lycanthrope

maybe 'twas simply the first time I realized how even the most innocent of places -- the most lovely of days -- could be turned foul and corrupt. ( rahne sinclair for sokovia rising )

[wclfsrahne]

newcastles​:

Constantine exhaled, gray smoke curling around his face and into the frame of the door. She was small and clearly nervous. He always had a soft spot for frightened kids. “Well now, I don’t imagine many people go around smashing glass for a good time in the middle of the kitchen. Weddings, maybe. Wild party. Maybe a fit of dramatic rage. Had a break up go that way once. Picking glass out of the wall for weeks. But this is hardly worth making a fuss over.”

His fingers itched. A little spell to repair it. A mending. Maybe turning back time if he was wild. Instead he went for the pantry to find a small broom and dust pan. “Let’s get this swept up before you go walking all over. Wouldn’t want glass in your feet, hm?”

Rahne canted her head at the new person who stood in the doorway, her brow furrowing as she tried to place his face. She didn't know it but the accent was familiar - south of the border for her but the same damn island at least. That was its own kind of comfort. She nodded obediently and waited as he fetched the broom and dust pan, taking the time to carefully pick up the larger shards for him, setting them on the counter.

"Thank you," she murmured quietly. "I could have jumped it but it gave me a fright," she admitted. The wolf would have had no trouble with glass in her paws but she didn't like to turn inside. It always was more of a mess than it was worth.

[wclfsrahne]

sokovianmayqueen​:

“Because he lied to you so he could control you and twist you into something he wanted. No matter how hard you try, you could never please him. He doesn’t want you to. If you did then he would have nothing to use against you anymore.” She felt so strongly about Rahne’s freedom from men who would oppress her. Pamela wasn’t strong enough to free herself from the kind of man that Rahne’s father was. Rahne still had a chance. 

She didn’t have to know what she wanted yet. Ivy only wanted her to know that the choice of what she became was only up to her. No one else. “So you won’t be, little cub. You’ll be in charge of what you are.” 

Rahne nodded. Let the words sink in deep to her bones and clung to them. He had lied. All along, all those years of torment, and it had all been a lie. There was a burning anger low in her chest, threatening to rise. She didn't want to act out of anger like he had but this felt good - pure and righteous and true. She deserved to be angry at him. "He wanted me to hate myself because he was afraid," she said, voice steady and sure in a way it hadn't been before.

She tried to bite back the anger. "I don't want to be like him." Then there was a beat of silence before she murmured. "But I want him dead."

[wclfsrahne]

prjectx10​:

wclfsrahne​:

Rahne smiled faintly in return at the confession and nodded a little. “I think you did really well considering then. An’ I know she would probably agree so I don’t feel as bad sayin’ so when she’s not here,” she said softly. “She’s good. Better than she thinks she is. All of them are.” Her voice was quiet, melancholy, as she thought of her friends, scattered around the world rather than here with her.

…

Logan gave her a small smile in return then reached out to touch her arm. “I’ll leave you to it now. Just return the hoodie whenever you can.” He gestured back to the castle then started to head back, cigar in mouth and taking long puffs on it before vanishing through the doors.

~ end ~

[wclfsrahne]

dacostaintl​:

“I’m not so sure. People tend to like someone’s wilder side. Would I still be me if I didn’t act on impulse sometimes?” Berto aimed a grin at her. To be fair, many of his impulsive acts and fiery temper had caused the New Mutants problems in the beginning, but he figured those had quieted down to fond headshaking and sighs of ‘oh, there he goes again’.

“I know, sweetheart,” he said in a softer tone, metaphorically stepping back before he could cause her more discomfort than the blush on her cheeks. “Pick one anyway, for going out? No one will try to attack us if I take you to a restaurant for some rare meat treat.”

Rahne giggled a little at that, shaking her head. Berto had always caused the most drama in their group by virtue of his impulsive acts but he was right - it would have been a cause for worry if he didn't do such a thing now and then. That was who he was, after all. She just wasn't sure if she was that sort of person.

His counter-offer was enough. Rahne nodded gently and stepped up to look again, reaching out to touch some soft fabrics, erring to earth-tones and neutrals. Something nice but not too eye-catching. She thought that would be a good compromise, if nothing else. “Where are we going?” She asked

[wclfsrahne]

xkinney​:

The protectiveness roaring in Laura’s chest was appeased with the sight of the fair-skinned girl leaning into her touch. She’d always taken to the kind, suffering creatures, in spite of her training to do otherwise. Her thumb swiped playfully along Rahne’s cheek before she pulled her hand back, smiling in encouragement.

“That’s good. I think of visiting sometimes, but I don’t think I would feel…” She paused, at a loss for words. Genosha should be for the young mutants that didn’t have blood on their hands. Laura was something else entirely. “I feel more welcome here,” she finished. “And I can see they probably would have tried to contact him, but he was also out of commission for some time. Literally. Did the news of his death reach Genosha?”

The soft touch and the gentle smile eased the rawness of the wound and Rahne returned it slightly, extricating herself a little to put some space between them as she calmed enough to have more of a steady conversation, one that hopefully wouldn't end in her sobbing yet again.

There was something Laura was holding back about Genosha, the quiet way she struggled to verbalise her feelings about it, but she had always been so private that Rahne let the moment pass, unsure how to ask any further. "I'm glad you're here and you're okay," she said instead, choosing to focus on that. And then came the question about Logan. Rahne nodded quietly. "It did. Coincided with a lot of the fallout from the virus. It was difficult."

[wclfsrahne]

OPEN

Despite being awkward and more hulking than she'd like in her wolf form, Rahne was a slip of a girl as a human and found it all too easy to go unnoticed in wider groups. It was easy to lose her amongst other people. So, when she found herself in the kitchen, the remnants of a broken glass shattered around her feet, she could only pray that it would extend to not being noticed at all.

When someone stepped into the kitchen, she grimaced.

"I- I didn't mean to!"

[wclfsrahne]

dacostaintl​:

Yes, she did. The two girls shared a special connection, which could perhaps be attributed to Dani’s telepathic link with animals. Berto had always thought that they seemed a bit like himself and Sam – an underlying need to be close just for the sake of knowing that the other was alive and breathing, the world spinning around a shared axis. It could be… confusing, at times.

“You don’t ruin anything. Getting bigger than your human body only means tearing fabric that doesn’t fit you anymore,” he argued, giving her a look as he tried to gauge if they were still talking about clothes. “A lot of things have stopped fitting you long ago.” Shame, for instance, but instead of saying so, his lips curled into a smile. “Besides, you can always just take them off before shifting.”

Rahne was thankful to leave the topic of Dani behind, even if the alternative one was just as thorny for her. Dani in particular was a source of confusion. The other girl brought her such joy, a warmth that spread through her at every turn, but there was always a deep-seated shame there. She knew what it was. She imagined everyone else did too. They didn't have to discuss it. It would just make everything harder.

Her head tipped a little. She had never been good at metaphors but they were talking in such a tone, something quiet and curious and probing, that she wondered if maybe that was what was going on. "But it means that everything that doesn't fit me any more is ruined for anyone else," she tried quietly. Her cheeks flushed at his last suggestion and she bit back any judgemental remarks. She was getting better at that. "I'd be too afraid still."

[wclfsrahne]

sokovianmayqueen​:

“You are,” she agreed. “He has done nothing to earn that loyalty. His blood doesn’t make it ok for him to have twisted you into hating yourself for what were always going to be your gifts.” She cupped Rahne’s cheeks in her hands gently. “Men who claim to love us only so they can destroy us never loved us at all Rahne. They are the ones who should be destroyed. For their lies and selfishness.”

She thumbed a tear off Rahne’s cheek. “Who your heart craves is part of your biology. It’s inside you. It has nothing to do with your soul or your worth and morality. Your DNA and the functions of your brain would have been the same whether your father loved you or he didn’t.” Ivy saw it to be as simple as that. “What you are is not chosen. Only what you choose to do with it is. That choice is yours alone.”

Rahne let Ivy cup her face, thankful for the kind touch and the warmth of it. She had missed such kind hands over the years. She did her best to internalise the words too, to let them sink into the marrow of her bones and become her truth. "I didn't think of it like that. I thought it was all my fault because that was what he told me." The idea that it had been his failings, rather than hers, was revolutionary. He had done this to someone who had never deserved it.

"I don't know what I want to do with it yet. I don't want to be like him, though. That's all I know for sure," she said. That was a conviction she wouldn't shake. She would not be her father. Not after all he had done.

[wclfsrahne]

xkinney​:

Laura waited patiently, there to serve as a solid support for the younger girl. She hadn’t been raised for softness, yet it was exactly this lack in her early life that led her to understand the importance of kindness, for herself and for others. Rahne sounded like she was listing off the rational portions of the experience, which was a start for them to build upon. It didn’t take away the emotional side, but maybe one day she would reach some peace.

“Then she would be satisfied. She was dedicated to keeping humans and mutants safe, in harmony, and she would have wanted you to carry on.” Laura pulled back a bit, raising a hand to brush away a wayward tear from Rahne’s cheek. “If we’re ever facing a deadly virus again, it would be wiser to have a Wolverine around. There’s not much that can bypass our healing factor. But admittedly… I’m not always the easiest to reach out to, when I’m away from the cities.”

The words Laura spoke were true enough, she knew that. Lady Moira had always wanted peace between humans and mutants, had taken in Rahne out of the kindness of her heart and hoped it would be a good first step. Rahne would do best to keep living as kindly as she could in her memory. Maybe that would help her feel better about it too. If she was warm and welcoming and fought her father's voice at every turn instead.

Rahne leant into Laura's touch to her cheek and nodded quietly. "I think they tried to reach out to Logan but it was all so quick that we didn't have much time to prepare. I think they're doing better now. They're more careful too," she said quietly. That was all they could do now. Learn from what they had done and make sure it wouldn't happen again.

[wclfsrahne]

dacostaintl​:

Berto tilted his head, watching the girl out of the corner of his eye. There was a moment where it seemed that Rahne was caught up in a revelry, before she shook herself out of it. Never the wistful type, Berto couldn’t claim to discern exactly what she was thinking, but he could try to make her feel comfortable enough to express herself.

“That’s a great suggestion. How are you so good at picking for others, but now for yourself?” He questioned idly, not waiting for a response before barreling on. Subtlety failed him sometimes. “Rahne? Lobinha, It’s okay to want things for yourself. Beautiful things, even…”

The question caught her off guard but, when dealing with Berto, she supposed it shouldn't have. He never had been one for subtlety or for talking around things. She respected that. It was hard for her to be so direct, forever used to stepping on eggshells and hoping for the best, a brutal beast crushing all in her path.

"I know Dani really well," she said quietly, attempting to talk her way out of this conversation. Still, she couldn't stop him from barrelling into the next sentence so she smiled wryly and shook her head. "It's hard to want beautiful things without feeling like I'll ruin them all. I usually do," she said.

[wclfsrahne]

prjectx10​:

“I’m gonna be real honest here, I had no idea what to do when she found me. I considered leaving her on the side of the road more than once. She was an angry teenager, pissed off at the world and only knew how to be a weapon, she didn’t know who she was, how to think for herself. She’s come a long way and she’s a very good ally to have on your side if you should ever need it.” Logan smiled a little at her.

Rahne smiled faintly in return at the confession and nodded a little. "I think you did really well considering then. An' I know she would probably agree so I don't feel as bad sayin' so when she's not here," she said softly. "She's good. Better than she thinks she is. All of them are." Her voice was quiet, melancholy, as she thought of her friends, scattered around the world rather than here with her.

[wclfsrahne]

dacostaintl​:

@wclfsrahne

Matchak didn’t offer whole blocks of designer’s brands as one would find on 5th Avenue or Champs-Élysée, but there was a charm – and a real economic interest – in supporting local businesses. Plus, Berto knew for a fact that Rahne wouldn’t have felt comfortable overspending. He pulled the girl along arm-in-arm through the streets, stopping whenever something caught his eye. Currently, it was a stall full of handwoven dresses.

“Oh, look at that, wouldn’t this look great on Dani?” He commented, moving his fingers over a cream and orange fabric of intricate design. “Anything you like too, it’s yours, and we can send her something as a gift.”

Berto had always been more well-off than most of their team but still, Rahne found herself glancing over her shoulder as they walked - as though she didn't belong in the more expensive areas of Matchak. Despite the lack of stores that Berto would usually frequent, he had still managed to drag her out shopping. Rahne grumbled softly under her breath but allowed him to pull her along, eyes wide and bright at everything on offer.

The mention of Dani caught her attention though and she turned her gaze down onto the fabric in question, reaching out with one delicate fingertip to trace the stitching. "It would be beautiful on her," she murmured before shaking her head. "That would be good for her, I think. Maybe something turquoise too if we see it."

[wclfsrahne]

xkinney​:

Sweet girl, tormented by suffering. Laura remembered some things she’d heard about Rahne’s upbringing, watching the younger girl acclimate herself to the school and the diverse people that lived there back in the day. There was that shame rooted into prejudice against one’s most basic instincts, the fear of being deemed cursed or evil or dirty… it fed into the guilt, as if a confirmation that women like them tainted everything they touched.

“How could you, if you didn’t know what was there?” Laura offered as she held her friend close, soothing a hand along the back of her shoulders. “You didn’t cause it, you’re as much of a victim…” It was important that she comforted Rahne, yet at the same time she also had questions. “Did they stop it from spreading? Are you safe now?”

Rahne allowed the comfort, let it warm her, despite the fact that accepting it made her feel false - as though she were lying to Laura in favour of her own peace. It was an irrational thought, one that came in her father's voice, and she attempted to stamp down on it. She could not repeat his patterns. Not now. Instead, she took a steadying breath and accepted the truths Laura offered her. It was no more her fault as any other disease was. She could not have done anything in the end.

"Yes. They figured out a cure before it reached any other human or mutant vectors," Rahne said, almost reciting the information. She had read the reports plenty before she left Genosha. "No one else died from it. It's all but eradicated." She added quietly, shaking her head a little. 

[wclfsrahne]

sokovianmayqueen​:

The girl wept and Ivy felt a flash of something… nurturing. She had a little known soft spot for the innocent. It was part of why she was so involved in championing the earth and its flora. They couldn’t defend themselves. It was much the same around children, human or otherwise. She couldn’t stop that urge to wrap her arms around the frightened woman beside her so she didn’t. She held her gently while she cried and Ivy felt the same loathing toward Rahne’s father as she did toward Jason, even if it was muted. Still it was another man who was content to destroy a powerful woman, manipulate her feelings, and break her down into something else. 

“Your father is a fool,” Ivy hissed. “You should not be afraid of the things that make you powerful. The things that make you who you are, Rahne. There is nothing evil about being gay. Nothing. Why let him have power over you?”

Rahne allowed the other woman to wrap her into an embrace, tucking her face into Ivy's shoulder and shuddering slightly as she attempted to get her cries under control. Then Ivy was speaking in that low, dangerous tone that demanded you listen and so, Rahne did. The idea that being gay was something that could make her powerful? That it was something innate to who she was? She had never considered such a thing. It was always going to be something unnatural and cruel if you had asked her. She took a slow, trembling breath and pulled back fractionally to look at Ivy.

"I..I hadn't thought of it like that. I am letting him win, aren't I?" She murmured. She didn't expect that the revelation would fix everything but the knowledge that she was only repeating his patterns arrested those spiralling thoughts near immediately.

[wclfsrahne]

prjectx10​:

“Well, I’m always here to help you out, kid. Not sure what I can do but… I’ll give it a try.” At least he knew what it was like to have people running away from him in a panic, which is what she’s probably witnessed quite a bit over the years. “Hm, I get it. I’ve lived in the woods a few times, it was mostly to escape the world around me. Now I can’t do such thing because I have Laura now and still needs a bit of guiding through… whatever our shit is.”

"Thank you," she murmured, unwilling to say much more for fear of her own nerves betraying her. His kindness was still appreciated - she was certain he understood what it was like to be feared and hated for something you couldn't control. "I was glad to see Laura here. It's been too long since she was around. I'm sure you're glad to have her back," Rahne murmured softly.

[wclfsrahne]

sokovianmayqueen​:

That was the last thing she expected to hear. Ivy blinked and pulled her hand away when Rahne shook her head. Gay. Ivy’s lips lifted into a soft gentle smile. She didn’t know the best way to comfort her, but Ivy had known that women were her preference for the longest time now. It was never really a crisis for her because her sexuality rarely had any bearing on her work. She wasn’t a lesbian but she knew that most men left her angry and even murderous. Still there was a little part of her that could understand.

“Oh Rahne,” she said. “Sit. Let’s talk about it. Are you afraid?” The large gardenia beckoned and Ivy took Rahne’s hand to lead her to join Ivy in the throne she’d grown for herself. The soft petals would be comforting she hoped.

Rahne blinked, eyes filled with tears, as she realised Ivy wasn't turning away from her in disgust. She was welcoming her forward. Rahne moved towards the gardenia carefully, fingers lacing with Ivy's without fear. Ivy didn't scare her. The revelation that hung between them did. She shuddered a little with the forc of her tears as she sank down into the welcoming embrace of the gardenia.

"I'm...I'm so afraid." She admitted quietly. "I didn't think...my father told me it was evil and unnatural. He already thinks that of me because of the wolf," she said slowly, words starting to flow easier now that she had started speaking.

[wclfsrahne]

xkinney​:

Laura had witnessed – and inflicted – countless horrors over the years, and yet she couldn’t help but be moved upon seeing a friend in distress. She noticed Rahne’s agitation and leaned closer with the intention of touching her arm, before she caught the glint of tears at the corner of the girl’s eye, the story moving on to a tragic end. It chilled Laura’s blood and in a second she was sitting beside Rahne, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“It’s not, you didn’t kill her, you couldn’t have known,” Laura intervened, quiet but firm, tucking a head of fiery hair under her chin. The words echoed in her mind, recalling the grief, the pain and the guilt of the clone child that had unknowingly killed her mother in the lab. “I’m really sorry that she died, she was a good woman, but she wouldn’t have wanted this weight on you. She loved you, as do we.”

Rahne collapsed into Laura's embrace, taking the comfort gladly. It wasn't always the easiest thing to accept - such physical closeness from people - but she took great comfort in the solid way Laura held herself and the immediacy of the offer. She tucked her head under Laura's chin at the other girl's behest and tried to breathe through the tears.  

"I didn't...I didn't know but I should have been more careful." She whispered, shaking her head a little. "We didn't know what was on Genosha, I should have tried harder."