nothingmorehorrifying | Peacekeeper take your time [Peter Parker]

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Peacekeeper take your time [Peter Parker]

Steve had been a great teacher but a miserably early riser. She's told Tony on no uncertain terms that she will not be going for jogs anytime before dawn, but that doesn't mean she won't go running at all. In making an effort to return to being an Avenger, she's tried to recreate her regimen from the compound, only at a more human hour.

There's no flying or throwing hex bolts here but she can still keep fit. It's midmorning now and she's gone to Petros Park at a leisurely pace, stretching her limbs at its westernmost part of the path. In the distance, she can see a yoga group meeting and tries to imitate some of their poses, deciding to join them next time.

But first, a run. She'll never admit it to Tony but Wanda doesn't mind this part, even likes it sometimes. It reminds her of Pietro, even if she can never run as fast as he can.

God she misses him.

Wanda swallows the thought and starts to jog, determined now to outrun the memory. She's caught up in it that she doesn't see someone in her path.

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Mornings have never been Peter's thing. For starters, like he'd tell Aunt May, he's fifteen. He sleeps in; that's what teenagers do. Add that little fact to the fact that school has him busy, the fact that he actually doesn't have a horrible social life, and that he, you know, fights crime? He feels like he has the right to be exhausted.

But today is different; a rough fight yesterday has him sore today, and he has energy that he needs to get out. His shoulder is surprisingly still sore from a well-placed kick, but the legs? They work fine. And besides, it's nice to be out at the park and not just passing over it. He pops his headphones in and starts to jog, but when he's gone for what feels like forever, he admittedly starts to zone out a bit.

And that's what sends him straight into another jogger and has him scrambling to right himself and the victim, his eyes widening as he reaches out to steady her.

"Oh my god, I am so sor... sor... oh, wow."

It's Scarlet Witch. Shit.

"I'm - I'm really sorry."

I need to be somewhere else. Like, right now.

He starts to back away, rubbing his sore shoulder where they collided.

Edited 2016-09-05 13:50 (UTC)

Wanda can't help herself. She throws her arms up with a surge of power behind it so that there's a small, red force shield over her. Half a second later, she can hear a stream of rapid fire apologies in a voice that's vaguely familiar but that she can't place.

Realizing that she looks very conspicuous, Wanda dismisses her shield and straightens up from the crouch she'd assumed to keep from falling.

"It's fine," she says, trying to play it cool, even as her mind is trying to place that voice. "Are you okay?"

He looks fine, though there's a certain stiffness about his shoulders nowhere near where they collided. She shouldn't be so suspicious but, well, Natasha did say she needs to get used to looking over her shoulder.

"Totally fine. Sorry. Sorry." The red glow sealed it; this was definitely her, not some woman with her face. Peter's been told that that happens here, sometimes.

She looks like she's examining him pretty hard, and it makes him nervous. He adjusts the hoodie he's wearing and resists the temptation to put up his hood like it'll help him hide. He gives her a smile and starts to turn on his heel. "Well, uh. Have a nice day!"

Oh god oh god walk away before she realizes, Pete.

"Have we met before?" Wanda asks, trying to keep her face relaxed and polite even as she's still trying to place that voice. Suspicion won't get her far. "I could swear we've met before."

Even if they haven't, there's something about him, all tense and agitated, like he doesn't want to further her acquaintance. Wanda tries not to doubt herself but she knows her powers can be off-putting to many. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't think so," Peter says, trying his best to deepen his voice without it being blatantly obvious. "Not unless you're from Albany." Nice, he thinks. Takes care of the accent without giving anything away. And, if he were to guess, she's not from anywhere near Albany. So he's gotta be safe, right?

He straightens up and does his best to relax. He wants to get away, and, preferably, not be rude. It's a precarious balance.

"Didn't - uh, didn't scare me. Took me by surprise. But I mean. I guess that's all pretty normal for some of the people around here," he says, referring to the red energy - or whatever - that he saw. "No harm, no foul!"

"Not Albany, but I've lived in upstate," she says, trying not to peer at him. It's difficult when he's so obviously tense and trying to look calm, which only makes him look more agitated and nervous. She's starting to think they must have met once before and that she hadn't made a good impression.

Eyes narrowed, Wanda takes a step closer to him, trying to get a better look at his face.

"What's your name?"

"Ben," he says, relaxing when his brain starts working well enough to have him acting like a normal human being. "Ben Thompson. 's yours?"

It occurs to him that it's not like she's going to know his name anyway, so a fake one, probably not all that necessary. But it's too late, it's out there.

"Wanda," she says. Again, she's struck by the oddness of it. She keeps worrying that he's afraid of her. That perhaps she really is someone to be feared. She is also suspicious and uncertain of which instinct should win out.

She looks to Ben again, still plucking at the riddle of his familiar voice. "Have you...Are you from a world with the Avengers?" she asks, uncertain.

Okay, maybe one lie is enough. You're not enough at lying for more than that. And it's not like she's still gonna try to kick your ass. Probably.

"H-hi Wanda. I know who the Avengers are, yeah. They're kind of a big deal." He gives a slight smile, though it's nervous. Things are different here than they were back home. He barely knew where he stood the first time he met Wanda, and now he's running into her at the park. Life is weird.

"Oh," Wanda says. She supposes that that explains his nervousness and she's disappointed. "Then I'm sorry...if you've seen me on the news."

Yet again, she thinks Vision might be right. Maybe humans can't help but fear her, that it's instinct because she's not really one herself anymore. "I don't plan to get involved with robots," she says, digging up a little sarcasm to cover the way she really feels about it. "And I don't plan to help drop anymore cities from sub-orbit."

"I don't think you really have to apologize for anything," he says earnestly, "and I don't really worry about any of that other stuff, either."

Despite everything that happened, it wasn't like he fought with Scarlet Witch - Wanda - because of any personal beef he had. When Tony Stark sends you to Berlin with a new suit and instructions, you just... tend to follow them. He has a bare bones understanding of everything that went down, but it's hard to have an opinion when you're fighting for Tony Stark but still are an unofficial powered person yourself.

"I do anyway."

In her view, it's hard not to. There's a lot that she sees as her job to atone for. There's also a lot where she constantly wonders if she's being too meek or too frightening. Constantly checking herself and trying to find the appropriate balance that will keep her name off a list of prisoners, no matter that Darrow is free of the Sokovia Accords.

"If you know the Avengers, you know who I am, then?"

Peter doesn't miss the tone of Wanda's voice, and he's not so out of the loop that he misses the bitterness. He's less nervous now, more sympathetic, but he hasn't dropped his guard entirely. He just... gets it. It sucks when you're trying to help and no one seems to be on your side.

"I know who you are, yeah. And... I don't know. I mean. I get what you're doing. Were doing. And I don't think that's a bad thing."

He's still strange and annoyingly familiar in a way that Wanda can't place, but the sympathy isn't missed. She does feel a little better for it, the way he doesn't seem afraid of her but understanding.

By now, the idea of a run is less appealing than it was when she woke up and Wanda offers a hand to shake, thinking that it's overdue. "Let me buy you a coffee, please? For almost knocking you over, among other things?"

"Oh, I don't - I don't need coffee for that, it's really no big - hi." He isn't really used to anyone wanting to shake his hand, but he takes hers and gives her what he thinks is a normal handshake. The corner of his mouth quirks up in a smile, genuine but slight; he feels guilty for lying to her, but also really, really isn't sure he knows how to deal with how weird the conversation would be if he told her the truth.

Still, though, the gesture is appreciated. "Thanks for, you know. Offering."

He has a firm grip but so does pretty much everyone on the Avengers, so Wanda doesn't think much of it. There's temptation there for Wanda to use her powers and turn over the secrets of his mind but she quickly rebukes herself for the thought. She doesn't do that anymore.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," he says with a genuinely regretful smile, "I got - I got somewhere to be." When they're not busy trying to beat the crap out of each other, Wanda seems decent enough. But he's too caught off guard at the moment to try and have coffee and be sane with someone who intimidates him as much as she does. If they're ever gonna do that, he needs to mentally prepare.

He nods, taking a step back and pulling out his phone. "Hey, but maybe another time. Do you have, like, Facebook or something?"

"No," Wanda says. She smiles then and gestures around them at Darrow's park. "I don't think Darrow even has Facebook."

She holds out her phone though, an eyebrow raised. "But we can change numbers. It'd be nice to stay in touch with people from the same world. Even if we don't know each other." Even if she suspects that she should.

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