open + overflow post

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OPEN POST

AZIRAPHALE

BUCK

ERIK

HUA CHENG

STEVE

WANGJI

Comments

[redchaos]

What for?

[She asks with a small smile, knowing why. But she doesn't need anything.]

[incogneto]

I want you to feel at home.

[redchaos]

I will. I don't think you'll allow otherwise.

[incogneto]

I won't. As long as you choose to stay, this is home.

[redchaos]

What's your idea of home, then?

[She's curious. He had one once. A family.]

[incogneto]

Home is a feeling, Schatz. I don't think we can achieve it, but we can fill the apartment with things that will make it a little better.

[redchaos]

[Some clutter and books and art on the walls might be nice, she thinks, but she lifts a brow at him instead of voicing the thought.]

Schatz?

[incogneto]

Treasure. You don't like it?

[redchaos]

[It takes her a moment. She doesn't dislike it. It's just another sweet gesture on his part that gets right under her ribs despite a half-hearted thought to keep a wall up.]

I do like it. I didn't expect a pet name so soon from you.

[But there's an audible smile in her voice. It's not a complaint.]

[incogneto]

I don't look like the type?

[ He smiles. It's true, people think of him as severe. ]

What about Billy and Tommy's father? Will you tell me about him?

[redchaos]

[Her smile fades at the question.]

It's complicated.

[But she's not unwilling.]

He was a... synthezoid. He wasn't human, but he loved humanity.

[incogneto]

[ He nods. ]

What do you mean he loved humanity?

[redchaos]

He died trying to save half the universe. So... he loved beyond humanity, I suppose.

[For now, she's decided to leave out the part of how he first died.]

He would have found you fascinating.

[incogneto]

[ He doesn't even know what to say to that first thing. He's grateful, he supposes. ]

I guess the feeling would have been mutual.

Did you... build him?

[redchaos]

[Surprisingly, the question makes her laugh. Maybe it's the hesitation.]

No.

[Not initially, anyway.]

It's... very complicated. But we were teammates, then friends. We were both the outsiders. The strange ones.

[incogneto]

Even amongst your team?

[ He kind of knows what that's like, but he guesses that on their team the whole point was that they're all outcasts and weirdos. ]

[redchaos]

[Wanda nods. Some of them tried more than others to make her feel less alone, but at the end of the day, that's what she was.]

What about your wife? Was she... a normal human?

[incogneto]

She was.

She knew of my past. She didn't think I was a monster. She was... kind. Forgiving. I had never met a more gentle soul, until my Anya was born.

[redchaos]

You're not a monster.

[She says it with certainty.]

She saw the truth.

[incogneto]

You and I are of the minority here, Wanda. Because we know we are not, but that is not what they see.

[redchaos]

I know.

[She's not terribly inclined to prove people wrong for her own benefit, these days, but her heart does ache for him. To her, he's been nothing but warm. And she knows how difficult that is after losing everything.

It's what moves her to lightly put her hand over his.]

We'll make our own place.

[incogneto]

We will.

So far, so good. No one's bothered me here.

[ He turns his hand, so he can hold hers. It's weird, but hey, nothing in his life isn't, really. ]

[redchaos]

[It is strange, but she's experienced stranger things. Still, it's easy to give his hand a little squeeze.]

No one but me to ruin your peace and quiet, you mean.

[incogneto]

You don't do that.

Besides, it might be nice to have someone to talk to, besides the walls.

That's a joke.

[redchaos]

No friendly visitors?

[Gently, she releases his hand. Progress. But she stays close, not wanting him to think she's in any hurry to go anywhere.]