The Scarlet Apprentice 2: The Multiverse Between Us

Painting

Over in the distance, by the hills behind the cabin, the ash clouds clustered together in a bunch to pass over the area. The trees swayed in the october breeze but always returned to their tall and proud stance after the gush left them.

The inside of the cabin was calm and quiet, but, as it always was with those two, it was the quietness that the girls found comfort in. They didn't have to speak to each other to find the happiness they both wanted. Instead, all they had to do was be in the presence of the other, and they were at peace.

The sun was still up in the sky with the few clouds in front of it, but the girls were too focused on their activity to be bothered by the lack of heated sunlight.

The two of them sat comfortably on the couch, both in different - and niche - positions. Wanda sat with her legs crossed beneath her while she painted the rock on a pillow she rested in her lap. Then, beside her on the couch, was her girlfriend slumped to the back of it. Her legs were lazily hanging over the edge of the couch while she painted the rock which she held at her stomach.

Whenever wanda would say something or make any kind of joke, y/n would turn her attention fully and laugh or smile at her before dropping her attention back down to the rock she was painting.

Time went by since the girls started the activity they'd planned on doing, and both of them were handling it very differently. The idea was to paint on some of the rocks y/n had given wanda as gifts, and they were to paint whatever they wanted, really. It didn't have to have meaning, it was just another moment the girls could have, sitting in each other's comforts.

Wanda was effortlessly stroking the brush across the rocks and creating exactly what her mind wanted to display, whereas y/n struggled with it. She was a creative person by nature, but the jagged structure of the rock made it hard to paint on. However, she managed to put up with it for a while, until she couldn't hold back her frustration anymore.

She caught a glimpse of the way wanda easily painted her rock, and her face scrunched in confusion and annoyance.

"How the fuck are you managing to do this?" Y/n asked, constantly glancing back from her own hand, then to wanda's.

"It's not even that hard, you're just not trusting the process." Wanda explained for her.

"I am-." She groaned before sighing to calm herself down, "I love doing this, but mine is turning out like shit."

"It can't be that bad." Wanda assured her.

"It's so bad, wanda."

"Okay, right, let's just talk about something while you do it so you don't have to convince yourself that it's bad." She suggested.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like, are you excited for tonight?"

"Of course I am." Y/n hummed back, "have you got the dresses ready?"

"Yep."

"Are you gonna let me see mine?"

"Nope."

Y/n faked an annoyed sigh, "so I have to wait until later?"

"It's not even that long of a wait." Wanda dropped her shoulders and grunted, "you're so impatient."

"I'm just excited." She shrugged.

"I can tell. You haven't stopped talking about it since the day I recommended it."

Eager to talk about it once again, y/n pushed herself up to a sit and crossed her legs beneath her, so she could sit beside wanda in the same position as her.

"I am so glad that you suggested that. I absolutely love spending these days with you, but I think that a more... formal setting would be a nice change." Once she finished speaking, she slumped back down and continued painting her rock with no bad thoughts at all.

Noticing y/n's change of mood, wanda smiled to herself. "How's the rock going?"

Y/n sighed deeply, "it's as good as it's gonna get."

"You wanna show me?" She asked, smiling when y/n nodded at her.

"Okay, so," y/n shuffled forward, "first, I made a lightning bolt because... I guess that's becoming a reoccurring theme now." She handed her the first rock, which wanda took with a smile, "and then I made a mushroom because I didn't know what else to do and that's my backup design."

"That is amazing." Wanda smiled softly while holding her own rocks in her hand, her eagerness visible in the excited bounce her shoulders did.

With a cocked brow, y/n assured her, "you can show me yours now."

"Okay- okay," she muted an excited squeal as she picked the rocks back up, "I painted a pancake-... or I tried painting a pancake, then that white blob is whipped cream."

"That's adorable." Y/n looked at her girlfriend with a soft smile.

"And then with this one, I did a ladybug because I actually really like them." She smiled down at the rock in her hand.

She paused, "I didn't know you liked ladybugs."

"It's not a great conversational topic, but I thought painting on a rock would get the idea across."

"I'll keep that in mind." Y/n nodded before standing up and holding her hand out, "do you wanna go put these in the special place?"

Smiling up at her, wanda took her hand, "that is the new rule with any rock you give me from now on."

With wanda's hand in hers, y/n trailed through to the bedroom with the collection of rocks in her other hand. When they made it to the bedroom, they both stopped at the drawer in the back and opened it together. They placed the newly painted rocks into the drawer and gave each other one last smile before closing it.

"They look beautiful." Y/n told her, turning to face her.

"I wonder why." Wanda teased, wrapping her arms up and around y/n's neck.

From there, y/n wrapped her own arms round wanda's hips and smiled down at her, "shall we make lunch?"

Looking up at her with her sparkling eyes, wanda nodded, "yes, my love."