margenes | · OPEN POST ·

I will. I just...

[Have to lean into him again, hug him, remind herself that--somehow--he's here. She can feel him breathe. He's warm. If she stays still enough, she can feel his heartbeat.]

I missed you all the time, Pietro.

[he allows it, these pockets of space that she needs to get her thoughts together, and he's all the more happy to be the target of her hugs. hugging her right back, he presses his cheek to the top of her head.]

I know.

[it eats at him how alone she must have felt, and how he was not there for her. he should have been a little more selfish, knowing that his life was not his own to give away in a flurry of heroism.]

But you do know I haven't showered in a few days, yes?

[bringing one hand up to her face, he looks down at her as he caresses her cheek.]

You can tell me later. I can do my best to be patient. [and they both know he sucks at that] What you need is more important to me, Wanda.

I know. You stink.

[It's a soft, watery laugh against him.]

You should take a bath. It'll help you feel better. Get you comfortable.

[He's a mess. She's a mess, but at least she's clean and smells like tea and grass, not sweat and dirt.]

[an eyeroll from his behalf, but her response wasn't entirely unexpected.]

I don't imagine you have clothes for me in here. [he glances about] Is there warm water or it has to be boiled in kettle?

I do.

[She can have anything she can conjure. Just don't wander too far from her or the little bubble she lives in.]

And I have hot water. Do you think I want to live like that?

Then what am I waiting for sitting here like a dirty baby?

[upwards he goes, gently jostling his sister off of him, using the back of the couch to hold himself up. stopping movement altogether makes his muscles seize up a lot; it's better than before, but it's still very bothersome.]

Who knows, though. This looks like a prison retreat. Show me where everything is.

[Very rude when she's still very much in shock. Wanda grunts, standing up and moving to take his arm.]

Slow down.

[She knows, she knows. Not his style.]

This way.

[Down the hall that maybe wasn't there when they first entered. But hey, at the end of it, after a door or two, there's a sizable bathroom.]

I'll make you pay for being rude once you don't look so pitiful.

[he kisses the top of her head again as they walk down the hall, a way to show his appreciation for the fact that she's bearing with him through all this.

it doesn't stop him from noticing that... hm—] This place looks bigger from the inside. [he turns around, then forward again.] You're doing something, aren't you?

[grinning, as if to say he doesn't really care to know.]

Listen, it is not my intent to look pitiful. I want to be in excellent shape again more than anyone else, trust me.

[Wanda doesn't need to confirm, but she does give him a little tip of her head. Of course she's doing something.]

Not more than me.

[She wants him to be healthy and well and clean and looking like the brother that didn't break her heart. On the bathroom counter, there's a folded stack of clothing. All for him, in his size, like it's always been sitting there. Waiting.]

Will you be okay on your own?

[he's in the bathroom already, going for the folded clothes to see what he's got to work with. it's surprisingly something he would pick for himself; comfort clothes for home, too. at her question, he leaves the clothes where they were and turns back around to her, putting hands on her cheeks and pressing a kiss to her forehead.]

I have not forgotten how to shower. Don't worry.

[ushering her out, he'll close the door and start about with cleaning up; without a shirt, he can see that his chest is already bruising (thanks, fast metabolism and body response to trauma) from his fall, and he knows he'll feel much better after a hot shower. which he takes (at max speed), changes into a new, fresh set of threads, and does actually take his time to both shave, comb his hair, and brush his teeth. how did any of these things make it here?

surely magic.

pietro steps back outside into the hallway feeling a lot more refreshed and all too curious to look around.]

Wanda?

[She lingers outside the door for a few moments. It's still unreal to her, but she's seen remarkable, unexplainable things in her life. She's capable of things remarkable and unexplainable with a flick of her wrist.

Still--

Good things don't tend to last, for her.

But Pietro is safe and bathing, and Wanda steps away to go into one of the recently made rooms. There's a bed for him, some more clothes in a dresser, and she's in the process of making the bed the old fashioned way when he calls out.]

I'm in here.

[Putting a pillowcase on his pillow. How domestic.

But she had loved that, in Westview. Dearly.]

[she follows her voice and sees the utter domesticity of it all.]

I even get a pillow? Lucky me.

[he uses his super speed to rush to her side, wrapping his arms around his sister in a tight embrace. pietro is feeling a little more like himself; cleans and refreshed, although bruised and exhausted from his long journey to find wanda.]

I'm all clean. Better, yes?

[Of course he gets a pillow. He can have every comfort Wanda's been spoiled with since Sokovia and then some. But she feels spoiled by the fact that her other half is hugging her, and it takes her breath away.

She hugs him as tightly as she's able, breathing him in. Nicer, now that he's clean.]

Better.

[Her sigh is low and long.]

You're real. You're really here.

How much longer until you believe I am not a ghost? [an afterthought—] I would be a very handsome ghost.

[smiling at his own humor (is it humor, pietro? is it?), he lets go so that he can sit on the bed, noting how it's the perfect amount of soft it should be. he grabs at the pillow she was working on and finishes putting it inside the pillowcase, then setting it down.

pietro turns to his sister, takes her hands in his.]

How much of this [this house, this situation] are you making? Is it your powers?

[She had hoped he would be a ghost, once. That way, she wouldn't be so terribly alone--but she never saw him from the corner of her eye, or heard him in the still quiet of the night. It was disappointing.

Wanda looks at their hands, watching her thumbs run over his warm skin, then looks at his face.]

The remains of the porch and the main room were here when I found it. I've done the rest.

[Walls, roof, floors, furniture, lighting, plumbing.]

There was something in us all along, Pietro. It's why we were able to survive the stone.

Cool.

[it's the first thing he says, because hell yeah it's cool that his sister can just make these things become a reality. it doesn't even feel like it isn't, were it not for the fact that he is inside a cabin that should be a lot smaller than what he's seeing.

he allows her to do with his hands as she wills, glancing back at her.]

Something in us. Something special?

[Cool. Most would find this terrifying, especially after Westview--and she might, a little. She has no idea what her limits are. It's why she's out here, away from people she can hurt.

But Pietro always knows how to make her smile despite herself.]

Yeah. I met a witch. She seemed to believe there's was always something innate in me. And if that's true for me, it's true for you, and it would explain why we survived.

It was very lucky for us then, yes?

[he puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezes gently and keeps it there.]

Was she scary? [the witch] We heard so many stories as kids. Did she see how great you are?

[She reaches up to rest her hand over his.]

She wasn't scary. She talked too much.

[Agatha feared her, in the end. Called her cruel. Maybe she is.]

She won't bother us.

[something happened there, didn't it? pietro wishes to push for more information, but wanda is finally talking, and he doesn't want to make her shy away from talking to him.

he takes her hand again.]

Did she hurt you?

We fought. [She tips her head slightly, with a faint smile to match.] I won. I think she'll be helpful, in the future, but for now she's living the life she wanted.

[Sort of. It's better than killing her, and Wanda does owe her some thanks. She'd have no idea about the Scarlet Witch if not for her infiltrating Westview.]

No one will ever hurt either of us, Pietro. I promise.

[when they promise each other something, it means something. he knows she means it, but there's still so much—

no, he shouldn't push anything from her.]

I'm proud of you.

[why wouldn't he be? it's clear that she's grown so much in all this time. he leans back a little bit, humming and making a face like he isn't entirely too pleased about something.]

But, see, I know I am not as strong and handsome as before, [he means all this muscle he's lost and how he isn't at his best] and it is starting to sound like my little sister doesn't need me to look after her anymore.

[is he pouting a bit? no, absolutely not.]

[She doesn't. She doesn't need Pietro, or Steve, or Vision. Not with the power she has now. But the words get Wanda's eyes glassy again, and she could cry, but she smiles instead as she cups her brother's cheek.]

I want you to look after me. You'll get stronger, in time, and you'll be yourself again.

[They always took care of one another.]

A lot has changed, but I still need you.

[it does make him feel better, despite himself. he doesn't ever want to see his sister cry, even if there is an inevitability to it; they're human (special as they may be), so it's only natural.]

So not everything is changed.

[there's a smile on his face, and he hugs her again. it's not one-sided, the love they have for each other, and pietro isn't the embarrassed brother when it comes to showing it.]

I'm okay with you looking after me, too. Will it include breakfast in bed?

[Wanda would never stop hugging him if she could. Each time she takes a deep breath and memorizes how he feels. He feels right.]

Yes. [She'll give him anything he wants, even if he's joking.] At least as long as you're recovering.

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