[with the starks... what a world they live in, now. pietro is sure that it is incredibly awkward for both wanda and tony himself, but surely vision and pepper are there to save the day.
well, suppose clint's kids are a little too old to hang out with five year olds.
he's looking at the walls and the decor, finding satisfaction in the fact that the second floor looks less like a catalogue home and furnished more with a flair he can only assume comes from wanda, less so from vision.]
I traveled a lot just to get here. I didn't exactly want to ruin my nice clothes. Things are still a little messy around the world.
[He gets guided by the shoulders to the master bathroom. It might be for Vis and Wanda, but there are a lot of bath toys littered around that probably don't belong to either of them.]
What matters is that you came. Though if everyone else can take the time to have a life, I think you can, too.
[but it's a relatively fair point. he hasn't "settled", like these big hero names, and pietro's restructured nature makes that an intrinsic impossibility. he's always got to be on the run, keeping busy, or time will just go by too slow and his patient narrow into destructive tendencies born out of boredom.
he whistles at the sight of the bathroom.]
The family bathroom? Do you not have a smaller one for guests? Feels a little weird, Wanda.
[pietro takes the wash cloth. stares at it for a moment.]
...I am sensing a little bit of anger, maybe?
[it definitely is; there's no denying it. but pietro isn't pietro if he would be scared of his little sister. it's alright because he knows he's been absent, but how exactly can he explain that, to him, sometimes time just... doesn't exist? doesn't quite work the same way it does for others?
time to dump his bag to the floor (gently) and remove his sports jacket, only for the bandages to be more noticeable and prominent.]
I will try. I promise. It is just difficult sometimes.
pietro looks over at wanda and, he thinks, he really doesn't want to have an argument with her, not after this being the first time they've seen each other for the longest period of time in five years. he frowns, knowing that, in the end, for them, there is nothing more important than family.]
I know, I know... [scrambling for words] I'm sorry, Wanda.
[for as imposing as he is, pietro has always been soft-spoken, very different from the loud kid he used to be before tragedy struck them. his voice is quiet as he continues, setting the washcloth down on the counter and gently pushing back strands of hair from her face.]
It is difficult for me. [worth repeating] Not because I do not love you, or your boys. I just — you know. The world looks different to me. Time, too. I have a hard time explaining how— [he pauses, sighs, and puts his hands on her shoulders.] Easy things are not easy for me. I'm hungry all the time, I can't sleep very long, and sometimes I do not notice it has been a week. It feels like a few days to me.
[but—]
But I want to stay for a while, if that is okay. I want to be with you and your kids. [hm.. he goes for a comedic attempt.] Vision too, I guess.
I draw the line at visiting Stark, though. No, thank you.
[All he has to do is apologize, look like that, and be sweet and all the fight goes from her.]
I know, Pietro. I know.
[He's her twin. She might not have the same sort of power, but she knows him, remembers how it was for him. She rests her hands on his chest, sighing.]
The boys eat everything, never let me sleep, and don't know how to tell time. You'll fit right in.
[Look, she has to try and lighten the mood because she was ready to tear into him a minute ago.]
[it's easy for all that worried energy to leave him in a burst, pietro huffing out laughter through his nose as he leans down to press his forehead against wanda's.]
It is my vacation.
[wanda does not need to read his mind to understand; she just does. it's horrifying to imagine that vision does too, simply because of the mind stone.]
I will clean up now. [hmm..] Ah, well, I have presents for everyone. Maybe not open them until everyone else is gone?
[It's a compliment. Wanda smiles, and still tries to dab at his face.]
The older I get, the less I remember of our parents, I think. But I remember you being a brat whenever you needed to be cleaned up. That hasn't changed.
[The thing she remembers most strongly is that she loved her mother because she was warm and caring and she's trying to be that and more for the twins.]
[oh, but isn't that just a sad thought? pietro swallows hard and puts up little resistance to getting his face dabbed with the washcloth.]
True. I do not change much.
[regardless of the fact that the both of them have changed spectacularly.]
You know— [hm] I visited where Novi Grad was. People who lived there before asked me to see if I could find things that they lost. Heirlooms usually. Sometimes books or a ring or photos. Many things are broken and it is all [a wave of one of his hands] full of rubble.
[Wanda wipes his face, even sure to get behind his ears. She's gentle about it.]
You find things.
[She repeats, lifting a brow. Of course he would return, do what he could. He's always had a good, warm heart in that chest, even if they were a little misguided once upon a time.]
I do not need a birthday to have an excuse to get a present for my favorite person in the world.
[sure wish that were an overstatement. he sets his hand down.]
Come on, I just change these bandages to clean ones [—they're gritty and bled over a little—] and I can run around the other neighborhood houses and have the alarms go off. Do you have fresh bandages?
[pietro knows her too well to delude himself into thinking otherwise. in any case, what he'll do is sit on the counter and let wanda unwind these bandages from his arms.]
Anyway, well, things are messy all around. After everyone disappeared and came back, right? So I have been helping those who never left. I get into big trouble some times because people are still mad about a lot of things.
Long story short, I was in a collapsing building and I ended up rolling all over my arms.
[they're all scratched up to the point of skin having being scraped off—but it's certainly started to heal up nicely! no more gooey layer or anything.]
[Wanda listens--and clicks her tongue at the damage. She hates seeing him hurt in any manner, and spent far too many nights fretting to Vision about her brother being off somewhere, hurt, dead. But the jerk has to make it difficult by being so good, so sweet, helping people.]
You need to learn how to settle down.
[She's upset. Voice stern, and she uses her powers to open a cabinet and float over the first aid kit.]
How are you supposed to play games with your nephews, hm?
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[Because in a sick twist of fate the kids are all little buddies, with not a care for history. As it should be, perhaps.
She switches over easily as she drags him to the upstairs bathroom, away from party-goers.]
The people here don't care too much. They're used to us. They might recognize you once you look less like a mess.
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well, suppose clint's kids are a little too old to hang out with five year olds.
he's looking at the walls and the decor, finding satisfaction in the fact that the second floor looks less like a catalogue home and furnished more with a flair he can only assume comes from wanda, less so from vision.]
I traveled a lot just to get here. I didn't exactly want to ruin my nice clothes. Things are still a little messy around the world.
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What matters is that you came. Though if everyone else can take the time to have a life, I think you can, too.
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[but it's a relatively fair point. he hasn't "settled", like these big hero names, and pietro's restructured nature makes that an intrinsic impossibility. he's always got to be on the run, keeping busy, or time will just go by too slow and his patient narrow into destructive tendencies born out of boredom.
he whistles at the sight of the bathroom.]
The family bathroom? Do you not have a smaller one for guests? Feels a little weird, Wanda.
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[She hands him a wash cloth.]
And part of being a good sister is telling you that you should see your family more often.
[ :) only :) a little :) annoyed :) ]
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...I am sensing a little bit of anger, maybe?
[it definitely is; there's no denying it. but pietro isn't pietro if he would be scared of his little sister. it's alright because he knows he's been absent, but how exactly can he explain that, to him, sometimes time just... doesn't exist? doesn't quite work the same way it does for others?
time to dump his bag to the floor (gently) and remove his sports jacket, only for the bandages to be more noticeable and prominent.]
I will try. I promise. It is just difficult sometimes.
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Tony Stark sees the boys more than you. They have more memories of him playing with them, taking them places, than their own blood uncle.
[🔪🔪🔪🔪]
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pietro looks over at wanda and, he thinks, he really doesn't want to have an argument with her, not after this being the first time they've seen each other for the longest period of time in five years. he frowns, knowing that, in the end, for them, there is nothing more important than family.]
I know, I know... [scrambling for words] I'm sorry, Wanda.
[for as imposing as he is, pietro has always been soft-spoken, very different from the loud kid he used to be before tragedy struck them. his voice is quiet as he continues, setting the washcloth down on the counter and gently pushing back strands of hair from her face.]
It is difficult for me. [worth repeating] Not because I do not love you, or your boys. I just — you know. The world looks different to me. Time, too. I have a hard time explaining how— [he pauses, sighs, and puts his hands on her shoulders.] Easy things are not easy for me. I'm hungry all the time, I can't sleep very long, and sometimes I do not notice it has been a week. It feels like a few days to me.
[but—]
But I want to stay for a while, if that is okay. I want to be with you and your kids. [hm.. he goes for a comedic attempt.] Vision too, I guess.
I draw the line at visiting Stark, though. No, thank you.
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I know, Pietro. I know.
[He's her twin. She might not have the same sort of power, but she knows him, remembers how it was for him. She rests her hands on his chest, sighing.]
The boys eat everything, never let me sleep, and don't know how to tell time. You'll fit right in.
[Look, she has to try and lighten the mood because she was ready to tear into him a minute ago.]
We're your family, Pietro. We all want you here.
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It is my vacation.
[wanda does not need to read his mind to understand; she just does. it's horrifying to imagine that vision does too, simply because of the mind stone.]
I will clean up now. [hmm..] Ah, well, I have presents for everyone. Maybe not open them until everyone else is gone?
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I love you, Pietro. I'm happy you're here.
[She takes the washcloth, turning on the water to dampen it.]
I'll help you.
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okay, he can't help it. he manages to hold back until the moment she's got the washcloth to his face.]
You've really become a mom.
[it's not an insult! it's an observation! but it amuses him so—to be treated like he was also a kid. suppose he does fit in?]
And I love you too, of course. [let it not go unsaid.] But please, I am still older than you.
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The older I get, the less I remember of our parents, I think. But I remember you being a brat whenever you needed to be cleaned up. That hasn't changed.
[The thing she remembers most strongly is that she loved her mother because she was warm and caring and she's trying to be that and more for the twins.]
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True. I do not change much.
[regardless of the fact that the both of them have changed spectacularly.]
You know— [hm] I visited where Novi Grad was. People who lived there before asked me to see if I could find things that they lost. Heirlooms usually. Sometimes books or a ring or photos. Many things are broken and it is all [a wave of one of his hands] full of rubble.
But I find things.
[there's a point to this]
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You find things.
[She repeats, lifting a brow. Of course he would return, do what he could. He's always had a good, warm heart in that chest, even if they were a little misguided once upon a time.]
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[annoyingly, he puts a heavy hand atop her head and moves her head around a little.]
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It's not my birthday. You know that.
[Because. Twins. 😎 ]
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[sure wish that were an overstatement. he sets his hand down.]
Come on, I just change these bandages to clean ones [—they're gritty and bled over a little—] and I can run around the other neighborhood houses and have the alarms go off. Do you have fresh bandages?
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[But she does take his hands. Frowns.]
Will you tell me how my favorite person hurt his hands?
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[—first of all. secondly,]
I think you are being illegal if you say that I am more your favorite than your own children. But I can share this story, yes.
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[Yes she will. Wanda lets one hand go so she can start slowly removing the bandages from the other.]
You're my favorite person. The boys are so little, they don't count as people yet. Give them five more years.
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[pietro knows her too well to delude himself into thinking otherwise. in any case, what he'll do is sit on the counter and let wanda unwind these bandages from his arms.]
Anyway, well, things are messy all around. After everyone disappeared and came back, right? So I have been helping those who never left. I get into big trouble some times because people are still mad about a lot of things.
Long story short, I was in a collapsing building and I ended up rolling all over my arms.
[they're all scratched up to the point of skin having being scraped off—but it's certainly started to heal up nicely! no more gooey layer or anything.]
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You need to learn how to settle down.
[She's upset. Voice stern, and she uses her powers to open a cabinet and float over the first aid kit.]
How are you supposed to play games with your nephews, hm?
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[oooh, fancy magic! he's easily entertained by her powers.]
Besides, they don't hurt to touch anymore. I can easily handle those squirts.
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[If she wasn't tired of the world at large, the hero thing, if the boys hadn't happened.]
They'll hurt after I clean them. Those bandages were disgusting.
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