Magic Box | Tuesday

[scarlet_chaos]

Wanda was spending her shift making sure Jeff was decked out in his Pride best. It involved using the giant ladder again, but falling off and breaking her ass was a sacrifice she'd be willing to make in order for Jeff to get a big rainbow boa around his neck.

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[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie was on her way to the gym, taking the longer route to get extra steps in on her way, when Wanda -- and Jeff -- caught her eye.

She debated just scooting along on her way, but before she knew what she was saying --

"Need someone to hold the ladder?"

[scarlet_chaos]

Wanda was not expecting to hear Annie's voice and it showed in the way she jolted a little bit and dropped a large sequined top hat she had been holding.

"Oh man," she murmured, looking down. "You didn't get nailed by an oversized hat, did you?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Nope," Annie assured her, squatting a little to snag the hat off the ground. (A feat that would be full-on unperformable in a scarce few months.) "You just missed me. He's looking pretty festive, though, nice work."

[scarlet_chaos]

"Thanks," Wanda said, climbing down the ladder. "I'll come get it. I do not want a pregnant lady on a ladder."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'm kind of surprised you're using a ladder yourself," Annie noted, purposely keeping her voice very light and conversational.

But like, for real -- if she had Wanda's powers, she'd like, never get off the couch, let alone up on a ladder.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I've taken to doing things by hand for the last couple months." For reasons she thought were obvious but did not particularly want to get into. "Going to be interesting when I move in with Steve and Tony but something tells me Captain America can be convinced to move my couch without too much hassling."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Yeah, Annie did not need further elaboration, but some unconscious tension in her uncoiled just that little bit more. It had been, like, six months since -- everything, and the fact that Wanda still was abstaining from magic was....

Like, Annie was just not used to people actually doing the whole rehab and repentance thing correctly, right where she could see it.

"Or," she suggested, smiling a little, "Tony'll invent some kind of super-intuitive moving AI. Maybe it can unpack for you, too."

That actually seemed like a pretty good business idea, if he figured that out.

[scarlet_chaos]

"If Tony had it his way all my stuff would be replaced with nearly identical designer-made stuff that he paid for and moved in without me lifting a finger." Wanda accepted that he showed his love through gifts, but she had to put her foot down on some things. Like her IKEA couch.

"How have you been?" Wanda asked as she stepped off the ladder. She gestured to Annie's mid-section. "You look good."

She was not surprised Annie was one of those cute pregnant people.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, IKEA did make a pretty decent couch.

"Thank you," Annie said sincerely, one hand finding its way to her bump. She was still working on feeling less self-conscious about how big she was starting to feel, considering she was only halfway through this thing. "I've been good! Morning sickness's finally kind of taken a backseat for a few weeks, which has been nice."

Famous last words, right there.

[scarlet_chaos]

"That's good to hear," Wanda said with a smile. "Now you can focus on the fun stuff like decorating and buying baby clothes."

At least she would have found that fun.

"Or eating popsicles in a kiddie pool, whatever you're into."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That one," Annie said immediately, her smile widening. (She was joking, but also she was about to be really pregnant during summer, so.) "Maybe while shopping for baby stuff on my phone. How've you been? That's exciting about the move."

Genuinely. Annie thought it was probably a really good idea for Wanda to live closer to her people. Not just for 'whoops, you got possessed by a book and no one noticed' reasons, but just...like, in general.

[scarlet_chaos]

"It is. I'm grateful Steve offered." Who knew something good could come out of an elephant being thrown through a building? "It's become increasingly clear to me that I do best with roommates."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Looks like a pretty big building," Annie commented lightly. "So I'm assuming it's not gonna be roommates, like, with bunk beds."

Insert your own dated Real World: Avengers joke here.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Oh, no, I get my own floor." With way too much space that she still had no idea what she was going to do with. "Above the ballroom."

They were going to have a ballroom, Annie. Like the one in Clue.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Are you guys gonna throw a ball?" Annie asked, eyes widening. "And here I am with my feet too swollen for glass slippers."

Though that had always sounded like they would suck even if you weren't pregnant or swollen at all.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I do think Tony does want to throw some grand re-opening gala," Wanda said with a nod. "And, trust me, even with swollen feet you'd be more graceful than me."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"A gala," Annie echoed, shaking her head. "Are we a big enough island for an actual gala?"

Probably not actually an obstacle.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I think we have just enough people on this island who like to wear fancy clothes to make it a decent party," Wanda said. "Like, come on, a cute maternity evening gown? That'd be fun to shop for."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, super fun to shop for," Annie agreed, nearly inviting Wanda along for the trip to do so before catching herself. That might be a little much, a little soon -- and moreover, might be a little weird for the woman who hadn't spent enough time being pregnant to even need to shop for maternity clothes? Maybe? "If I can put a suggestion in, maybe like, lighter on the glitter than Fandom formal events tend to usually be? Just for your own new-house sake."

Rich coming from the woman who wielded a literal cannon of the stuff every December.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I'll be sure to pass the tip along to Tony," Wanda said with a nod. "He doesn't seem like the glitter type anyway. None of the Iron Man suits that I've seen have had glitter inlay in them."

Yet.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, I am a glitter person," Annie told her, "so if some sneaks past, I know where to get a vacuum that'll take care of it."

Science, rather than magic! And kind of a bonus gift for Tony in that he'd get to play with Barry's creation and likely draw inspiration to make an improved model.

"Though gotta say, I feel like Iron Man could use a little sparkle." As a sparkle expert.

[scarlet_chaos]

"It would be distracting to foes," Wanda admitted after thinking about it for a bit. "I'm sure Steve would love it too."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"He could also use some sparkle," Annie noted, "while we're at it. This is very inspirational as far as housewarming gifts. I should be taking notes."

It was hard to even theoretically shop for the man who could buy literally everything and make anything else.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Wanda said with a wave of her hand. "Tony is like...one of those people where if I think about how much money he has my brain breaks a little."

"The perfect housewarming gift is showing up to whatever party he throws," Wanda assured her. "Diego too."

Yeah that last one would be the hard thing.

[heroic_jawline]

"Jeff looks very festive," Steve said, grinning up at the skeleton.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I like the month-long holidays," Wanda said. "Sometimes I feel like people don't really get to see what he looks like before he's dressed up as something else."

[heroic_jawline]

"I'm a little worried to see his Fourth of July look," he teased.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I plan on dressing him up like you," Wanda joked. "How's it going? Tony walking on two legs yet?"

[heroic_jawline]

"He is," Steve said with a smile, "which is swell because I was running out of jokes about Tony the pony. The building's a little behind, though. We'll probably be done next week?"

[scarlet_chaos]

"I figured he wasn't doing much planning as a pony," Wanda said wryly. "But that's good to hear. Have you been staying there while the construction was happening? Or like a pony-friendly hotel?"

[heroic_jawline]

"There is not a pony-friendly hotel," Steve said with a laugh, "so I was camping. And the elevator came in handy for getting a pony up and down to the sixth floor." He sighed heavily. "So now I appreciate the elevator."

The ballroom was still pure Tony Stark excess, though.

[scarlet_chaos]

"You could have stayed at my place instead of camping," Wanda said. "Unless you really like camping and were looking for an excuse to sleep in a tent."

[heroic_jawline]

"Well, inside camping," Steve said. "With plumbing. So...basically I just had a sleeping bag and no electricity for about a week, but I'm used to that." He smiled. "I didn't want to impose. With a pony."

[scarlet_chaos]

"I'll admit imposing with a pony would be a new one for me but I could have handled it," Wanda joked. "Unless he wanted to share my bed because I was cheap and got a queen, it's not me-and-a-pony-sized."

[heroic_jawline]

"...and now I need to check the specs to make sure the bed he ordered isn't me-and-a-pony sized," Steve realized.

It was absolutely that big.

[scarlet_chaos]

"You'd let your pony-husband sleep on the floor?" Wanda asked.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve grinned. "Yes. I'm not getting my pony-husband out of the bed."

[scarlet_chaos]

"You're totally strong enough to lift a pony." No excuse!

[heroic_jawline]

"I am," Steve confirmed, "and now I feel guilty for not getting him a nice bed while he was a pony."

[scarlet_chaos]

"Maybe like a big dog bed," she said. "Meant for a Great Dane or something."

[heroic_jawline]

"I should have thought of that," Steve admitted. "I'll get one now in case we need it later." He huffed out a little amused breath. "Not like we don't have the space to store it now."