BEAUTIFUL CRIMES ▹ Mama!Nat

NINETEEN. in which there's pride and prey

[ BEAUTIFUL CRIMES ]
chapter nineteen; in which there's pride and prey

❝ I'd like to think some of it came from you. ❞

IT'S QUIET, APART FROM THE LIGHT SCRIBBLING OF PENCILS AGAINST PAPERS.

She doesn't know who left the nature-themed coloring book, or the colored pencils that accompany them. She looks at once of the colors; Tropical Rainforest, Purple Mountains Majesty, Wild Blue Wonder... all of them sound exceptionally juvenile. Still, she finds herself using them anyway. In an oddly domestic way, Adelina feels... calm. Like her mind is a hurricane and coloring calmed the storm. Not that she'd ever publicly admit it.

Someone's walking down the hall. Light steps, slower than normal. Men usually have heavier steps due to the added weight of muscle. Couple that with the fact that testosterone forces them to step loudly in a subconscious way ensure authority and peak masculinity in any given space. No, those steps seem too nice, too soft, too mindful. Slow, cautious, like prey hiding from the predator.

Be the predator.

A knock at the door.

Claim your pre

"...Come in."

Wanda reveals herself sheepishly. There's a slight glimmer of excitement when she sees the pencils in Adelina's hand. "You're using them," The Sokovian girl's tone goes up at the end of her sentence, as if she's asking a question. "Do you like them?"

Adelina says nothing, only giving Wanda a shrug as a response. Wanda's eyes land on Adelina's shortened hair. It looks different. A bit ragged, but still a good type of different. "Are you alright?"

Adelina, again, offers a shrug as a response. Wanda can only emit a sigh before shutting the door behind her. Truthfully, a part of her is telling her to run. That the soulless murderer in front of her is incapable of feeling, that the Black Dahlia doesn't deserve everyone's sympathy. But the other part?

The other part tells her to keep trying.

Wanda knows that she and Adelina are more similar than she cares to admit. Wanda wouldn't want everyone to give up on her. Why should she do the same to Adelina?

She turns to Adelina again. She waits for a moment. Maybe the other girl will lift her head, finally make some real eye contact with her for once. "If I start talking, are you gonna rip my head off?" Wanda asks lowly, tucking her long locks behind her ears. She's surprised when Adelina shakes her head.