driftfleet | Twin Roses Mingle

[He certainly does let her take his hand, and in fact gives it a light squeeze. Someone's been helping him learn body language a bit better in the intervening years (hint: it's mostly been her future self).] It's more of a destination when we're drifting, yes. There are several establishments there, including a restaurant and a few places to consume alcohol. You'll have to explore once we're away from the planet.

[And he gets a light in his eyes, because really, the cargo bay is his favorite, and the place that still has the most of his own influence from when he was here last.]

We'll look at the cargo bay, then.

[He leads her over to the stairs, and as the belly of the ship opens up before them there is a noticeable change in air quality - fresher, a bit more humid, and full of the sweet smell of greenery. There are shelves on the walls crammed with potted plants and a few dirt beds in enclosed spaces on the floor, all growing alien plants - some edible, some medicinal, and a several that are both. Along another wall is a basketball hoop, treadmill, pinball machine, and a few more activities, and there's a bed with a homemade quilt tucked into one of the corners. Lastly there's the kelp tank - a massive water tank with quickly-growing seaweed with the famous bacon-flavored fronds and another variety that has granular blobs - it has approximately the same consistency of rice. Glowing fish swim through the tank, giving it a festive look.]

Here we are.

[This is the place that always felt like home to him.]

Do you go there often?

[She's a little surprised but immediately squeezes his hand back. He's definitely been learning, or maybe over the years he's just become used to Wanda's tactile nature.

It's...nice. As nice as seeing that glint of excitement in his eyes. Wanda wouldn't have thought that the cargo bay of all places would elicit that expression, but she's eager to see it if it makes him so happy.

The air's her first clue, a freshness that makes her inhale deeply. And as they step farther into the cargo bay, Wanda's eyes widen and she almost laughs with wonder.

There's so much green, more than she's seen since she came here, even on the planet. Wanda doesn't recognize anything but the seaweed, but the plants are as beautiful in their own way as the stars.]

There's so much...did you help with this? It's amazing.

[Finally her attention focuses in on the fish. She gives Vision's hand a gentle tug - it's the first thing she wants a closer look at, but even now she's not quite willing to let go.]

I used to accompany my first mate there often - there's an art studio she liked to frequent. She's not here any longer, though. [He hopes Wrath found her sunset, wherever it was.

And then he has to be proud of it, because he did work on it quite a lot.]

It was my primary hobby, yes. I take it there was a garden on the Three Twins that combined with my Windrose's, but the tank and the shelves are all my work.

[There are a number of fish that dart in and out - white, red, green, yellow, and a light blue, each bright enough to be used as a lamplike light source if the ship goes dark.] They were from the first planet I visited, an ocean world dotted with islands. I was very glad when Kitty told me they were still here, actually. The white one is Maine and belonged to Wrath. The others are mine--[and he points to each in turn]--Tony, Bruce, Jarvis, and, er, Ultron.

It must have been a beautiful world. I wish I could have seen it. [A beat, she keeps forgetting:] Or remember it.

[The fish are very cute. Wanda's glad he's found a hobby he can be so passionate about, and this in particular is just so...Vision. It really suits him.

But of course she bristles the way she always does whenever someone mentions Ultron. It's full body tension, from her jaw to the way her hand tightens around his. Wanda could never blame Vision for his, um, parentage situation...but she will never feel anything but utter hatred for Ultron.

That poor fish doesn't deserve that. Still, Wanda has enough presence of mind not to voice her disdain to spare Vision's feelings. She even manages to keep her voice even, although the pause before she speaks is ever so slightly too long to be natural.] ...your creators.

So do I. [He doesn't specify which; it'd be seeing it for the first time for her. This version of her. He's got to keep it separate in his mind.] But perhaps we'll come across a similar place again.

[He does notice her stiffen and he can easily guess why, but--she does grasp the naming scheme immediately. Most people don't.

He holds a palm up to the glass and the yellow fish inspects it curiously. He'd named that one Jarvis, but the color was very close to that of the Mind Stone. Coincidence?
It's hard to say.]

It's important for me to remember that they all had a hand in making me who I am--that what separates me into myself are the choices I make every day. If I were to stop making good choices, I need to know there will be consequences.

[He shakes his head lightly, remembering the consequences of his last bad decision, as he always will. A moment of bad judgment and Rhodey could have been killed.]

Ah, regardless, they can also be put into little fish bowls and used as portable light sources should the lights become unstable. It happened once when we flew through a nebula.

[Maybe it stings even beyond the name because that shade of blue reminds her of Pietro. But Vision and Jarvis are cute and so Wanda's smile gradually returns.]

I can't imagine you making bad choices, or hurting people just because you can.

[She gently squeezes his hand.]

I'm glad they're still here. They're so cute. And it's good to have familiar things. [Wanda finally looks away from the fish to turn her attention to the garden.]

What about the plants? Do you have a favorite?

[Her words do a good deal to relax him, actually, and he nods in response. It means a lot coming from her, because she knows him better than he knows himself at times.
Sure, he thinks he'd never want to be malicious, but she can see what's in his mind and know it's true.] Thank you.

I couldn't say I have a particular favorite among the plants, no. Some of them have lovely flowers when tended properly, and they all have interesting properties. [He gestures at one of the plants on a top shelf, a rather ugly-looking cactus-type plant.] That one is a painkiller if processed into oil, for example. The buds from this bush over here can be brewed into a tea. The fruits of this one taste like carrots, I'm told.

Carrot fruit?

[She laughs; it certainly doesn't look anything like carrots.]

That must make some interesting meals. I might have to be more creative. But I hope we don't have much use for painkillers here...

[Who is she kidding; if they've brought so many Avengers here this isn't going to be Big Brother in space. Of course they're going to get shoved at something dangerous.

...or maybe that's just her ever-present wariness of those in power talking.]

So I'm told. [Does it really taste like carrots? He sure can't tell.]

In general it's actually very safe here. However, my former first officer, a woman named Wrath from another planet far in our future, was constantly injuring herself due to previously sustained battle wounds. It was very useful for her sake, if nothing else.

[He pauses to catch her eye and continues on in a concerned tone.]

And, frankly, the less we must rely on our hosts, the more comfortable I will be. I don't want anyone dependent on their generosity if another option is available.

[Which applies to the food they grow as well as medicines, and even the garden itself is a way to reduce strain on the air recycling systems. Even his pet fish would be useful in a power outage.]

No, you're right. It's better to do as much for ourselves as we can.

[Generosity could always be withdrawn, supplies could be delayed. Wanda knows all too well how badly that can go from growing up in Sokovia. It's just another potential form of control.

But she doesn't dare voice the thought knowing she's potentially always being watched. Instead, she shoves them down and smiles up at Vision.]

How can I help?

[He gives Wanda a fond smile. This? This is why he likes her.

Well, one of the reasons.]

We can check with the co-captains what the current schedule is for horticulture. I'm certain Kitty and Vash will be happy to work us in. As I recall, it's mainly monitoring the growth, harvesting when appropriate, and making sure the watering systems are working correctly.

For a while, we had a young woman who described herself as a "swamp witch". Her talent was for helping plants to grow. These days it seems to be a bit more manual, but if you'd like a seedling of any of them for your room, I'm sure it could be managed.

[But that can be a concern for later. For now, the Vision lets his hand fall gently on one of Wanda's shoulders.] Thank you for choosing to share a ship with me, Wanda. I'm happy you're here.

I'm...not that kind of witch, but I'll try.

[Maybe she'll find a plant that is both useful and aesthetically pleasing on another planet. But that, too, is for another time. Wanda's smile softens as his hand falls to her shoulder, one of those rare smiles usually reserved for quieter moments.

She reaches up to lightly squeeze his hand.]

If we have to be here, I'm glad we're here together.

[Oh, he would like that so much. It's a little odd - back home he wasn't particularly a plant fiend, but something about living on the ships here had made him really come to appreciate them. Part of it is that he just likes to be surrounded by life. On Earth, this isn't a problem. Drifting as tiny specks in space? He'd come to love even the mild green forms of life.

And oh, but he has to catch himself before he does anything more than just squeeze her hand back. This whole adjusting-to-timelines thing might take a little more work than he thought.]

As am I, Wanda. I have said it before, but I'm so glad you're here.

[Over the next week Vision's presence proves to be a constant comfort, and although Wanda isn't happy about being at the mercy of the show's producers, she's still glad they're able to be on the same ship together. It's not so bad now that she isn't alone.

One day after the fleet leaves the Yaugur system, they make their way to the Iskaulit. It's massive, and Wanda's glad she has a guide. It wouldn't take long at all to get lost in here.

Instinctively she reaches for his hand, even though there's no crowd to navigate or set Wanda psychically off-balance. It just feels like the thing to do, and Wanda has no reason to fight the impulse.]

So where did you want to go first?

[He clasps her hand warmly - he can adjust his body's surface temperature to a certain degree, and he knows she likes it when he feels human-with-good-circulation temperature. Maybe there's no crowd here, but it is an alien spaceship, albeit one slowly being adapted to (mostly) human use. And here, next to the shuttle dock, are the most signs of Fleet presence - colorful decorations, signs for the Space Bar and Malum and the Meting Pot, even a few of the more persistent plants in decorative pots. There is one thing he wants to see, though.]

I'm sure there is much that has changed since I was here - the restaurant is new, I know that much. But there's a certain hallway I'd like to visit first, if you don't mind?

[And if she doesn't, he'll lead her through the branching, tunnel-like halls of the ship to a lower section. The walls here are wide and flat, which is why an artist seems to have chosen one of them as a canvas. It's a mural with many different aspects, but the primary themes are a group of bug-like aliens going about their daily lives in the same ship they're in now, and a brilliant sunset over a battlescape, set on a planet somewhere. Here and there are other themes: ships recognizable as Fleet ships, a few figures of humans (one bearing a suspicious resemblance to Bucky), a calico kitten, and a woman with long pink hair riding a motorcycle and wielding a plasma sword.

The Vision eyes it for a moment and lays a hand on the pink-haired woman's figure. When he speaks, it's in a soft, respectful tone.]

You've probably heard me mention someone named Wrath. This is her work. I hope that wherever she is, she found her sunset.

[Wanda does love the comfortable warmth of his hand in hers - when did he learn how to do that? It's nice, and she thinks nothing of continuing to hold on to him as they venture deeper into the ship.]

Show me whatever you want, [she says with a smile. They leave the colorful landing dock, making their way through hallways that give Wanda a mild sense of claustrophobia until they open up into larger passageways.

She's not sure what she expected Vision to find noteworthy about a hallway, but this - this was definitely worth the trip. Wanda can't help a soft intake of breath as she takes it all in.]

Your First Mate. [There was a lot to take in about that conversation, but while some little features of the ship escaped her, she does remember that.] You were close, yes?

[Loss is something Wanda knows all too well, and while logically she knows none of them could have shielded Vision from experiencing any more of it, she's no less saddened to see this side of the effects of his time here. Gently, she squeezes his hand.]

I wish I could remember her.

[Wanda's decided that it's easier on everyone else to classify things that happened the last time she was here as 'things she can't remember.' She's still herself, whatever the show's producers have done to her, and even if she can't remember it, there's no reason those friendships can't fall back into place.]

What happened here? These look like our ships.

Yes, that's right. We were both in the Fleet for approximately the same amount of time, and assigned to the same ship. In her world, she was a soldier through and through, used by her government until there was barely anything left and then mustered out when her injuries became too much. And yet what was left was a friendly and compassionate person with a beautiful eye for art; she constantly pushed for me to become a better person. [He smiles a bit at the memory.] She had a terrible memory, though, and I don't think she understood the point of punctuation.

Her memory loss was why she painted. She wanted to be able to remember better, and it would help. This ship--these are our ships here, yes. We came upon it drifting in the darkness and populated by violent denizens with no sign of sapience. They attacked us; we retaliated and wiped them out.

[He touches another spot on the mural, a planet that looks entirely oceanic.] Not long after we reached a world that had a population of the same aliens, but far more intelligent and peaceful. We learned there was a fungal infection that essentially made zombies of the ship's crew we found. They'd once been merchants with families, and they were reduced to nothing but beasts. We helped them wipe out the remaining fungus, and in thanks they left the derelict ship for our use.

[Which is horrible, really, but--that's why it's important to remember.]

She painted the walls so we might not forget them.

[Oh...oh no. An entire ship of people just wiped out and now their ship's become part of the Fleet. A constant reminder for the ones who were here.

And those that weren't would never know.]

I'm sorry.

[What else can she say? Even if it had to be done, even if it was the only way to save the others...that doesn't mean it didn't leave emotional scars.]

But I'm glad this is here so we remember, too.

[She can only imagine how rough this must have been for him in particular, and so Wanda's gaze falls back upon the oceanic planet in a desperate attempt to change the subject to something less charged.]

Is that where you found your fish?

[He's silent for a moment, remembering. The fighting had been an adventure, but learning the truth behnd the mad aliens had been devastating. Wanda is right to think it had been hard on him, and he takes a bit of a risk in moving closer to her, placing an arm around her shoulders.] Thank you.

[And he doesn't move away at her change of subject, though it is a welcome one.]

The fish and the kelp as well, yes. There were beaches everywhere, and the water was the perfect temperature for swimming. Er, not that I swim, but I was told it was very good. And, let's see here--

[He taps one of the little painted Fleet ships.] This one was the Windrose. I think--this other one here, that was the Three Twins. Before Captain Kitty piloted the one into t he other, of course.

[There's little risk to be had; Wanda has little concept of personal space to begin with but especially with him. She even leans into it a little and, because it feels like she should do something, wraps an arm lightly around his waist.

Anyone would want a hug after talking about something that potentially traumatizing.]

It sounds beautiful. I hope we go to another planet like that someday.

[Who's going to move first? Not Wanda - it would feel odd to pull away when she's the one offering comfort.]

She's lucky they didn't crash. Or is that normal here?

[He won't be pulling away until it occurs to him, and it hasn't, yet. Good thing this is a less traveled hallway or someone might remark on it.]

I'd like that. Or at least one with some similar tropical areas, though the swimsuits the sponsors sent us were rather ridiculous.

It's happened one other time that I'm aware of. The Pathstone and Golden both became low on crew members and crashed into one another, creating the Goldstone. That one looks rather more patchwork than our own Twin Roses, but the two ships were more dissimilar to begin with.

[No, the physics behind crashing two ships into one another to combine into a third makes no sense according to the laws of physics, and it does bother him.]

[Well, no one but the viewers, and it's definitely enough to launch this ship (or relaunch it for longtime fans).]

That's a little disturbing that they can just...change like that. That everything can change.

[Says the person who makes physicists everywhere cry on the regular, but even she can't warp matter like that or make people revert to who they were years ago.

Her grip tightens a little bit - she doesn't like thinking about those possibilities. She doesn't think she'd hurt him if she forgot everything that had happened since Seoul, even if she knew he was an Avenger. But that might not stop her from going after the others and it's a constant worry that bothers her more than she cares to admit.]

[He'll notice eventually, but right now he's just...comfortable. Disturbing conversation or not, he feels safe with Wanda here. More importantly, he knows she's safe here where he doesn't have to worry.]

That is the downside of this place, I'm afraid. You can control your own situation to an extent, but you have no control over when you might disappear, or when an augment glitch might do something very strange to you.

[He squeezes her hand back and meets her eyes.]

The best strength you can have here is your friends, Wanda. They can bring you back to yourself, and you can do the same for them. I can't tell you how glad I am that you're here with me; you can always count on me to be there for you. I want you to know that.

[Wanda's also comfortable and definitely not complaining. The ship is slightly colder than she'd prefer and Vision is warm.

She shifts a little closer, as if she could somehow hide from the possibilities. There are people at home who act like she's a ticking time bomb, but here it's actually true.]

I don't know if I would hurt anyone, or what these glitches might do to me, but... [She bites her lip. Tony isn't here, and though she'd only heard terrible things about the Avengers, she's not sure if she'd try to go after them or not.

Regardless, there's nothing either of them can do about it. All she can do is trust in Vision's innate goodness to stop her if there's ever a problem.]

Thank you. And I'm here for you too.

[For a moment he's lost in memory and stares at the picture of Bucky--Winter, really--that's on the mural. He had lost it badly and rampaged through the Iskaulit. Hurt people he'd cared about. Hurt other people who were just in the way. Much like back at home, in a way.

And now he was one of the few people the Vision was not only overjoyed to learn was still here, but was someone he'd trust with his own life and that of his friends.]

They might not affect you at all, in fact. I think the worst they've ever done to me was give me a cold. Though I did find that rather miserable.

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