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The bedroom door was partially open, not precisely inviting. He knocked on the doorframe not daring to even peek into the room without proper permission. “Wanda, may I come in?”
“Why, yes vision, you may.” She was on her bed, her knees up, her back resting on the headboard and a book in her hands. She had a warm smile on her freckly face.
“You’re reading” he stated as he approached the bed, circling around it and sitting on the edge, around the middle lengthwise, so he’d be close enough to Wanda to have a conversation yet making sure to keep a respectful distance so not to be invading. “anything interesting?”
“Well..” she said, gazing down at the book and marking the page she was reading “it’s no Agatha Christie but it helps pass the time” she carefully placed it on her nightstand and turned to him, granting him her full attention. “So, what’s up?”
“’Help pass the time’ for what? To what end?” he asked, a tad of worry sneaking into his inflection.
“For something interesting to happen” she shrugged goodheartedly.
“And you have stopped your reading because you consider me interesting?” he asked confused and possibly a little flattered.
She smiled candidly “Vision, you’re always interesting, but I figured I can’t come looking for you every time I’m bored. And I thought you’d be busy somewhere in the tower, maybe with Tony, and I didn’t want to, uhm, pester you, you know…” her gaze softy dropped, as did her voice and motivation to speak it seemed, yet the smile never really leaving its place.
“Pester me?” Vision was getting worked up all of the sudden. The notion alone was outrageous to him “Wanda, you’re not a pest! Nobo-“
“’Nobody dislikes me’, yeah, I know...” her eyes drifting to her black toenails, weighing the thought of poking at his hand resting on her mattress, mere feet apart from her, with her big toe.
Vision smiled at her for a moment before catching himself staring. He straightened up, shifting his weight on the bed so that he’d be now facing her with his body as well, lost in apparent contemplation. His mind whirling trying to structure his thoughts into cohesive sentences. “I think I might have something of interest”
Wanda’s attention was now his. She nodded her head expectantly, hinting for him to proceed. “I’ve found that the phrasal verb ‘sleep together’ means ‘to have sex’, which I think is odd since sleeping is a terribly passive accomplishment.”
He looked at her curiously as her smile broadened. She cocked her head to the side trying to suppress a giggle, staring at his hand laying absentmindedly on the mattress on the opposite side of her body now, providing him with the support and stability he arguably needed. Wanda recognized the territorial yet protective gesture but made a point not to say anything. “You know, it’s not the first time you bring it up. The subject, I mean.”
“I guess not” he sighed, leaning backwards and resuming his previous position on the edge of the bed, now staring out her window, that in fact makes for an entire wall of the room. “I just find it fascinating. It’s a primitive thing, animal even, yet humans put so much weight on it, so much sentiment. I wish to understand that.” Wanda simply stared at him. He seemed lost in thought. As she followed along with his argument, she found herself tracing the sharp line of his nose with her eyes “Sentiments.” He suddenly turned to look at her with keen interest “Have you ever ‘slept’ with anybody before?”. That caught her off guard.
“Vision!” she hissed disapprovingly, yet with a tone of mockery bickered back “Have you ever slept with anyone?”
“Well, I hardly ever have the need to sleep, really...” he admitted blatantly, earning a big laugh from Wanda at that. He amiably waited for her to stop laughing and continued “Does it involve sleeping at all?”
“Uhm” She hesitated for a moment “I’d guess... I guess the implication is that you stay the night with your partner.”
“Is sleeping a requirement, then?” he saw her considering it “if you don’t sleep all night, if you remain awake doing sex, is it still ‘sleeping together’ or plain sex?”
Wanda was having a hard time taking his questions seriously, pathetically failing at repressing the grin escaping her lips. Not that it bothered her in the slightest. She cleared her throat as a means to recollect herself, finally committing to the topic, and as she appeared to have made up her mind, settled: “No, I think one does have to sleep… I mean both parties (or three, or four) have to be asleep at the same time during the course of the evening, at least once, for it to actually count as ‘sleeping together’” She studied Vision from her place. He seemed to be thinking hard on her words, staring at the nothing floating in front of him. “Otherwise why call it ‘sleeping’, you know?” He hummed, nodding. “I don’t know, this is not something I’ve really stopped to think on before” she concluded, throwing her hands up in the air in surrender, brushing it off.
“How does one person have sex with more than one partner at the exact same time?” Wanda let out a surprised laugh at the remark, startling Vision who smiled at her unapologetic found humor on such a puzzling paradox “The logistics there… I’m confused”
“Oh, Vision, don’t even worry about it. Maybe a talk for another day.” She said trying to calm herself down.
“I could run a search now” He offered, smiling at the incoming burst of laughter that had Wanda almost kick him in the face “it would take no time, really” he trailed off quietly joining her. He was uncertain of what made the suggestion that hilarious to her, yet he found himself fighting the need to mirror her, and was terribly amused when he heard her whimpering pleas, begging through teary-eyed giggles for him to ‘please, not do that right now’. He was pleasantly confused.
Again, he amicably waited for her to calm down before continuing with his interview. “What if they do not sleep on the same surface, even though happening during the same time frame?”
She distractedly wiped off a tear and forced herself to appear serious, given how important this subject turned out to be for Vision. “What, you mean there’s one in the bed and the other one is on, like maybe a couch?”
He nodded pointedly “Would they be sleeping together then?”
“No, I don’t think that counts. I think the idea is that you sleep on the same… well, surface, as the other person” she said matter-of-factly. Vision seemed to consider it before coming up with yet another counterpoint
“What if there is no sex involved at all?” Wanda blinked perplexed. “Wanda, as it is my understanding thus far, all actual formal parameters would be solely the time frame, both it being during the evening and the fact that it must be performed in unison; and the physical proximity, contained within a single surface.” He saw her stare back, her head low and eyes wary in both suspense and anticipation, her mind racing to catch up on where it was he wanted to go with this. He decided to make his point clearer “I believe the act of engaging in sexual intercourse would be not but mere foreplay leading up to the point of resting. A means to exhaustion so the phrase would be justified.”
Wanda slowly smiled as realization sank in, nodding her head and letting out a complicit gasp “I see what you did. That’s very impressive, Vis.”
“So, I guess the question is: why is ‘sleeping together’ considered a synonym for having sex?”
Wanda, without breaking eye contact, slowly shook her head as she shrugged, still smiling “Beats me”
“Huh” He let out automatically before registering her words “Who does?”
She chuckled, laying her back on the bed’s headboard again, resigned. Vision noticed that, although she seemed unwilling to break eye contact, her mind was processing something that took her elsewhere and had her biting her lips, with a spark of defiance in her eyes. A minute passed as she contemplated whatever thought was occupying her mind before she uttered another word. “That gives me an idea” She leaned forward causing Vision to mimic her, her voice soft in almost a whisper, a sense of secrecy making him feel excited, as if he’d secured his place as part of whatever gimmick that was about to befall. “I was thinking of taking a nap”
“Oh” Vision let out surprised, feeling a little discouraged. He straightened up, readying himself to stand up and leave her to rest. “Well”
“Would you sleep with me?”
Vision turned to Wanda, his mouth hanging open at a complete loss for words. All that managed to come out was a chuckle that surprised even himself. Wanda snorted at his reaction and soon enough they were both snickering at each other’s faces.
“I’d be delighted to” he said standing up expectantly.
“Alright” Wanda, giggling still, perched herself up, picked up the covers and quickly got herself tucked in under them, holding them up on Vision’s side, inviting him in. He rushed around the bed to take the other side.
A silly smile never leaving either of them, he mimicked her position and covered himself up to his neck. Both on their sides, facing one another and quietly laughing as if they were kids who got away with steeling the cookie jar from the top cabinet and didn’t want to get caught rejoicing on their victory, celebrating by devouring every last crumb. They buried themselves even further down as to cover almost their whole heads.
“I feel mischievous” he whispered with a grin, to which Wanda snorted wrinkling her nose and letting out a quiet wheezy laugh. “We’re defying this paradigmatic lexical association” he stated, followed by the loudest laugh he’d ever heard Wanda utter. She found herself pushing down the covers and sitting up to get some air in an attempt to calm down as Vision followed suit, resting his back now too on the headboard and staring at her with his mouth open in a toothy lose smile. She sighed in the end and turned to look back at him, a tired lazy smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“We’re such kids” she shook her head in surrender.
“Well, I am almost one year old” he admitted.
To that Wanda simply slapped his arm with the back of her hand “Stop making me laugh, you!”
“I rather enjoy your laugh.” He said apologetically looking away “We can try to have a more serious conversation if you’d like”
Wanda nodded forcing herself to put on a serous face, though not quite successfully “We can try, sure.”
“Okay. How old are you now, Wanda?”
“We’re getting in interview mode here.” She said playfully while she undid her ponytail and let down her hair, combing through it. “I’m twenty-five, Vision”
“You’re of legal drinking age, then. I’ve never seen you drink. Do you drink?”
“Legal drinking age in Sokovia is nineteen, actually. But, uhm...” she trailed off, looking down at her hands while she picked at her chipped nail polish. “Being street kids hanging out with street people... rules don’t apply to, well…” she scoffed. “Rum and Scotch would get us through some cold nights. Whiskey too.”
He noticed she was trying to be brief about it. Maybe her past wasn’t the best topic to start with. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-
“It’s okay, really. Life wasn’t all that bad growing up. After the missile incident, Pietro and I would make a point to enjoy the little, simple things that money just couldn’t buy. He became quite the comedian to make sure of that” she smiled at the memory, lost shifting through mental pictures of sunny days and summer nights and some of the warmest and happiest images she could conjure of Pietro’s smile.
“I didn’t get to know him very well, but he seemed like a good man. A man of honor.”
“And he died one.” She said, her smile vanishing away. She shook her head and slapped her hands on her thighs as if to close that door, and her mood went back to being playful, practically racing to a different subject. “Can I ask you something now?”
“Please” He nodded politely.
“Why do you insist on learning how to cook? I mean, you don’t need to eat”
“No, but you do. And I learned that spoiling your friends with food is a very endearing trait some humans like yourself, or Steve even, share.”
Wanda cocked her head to the side, a bit put off by his answer. Her smile turned curious, a hint of worry evident in the tiny crest forming now between her eyebrows “Do you not feel human, Vision?”
“I am not.” He said matter-of-factly without missing a beat.
“But what do you feel?”
Vision seemed to be having trouble with that question. He’d look at Wanda, studying her features, then to himself, contemplative. In the end he changed his appearance and turned into a blonde clear eyed man. He analyzed his now clear fingertips and then touched his head rubbing his palm through the fine blonde hairs now standing on end.
“You once said you liked my hair. I like having hair too”
Wanda reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, caressing while retreating the side of his head, his ear and cheek. “Very soft hair” She said with a smile as her gaze went from his shiny blonde head to his troubled and confused face, his eyes locked onto his hands, his fingers trying to catch the late afternoon light coming through the window. She pressed her lips in a thin line. He didn’t really know what to feel. Wanda could tell he was still searching for an answer to her previous question. Wanda looked at him, his hands and then at her own.
“I have an idea.” She stated and started crawling across the bed so that she could sit in front of him, straightening up and folding her legs. He in turn moved his legs out of her way and closer to his body, sitting in what he had heard once or twice be called the “Indian style” sitting position. “Here. Close your eyes”. Vision did as commanded as Wanda took his hand and placed it over her chest. “What do you feel?”
“I sense your heartbeat”
“Good” She then guided his hand back towards him, his palm spread across his own chest. “what can you sense now?” “An uninterrupted and steady flow of nanities travelling throw wired up-“
“No- Vision…” She let go of his hand, muttering to herself about something called a Tarzan, sitting back. Vision simply stared at her confused and initiated a side search. “So, you don’t have a heart? No, wait. That’s not my point. That’s actually the exact opposite of my point. What I mean is, you know how- what are you looking at?”
Vision looked a tad perplexed has he shamefully tried to deviate his gaze from Wanda’s chest. “I believe what Tarzan did was listen to Jane’s heart in a rather… assertive -for lack of a better term at the moment- manner. Regardless, I find the comparison quite affable.”
“But you do get my meaning. You’re not just a designer protector, Vision. You’re so agile and coordinated in a fight, I bet you could dance your little socks off like champ if you gave it a shot.” She said wiggling her index and middle finger the way two little, presumably chopstick legs would in a marathon run. “There’s that as well! Where you designed to chuckle? Is that part of your programing?”
“Well, I’m actually not an LMD per sé, so technically-“
“You have that woke sense of humor, see? And those huge arms… you could rip some evil robot’s head off or, you know, give hugs” Wanda leaned over and wrapped her arms around his torso, to which he immediately reacted by wrapping his tightly around her shoulders, while he sorted through the most considerate ways of communicating to Wanda how he was pretty certain that she was misusing the term woke according to the oxford dictionary. “like so”
“Wanda, I do appreciate-“
“And that mouth of yours that never stops running. You can talk technical nonsense and confuse your opponents to death with it, or you could have those lips be still for a moment and maybe even give them a smack on the cheek” She said still not letting go off his synthetized thoracic box, snuggling him.
“Smack them?” baffling thought, that was. How can you strike someone with your mouth? And not bite them in the process? As soon as he set on running a side search, Wanda reached up, grabbed his face and pressed her lips hard onto his cheek. He sensed there was even some suction at the end making a loud noise as they separated. “A smack on the cheek” she repeated, not letting go off his face, wiping his cheek with her thumb making sure it wasn’t wet with saliva.
“Is it called smack due to its loudness or its abrasiveness?”
At that Wanda retreated allowing back some more distance between them, scarlet red spreading through her own cheeks as she bowed her head “That was probably inappropriate, I’m sorry” She looked embarrassed and uncomfortable all of a sudden. “but, you know what I was trying to say” She avoided making eye contact, her chipped nail polish again seemingly way too captivating to her.
“I didn’t mean to upset you.” He said trying to catch her gaze with no luck. “It was an honest question. It is in fact due to its loudness.” A tiny shy smile graced her face again, and Vision couldn’t help but smile too, a little relieved to his surprise.
“You really looked it up, huh?” The last vestiges of that afternoon seemed to cling to the side of her face as the sun hid behind the buildings of the forever busy midtown, Manhattan. She shook her head as her smile slowly gave way, leaving but mere traces in her tired eyes. “For what it’s worth, I think you do have a heart. A big one.”
“Figuratively speaking, I presume. You did mean for it to be a compliment, correct?”
“I wholeheartedly mean it, Vis” She finally met his eyes “You’re more of a man than most bone and flesh humans could ever wish to become. I want you to understand that.”
She looked serious, a rare sight for Vision. She wasn’t touching him but he felt a squeeze somewhere inside his ribcage, most likely a glitch of some sort. He’d take the issue to Stark later. For now, his undivided attention was all focused on bringing a smile back to Wanda’s lips, where it belonged. He could tell she meant every word she’d uttered and somehow he could care less about the accuracy of her affirmations.
He took her hands in his, feeling the need to extend his gratitude to her in a most physical way. After all, that was the way most humans connected with each other. Although he knew Wanda and himself shared a different type of connection inherent to them both (inborn in his case) through the mind stone, he’d like to think they shared a baser one as well. A connection that grew overtime past the point the others in the tower had. And if they called themselves his friends, that raised the question regarding Wanda’s place.
“Wanda, would it be inappropriate of me to smack you on the cheek?”
That seemed to cheer her up. She squeezed his hands as a warm smile made its way back to her face, which was starting to become his favorite sight. The way her eyes sparkled each time made it look like it was due to her extraordinary abilities, very similar to the way they normally did whenever she used her powers, but Vision knew better. After staring into her eyes for so long, by this point he could tell the sparks apart. This seemed to be a joyous one.
“Do your worst” she encouraged.
And so he did. She giggled as he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to her cheek. It was remarkable how he could sense her smile through the kiss.
“That was a sweet peck” she appraised him as he returned to his previous position. Vision cocked his head to the side at that last word, the question not finishing his way to his mouth before she explained: “The less ‘abrasive’ version of a smack”
As a means to exemplify, Vision figured, Wanda reached out and placing one hand on the side of his face she held him as she leaned in and tenderly pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. “A peck” she explained again as she slowly backed away, but not fully. Or maybe she did.
She probably did and it was Vision who was now leaning in. The room seemed to shift with the atmosphere in it. He grabbed her by the arms with a firm grip as he steadied himself, his eyes locked onto hers, and hers onto his lips.
“May I?” He mumbled, getting no more than a hum from her as all form of reply.
He took Wanda’s hand, the one that was slowly coming down his face to his neck with both hands and gave it a quick ‘peck’ on her index finger. He looked back up at her and some strange cozy sensation washed all over him due to the warmth her smile radiated. Was it her or was it her powers? There was something intoxicating in the little mixed air they shared. To his despair, he came to the conclusion that putting some space between them would cleanse the air off the toxins being released out to the environment. They had a manufactured, out of the ordinary tinge to them, he thought, probably his doing. Maybe Stark should look into it as well, to make sure it’s not in any way harmful to his friends. He scooted away with a nod of his head, still holding her hand.
“See what I mean? You’re a real gentleman.” She said taking a little bow to emphasize the last word, an amused smile on her flushed face.
“Wanda, will you join me downstairs?” She raised her eyebrows quizzically, her ever-present smile this time in its tight-lipped version blurring away her dimples. “I want to put your premise to the test and find out whether it is possible or not to dance until my footwear comes off”
Wanda chuckled and nodding her head, she jumped and got up on her knees atop the bed as vision stood up mirroring her enthusiastic motion, both giggling at the memory of her comment. They’d secured themselves a private joke, Vision was sure of it, and the notion of privacy regarding himself and Wanda made him tremendously excited.
“Let’s go” Stepping off the bed she held onto his hand tightly and led the way.