I sigh and tilt my head back as I hold not Wanda's, but Pietro's hair back as he loses his lunch into the bushes.
"You done?" I ask. Thankfully, the light breeze carries off the rancid smell of vomit.
"This was a horrible idea," He mutters in Sokovian, glancing up at me. I curl my lip in an expression between a bitter grin and a sneer as I drop his white hair and glance around. It seems like a lifetime since I was here last- my beach. Not the cleanest beach, but it's my beach. No one's ever here past 4:30- and hardly ever before that, anyways.
"Don't go anywhere, I'm gonna go get Wanda," I put my hands on my hips and port back to the Facility. Wanda and Peter both fly up from on top of and next to a table, spinning around to face me.
"Did he live?" Wanda asks, concern tainting her voice. I nod. Unfortunately. She smiles so hard her eyes squint and her nose scrunches up, spinning in a half circle before turning back to me. "Me next, me next!" She pleads, holding out her hand. I grin and take it, loosening myself and trying to take her with me.
"Hold on!" I warn her, giving no further warning as I port back to near where I left Pietro. For a beautiful split second- a time long enough that I can feel it- I don't exist. I'm everywhere and nowhere all at once, and no part of me truly exists. And then we hit the ground. Wanda's knees give out and she lands hard on the ground, bracing herself on her hands. Pietro appears next to her, hands outstretched, but Wanda just holds up her index finger and takes several deep breaths.
"Just...just give me a- a moment," She manages, looking quite pale. After a moment, Wanda starts to stand up as well. She turns around to face me, smiling harder than before, if possible.
"That was amazing!" She cries, her hair starting to glow red and float away from her in excitement. I smile despite how tired I feel- apparently hauling two other people with me is a lot of work- and turns my body towards Queens.
"Now, onward!" I dramatically point towards a back street that'll get us back into the city- it's about a 15 minute walk.
"Pietro, your turn," Wanda nods to Pietro, who groans. He mutters several curses under his breath and collects Wanda, a pre-rehearsed collaboration that allows him to carry her across the way. I hardly see him round the corner before he's next to me again, looking me over uncomfortably.
"Let's just get this over with," I say through gritted teeth, awkwardly holding my arms out from my sides. I have no idea how this works. Pietro nods quickly.
"Like you said, don't move," He mutters, quickly scooping me up as he did Wanda and very much unceremoniously dumping me next to her. I place a hand on the grimey wall and blink a few times, the dizziness quickly fading. Wanda looks at me and nods.
"Impressive," She notes, walking towards the main street. I shrug and follow after them, buzzing at the excitement of being back in the city- at my own devices, nonetheless. I follow Wanda as she leads towards some restaurant they like. Raising an eyebrow, I slip my hand into a pocket and come back with a pack of gum. Popping a piece into my mouth, I extend it to Pietro, who's watching the whole thing with vague fascination.
"Gum?" I offer, grinning when he takes a piece.
"I didn't see anything," Wanda says over her shoulder in Sokovian.
"Saw what?" I return, also in Sokovian, rifling through a wallet.
"You don't even need money, what's the point?" Pietro asks.
"It's fun?" I shrug, taking the cash and throwing the wallet into a garbage can. We follow Wanda into a restaurant and I stand behind the twins as they order in English, occasionally asking me about if I like this or how I feel about that. I look around, thinking about how many times I passed over this restaurant because I couldn't spare the money and it's structured to avoid theft.
Pietro quickly walks to a table in a corner once he and Wanda are done ordering, his bouncing leg a clear sign of his desire to use his powers. I understand that feeling. Wanda sits down next to me, paying half attention at what's going on behind the counter.
"The boy working at the register thinks you're pretty, Sonder," Wanda remarks, still in Sokovian. We fall into it so easily, so simply, it just feels so right. Her words register and I blink slowly, several times.
"He thinks I'm what?" I manage to form a reply after a moment.
"Well, that's not the term he'd use, but yes," She shrugs, laughing at my reaction. I blush, instantly somewhere between embarrassed and plain uncomfortable. I shake my head and rest my chin on my arms, exhaustion seeping in. I don't think I need to sleep, or even that I could, I'm just tired.
"Can you take both of us and the food back?" Pietro asks carefully. I feel his gaze on my back.
"Doubting me, blondie?" I raise an eyebrow, staring out the front window of the restaurant. If I thought I might not make it before, I'll be making it now; out of spite if nothing else.
"No, no, of course not, merely ensuring the safety of our dinner," He shoots back.
"Watch the man with the ugly hat," Wanda says casually, referring to a man wearing a hideously embroidered baseball cap who's glaring at us from near the registers.
"Speak English! You're in America now!" He shouts at us. I grind my teeth and nearly port, just for the pure pleasure of punching him in the face.
"And there it is," Wanda mutters.
"We were just remarking on how awful your hat looks, sir, our apologies," Pietro says seriously, holding up his hand in a gesture of 'peace.'
"Dumb Communists," The man mutters as he takes his bag of food, turning towards the door. My mind quickly floods with memories of said Communists, lessons about nuclear war and starving people, all of it returning and settling in my mind like it was always there in the first place. Wanda glares at the wall and grinds her teeth before discreetly nodding towards him. Pietro is sitting down again before most people would notice he had left, quickly chewing and swallowing.
"What did you do?" I ask, the Sokovian suddenly feeling bitter on my tongue.
"He'll be very disappointed when he gets home and finds that he has no food," Pietro smirks, licking off his thumb. I snicker and nod, impressed.
"Wanda!" The boy at the counter calls, heaving a pile of boxes and two bags onto the glass case that houses various desserts.
"That's our food," Wanda nods towards the counter as she stands up, tucking her chair in with an incredibly discreet wisp of red fire.
"You guys will eat all of that?" I raise an eyebrow at the pile.
"Pietro will have eaten most of it before we get back if you don't watch him," Wanda swats at her brother's arm as they collect the food. "Have a good evening!" Wanda calls to the boy behind the counter, suddenly switching to English.
"I'm hungry," Pietro pouts, digging through one of the bag's he's holding. I look over the stack that Wanda carries, seeing most of it actually hovering just barely above her hands. They've mastered the art of narrowly avoiding being discovered, it seems.
"So, is teleporting your only ability?" Pietro asks. I tuck my hands into my pockets and frown at him.
"Is running fast your only ability?" I return. He frowns back at me as we turn the corner back towards the alley.
"He's only asking because I have more than one ability," Wanda tries to defend.
"No, I clean sweaters very quickly as well," Pietro's words overlap with Wanda's.
"Good job, washing machine," I grin, patting his shoulder. Pietro frowns at me and I laugh, picking at my hair again. We get to the end of the alley and before I could even say anything, Pietro's dropped the food and carried me back to the beach. I recover more quickly than before, despite feeling like I might vomit. He grins at me and turns to run back, but I port in front of him and stick my leg out, giving him no time to react. He swears as he goes flying, face planting in the dirt.
"You're a horrible person," He mutters as he stands up, heading back for Wanda.
"I know, it keeps me awake at night," I laugh, enjoying myself very much.
"Behave yourselves," Wanda scolds as she gracefully jumps out of Pietro's arms, still holding her food. "Now, ready to take us back?"
I roll my shoulders and try to destabilize again, finding that it makes it easier to take more with me. I grab one of Wanda's hands and use my other to support the giant pile of food, closing my eyes and focusing on getting back to the Facility.
"Food!" Peter shouts, his voice being the solidifying factor. I open my eyes and release Wanda, who looks as disoriented as me. She blinks a few times and levitates both herself and the food towards a table. Peter follows after her, asking about what she got. I shake my head, trying to clear it, and head back for Pietro.
I land a few feet from him, and I think the pink cloud is getting thicker for some reason.
"Try and hold still," I mutter, grabbing his forearm. Taking us back feels like I'm lugging bricks through a pool full of honey, like I'm either going to have to drop what I'm carrying or I'll be stuck there forever.
I focus myself and grit my teeth.
There will be no splitching today.
Pietro Pietro Pietro Pietro I am bringing him with me and we are going to the Facility.
We land in Tony's lab. I heave a sigh of relief before my legs give out.
"What...the hell?" Pietro says. I lift my head up and see him staring at the food, which is mangled, the boxes and the bag entangled in each other.
"Your face would look better that way," I mumble, my whole body going lax into the floor.
"Wanda?" Pietro shouts. He's probably concerned about me. That's fair. If I had any energy left, I think I'd be concerned about me too.
Wanda's face appears in the corner of my vision, and she looks concerned too.
"Hi," I say, the words thick between my teeth.
"Do you want some help?" She asks, her mouth hinting at a smile.
"No!" Two people say at once. I turn my head towards the door and see Peter and Tony running in, looking terrified and intrigued, respectively.
"She's not stable! If you touch her...well, I don't know what, but nothing good," Peter says, walking towards me. He tilts his head to look at me, smiling weakly.
"Hey Sonder...how are you feeling?" He asks, crouching a safe distance from me.
"Tired. Very tired." I nod.
"She says she's tired," Pietro offers. Oh. Sokovian again. I keep doing that.
Something pokes my shoulder before clattering to the floor. I turn towards my left side, seeing a metal rod tangled up, glitching. Like me.
"Let's not touch her for a bit," Tony nods, standing several feet away. I frown and start to sit up, but I'm so dizzy that I fall backwards again.
"Stop moving, idiot," Pietro shakes his head, scolding me in Sokovian.
"Shut up, washing machine," I reply.
"Do I even want to know?" Tony mutters.
"Did the food survive?" I ask Pietro, watching Peter pace around me.
"Wanda's did. You murdered mine," He grumbles.
"Next time I'll murder you," I groan, just grateful that he's in one piece. "I keep you alive, don't ditch you inbetween, and all you have to say is that I killed your food. You are a very ungrateful boy, Django,"