I guess so. We did several tests before we interacted with the artifact they had. Fed us better after that, but sleep was difficult even if we had a scheduled sleep time.
( all the noise that wanda could hear; how slow time passed for pietro. )
Like babies, huh.
( anyway— )
I did some. As a teen. One of the reasons we got into trouble with the police.
( escape the horrors from the outside world by blurring reality. suppose david wanted to forget the horrors from inside himself. )
A scepter. It contained an Infinity Stone. One of six. Their powers transcend time and space.
( it's what thor had said. it's what she and vision talked about, sometimes. )
No, I don't know more about it. The memories I have of that time are blurry. I told you: I remember going in to make contact with it. Next thing I remember, I was back in my cell and told I succeeded.
I wasn't dead, so I guessed as much.
( considering that other subjects had died. )
Nothing hard. Just— unlabeled pills and weed. A lot of drugs went through Sokovia while things were mostly lawless.
With what you were going through, I don't think you could blame yourself for using. You've been clean since?
What can they be used for? Other than... What you went through.
(transcend time and space. sounds like an alternative to trying to find a time traveller, although— probbaly not something that exists on his earth, given everything. )
I guess they manipulate things? I don't know. Thor would know, but. He left to find out more. Maybe he told Steve if he ever came back.
( yes, thor. dwbi. )
The one Hydra had was the Mind Stone. It's now what gives life to a friend of mind back home. Makes him sentient.
( another dwbi. weirdly, this is not something she has felt compelled to talk with anyone else, worried of what it may bring up if she asked steve or clint directly. or bucky, even. there's no pressure in telling david, because he knows absolutely nothing about this. )
Clockworks, the hospital place? That definitely has massage learning classes? I won't judge. I'm sure it wasn't without complications.
( this really is how they learn about each other. )
( there is, notably, a moment of what? that transitions into okay that transitions into— )
Was he an Avenger?
( there's a delay between responses that could be david trying to work out what 'gives sentience' looks like, what that means, or it could be him working out how (if) he wants to respond to that second part. or both.
(—is that why she mentioned about 'creating life'?) (he'll come back to it, probably.) )
Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital, yes. I was lying. But there was dayroom time, bad films, and a lot of therapy broken up by however many doses of meds someone else decided you needed to be to be some level of not crazy. Do you mean psych wards or being a junkie wasn't without complications?
There's... The Shi'ar. They're not from Earth. Doesn't make them gods.
( do they have powers? david doesn't actually know. )
I've made mistakes, the kind that deserve apologies and forgiveness, the kind that you have to spend time working on yourself after. I'm not going to pretend there's not a chance. People surprise you. But they surprise themselves more often.
( what are shi'ars... wanda, again, is not gonna debate the god topic. )
Well一you work on that. The David that I know is not one I need absolved from all his mistakes to like. Whatever it is: I won't judge. I won't change my mind either. I said as much.
( it's not about being liked, it's about being a good person. and that, in what it means for and to david, is more complicated. it's about the difference between david, and what david did because of farouk; absolution isn't what he's after, it's acceptance — which, it turns out, is tricky when you don't accept or like or love yourself.
but david's willingness to look at that critically is thin, so— wanda's words are the right ones, and he's willing to accept them (for now), but that doesn't mean they won't get revisited later. )
( she only half jests, but hopes that it lands. that she takes this "promise" seriously; that whatever this is between them means something to her, something important, it bears its own weight that she is more than willing to balance.
(he's distracting her? as he recalls, she's the one that reached out to him but, in her defence, he doesn't have a job. he hasn't even been looking, that'd just been an easy out, an unasked-for fabrication of how he's been spending his time so she doesn't ask. panorama might not be the largest city, but it's large enough, and he's content enough to explore it without needing to offer any kind of explanation, no matter how innocent.
david hadn't precisely lied when he'd said he's looking at this as a second chance, but that's not the whole truth, either. he still wants (needs) to get back. a want and a need to fix things. it's just that without farouk, without D3 breathing down his neck, being able to take his time — as he had been before — is more appealing than the situation he'd been forced into.
when he gets back to the apartment, he's later than the 'maybe an hour' he'd suggested, but there's no-one here it'd matter to. true to his word, though, he doesn't touch the waffle batter.
(he doesn't even look at it. it's batter.)
he still doesn't have keys — mostly, perhaps, because he hasn't thought to ask — and as per, he teleports in. his boots, this time, get left in his room rather than by the front door. there's little sign in any of the shared spaces that's david here at all, except, perhaps, the thrum of psychic energy that likely only wanda can pick up on.
(it doesn't occur to him that he'd never returned her 'see you later' with any kind of a goodbye.) )
( the lack of a goodbye doesn't matter to wanda. the thrum of this connection between them remains, even when there are no words being exchanged—no thoughts, per se. david may return later than 'maybe an hour', but wanda's shift lasts even longer than an hour, and it's not until the sun is starting to set that she finally makes it to the lobby, keying herself in and calling for the lift. she also doesn't want david to feel like he owes explanations or needs to tell her (for her sake) what he is up to; she will wonder, of course, when there are matters that they could sort out together (like waffle-making), but it's not an expectation.
in the elevator, up to her floor, and out— she walks down the hallway to the apartment door, and the keys jingle as she turns them around and over. she closes the door, toes off her boots, and makes her way to the kitchen, turning on a lamp as she goes. she doesn't need to call out: she knows david is here, even without his boots by the front door. it's impossible to not notice his presence. her own psychic energy is likely caught on, too, but there's no clash. like two cats bumping heads against each other in recognition.
placing her rucksack on the kitchen counter, she pulls out a number of things wrapped in bags and sets them aside. here she goes about her business, turning on the light in the kitchen, washing her hands and moving things about in the living room space. they hadn't moved the items in the car last night, but wanda went through the effort of it after she had returned from the groceries (having completely forgotten that the trunk of the car's in the front—), so the waffle maker sits on top of the fridge; david's belongings were left on the couch, along with the blanket, wine, and glasses from last night. an easy flick of her wrist has the waffle maker levitating and moving down easy onto the counter, just as she turns to her cassette player, foreign music rolling out after pressing the PLAY button, a mix of what she recognizes as something like spanish.
waffle batter out of the fridge, she's going to let it sit for a moment to get to room temperature. in the meantime, wanda will be organizing the items she's brought from the store.
wanda figures he'll join her whenever he wants, and that's fine by her. )
( he knows when she gets back. it's not about the jingle of keys, the click of the lock, or even the sound of her movements. hearing her isn't quite hearing at all, it's more awareness — presence and space being taken up by something that wasn't there before, someone that isn't him, but not in that way.
the walls in the apartment are thicker than the paper thin walls (and floors and ceilings) that'd made up the motel, the ones where his neighbour just needed to go from bedroom to bathroom and the creak of door hinges would wake him; or one of his other neighbours would run the taps and it'd sound close enough to be from his room. but though the sanctum may be better, the walls are still thin enough that he can hear her move from lounge to kitchen, hear the click of plastic as she swaps out a cassette, the thunk of the button before the music starts up.
for a moment, then two, then three, then four, he just listens. he doesn't recognise the music, but it sounds like something he might've listened to at one point. not necessarily by choice, it's a bit too melodramatic for that, but something someone else might've put on and he'd have been too lazy to turn off. he notices, too, that she doesn't sing along.
(what he hasn't noticed is his stuff on the sofa, left in a neat pile.)
when he leaves his room, it's with quiet, sock-clad footsteps. he stands in the doorway of the kitchen, attention split between her and the music. )
( buying cassette tapes is something of a fun activity, especially when picking tapes out from a random pile with no labels nor list of songs. maybe that's why they're just worth one joolie. she likes this tape in particular because of the synth sounds; not quite like the rave those many months ago, but close enough.
she puts away the new (old) set of silverware into the drawer, putting away from dishes and glasses up on the cupboard. she picks out a piece of paper, raising her hand out to him. )
The only star stickers I found. ( wanda spent some time during the quiet in the store to put all the stickers from a different collection altogether onto one page. some things are clearly not stars, but, eh— ) Unless you can create more?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2026-04-21 01:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 02:00 pm (UTC)( all the noise that wanda could hear; how slow time passed for pietro. )
( anyway— )
( escape the horrors from the outside world by blurring reality. suppose david wanted to forget the horrors from inside himself. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 03:07 pm (UTC)( it's what thor had said. it's what she and vision talked about, sometimes. )
( considering that other subjects had died. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 03:19 pm (UTC)probbaly not something that exists on his earth, given everything. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 03:30 pm (UTC)( yes, thor. dwbi. )
( another dwbi. weirdly, this is not something she has felt compelled to talk with anyone else, worried of what it may bring up if she asked steve or clint directly. or bucky, even. there's no pressure in telling david, because he knows absolutely nothing about this. )
( this really is how they learn about each other. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 03:50 pm (UTC)(—is that why she mentioned about 'creating life'?)
(he'll come back to it, probably.) )
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Date: 2026-04-21 03:59 pm (UTC)( bet what he thought about her 'work' and 'the avengers' is different from what she's portraying here. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 04:10 pm (UTC)—well. it's complicated. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 04:18 pm (UTC)( but, this isn't a debate about that. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 04:54 pm (UTC)but david's willingness to look at that critically is thin, so— wanda's words are the right ones, and he's willing to accept them (for now), but that doesn't mean they won't get revisited later. )
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Date: 2026-04-21 05:02 pm (UTC)( she only half jests, but hopes that it lands. that she takes this "promise" seriously; that whatever this is between them means something to her, something important, it bears its own weight that she is more than willing to balance.
so, a little more soberly, no jesting, )
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Date: 2026-04-21 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 05:09 pm (UTC)( whatever! )
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Date: 2026-04-21 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 05:16 pm (UTC)( the promise )
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Date: 2026-04-21 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 06:12 pm (UTC)david hadn't precisely lied when he'd said he's looking at this as a second chance, but that's not the whole truth, either. he still wants (needs) to get back. a want and a need to fix things. it's just that without farouk, without D3 breathing down his neck, being able to take his time — as he had been before — is more appealing than the situation he'd been forced into.
when he gets back to the apartment, he's later than the 'maybe an hour' he'd suggested, but there's no-one here it'd matter to. true to his word, though, he doesn't touch the waffle batter.
(he doesn't even look at it. it's batter.)
he still doesn't have keys — mostly, perhaps, because he hasn't thought to ask — and as per, he teleports in. his boots, this time, get left in his room rather than by the front door. there's little sign in any of the shared spaces that's david here at all, except, perhaps, the thrum of psychic energy that likely only wanda can pick up on.
(it doesn't occur to him that he'd never returned her 'see you later' with any kind of a goodbye.) )
no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 06:46 pm (UTC)in the elevator, up to her floor, and out— she walks down the hallway to the apartment door, and the keys jingle as she turns them around and over. she closes the door, toes off her boots, and makes her way to the kitchen, turning on a lamp as she goes. she doesn't need to call out: she knows david is here, even without his boots by the front door. it's impossible to not notice his presence. her own psychic energy is likely caught on, too, but there's no clash. like two cats bumping heads against each other in recognition.
placing her rucksack on the kitchen counter, she pulls out a number of things wrapped in bags and sets them aside. here she goes about her business, turning on the light in the kitchen, washing her hands and moving things about in the living room space. they hadn't moved the items in the car last night, but wanda went through the effort of it after she had returned from the groceries (having completely forgotten that the trunk of the car's in the front—), so the waffle maker sits on top of the fridge; david's belongings were left on the couch, along with the blanket, wine, and glasses from last night. an easy flick of her wrist has the waffle maker levitating and moving down easy onto the counter, just as she turns to her cassette player, foreign music rolling out after pressing the PLAY button, a mix of what she recognizes as something like spanish.
waffle batter out of the fridge, she's going to let it sit for a moment to get to room temperature. in the meantime, wanda will be organizing the items she's brought from the store.
wanda figures he'll join her whenever he wants, and that's fine by her. )
no subject
Date: 2026-04-21 07:13 pm (UTC)the walls in the apartment are thicker than the paper thin walls (and floors and ceilings) that'd made up the motel, the ones where his neighbour just needed to go from bedroom to bathroom and the creak of door hinges would wake him; or one of his other neighbours would run the taps and it'd sound close enough to be from his room. but though the sanctum may be better, the walls are still thin enough that he can hear her move from lounge to kitchen, hear the click of plastic as she swaps out a cassette, the thunk of the button before the music starts up.
for a moment, then two, then three, then four, he just listens. he doesn't recognise the music, but it sounds like something he might've listened to at one point. not necessarily by choice, it's a bit too melodramatic for that, but something someone else might've put on and he'd have been too lazy to turn off. he notices, too, that she doesn't sing along.
(what he hasn't noticed is his stuff on the sofa, left in a neat pile.)
when he leaves his room, it's with quiet, sock-clad footsteps. he stands in the doorway of the kitchen, attention split between her and the music. )
—New Wave?
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Date: 2026-04-21 07:35 pm (UTC)( buying cassette tapes is something of a fun activity, especially when picking tapes out from a random pile with no labels nor list of songs. maybe that's why they're just worth one joolie. she likes this tape in particular because of the synth sounds; not quite like the rave those many months ago, but close enough.
she puts away the new (old) set of silverware into the drawer, putting away from dishes and glasses up on the cupboard. she picks out a piece of paper, raising her hand out to him. )
The only star stickers I found. ( wanda spent some time during the quiet in the store to put all the stickers from a different collection altogether onto one page. some things are clearly not stars, but, eh— ) Unless you can create more?
( a glance, and a smile. )
Want to help me with the waffles?
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