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[ 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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