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You should make me some of whatever your favorite cookies are. [ He likes this idea. ] Just so I know what you like. [ Definitely not just because he will eat every available cookie at all times. ]

Then I would learn something very valuable. [ Oh it is definitely a challenge, and he's taking it. ]

[It doesn't take a psychic to know what he's getting at.]

I would have a hard time choosing. You can't compare cookies with chocolate and cookies without chocolate. [She shrugs and takes an innocent sip of wine.] So I might have to make several for you.

[...]

That wasn't a challenge.

That does sound like a problem. I suppose I'll just have to eat all of them so I'll know. [ He shakes his head with mock seriousness. ] Necessary sacrifices and all that.

[ Grin. ]

Why not?

[And there's the Look.]

It isn't the cute kind of ghost. The internet is full of videos of people eating one and regretting it.

[...]

Is this Warlock-bothering?

[ He is immune to such Looks. He's a wall, remember? ]

I'll have to look for this on the network and see for myself.

[ His grin gets even bigger. ]

I'm insulted you would accuse me of the very thing I'm doing.

[And she's an unstoppable force, what of it?]

I don't know about here, but there were many videos at home of people eating that and worse.

[She can see it now: Shaxx's YouTube channel where he does every internet challenge ever.

And the Look is not going anywhere, but there's enough of a gleam in her eye to make it apparent that this is still a game.]

All of this after I made you this dinner...you shouldn't bother the person who knows where the cake is, you know.

The next time I'm bored, I'll see what I find. Most of the random nonsense that ends up on our networks are people blowing things up impressively.

[ Which he enjoys, really. ]

...or nice sunsets.

[ He likes those, too, actually.

He leans forward a little. ]

You think I don't have ways of making you talk?

No. You're too good.

[And then she blushes, because her mind has absolutely gone straight to the gutter. He must be joking - there's no way she could be coherent enough to talk while he works her over. But scream for him? Oh yes.]

How can I talk about anything when I can only think of you? When I am lost in you?

I'm very good. [ That was certainly the implication he was going for.

Though she certainly takes it a step further. And he likes the sound of what she says, that he can make her think only of him. It shows in the way his throat works for a moment, his gaze drifting down along the curve of her shoulder, to her chest. Then he looks back up to her face, his grin shifting to something a bit more heated. ]

There are things to enjoy other than cake.

[Wanda grins and reaches for his mind, letting him feel both soft affection and heated desire. She feels strangely powerful under his gaze and yet...she doesn't even make a move to undo the front of her robe.

Patience.]

After the cake. Trust me. I promise it will all be worth the wait.

We save the best for last.

[ She's certainly got the power to hold his attention. And make him want. It's no small thing.

He has half a mind to pluck her out of her chair, and he doesn't mind letting her know that, too. But in this case, more than half the fun is playing by her rules on this one. ]

Though if you feed me too much, I just might go to sleep.

[ He'll do nothing of the sort. He's capacity for food is... large. ]

[Wanda's grin widens. She has her own yearning to go sit on his lap again and peel the robe off so that he can touch her skin-to-skin, and she shares this with him so that he knows that she is not unaffected. She wants him quite badly, in a way that is becoming a slow-burning need. But she worked too hard on this dinner and the, ahem, presentation to let her work go to waste.

Really, she just wants this to be as good as possible for them both.]

Poor Shaxx, defeated by a piece of chocolate cake and leaving the cook to freeze. Maybe I should have worn something warmer.

[Now it's a challenge, not that he needs one. She knows that. But it's part of the game.]

Hah. Let the cake do its worst. [ Scoff. ] I'd eat three without blinking.

[ The temptation to rush through dinner is pretty fierce, to be honest, but he know that would also be incredibly unappreciative. He's not a total barbarian.

Even if he doesn't totally get why delayed gratification on this one is a thing. But it's definitely Wanda's turn, in a sense, so he'll play by her rules. Warlocks do things their own way.

He plows through a bit more of his salad. ]

Oh, I've finally learned how to make plants grow.

I'm sure you'll try once you taste it. Just make sure you leave room for second dessert.

[This cake may very well be the definition of death by chocolate. And if it was good enough to encourage a princess to abandon her husband and run away with a violinist, she's sure it will satisfy Shaxx.

And if it somehow doesn't, she will.]

How did it feel?

I contain multitudes of appetites.

[ Cake for one... other things for another.

He huffs. ]

Like a lot of effort for a few flowers. It'll certainly come easier with practice, but I need to develop some practical applications for it to be worth it. [ Hmmph. ] I shout encouragement at them until they grow. Not very stealthy.

And I'm sure I can help you with them.

[She grins wickedly. ]

Have you tried shouting with your mind? Like when you show me something, but...sharper.

That's why I brought them all with me.

[ He might not know how they're going to get there, but he has a pretty good idea where they're going to end up. ]

I... haven't. [ Just shouting at them has been a weird enough experience, though he's rolling with it.

But hm. He leans back in his chair, food momentarily forgotten as he thinks about it. ] Not yet.

[Sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination.]

It's like when I heal someone. Trying to manage it would be too hard so...I tell the injury to heal and give it the power it needs.

[--and that is absolutely not at all what is really happening, but in the absence of doing this around someone who would know better, it's the best explanation Wanda's come up with. It feels like this to her...and it's a much more logical explanation than 'literally willing the injury to have never existed at all.']

So I should... tell them to grow. And give them the power. [ It makes sense but is also extremely weird.

Mostly because this assumes plants have some kind of intelligence. Which is... a bit much for Shaxx. On the other hand, he's well aware that a lot of power manipulation is just having a stronger will than local reality. ]

[Well, he is talking to a literal reality bender.]

They are living things too so maybe it will work? [She smiles and shrugs.] For me, I don't have to fully control it the way I have to control raw power. Or fire.

[Wanda's still working on the paprikash but reaches for one of the biscuits.]

I'll try it. [ He's been struggling with this power, so he's not going to turn down any idea. Plus, making plants grow is, on the grand scheme of things, closer to the kind of things Wanda knows how to do than his normal methods. ] It would be a lot better if it does work that way. I don't know enough about plants to tell them how to grow or shape them the way I would Arc.

[ What a thought. Ugh.

He's basically devastated his share of the salad at this point, though he has been having some paprikash all the while. ]

I'll eventually find some joy in it, too, and that'll help. [ In... plants. Sure. Well, he's got to try. Practice is work, but it's always easier if you're having fun, and he's normally been a happy warrior. ]

How are your own efforts progressing?

When you find a technique that works, I'm sure it will help. I'm less afraid of my fire magic now.

[She wants to see it the way Osiris does but that's a future goal. For now, 'not terrified' is a lot of progress.]

I did all of this. [She gestures to the candles.] I can do simple things - reheat a drink or food that's gone cold, or heat a blanket. And I can make the sword and wings like Osiris showed me, but I think it still needs a little work.

[ He's certainly not afraid of his Emerald magic, just entirely puzzled and frustrated by it, but that's kind of not the point. He'd rather hear how Wanda's doing anyway. ]

All of this? That's very good, then. I've always found small, focused things are much more difficult, anyway. [ Probably because he's a meathead. ] And did you have fun?

[ Because in a way, that's the most important thing, finding the joy in it. ]

If you'd like, I can show you how Titans wield solar. We have some... philosophical differences with how we view it.

[Well, they are, but Wanda has an odd knack for it. She really is greatly like the Warlocks of his world, even though she doesn't seem like one on the surface.]

It's...a fun challenge. Even if the wings don't really do anything.

[Maybe they do for a Guardian? But Wanda can fly on her own.

...she has a feeling that at least half of the reason for the wings is aesthetics, though.]

So you found a way to hit your enemies directly with it?

[ It's very likely an aesthetic thing. Warlocks are like that. Her question makes him laugh. Of course they know how to hit people with solar. ]

Oh yes. And heal our friends. The rage of the undying sun burns my foes and warms my allies.

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