Measuring

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Sometimes, it wasn't a bad thing to keep your ear to the ground. Elsa didn't put too much stock in rumors, but she definitely paid attention to her various friends and allies. She also kept close tabs on her sister, though she knew that Erika wanted to move away from her as best as possible. Elsa could understand that drive: she had it herself to some degree, but she also knew that the two of them needed each other, and no moreso than now.

This brought Elsa into the room that Erika had turned into a workspace. That was definitely the advantage of living in a mansion: there were literally rooms that you could transform into whatever suited your needs. Elsa figured that bringing up their dresses and sort of casually emphasizing that should be a good distraction, or at least as good a reason to draw Erika out of hiding as she could potentially find.

"So where is she?" Elsa murmured, looking around, wondering if her sister was hiding behind some fabric or had seriously decided not to come out for Elsa's little ploy. If it was the latter, then, well, they'd played hide and seek in this house before. It just got a lot easier when one of you could read minds.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

She heard the familiar voice and turned slightly as her brows furrowed. Stepping to the side, Erika's head poked over the corner of the small broom closet she'd cleared and pursed her lips. "Here she is," she replied, her eyebrow quirking slightly. Grabbing the roll of fabric, Erika ventured into the bigger room in which her sister now stood. She offered her sister a quick smile before she walked over to the desk where the sowing machine stood. She leaned the row of fabric against the wall and sat down on the chair. Spinning it around, she folded her hands in her lap and looked at her sister.

"Come to check up on your dress?" she asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. In all honesty, Erika didn't know why Elsa was here. It wasn't like Elsa really doubted Erika's ability to make a dress, and she saw no other reason for her to check up on her. Erika was fine. She was always fine. Though, maybe her sister was bored and just wanted some company, but even that seemed a little out of place.

For now though, Erika would play along. Even she had to admit that this whole thing was a little amusing - how and why, she didn't know. It just was. Leaning back in her chair, Erika's fingers rested idly against her toned stomach. Her head tilted slightly. "I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. You won't get to see it until it's done," she mused.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

There she was. Elsa turned to her sister, nodding in greeting and in acknowledgment of Erika coming out and moving. Her attention remained on Erika while the twin came around to the machine. Erika looked an odd combination of totally out of place and totally comfortable there, surrounded as she was by all the fabric swatches and bits. This was apparently some variation of the life she wanted though, which might explain why she looked more comfortable.

"Yes, you're keeping me in suspense," Elsa replied at the question, looking to meet her sister's gaze. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that the two of them had a conversation underneath a conversation. Sometimes they communicated best that way.

Elsa ended up tsking her tongue and shaking her head. "Disappoint me? For shame, Erika. And here I thought you were some sort of expert. Is something taking up your time? I know that finals can be rather... distracting," Elsa said it casually, even walking over to run her fingers over the fabric. Some she recognized from their excursion, but there was quite a lot here, enough to leave Elsa feeling somewhat impressed.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Turning her head again, Erika looked at her sister for a brief moment. She caught onto the hidden meaning behind her question and it had her brows furrowing. "Just been busy," she replied with a shrug. Of course, she didn't much bother throwing a playful jab back. In all fairness, she didn't see the point. She watched her sister as she drew closer and offered her a small smile. "I still have some finishing touches to do on your dress before it's ready," she offered with a shrug.

There was the whole fitting thing too, but she didn't need her sister for that, for obvious reasons. That was probably one of the better things about being identical twins. The whole having the same face and body surely did help making her sister dresses a whole lot easier. And it also meant she could save the surprise for when the dress was actually finished. Thankfully, Elsa had come during a time where the dress itself wasn't out for display.

"It should be done soon," she added. "Probably the day before prom." She turned her head then and looked back at her sister. She wondered why she'd come. Of course, there was plenty of reasons, but she doubted one of them were that she was checking up on the dress. She trusted Erika; if she hadn't, she wouldn't have asked her to do this.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Busy. Well, that was a pleasant non-answer. Elsa was tempted to say as much, but she didn't want to quite nudge her sister with that just yet. She would soon, very soon. But for now, she simply nodded along, taking the busy, and taking the bit about how there were still finishing touches to make with the dress. That just made sense to Elsa, after all.

"Well, I would hope it gets finished by prom," Elsa continued dryly. "Otherwise we'd have to summon up some mice and bird to help you finish up." Elsa kept moving, looking at the various fabrics, at everything her sister had gathered. This was part of her new life, her attempts to move forward. It was interesting to see it all lined up like this, ready for the viewing.

"Yes, I trust you," Elsa said, having picked up the last few bits. "And we both know that I'm obviously not just here because of the dress," She looked at her sister, her expression blank. "Should I have brought alcohol this time? I was thinking we were beyond that, and I'd rather our getting drunk be a good thing. I've spent enough time drunk and sorry to last me for the rest of my natural life."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Grinning, Erika turned her head to look at her sister. "Smart thinking," she said as she tapped her temple with the tip of her index finger. "I'll keep an eye out for those birds." In the world of mutants, Erika had learned that anything was possible. Heck, all they would need was someone who could either control or communicate with animals, and voila. They could fill an entire workshop. It was amusing, but would probably be very messy, what with feathers and poop everywhere.

Flinching visibly, Erika's gaze averted. Her head then shook as she stepped away; it became achingly obvious exactly why her sister was there, and it was one of those things Erika would rather forget about completely. "Finishing the dress with alcohol in my system doesn't sound like a very good plan," she deflected. No, that was hardly the reason. Erika hadn't touched alcohol since that night at the club, and she didn't see herself doing it anytime soon.

Holding up a piece of fabric, Erika absentmindedly examined it; of course she'd ignored everything else her sister had said. Elsa had probably heard the whispers. Despite Erika not remembering much of the night, there had been plenty of people around from what she'd been told, and well, some of them had to know either her, the people she'd been with, or attended the school in some way or manner.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"Thinking is a specialty," Elsa replied dryly. She kept her attention on Erika, watching, noticing all the little signs that said that something wasn't quite even with her. Yes, Elsa had heard the rumors, the whispers, the bits and pieces. She had enough contacts to let her know when something was happening, and there were even a few people who'd asked her if it had been her.

There were bits that Elsa didn't know, and she had long ago learned not to simply take what other people said about her and her family at face value. No, she wanted to hear it from her sister direction, really learn what was going on here. But instead Erika was moving along, rolling with the joke, offering it up. Elsa watched for a few more moments, watched her sister walk through fabrics and study them as though that motion would cause the conversation to fall apart around them.

"I really should be insulted," Elsa said flatly, not moving closer to her sister just yet. "You used to do this when we were much younger, and you know perfectly well that I can read minds and that I listen," Elsa paused for a moment, looking away. "Erika, you know I'm here for you. Just because you want to be alone doesn't mean you should be without support. I tried that once," Elsa lowered her gaze. "It didn't work out well for me. And we're not that different, not when you strip away layers..."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Drawing her breath, Erika sighed as she finally turned to meet her sister's gaze. Yes, Elsa could read minds, and yes, she did listen. And yes, she was right; Erika wanted to crawl away and be alone, because that was exactly what Erika did when something bad happened. She crawled into her cave to lick her wounds, and then she managed to suppress everything and got back onto her feet. It wasn't a healthy process, of course, but it worked.

Of course, Elsa would have none of it.

"Why don't you just ask what it is that you want to know then?" she replied, averting her gaze as she continued running the tips of her fingers over the various fabrics in front of her.

Erika already knew what this was going to be about. It wasn't something she wanted to talk about. Simply because she didn't know how she felt about it. But Elsa was here for a reason, so Erika figured she might as well humor her sister. It wasn't like she had any reasons to hide or anything. Most people already knew as it was.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Really? Elsa was so tempted to actually say that aloud, to demand to know if her sister was really going to go through with this whole charade. Elsa had the urge to just start ripping into her sister's mind and almost bring the thoughts to the surface. She could actually feel her mind stretching out.

Thankfully, Elsa slapped her own mind at just the right moment. "I've heard that you were drugged," she said flatly. "That someone drugged a drink while you were out enjoying yourself and that you had to be picked up by a bodyguard," there, that was the major thing, or at least the main thing that needed to be mentioned. Elsa could feel her tongue growing heavy with it, and she looked away as she finished, back to the fabrics.

How she hoped she wasn't ruining Erika's safe space by having the conversation here. Maybe she should offer to have them change locations...?

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Exhaling sharply, Erika's gaze dropped. There it was. So, she'd been right. Pulling out a chair, Erika spun it around and sat down. Leaning back, she crossed her feet and her arms. She remained quiet for a few seconds as she ran through the lines of the conversation she'd had once she'd woken up. "I was," she finally said. "Drugged, or roofied, or whatever you want to call it." She licked her bottom lip.

"Someone put something in my drink while I wasn't looking. By the time I got to my feet, the effects had already started kicking in, and I felt a lot drunker than I was supposed to."

The memory was hazy. She remembered getting up and running into Drew's friend. But from there, things only got cloudier and cloudier. "A friend of Drew's, his bodyguard or whatever was there, so nothing really bad happened. He managed to get me out of the club by the time I passed out. He called Drew, and they got me out of there." It was such a sterile, clinical answer, but really, she didn't even remember most of it.

All she had was what she'd been told, and she hadn't exactly asked for any of the gritty details.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

There it was. Elsa stood silently, looking to her sister. Elsa knew full well that Erika buried things: that was her defense mechanism to some degree. She'd buried the whole kidnapping ordeal so deep that it had taken deep excavation and intervention to pull it out. Was that was happening now, with this? Elsa couldn't help but feel like this was along those lines.

Put something in her drink, felt drunker. Hazy memory. And there was something about a friend of Drew's. Elsa didn't want to think about what that implied. Had Drew sicced one of his "business associates" on her sister? Or was this someone who he truly trusted, someone who was to Drew what Roxana was to Elsa? Elsa couldn't help but wonder, but she also knew that those ideas would have to be tabled, that there was something more they had to dig into for now.

"That sounds rather harrowing," she commented. She took a step closer to her sibling, pausing. "Erika, is that all there is to the story...?" She let it sit there, trying to let Erika fill in the empty space, the silence.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Drawing her breath, Erika shrugged her shoulder. "I don't really remember anything," she admitted. Try as she might, most of the evening was nothing more than blackness. "I remember the guy, Drew's friend, approached me. At first, he came off as really creepy, but then he said something about this guy..." She narrowed her eyes as she tried remembering the events that had occurred. "And something about how my drink had been spiced." She shook her head. The frustration was obvious in her eyes.

"They got into a fight. By the time the fight ended, Drew had already showed up." She shrugged faintly at that. Drew had obviously been both pissed of and scared out of his mind. She couldn't really blame him. Hadn't it been for Alistair, things could have...

"They got me checked up," she tossed a glance at Elsa. "And by the time I woke up, I was with Drew and he told me about what had happened." That part she remembered vividly though. She was actually a little glad she couldn't remember most of it. Maybe it was simply better that way. It had been uncomfortable enough to hear the story the day after, let alone actually experiencing it.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

A drawn in breath, a shrug, and more words came. Elsa listened, even though she could almost feel her mind running across the words as they came out. She hadn't meant to do it on purpose: it just sort of happened. The emotional link between them was just to strong. At least Elsa was just riding along the top line of thoughts, following the flow of Erika's words in a way that wouldn't be all that noticeable unless Erika purposefully looked for it.

Approached by the "friend," and the more Elsa heard that, the more she wanted to meet this man. Then more talk about the drink, the frustration. Elsa took a few more steps, closing the gap between them, making it even tighter.

A fight, Drew showed up, so at least the friend, Alistair, had contacted them. Then Erika looked to Elsa: she looked down, listened. "Are you--" Elsa began, taking a breath. She looked away for a moment. "These things keep happening to you: it makes me worried. I'm--I wish there was more I could do but..." she looked back to her sister, "you're not... you're not burying this, are you? You did that with what happened before and---and it didn't work. I-I don't want that to happen to you again. You don't deserve it. And if I have to stop you from hurting yourself, well, then, I'm willing to try."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Lifting her gaze, Erika's eyes narrowed slightly as Elsa stumbled through the words she wanted to say. Was she burying it? Not really. After all, she was telling her sister about it, wasn't she? She wasn't deflecting. Was she? "I'm not," she said finally. "I just haven't figured out how I feel about it yet." She shook her head faintly. She wasn't scared, per say. Sure, she didn't touch alcohol and she didn't go out alone, but that was normal, wasn't it? She was well aware that these things didn't happen every time she'd go to club.

It was a one time thing, surely. But it was... Uncomfortable. "I already have an appointment with the counselor," she added, her eyes lifting again. It was one of those actions Erika had forced to take, simply because she didn't want this to become yet another thing on her laundry list. Erika had promised herself to get her shit in order. For herself. For the people around her. And for her relationship.

She didn't want to run away anymore. It was all or nothing. "I think... it's easier to stay disconnected to it, since I can't remember much." Her sister's concerned warmed, and she knew exactly where it came from. It was appreciated.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Not. Elsa couldn't help but want to dig into that word, twist it, toss it, look at it from each and every direction. Was that a not that meant a yes? What kind of... ah, talk about how she didn't know how she felt. That had Elsa nodding. "That's understandable," she said. She took one last step to her sister, close enough now to reach out and touch, though Elsa didn't make the first move.

An appointment with a counselor? That genuinely surprised Elsa. She almost said something about it, just barely stopping herself. "It's good, that you're doing that. We have several good counselors hired now, no thanks to the two of us," that last was something of a light joke, though Elsa did recall receiving Dr. Bae's and at least one more application before she'd stepped down from the position. She at least approved of the current group of them.

"If that's what it takes," Elsa agreed. She took a breath, running a hand through her hair for a moment, letting the curls rustle around her. "I just don't... last time was bad enough. You weren't you after a while, and I don't want that to happen to you again. I---" Elsa shook her head. "No, I don't want to make this about me. I love you too much to do that. Look," she moved to kneel now, eye level with her sister, "if there's anything I can do, anything, just let me know. Even if it's 'never mention this again'. I want to be there for you, Erika. Please let me."