driftfleet | Twin Roses Mingle

I think that would be best.

[Wanda loads up her own fork and pauses, closing her eyes. She hasn't tried this before, but the concept seems simple enough: link her sense of taste to his mind and hold the connection while they eat.

Her eyes are glowing a dim red with the effort when she opens them. It might be a little unsettling to some, but she knows Vision won't mind. It's such a delicate balance, diving deep enough for this to maybe work but not so deep to risk accidentally invading his privacy.]

On three? One, two, three--

[--it's really good, and Wanda's careful to chew slower than she normally would so Vision can properly savor the taste. Is it working? Does he like it?

She really hopes he does.]

[It's odd, distinctly odd--he's experiencing a sense he's never really used before, or at least never really used in the typical human fashion. Compared to what Wanda's feeling, he decides his own sense of taste is extant but extremely mild. It's nothing like the burst of flavor he gets from her.

Given that, it's absoultely delicious. He gives a small hum that does sound a bt like "mmm".]

It seems to be working.

[And it's easy enough to present her with a burst of gratitude and simple joy, and to nip in the bud the longong fr a deeper connection that comes with it. Oh, he's missed having a comfortable link with her--

--but in its place, space cheesecake is a perfectly adequate substitute, he tells himself.]

Thank you.

[She may sense nothing but gratitude and joy from him, but it's still enough to make Wanda duck her head as she feels her cheeks heat up. He's just...so happy. And Wanda can't keep her own joy at his happiness from shining through the link.]

I'm glad.

[She's missed this too. It's been hard to keep her psychic distance.]

Do you want to try some of it with the berries next?

[It's a bit of a relief, actually, to be able to share something with Wanda again. Yes, it's self-imposed, and yes, he still thinks it's necessary on some level, but he still finds a part of him relaxing that he didn't even know was tense.

He takes up a forkful with some of the berries as well as cake and crust. More complex flavors, but he's confident she can share it just as well.]

On three again, then?

[Wanda adjusts the berry count on her fork to make sure she's matching the piece Vision cut. She wants him to get as accurate of a taste as she can give him, and it's important that this be as enjoyable as possible.]

One, two, three--!

[Mmmm, the berries definitely make the cake.]

It's very good.

[And it is subtly different than just sharing her emotional state while she's eating. He doesn't really have the vocabulary to describe it subjectively, but tangy and sweet he can separate out by the different textures, and the difference the berries make between the first and second bite are obvious even to him.]

The synchronized eating may be a bit awkward, but I'm receiving it very well.

[And once again there's a burst of affection for her that she can no doubt sense, because she's generous and wants to share something she likes with him, and what's not to be grateful for?]

[Wanda's practically beaming. Oh the possibilities...now if only she had access to all the spices she needs, she could make some proper Sokovian food for him.]

Do you want to try some of the tea next?

[She leans over her cup and sniffs, and the link very helpfully provides both the sense and the words for Wanda's impressions. It's a black tea, obviously, but there's something else - citrus, although Wanda can't tell exactly what.]

I think this is something like Earl Grey? I don't know what that smell is.

[Getting some of the spices will be easy. The rest...might be a task.]

Yes, let's. It's not too hot, is it?

[He won't burn himself, but humans are widely variable with how hot they can take their beverages. Wanda seems to want to proceed, though, so he takes a sip in sync with her after a deep smell.]

The smell is a mild citrus. Yuzu, or something like. Is that the flavor as well?

I don't think so? [But just to be sure, she tests it with her finger first. Burning her mouth is definitely not something she wants to share with him.] It's fine.

[The taste is pleasant, but whatever the flavoring is still eludes her. Maybe it's some kind of weird alien tea.]

It isn't lemon or orange. I don't think I've had this kind of tea before, but it's nice with the cake.

[Given that tea in this place is either dispensed from a beverage machine or made manually with herbs and leaves from alien planets, it's probably weird alien tea. There are definitely a few plants on the Twin Roses that can be infused into a beverage. Perhaps they could share a few drinks in the lounge later.]

I like it. Or I sense you like it, which is approximately the same in this case.

[Up until this point, for him, it's been mostly texture-based on the occasions where he's tried to eat. It was a good day when he discovered he could eat without any bizarre consequences, though he's never needed to.]

Now a bit of everything all together? [Crust, cake, berries, followed by a sip of tea. Excellent.]

If we do this more often, you'll find more foods you like.

[Her happiness is a steady warmth shining through their link - this is nice and she hopes they get to do it again. And maybe one day with food she's cooked.

They seem to be making progress to the point they don't need to count off each bite (which is good, because that would have just been awkward.]

Tell me the next time you see something you want to taste.

[Oh, he's missed that feeling of knowing her moods - especially her happiness. And perhaps it won't be too long before he can stop being so squirrely about things and open up to her fully...but not yet. Definitely not yet. For now, this is enough.

And he is enjoying it on his own, not just because it's an excuse to get close to her. Being able to experience yet another aspect of human life is charming.]

I will. Perhaps some of the basic protein gels on the ship for a comparison? If I have only good food, I won't have anything to compare it to.

[A strange expression crosses Wanda's face, something between sadness and tenderness. She has to fight the urge reach out and cup his face or settle a hand on his shoulder, but the food and the table separating them make that decision for her.]

Some of them are...really bad. Are you sure?

[She won't refuse (aside from the Hottest Hot Sauce Known To Man, because neither of them need that), but she'd spare him from the lesser evils of the world if she could. Or in this case, at least let him taste some better things first.]

[Did he say something wrong? What's that expression for? Or--oh, she just thinks the food is bad. That's all right, then.]

Nothing that's terrible, of course. But I would in particular be interested to see how the bacon gel compares to our bacon-flavored kelp, and if any of the powders work as seasoning alternates.

[Look okay, when you've spent most of your life taking whatever you can get, having freedom to choose tasty food instead of forcing yourself to choke something unpleasant down is an almost unimaginable luxury. It's one of the reasons takeout was always such a good way to lure Wanda out of her room.

She's not going to fight him, but she really fails to see why anyone would want to try bad food.]

If you're sure...but the texture's not right. For me it's hard to separate how it feels from how it tastes.

[She's pretty sure he's going to get some of that 'weird mouthfeel grossness' backlash even if she tries to hold that back from the taste just by the nature of the connection.]

[It's one of those things that's fairly baffling to him, but then, he doesn't need to eat. On the one hand, weird texture and not-quite-right flavors. On the other hand, unlimited food with full nutritional value. Kurt had offhandedly mentioned how that much was a luxury compared to some times in his life. So he nods.]

There's no rush, of course. We're not going to run out of protein gel any time soon.

[Cake, on the other hand, is a valuable commodity.]

[Wanda smiles and takes another bite of the cake.]

I am not looking forward to running out of real food. It takes a lot of spices to make the protein gel taste like something normal.

[While she doesn't mind spicy food, she's really going to have to make an effort to find something more closely approximating common spices in Sokovian food than what they have. But noodles and cheese isn't bad at all.]

And maybe we can find more of these berries. They would be good in a pastry, I think. [She smiles again. That's a nice texture.] Have you ever tried one?

[He nods. This was something he heard about often, while he was a Captain.]

If we drift for particularly long, some of the algae in the kelp tank can be used as a rice-substitute carbohydrate, though I like to save it for special occasions as it's also a particularly efficient oxygen recycler. And we keep the freezer stocked as well as we can, between systems.

[He gets a faraway look in his eyes and leans back, smiling.]

A pastry? I have. I was in New York City to check up on one of Mr. Stark's pet projects, and Natasha had me pick up a dozen from a bakery she knew to bring it back to the facility. It was flaky and creamy, and one of the first times I actually tried to eat something.

[Wanda smiles warmly. She has a lot of fond pastry-related memories - they're very popular in Sokovian cuisine.]

I love pastries. Pietro and I used to share them when we could.

[And when they were still kids, the first time she'd baked them, the twins had eaten themselves almost-sick in Wanda's case and actually-sick in Pietro's.]

It will be like old times.

[It still hurts (it always will), but there's enough physical and temporal distance that it doesn't hurt so much to share moments like that with someone else.]

[That she's willing to share it with a smile, even a sad smile, is better than keeping it locked up inside to fester.]

Have you taken stock of the kitchen? I realize much of the ingredients in there are artificial food substitutes, but if your recipes can adjust to what we have, it's easier to make a list of what you'd need once we have a chance to resupply. They may not always be an exact match - the blue carrots from the last system come to mind - but we may still be able to come up with something that works.

[He blinks as he realizes they're almost out of cake. Too bad, this has been a fun little experiment.]

I don't want to experiment much until we have another source of supplies. It might not work very well the first several times.

[She smiles sheepishly - there's the history of food insecurity rearing its head. It's her first drift, after all. Wanda has no idea what to expect.

But this has been a fun outing and she really hopes they can do it again soon. It's such a shame that the cake is almost gone.]

I think we have one more bite left...

[That's a good answer, and he nods. The Vision doesn't need to eat, but he does constantly worry about ship supplies. It's one of the main reasons he'd established the garden, as former Captain.] It likely won't, especially baking. But you are of course more than welcome to use my ration for your experiments.

[He gathers it up onto his fork solemnly.] Shall we, then?

[And he closes his eyes after taking the bite to savor the flavor, and moreover the generosity of the person sharing it with him. Perfect.]

[Wanda tries to eat the last bite as slowly as possible, drawing out the taste as long as she can for Vision's sake. It's good...but so is the joy that comes from sharing it with another person.

She leans back in the booth after setting her fork down, smiling and content. He can likely feel it - the connection lingers since they still have tea left.]

I'm glad we tried this. It was fun.

Yes, it was.

[He transfers a few credits over to the restaurant to pay the bill, not bothering with the communicator as this sort of thing is well within the scope of his natural abilities.]

I'd be happy to try it again, any time you'd like.

[Eventually the tea runs out, and when it's time to leave the Vision offers Wanda his hand again, because...because he likes holding her hand, and he doesn't need more of a reason than that, does he?]

Me too.

[Wanda grins and takes Vision's hand without skipping a beat. She just likes the contact, and she's also not fully ready to let their outing end. Hopefully 'next time' will be really soon.

A content heaviness settles on her as they walk, and when they do make it back to the shuttle she sits down with a sigh and an airy laugh.]

I think I need a nap.

Twin Roses Mingle

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