soulthatwanders | [for Bruce]

[for Bruce]

It's only weird if you make it weird. Don't make it weird.

With that thought firmly in mind, Wanda took a deep breath and knocked on Bruce's door, jacket slung carefully over one arm. She'd put the task of returning it off for as long as she could because she'd secretly been hoping that it might disappear with the rest of Manhattan and she'd be off the hook, but it was apparently native. No such luck there.

Not that she wanted to avoid him forever, of course, but she really had no idea how it might go, and as far as she was concerned, New Year's had proved that her judgment was apparently weirdly impaired where he was concerned. Still, as long as she didn't make a big deal out of anything that had gone down (which was pretty much nothing, anyway), she was fairly sure it would be fine. Why wouldn't it?

"Anyone home?"

Not weird.

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"I did always wonder how they would've allowed us to be roommates," he exhales, more of a breathless sound before he frowns in thought.

"So this is you," he adds, gesturing to the stone figure - the man. "Well, you weren't lying about the tall part."

"Was me," Wanda amended, but uncertainly. "I don't really know anymore, honestly. It's been a long time since I've known who the hell I am. I put on a good front, but the truth is, I'm a mess and that's all there is to tell."

"Who among us isn't?" Bruce muses out loud, slowly turning back to face her until he can come back into the room, quietly closing the door behind himself.

"I thought I'd had a grip on things, and then Halloween happened, and - it shook me up pretty badly. Not as bad as some places I've been, ultimately, but - it wasn't just the loss of control that scared the hell out of me," he confesses, frowning deeply.

"It was your blood on my hands after I found you in the middle of nowhere and hoping - praying - that I hadn't been the cause. The elephant in the room is always going to be this giant green bomb on a hair trigger, and it's - I go back and forth between wanting more than anything to touch you again and wanting to keep you at arm's length so he doesn't snap you in half."

"That won't happen," Wanda assured him immediately, frowning and standing up a little straighter before wondering what the hell she was doing. She wasn't supposed to be encouraging him, here. Sure, it wasn't right that he feel that way, but for her purposes, it was probably better if he did. And yet... "Halloween wasn't your fault."

"Maybe not, given the circumstances, but I can't help but wonder how many more Halloweens are going to happen - and not just once a year, but whenever this place feels like screwing with us. Listen to me. I'm talking about it as though it's some kind of sentient being." He chuckles, an empty sound.

"What I have - it's not magic. It's not a superpower. It's a curse, a freak accident of nature and genetics and my father's self-experiments, and it's temperamental at best. You don't know what it would do to me if I'd seriously hurt you that night."

"That's life, though," Wanda countered, shaking her head in frustration. "Sometimes it's awful, and terrible things happen, but that doesn't make it your fault! You would never hurt me."

"You're right," he agrees, after another beat. "I wouldn't. He, on the other hand, is less of a guarantee - or not even a guarantee to begin with."

He sighs, glancing across the room at her, smiling in a way that almost seems helpless. "What a pair we make."

Wanda gave a huff at that, but her own smile was a little slower in coming. "No kidding. Gamma radiation and poor life decisions, what's not to love?"

"Well, I can't think of anything," Bruce answers, pretending to consider that possibility.

"Look, I - I appreciate you telling me. It definitely filled in a couple blanks," he admits, grinning sheepishly.. "And the rest of it made me a hell of a lot more intimidated."

"Intimidated?" Wanda asked, grinning a little now, however incredulously. "Of what? Like I said, none of this is exactly secret, it's just my life."

"I don't know how to explain it," Bruce says, fumbling slightly.

"You're - him, her, a colleague, a friend, a - somehow all more than those, and somehow I knew there was more to you deep down and couldn't figure it out, but it makes sense now. In some strange way. I have an explanation for why you're so extraordinary."

"I'm extraordinary because I used to be a guy," Wanda said flatly, raising an eyebrow at him skeptically. "I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Well - yes, but - that didn't exactly come out the way that I intended," he admits, looking embarrassed and clearing his throat the moment he catches a glimpse of her expression.

"I've just never heard of what happened to you ever being accomplished before. It's incredible."

"I wouldn't call a series of disasters and dumb luck an accomplishment, but that's just me," Wanda scoffed. "Our team leader blew himself up, teleported to one of Jupiter's moons, and got rebuilt as a cyborg by aliens. These things just... happen to us for some reason."

"And here I thought the Helicarrier with built-in camo switch was impressive," Bruce mutters, mostly to himself, as he starts moving around the perimeter of the room, studying the shelving job, his shoulders squared.

"Makes me wonder what might have happened if the island had pulled me from later."

"That's right, things were just starting to heat up in your world," Wanda chuckled, hands in her pockets once more as she trailed vaguely after him. "A few years and your whole gang might have been just as screwed up as ours. Did I mention he teleported back in time, too? So it was Ganymede, but hundreds of thousands of years ago."

"From what I can tell, the original team is from all over the place," Bruce admits, softly thinking out loud as he stops, staring off at some lone point as he momentarily loses himself in a reverie.

"Cap's from the future, apparently, but another world entirely, and as for Thor and Tony - well, they hadn't even heard of the Avengers Initiative until I showed up to tell them about it. Kind of ironic when you think about how long they campaigned for me to join, even after I told them I'm not exactly a team player."

"Yeah, Cap's one of ours, he's probably got stories," Wanda said distractedly before stepping around to face him. "Good to know you came around eventually, though."

"It took a little persuading - and several of SHIELD's most heavily armed," Bruce quips, redirecting his gaze to her face.

"No one can say I'm not an accommodating guy."

"I certainly never would," Wanda agreed with mock earnestness. To be fair, she kind of did have a hard time imagining the Hulk on a team for any extended period of time, but it wasn't as if Alpha Flight was known for its overly functional team dynamics, either. Anything was possible. "And those goons can be pretty persuasive."

"It feels like a lifetime ago now," he admits, raking fingertips against the back of his neck and scrunching up his expression slightly along with it.

"Had a lot of people show up since then. Lost more, I think. I don't know enough people to know when every disappearance happens, but there are some I'd definitely notice." He slowly lets his hand fall, and his eyes find hers again.

Her heart picked up in pace a little at that, and Wanda would honestly have to roll her eyes at the reaction if he wasn't watching her.

"I'm pretty sure that's true for everyone here," she lightly pointed out.

"True, but how many almost shut-ins do you know around here?" he jokes, gently leaning into one of the shelves, his hip notched against the sturdy frame.

"This is probably the longest time I've been away from my own place aside from New Year's. What kind of influence are you having on me?"

"A good one, hopefully," Wanda laughed, and while she was joking with him, it came from a place of truth. "You should put yourself out there more."

"Case in point," Bruce responds, with an idle gesture between the both of them.

"Do you think any good could come from a repeat offense?"

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