open + overflow post

[shipping]

OPEN POST

AZIRAPHALE

BUCK

ERIK

HUA CHENG

STEVE

WANGJI

Comments

[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.]

[incogneto]

No, the others went to the school. I should show you sometime, you'd fit right in.

[redchaos]

[Well, he's good at making Wanda laugh. There's a touch of nervousness to this bout of laughter, however.]

I haven't been to school in a very long time.

[incogneto]

Well, you might not have my genes, but you certainly age like you did.

[redchaos]

I'm over thirty.

[She'll take the compliment.]

You would have had to have me fairly young.

[incogneto]

[ His lips curl into a little smile. ]

I'll be sixty three in January.

[ Yeah, no one ever expects this because guess who decided to not age up their actors over a span of forty years' worth of story. ]

[redchaos]

[Wands looks surprised, if only for a moment. Knowing super soldiers and Asgardians makes age reveals a little less jarring than they might be for a normal person.]

Nevermind, then. You're an appropriately old man.

[But there's a fondness to the name-calling.]

Do you celebrate it? Your birthday.

[incogneto]

[ Yeah, he doesn't take it the wrong way because as it is, he is an old man. ]

Haven't in a long time. I think, since I was a boy.

[ He explains: ]

I was born in 1930.

[redchaos]

[Hard times. Wanda nods, understanding.]

Well. You'll have to show me the things you enjoy doing before your birthday so I have an idea of what we can do to celebrate.

[incogneto]

I'm sure we'll get plenty of time to know each other before then.

When's your birthday?