"She'd leave this room, only to come back again. Tomorrow or weeks later or maybe even after she died. What remained of Helen would never let her leave. She was not sure if she even wanted to."
hi random anon here can you please elaborate more on peony's dynamic with helen the people need to know more 🎤
omg hiiii random anon who i def do not know <3 MWAH
peony dated helen before helen was the distortion. i choose to mold canon on my own bc we know little to nothing about pre-distortion helen (besides that she was a bit of an asshole LMAO) ... but basically they're a "right person, wrong time" type of thing (at first) ; peony was pretty young when they first started dating (she was a senior in uni whereas helen was already a realtor and everything) . tldr: they both were just at different stages of their life -- which eventually led to their breakup.
i say breakup but they continued to stay in contact afterwards like every lesbian rls ... when michael marks helen, peony is still helen's emergency contact, and they meet again for the first time in a long while when helen goes to the hospital (snippet under the cut bc this is getting long LMAO)
“I’m still your emergency contact.” Peony answers, sheepish. It’s equal parts flattering and pitiful to know that a small piece of herself still lingered in the important places in Helen’s life, even after two years of being separated.
Still, exes seemed too dismissive of whatever they had now. Even during the worst parts of their breakup, Helen would call Peony to talk, just talk, Helen’s voice silky and assertive even through the phone. Peony was much too passive to ever say ‘no’ to Helen, and thus she gently laid back down inside the bear trap again. Its shiny canines were close enough to the mouth of a lover, were they not? If she laid there long enough, it's cold steel would warm against her skin. And that was enough for Peony.
“I... see. I must’ve forgotten to change it, I—“ Helen quickly responds, but she can’t meet Peony’s eyes. Helen had always been a bad liar. Peony does not press the issue further.
i love the bear trap / hound dog motifs it's in like all my writings for them <3
peony is actually the one who suggests that helen give her statement to the magnus institute, (peony started working there shortly after their breakup) as she hopes it would make helen feel better about her experience. of course that's when michael takes helen -- and peony blames herself for it happening. it's part of the reason why peony first entertains the distortion at all.
helen, now the distortion, is the one who saves peony from the explosion at the wax museum!!
helen is drawn to peony because peony stands out in helen richardson's memories (++peony being marked by the spiral). peony is drawn to helen because, in her grief, peony clings to what is familiar. and if peony looks long enough she can see her helen in the distortion's ever-changing features. and that is enough for peony.
tldr; helen uses peony to feed, and peony uses helen for comfort.
"You know," Helen started, eyes glinting. "You look good like this. Bloody and all."
Helen was joking, Peony realised. But there was a weak rasp to her voice, the hoarseness to the words as they slipped from her mouth, and suddenly Peony was tangled in cotton sheets, rosy-cheeked and full of love and joy as her Helen tucked the auburn strands from her face and whispered of how beautiful she was, shaded in the dying light of the evening sun outside her window. Almost instinctively, Peony laughed, her eyes crinkling as the sound bloomed in her throat like her namesake─ but then Helen began to laugh as well, a laugh so grating that it made her head ache with the memory of the thing that called itself Michael─
Peony shot up to her feet, head ringing from the sound of the Distortion's laugh.
"I have to go," she choked out, wobbling on her feet. She heard Helen startle, but Peony snapped something she did not remember a moment later, her head still pounding, but Helen did not take another step forward and that was good enough for her.
"I can see why she loved you," she called out to her.
Peony stiffened, her hand on the knob of the door.
"I'm not her," Helen said slowly. "But I remember. It lingers."
The phrase "When one door closes, another one opens" occurred to her then, like a thought linked from this to that. She was more than aware that she was only being granted exit because this thing that was not her Helen permitted her to, granted her the mercy that her Helen did not have when she was trapped within this same twisting labyrinth like a mouse in a cat's game.
She'd leave this room, only to come back again. Tomorrow or weeks later or maybe even after she died. What remained of Helen would never let her leave. She was not sure if she even wanted to.
Peony twisted the doorknob.
She walked out without another word, and the thing that called itself Helen let her.
snippet from lei's (@/trappolia's) fic about them bc it makes me crazy!!!
the grief of holding onto someone who isn't yours anymore. who maybe never was. the memory of her helen slowly being replaced by the very thing that killed her. is it a betrayal or a second chance?
"you'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you" always comes to mind when i think of them haha
anw during the eyepocalypse, peony, for the most part, stays in helen's corridors. it's at this point where peony becomes resigned to helen feeding on other people's suffering -- if it is what helen must do to survive then peony can live with that. peony will never actively participate, but she knows that in enabling helen she is just as guilty as helen is. perhaps she always was.
and yeah!!! that's a good overview of their MESSYYYY relationship!! they do still kiss n stuff i promise <3
