Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 24 - Cross Your Mind

"Think you can try to move that block for me?"

The two young women sat across from each other, cross-legged. They had chosen Wanda's cot rather than the freezing cold concrete floor. After all, Wanda was still only dressed in that thin cotton dress, and let's just say that the draught traveling over the ground made even Keira shiver.

Between them lay a three-by-three-inch wooden cube. Or, a block, as Keira called it. It reminded her of those building blocks they give to babies to try and improve their dexterity. Another of Wanda's gifts had presented itself a couple of days ago; telekinesis.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise really. Telekinesis usually accompanied telepathy, or at least when it came to mutants that were born with the gift. How did they find out about it? Just like with her brother, it had been a food-related incident. She had accidentally thrown her food tray off her bed without ever touching it, splattering her food all over the floor and walls.

"I- I don't know how."

"Hey, it's okay." Keira put out a hand to touch Wanda's shoulder, wanting to give some sort of reassurance, but the brunette flinched at the touch, causing her to retract it. She had to keep reminding herself that the woman sitting across from her wasn't the same person she used to know. No longer a carefree little girl, but instead, a person gone through traumas. Same but different. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She said gently, picking up the block and turning it over in her hand.

Wanda shook her head, scrambling for an excuse. "No, you didn't, I just..."

"No need to explain it, Wanda." Keira interrupted, ignoring the stab of hurt in her chest. Again, she was almost like a stranger to Wanda, so who was she to blame her for not wanting any body contact? After all, Keira was practically like her prison guard here, and what prisoner in history didn't despise their guardian?

"There's just too much noise." Wanda confessed quietly, momentarily meeting Keira's gaze before it flickered down to the block in her hands again.

"In your head?"

"Yeah." The brunette nodded. "It gets louder when you touch me." She kept observing the block but as if she realized what she had said, she quickly added, "O- Or anyone really."

"I see..." Keira pressed her lips together, thinking hard. Her method of trying to repress the voices wasn't exactly winning the race for her, but maybe some of her previous tactics might help Wanda? "I'm by no means an expert, but maybe I could help bring a little peace and quiet."

Wanda didn't make a sound, but she looked up at Keira, her eyes wide. Maybe there was a chance? But she didn't dare hope yet.

Keira looked down at the block in her hands, chewing the inside of her cheek as she tried to find the right words. "Think of it this way... The outside world is a mess, right? And the only place where you can find peace is inside your own mind, or at least, that's how it used to be before." She tore her gaze away from the block and met the emerald eyes for just a moment before gazing down again. 

"I don't know how much our powers differ, as I highly doubt they are exact copies of each other. Like, I know for sure that I don't have telekinesis, or I'd never leave my couch back home ever again." It was a bad attempt at a joke, and she didn't expect Wanda to respond to it, but when she glanced up, she saw the corners of the brunette's lips twitch slightly. "Anyhow..." She continued, having to shake herself mentally to keep her focus. "The best way I can describe it is like... I can feel other people's thoughts above me. Kinda like a great, leafy foliage, but instead of leaves falling down, vines slither down from it. And all they want is to be heard, to be understood. And to not let myself get too tangled in them, I try to imagine my own mind as a room. Just a simple room."