Kurt and Wanda

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

A pause in the hectic, dangerous lives brings about a quiet end.



There was a cool breeze and no hint of rain, which was why Wanda had taken a book and a glass of wine out onto the fire escape next to her window. She wasn't really paying attention to the book - a type of magic for dummies, though not in so many words - and just left it open on her lap as she enjoyed the wine. The stress of searching for Amanda still hadn't completely faded but it was getting better, especially with the business of Zemo taken care of.

Kurt could learn, and had stopped teleporting straight into her apartment after the last time. He appeared at the foot of the fire escape, looking up at her. "Good evening, Wanda."

She peered down and raised her glass of wine in a salute as she smiled. "Kurt," she responded, shuffling over so that it was easier for him to climb up to climb up as well. "You picked a good night to stop by."

And so he did, settling next to her with a smile in return. "I did? And what makes this in particular a good night, unless you mean the weather?"

"The weather," she clarified, leaning her head back against the wall as a wind moved her hair around. "The past few weeks have been hectic to the point that being able to enjoy things like good weather have disappeared."

"The weather is almost perfect", he agreed, reaching absently for her hand. "And now that Amanda is safely found and the recent mission is over, perhaps things will calm down a little?"

She couldn't help it, she laughed at that. "Come now, Kurt," Wanda chided with no heat, "you know better than that. Perhaps things won't be the same kind of hectic but when are our lives ever so quiet?" Pursing her lips, she sighed. "Makes me grateful the only ones I have to worry about are friends and coworkers, since the only family that could be in danger has run off," she murmured.

"Our lives do manage to be quiet", he said wryly, "if only for very short periods at a time. We need to seize those when they come - and friends and coworkers provide enough worry on their own, I find."

First Mark, then Amanda...they were going to be the death of her one day, the whole lot of them. Wanda tilted her head at him and finally voiced a question that had been hovering for quite some time. "Do you want to do this life forever?" she asked.

"I do not know", he said quietly. "Of course, none of us can do it forever - age comes to us all, and we must all retire in time. If this life does not kill us first."

"Retirement." She rolled the word around her mouth and grimaced at the taste it left in her mouth. But it would be something she might have to think about in years to come but not now. Ten, maybe even fifteen; as long as it didn't kill her first, of course, like Kurt said. "Trust me to turn things like retirement and marriage into a dirty word," she laughed.

He laughed quietly in turn. "If I am to be honest, the idea of retirement does not appeal to me very much, either." His failure to mention marriage was, perhaps, conspicuous.

They'd been dancing around subjects for a while. Or, probably, it had been Wanda dancing around them. "And marriage?" she asked, tilting her head towards him.

Kurt turned to look at her, weighing his words very deliberately. "I... would like to marry, I think. But it would have to be a woman who understands this life, and who would not mind that I will not give her natural children."

Wanda watched him carefully. "Years ago, I decided that I would never marry or have children of my own," she said softly. "A foolish decision for one so young at the time, perhaps, but it grew as I grew. There are some responsibilities I embrace and others I run from." Turning, she placed her wine glass down beside her and took Kurt's hand in both of hers. "How deeply do you care for me?"

"Once", he said softly, "I did not think any woman would ever truly want me, let alone marry me and adopt children with me. It seems now I was wrong, but it is still not every woman who could see past my differences to that, even if she is my friend. You did."

She curved her fingers around his and gave him a warm smile. "Of course I did, how could I not? The outside is simply that, the outside. It does not change the fact that you are the warm and comfortable man I have come to know and care for." Her smile didn't waver but her eyes were sad. "But not care for as much as I think you have started to care for me..."

"I will always be your friend, Wanda", he assured her, meeting her eyes with a faint smile in return. "But it is true that I would like considerably more. I would have asked you, not now but in the future... if I did not know you do not wish to marry at all."

"What gave it away?" she asked wryly. "The faces I made or the general screaming and running in the opposite direction?" She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before sitting back. "I cannot give you what you want, now or later, so it might be best if we end this on a good note. I can honestly say that I wish I could give you what you wanted."

"And I thank you for being honest", was the quiet response as Kurt squeezed her hand. "Not that I expected anything less of you... you may be right."

She nodded. "If we keep going, I'll just...end up hurting you," Wanda said softly. "And that is the last thing I want to do."

He raised his free hand gently to her face, reassuring. "A clean break it shall be, then."

Wanda smiled and rested her cheek against his warm hand as something relaxed inside of her. This had been weighing on her mind for a while now and it was reassuring and a little sad at the same time to see it come to it's conclusion. They didn't say anything, just turned around, shoulder to shoulder, and shared some wine as the sounds of the city enveloped them.