’s hug eagerly. She’d been so silly to worry. That dream didn’t mean anything, how could it? It was just her subconscious being bizarre. “It’s good to see you too,” she said earnestly, following her sister into her room and heading straight for the coffee.

Trust Melanie to notice when she’s not feeling her best. Shaking her head, Wanda shrugged and smiled. “It’s nothing, just a weird dream. It freaked me out a bit, but I’m okay.”

Melanie moved to the cupboard to retrieve the cups for the coffee, “I’ve had a strange dream too” she admitted, “But they’re just dreams. Try not to worry too much” she pulled her sister close again with one arm, stroking her hair a little like she had when they were younger. “You know I’m always here if you need to talk about anything” she reminded her, letting go so she could sort the coffee and cake for them.

“You’ve started having weird dreams?” Wanda asked, her blood running cold for a moment. She managed to lean into the hug, but only barely, her brain already coming up with nightmare scenarios where Melanie had had a dream of Wanda possessing her body. When Melanie let go of her, she sat heavily in the nearest chair, finding that her legs could no longer hold her up. “What was your dream about?”

Melanie nodded, “No ice bears or anything” she said with a small smile, “Just running from an alien invasion. Really vivid but still just dreams” she came to bend down by Wanda in the chair. It was obvious that these dreams were affecting her sister quite a lot and she felt bad for her. “Come on Wanda tell me what happened? I’m worried about you”

Wanda shook her head, running her hand through her hair. She shouldn’t have been so worried -- even if Melanie had had the same dream as she had, it’s not like she would be angry with Wanda. They were clearly in their own bodies, and more importantly, Wanda wasn’t a centipede living in the back of her head. “It’s nothing, honestly, just a dream. I was one of those aliens again, and I was on Earth, in an unwilling human body. The host hated me. I don’t think I’ve ever been the target of that much negativity in my life.”

Melanie hugged her sister once more, “Well nobody could ever hate you here” she assured her before pulling back tweaking her nose before standing to finish sorting out the coffee and cake, “Honestly, I think you have like some kind of positive aura or something that affects those around you because everybody I’ve ever known has always said how lovely you are”

Laughing, Wanda batted at the air where Melanie’s hand had been just a second ago, tweaking her nose. Melanie always knew just what to say and do to make her feel better. “There’s nothing supernatural about it. I just like being nice to people, and people tend to like people who are nice to them. No aura necessary. And I’m sure there must be some people who don’t like me -- excessive niceness grates on some.”

It was nice to see her sister laughing and smiling again, Wanda was too good of a person to wear a frown for long. It didn’t suit her at all. “Nope, everybody likes you” Melanie insisted, “It’s impossible not to” Of that she was sure.

She finished what she was doing and moved to place the coffee and cake in front of her sister, “Here try this, I found a great little bakery and they do amazing cakes”

“Not true! Well, maybe not true. We didn’t actually talk much, but there was a guy on the net who got all weird when I introduced myself. I think his exact words were ‘What’s with the exclamation points and relentless cheerfulness’. So I think it’s safe to say he probably doesn’t like me.” For some reason, Wanda has always been determined to counter her sister’s claims that she is universally liked -- maybe as a way to keep herself from getting too big a head, or maybe to indulge in that famed Stryder contrary streak. Whatever the reason, Wanda was smirking at Melanie now. The smirk transformed into an actual smile when she saw the cakes.

“Oh, wow, those look amazing! Thank you so much,” she said as she took the cake. If she was honest, Wanda had to admit that she had a terrible sweet tooth, and she immediately took a bite of the cake without even bothering to taste the coffee.

“He was just being grumpy, it’s not a reflection on you” Melanie replied, her own contrary streak emerging as she smirked at her sister.

“You’re welcome” Melanie laughingly replied, “I had a feeling you might like them” She knew Wanda had a weakness for sweet things, which is why she almost always had some kind of confectionary in her cupboards.

Wanda rolled her eyes, but smiled as she did so. Her sister was ridiculous. “I don’t understand why you’re so set on the idea that everyone likes me. No one is liked by everyone, not even me.”

She laughed around her mouthful of cake, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she talked. “You know me too well! It’s a good thing I’m not self-conscious about my weight, coming over to your place would be like torture.”

If there was anybody in the world who could be liked by everyone it would be Wanda, Melanie knew it.

“It’d never be torture, you don’t have the willpower to say no” she teased with a wink.

“That’s exactly why it would be torture!” Wanda laughed, reaching out to shove gently at Melanie’s shoulder. “I’d just keep eating and eating and then I’d burst.” She went back to her cake after that, then blinked and sat up a little straighter, as though she’d just remembered something. Turning to face Melanie directly, she took her sister’s hand. “I’m so sorry I made everything about me and my weird dream. Do you want to talk about yours any more? Or about anything? I’m all ears!”

Melanie laughed, “I’d never let you burst” she promised her sister before patting her sisters hand on top of her own with a smile, “Don’t be silly, it’s perfectly fine. I don’t have much news at all. I’m completely boring at the moment thinking about where I’m going to live and what job I’m going to get”