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AZIRAPHALE

BUCK

ERIK

HUA CHENG

STEVE

WANGJI

Comments

[redchaos]

I'd like that. They should know you're in good hands.

[Maybe not the best, but. She does intend on looking out for him where she can.]

[incogneto]

They would, I think. And there are photos, still, there. I haven't looked at them.

[redchaos]

You should have those.

[She frowns, not liking the thought of photos of his family left behind.]

We'll get them. Make a good place for them here.

[incogneto]

I don't know if I'm ready for that. We'll see how I feel when I take you to meet them.

[redchaos]

How long has it been?

[Maybe she should have asked that before.]

[incogneto]

Just over eleven years, now.

[ Yeah, sorry Wanda, you're gonna be sad for a long time. ]

[redchaos]

[So long and still so much pain. Wanda feels her heart sink, but for herself and out of sympathy for him.]

I'm sorry.

[It's not her place to push him into things he's not ready for.]

omg i just realized i forgot they renamed her to nina in the movies

[incogneto]

[ He shakes his head. ]

The wound will never heal if I don't do anything to heal it.

It's all good in the vastness of the multiverse 😎

[redchaos]

[It's a good way of thinking.]

I'll help you if I'm able. It's the least I can do.

[incogneto]

You are kind.

[ He wonders how she got to be called a monster, but he realizes it's probably the grief. ]

[redchaos]

I try to be.

[Her intentions are generally good, but the road to hell, so on and so forth.]

It's easier with you.

[incogneto]

Well, I think for perfect strangers, we understand each other in a way few else can.

[redchaos]

I don't think we'll be strangers for long.

[She likes him, despite her reservations. But that's more her, not him.]

[incogneto]

No, I think not.

But, well. We are related, in some universes.

[redchaos]

So far, that doesn't seem like a terrible fate.

[He's a man that loved his family dearly. It's hard for Wanda to dislike someone like that.]

[incogneto]

Flattery will get you everything.

[ A beat. ]

Do you play chess?

[redchaos]

No. Why?

[incogneto]

Just wanted to see if I could interest you in a game. Charles and I used to play, but it's hard playing against a telepath.

[redchaos]

[Wanda smiles wryly, pushing down the urge to tell him she knows. A Charles has been in her head before, too.]

I can get into heads as well. But I try not to do it without permission these days.

[That said...]

You could teach me how to play. I won't cheat.

[incogneto]

You can choose?

That's new.

That's all right. I can find a different game for us.

[redchaos]

It takes a little effort to read minds. But I can manipulate thoughts, dreams, emotions...

[Not really what people love to hear, because it makes them suspicious. Rightfully so.]

I don't like doing it when I don't have to.

[incogneto]

No, I don't imagine so.

You don't want to see my dreams, anyway.

[redchaos]

Nightmares?

[No surprise there, given what he's told her.]

[incogneto]

I was an experiment, too.

[ A beat. ]

Don't worry, I killed him.

[redchaos]

[It's good he tells her the end of that story, because she was already preparing to ask what happened to the ones responsible. It's another unfortunate similarity between them.

She decides to keep the part where she volunteered to herself. The list grows.]

He deserved it. If the nightmares ever become too much, I can keep them away. Give you a dreamless sleep. It's easy.

[And better than giving people terrible nightmares.]