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[margenes]

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[redchaos]

We can watch television. Movies. Explore the woods.

[Spook anyone that happens to be out too far from the main roads or trails--]

You're going to tire me out, trying to entertain you, aren't you?

[margenes]

And we scare anyone we find in the woods?

[listen, they may want good things, but pietro is also very familiar with the kind of delight that comes from small things.

also he's kind of immature comparatively.]

Let us cross that bridge when we get there, yes? I am easy to entertain.

[redchaos]

You're putting words in my mouth. [He used to be able to practically read her mind--she wonders if it'll be the same, now. A lot's changed. She's changed. But she returns behind him again to gently grab his hair.]

But you do look very scary, with this mess. You'll make babies cry.

[Babies in the woods. Yes.]

[margenes]

[they have a similar track mind! at least the core of their selves remains the same.]

Babies.

[he tilts his head back.]

I am thinking of other kind of scary, but you want me to be the monster in the woods. It could work.

[redchaos]

I just want you to stay out of trouble. Have fun. Be happy. Not get too bored, out here.

[If some of that includes scaring trespasses now and then, well..]

[margenes]

And what, you will be the spooky [he does those annoying finger wiggles again] witch of the woods? Like Baba Yaga.

[pietro, no—]

[redchaos]

[The look on Wanda's face is best described as 😐, and it's all the warning he gets before she sticks her finger into his ear. A childish tactic, but it would work in the past to annoy him, so out it comes.]

What was that? I didn't hear you.

[She's prettier than an old crone, thank you!!!]

[margenes]

[it's not a good warning! nor a fair one!

he startles at the childish tactic, complaining in sokovian about it, and exerting his superhuman speed to get out of the way.]

You know I don't like that!

[his hands are protectively covering his ears]

[redchaos]

Then don't compare me to Baba Yaga! Or else I'll cook and eat you.

[If she's the older twin now, she doesn't act like it. Being around him makes her act years younger, and she looks it as she huffs and crosses her arms.]

[margenes]

You tell me not to compare but you threaten to cook and eat me. Sounds very Baba Yaga to me!

[this is, in fact, one of the dumber conversations they've had—and it is unmistakably similar to dumb ones they've had before.]

Next you will take off your hands and use them to trip me when I run.

[yeah yeah, joke around about baba yaga, let's see who has a hard time falling asleep without thinking about scary slavic folktales.]

[redchaos]

No, I'd just stick more fingers into your ears. While you run.

[This is absolutely dumb. But.

She's missed it so much.]

[margenes]

You have to catch me first.

[cue him running back and forth around the kitchen using his superhuman speed. is it cheating? it doesn't matter. is it annoying? definitely? he's just going to be a constant blur back and forth.]

[redchaos]

Pietro! Stop that. You need to relax, I'm not going Baba Yaga on you just yet.

[Okay, maybe she didn't miss this part so much.]

Will you just sit down? The food is almost done.

[margenes]

[just like that, at the mention of food, pietro rushes and returns to his seat, like he had never not been on it to begin with.]

I do not like messing with Baba Yaga, you know that.

[he's being silly.

and also trying to catch his breath. wow, that sure took a lot out of him. talk about not being in shape.]

[redchaos]

You're the one trying to summon her.

[Either by inciting her name or frustrating Wanda to the point she becomes her. She frowns at him, breathless--and hands him a cup of water to drink.

She hates seeing him tired like that. It just reminds her of that last day in Sokovia.]

[margenes]

[he gives her a look; he's going to start going all superstitious now, them living in the woods in the middle of nowhere and all that. damn.

he takes the water and drinks it slowly, trying to calm down.]

Do not look at me like that.

[redchaos]

Like what?

[Like she's thinking about the day she felt him leave her? Like she won't be able to handle it if anything happens to him now, no matter how small?

Wanda's about three seconds too late, trying to change her expression into something neutral.]

[margenes]

You know exactly how. Do not play dumb with me when you are a really smart cookie.

[he sets the cup down and waves his hand in the air.]

I do not think it is a conversation you want to have right now.

[redchaos]

Maybe later.

[She sort of never wants to talk about it, but knows they will, eventually. She doesn't know how to not share everything with her brother.

The food saves them this time, at least. A flick of the wrist has their plates dished out. Pietro gets more steak, more potatoes, while Wanda settles for less. Her appetite isn't really there, mixed with the shock, but he needs to eat to regain his strength.]

Anything else?

[margenes]

[he won't push, again. they've got days ahead of them. he doesn't want to ruin reuniting with his sister by focusing on upsetting things. truth be told, the idea of watching tv together and falling asleep to it sounds like a blessing. pietro will have some popcorn, too.]

—looks amazing, Wanda. Priyatnogo.

[pietro won't try to ask for more of this moment, either.

he picks at the fork and knife and starts driving them into the potatoes, biting into the food.]

[redchaos]

Remember, not too fast. It's not going anywhere.

[And he has to be patient with himself and his recovering body.

Wanda knows she can't stare at him while he eats, marveling at the fact that he's alive and well and able to share a meal with her, so she tries to busy herself with her own plate.]

And don't stuff yourself, either.

[margenes]

[just as she says that, he slows down. it was very tempting to expedite the eating process.]

I know. I will take my time to savor magically cooked food.

[but mostly because it's the first proper meal he's had in a while.

he points his fork at her, and while chewing on the steak,]

You eat too.

[redchaos]

[Wanda pointedly shoves some potato into her mouth. Now, he can't complain.

Between working on her own plate and watching him, Wanda isn't much for conversation. Maybe she's been hanging out in this little (though less little now) cabin a touch too long, with only herself for conversation.

No wonder she was so suspicious when someone appeared. Especially when that someone looked to be her dead brother.]

[margenes]

[silence he can take, especially while he's gradually increasing the speed by which he eats his food, slowing down only when he locks eyes with wanda.

he makes a couple of funny faces to see if he can make her smile.]

Feels like funeral.

[*not a complaint]

Tomorrow's dinner, let us prepare something together. Something truly from home.

[redchaos]

[Those silly faces remind her of sitting across from him at the dinner table while their parents had a conversation about something important, but beyond the comprehension of two little ones. And Wanda would get in trouble for bursting out into giggles with a mouth full of food.

So, of course he can make her smile.

Even if the funeral comment is a little, how they say, Too Soon.]

Together? You don't want to make me dinner all on your own?