Perk | Late Friday Morning

[scarlet_chaos]

It had been a solid month of only being at work or her apartment, and Wanda figured it was finally time to be in public public without the fear of torches and pitchforks. That fear had mostly gone away as soon as she stepped back on the island, but still. You screw up the way she had and it was always in the back of your head.

Heading into a mostly-empty coffee shop seemed like a safe enough start. Wanda ordered an iced coffee (why was it so hot, it was April?) and took a seat near one of the windows.

[Open]

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[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie might have been off caffeine, but you know what she was firmly on? Bearclaws. And the Perk was much closer to her new, across-the-island house than JGOB was (which, honestly, was a real disadvantage and something they should have considered while house-hunting. Sure, it was a small island, technically everything was walking distance, but still!)

So into the Perk she headed, and as always, she glanced around to see who else was here.

And look at that amazing little poker face she tried to conjure up, right there. It was a good effort, that attempt to look totally normal at seeing Wanda.

"Oh, hey."

[scarlet_chaos]

Wanda's poker face was not as good. In fact there was a second where she was looking like she was trying to slouch down under the table but thought better of it.

"Uh, hey," she replied, both hands holding on to her iced coffee for dear life. "I can, uh, leave. If you were going to hang out here."

[defenderofdesmoines]

That actually did get a faint smile out of Annie. A faint smile, and an immediate pang somewhere in her chest. She hated so much that it was like this now.

"Wanda, you already let me have the whole island to myself for months," she pointed out, shrugging a shoulder. (And, in spite of herself, sparing a nervous little glance towards the exit. Just -- it was gonna take a little while for that part to go away. She hated that, too.) "It's okay. I'm not staying long."

[scarlet_chaos]

"Okay," Wanda said, though she didn't feel any less tense. She gave a little nod to Annie's little baby bump. "How are you feeling?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Like the babies are craving pastry," Annie admitted, a little awkward in her effort to seem totally casual. "Which is an improvement over their olive stage. I think I ate all of Caritas's cocktail olives a few weeks ago."

Which, like, was delicious, but also -- like, so much bloating. Also she was kind of off olives now.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Well it's nice of them to change it up," Wanda said, trying to match the casual tone. "And pastries and olives are do-able. You're not craving some exotic fruit that has to be imported special or anything."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Yet," Annie replied, and...look at that, attempting a joke again. Maybe this would get more natural-feeling over time? "I did make Diego go to the mainland to get me a Shamrock Shake back when they had them, but I'm not even sure that was pregnancy-related so much as 'someone mentioned Shamrock Shakes in my presence'-related."

It was the latter.

[scarlet_chaos]

"There's not actual shamrocks in those, right?" Wanda wasn't that into McDonalds culture.

[defenderofdesmoines]

...they had McDonald's in Sokovia, right? They had McDonald's everywhere. They probably had McDonald's in space in Wanda's universe.

"They're mint-flavored," Annie told her, shaking her head. "And like, bright green."

None of that meant there weren't shamrocks in them, though, Annie. You didn't know.

[scarlet_chaos]

Weirdly enough Sokovia wasn’t that into St. Patrick’s day!

“Mint’s good for nausea, at least,” she said. “I sort of skipped that whole part.”

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Lucky," Annie said, and that was probably the least-stilted thing she'd said in Wanda's presence since she'd learned the name America Chavez. "I'm almost out of the woods there, according to my doctor, but morning sickness is the bullshittiest bullshit."

[scarlet_chaos]

Wanda let out a genuine laugh. “My pregnancy lasted about 48 hours. Which is good in some ways, but I missed out on all the—“

She gestured to Annie again. It must have been so exciting to watch her babies grow.

[defenderofdesmoines]

They were the size of strawberries this week!

"How in the hell -- " Annie started, before catching herself. "Wait. It's like how they grew up super-fast, isn't it?"

Sitcom pregnancies were wildly uncomplicated things, now that she thought about it.

[heroic_jawline]

Dum-E had been trying something new today and so that's why Steve was at the Perk getting coffee and avoiding whatever Dum-E had put into his drink that had made it fizz.

"Wanda!" he said, smiling.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Hey," Wanda greeted with a smile. "Fancy seeing you here."

[heroic_jawline]

"You've got to be fast to get the coffee before Tony," Steve said with a grin. "How are you?"

[scarlet_chaos]

"Can't complain," she said with a shrug. "Things have been quiet lately. You?"

[heroic_jawline]

"Well, I spent a week as a golden retriever," Steve said, cheeks going pink, "so...that was something. I really liked chasing down balls."

[scarlet_chaos]

“No offense, but that’s an extremely appropriate animal to turn into,” she said. “Was Patriot okay with the added competition?”

[heroic_jawline]

"He got used to it once Tony brought out double treats," Steve said, laughing, "but I think he's glad he doesn't have to share the sunny spot in the apartment with me any more."

[scarlet_chaos]

"Yeah he seemed to have the same problem when I was a snake." And Wanda had been cold-blooded, the sunshine was important.

[heroic_jawline]

Rude, Patriot. Share better.

Steve laughed. "Perils of being an only child, I guess," he teased. "He didn't have to share the sunny spot when Tony turned into an alpaca. That might be why he likes Tony more."

[scarlet_chaos]

"An alpaca is weird." Steve being a friendly dog and Wanda herself being a snake made sense but an alpaca? "Cuddly though, that's a plus."

[heroic_jawline]

Steve nodded. "Our apartment was not alpaca-proof, as it turned out. It is now because Tony hates not being prepared for contingencies."

[scarlet_chaos]

"You'd think this island would break him of that habit," she said with a smile. "I guess he just doubled down."