explosion | OPEN POST.

[ 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.]

Maybe then you will finally sit still.

[ See? Her evil masterplan is at work here, although, Wanda's aware of how frustrating and annoying he'll be if he's immobile. That doesn't stop her from digging her thumb into the heel of his foot. He's not pulling away, and even if he did, she's not quite sure she'd let him anymore. (Of course, she'd show mercy on his feet, but he's not leaving this couch until she wishes him to. He owes her that much.)

Cocking her head upward, she arches her brow in challenge. ]

If you know how to do it better, then tell me.

[ She doubts it. She digs her fingers into his heel and foot, wanting to turn him into jelly. ]

[If he answers her as she wants him to, it will be worse. If he makes a suggestion, she'll go too far with it, or do the exact opposite, or pretend to misinterpret it. Wanda has the upper hand as long as Pietro can deal with it, and he's not quite ready to pull away and leave the couch. Not after today, even if it's very very tempting right now to run away. He squirms instead, more than he needs to, and makes sure his whiny growling noises of discontent are loud and obnoxiously pitched. If she gets too annoyed with him, it's her own fault. He starts poking at her hand with his other foot, no real effort behind it to get her to let go.]

I don't know, just not that.

Liar.

[ She says it fondly. While Pietro doesn't know everything all the time, she suspects he knows this. He's simply playing hard to get. Grabbing his other foot with her other hand, she digs her thumb into his arch to try and fight a two-front battle for as long as he'll allow it.

She continues to rub at his foot, liking the fact that he's squirming. Perhaps he'll lose this unspoken battle and bolt off the couch… or maybe he'll stick it out, ignoring his growing exasperation. She hopes it's the latter. Today has been a day where they've spent too much time turning their backs on one another. ]

It's your birthday. Tell me what you want if this is not that.

[Pietro never asks for lighter touches, usually the worst thing she can do to him, and he'll still be annoyed even then, but at this point Wanda has been abusing his arch for so long it feels like stepping on a sharp rock over and over, slowly. He bites his lip to avoid the yelp that tries to escape his throat when she grabs the other foot to start in there too. After more squirming and twitching, he finally asks for it - though it sounds more like a demand born out of desperation.]

Lighter, and stop sometimes. It's too much if you don't... space it out.

[His focus is back on the television, this is an awkward conversation to participate in while he can't stop writhing and digging his fingers into the couch, and he needs more distractions.]

[ She smiles, but she doesn't laugh. Sometimes she wonders if Pietro allows her to dig and poke and prod at him because she wants to dig and poke and prod at him. But she immediately makes her touch lighter and even removes her hand from the foot she's considered taking as her own. ]

You don't like it? Or is it simply too much?

[ Both are two very important distinctions. From what he's said, she imagines it's the latter.

Instead of rubbing his arch, she walks her fingers along his foot in an attempt to have him roll his eyes in exasperation. It's light, as he's requested, and it's silly, as she wants it to be. ]

[It's light, but it's too light, and not at all unexpected as a response. He sighs and huffs and rolls his eyes, but can at least get comfortable for a moment and not feel like his nerves are on fire. It will build back to that quickly once the lighter pressure stops feeling so dull in comparison and becomes aggravating again. While he can, Pietro pulls his other foot back and keeps his knee bent, pressed against the back of the couch. Wanda can't have both.]

... Too much.

[He's technically not admitting that some of her 'massaging' is above baseline tolerable.]

[ Oh, so he likes her massaging. That's good to know, especially since Wanda had every inclination to pull back. The last thing she wants is to cause him discomfort. Exasperation, irritation, and frustration, however…

She keeps her touch light as she glances at the foot that's escaped her for now. She'll grant it, especially considering Pietro's answered her question honestly. She doesn't want him to associate placing his feet on her lap with something unenjoyable. ]

You should tell me more when it's too much, Pietro. [ It's only a gentle scolding, one that she hopes he takes to heart. She looks down at his foot and sweeps her fingers along the top of it, giving his arch a break. ] I don't want you to feel uncomfortable.

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