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OPEN POST

AZIRAPHALE

BUCK

ERIK

HUA CHENG

STEVE

WANGJI

Comments

[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?

[redchaos]

February. 1989.

[Gotta love the multiverse.]

[incogneto]

The whole month? I'll get you gifts every day.

[redchaos]

I don't have use for gifts. Or... my own birthday, really. It changed after Pietro died. It was our birthday, and then...

[Just hers.]

[incogneto]

I'm sorry.

Perhaps there's another universe, where he is alive. And thriving.

[redchaos]

I'm sure there is. It's just unfortunate that it's not one that I'm in.

[It's the bittersweet truth.]

Just like there are universes in which our lives overlapped.

[incogneto]

Our lives are overlapping now. That's better than never.

[redchaos]

Just in time for someone to take care of you as you grow even older, hmm?

[She's found her thing to tease him about.]

[incogneto]

Don't worry about that, I've got a couple decades left in the tank, I think. Never thought I'd feel as good now as I did at forty.

[redchaos]

Is it because of what you are, or just... luck?