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[ 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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