explosion | OPEN POST.

[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.]

[ That feels like a very, very small victory to Wanda. He hardly ever admits as much, and when he does, it always feels like she's been smacked over by a wave. She smiles a small smile and turns away from him for a moment. Perhaps she shouldn't enjoy this, but she thinks that if their positions were reversed (if they were ever reversed) that he would be gloating. ]

Hm.

[ She clasps her hands together and looks at the television screen without registering anything. It doesn't make her feel any better, but it's stopped making her feel worse. She had dreaded him coming home and boasting about how lovely Zrinka is. She's a nice girl who Wanda hates resenting.

She brushes some of her hair away from her face. ]

I am still mad at you.

[ It's only fair to tell him, even if there's no anger in her voice. ]

[Pietro scoffs and waves one hand quickly in exasperation, looking at the ceiling.]

When are you not?

[It's a dramatic exclamation, though he's not nearly as annoyed as he lets on. He slides down on the couch, crossing his arms and making sure he looks disgruntled.]

[ She makes a disgruntled noise. ]

I'm not always mad at you!

[ She frowns at him, feeling a touch defensive. Perhaps that's his plan. She's no longer as guarded as she had been moments ago. Sometimes Pietro has such a talent for crawling beneath her skin and needling her that she forgets the act she wants to portray.

Wanda huffs and shakes her head. She mutters, ] You are so infuriating.

You are not proving your point.

[He laughs to himself, unfortunately loudly, because all it took was that one thing to set her off again, and their constant back and forth all day has come to the point of absurdity. Still, he presses one more button, because he can.]

Maybe I am not so infuriating as you are uptight.

[ She shoves him. ]

I am not uptight!

[ Except, well… out of the two of them, she knows she's not the most relaxed or willing to go with the flow.

Crossing her arms against her chest, she hmphs as she tilts her head up and looks away from him in a stubborn refusal to be uptight. It doesn't work, of course. ]

I'm going to ignore you now.

[ That'll do it. ]

[Pietro frowns and attempts to look offended at that shove. Once she turns away and makes her declaration, he sighs and rolls his eyes.]

Come on, don't do that. I was joking.

[Wanda knows it's the one thing that gets to him in a different way, he'd rather have her screaming at him than pretending he doesn't exist. He pouts just a little, an expression he would never classify as such himself, and shifts to press his back against the arm of the couch, keeping one leg folded underneath him, and one stretching out. He pokes Wanda's thigh with his foot.]

You can't ignore me.

[ The pouting has the highest possible chance of breaking her. It's a good thing Wanda only glances at him from the corner of her eye and continues to ignore him. He deserves it after being so temperamental today. Even though they both know she won't be able to uphold it for long, she intends to exact a little revenge.

It's on the tip of her tongue to inform him that she can ignore him, but that's the loophole she often falls prey to when she wishes to pretend he's not near her. Perhaps she's grown wiser in her old age.

Wanda makes a point of sighing heavily and, without looking, shoves at his foot with her palm. ]

Wanda...

[He stretches the last syllable out in not quite a whine, like he used to do when they were kids and she'd refused to play with him anymore after he'd annoyed her too much. It's subsequently followed by incessant fidgeting that shakes the couch, and more prodding with his foot. Her hand can't deter him. It's childish and irritating and he knows it, but he's banking on nostalgia making it skew towards endearing instead.]

[ She shakes her head, which defeats the purpose of ignoring him, but Wanda's idea of ignoring him constitutes not speaking to him. It's easy. She thinks she's doing well.

But then she whispers, ] Stop it.

[ Why does he have to move so much? She shoves at his foot, knowing that it'll stay pressed against her thigh regardless of what she does. That's what often breaks her. Pietro's stubborn refusal to listen and his need to poke and fidget until she's the one who's exasperated and not him.

Regardless, she smacks his leg for good measure. ]

[Pietro shouldn't push too far tonight, especially after he's gotten the satisfaction of that whispered acknowledgment, but he only tones it down instead of sitting back up and behaving himself. Moving his other leg out from under him, he slouches down more so he can shove both feet in her lap, getting comfortable and completely ignoring her insistent smack.]

I've stopped. No more.

[He holds up his hands in surrender, but is already shifting his feet, trying to decide which way is best to cross his ankles if he's going to stay in one position for the rest of this episode. Nothing feels quite perfect, it will just be a minute...]

Can you stop? Your heels are pointy!

[ Wanda grabs hold of his feet and positions them in a way that's comfortable for her. While she may sit cross-legged, he's long and pointy and everything about him is annoying.

She rests them against her thigh and pokes the arch of his foot to punish him. Rather than resting her hands on her knees, she wraps them tightly around his ankles so he can't move… even though he still can. Her strength is nothing in comparison to his. ]

Don't do that, don't do that.

[She hits on a pressure point that annoys him so much. It doesn't tickle, it doesn't hurt, but there's a pulse of some sensation that makes him want to squirm. He could pull his feet away, but that's giving in and he settles for curling his toes and whining about it.]

Haven't you been insufferable enough tonight? Just watch your show.

I have been insufferable?

[ She can't help but huff incredulously. Pietro has been nothing but! And she supposes that's the reason for his deflection. As oblivious as he pretends to be, she knows he notices almost everything. He may be a blur to others, but the world around him has always remained so sharp. ]

I will show you insufferable. [ This time, she does huff loudly. She grips his ankle with one hand. ] You come and ruin my show. You will pay.

[ In retaliation, she brushes her nails against the arch of his foot in the hopes to tickle him. This is more than deserved. ]

Always. You are always insufferable.

[The last word ends in a higher pitched strangled noise as she drags her nails over that same spot on his arch. His leg jerks once, involuntarily, but Pietro doesn't pull his ankle out of her grasp. Wanda's speaking to him again and paying attention, and he can suffer for that. For a moment at least.]

I ruined nothing. You were barely watching it. Couldn't take your eyes off me from the second I got home.

[It comes out far less flippant and dismissive than he wants it to, his voice wavers too often. Trying too hard to contain most of his urges to writhe and twitch, he brings his arm up to clutch at the back of the couch in an effort to keep still.]

Nonsense.

[ Wanda considers letting go of his foot and looking away from him, returning to ignoring him… but this is entirely too much fun. She hates that she can't stay mad at him—or, at least, ignore him. Pietro is a flame she constantly flutters to, but rather than being burned, he just… does this. Utter annoyance.

She glides her nails up and down his foot, from his heel to the tips of his toes. Up and down, uncaring if he moves or wriggles. This is his punishment for being exasperating for the day. ]

I can take my eyes off you, Pietro. See?

[ And she does just that, looking determinedly away from him. ]

[He can't stand it after only a few more passes of her nails. Once she makes it back to his toes for the fifth time, he breaks - squirming and curling a bit into the couch like it would help. It takes Wanda forever every time to drag her nails over the thin skin at the underside of his foot and Pietro feels every individual spark of sensation through too many interconnected nerves going on for far too long, too much constant stimulation that he wants to crawl away from. Words fail him on the first try, only managing a pleading whine that he hates himself for. He gets his comments out eventually, between too quick breaths, but it all runs together in a slurred stream because he can't slow it down enough to be very coherent right now.]

Alright. You have made your point. You're perfectly capable of ignoring me, Wanda. I'm sorry. I was being annoying, irritating, obnoxious, frustrating, insufferable, pick one. Just stop.

[He still won't pull his foot back himself, as if it's some kind of proof that he understands she was, or is, rightfully very aggravated with him and he deserves this.]

[ Wanda makes a point of looking at him. ]

I pick them all.

[ Perhaps it's unfair, but Wanda thinks she's in the right to declare that he's annoying, irritating, obnoxious, frustrating, and insufferable, and he's been all those things today when he should've been happy and content and at least a little exasperating.

She stops dragging her nails along the arch of his foot, although she does dig her thumb and fingers into it. She doubts he's going to tug his foot away. If he was, he'd have done so already. ]

Do you want to know what I wished for?

[ She hardly sounds angry. Wanda never tells him her wishes, not until the day is at least over. If it's a big wish, she leaves him in the dark, truly believing in the superstition that informing someone of a wish will see it never come true.

But she thinks he deserves to know, even if it leaves him feeling particularly uplifted. ]

[Of course she picks them all, he's not even surprised, though he scoffs and looks exasperated with that response. Wanda digs her fingers into his foot, and it's preferable, even it makes Pietro hiss and drags a nasally whine out of him. It's still a reprieve that he will gladly take, and that allows him to pay more attention to what she's saying. His first thought on the wish is that it had been along the lines of enjoying their birthday without his insensitive and juvenile badgering, which he's already made sure didn't come true. Only her tone implies otherwise, that it was instead something maybe still achievable.]

If you want to tell me.

[He says it like it's something risky to engage in and not meaningless superstition.]

I wished for us to spend it together. I know we spend almost every day together, but I still wanted to today.

[ It's very much along the lines of what he's expected. Wanda's not that unpredictable. She likes what she likes, and she often sticks to the familiar. All she wanted for her birthday was to spend it with Pietro, even though that's almost every other day.

She digs her fingers into his foot and considers leaving it at that, but that sounds like something pointed when she doesn't wish for it to be. Yes, he's been a terror, but Wanda's still gotten her wish. ]

Like this. [ She looks down at his foot, feeling a little sheepish. ] I like this.

[Pietro had been right after all, and he makes a quick 'hm' noise in a tone like he absolutely knew it and is somehow mocking her for being that predictable. He props himself up on his elbows, but has to squirm again as she digs her fingers into his foot. He sighs in annoyance, mostly tolerating it and not immediately complaining, because he has something important to say here.]

I always wish for that.

[The words are quieter and soft, with deeper meaning behind them. It makes him uncomfortable, the feelings that threaten to flood his chest at his admission, so he wiggles his toes at her for a distraction.]

Not this part.

Why not this part?

[ Wanda wishes to frown, but she smiles at him instead. It's like a cage of butterflies have been unleashed in her chest and threaten to carry her up and off the couch. Pietro's never as vulnerable with his feelings as she is, but in the instances that he is, she wishes to treasure them.

After considering acknowledging his slip of honesty, she decides to do so in a much quieter manner than outright speaking of it. She twists slightly to face him, no longer wishing to erect a wall between them.

She digs her thumb into his foot. ] This is a good part. You don't like massages?

[With the way she looks at him now, Pietro knows he's gotten her actual attention, her focus. She's not pushing away from him anymore, and he doesn't dare think about how that finally makes the squeezing feeling in his chest stop, one that had been present since he'd come home. It's irrational to think Wanda would ever really turn away from him in earnest, especially for minor transgressions, but Pietro is a difficult person to live with, even worse after HYDRA, and he is well aware of it. If anyone's walking away from this relationship down the line, he thinks it's going to be her. He'd been completely truthful about his wishes, every one since it had just been them alone in the world. He'd made them exactly as he'd said, because he holds as much fear as he knows Wanda does, of them being separated by tragedy or other means, and if Pietro doesn't wish for them to be together, it's his fault if it happens because he wanted something else for one moment.]

Is that what you call it?

[He makes a frustrated noise and presses his foot harder against her thumb.]

You're doing it all wrong. Do you know how much more insufferable I will be if you bruise my foot so much it hurts to walk?

[He shrugs exaggeratedly, holding his palms up.]

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