epidemiology | ( closed )

[ Flitting around on the sidelines of the festival only appeals for so long. Wanda's arm is almost healed, the rich food is welcome after weeks on prison food and granola bars, and whatever they could find in the maze to eat. She works her way through it slowly, preferring to pick it off in small bites. There is one taste that stands out to her at once, the closest taste to home. ]

[ She'd always find her way into Dany's orbit — Wanda seeks it now, heading towards her the moment she senses Dany in the crowd. She looks better — feels it, Wanda knows without having to probe at her surface thoughts. Towards her, they are always warm, and she extends the same in turn. ]

[ No hello, you look better, I was worried, what she does is sit, and offer Dany the plate. ]

I promised you piroshki.

[ He does not make a big deal of his birthday. This, she didn't need to be told to know — and she has arrived at the same place by other means. Her own has been unmarked for many years, and it is bitter now because every one that passes will be a year without Pietro. ]

[ Still, he is a friend, and it is not right that he should be alone on what is a special day. So Wanda collects some of the vatrushka from the feast, and a few other confections. On the day itself she sends a text that tells him plainly to meet her outside, where is a warm sun, a light breeze, and a place to be quiet together. She does not tell him why. ]

Peter.

[ The basket is at her other side, and she pats the empty place for him. ]

( she's right, he didn't make a huge point of his birthday for a reason; it's not exactly a celebration for him, and it hasn't been for longer than he's been present in ALASTAIR. birthdays especially seem to mark what is missing, and as more pieces fall, the gaps seem more obvious.

(he doesn't even know how his aunt would have tried to celebrate, if he'd been home for his birthday. a part of Peter is glad he forgot. there's nothing worth celebrating over the year he gets and Gwen doesn't.)

Peter mostly assumes the day is as forgettable to everyone else as it is to him, even if he named the date. so when he joins Wanda and spots her with what looks like a picnic, he somehow doesn't even realize what motivated her as he sits down. )

Enjoying the last of the picnic weather? ( he's not complaining. he's been enjoying having actual food options again, since he's still struggling to eat any meat after Woodhurst. )

[ So it may not be a birthday, but it can be its own celebration. Living is enough — she has told herself that many times. Living is a victory, and a luxury Pietro did not get to have. ]

Yes.

[ If only half-true, but she was never going to mention the other half. She smiles at him. ]

I found something we can share.

[ From under the basket she takes out two disposable plates, and two pieces of bread; their aroma fills the air. ]

( it'll probably just strike him a little late, the meaning that she won't mention. sort of like the chocolate cereal that had seemed overly sentimental until a day after and someone else in the dorm room had been chagrined about the lack of valentines candy sales, with everyone getting sick.

for a smart kid, Peter could be slow to pick up on things, on occasion.

not everything, though. he smiles back, and takes the plate, more than content to have a moment with a friend without asking a lot of questions as to why. ) I don't think I've been on a picnic proper since middle school. Unless, eating something while I'm walking somewhere counts.

[ It's sentiment, true, but there are moments where it should not be guarded. She's not lived by this philosophy all her life — and it's not born of necessity here either. There are people in Audentes she thinks of as hers. One day maybe there'll be people at home she can think of like that, too. ]

I thought, why not. [ She's not much of a picnic type, either. ] I am sure you could find this in New York somewhere, but it would not taste like this.

You've promised me many things.

[ The tease comes as Dany excuses herself from the ALASTAIR recruits she'd been speaking with and turns to face her friend. On her own plate lies a platter of fruit, arranged delicately into a pattern. ]

Piroshki, [ she repeats, with admirable mimicry of Wanda's own accent. ] I remember. Which shall I try first?

[ The scent of several fillings have reached her nose. ]

Edited 2017-08-19 09:20 (UTC)

[ Wanda hums, softly, amused. ]

I keep my promises.

[ I will protect you had been one of them. She will never regret making it. Wanda eyes the plate, and arranges what she has in a short line. ]

My favourite is this one.

[ She taps the first one there briefly. But they are all carefully picked for the variety. ]

( knowing new york, there probably was some facsimile of what she had. there were plenty of ethnic and worldwide cuisines to be found on the cluttered streets and back corners of his favorite city. he's at least not naive enough to think it's the same. )

What's it called? ( he wonders, curious, as he tears a bite off and tastes it. whatever it is, it's quite good. )

[ She's been told where to get Sokovian food: there are restaurants opening because of the flood of refugees. Not all were so lucky to have been spoken for by Steve Rogers or Natasha Romanoff. Regardless, New York is where she is now. ]

Vatrushka. It is stuffed bread. This one has jam.

[ Homemade, rather than something bought at a bakery. ]

Did you make this? ( he has the grace to not talk with his mouth full, but it is said around sucking some jam off his fingers. his aunt would be ashamed by his table manners... )

Vatrushka. It's good. Really good. ( he's going to have to practice saying vatrushka if he's going to order it back home, someday. )

No, but I could.

[ She's not much of a cook. Food was stolen or presented as a gift. Gently teasing, ]

I'm seeing an opportunity for bribery.

You think I can be bought?

( he makes a point of sounding as offended as he possibly can, which, is not actually that much. if it includes food, yeah, he probably can be bribed... dont call him out like this, Wanda, he's supposed to have an unshakeable moral compass!!! peter parker's weakness isn't kryptonite, like another superhero in red in blue... it's food... of course it is. )

I know you can. [ She ducks her head to huff a laugh.] I have discovered your weakness.

[ Wanda says it through a smile, dusting some breadcrumbs into a napkin. ]

What will you do now?

[ Then you are already a truer knight than Ser Jorah was to me. Dany smiles at that, and reaches for Wanda's first suggestion. Each piece is baked with a flaky crust and stuffed with a filling, not unlike the trenchers she dined upon when she and Viserys had the coin. For a moment, she, too, is reminded of what once passed for her home.

Her first bite is a nibble, but once she has chewed that, the next mouthful (and the next) is more convincing. Oh, says her face, violet eyes widening a fraction. They had precious little to eat in the maze, and her face and wrists are thinner than they were when first they had gone to Leramzen. However light the fare upon her plate, she is hungry for more than fruit. ]

It must comfort you, [ she says at last, refraining from eating another bite so that she might speak. ] It reminds me of when I was a little girl in Lys, watching men sup inside inns after evenfall. The crust never melted in my mouth like this, though.

[ She can taste it as Dany tastes it. The sensation embraced, allowed to linger, unlike the others she shuts out so often. Wanda hasn't the joy of trying this for the first time, and there's innocence to the way Dany enjoys it, when so little about her has been allowed to be young. ]

It is familiar, yes.

[ If home was a place that still existed, this would be it. A shared meal, the warmth of a friend. ]

I am not thinking about that.

[ She's thinking of how this — here, now — will become a memory to treasure. ]

[ Familiar, not comforting. The word carries a different weight.

But the air between them is warm, and this is not an evening for sorrow. Dany thinks that she can guess what Wanda means, but she would have it in her own words, however reticent she is. ]

Say on, then. I should like that.

[ Her eyes keen, the queen examines her face. ]

[ Comforting is Pietro, and comfort cannot be sought freely. ]

I am thinking we should sit down, [ she says, smiling — it's not a cowardly evasion. ]

Are you teasing me? [ she pauses for simple dramatic effect, examining her friend's face. ] You are. You are teasing me, [ Dany accuses, threading her arm through Wanda's free one. For all that she chides, there is a playful glint in her eye. ]

Come, [ she invites, smiling. ] The night is young still, and I have a thirst for your secrets.

[ And they shall both hear better outside, removed from the feastgoers. Employing her queenly prerogative to change her setting, she begins leading Wanda through the throngs and toward the entry doors to Oska Castle, small plate held aloft in the other hand. ]

[ A playful glint, a race to reach the doors of a museum barefoot, and a carriage seized. Yes, she knows. ]

I can make that a promise.

[ One among many, freely given, each one. They cut through the crowd with ease, and when they're outside Wanda finds somewhere she can't sense eavesdroppers. ]

No need, [ she answers sweetly. ] I do not wish to throw all my fruit.

[ They find an elaborately-carved stone bench guarded by a tree. It is queerly undisturbed by the battle that had transpired here only months ago, save for some crumbling in one of the ends.

Dany places her platter upon the grass before she seats herself gracefully, gathering her cape into her lap. The expectant raise of silver brows is plain enough in meaning: And now? ]

I will catch it.

[ Gently she teases, of course she does. Wanda pulls her legs up and tucks them under her, leaning into Dany's space. It's a place like any other place she knew in her childhood — few people, untouched by the destruction that was so prevalent around it. Silver brows, not Pietro's silver cast. ]

Now, you enjoy your piroshki. [ She smiles, slowly. ] If you want, I will feel what you feel.

[ She can enjoy it for the first time all over again. ]

[ Dany relieves her of the plate, placing it into her lap. The remark after the invitation does not go unnoticed; whilst she has read and listened to all that was revealed of Wanda's powers on the network, there is much of it she does not understand.

More than a year in the company of so many magic users has removed some of the mystery behind the art, and with it, some of the threat. That does not mean she has grown complacent, however much she is certain that Wanda would never harm her. ]

What do you mean? [ she asks curiously, plucking up her half-eaten leavings again. ] What do you sense?

It is —

[ She frowns. Not easy to align into something she can explain beyond I just can. Anakin understood instantly, but he was the only one. Everyone else has an approximation. A guess at truth. And Loki describes something she can't (yet) do.]

Your thoughts and what you feel. I can know them as if they were mine.

Hope you use your powers for good, I guess. You know, with great power, comes great responsibility.

( Uncle Ben is rolling in his grave over making Responsibility a joke, but it makes Peter laugh, so maybe it can be forgiven. )

[ It makes him laugh. Wanda smiles, unguarded. ]

It is true, I am the responsible one.

I trust you with my weakness.

( that's less of a joke, and more casual honesty. he does; trust her, that is. there's another thing to be responsible with, Wanda. the moment is almost sweet, and then he ruins it. )

Especially if it means you're going to feed me more often.

[ HE JUST HAD TO smh ]

I think you can feed yourself.

[ Sharp in the way of teasing, Wanda's smile is faint.]

I do not play mother.

[ But she does care. ]

I can, but as of right now you feed me better.

( he will just eat his portion of her vatrushka and then some, as if proving his point that he can't seem to stitch together a decent meal despite his advanced aged.

that's not true. he can. he just manages to make it seem like it's the first time he's ever eaten every time he eats.

still, besides her refusal to sate his ridiculous appetite, he would be lying if he didn't say he appreciated her gesture. )

Thanks for this, Wanda. ( he'll make her stick out here a little longer, and maybe convince her into a walk around the grounds since there's nowhere really else to go. Oska stays tend to be that way.

they're teammates, now. comes with the territory, right? )

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wrap here?