wanda maximoff (fears) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-07-01 21:58:00 |
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Normally, Wanda wasn’t one for parties, she wasn’t one for pubs or clubs or bars. Tony’s birthday party had been enlightening and while she avoided a hangover by having a glass of water after each drink she was certain the few others could say the same.
So when her classmates had mentioned going out as a celebration for the end of class she’d been a little hesitant. But it was just a few drinks and she knew that she could leave when she was ready since it was all within walking distance of her and Hayley’s place.
The bar wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t a dive but it wasn’t overly classy, they had some cocktail mixes but simple drinks and the like that Wanda didn’t feel too confused ordering. So an hour or two into things she wasn’t hating it all, they were having fun at their booth-table combo they were at while the bar wasn’t packed too full but enough to have a nice atmosphere.
And then a round of cocktails came to the table that they’d decided to try, one being slid in front of Wanda with no name or explanation, and given that everyone was so loose and happy, she didn’t really think too much about toying with the little paper straw in her drink and eating the garnishing fruits. One cocktail wouldn’t make her too drunk.
She knew if she needed to she could always call Peter.
---
It was rare that Kyle found himself in bars these days but it was one of his workmate’s birthday and it would have been pretty crappy of him to bail on them and so he’d agreed, grabbing a round or two and settling in to talk to his friends as they gathered around a table.
“It’s official, I’m old,” Kelsey groaned dramatically.
Kyle laughed and rolled his eyes. “You’re not old.”
Kelsey just gave him a look and he held up both hands, acquiescing to her claims because she was the birthday girl after all.
And across the way was one Reid Garwin owning anybody who dared to play him at pool, grinning like a shark who had smelt blood in the water and was definitely not being supervised because Tyler had stuff to take care of, dangerous territory really.
“I’ll take a whiskey,” a gruff voice muttered as Leonard McCoy or Bones if you were friendly as he slid onto a stool and shrugged out of his leather jacket. Sometimes he just needed to get away from the ranch and out into the world he’d basically isolated himself from. Tonight seemed like a good night as any.
---
Hanna didn’t often go to bars alone; she had friends - or a boyfriend - to go with but Caleb was busy and she hadn’t really been feeling like hanging around on her own so she had figured it wouldn’t hurt to go out and about, to maybe meet some new people. She missed having a wider social circle of folk to hang out with, people to gossip with and to go shopping with. She was building it here, slowly, but she totally hadn’t banked on how hard it would be for her to start over.
She bounced up to the bar and tilted her head, asking for a pink cocktail she’d seen on the menu and handing her ID over with a bright, sunny grin. She settled on a bar stool, legs crossed at the knee, her baby-blue heels complimenting her dress perfectly as she sipped from her drink, indulging in more than a little bit of people watching. She spotted Kyle over in a booth and thought about going over but changed her mind; he was busy with friends and she could catch him later.
For now, she could just watch and enjoy her time out.
---
It took a little while for Wanda to notice the alcohol had started to hit her, the cocktail tasting more like sugar and juice than actual alcohol, mixed with the few drinks from before and a shot or two, it wasn’t long before she was feeling a little more loopy than anything else.
And it was hedging into dangerous territory, as Wanda’s concentration and attention wandered away from her, the tenuous grasp she had on controlling her powers was fraying gradually. As Danielle told her stories about another bar outing and everyone giggled and chuckled at the table, Wanda nibbled the edge of her straw, the paper fraying just a little.
The red mist was something she was growing somewhat used to, it crept in from time to time, they’re all paying attention to me, it’s everything I want, just keep them laughing, they’ll like you if you can keep them laughing, she could see that Danielle’s voice didn’t match the words she heard. A glance across the table showed that everyone was listening to Danielle, although barely really taking it in.
Just ask me to go home with you, just ask.
God, she’s such a--.
“I need to get some water,” Wanda made the mistake of laying her hand on Danielle’s arm, letting her know that she was leaving the table, just as she noticed the wisp of red energy slip from her fingers, dancing over Danielle’s skin before it disappeared. She could see the moment the vision hit Danielle, her eyes shifting focus as Wanda’s vision tinted with red hue.
The first hit was sickening and addicting, seeing the images of Danielle’s fears play out, just as Wanda backed away, shocked by her own interest, bumping into a group at the bar, sparking another burst in power to spread along the bar and down the people sitting there, red wisps in the air seeking out each mind that Wanda could feel her power infecting, influencing, pulling fears to the front and playing them like everyone’s own personal horror movie.
---
The group that Wanda happened to bump into was Kyle and his group of friends and the initial reaction was "what the hell?" before that red mist descended over them all, slipping from one to the next until it flooded over Kyle like a tidal wave. He immediately felt his chest tighten, his breath catching and his eyes widening as the bar faded into the background and instead a bedroom took its place where an exact replica of him was sat in a chair in the corner looking very blank. Confused and bewildered by what he was seeing Kyle stepped closer and reached out to touch the other man but the moment he did it felt like he was being pitched down a rabbit hole in a similar way to Alice in the books and he was spiralling though one experience after another. Each one more vivid than the last and all of them showing his apparent descent from clarity and sanity into the same vegetative and at times aggressive state as his father.
Struggling to recall simple things like how to make a coffee, forgetting what he'd been doing only moments before, feeling his autonomy slipping away, screaming aggressively at his friends and doing things that were harmful not just to himself but to others. It was all there, all crashing into one another, taunting and disturbing Kyle to the point where he was literally hyperventilating and feeling as though something was choking him.
Eventually Kyle stumbled backwards, hands embedded in his hair, and back colliding into the nearby wall as that red chaos magic worked its way through the remaining bar. It hit Reid next and in a few brief seconds he felt all the emotions he worked damn hard to keep under tight control hit him like a freight train. His fear manifested in the forms of his friends laughing at him, telling him he was pathetic and they were done with his bullshit, and they weren't really his friends so he should just quit trying so hard to be liked.
He tried to reason with them, argue even, but it didn't seem to matter, Pogue's hands were on his shoulders and shoving him back, telling him he was a waste of space and he should just kill himself. Even Tyler, Tyler who was always on his side, was looking at him like he was nothingand Caleb, well, he was just ignoring him. And Reid? He hated being ignored.
It was kind of pathetic how desperate Reid was getting, but he was so far gone in his own fear that he didn't even care.
Leonard on the other hand was trapped and swept up in the old horrible memories from his time in the army along with the memories from the dreams, ones he was not overly familiar with, but were most definitely terrifying in their own way. The glass clasped in his hand was gripped so tightly that the glass shattered resulting in shards embedding themselves in his skin but Leonard didn’t even feel it.
He was too caught up and paralysed by the fears playing out in front of him.
—-
Hanna had seen people acting strange, expressions freezing in an outward ripple and though she didn’t know what was going on, she snatched up her purse and started backing up to leave. She thought that was wise but then she caught sight of Kyle whose face was frozen in abject horror. She frowned, clutching her bag closer to herself as she decided to navigate her way through the crowd to get him out of there.
Someone bumped into her and the bar faded away. She was back in her bedroom at her dad’s house, the smaller room where Kate got the larger. He wouldn’t talk to her, and Kate looked down her nose, Hanna was forgotten about in her own house.
As she tried to move out of her room, she realised that her dress was too tight. Way too tight. Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror, she screamed.
—-
It was building up, all the fears, the secrets, the hidden weaknesses that people buried deep in their subconscious, spilling out around her as they all experienced it like they were there.
She needed to leave, to put distance between herself and those here, needed to get somewhere that put her out of range. If she could leave, separate from the space, it would all wear off, they’d stop being so affected. There were screams and crying in her head, and around her, people curling in on themselves, lashing out at an enemy that wasn’t there.
Wanda made it to her table, grabbing her back and pulling her phone from her bag. Air, that would be good, she needed air. She bumped a further few people on her way to the door, stumbling a little as her intoxication wasn’t entirely sobered from the use of her ability and all the carnage it caused.
She could call Peter, he’d help. She needed to get a hold of Peter.