abraxaslogs | ( open — august catchall )

[he's imagining what he uses it for and so, in this proximity, wanda can take note of what it is he is thinking about a little more clearly. she moves to sit on his lap, just so she has the leverage to turn to him cover his face with her hands—like she's done before.]

So, like a mask?

[it's totally a mask.]

Mm hm.

( he winds an arm around her waist when she sits down, the hold loose enough that she can move but easy enough to brace her so she doesn't slide off.

her hands come up to cover his face and he blinks a few times, lashes brushing against her skin. )

It's like a mask, yeah. I just cover the top half of my face.

Hm.

[she pulls her hands back, and—easily enough—conjures a series of fabrics onto her hands: cotton, rayon, silk, denim. reaching for his free hand, wanda leads it so he's aware of what she's doing here.]

What material feels best for you?

[if food and drink tastes different for him, it must be the same—with this.]

( matt reaches out, letting his fingers brush against the fabrics she's conjured. he picks them up and holds them before he puts them down and does the same thing to the next one. )

I think — really, anything works for me. Denim might be the only one that's too abrasive and silk tears easily. I've always gone for cotton since I try and not let people get close enough to me to grab at it.

( and no one had tried. )

And honestly, I don't really think about it once I put it on. I'm focused elsewhere.

[wanda considers his words for a moment, nodding her head and then— making all the fabrics but the cotton one disappear. with a little more thought, she turns it into a scarf.

she tries winding it over his eyes, around his head.]

Try it. I want to get the measurements right.

Wanda, I can just tie any scarf around my head and make it work.

( not that he doesn't appreciate the effort but he doesn't want her going through so much just for something fairly simple.

still, he reaches for the scarf and winds it around his head, pulling it down over his eyes and the bridge of his nose before tying it at the back to keep it in place.

then, he spread his arms and says: )

Do I look suitably terrifying?

[he says those words, almost sound dismissive at her efforts, but she can feels his emotions; he does appreciate what she's doing here. she sits a little closer to his knees, watching as he adjusts it over himself. it's practiced—the way he put it on—and he somehow seems more comfortable in it than anything else; even more than the tie and suit.

she isn't sure on the 'terrifying', but—]

I'm trying to see where the Devil Boy comes from.

[well, it's probably just more to do with attitude than looks, right? wanda leans in close, a hand on his chest, and presses a kiss to his lips.]

Let me send you a scarf, okay? Even if you could just get any old scarf you find around.

Edited 2022-08-10 17:16 (UTC)

( laughing, matt lifts his fingers and puts them behind his head, two makeshift devil horns before he shrugs. he knows where it comes from and though he doesn't try and encourage it, he doesn't discourage it either.

hands coming back down to rest against her waist, he reaches to adjust the scarf around his eyes and then waves a hand in front of him. )

You can send me a scarf. I'd like a scarf from you, Wanda. I just —

( he shrugs. )

Don't want to put you out.

You know that I just do these things with my magic, don't you?

[no actual sewing involved. it's surprisingly easy; the only part that is really difficult is having to trust the caravans will make it in time—two whole weeks of waiting.]

I could make it so it never tears, no matter how much trouble you get into. I know you probably don't care, but it would be important to me.

( he had known that but maybe he'd just forgotten in the span of their conversation. he laughs and then shrugs a shoulder. )

That might be a good addition to things. People don't tend to reach for my face to try and tear it off me but —

( just because it hadn't happened doesn't mean it wouldn't. )

I could do something for you in return.

[she leans into him, enjoying how—gentle, easy, this whole thing is. a hand at her waist, their conversation being open and casual, the way his laughs lead to smiles. wanda perches elbow against his shoulder, holds at his tie with her other hand.]

Like what?

[it's a lot different to talk to matt when half his face is hidden.]

I already told you that you do plenty.

I don't know but something.

( he doesn't have magic the way she does and most of his talents lend itself to other avenues of work so he can't really knit her anything or cook or something especially since she lives in a completely different area.

he frowns, working his jaw back and forth. )

It'll be something that I have to think about before I actually do it. It's not like you need legal advice or other help that I can provide. So, I'll have to think about it.

[the way he's thinking about, it makes wanda smile—it's her turn to laugh, leaning back. she takes a moment to fix the collar of his shirt, then moving her hands upwards to remove the scarf from his head. his hair's a mess, but—]

I already told you that you do enough.

Don't worry about it, Matt.

[her hands go back to fixing his hair.]

Edited 2022-08-10 20:04 (UTC)

Don't tell me what to do.

( if he wants to worry about it, he'll worry about it. and he's not going to just forget it either. he'd figure out something though he doesn't really know what. he'd just wait to figure it out when she wasn't around him and couldn't read his mind.

yes, that's right, he wants it to be a surprise. )

Just — let me figure something out.

[wanda gives him a look that she's sure he can parse, before ultimately shrugging.]

Fine. You're letting me send you a scarf, so it's only fair.

[with a final brush of his hair so it doesn't look so out of place, she hands him the scarf and gets up on her feet. this is so she can just bring a chair closer, to sit beside him. back straightened, she brings the pad and pen he had used earlier and the paper she had torn off. she's going to start practicing these braille letters in order to learn them.

scribbling, scribbling—]

The conversation went alright.

[the one she had left him for last time.]

Did it? Good.

( once wanda settles in the chair beside him, matt reaches over to brush his fingers underneath her hair so he can massage her neck lightly while she practices the braille. )

Do you want to talk about it?

( what was said, what happened, whatever. he knows that, while she says it had gone all right, it still could have been difficult to talk about something so personal and painful. )

[it's comfortable, and nice, that matt puts his hands on her neck. the familiarity of the gesture together with this sense of being looked after—before, wanda would reject it. now? she's so starved for love and affection, that though it surprises her that he's even done so, it brings her comfort.

wanda slumps a little forward though, at the question about whether she wants to talk about it. she did bring it up.]

Do you know who Stephen Strange is?

[since he's from their world and all, wanda wonders— as she practices writing down the dot combination for 'k'.]

Name doesn't ring a bell, no.

( he shakes his head, still rubbing at the back of her neck while he listens to the scrawl of the pen on paper. he takes a breath and let's it go, wondering if she's going to elaborate or if it would be too much. )

Might have been someone that I hadn't really heard about at the time or they weren't...sensationalized all over the place. Either one.

[wanda has to stop to put hand to her mouth, a loose fist, and keep herself from openly laughing at that. it's really kind of funny how matt, in the united states, doesn't hear of the avengers—whereas wanda and pietro, locked all the way in sokovia, know about the avengers.

it's just one of those ironies.

pretty hard to tell on the popularity of stephen anyway.]

Maybe. [she composes her, rubbing at her cheek with the heel of her palm and continuing scribbling, now, with the 'm'.] He's a sorcerer. There are sanctums all over the world, and he lives in the one in New York. He's something of an authority as far as magical things are concerned.

[thus, her turf.]

—I gave him a really hard time. He knows about everything I did.

[straightening up, she turns to look over at matt.]

What... year do you come from? It's 2025 for me.

( matt makes a face at 'sanctums' and 'sorcerers' because while he knows magic exists and he's even begun to use it, he really hadn't even begun to think about how organized and hierarchical it was.

but, it wasn't really his thing so he didn't pay attention. didn't think he needed to. )

2017.

( so, there had to be differences in what they knew and experienced especially since he was somewhat removed from the avengers and what they did and she was very engaged. )

Little bit behind you.

[2017.

she stops for a moment—that's quite a 'little bit', but it doesn't deter how much she longs for him, this stupid, meddling feeling. ]

...I had recently lost Pietro. [it had been two years, and,] I was also, officially, a fugitive. I wouldn't sign the Sokovia Accords.

[sighing, wanda leans back on the chair for a moment. the her back then, almost ten years ago, was so different from the her now.]

Stephen's going to tell the others about what I did, if he hasn't already.

Edited 2022-08-11 01:14 (UTC)

And what do you think about that?

( stephen telling the others, he means. on the one hand, it saves her from painful conversations that she might not want to have but on the other, it means she won't know what stephen says to them until they come find her. )

Did he say he was going to do that or are you just assuming by the conversation the two of you had?

[wanda understands why matt is asking what he's asking. truth is, matt doesn't really know stephen, and if there is one thing about the sorcerer, it's the fact that he's to-the-point about his words and he doesn't tack on fiction to facts.

she shakes her head.]

I asked him to. [pursing her lips, she brings up a hand to rub at her brow.] I wasn't entirely myself for a few weeks, before we— [kissed] I vaguely remember attacking some of them.

They need to know from someone who has no reason to cut me any slack. I can talk to them later.

[it makes sense to her.]

All right.

( it's her choice and that makes him feel a little better about someone else sharing what happened. he nods, rubbing at the back of her neck a little more firmly to try and ease tension that he can tell wants to appear. )

It'll be okay. ( she's gotten through this much, hasn't she? and while the hard part definitely isn't over yet, she's still here and she's still on her feet. )

You'll be okay.

[and that's—enough, isn't it? for matt to accept her choices, to reassure her that it'll be okay. not once did she fear that he would tell her she should have done differently, and the way her heart picks up is because she's worried about the circumstances around her—this tension he can feel under his fingers.

there is nothing more she wants to do but to believe his words. to be told that it'll be okay, though not a certainty, it makes her feel better, even if just a smidge.

wanda takes his hand from her neck, kisses the palm of it, and then places it on her cheek, leaning against it.]

Thank you — for giving me a safe place to be in.

Edited 2022-08-11 14:01 (UTC)

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