you wait until you know that it is time | private

[tothebalkans]

WHO: tothebalkans and oncemercurial.
WHERE: Her apartment w/ Gemma.
WHEN: After this embarrassing display.
WARNINGS: Truth bugs, discussion of incest--other than that, it should be tame.
SUMMARY: Wanda spills openly on the Network the nature of her relationship with her brother. Pietro is like "what" and goes to talk to her.
FORMAT: Stuff?

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[oncemercurial]

Pietro had almost flown down up the streets, back to his old apartment. Everything Wanda was saying just moments ago seemed so strange. Yes, they'd always been close, and yes, they'd always depended on each other... But surely she couldn't mean-- No. It wasn't worth speculating. She was upset and babbling and he'd simply misunderstood. In a few seconds, they would talk and she would set everything straight. And maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to make her accept Angelica a little bit more. Though, quite honestly, his hopes weren't all that high.

"Wanda?" He called, making a futile attempt not to slam the door as he entered. "Are you there? Is everything alright?"

[tothebalkans]

He was half-expecting Pietro to run through the door screaming about how sick and vile she was, but instead he sounded worried. It almost gave her hope as she slowly stood from her bed and poked her head out her bedroom door.

"Pietro? I'm in here," she responded meekly.

[oncemercurial]

He was worried. The last time he'd seen his Wanda sobbing and babbling uncontrollably this way, Pietro had ended up asking her to do something terrible. The same thing wouldn't happen now, he was at least certain of that, but it didn't make him feel all that much better about what was to happen. "May I come in? I'd like to talk to you."

[tothebalkans]

She stepped back into her room and gestured. "Yes."

[oncemercurial]

The room hadn't changed all that much, all things considered. There was still a bed, a vanity, clothes, and other things one would expect. Pietro tried to make himself comfortable, even though he knew this conversation would be awkward at best. "Now will you tell me what's wrong?"

[tothebalkans]

The room was pretty much the same. Wanda touched it up with her own belongings and decorations. There were more flowers adorning her vanity and bedside table. Clothes were folded neatly in her drawers and hanged up in her closet. There were more books strewn about the room: Lord Byron, Donne, and Tolstoy just to name a few. Wanda was wearing regular flannel pajamas with a sheer robe wrapped tightly around herself. There were tissues discarded on the bed. She brushed them aside to sit down and watch Pietro quietly.

"I already told you," she finally replied after a long moment.

[oncemercurial]

"Yes. But I don't think I understood. Could you explain it to me again?" The books didn't escape Pietro's notice. They looked more like something he would read than the usual light romance nonsense his Wanda kept around, or the cooking books the previous Wanda had studied so frequently. Were this a less purposed visit, he might have asked her about them instead. It would be fun to compare notes on literature with his sister.

"Please sit down. Try not to be so upset."

[tothebalkans]

Wanda shot him a stubborn glare before taking a deep shaky breath and explaining herself again with utmost honesty that she could not control.

"I miss you. I miss when you held me at night. I miss feeling protected in your arms. I miss when you'd brush the hair from my face. I miss our dinners in Paris, Lisbon, St. Petersburg...I miss the poetry you'd read to me. I miss--" She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth to keep the words from spilling out, but they did. They always did. Her hands tightened into fists in her lap. "--I miss being touched and loved intimately. I miss your whispers and hands and everything, Pietro. Everything you give to her, I want for myself."

[oncemercurial]

Pietro turned away, choking down a lump that had settled in the back of his throat as she'd been speaking. He hadn't misunderstood at all. Whatever he was to this version of his sister, her affection wasn't limited to that of a sibling. It was both familiar and horrific, and as much as he wanted to turn and run back home to Angelica and even their stupid cat, he also couldn't stand the look on Wanda's face.

"I'm sorry, sister. I can't--" He didn't finish. What was there to say? I can't love you? That wasn't entirely true. Apparently in another universe, in another situation, it was possible for them to develop that way. As different as this Wanda was, he could still see pieces of his sister in her. Nothing with their family could ever be easy, apparently.

[tothebalkans]

"You're disgusted with me," she finished his thoughts quietly. Wanda looked down at her clenched hands in her lap. Her knuckles were turning white with how tightly she held them.