actualwizard | Open Post.

[ Kid? He bristles a little at that. He’s 22 and this version of his mother doesn’t look much older. He makes a face at that. ]

My phone doesn’t seem to want to work in this reality.

[ She mentioned Stephen so he’s hoping that doesn’t sound strange. ]

Nah, the Sorcerer Supreme and I don’t usually run in the same circles. Although we have worked together in the past.

[ He pauses, weighing some options but decides to just dive in, what’s the worst that can happen?

…he knows the worst that can happen- reality can warp. ]

My name’s Billy.

[reality could warp, but this wanda is unlike the one billy knows. she will not spontaneously combust into a moment of delusion and suffocating grief. this wanda, she lives with her grief, enough to know when to inhale and hold her breath just long enough to let the name he gives her to land somewhere safely.

it's a common name, and it could be so many things. a sorcerer making a mockery of her (he says he knows the sorcerer supreme—wouldn't that be wong?), or just that: a young man named billy.

she exhales, and shakes her head lightly, turning back to her truck and letting her hands rest on another crate. she doesn't move, her hair a curtain as her head tips slightly. (it would be cruel, wouldn't it? and her heart aches and yearns, her hands tight on the wood frame of the crate. she recognizes his magic.)

raising her head, wanda does not meet his eyes.]

I just want to be left alone. I'm not hurting anyone here.

Edited 2022-07-06 23:19 (UTC)

[ good job, Kaplan. He hadn't meant to upset her. As his husband reminds him sometimes he doesn't think things through and how they might affect other people. He's been working on it.

He frowns, placing the crate he's holding back in the bed of the truck and tentatively reaching out to rest a hand on her arm. ]

I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't mean to imply that you are or anything.

[billy's idea of tentatively reaching out to her is a lucky take; wanda senses that hesitation, rid of all solid conviction to intervene. she still acts like a scared, caged animal, pulling away from his touch. all she sees in her head are images of her sons—of her boy, billy, his toothy smile and the way his eyes would crinkle in barely contained happiness. she senses it, her magic, in this young man's touch.]

Then what are you doing here?

[he has already explained, but wanda, in her grief, can't imagine that this is something that will hurt her irreparably again.

she's come to terms with it, with not being able to have anything in this reality. not love, not her boys, not her dead loved ones; while every other wanda in every other universe gets a chance at such happy ending, she's seen that she, here, doesn't.

and she connects the dots. this billy, it's one of 'her' sons, but not this wanda's—] It's not like you can stay. [she snaps at him; she understands now whom he speaks of, this 'friend', this girl that hops the multiverse. she's seen her, singular as she is. wanda feels like she's out of breath.] Drop in, say hello, then leave forever? Is that what you are here for?

Edited 2022-07-08 12:28 (UTC)

[well...this is not going at all as he had hoped. Even if he isn't exactly sure what he was hoping for. He did not think this through. ]

I'm not here to hurt you, or stop you or anything. I'm not even here on purpose. I didn't know you were here before we got here and now I'm sort of stranded for a little while. I didn't-

[ didn't mean to hurt her. How many people in his life has he not meant to hurt? How many more will he hurt by not thinking? ]

I'll go. I'm sorry for- well all this.

[maybe there is something to be said about those who are part of the maximoff family, whether it is through birth or some resonance of magic and reincarnation: they feel too much, and end up saying and doing things that hurt others just because they acted first.

a quiet lump of panic makes her heart skip when this young man, billy, offers to go and apologizes. her own grief keeps her from wanting to hurt again, and the idea alone that this could be her son from some alternate universe sits with her as an unfair, cruel taunt. isn't this what she's wanted for so long, though?

because—in the end—he is stranded here, and doesn't it say a lot about this whole situation that he's come to his mother (or another version of her)?]

—wait.

[her voice is small, a strained plea, as she raises her head to look at him. wanda is hesitant, her hands in front of her, fingers threading into each other.]

I've lost you before. [a version of you] I'm— just afraid. I know it's not fair to you, but...

Edited 2022-07-12 13:33 (UTC)

[ His heart drops at that. He had a feeling that she had lost a version of him from her reaction, but hearing her say it makes it worse. Is it their curse to always lose each other? ]

I'm sorry, it's also not fair to you for me to just show up. I didn't mean to make anything harder, but I felt your magic and well...you're mom. Even if I'm not really him.

[you're mom, he says with such a sense of certainty, with such love and care—it makes her heart ache. wanda studies his face carefully before reaching out with a hand to cup his cheek. though she is nervous, there is familiarity in this relative strangers' face; it's the way their magic recognizes like, and one could not fake the certainty of calling someone their mother, even if it's another version entirely.

with a soft rub of her thumb over his cheek, wanda makes up her mind. he came to her, because he's stranded, and because family is forever.]

Billy.

[she's missed him terribly, and she can sense it, that this young man is, somehow, her son. her hand drops to his shoulder, trails down his arm, elbow, wrist, and settles to hold his hand.

with her hex in place, she can literally do whatever she wants. so skipping the market one week won't hurt her.]

Would you like... to come home with me? Until your friend finds you. Even if it's a little selfish, I'd like to spend some time with you.

[ he smiles at her. It's been a while since he had seen either of his mothers and the gesture to cup his cheek is something they have both done. there is a good ache in his chest as he looks at this version of his mom. he makes a mental note when he gets back to his world that he really needs to call home. ]

I would love to.

[maybe it could be just as easy as accepting this for what it is, not asking too many questions and not trying to understand where this puts her within the grand scheme of things.

pulling her hand back, wanda smiles at the young man.

(it could be just that easy.)]

Come on, then.

[with a raise of her hand and an easy twirl of her fingers, the truck is all packed up and ready to go, wanda walking around it to get in the driver's seat to drive home. she waits for billy to join her before she stops containing herself from the myriad of questions she has for him.

she'll start simple(/s):]

You have to tell me everything about your life.

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