abraxaslogs | [Open] this doesn't look like a party

[ Natasha absorbs that information with a hint of surprise, pulling back to study Wanda's face, even while keeping the other woman's hand tucked warmly in her own. A point of contact, a grounding - what little she can offer. ]

One of your sons is here? A Summoned?

[ Even if he came from another world, that didn't change the fact that he was still, in some way, Wanda's son. ]

In Solvunn.

[right there with her, for better or for worse. for the better, at least, in more recent happenings. billy being there brings her a sense of fulfillment, a chance at something adjacent to being the mother she wishes she could continue being.

a tight smile curves over her features.]

I could introduce you both some time.

[ Natasha smiles as well, her expression warming as she nods. Leaning back in her chair, she reaches for her glass once more to take another savoured sip. ]

I would like that. I'd like to meet your son. Sort-of son? [ Although something else occurs to her then and she pauses, frowning instead. ] Wait, are you saying they've Summoned children here?

[ Even if he did share Wanda's power... that was beside the point here. ]

Sort-of son.

[she repeats, quieter, right after natasha says it, as if to confirm what billy is to her. in a way, she manages to confirm it for herself, too. it's been a long-winded process, of wanda coming to accept billy for who he is and who he represents to her.

they've come a long way, from wanda attacking him with her magic.]

He's... hardly a child. I'd say early twenties, if I had to give him an age.

[and she is thirty-two, right now, so it creates a great disparity between who they are to each other. her billy is a young boy, ten years old, not a young man like this billy. she's still working through that.]

[ Natasha blinks, digesting that information. Then coughs around a laugh, emotional though it might be. ]

Well. In that case, let me congratulate you, because you look great for your age for having a twenty-year old kid. [ Irreverent humor, maybe, but that's also skipping quite a few steps here.

Still she casts Wanda a curious look. ] What's he like? Is he different from... what you remember?

[irreverent humor is something she missed, especially coming from natasha. wanda scrunches her nose at that, barely avoids rolling her eyes, before settling to look down at her hand with a small smile. she's turning the glass over with her fingers, not seeing but sending natasha's curious look.

she is far too aware that a lot of this is incredibly new—the magic, the multiverse—and there is still so much wanda hasn't shared.]

He looks different.

[the raven that's been accompanying them gets a glance from wanda, and it glides off back into the hallway, returning a short moment later with the framed photo and setting it down for wanda to hold. she stares at it for a moment, before passing it on towards natasha.]

The Billy here has dark hair, but their eyes feel similar. [a pause—] They were ten years old then, it had — happened so fast, so I only knew them for a few days. I... guess there are just a lot of blanks I wish I could fill. What my Billy and Tommy would have been like, their favorite movies, things like that.

[it's hard to make a comparison, basically.]

[ Natasha takes the picture, studying it intently now that she has context for it. Her gaze lingers on Vision's face for a moment before studying each of the boys thoughtfully. She can see hints of Wanda in both of them. ]

The Billy here... was his life similar or different?

[ The multiverse is still a mystery to her and she doesn't quite understand how this even works, but at least Wanda's story helps put some of it into context. She has a feeling this is going to be something that would take a bit for her to wrap her head around anyway, even outside of what Wanda explains. ]

[that question is a little difficult to answer, truth be told. wanda shakes her head, silent for a moment. it's hard to reconcile how she calls herself a mother who loves her boys, but the moment the alternate version of one of them shows up — she reacts the way she did—

wanda brings her hands down to rest against her lap, wriggling at her fingers nervously. how much does she want to explain? about why she had reacted the way she did? how the memory of tommy and billy, scared of her, asking her not to hurt them, was so fresh in her mind when this billy showed up, calling her mom.

maybe she can circumvent that entirely?]

I've... had a hard time talking to him. We've done better lately, but it's — difficult, sometimes.

[how every wanda in the multiverse gets to have their boys, one way or the other, but not her.]

I know he didn't go through what my boys did, though.

That's not that surprising, considering it's such a painful topic for you to begin with.

[ Natasha's quiet as she watches the way Wanda falls quiet and fidgets, clearly uneasy with the topic. Or maybe that's just the lingering memories. She takes another low, measured sip of the drink they're sharing, eyes drifting over the woods outside while she thinks. ]

I'll have to keep an eye out for him, when I'm in Nocwich. Or when we come together here in the Horizon, I guess that's an option now too. Which is a really strange thing to wrap my head around, even now that I'm here.

[wanda's face pinches in amusement, looking at natasha for a moment before turning away. she appreciates that, how the other woman reads the room and shifts the conversation into less emotionally-charged territory.

straightening her shoulders, she leans an elbow onto the table.]

You'll get used to it.

[if anyone can accommodate to the new, it ought to be the black widow.]

Billy's has Avengers in his own world, so he might be familiar with another version of you. I'm sure that'll be fun to wrap your head around, too.

[ Actually, she just makes a face at the very idea, tone wry and a little sarcastic. ]

Yeah, because that's exactly what the multiverse needed. More of me.

[it's typical natasha, working a joke with all seamless sarcasm and the wryness to deliver it. it does land, except for the fact that—]

Too soon.

[—wanda thinks that the multiverse could do so well if there were more of natasha around. they lost her what feels like too long ago, but now she's here; wanda hopes that this could be a more permanent state of how things are around here.

the raven pushes itself onto the table between the two women, pecking at wanda's rings, as if trying to alleviate whatever dark place this conversation would go towards. she flicks lightly at its beak.]

Thought of a name yet?

Edited 2022-12-23 22:40 (UTC)

[ Natasha just shrugs, spreading her hands to the side, because if she's not going to make light of it, most of her conversations with her companions are going to end up way too depressing. Besides. Hadn't you said it had been a few years?

But her eyes drop to the raven and her lips quirk as she reaches out, stroking a single finger down over smooth dark feathers. After a moment, she tips her head to the side and offers an answer. ]

Argus. [ She glances from the raven to Wanda, lips quirking faintly. ] In Latin, it means 'watchful, vigilant', or in some cases, a guardian. It seemed fitting, considering.

[Open] this doesn't look like a party

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