driftfleet | video;

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Who: The Vision
Broadcast: Video from the planet's surface
Action: Locked to Wanda
When: Now

[This video opens up with a view of a sea of dunes stretching out as far as the eye can see, lit only by the stars above. Some of those stars are moving about in a lively fashion - space traffic, though even the large stations are no more than points of light from this distance. Then the camera pans over to view some shadowy but dramatic rock formations - sandstone or a similar sedimentary rock, though it's hard to tell without more light. The voice narrating the scene has a gentle tone and a British accent, almost like a nature documentary. It's only very slightly muffled by the helmet he's wearing.]

A desert planet is hardly unusual. It's the most common type of rocky exoplanet according to the science in my time. Yet here we see several signs that this was not - and need not always be - the case. Look at the gentle curves in the rocks and the way the sand forms dunes. These are signs of more wind and water than the planet has. Did it have a stronger gravitational pull when it was younger? Did its atmosphere bleed off over time? Are these problems that could be fixed, with the right resources and engineering?

And would that effort destroy the view of the stars above? [He focuses the video a little more on the sky. Granted, they can see the stars any time from their own ships, but there's something about being on a planet that makes it different. The perspective, perhaps? A field of infinite stars is enough that the mind loses its focus unless there's something to compare it to, something to give it context.]

It might. Or it might allow even more people to see their beauty.

It's worth a look if you, like me, find the walls and ceilings too enclosing at times. But do wear your protective gear or you won't make it far outside a shuttle. This planet isn't for the unprepared.

[The view sweeps back to the dunes again, where it rests for a few moments before blinking out.]

[The Vision clicks off the communicator feed and smiles over at Wanda. He's in a full exosuit - he wouldn't need it if he decided to stay intangible throughout the trip, but then he wouldn't be able to grab a couple rocks as souvenirs. Or hold her hand through the gloves as they fly, because here is a space meant for such things.

And he really has missed flying.]

Shall we go to the top of that spire? It looks broad enough for the both of us.

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[Wanda is...not a fan of the exosuit, to put it lightly. It's heavy and constricting, it makes her clumsy, and if not for her powers she's pretty sure this wouldn't be half as enjoyable an experience as it is.

Because for the first time since she was brought here, there's room to fly.

She hovers instead of walking, keeping hold of Vision's hand as a tether. Neither of them are really at risk of floating away, but it makes her feel better and Vision doesn't seem to mind.]

All right. [She turns a little, and she hopes he can see her smiling through her helmet.] I'm ready when you are.

Edited 2018-09-04 23:24 (UTC)

[Oh yes, he sees that smile. And he can hear it in her tone, even if he has to look elsewhere for some reason.

He gives her a nod as a signal and then they're off, zipping through the thin atmosphere and into the wild black yonder of a planet at night. The air pressure is much less than Earth's, but the Vision doesn't have an issue with it - it's not different from decreasing his own density, in a way. Wanda might need a little bit to adjust, so he doesn't speed as fast as he could otherwise.]

This is far better than floating in the cargo bay.

[There's the top of the spire, and he perched on it to see if the view is any different.]

[The only thing that could make this better is the feel of the wind in her hair, Wanda thinks. The view of the stars (and the various ships passing by) is stunning, and even thought the exosuit feels confining the overall freedom of movement is exciting.

...maybe a little too exciting. Between the differing gravitites and her own exhilaration Wanda stumbles when she lands, instinctively reaching out with her free hand to steady herself against him.]

S-sorry.

[She'll get used to it eventually, it's just going to take a few times before she gets the landing force right. But the view from here...]

Oh. This is... [halp what are words]

[The Vision catches her easily (it's easy when half your attention is on the person you're with instead of the sights you're supposedly here to enjoy) with an arm around her waist, steadying her on the perch.] It's a bit uneven here. Be careful.

[But then he smiles warmly at her reaction and looks out at the view for himself. Almost anywhere on this planet would give a dramatic view, but this spot where the dune sea and the rocks meet is particularly breathtaking.]

It's strange. Every time we look out of the windows on a ship, we're seeing into the infinite. But here, with something for the eye to focus on, it seems so much larger.

[He's also not removing his arm from steadying her until she's ready to move again. Definitely for stability's sake, and not because he feels warmth even through the exosuits (it's psychosomatic, he's pretty sure).]

Now let's see--ah. [He points up to a slowly moving speck in the sky.] I believe that's our ship.

We aren't drifting. It feels...different. More grounded, less like a dream.

[All the sights here take her breath away. Wanda's only 'vacations' have consisted of the Avengers trying to coax her out of her room (often to the city) or incidental sightseeing after a mission. It was nothing like this, and this is how Wanda knows this isn't all some bizarre nightmare - she could never have dreamed up anything this wonderful.

When he points out one of the ships, Wanda forgets and almost tries to rise onto her toes, but the thick boots of the exosuit prevent her. Luckily she doesn't wobble this time.]

I wish I could see that well. Most of them look the same to me. [Aside from the lights that are very obviously differently-colored, of course.]

[Natasha, when she appears on his comm, is looking a little better than before. A little. More rested, at least. More collected.

Not less sad, though she has it tamped down better.]

Seems like you're feeling especially poetic today.

[Shiro watches the video from start to finish, curiosity obvious in his eyes. While his bedrest is over, he's still getting used to his new body, so he's taking it easy for now. Which means no exploring a planet that requires some safety measures.

That means Vision's streaming is more than welcome, especially when he starts to narrate. That sure hits this astroexplorer's heart!]

Thank you for the view. It truly is wonderful. [A smile! This is such a nice thing in the middle of the pirate mess.] The locals said that terraforming of this planet has been attempted before with no success, but I don't think it's impossible. It probably requires more effort than some people are willing to put on a desert planet.

[He chuckles. His sight is better than a human's, but not by that much.] Oh, from this distance, they all do look the same. But the shuttle is sending a signal to a specific location, and I can extrapolate based off that.

[His gaze drifts back over to Wanda. It's so good to see her happy like this, and the extra buoyancy granted by having the freedom of a planet below their feet isn't hurting, either. He squeezes her hand enough to feel through the suits.]

Would you like to stand here and look a little longer, or go visit a few of the other rock formations?

[For his part, the Vision is just happy to be on a planet again, even if it's a desolate one like this. He loves the ships, but he's much more used to having full run of a place nowadays.]

Planetary geology will do that to a person, I'm afraid. I don't suppose you'd care for any souvenir rocks, or perhaps some sand?

[No, Natasha's more of a space station kind of person, he thinks. All those people to get lost in and around suits her better than this kind of desolate landscape.]

It is my pleasure.

[He swings the camera back around, so now there's a maroon-skinned man in an exosuit with the planet's landscape in the background.]

I must say, I don't know the details of the terraformation projects as well as I could, which makes it difficult to know for certain. If it's the kind of process that doesn't have results for decades or centuries, every planet would be worth converting to build for the future. But if it's the sort of thing one can reasonably expect to finish in one's own lifetime, easier projects would take priority. Humans in particular are very focused on seeing results rather than incremental progress.

[Wanda laughs lightly and squeezes Vision's hand back.]

It's so wonderful. I want to see all of it.

[Even if that's not a physically attainable goal...as much of it as possible will do. And it's always nice to spend some time doing something fun together.

Some odd emotion stirs in her chest and she has to look away from him back out at the scenery. There's another spire across an impressive valley they could easily fly to.]

What about that one?

We'll see as much of it as we can. [It's a whole planet, of course they're not going to be able to see all of it, even if they had months instead of a few weeks. but there's no reason they couldn't come back in a few days, as long as she doesn't overuse her powers. (Another good reason to come here, actually. It's excellent endurance training.)]

The view should be quite spectacular from there. Let's go.

[Matching her flight speed is effortless, half from habit and half because his attention is always on her regardless. And with the thin atmosphere, there really isn't much in the way of wind to get in their way, just dark skies, an empty planet, and someone he cares very deeply about.

What more could he ask for?]

[It's sweet of him to be concerned, but Wanda's all right. While there are limits to how much power her body can channel at once, endurance has never been a problem for her. Really, this is more of an exercise is splitting her focus - she wants to stare at the scenery but she also has to keep herself aloft as they float to the next spire.

Honestly, his hand in hers is helping her stay mentally grounded.

Beneath them, the valley stretches out on both sides as far as the eye can see. Beyond the spire, endless dunes spotted with the occasional rock formation extend to the horizon. It's breathtaking, and the stars above are just as distracting as ever.

She lands easier this time and squeezes his hand again.]

I don't know where to look. It's all so beautiful. [Somehow, Wanda manages to tear her gaze from the sky above to smile up at Vision.] I wish I had a camera I could use in this.

[Good, because he's willing to stay out flying as long as their suits have power. (A memory fragment from JARVIS surfaces, monitoring the power level in one of Tony's suits and warning about atmospheric changes. Not something he has to worry about this time.)

This time when he lands, the Vision moves to stand behind Wanda and places his hand on her shoulder, not wanting to lose that point of contact but trying to match her gaze at everything. There are deserts on Earth, to be sure, but nothing quite like this, even without the endless starfield unblocked by atmosphere.]

There aren't cameras that can catch the same level of detail the human eye can. Not while preserving the same light. For all that technology moves ever forward, there are still transient forms of beauty you must see in order to experience.

[The urge to pull her back so she rests against his chest is almost too strong to resist. Almost. But still he holds back.]

There is so much to see, so much to do. I want you to know all of it.

[Oh. It's such a simple sentiment, but the way he says it brings heat to her cheeks. That's...really not the usual way she reacts to him, even if the urge to turn and hug him feels normal enough. The only thing stopping her is the clunkiness of the suits and a fear of knocking them both over (not fatal but not fun, either). So instead she rests her hand over the one on her shoulder and squeezes.]

I want you to know it, too. [But that's not quite it, she realizes as she gazes out at the stunning sight of the horizon. She's not sure when her feelings shifted, but--] We can see it together.

[Her heartbeat has picked up with that admission. This...this isn't a normal-friend feeling, but then again, they aren't normal friends, are they? They've always been a little different, something hard to put words to.

Or maybe it's just the scenery affecting her. She can't remember being this happy since a few weeks before being dragged here, on the last big Avengers outing. But even that was different.

...maybe it's best to try not to think about it right now.]

Where do you want to go next?

[We can see it together.

Something clicks into place with that, a warm feeling in his chest and a sense that this is right. The Vision closes his eyes for a moment, savoring it, and he's half glad Wanda is at the wrong angle to see his face right now. But only half, because what clicked into place for him was resolution.

Maybe this time he'd be able to tell her he loves her without the undertone of tragedy behind it.]

I would like that very much, Wanda.

[...But not until they get out of the exosuits and back into the shuttle. Because if he''s misjudged things, he can wait alone on the planet for another ride, and she can't. Hopefully that's worrying too much.

In the meantime he gestures over to the dunes.]

I was thinking perhaps I could gather some samples for a "zen garden". A small one, that you could put in the meditation room if you wanted.

[There's enough time for Wanda to school her features back into something less obviously affected before she turns and reaches for his hand, ready to make the leap.]

It would be good for anyone else who likes to have a physical anchor. Sometimes for me normal meditation makes it worse. Maybe I'm not alone.

[Her mind is never a truly quiet place these days, and silencing her own thoughts can give everything else more room to plague her on a bad day.]

And I'd like to have something to remember this place by.

You're not alone.

[No, idiot, she meant about the meditation. That is, the Vision begins floating down toward the dunes before he can explain his comment, and he tests the sand carefully beefore putting his full weight on it, or trusting Wanda's weight. Nobody wants quicksand - but it seems to be just coarse enough to stand on, even in their exosuits. And he did bring several specimen collection bottles. He saves one for rocks - they'll have to look back among the spires for that, but he's in no hurry, not really.]

This ought to be enough, I think. [He hands her one of the empty bottles.] Perhaps you could collect the rocks? Anything you find appealing should work.

[And if his hands linger a little longer on hers than they strictly need to, if his fingers trace along the palm of her glove, if he smiles at her through the faceplate--

--it's just because he's glad to be on this adventure, right?]

[Wanda appreciates the sentiment, even if it's not quite what she meant. It's still sweet, as is the way Vision checks the sand for her before she lands (quicksand hadn't even occurred to her, although she's pretty sure neither of them are in much danger).

Fortunately, Vision's given her the bottle before smiling at her like that, so she has something to glance away at when it feels like she can't hold his gaze any longer. Even though the helmet prevents her from ducking her head the way she usually does when she's trying to hide a blush, it doesn't hide one of her other nervous tics: the way her bottom lip briefly disappears into her mouth.

...and it has nothing at all to do with rock collection.]

I think I can do that.

[At least her voice is steady. Small victories.

Wanda uses her powers to inspect and collect the rocks, and when she finds Vision again she's filled the container with rocks of various sizes. Some are glassy, some are textured.]

This should be enough, I think. [There's no such thing as too many rocks. Someone will use them.] How are you doing?

[Once he's done, the Vision watches Wanda use her powers on the rocks - a clever way to bypass the somewhat clunky gloves. He'd caught sight of that lip bite, and he knows exactly what it means. It means they're both almost too distracted to appreciate the planet properly.

When she returns, he hooks the bottles to his belt to secure them.] Thank you. We should be able to make more than one souvenir with these, I think. Now, shall we explore further until it's time to leave?

[They have plenty of energy and air left, and they may as well fly as much as they can.]

[Air and her suit's power levels give out long before her energy does, and eventually Wanda and Vision have no choice but to return to the shuttle. For now, Wanda thinks - it was so nice to have a proper break, something that actually does feel like a vacation.

Unfortunately for her, without the scenery to keep her entertained and distracted, she now has an entire shuttle ride to try to pick at why she's suddenly reacting so strangely to Vision.

But first, the suit.

It's very advanced tech and thankfully very few pieces. First Wanda ditches the gloves, then the helmet, and finally (too slowly for her tastes) the suit. Breathing a sigh of relief, she flops onto one of the cushioned benches and stretches.]

Much better. But it was worth it.

[He takes a few extra moments to store the collected samples, but in lieu of taking the exosuit off the Vision simply phases through it, leaving it standing in place. Sometimes his powers are useful.

He delays again by setting the autopilot, and the shuttle rises smoothly off the ground to rejoin the Twin Roses back in orbit. It'll take a while, though, so. Time to face the music, as it were.]

I wanted to thank you for coming down to the planet with me, Wanda. [He sits down next to her, watching her body language carefully, so carefully. One sign that he's not absolutely welcome and he'll stop, but so far she seems okay.] I meant what I said erlier, about the nature of beauty, about transience--and about sharing it with you.

[He takes her hand again in an echo of his earlier movement, tracing a finger down her palm and then clasping it.] But the planet was not the most beautiful sight in my eyes tonight.

[And he kisses her. Sowly, tentatively, not at all sure what kind of reception he's going to get--but with a hunger that's been bottled up in him for weeks, months before that, two years of not having enough of her in his life--

--and then breaks it off and looks mortified.] I'm so sorry, I should have asked you first, I don't mean to presume--

[Surprise quickly falls away as everything else flies into place. Slowly Wanda begins to kiss him back, and it feels right and good and--

--suddenly he pulls away, leaving her off-balance in more ways than one.]

It's all right, Vizh. I liked it.

[She squeezes his hand - see, it's fine, she's not pushing him away. His distress, and the urge to soothe it, overrides the awkwardness with her own feelings she'd been fighting on the planet. If he feels the same way, if there's nothing to spare him from, what use is there in trying to run from it?

Finding the words is another story altogether, and right now 'scarlet witch' is a very accurate description.]

I like you, [she finishes quietly, tentatively reaching up to cup Vision's cheek with her free hand. It's the first time Wanda has allowed herself to actually try to put words to the emotions he evokes in her, and this feels...right.]

[The relief in his expression is palpable. For a moment there he'd been sure he was moving too fast, making a mistake, but when she cups his cheek he leans into it and closes his eyes, savoring the feeling.]

Above all, I would hate to pressure you into something you were not ready for, but, er, this is as good a time as any to admit exactly what it is I wanted to avoid showing you. I've been in love with you for quite some time, you see.

[Yes, there's plenty more that's happened over the last several years that she'd no doubt he happier not knowing, but--if he's being honest with himself, she could learn those things at any time by reading any of the other Avengers here. As far as he can tell, the only ones who really know about this are himself and Natasha. (Well, and he's told Kitty, and Kurt and Bucky probably remember a little of it from the last time he was here, but none of them know all of it.)

He opens his eyes to meet hers again, and this time there's a fire in his gaze.]

I am yours, if you'll have me. [And he moves in for another kiss.]

[Wanda smiles warmly and lets her thumb trace an arc back and forth across Vision's cheekbone. She's still tentative, still unsure of what he'll like, but her confidence is starting to grow. Especially when he looks at her with that much heat...

Butterflies dance in her stomach as they kiss, long and slow. This time Wanda has the opportunity to melt into it and really savor the feel of him, and she lets go of his hand in favor of wrapping her arm around him. When they do part, Wanda shifts closer so she's flush against his side. That feels better, and only partially because space is cold.]

Is this all right? [she asks, punctuated with a quick kiss to his other cheek.]

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