explosion | OPEN POST.

[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.]

[ And refuse she does, shaking her head and her hand. Even if she accepts it, he'll be the one to eat it. She's got a quarter of her donut left. Sometimes she purposefully eats very, very slowly, just so she can see Pietro grow more and more exasperated. ]

So chivalrous despite your old age.

[ To her, especially. She wonders how she can make him choose to not go out after he supposedly drops her off. While Wanda's aware some of her plans are never needed as Pietro always seems to think better of what he originally intended to do, she likes to make them just in case. ]

You will walk me home and then leave on my birthday. Tsk.

[ She eats the rest of her donut and holds her hand out for the donut she had originally refused. ]

[Pietro tends to go against his better judgement when he's started in on bantering arguments and suppositions, but he really had been trying to make this a nice day for her. He should stop. He can't simply do so without a reason though, so he latches on to one part of Wanda's comments to shift things around, while making it sound like it isn't a deliberate turn towards acquiescence. He fidgets, in a different way than usual, as if it's not due to excess energy but to the pains and stiff joints inherent in a much older man.]

I am getting old. It would do me no good to stay out too late... and it is a long walk back. I may have to stay. You know, tired old bones...

[But he snorts when she holds out her hand, and pops the rest of the donut in his mouth, shrugging. Too late, it's his.]

[ His tired old bones will only be tired and old when it suits him, but Wanda isn't going to question the validity of his statement. She smiles, pleased by what he's not saying. He won't be seeing Zrinka today. Perhaps tomorrow, even if Wanda wishes for him not to see her in that way at all. ]

Oh.

[ She furrows her brows as she leans away from him so she can look him over. There's some cinnamon on his face that she reaches out to wipe away with her thumb without thought. She makes a show of scrutinising him before leaning close to him again and pressing her ear against his chest. ]

I think I hear it. Lots of noise, like the Tinman from Oz. It's like creaking. [ She rubs his upper thigh. ] You are getting so old, Pietro.

[Wanda playing so much into it makes him smile, as if she's concerned he'd go back on his statements a moment later and change his mind again. Pietro runs his fingers through her hair, and they may have jam on them.]

So old. And you are a tease, Wanda. We're in public.

[He whispers the last part, but as soon as he does, he covers her hand, keeping it pressed against his thigh. He raises his eyebrows pointedly.]

[ He put jam in her hair, didn't he? She'd sigh if he wasn't distracting her by being so bold and uncaring about what their friends might see. What might get back to Zrinka or Rahela.

She should pull back and rest against the back of the seat, but no one's paying attention to them. No one says anything and no one thinks anything, either. All anyone can seemingly think about is how the park is still standing, when the next riot will be, and what they'll do if the police so much as raise their batons at them again. ]

How am I a tease? [ She laughs lightly, but she's not as clueless as she wants to portray. She squeezes his thigh and shifts her hand beneath his, moving it up as she keeps her gaze on his face. ] I am sitting here, cleaning up a mess you made of jam on your thigh. [ She shakes her head. ] I am not teasing.

[It's only a moment, but Pietro looks away just to see if they're being watched. They're not, but that doesn't mean he can't act as if they are, waiting to see how far Wanda will go with it. He gasps audibly as she squeezes his thigh, loud and too exaggerated.]

Oh, did I drop some?

[His voice carries, and he spreads his thighs a little, trying to get her hand to shift to a more scandalous position 'accidentally'. He shouldn't have worn such tight pants, they're not helping in his plans and he just kind of squirms instead of doing it with any fluidity or appeal.]

[ She rolls her eyes as she faces him, although she looks to her peripherals to ensure that no one's paying them any attention. Knowing Pietro, he's already been sociable enough to warrant a break from talking to the rest of their friends. Wanda's never been the social butterfly Pietro is, so she doesn't worry about being approached.

Looking down at his leg, she shakes her head and clucks her tongue. ]

So clumsy, Pietro. Sometimes I think you can never leave the house.

[ Rather than pull her hand away and place it where she knows he wants it, she glides her palm up his thigh, right up to the crease of his hip. Wanda considers making that where the jam has allegedly dropped, but she instead brushes her fingers against his crotch, the pressure light at first before she makes it reminiscent of how she had pressed her foot into him earlier. ]

You'd like that, wouldn't you?

[He scoffs, shifting again to press up against her fingers. They hadn't gotten anywhere this morning, and his reactions are quick as a result.]

I think you're just rubbing it in. You always make more of a mess.

I am rubbing it in.

[ She smiles at him, arching her brow slightly as she does just that: pressing her fingers against his crotch, she moves her fingertips in a circular motion. Perhaps she should stop, but… Pietro is encouraging it and not closing his legs and batting her hand away. And Wanda feels braver than she often does, encouraged by him and his lack of tripping over his feet and embarrassing her too much.

She furrows her brows and tsks to continue pretending that he's still got jam on his crotch. She's clearly not making it any better. Wanda proposes she has to press harder. ]

Since I always make messes. I think it makes sense I would want to make a point of your mess, no? It would be unkind if I didn't.

[The strangled noise he makes is too loud for his liking, and that's a sign in itself that he should stop this before someone does see them and interprets it correctly. Only Wanda rubs harder then, and Pietro lets go of his momentary notion of being discreet and responsible. He lives recklessly, and he'll continue to embrace that. He grips the arm of the bench tightly and starts to grind up into her hand for more friction.]

You're making your point.

[ Wanda hopes no one sees them. Strangely enough, no one happens to look their way. Even the people who are closest to them don't seem to care. Gertie and Jelka are the closest, and while they often steal glances at Pietro when he is and isn't looking no matter where they are, they don't pay him any attention now.

It makes Wanda a touch paranoid, but it's not enough to make her withdraw her hand. She barely gets to touch Pietro like this. She doesn't get to lean against him as the girls do, and she wants it for herself.

She clears her throat and looks down at his crotch, sighing at the make-believe mark she's meant to be rubbing. She slides her hand until she's pressing the heel of her palm against him, and she rubs more firmly now, feeling a little more in control of her motions.

Quietly, ] Do you want to stop?

No.

[It's an immediate answer, he doesn't even need to think about it. It's always in the back of his mind, that they might be judged for it, that they already are even if Pietro downplays everything he does with Wanda where someone might see, and flirts shamelessly to distract from it just as much as he does it to make her jealous. No one's watching. No one cares. Why can't they have this? It's their birthday. He moves his hand up her arm, lightly stroking with his fingers, encouraging.]

I want you.

[ Wanda should encourage him to exercise caution. They should be careful. She should remove her hand from his crotch and sit on the other end of the bench with some space wedged between them. But that's never been them. They've always been on top of one another, tangled up where she's not sure where she ends and he begins. She glances at the park and confirms once again that no one's even looking their way. It's almost as though they don't exist. ]

We can wait until we are home for you to come in your pants, Pietro.

[ She ignores the heat of her skin. That's what's going to happen, isn't it? She'll keep rubbing at his crotch and he'll come in his stupidly tight pants he had worn for all the other girls, and then he'll walk her home and they'll most likely do it again.

She should remove her hand, but Wanda only presses down harder. The idea of making that happen prompts her to sit up a little taller. ]

[A wave of heat burns through his chest, accompanied by a wheezing noise he tries to stifle as quickly as possible. Shit, Wanda.]

Don't say it like that.

[Pietro doesn't shy away from directness often, but when it's Wanda making such statements blatantly out in the open, he's both flustered and perhaps unfortunately for him, very stimulated. Though he'd protested over her choice of words, he only spreads his thighs further and grinds more obviously against her hand. It's exactly what's going to happen, but she doesn't need to announce it when Gertie and Jelka are right over there - engrossed in conversation and not even looking their way, but - Pietro turns his attention back to what's important here: making a nonchalant comment like he isn't going to embarrass himself on a public bench in less than two minutes.]

Besides, I am doing you a favour. You're getting a reason for me to go home with you and not stop by and see Zrinka.

Is that why? I thought it was because you wanted to make sure your hopeless little sister got home.

[ Wanda considers pulling her hand away, but she only presses down harder. He shouldn't be thinking of Zrinka right now when she's rubbing his cock through his pants. She furrows her brows, feeling as though steam's threatening to shoot from her ears. He always has to ruin these moments by bringing in the world around them like that.

Instead of pulling her hand away, she lightens her touch considerably and keeps her hand against his thigh as though she's merely sitting beside him. He wants her to continue touching him with the same level of intensity, and Wanda considers doing him a favour and preventing him from enjoying himself in the park on a nice day. In a roundabout way, they've only inspired each other.

She looks away from him, setting her jaw, and acts as though she's preoccupied with surveying those around them instead. ]

Maybe you should go see Zrinka.

[That was a completely wrong direction to go in, and Pietro regrets it the moment he hears a hint of sharpness in her first words - is that why?. He makes a frustrated whining noise when that last hard press of her fingers gives way to barely existent touches, just enough to constantly irritate him. Wanda's so practised at it, flipping that switch in his brain to annoyance so easily, like a tripwire. He fidgets uncomfortably, but attempts to keep up appearances too, they're just casually sitting here, watching people... and refusing to look at each other. Pietro could apologise, or he could say nothing at all, keep his mouth shut for one minute, but he won't.]

I think I will, now that you suggested it. Maybe later I'll tell you how it went. You could learn a lot from her.

[ Wanda withdraws her hand and clasps her hands tightly in her lap. She doesn't look at him, keeping her head tilted up slightly as she looks at anywhere but him. She won't let him ruin the park, especially when the weather's so nice and slightly warm and the sky isn't as dark and clouded with smoke as it has been over the last few weeks. She can pretend that this is a normal day in the park rather than some miracle.

But he always has to ruin it. Or maybe she does with her expectations that he won't always leave her behind.

She sits up straight and still doesn't look at him. She wishes for someone to look their way as though that's something of protection, and she finds that Jelka glances at them for the first time, even if her gaze doesn't stay. ]

Maybe you should stay with Zrinka. Have a nice time. Celebrate your birthday. [ With a decisive little nod, ] I will be fine at home.

[Once she's taken her hand back, Pietro leans forward with his elbows on his knees, fidgeting again, and tapping his fingers against each other in no semblance of a pattern, one leg shaking constantly like he wants to run off. Ignoring Wanda, he catches Jelka's eye for that brief moment. He furrows his eyebrows as she turns back to what she was doing, something just occurring to him, possibly clicking into place. But he won't mention it. They never looked, not once. Did Wanda do it? Make everyone in the vicinity completely disregard them while they were... He'll ask about it later.

He only waits long enough in awkward silence until he can get up without his erection being too obvious. He likes attention, but not that much and doesn't want it right now. When he does stand, he gaze is fixed over the park and not anywhere near Wanda, but he can feel her, her presence itself boring holes in his back. He almost says something, half of a syllable before he stops himself and just sighs, walking away.

Pietro doesn't see Zrinka, but looks for Vasili, who hadn't quite made it to the park yet. It's somehow easier to make amends there, far less trouble than he tends to have with Wanda. When they're done talking, he goes straight home. It's best. It's not much, and he may never admit to it aloud, but he recognises he's been insufferable for most of the day, as she likes to claim so often, and that the few moments he hadn't been doesn't make up for the rest of it.]

[ After he leaves the bench, Wanda doesn't stay in the park. She gathers Davida's shopping and only says a short hello to their friends before she returns to their building, giving the older woman her bags and making very little small talk. The one thing she likes about Davida is how she's no-nonsense. She's efficient, even if she comes off as antisocial. She knows what she wants and she sees to it that she gets it, even if it's simply going to the supermarket or seeing her niece several blocks away.

Perhaps she should've stayed at the park and enjoyed herself. She doesn't mind Jelka, even if she sometimes wishes the other girl wouldn't manipulate the conversation to speak of Pietro. Maybe she should've stayed and proved to herself and Pietro that she doesn't need him by her side to be able to fit in with some of their friends. But as she hesitates in the hallway, Wanda doesn't turn on her foot to return to the park. She's had enough pretending for the day.

When Wanda's in their apartment, she's unsurprised not to find Pietro there. He said he'd be busy, after all, and Zrinka was doing her a favour by keeping him out of her hair. Perhaps she'd have the entire apartment to herself for the night. A rarity—and sometimes something Wanda greatly enjoyed. She undresses and slips out of the plaid pants, finding it useless to stay in them. She swaps them for her plaid pyjama shorts from the morning and searches the apartment for sturdy rope or wires to hang her suncatcher up in front of the window. And when that task is done, she sits cross-legged on the couch and turns on Just Shoot Me! for a change in a fictional universe.

She doesn't turn her head when he enters the apartment and she doesn't lower the volume of the television, either. ]

How is Zrinka?

[ She's proud that her voice holds no malice. It's not Zrinka's fault Pietro likes her. ]

[He hears the television as he opens the door, and he hadn't really expected Wanda to be home. He should have. Even given the opportunity to socialise with their friends by herself, without him hovering around and being obnoxious, she seldom takes it or keeps up with conversations for long. Pietro shuts the door quietly and feigns a confused look and wave of his hand even if Wanda doesn't take her eyes of the television, as if he can't imagine why she asks about Zrinka at all.]

I don't know. I was with Vasili.

[He leaves no room for comments as he heads directly for the bedroom, to swap his uncomfortable tight jeans for the sloppy track pants he'd left on the floor this morning. The suncatcher sways slightly where she'd hung it, filtering the afternoon light into a warmer yellow in abstract shapes over the floor and the wall. He returns shortly, stopping behind Wanda on the couch to briefly run his fingers along her temple and kiss the top of her head.]

I'm sorry.

[It's very quiet, and immediately after, he climbs over the back of the couch and takes up whatever space is left available to him, as if he hadn't said it at all and doesn't expect to be acknowledged.]

The sunflower looks good.

[That has a more conversational tone to it, but Pietro's eyes are on the screen, in case Wanda chooses to ignore him completely and he can pretend he's engrossed in Just Shoot Me! and not waiting for crumbs of actual attention.]

[ Wanda doesn't turn her head, not when he mentions Vasili and disappears into the bedroom and not when he drops down beside her. It shouldn't surprise her that Pietro hadn't found his way to Zrinka's apartment. This follows the usual game he plays, where he threatens or promises to go somewhere and ends up somewhere else and returns to her. A part of her had been expecting him to go and see Zrinka for a few hours of having company he didn't deem completely exasperating. ]

It does.

[ She smiles softly, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. She'd been intending to wait for him to help her hang it up, but there were some things that Wanda knew she could do by herself. Hanging that up had been one of them. She didn't need her big brother to help her find the wire or to be the one to hang it up because she'd declare him to be significantly taller than her.

She turns to face him, ignoring Nina insulting Dennis despite it being her favourite part of the show. ]

Why did you not go see Zrinka?

[ Even if the question often falls in the category of things that remain unspoken or even in the category of the answer being blatantly obvious, Wanda wants to see if he answers. It's a risk. Sometimes the answer is Pietro getting up and off the couch and going somewhere else. ]

[Dennis is annoying, and Nina wears too many high cut tops for him to pay that much attention to her in general, but right now he makes it look like their conversation is interesting and something to be prioritised over Wanda. Pietro waits until the scene changes to finally answer, and he may have taken that time to actually think about what he would say instead of letting his first inclinations towards dismissive rudeness take hold. He shifts a little, ostensibly getting more comfortable, but he's also picking at his fingernails and not turning completely towards her, just a glance or two before he speaks.]

I'd never planned to.

[If he'd run into her, maybe, but not purposefully sought her out, not like he'd implied.]

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