More backdating, woo!

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

Wanda is unwinding by the ocean when Theo comes to bring her a drink and keep her company. Good company, good talk and friendly kisses.




Despite the fact that the sun was just about to set, Wanda had dragged one of the lounge chairs down to the beach and was currently sprawled on it. The ocean was soothing in it's own way and she could feel some of the stress leave her slowly, felt the muscles unclench.

There were still bruises from the riot but most of the aches and pains from that were starting to fade. And she was betting on the vacation helping to speed up the healing process.

A shadow fell over her, and she opened her eyes to see a grinning Theo. "I brought you a drink," he said, holding it up as evidence. "It has an umbrella. Ani wanted it because it's strawberry, but I told her to make her own."

Wanda laughed at that, envisioning a pouting Ani stomping around the kitchen. "She will probably get you back for that," she warned, accepting the drink with a cheerful thank you. "I could get used to this."

"It's a pity you've got to go back," Theo said regretfully, sitting down cross-legged on the sand beside her chair. Even in that position, he still somehow managed to loom. "I know, I know, work calls and all and vacation can't last forever. But still. It's been fun. And hell," he said, with one of those smiles that showed far too many pointed teeth, "you even taught Izzy and Laura how to shop. Mina's been trying to do that every time we had a break since they got here."

She waved a hand at him faux-regally and grinned. "My shopping skills have never been put quite to that test but I am glad they responded after a while." Taking a sip, pleased with the fact that it was strong but not overpowering, Wanda tilted her head slightly. "It is different here. You do the same things the X-Men do, on different scales with different methods but still. But the pace is very different. But then again, maybe that is because I am still on vacation."

"It's a lot better to do this than the sort of stuff we used to have to do sometimes," Theo agreed. "I mean, Nate and GW always tried to get us good jobs, things that made some sense and all, but so much of the time it got more complicated..." He shook his great shaggy head. "At least doing this, we know we're doing something right, for sure."

"You all are doing an amazing job. Those children have so much to look forward to now. I still cannot wrap my brain around the fact that they were using children." She shifted, forcing her irritation and disgust back down. There was no reason to bring it back up now when she was still in the process of unwinding. After all, Domino had cheerfully hidden the one thing of work she had brought with her and she was going to have to track that woman down to get it before she left. "Currently I am just trying to see if I can convince Professor Xavier to relocate to somewhere as beautiful as here."

"Westchester's as nice, though," Theo said. "In a different sort of way." He watched Wanda sample the drink, smiling when it got a pleased reaction. "I think I'm going to miss snow, this winter. I'm sort of made for a cold-weather climate."

"You?" Wanda gave him a wide eyed, teasing look. "Never. You should visit when it snows. While it is not Europe in the winter it is incredibly pretty. And if we bribe Ororo, there can always be more snow to be added to what falls naturally."

"We're going to Muir for Christmas, I think," Theo said cheerfully. "At least, that's what GW was murmuring about. I think Moira might have asked him the last time he was over at the school. That was fun last night. Not a whole lot of snow, mind you."

"Why snow when you can have sheets of freezing rain?" She shuddered dramatically. "As much as I like the cold, Scotland tends to be far too dreary for my tastes. London may not be the most temperate place on the earth but it is better than Muir. But Muir does have a certain red-headed baby that you lot can spoil." She grinned when he laughed at that, knowing how much the girls were looking forward to spoiling Rachel once more.

Theo got a thoroughly beatific look. "She wasn't scared of me, you know? She smiled and cooed, and she's so beautiful and I would tear anyone who hurt her limb from limb and then eat the limbs while they watched." There wasn't the slightest alteration to his tone to indicate that he was joking.

There was only a moment's beat of silence as Wanda struggled not to choke on her drink. Blinking at him, she tilted her head just a bit. "I have this distinct feeling that Nathan would be handing you the salt," she replied.

There was, however, a definite twinkle in Theo's eye. "Nate's a good friend, I've always thought."

"Any friend willing to help you eat someone who threatened their daughter is a friend for life." It was getting rather hard not to laugh at this point.

"And then I could present the head of whoever to Moira for stuffing and mounting. I'm sure she'd appreciate that, too."

The struggle to remain stoic was completely lost at that mental image and Wanda had to quickly put her drink down as she was taken over by a serious case of giggles. "Laughing makes my bruises hurt," she gasped, hoping her ribs.

Theo was looking rather spectacularly smug. "As Dom likes to say, I'm actually more clever than the average bear. And you need to laugh more, I think."

"I laugh!" The protest was weak even to her ears. "Well, not much lately but I do laugh. Too much responsibility and work ate away at my sense of humor." And other things.

"It happens," Theo said. "Heck, it's happening here. I swear if GW didn't shave his head he'd have gone gray months ago, and Mina is constantly running around trying to smooth down people's feathers because we all get so sleep-deprived we start snapping at each other."

"Sounds like home," she laughed, reclining in the chair again. "I'm cutting back with my work, if you can believe it. I'll still pitch hit for the professors at the campus in the States when I have to but Cambridge has to come first and I cannot give up what I do at the school." Wanda waggled her fingers at him. "Roughly four jobs may have been a little too much, even for me."

Theo raised both shaggy eyebrows. "Trying to kill ourselves, were we?" he asked. "Glad to hear that you're cutting back, though. You're much prettier when you're well-rested." That almost-alarming smile came back. "Not that you weren't pretty when you got here. Just tired-looking."

She poked him in the side as she laughed. "Not killing myself, my dear, just drowning myself in my work, there is a difference you know. Maybe slight but it is there." The smile that came was brilliant. "You're a complete sweetheart, you know this, yes?"

Theo turned a darker shade of orange beneath the fur. "Been called a lot of things," he muttered, but looked pleased. "Never that. Not used to women who aren't Pack not running in the other direction when they see me."

Wanda gave him a considering look as she sat up, arms hanging loose over her knees. Had they met earlier she might have considered seeking something more from him, but time and her relationship with Stephen had tempered her somewhat. The relationship with Stephen was done, as much as it had hurt both of them, and they had let each other go of commitments until, perhaps, they might meet again. But it wasn't herself that she was concerned about. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Theo and she was afraid she would.

Leaning over and up, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Then they are fools and you should not pay heed to them," she replied, firmly.

Theo flushed even more. "You know," he said as he leaned back, "I miss Nate. All the time. But getting to meet people like you because of where he is and what he's doing now... well, it kind of makes up for it." His eyes twinkled. "And friendly kisses are pretty nice, too."

"Any more blushing and I'll be accused of roasting you," Wanda pointed out and then snickered under her breath. "I think Nate was half-terrified of sending me out here, he did cover his head at one point and was muttering something about death, destruction and pink umbrellas when I mentioned possibly taking some of the girls out on the town."

"He likes to sound like a pessimist. Habit he picked up from GW," Theo said cheerfully, then tilted his head at her. "You're going to keep in touch when you go back, right? I'll give you the right encryption program for your email and all..."

Catching the slight hesitation in his words, Wanda reassured him quickly, "Of course! Theo, before I moved to the mansion I was very rarely in one spot for very long so I am very good at keeping in touch with friends who I do not see on a regular basis. But the night is young, why are we talking about leaving?" A mischevious look crossed her face. "How cold is the ocean this time of year?"

"I don't mind the cold," Theo said happily, getting to his feet. "And your drink'll keep."

"I can always get another drink," Wanda agreed, letting him pull her up. He had been right, she hadn't been laughing or having enough fun lately. Time to settle that score. "Last one in the ocean cooks the other breakfast!"

Okay, maybe playing with the chaos strings to sink his feet a little more in the sand was cheating but the man made one hell of an omelete.