manipulative | ( ENTRANCEWAY INBOX )

[ elena has looked everywhere.

everywhere, of course, except the one place she likely should be looking. she's resisted it, despite her instincts telling her that she's right. problem is, she can only resist for so long. elena's capital sin is not pride, and she does love her little furball. they've bonded a lot ok, don't judge. ]

Have you seen my cat?

[ what are the chances of elena texting her again if katherine doesn't reply? ]

[ she thinks she has more of a chance being elected president tomorrow. ]

No.

[ she didn't even look. oops. ]

[ u g h.

damn you, iskra. ]

You really mean that? [ with katherine, elena can never be too sure, but maybe her instincts were wrong. at least, she can hope. ]

[ … no. ]

[ if katherine turns her head, she'll find the black cat she remembers a little too well sitting and staring at another cat katherine doesn't know at all. she's lying on her bed, a book in front of her, and all she wants to do is forget she hadn't minded having books before her and ink staining her fingertips. ]

Does your cat have your name on it?

[ petty katerina lines are a go!!! ]

[ this part of the conversation will hurt her very soul.

that stupid cat is lucky elena loves it so much. elena nearly pinches the bridge of her nose, and closes her eyes against the graphic visual of katherine laughing at her for this. katherine, not katerina. it wasn't real, and it will do her good to remember katherine would not think twice about skinning her alive. ]

The cat won't answer to her name anymore, only Iskra.

[ "ugh." ]

[ katherine doesn't even say the stupid cat's name to know. of course it's elena's cat. that's the way her life rolls itself out, isn't it? she gets her windswept wild looking thing of a feline monster from a previous life that should never have existed, and it attracts elena's things. ]

[ she wants neither. the black cat can get lost and the other cat that had once been an owl can follow suit. ]

I have to hand it to myself, I do know how to name things.

[ let's opt for a non-answer. ]

[ before this event, elena didn't know a lick of bulgarian. now that it's finished, she isn't anywhere close to being fluent, but she can understand it. certain things stick with her, like how much she loved lamb stew, and how their pets wouldn't listen to anything unless it was spoken in the petrova mother tongue. it's nothing elena ever thought about if she could help it. she is a gilbert. she rejected the petrova legacy, along with the flemming legacy, long ago.

it leads to a life of running. it leads to vampirism. all things elena does not want.

and now she's damnably curious, in spite of herself. now she wonders where she truly came from. ]

You're not going to tell me, are you? [ she doesn't even know katherine's room number. ]

What do I get if I tell you? A humanitarian award?

[ brb rofl ]

[ the last thing katherine needs is someone informing her of what a good deed she's done, returning a stupid cat back to its owner. isn't that how it always is with elena? she breathes right, she wins a trophy for it. it's so patronising, being praised for something she would've done centuries ago for it being the right thing to do. ]

[ but that's what katerina would've done. fed it, kept it company, ensured it was healthy and well-looked after before she searched for its owner. what katherine does is ignore it, and hopes it'll fall from a tree or find its own way home without bothering her. instead, two cats lie on her floor, and she's annoyed by the possibility of them leaving fur behind. ]

[ especially the black one. she refuses to remember its name. ]

[ wonderland, give her patience.

it would be all too easy to engage in a bickering spat with katherine, but elena has no desire to. she isn't looking to go to katherine with pitch forks and she isn't particularly searching for the goodness in katherine. she saw it in katerina, but katerina is long gone now. ]

No, Katherine. You get a needy cat off your hands.

[ everybody wins. ]

[ she knows she could milk this a little more, but there's nothing of elena's katherine wants. if anything, she wants to be left alone with no reminder of how she'd felt. it's been an impossibly long while since katherine's felt anything close to whole and happy — and speaking to elena right now stings. ]

[ it isn't because of their relationship they'd had that makes her repulsed by the mere notion of talking to her. it's the relationship that had died with a human boy on a date katherine had learned from a headstone that has her wanting to rip her own skin off. the stupid cat that the closet had supplied her with is akin to pouring numerous bottles of alcohol on an open wound. ]

Tea Room, Third Floor. 5 minutes or the cat learns to fly.

[ elena closes her eyes in acquiesced relief.

she'd much rather focus on the safe exchange of her cat than the event they both lived. as complicated as her feelings for katherine are though, elena wants the same thing, strangely enough. peace. they've been leaving the other be, and if it wasn't for this event, that likely would've continued to be true.

not wasting any time, she arrives at the tea room a minute too soon. ]

[ katherine makes herself comfortable in a chair by a table. with her legs crossed, she ignores both cats. the one she's unfortunately most familiar with sits on the table closest to the entrance to the tea room, tail sweeping along the surface as she stares and stares. vasilka looks as windswept and heavy with fur as ever. ]

[ the other's in her lap, and she's doing her best to not touch it at all. it's the first time katherine pierce will ever look like she's not comfortable — elbows pressed against the arm rest of her chair with a beast that's trying to wrap itself around her. she's the monster most stories speak of, but she refuses to toss this fur ball from her lap as though it may give her something if she so much as brushes its fur with her arms. ]

[ she expects to find iskra, but when elena steps into the tea room slightly breathless, it's another cat that greets her. a cat that always looks like she's been struck by lighting, black hair untamable and eyes wild. elena's reaction, then, is thoughtless, spontaneous, and sincere. ]

Vasilka?

[ when did katherine get vasilka?

she is taken aback by this, but not enough to notice her cat is comfortably curled up on katherine's lap. that in itself is another shock, and not because it's katherine pierce. iskra can be a prickly and doesn't like the company of just anyone. the only one to win her heart fully so far is damon. ]

[ vasilka stares, the ever hospitable creature she is. her tail stills, as if she understands, and her stare remains unwavering. it's almost like time stands still before her tail begins sweeping again, then she's leaping off the table to draw a figure eight with her paws around elena's legs. ]

[ katherine, in the meantime, groans, and throws her head back in a manner that's all too familiar. how many times had someone searched for her and found vasilka guarding her like a shadow instead? it's a name she loathes and it's one she hates being reminded of, wishing the damn cat would tumbleweed out of wonderland. ]

I'll tell you what. [ she leaves her head hanging over the back of the chair, turning to look toward the entrance. she still refuses to touch the cat in her lap. ] Get rid of that thing and you can have this one back unharmed.

[ elena tentatively scoops vasilka up into her arms, remembering just how much the cat liked to claw her arms when they were ... well, when they were in hogwarts. she turns to katherine with an expression that's filled with pure confusion. ] You want me to what?

[ she glances back at the cat, bewildered. ]

Why? This 'thing' belongs to you. [ more over, vasilka has claimed her. getting rid of her will be nigh impossible. ]

No it doesn't. It never has and it never will.

[ it's quick and emotional, incredibly unlike the composed katherine who weighs every word and every tone like it's a diamond. katherine turns her head just as quickly so she doesn't have to look at them. vasilka doesn't belong to her. doesn't elena get it? she belongs to someone who is dead — who never should've had the chance to live to that point in her life, anyway. ]

[ vasilka doesn't even act offended. her paws remain on elena's arms, claws out, but she doesn't sink them in. it's almost as though she's waiting for some cue to do so. she does let her tail sweep against her side, though — a nice hard thwack, repeating like a pendulum. ]

[ vasilka even begins to purr — a sign that often alluded to trouble whenever aleksander wasn't around to bring out her inner softie. ]

[ is she sure about that?

because elena isn't sure about that. she gently places vasilka back on the ground to see where she heads next. her money is in katherine's direction. elena, for her part, smacks her own thigh with a hand to call her own cat over. ] Iskra, ela tuk.

[ iskra is at least smart enough to know elena means business, hoping off of katherine's lap, albeit reluctantly. ]

Did you really hate the event that much? [ it shouldn't sting, but it does a little. she wants to shed elena petrova as much as katherine wants to forget katerina, but hogwarts has left her with instincts she can't rip out of her. not entirely. ]

[ katherine doesn't need to think about it. the way her expression grows stony says enough. ] Yes.

[ but she doesn't feel like elaborating. katherine never has. being thrown back into the life that never should've been and was always meant to remain within the ashes of her childhood home isn't pleasant. she doesn't want it — the feelings she had, the people who aren't accessible anymore. the event had brought the past back to life, and katherine finds wonderland to be very, very cruel. ]

[ vasilka takes a great leap to sit on a chair before stretching her thick-furred body onto the table to begin licking from a saucer. ]

[ it shouldn't be surprising that she only gets a one-worded response.

she is speaking to the elusive katherine pierce, after all.

and what can elena say? there's too much bad blood between them to offer anything close to comfort, and katherine wouldn't want it, anyway. it still doesn't sit right with elena to just leave things here. ] She isn't going away. [ vasilka, elena, katherine herself. whether they like it or not, wonderland has them in its clutches. ] You might as well find a way to make her yours on your terms. [ it might be the only thing she can do. ]

Thank you for the unnecessary advice.

[ katherine's tone remains acidic. her expression's no longer the picture perfect fake friendliness she often exudes in public. vasilka's a mere shadow of what katherine's been trying to outrun, and she hates everything associated with her for sinking its claws back into her for a very short, yet crucial, amount of time. ]

[ no one understands just how hurt she is by wonderland's cruel game, and she refuses to identify the feeling that's been weighing her down as that. ]

Do yourself a favour and forget everything about Hogwarts. [ she turns her gaze away from elena, deciding to pick up a butter knife resting by her plate. the collected katherine pierce appears once more, even though there's sharp, angry edges to her now. she's still emotionally angry. ] I wouldn't want it to ruin a face as pretty as yours by worrying over it.

[ elena isn't easily riled up by katherine's words, nor is she easily intimidated.

if anything, elena feels sad for her.

katherine's spent so many centuries running, elena isn't sure if she knows how to do anything else. elena is no stranger to wonderland's cruelty, and the tricks it likes to play on them; it's made her care about the two people who've hurt her the most. forced her to see them in a light that's too human, in all its vicious and raw angles. compassion isn't a bottomless well, but it's bone deep, and elena is calm while katherine lets her sharp edges cut her.

she won't forget, and katherine won't, either. does she really need to say it out loud? ]

She won't bother you anymore. [ iskra. and maybe elena isn't just talking about her cat. for some reason, katherine has called a ceasefire, and elena is too tired and too relieved to question it. she can't forget, but she can at least leave katherine be, as katherine has left her. ]

[ katherine's discomfort eats away any response she has. she stands, vasilka appearing from underneath her chair. for all the work she's done in trying to clean up her own mess, wrap up the bow of her life and also lock away katerina, she can't quite escape it now. wonderland now knows her weakness and she doesn't expect it not to use it against her. ]

[ it's a playing card she had thought she'd burned along with her childhood home long ago, but now it's a raw, open wound she doesn't quite know how to stitch up. no one can help her but herself, but katherine has always done things on her own. her hogwarts counterpart hadn't been any different, refusing to let those people of her life in when she could have used their help. that refusal to reach out had been born of pride, but also a sense of not wishing to burden anyone with the responsibility of caring for her. ]

[ ignoring the cat that remains as a shadow to her, she acts more poised than she was before. ] I'm late for a very important date.

[ she makes to leave, vasilka trailing behind her — but vasilka doesn't leave without first brushing against elena's legs and meowing kindly at iskra. once katherine's out of that tea room, she finds she can breathe again — but just barely. ]

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