explosion | OPEN POST.

Exactly. You need me to guide you, I understand. It's a very complicated route to the park.

[Which is why as soon as she's started pulling him in the right direction, he takes that moment she watches the sky to dart ahead and make sure he stays a couple of paces in front, as far as he can while still holding her hand.]

We should get there while it's still nice!

[ So frustrating!

Wanda doesn't try to get in front of him, letting him drag her along (although she does her best to try and keep up with him; it's always hard, given he has longer legs and is just faster). She doesn't pull her hand from his despite considering it briefly. ]

It will be nice even if we get there later.

[ It's a silly hope, considering nothing is permanent in Sokovia, but Wanda likes to think optimistically. Glasses remain half full. For Pietro, she doesn't think they were ever full. ]

I can prove it. You go to the park, I'll go shopping, and then when I come to the park, it'll still be nice.

[It goes against his instincts to slow down, but he does, falling back into step with Wanda so she doesn't have to hurry any longer. Pietro loosens his grip on her hand, inviting her to pull away if she wants without being the one to fully break contact. Catching himself before he starts in on another argumentative tangent for the sake of it is rare, but he does actually want the rest of the day to turn out well. He's not going to protest, or dismiss everything she says, or continue into sharp remarks - even though he's itching to do every one of those things.]

Why don't you do that?

[It's an actual suggestion and bears no hint of sarcasm.]

I will meet you later. We can sit on the benches and watch people.

[Pietro will make fun of them, of course, but it's still something bordering on relaxing and just spending time with Wanda in a quieter way. He'll have burned off energy by then and be more likely to sit still for a prolonged amount of time.]

Bring me something good from the store.

[ That surprises her, although, Wanda's not entirely sure if it's a bad thing. She thinks Pietro will enjoy being around their friends by himself without her in his peripherals and she'll feel a lot better having gone to the store by herself for Davida.

But she still frowns… and quickly smoothes out her expression in case he thinks she's going to argue. The promise of watching people together is just that—a nice promise.

She stops. ]

I wonder if they have good hats. [ She hums thoughtfully. She's determined to get him a hat these days so he can shield his face and maybe stop luring people toward him. Some people need to be repelled; it's good for his confidence to be rejected. ]

I will see you, then. [ She lets go of his hand in what she feels is too jerky of a movement. ] Make sure you save the best bench. The one near the flowers is much nicer than the one near the entrance. But don't go for the one beneath the tree. The branches look like they are about to fall off.

[Wanda and her determination with hats. Pietro had meant food, but he doesn't say so, just rolls his eyes as she hums to herself, and never takes that bait. When she lets go, he shoves his hands in his jacket pockets to stop himself from reaching for her again. He shrugs, nodding towards the direction of the store. Go already, Wanda.]

I like the one by the entrance.

[But he'll be waiting where she specified, by the patch of flowers, stretching his legs across the seat so no one else joins him, incessantly tapping his fingers on the back of the bench.]

[ While Wanda had planned to take her sweet time at the store, she ended up taking more time than she had originally planned. She'd gotten distracted talking to the shopkeeper and then speaking to Vasili who expressed he might join them at the park much later.

She makes her way to the park with a couple of brown paper bags in hand. Thankfully, nothing is perishable or needs to be refrigerated. It's easy to find Pietro, even though she had been looking for him amongst the small clusters of their friends. She's grateful there isn't a need to protest today. While some of their other friends aren't here and are using their voices to scream and shout, she's happy to see that some of their friends are at the park to celebrate their birthday. It's the small moments that matter most to Wanda.

She places the bags down on the ground by the leg of the bench and grabs a smaller bag from inside one of them, opening it up as she remains standing near Pietro's legs. ]

I thought you were going to sit at the entrance.

[ She holds out the opened bag to him. Inside are several small donuts—some cinnamon, some with icing, and a couple with jam inside. ]

[Pietro had spoken with just about everybody possible, barging his way into those groups of friends for as much inane chatter as he could stand before moving on to the next one, shamelessly flirting without Wanda around to scowl at him for it, even actually having a cordial talk with Dimitri, but only because the man was walking around with Marta and holding her hand, something Pietro will mention to Wanda when the time is right to crush her usual trump card in their jealously game.

Then he'd caught up with Jakob, who had barely escaped that stairwell collapse but his wife hadn't - a lonely man, and though he's very boring and Pietro tuned him out half-way through, it was worth the time to see him less disheartened for a while. Pietro will never be the most eloquent person, but his conversation skills lean towards amicability and catching cues of where he should interject, rather than actually supplying anyone with good advice or helpful insights. Sometimes people just need someone to talk to, and he gives that to them. He'd still been leaning against a chain-link fence and smoking one of Jakob's cigarettes that he thought he shouldn't refuse when he'd first spotted Wanda across the park, and that's when he'd gone to the bench to sit there like he'd been waiting forever for her and not just the one minute before she she came upon him. He glances up briefly when she stops by the bench.]

It was occupied.

[It wasn't. Pietro contemplates making her ask him to move, but decides against it, sitting up and giving her half of the bench while snatching the bag from her hands, fishing inside for one of the jam-filled donuts, and biting into it with a mumbled thanks. Then he snorts, still talking with his mouth full.]

You took your time.

[ She saw that bench and it was as empty as some of the apartment buildings closer to the centre of the city. Wanda lets him have this lie. Sometimes Pietro is as transparent as a window. ]

I wanted to make sure I got everything for Davida.

[ Unlike some, she doesn't rush her shopping. While Wanda's not the type to walk up and down every aisle, she's the type to be distracted by random thoughts and scenarios the items around her inspire her to come up with. She may have bought some items for them, but she won't go into it until they're back home and he can sigh and grow exasperated once more with her buying too many things and even more duplicates of things they're going to need by the next week.

She sits and holds her hand out for her usual cinnamon donut. ]

And I was talking to Vasili. He might come around to the park once he sees his mother. [ She nudges Pietro gently with her elbow. ] He says happy birthday.

[ As much as Wanda wants to keep some things to herself, she thinks it's important that Pietro knows people care. Sometimes it's nice to have a reminder, even if it comes from an unexpected place. ]

[He hands over one of the cinnamon donuts, placing it in her outstretched hand automatically, idly licking the powder off his fingers before taking a second donut for himself, one with icing.]

Yeah?

[It is nice to hear, even if Pietro doesn't act like it, simply shrugging it off and making an annoyed noise at Wanda's elbow-nudging. Vasili is a genuinely nice person and very tolerant, but Pietro had definitely pissed him off the last time they'd spoken, over something trivial he's sure, but doesn't actually remember what it was about - an unfortunately very common scenario for them and has been since they were kids. It's awkward now sometimes, because Pietro feels guilty for keeping up with appearances and not realising until it's too late that he'd said something too insensitive or completely tactless when he knows the state of things with Vasili's family.]

How is his mother?

[He tries to make it sound like he doesn't already know the answer is "not good" at the very least.]

Oh, you know…

[ Wanda lets her words trail off as she keeps her head bowed and rips her donut. She eats her small bit, turning to face Pietro although she keeps her gaze on his hands. She wishes she had something positive to follow it up with, but instead, she lets her shoulders sag. ]

Not good.

[ One day, she wishes to have good news. That the people around her aren't suffering anymore, that someone she likes isn't going to lose their mother just like she and Pietro lost theirs. She likes Vasili's mother a lot, given she used to be friends with their mother. Her not getting any better feels like yet another personal slight from Stark. ]

But he says that she enjoys the books from the secondhand bookshop still. She has a growing pile of books she's read that he needs to read soon. [ She smiles at that.

Ripping her donut again, she pops that piece into her mouth. ] You should say hello. [ Whatever insensitive thing Pietro said to upset Vasili must be long gone by now. Sometimes she wishes Pietro didn't run from everything. ]

Always liked her books.

[Anytime they'd seen her even as children, Vasili's mother had a book on hand - while she watched her son at the park, while standing in line at the supermarket, a thin paperback sticking out of one pocket or another as she carried a basket of clothes down the street, ready to spend the afternoon reading at the laundromat. Pietro has only recently started to appreciate books, even if it's mostly for killing time and mild entertainment value. He'd never had the attention span for them before, and preferred television despite Wanda's sitcom obsession, and music. Now those are worse - plodding and droning on for him, music sounds weird and it's just noise. He's consequently read more books since HYDRA than he probably had in his entire life previously. Taking another jam-filled donut from the bag, he finally sets it down between them where Wanda can grab a second one herself if she ever gets around to actually finishing the first.]

I will...

[He says it like it's going to be a sacrifice, but he'll go through with it.]

It stayed nice.

[He lifts one fingers towards the sky, shifting to lean further back against the bench and fold one leg underneath him. It's the beginning of maybe a half-hour of fidgeting before he absolutely has to get up, but he's prepared to have a nice quiet time with Wanda just sitting here and talking casually, something he's sure she wishes he'd make an effort to do more often.]

[ Does she purposefully eat slowly to annoy him? Sometimes. More often than not, Wanda gets distracted by conversation, what she's reading, or what she's watching. She has no intentions of eating every donut in the bag, but she does hope to eat at least two before Pietro inhales everything.

Looking up at the sky, Wanda smiles. With a quarter of her donut left, it does seem like it's going to be a nice day. After this morning, she thinks they both deserve it. It's nice to be outside rather than cooped up, even if Wanda likes the indoors more than Pietro. ]

Was this your birthday wish?

[ She looks at him, cocking her brow softly. He's not meant to confirm or deny or, by her superstitions, it means the wish he made when he blew out his candle won't come true. ]

You think I would waste it on this, a nice day?

[A nice day, with Wanda, and being able to sit still for more than ten minutes... maybe.]

Besides, you know I cannot tell you. Finish your donut. Wait-

[He's breaking his streak of peaceful bench-sitting already to run off somewhere, but he's back in twenty seconds with one tiny candle and a cigarette lighter - taking the other cinnamon donut out of the bag and presenting it to Wanda, candle aflame and stuck in at a slightly tilted angle.]

You didn't get to make one.

[ By the time she thinks about asking him "What?", he's back beside her and her hair's an absolute mess on her head. She peels some of it away from her face and blinks a few times before she looks at him. She'll never get used to it when his speed slaps her in the face like that.

She smiles widely and laughs. But she did! Secretly! Piggybacking off of his wish, whatever it is.

With her donut thankfully finished (she's not that slow all the time!), she delicately takes the donut in his hand, not wishing to knock the candle out and ruin this. ]

I wish for… [ Making a show of catching herself, she keeps her wish to herself. It's similar to the one she wishes for every year. Just a good year with Pietro where nothing happens to him aside from a bad mood here or there.

She blows out her candle and smiles at him. ]

Thank you for my birthday donut. [ She wrinkles her nose. ] Even though I bought it. Does that mean I need to thank myself?

[Seeing her smile like that, where nothing at all could dull that radiance for however long it lasts - that's something Pietro would have wished for, might have even. A simply thing is all it takes to produce it, but Wanda glows when she laughs like that, when her smiles reach her eyes, and when - for a moment - nothing around them is falling apart. He's careful not to smile back as much, he has appearances to maintain.]

And where did that money come from?

[He throws up his hand in mock exasperation, which doesn't translate much differently than real exasperation with him, but Wanda can usually tell the difference.]

No, you thank me.

[It could have been his money, could have been hers. Neither one of them has an actual job, unless Wanda's been moonlighting. He steals, he knows she does odds and ends for people like shopping, helping with someone's kids. There's not many secrets Wanda could keep from him, so Pietro maintains his conviction that 80% of their collected money stashed in an old tin in the back of the bedroom closet comes from his efforts alone.]

[ Wanda rolls her eyes, but nothing dims her smile. What's his is hers and what's hers is his. She thinks to remind him of that, but she doesn't wish to ruin the mood and bicker about money when they've never had much to begin with.

Instead, she nods, pursing her lips playfully. ] You're right. [ And the way she thanks him is simple: she kisses his cheek.

Biting into her donut, she ignores the cinnamon around her mouth as she shifts happily on the bench from side to side before settling back against it. She's happy. She's actually happy. Even if in a few hours that happiness will burst, she'll remember sitting at the park on a nice day with Pietro and feeling happy. ]

Thank you, Pietro.

[Despite his efforts not to let it, Pietro's smile stretches a little wider after that kiss. He almost makes a comment about Wanda fidgeting so much as some kind of payback for all the times she calls him out on it, but he doesn't. He's just going to let her be happy.]

You're welcome. Happy Birthday, Wanda.

[He can say it as many times as he wants today. A moment later, Pietro furrows his eyebrows and scratches at the side of his mouth, nodding to her.]

You've got cinnamon all over. Right there. Eat properly, we're in public.

[ She feigns a gasp and furrows her brows before swapping the hands she holds the donut in. She wipes her cinnamon-coated hand deliberately against her cheek. ]

Really? Where?

[ Why bother eating properly when she can exasperate him and possibly make him laugh?

She wipes her hand against her face again, feigning concern as though she's got paint on her hands and not invisible bits of cinnamon. ]

Did I get it? Is it gone?

You're making it worse.

[On purpose and in a painfully obvious way, which is why he laughs. Turning to face her, shifting closer on the bench, and cupping her jaw in his hand, Pietro runs his thumb across the light dusting of cinnamon.]

I got it. Hm... Most of it. There is still some right here.

[The tiniest bit on her lower lip, or so he implies. And he licks it away with his tongue only after he's taken the opportunity to kiss her, slowly and gently, and where anyone can see them right in the middle of the park.]

Now it's gone.

[ Heart pounding, Wanda's paralysed. All they ever do out in public is hold hands and bicker. Sometimes even hug, although that's often her initiating it given Pietro often characterises himself as some emotionless husk of a young man.

She thinks of gently scolding him, but Wanda stares at him instead. If he's feeling so bold as to be so affectionate in public when the girls he likes to tease and flirt with and thinks about taking it further with right near them, then she thinks it'd be rude of her to reprimand him for weighing the pros and cons of such an act. And a part of her feels possessive. This is hers. No one else gets Pietro dusting stupid cinnamon off their face but her.

She licks her lips and glances at the park before looking down at the half-eaten donut in her hands. ]

What would I do without you? Aside from walking around with cinnamon on my face on such a nice day.

[Pietro knew exactly what he was doing and how close they are to some of his most frequent targets of flirting - Rahela, Jelka, Gertie. His actions can't be misinterpreted as platonic, not something like that, so deliberate and open. Pietro can talk someone's ear off, but if he tried to express himself with Wanda, in the presence of so many people, to say things that have meaning and significance on another level, that aren't hidden in rude comments and dismissive sarcasm - it would be incoherent and stumbling and a disaster of a public confession. He would make a mockery of it, even if he didn't want to. So he'd done it like this, quietly, but enough of a show where intentions won't be questioned, his fealty exposed.]

You'd be so lost.

[He brushes a loose strand of Wanda's hair behind her ear as she stares at her donut.]

Utterly hopeless.

[None of it holds anything but soft affection.]

Very. I wouldn't know how to find my way home.

[ She tsks and shakes her head as though that's the worst thing that could ever happen. But if something was to happen to Pietro, if she was to lose him, she knows she wouldn't be able to leave their apartment. She'd be so utterly hopeless and helpless without him. It's not something she wishes to burden him with when he carries so much already.

She looks at him and sighs loudly, drooping her shoulders. She rests her head against his shoulder, knowing that he'll nudge her off when staying still becomes too troubling for him. ]

It's a good thing you gave me that sun catcher. At least I'll be able to find my way home with that.

[ The suncatcher's close to overtaking him as her favourite thing ever. ]

[For now, he doesn't mind her head on his shoulder, and there's not even a twitch of annoyance, feigned or otherwise.]

You got me figured out. That was my plan with it all along.

[He fishes for another donut almost absently, and his free hand finds hers to entwine their fingers, though he's already back to typical provocation with his words.]

Oh, but you didn't hang it up in the window, did you? What if I go off tonight with Zrinka and you can't find our apartment? You'll have to sleep in the street.

[Zrinka, who is conveniently not in the park to have witnessed Pietro's earlier display and therefore will potentially still respond to flirting and attention enough to irritate Wanda.]

[ She's so glad she's eating her donut when he mentions Zrinka. She can't sigh. Back to the usual already.

Zrinka is nice and noticeably missing. Perhaps that's why he names her specifically; if any of the girls saw his display from a few minutes ago, they'll be gossiping, perhaps plotting to get Pietro alone to ask for the finder details, or believing Wanda had been the one to do something so inappropriate. Sometimes Wanda wishes she didn't feel this little twisting tug in her gut every time he mentioned one of his girls.

When she sighs, it's intentional and dramatic. ] Then I guess I sleep on the street. Or I wander all around Sokovia until I find it while you are busy with Zrinka. [ She tsks, shaking her head. ] Too busy to make sure your little sister finds her way home on her birthday. That is very cruel, Pietro.

[His loud exhale is just a dramatic, and he looks off to the side as if there's someone nearby to shrug at and silently ask "what do I do with her?"]

Trying to guilt me for something I haven't even done yet, and I am the one who is cruel?

[The last donut is now his. Pietro tears it almost in half and offers the smaller piece to Wanda that he expects her to refuse while he continues.]

I will take you home first then. The least I can do on your birthday.

[The clear solution.]

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