driftfleet | 'cause it's better than nothing

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'cause it's better than nothing

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

N - P

Otono-Tachibana Makie

Q - S

Sandalio "Biffy" de Rabiffano

T - V

W - Z

(last updated: 1/25/19)

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[How does she know just the right thing to say to charm him so completely? Because it is sincerely flattering to hear something like that, and at the same time he knows it's not idle talk. The memory form the rose proved that much, at least, and--okay, the sex helps drive the point across. Not even going to try denying that.]

Then I count every day I'm with you as a blessing. I want you to be happy, my love. Life is at its best when you are able to take joy in it.

[He kisses her one more time for good measure, and then looks over to where the dragon is again.]

Now. I realize this frightens you, but if I'm by your side, do you think you could make peace with it?

[Wanda's blushing when they part and her tears have finally stopped. He's charmed her as completely as she's charmed him and she's finally feeling much better. If he's with her, she can do this.]

I can try. I can try anything if you're with me.

[She leans up to kiss his cheek.]

Thank you, Vision.

[She manages her best unsure-but-game smile and takes his hand. The dragon awaits on the balcony, and while it still looks scary, it's not roaring anymore. All it does when they approach is curl its tail forward in a loose arc around them.

The egg is still held in its front talons.]

[Aww. If red androids could blush, he'd be blushing. So instead he squeezes her hand and keeps careful pace with her as she walks, not wanting to rush her. The Vision looks up at the dragon and meets its gaze squarely, hoping it won't be taken as a gesture of challenge. He speaks in his usual calm and rational tone.]

Your power and beauty are truly impressive. May I ask what it is you guard with such ferocity?

[He glances down to the egg, but remains firmly in place.]

[The dragon lowers its head gracefully, close enough that either Vision or Wanda could reach out to touch it. Wanda squeezes his hand and Vision might be aware of her breath catching, but she doesn't move.

The dragon answers in psychic impressions and brief flickers of memory: Wanda sitting on Vision's lap in the hot springs telling him she wished she could always feel so whole, that she didn't feel afraid of herself on Libuscha. And after that, Wanda's mother reading the twins a story about Koschei. "Who would put their soul in an egg?" Pietro asks. "That's stupid."]

He put his soul in a needle and the needle into an egg and then hid the egg in a series on animals. It was the only way he could be killed. But the animals don't usually want to give the prince the egg.

[But this is no ordinary animal, and if he probes its mind, he'll find that it reflects Wanda's subconsciousness. Now that she's calmed down, it's primarily driven by her love for Vision.]

[Oh, it's even more beautiful here than it was from a distance. As for the psychic impressions--he remembers that conversation very well, and not just because of what happened after. If there's one thing he could wish for Wanda, it would be that she feels as at ease with herself as he does when he's around her.]

I daresay the prince rarely asks.

[And then, in a voice pitched toward the dragon, he does exactly that.]

Guardian, my love needs the egg to be at peace with herself. Will you give it to me, that I may help her?

[He's right - while Slavic heroines are often more creative, the prince in these stories never asks. The dragon blinks its red eyes slowly at him, then extends the talon holding the egg for him to take.

Holding the egg, on the other hand, is an unpleasant experience. The ambient whispers shift, and while the words aren't always apparent, the voices are. It's Strucker and Ultron, mainly, along with List and a few other voices that Vision's unlikely to recognize unless he's scoured the materials taken from Strucker's base. There are other psychic impressions and physical echoes as well: Ultron's cold hand on one's cheek, the empty space where Pietro's mind should be, and a tightness in the chest and shoulders and an urge to curl inwards. It's everything preventing Wanda from making peace with her powers.

But he barely gets to hold it for two seconds before Wanda's warm hand closes over his.]

Vision...together?

I don't want to feel like this anymore.

[The forces that have created this place seem to have rendered her unable to see the dragon for what it is, but she can understand that much.]

[It's cold and unpleasant to hold, certainly; the Vision shivers a tiny bit when he takes the egg. Ultron he can deal with, though, and the rest he's willing to endure for this. She'll be able to feel his muscles strain with the tension of it and hear the echoes in his voice, but he forcibly relaxes himself when she touches him.

No wonder she's pictured her powers as a dragon, if this is the kind of stress she deals with.

He nods.]

Do we crack the egg and destroy the needle? Or must we return it to its owner first, and then defeat him?

[Yeah, he doesn't remember how this story ends.]

We have to destroy it.

[Her thumb rubs comfortingly over his hand. She may be used to feeling varying degrees of this, but it was never something she wanted Vision to experience. She's always tried to shield him from it, when it was more of a problem, but she's never felt quite this bad in his presence. Not for long, anyway; he's always had a way with drawing her out of it.]

In the stories they usually smash it, but...you and I have other ways, if we want to.

[Koschei himself is surprisingly absent given what they're discussing...but Vision did do a remarkable job at silencing the thoughts that summon him.]

[Given that it's a physical manifestation of negativity, it's not surprising that holding the egg is unpleasant. But it's not something he has to do for long, and Wanda's helping him with it. (Or he's helping her with it? Either way, they're facing it together.)]

Would it be terribly gauche to use our abilities on it?

[Because he can (and will, if given the go-ahead) sear it a bit with a blast from the Mind Stone, and she could finish it up with her energy manipulation.]

[Wanda manages the tiniest of tiny grins.]

I don't think so.

[Her hand shifts so it's over the egg and glows scarlet, and together their powers destroy it as if it was nothing. It burns out of existence exactly as the Ultron sentries had.

Several things happen immediately after: the dragon dissolves into scarlet mist that flows into Wanda, Wanda collapses, and golden flowers begin to bloom along the balcony from where the dragon had perched. Some things about her have changed to become a little more dangerous: decorative metal armoring on her dress, glowing red eyes, slightly more pointed black nails.

She's a little woozy and disoriented, but while something important has changed, nothing that makes her his Wanda is any different. And she might actually begin to believe that now.]

[Taken a bit by surprise at the form of this effect, he nonetheless helps Wanda stand up and lets his gaze run up and down her body, smiling. The red eyes remind him of Libuscha, definitely a good thing. Maybe now she'll begin to feel that kind of comfort with her own powers. And if the other changes make her look a bit more battle-ready, well, they're nothing at all compared to the ways the Vision can change his own appearance with a thought.]

How do you feel?

...different. I think it is a good different?

[The experiences are still there. She will always miss Pietro and her home, but finally the crippling guilt and fear can begin to let her go and stop dogging her steps whole dimensions away. She may never fully heal from it...but she can learn to adjust rather than build more walls around herself.

Wanda leans into him and rests her head on Vision's shoulder. The hand on his arm glows scarlet, and tendrils of her power wrap around him. It's harmless, nothing more than a feather-light caress. But this was something she had only really been willing to do for any length of time on Libuscha.]

I don't feel so tense.

[That light touch of her powers makes the Vision shiver, though in an entirely good way; he wraps his arms around her to hold her close and presses a kiss to her crown.]

That sounds like a good different to me.

[It is. He knows it is. Wanda comfortable with her powers is the best possible outcome.]

Thank you for letting me help you with this.

[They stay like that for a long moment and Wanda closes her eyes and relaxes into bliss in his embrace.]

Thank you for helping me understand, [she murmurs softly after a minute.] I love you, Vision.

[She untangles herself just enough to guide him down for another lingering, passionate kiss. The door may have opened to allow Vision to leave if he wishes, but she's not ready to let him go yet.

(Then again, is she ever?)]

Stay a little longer, love?

[Even after all this time and hundreds of kisses, she can still take his breath away. Of course he's not going to leave, and so he answers as he often does.]

I will stay as long as you want me to, dearest.

[Or as long as they're allowed, in this case.]

Always, Vision. You're always welcome here.

[She leans up to kiss him again and gives him a gentle tug towards the cozy nook on the balcony. There they can sit and indulge in more tender touches until Vision's time in Wanda's calibration room comes to an end.

She may not remember everything very clearly, but this, at least, will stick with her. Accepting herself and her powers is still a choice she'll have to make going forward...but thank to Vision's kindness and patience, it will no longer feel like something ridiculously irresponsible or scary, just a different perspective.]

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'cause it's better than nothing

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