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[Love and friendship aren't transactional. She didn't do anything for him that he wouldn't have done for her...although she is worried about him, and she's glad he feels like he can talk to her about this.

And for Shaxx, she'll answer the door herself instead of having her powers do it. She's in a simple dress today - this isn't one of the times it would be appropriate to greet him in lingerie, as fond as they both are of that.]

Come in, get comfortable.

[ Shaxx hands the little bag with the ice cream over to her. There's a little tub of rocky road and a little tub of chocolate cherry. He touches her cheek lightly. ]

Pick whichever of those you prefer. They both sounded good to me.

[ And then he goes about stripping his armor off, which is a familiar routine to both of them now. ]

[Wanda closes her eyes to lean into that touch. She knows he won't feel it through his armor, but she presses a quick kiss to his palm as he lets her go anyway. It's the thought that counts - just like he didn't have to bring her ice cream.]

'Rocky road?' What a strange name for ice cream.

[Hmmm...chocolate, nuts, and marshmallows. Sounds much better than the name would lead you to believe but the chocolate cherry is also tempting. Too tempting, in fact. Or maybe she just needs to stay on brand.

Wanda takes the ice cream to the coffee table, settles onto the couch, and gestures to manipulate something (drawers in the kitchen, by the sound of it) with her powers. Eventually two spoons levitate their way over to her.]

We can always share. There's definitely enough.

[ Armor neatly stacked and boots off, he comes over to the couch and sits next to her, then pats his leg to indicate she can put her feet up in his lap if she likes. ]

Ah, sharing. So we can try them both. Good idea.

[ He opens the rocky road, considers the marshmallows approvingly, and tries a spoonful. Not bad.

This is about as comfortable as they're going to get, in his estimation. He's never been one to delay. The real question is... where to start? After another spoonful of ice cream, he concludes he's just going to have to pick something and see where it goes from there. ]

I should have talked to you before now, and I'm sorry for that. [ He ought to have told her he was all right and not been so caught up in his own matters. ] A few days ago... I have no doubt you must have felt how... upset I was.

[ Upset is an understatement, but he doesn't really have any other word for it. ]

That was when Lord Felwinter arrived. Here.

[Wanda grins and swings her legs around, glad for the contact as always. This may not be the best position for sharing ice cream, but what else is telekinesis for if not enabling laziness?

She's really going to have to try more from this brand; the chocolate cherry is quite tasty. If Shaxx was anyone else, she'd keep it all to herself.]

I did and...I know. I didn't know who he was at first but when he said his name...I knew that was why. That you knew too.

[And she'd just let all of the Guardians be so they could have time with him without her intruding. She knows he must be important to them.]

I would have been just as bad if Pietro came here.

[ He pauses on his ice cream so he can rest his hand (not the one that's cold from holding the container) on her leg, offering her warm gratitude at her understanding and patience. ]

I knew you would understand that.

[ But he owes her more of an explanation than that. He gives her leg a gentle squeeze. ]

Lord Felwinter... [ No, it's stupid to be maintain that false distance around Wanda, because she already knows a lot, and in a way it's very much her business because she, too, is someone he cares about deeply. ] Fel was the Iron Lord who convinced me to give up my territory and evacuate my people. He was... is... very stubborn. And ruthless. And... kind. And more hopeful than I could dream of. He... made me into who I am today with the sheer force of his determination and belief.

[ He gives up on the ice cream for the moment and simply sets it down on Wanda's coffee table. He thought it would be easier to talk about this, knowing Fel is alive. And... in a way it is. He's able to talk about it at all. But the grief is still there, weaker, but like poison that still hasn't been fully drawn from a wound.

A few days of Felwinter being here and alive cannot erase over a century of his having been gone. ]

And I loved him very much.

[ She'd asked him that before, and he'd answered. But he still wants to say it with Felwinter's name in the air. ]

I still do.

Edited 2021-08-06 18:31 (UTC)

[Wanda rests her warmer hand over his, dismissing her own ice cream to the coffee table with a wave of her hand. It sounds like Felwinter must have played a large role in making both Shaxx and Osiris into who they are today. She didn't get to talk to him for long, but she does look forward to getting to know him better. If he is this important to the people she cares about, then she cares about Felwinter too as a matter of principle.]

He sounds very special. I'm glad you can see him again.

And if there is any way we can save him, you know I will help. If there is hope for me, then maybe there is something we can do.

[The mantra of the activist: if we are still alive, then there is still hope. It's not a false promise - maybe there isn't a way. But if you think Wanda Maximoff wouldn't fight a god over this, you don't know her very well.]

Edited 2021-08-06 21:09 (UTC)

[ He turns his hand to curl their fingers together and gives her a grateful, if slightly crooked smile. ]

There's nothing that could stop us.

[ And the us here is very much Wanda and himself. There is no end to what he would fight for all of their sakes, and he knows Wanda is just as determined. It's part of what calls to him. ]

You know this does not change how I feel about you, or anything between us.

[ It's a statement, because between the advantages of synchrony and her own empathy, she must already know that for herself. His capacity to love has always been almost without limit, even if he'd needed Felwinter to convince him that he could actually have that more equal footing of friends, not just people who relied on his protection. ]

I want you to meet him in person. He'll like you.

[ That, he's as certain of as he is that Wanda will like Fel, will see past his lack of affect and to the breathtakingly great heart that resides behind it. She's perceptive, even when she's not using her powers. ]

[Wanda smiles and squeezes his hand.]

I know.

[But it's still nice to hear, even if she wasn't feeling insecure. Shaxx has such a large, beautiful heart, a light that was what truly drew her to him over everything else. She's never doubted that there's room for her in it.

She brushes against his mind with the gentlest of touches: her feelings for him are not selfish or possessive. She cares deeply for him and she just wants him to be happy.]

Is he moving in with you? If he is I should make him a housewarming present.

[She probably will anyway, but it's less awkward if it's a place she already frequents.]

[ He's got some thoughts on how to make certain he doesn't neglect anyone. The mechanics of calendars and the like can wait, however, until he's feeling a bit less pulled thin by his own emotions. The important part is that he and Wanda are in accord on this, not that he had any doubts.

It's always a relief to be able to trust someone else so entirely. ]

Yes. There isn't much moving to do, for someone who's just arrived. [ He gives her a wry smile. ] I dragged him back to the house the day I knew he was here.

[ He didn't want to let Fel out of his sight, as if that alone would make the man disappear. Another thing he's certain Wanda understands, though in a way she has it a bit easier since she can keep track of people with her mind. ]

[They've always fit together so well, and there's no one in this entire place that she trusts more than him. She knows they'll find a way to make everything work.]

I would have done the same thing. It's good that Osiris got such a big house.

[Which has been the main reason she's hesitated in moving out of the government-provided apartments. Should she only be looking for herself? Should she plan for the Avengers? It hurts to think about. So she's just been stuck, waiting for something to push her either way. Monster Week, when she's a lamia, has come very close. She'd like a little more room to maneuver.]

I'll make another one of those chocolate cakes. Everyone always likes them.

I don't think he's hoping we'd see more from home coming here, but he likes to be prepared. So he can pretend he knew what was coming all along.

[ Well that, and the man is a size queen at heart. Only the finest things, etc. ]

Do that and we might not let you leave. I've been teasing the whole house about this legendary chocolate cake.

[Wanda just laughs. Yep, that sounds like Osiris.]

There are enough of you here that it is a good guess.

I think this is a special enough occasion for that cake. Unless you want it to be just between us?

[ He pretends to think about it, but no. Any treat good is always worth sharing with friends; it makes things even better, in his estimation. And an amazing cake certainly deserves to be shared with the people he loves best, as long as Wanda (who is included in that set) feels all right doing so. ]

As much as I'd argue Osiris is annoying and doesn't deserve it... [ He's teasing. ] Like I'd be a grasping fool to try to keep you to myself, I'd be an even more wretched tyrant to deprive the world of that cake.

I should probably make two: one for Felwinter and one for the rest of you. I have to make sure there is enough for everyone.

[She grins. She knows Titan appetites, and if Shaxx has been hyping this cake so much, she needs to make sure that the Titans are satisfied and that the Warlocks actually get some.]

If you want it again, just ask me. I like cooking for you.

That's a good tactic. Since it supposedly is a present for him. [ Really, it's more of Wanda being incredibly thoughtful, as she always is. Her sheer generosity reminds him of Eva, at times. ]

Far be it from me to stop you, then, if it brings you such pleasure. [ Teasing her just a little, there. ]

[Oh, if only she had a magical little oven like that...Shaxx would have more Vanilla Blades than he'd know what to do with.]

Yes, I'm sure finding a safe place for a cake in your stomach won't be too hard.

[She does not quite manage to stifle a grin.]

You are so good to me. Of course I like to spoil you.

Can't think of a more secure place. No one'll ever think to look there.

[ He gives her hand a little squeeze and then lets go so he can grab his ice cream again. Before it melts. ]

If I'm good to you, it's because that's what you ought to have.

[Wanda calls hers back to her with her powers because, yep, melting is a thing and her ice cream is already at a disadvantage thanks to her gem's nature unless she makes a conscious effort to reign it in.]

I try to be someone you can be proud of.

[She's made mistakes. Big ones. And she's just learned that she might have accidentally created a situation that will make things far worse for the Asgardians whenever they reach Earth - the Avengers divided and half-imprisoned, and anyone with capabilities beyond a normal human viewed as suspect and dangerous.

But Shaxx knows all of her dark secrets and he's still here. All she can do is try to be worthy of his steadfast faith in her.]

[ He gives her a slightly puzzled look. ]

You already are.

[ Is there room for improvement? There always is, for everyone. They all have things they can learn, more effort they can put forth, a journey still to take toward being the best version of themself. But where Wanda's starting from is already an accomplishment to be proud of.

He smooths a hand over her leg. ]

You always have been.

[Wanda can only manage a half-hearted smile, but she's at least self-aware enough to realize that this requires explanation. And it won't take a shadow self for Shaxx to coax it out of her.]

Someone from my world just came here too. And I...I may have accidentally made things worse for him and his people. I'm afraid for them.

That's unfortunate.

[ Which is only the truth. Though there's also nothing to be done about it, since it isn't as if they can go back from choice... and he knows Wanda doesn't want to go back to her world either, for good reason.

His next question will come as no surprise to her, he's sure. ]

What does it teach you?

[What would the point of going back be? She can’t even save herself, much less whatever remains of the Asgardian people. The best she can do is tell Thor to go literally anywhere else if there is somewhere else he knows they would be safe.

Maybe it wasn’t completely her fault, but that doesn’t change the fact that her mistake has been used as the catalyst for the Sokovia Accords which in turn tore the Avengers apart.

She doesn't think she's learned whatever Shaxx wanted her to learn from this, since she's resolved to run instead of staying and fighting for...what, exactly? There's no threat that the others couldn't have handled without her aside from the one of their own making. And even so...who made that worse? She and Pietro had.]

I hope there is never a reason the world regrets the Sokovia Accords. If his people came to Earth we could have learned a lot a lot from each other. But the world is afraid of people like me...and I think they would have been afraid no matter what I did in Lagos.

[If she had obliterated Rumlow before the explosion was too great to handle, that also wouldn't have looked great. It might even have looked like she absolutely annihilated someone for no reason, if she'd been fast enough. She didn't start this - Loki did - but it's like Ross said. The world can no longer "tolerate" it.

But they're happy to look the other way and ignore innocent people suffering in warzones or under corrupt governments. Anything goes, as long as it's waged with mundane means. No one lifted a finger when Sokovia's neighbors carved up the country like it was nothing more than a holiday roast. No one asked her people what they wanted.

Maybe she should fight harder, but that's the other lesson: it doesn't matter how much power one person has. It will never be enough. She can't even protect herself.]

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