clawmarked.

Ajax tilted his head to the side, thinking it over. "I suppose it depends on the dead in question. I'm not great with the afterlife though, that's Bea. I just do Past." He didn't really mind as she spat insults at him and jeered. She reminded him of an angry wet cat. They could hurt, but Ajax wasn't sure she would. "Did you not die in a fall the first time?" He shrugged. "Sorry, I'm normally better at details. But that doesn't make it any less brave to get up and do it all again, even if you don't like to think about it that way."

"no." winnie said outright. the first death was not one that she spoke candidly about with any sort of frequency. the people who knew about the fall heard from snarky passing comments or rumors that spread about the unhinged dragon girl. otherwise the only way to know about it was if you had a ticket to the show. "I did not die the first fucking time." she seethed. "and bravery is what peons who gather together in droves desperate to celebrate mediocrity praise as if temporarily overcoming a fear you still have is some sort of feat. without fear, there is no bravery by definition. so do not lump me in with the likes of silly little knights or I'll kill you. then you can see first hand how little bravery it takes to die."

"you have died before?" winnie asked, intrigued by the particular wording of her vexation. in the, albeit deranged, mind of the dragon, that was the only way to feel death completely. she glanced at virgil. "well not you, obviously. didn't you get bodied by the loud black?" something about the macabre twins was eerily familiar to her in the same way that damocles was. "does being overwhelmed fucking frighten you? unsettle you? have you got a wee headache or are you battling full demons in there?"

where: outside the drawing room who: open

winnie had become unsettled since witnessing her own death... again. her sharp eyes were wide and jumped about the environment with erratic anxiety. "I don't think it is intentional at all." there was a dark humor in the sentiment. "there is no great mastermind. no fucking 'they' to make such decisions." her attention turned to the silhouette of cassandra as well and studied the specter with rapt amusement. "this is all just your typical random chaos."

open; masquerade

"don't tell me what to fucking do, boy." winnie said to the spit of ghost as she approached bea in spite of his warning and with the same deference she gave to one of her beasties when they were upset. "speak your mind."

Ajax watched the Past play out above them. The one who spoke clearly felt something about this all. It must be Past them, up on that railing. “It depends, I guess, on what you mean by that. It’s all Past here, I reckon. And the Past holds the emotions of whoever lived it. Is that you? That’s very brave, what you did. Even if it kills you the first time.”

"what do the dead have to fear?" what did winnie have to fear? nothing. everything was hers for the taking, even life, as long as she wasn't scared of going through any lengths to possess it. that was how this whole thing worked. "the first time? ha. you really think that killed me the first fucking time? imbecile. I fell for a lifetime before that. bravery had nothing to do with it." winnie sneered at the word like it was a toxin.

"Sure, tell me you secret." His affect remained flat, even if his interest was piqued slightly, and his arm relaxed across her shoulder where it rested, tugging them both in the direction that he thought might lead toward a kitchen, even if he truly had no idea where he was going. "Kitchen first, always. People hide their best ingredients in kitchens. Plain sight."

winnie lifted a single finger, feel free to guess which one, and stuck it underneath the lip of her mask beneath her eye. she slowly slid it up to scratch her eye duct then up to run along her eyebrow from underneath that mask. "as long as your intention is not to remove the mask, you can do whatever the fuck you want with it." there was complex magic in play here. it absolutely titillated her. "do you think people actually live here?"

"Hell. I'm in hell." Dam's expression completely slackened under the mask, flat and unaffected as he watched her mechanical hand reach out. Stuff of nightmares, truly, but he took it anyway, an instinct and a gut reaction that he wondered if was somehow pavlovian. "I wasn't transported here with my usual arsenal, so if we're going to try and pull tricks like we did at school, I'm going to have to find somewhere to brew a few things."

"hell is hotter." winnie's smile widened. her grip tightened against his hand and she spun under his arm like a jagged ballroom dancer until her mouth was poised right next to his ear. "are you ready to know a secret I already riddled out for you?" honestly, she didn't understand why he wasn't having a good time for any other reason than damocles simply needed to bitch in order to sustain and maintain his brooding, pretentious little spirit. or whatever it was that lit up his eyes. it was akin to how sometimes winnie just needed to fuck shit up. "dungeon or kitchen then?" she pressed.

"My free will is mine and I don't like it taken from me." Dam reached up, tugging at the lower half of the mask in an attempt to pull it off. The vision on this thing was low, and the way it covered his mouth made him uneasy. "We've been on so many vacations, Winnie, are you saying that not one of them was nice? I want to go home."

"your free will has not been taken from you. the environment in which you express that will has been altered. that does not mean you cannot figure out how to do as you like. we just have to outsmart a fucking charm." she grinned in that wicked way winnie had where her teeth caught the light in a glimpse of unsettlingly unhinged. "egypt was fine. the rest have lacked the decadence of ghosts or mummies. I do fancy la danse macabre." she held her mechanical hand out for him to take. "so quit bitching. no one cares if you want to go home. I want to fucking figure this place out, and only one of those desires is possible presently which means we're doing mine. let's go."

"I didn't consent to this riddle. I was forced into this riddle. And I want this fucking mask off my face. It itches." Dam's voice was a low grumble, back pressing against the dusty wall behind him as his arms folded across his chest. "Of course you love it. You're a shade of psychotic that can't be captured with natural light."

winnie face scrunched up under her mask in distaste. "since when do you care about consent? and no it fucking doesn't." her own mask was sleek, leather and smooth against her brow and cheekbone with the extra embellishment of silver scales around her left eye. "if you aren't going to cum, take the stick out of your ass, dam. let's have a nice vacation for once."

open; masquerade

"why the fuck would you want to get out of this? isn't it a fucking treat? we are in a riddle!" winnie cackled with electric delight. "I love it!"

A distant part of Rosie’s brain wondered if she’d ever be able to walk to work again after this. The bigger part of her was busy panicking. All she could do was run and hope that she could find a way to make it stop.

what did winnie want? that was a question. she wanted freedom. she wanted gold. she wanted a goddamn challenge. she wanted danger. she wanted to be rid of the inconvenience of fear again. she wanted fire. she wanted power. she screamed and slammed a mechanical hand against the stone wall. "I just want."

Rosie let out a strangled scream, tumbling backwards. She had to get out. Going forward wasn't an option, it would take her past this woman. So Rosie turned, stumbling, and fled down the alley and out into the street. She was in Knockturn now. Wonderful, she didn't know this place at all. "Can't y-you leave me a-alone?" She begged.

ah, the cries of the terrified sang like a jarring melody in winnie's ears. it felt good- static rippling over her skin. she cackled. "I can!" her voice bounced off the stone alleyway and echoed down the dim path. she started a steady pace towards the prey, wand dragging and bouncing against the walls. "but I don't want to. so the real question is: can you fucking make me?"

Rosie scrambled back to her feet, knees bleeding from the pavement, panic rising in her throat. She had never been able to run fast and the fear made her sense of direction worse. The best she could do was duck behind a stack of bins in a nearby alley, one hand clasped over her mouth.

winnie didn't run. there was not really a need. this little one wasn't a track star. "oh, no no no. I am not playing hide and seek. the name of the fucking game is chase." she pointed her wand at the lid of the bin and blasted it off with a red jet of magic. "run, bitch!"