Chaos (Sequel to Agony)

Chapter 29

As Wanda took a seat beside her brother, she noticed a small crumb on Emma's lip.

Pietro sat back in his seat, allowing Wanda to get a good look at Crystal. Her bright green eyes narrowed as Wanda stared at her, and she felt her eyes go red as both girls stared each other down. After a few seconds, Crystal smiled.

"I like it when you do that," she said, and Wanda scowled at her. "I like distinct features about people—ticks, or in your case, your glowing eyes. Reminds me what you really are."

"And what am I exactly?" Wanda asked, genuinely curious.

"An unpredictable witch with good hair. You'd be a worthy opponent."

Pietro glared at Crystal, and she looked at him with a guilty expression.

"I mean that in a good way," she added, her words too rushed. "Yeah, totally. In a very good way."

Wanda didn't respond.

After eating a piece of cherry pie, Wanda slipped out of the dining room. She didn't know where she was going until she found a terrace upstairs. There were no lights visible from where she stood, just the sky and the stars and the moon. It felt like being back in Sokovia, where noises of the day finally diminished, and all that was left was the beautiful night sky. The stars always shone brighter over there.

And then she started thinking about Nik, and of his dark curly hair and how he was a tall young man with a mind that she envied. He was always telling her about the world, and about the animals and nature—of how humans sometimes took it all for granted. She had listened to him, whenever he spoke about something that wasn't related to her or her powers—she always listened.

He was always so kind to her, too—that's who he was. There were no hard edges about him, not like Pietro or Steve. He hadn't suffered loss , was nice because he could be, and that is what she missed the most.

His kindness.

"I trust you," he'd once told her, just before she used her magic on him. She had been so scared that day, not just because she was going to manipulate his mind (his choice), but because she didn't want to hurt him like she'd hurt the team. "I trust you, Wanda."

___

"I know it was you who took that piece of pumpkin pie," Tony said, taking a seat beside Emma.

Everyone had left by this point, and when he walked by a minute ago, he was surprised to see that Emma was still seated.

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't."

"It was."

She finished the rest of her wine and smiled to herself.

"You know, I was sitting at dinner, looking at everyone, wondering if life would be as exciting, had it been as simple as it was tonight. Can people like us actually live a domestic life? Can we actually be normal?"

Tony didn't know what normal was.

"I don't think we were ever meant to be normal," he said, reaching out to grab the bottle of wine. He added more into her glass and kept the rest for himself. "Maybe...just maybe, who we are right now is enough."

Emma held her glass out, and Tony clinked his bottle against it. He'd had four glasses so far, not including the bottle he was holding, and that fuzzy feeling he always got in his head when he was starting to get drunk started to set in. Knowing Pepper was going to be arriving in the morning, he should have probably stopped, but he could tell Emma wanted company, so he stayed, and together, they drank and drank until there was no wine left.