wanda maximoff (fears) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-01-21 22:57:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, mabel pines, wanda maximoff (scarlet witch) |
WHO: Wanda Maximoff & Mabel Pines
WHERE: Christmas Party @ Nines'
WHEN: December
WHAT: In the chaos of a party, two introverts find each other.
WARNINGS: PG
STATUS: Complete
Mabel hadn’t been to many parties since they hit the OC and honestly, out of the two of them she’d thought she would be the one that got them invited to their first party, instead it was Dipper. Mason. Whatever. He’d made friends with the person who was hosting the party - somehow - and she suddenly found herself wondering if they were drifting apart. He’d told her late that it was a pool party and that she’d been invited and though she was happy to be going to a party, she was bothered that she was invited second-hand and that Dipper seemed to know the person hosting it. She didn’t say anything to him, though, she wanted him to have a good time.
She’d done a bit of dancing, but when she went to look for her twin, she couldn’t find him. She didn’t know anyone and though she was normally very confident in situations like this, she’d found that struggling to make friends here had made her feel less confident and more… not confident? Was there a better word for that? She didn’t know. Either way, she was less confident and just wanted to find her twin and maybe think about heading home because it was loud and there were people she didn’t know and the few times she’d made an attempt to talk to someone she’d been rebuffed, and then there was that one person she thought was talking to her but he was actually talking to the person standing behind her and she’d responded and was mortified when she realised that it wasn’t her he was talking to.
She’d grabbed herself a beer and a colourful straw and found a quiet spot away from the party to just sit and wait for her brother to be done socialising, toying with the idea of texting him but thinking better of it. Finding a quiet spot, she saw another person there who just looked like they were getting a breather from the madness of the crowd and she chewed her lower lip.
“Hey, I can- if you wanna be alone or whatever, I can totally find somewhere else to go.”
Nine’s party was … something. That was for sure. It wasn’t what Wanda was used to in the least, although she’d been glad to meet Peter’s friend properly finally, it was still a little too fancy for her to feel entirely comfortable. Thankfully, she’d spent most of her time with Peter, which helped her feel mostly at ease.
But Wanda didn’t want to monopolise all of Peter’s time, so at the later function, away from all the glam and fancy, after slipping on her bathing suit and the kaftan over it, she’d let Peter wander off to meet people without inviting herself along with him.
She needed a few moments anyway, between the drinks earlier and the few already, her head was feeling foggy and some time to center herself would at least stop her from ruining Nine’s party and traumatising more people. She’d been drifting, attention wise, when she heard someone speak to her.
“It’s okay,” she possibly answered a little too fast, but Wanda realised that finding Peter in this mess of people would be … complicated, and if she waited a little longer, maybe Peter would come find her. Talking to someone would at least make her feel less like she was a barnacle on Peter’s social life at the moment. “I wouldn’t mind the company.”
Mabel, unknowingly, was feeling a similar way. She smiled, at first cautious but a little wider when she realised that she wouldn’t be sent away. She was wildly relieved, if she was honest. She pushed her hair back behind her ear and nodded, approaching and sitting down on a nearby shin-height wall and stretched her legs out in front of her. She’d come with a bathing suit, of course, but had felt self-conscious around so many people she didn’t know so hadn’t changed out of the outfit she’d come in. She had brightly coloured socks sticking up above her black and white converse.
“Okay, cool, ‘cause I don’t know about you but I needed a break from the noisiness. Like, normally I don’t mind a party, I’m all about parties, they called me Party Mabel at home-” no one had ever called her that “- but I don’t know anyone here and my brother’s disappeared.”
Wanda had never had a nickname, not like that, other than to be called a little witch in the dreams, but still, “Yes, they are rather rowdy.” The drinks had been flowing for a fair while, and it seemed like Nine knew quite the adventurous bunch. “My date is mingling,” she wasn’t sure if that’s what this was, if she and Peter were dating, but he’d invited her here and Nine had made a dig about her potential as girlfriend status, so she assumed it was okay to call it a date.
It did mean that she was clearly on her own while she let Peter go off and meet people he knew. “Do you need help looking for your brother? I could assist?” Even if she’d rather not have to wade through all those people, potentially get bumped, maybe overwhelm herself, spark some of her power and crush someone’s psyche with their fears played out in front of them.
But still.
“I take it you are Mabel? That they didn’t just christen you with a new name?” That would be rude. “I’m Wanda.”
“No,” Mabel said quickly, “his friend’s hosting the party so I’m sure he’s totally fine, having a good time with the people that he knows here or whatever and I don’t really wanna be the one that brings him down even though I can’t leave until he does and-” She sucked in a breath, catching herself rambling without using any punctuation.
She cleared her throat and pushed her hair behind her ear. “I am- yeah, I’m Mabel. Party Mabel.” Except no one ever called her that. If anything, she was ‘Mad Mabel’. People were very judgey.
She held her hand out. “Nice to meet you, Wanda. Have you lost someone too or did you just need a break?”
Wanda got the impression that Mabel, like her, wasn’t entirely comfortable in these situations. Just like Wanda didn’t want to tie Peter to her side when there were other people he could spend time with, Mabel probably wanted to let her brother mingle.
“I think I’ll just call you Mabel.” It didn’t sound like Mabel was too fond of ‘Party Mabel’ anyway.
“I needed a break,” as much as she wasn’t sure where Peter was, she knew that she could find him when she wanted to, the blessing of her power. But she did need some time to just think a little. “I’m not great with crowds, or alcohol and lots of music.” And she was at a party, where all those things were present. “Some air in an outdoor party, that’s probably a new one, right?”
“Just Mabel works for me, too,” Mabel said with a nod of her head and another small smile, rolling her beer between her palms and then sitting down heavily on a small wall, legs stretched out in front of her, the toes of her converse touching. Normally she’d have flourished in party environments but she didn’t know anyone where, at all, and she’d found that her confidence had taken a very real knock since they’ve moved to OC. Dipper seemed to be finding his feet and flourishing and she was just floundering. Like a fish. A floppy, useless, floundering fish. She was the Magikarp of the Pines twins.
That was depressing.
“I don’t normally mind but I’m not feeling it today and ‘cause I don’t know anyone I don’t just wanna jump in the water and-” she cut herself off again and waved her hand. “Just not feeling it. Besides, there’s totally a difference between that air,” she indicated the party, “and this air,” she waved her hand around her head.
She lifted a shoulder. “This air is better. Less busy and full of people and noise and drunkeneness.”
“I agree.” And while Mabel had said a few things, a few things that undoubtedly Wanda could’ve added too or expanded on, just agreeing felt easier. “I don’t do too well around people I don’t know at the best of times.”
Wanda wasn’t exactly shy, not really. But since her powers developed things had been a little more complicated on the whole. She could lose control at any moment, and while it typically wasn’t enough that she bombarded people with psychic manipulations, it was enough that she saw what they feared most.
A lot of people feared loneliness.
“I like it a lot more with more personal settings. And I can hear what you’re saying without shouting over music. That is much better.” How could people hope to make friends at these things when everyone was yelling?
Mabel was one of those who feared loneliness, though it was less of a nebulous fear for her and more specifically routed in her twin moving on, leaving her behind. It felt like an inevitability, as much as she didn’t want it to, and this was just reminding her that she was the less functional of the two of them. He wasn’t thinking about her. He was having fun with his new friends and-
Fff. Okay.
“I like a good shout as much as the next person,” she admitted, “but normally not when there's something louder than me.” She grinned and sipped at her drink. “So, how long have you been in Orange County? Do you like it? Do you come to lots of parties like this or is this unusual for you too?”
Shouting to be heard over music didn’t make sense to Wanda. Why have the music if you were going to have to yell over it? Why not have low music so people could talk? Parties were so different all the time it was so hard to work out what was going on.
“I’ve been here for almost two years.” She’d just spent a long time in the rehabilitation centre getting physical therapy, “I attend college here, I’m enjoying that at least.” There were a lot of things in Orange County that Wanda found herself thankful for.
“But this, this is unusual for me. I was invited by… well, by my friend, and he is a friend of Nine’s.” It was still hard working out what she and Peter were, other than Nine’s odd introduction at the earlier event, neither she nor Peter had addressed things. “How about you?”
“I mean, I haven’t really made any friends since I moved here so this is like, way unusual for me. Back home it was a bit easier, I mean I knew people but I think most people just sorta put up with me and more actively liked my brother ‘cause he’s,” she lifted her hands and did air quotes on either side of her head, “‘more palatable’, according to our mom and dad.”
She hitched her shoulder up, “We moved here a couple of months back and my brother’s got a job and I'm... still looking for something to do properly but I am crafty and I’m good at baking and making things.” She indicated the loose-knit sweater she was wearing which was a pale cream colour. “I made this.”
“That sounds rude.” Wanda frowned slightly, trying to figure out what that could mean. More ‘palatable’, like one of them was easier to eat? Swallow? That was an odd way to put things. “I am sure you are not more difficult to befriend.” Then again, maybe she was just the different kind of strange that some people avoided. Wanda knew about that.
“It’s very nice, have you considered selling crafts?” Jobs were hard to come by, Wanda knew that much. Science was something that called to her though and she sunk into it very easily. “But it is not like you need to rush to find something, do you?”
“I’m a bit of a weirdo,” Mabel admitted. “Normally it doesn’t bother me. I embrace my weirdness. Sometimes it doesn’t do me any favours.” She shrugged again and downed the last of her beer. “It’s okay though, I think I just need to find people to be friends with.” She glanced up at Wanda. “Like you, maybe?”
She probably shouldn’t have sounded so hopeful but.
“No, I mean, my brother and I need rent money but we’re okay, I mean, we’re okay for now but I probably should get a proper job. I’d love to sell crafts but Dipper doesn’t know if an Etsy shop is a reliable enough income. He’s very sensible.” Plus, to be fair to him, she did have a habit of quitting things after they got boring.
Wanda wouldn’t argue with someone who said they were weird, typically people who thought they were weird weren’t that weird, “All of the most interesting people are weird.” Wanda rather liked ‘weird’, really she fell right into that category too. “I would be happy to be your friend Mabel, I am a little bit weird myself.” In oh so many ways.
Wanda shrugged a little, “Sensible or unadventurous, but there are more places. Etsy and also the market, I believe it is not too expensive to get a stand. I love to shop there, where I can support local merchants.” All of her fruit and vegetables came from places other than supermarkets. “What about in a bakery?”
Wanda wasn’t too sure why she was offering job ideas for this new friend she made, but she felt like she wanted to help.
Mabel smiled, soft but wide and it lit up her entire face. “He’d probably feel better if I had a stall of something.” She brightened some then, thinking about what she could do. They were good suggestions. Mabel would rather work for herself so she didn’t have to be constrained by someone else’s rules so maybe she’d give the ‘I want to run an Etsy stop’ conversation another go.
“Thank you, Wanda,” she said with a nod. “And thanks for letting me hang out with you. Maybe we can hang out again when we’re both not at a party?” After all, that was how you made friends!
“Of course,” even if it wasn’t entirely helpful, Wanda was glad that she could at least maybe help Mabel feel a little better about what she wanted to do. “Maybe some time we can meet up, when there isn’t a lot of splashing and music.”
There had to be a knack for making friends, or maybe Wanda just had to stand back and let the friendships come to her? Either way, she was sure that if Mabel wanted to spend time to get to know one another, Wanda was on board with that. “Do you have your phone? I’ll give you my number.”
Since Wanda’s phone was in the room she’d be staying in along with her dress from the previous party.
“I do,” Mabel pulled it out of her pocket, as she hadn’t actually gone into the pool, even though she’d come in a cute costume underneath her outfit, the actual act of going into the pool was a little too much for her surrounded by all these California types. She unlocked it and held it out to Wanda. “At least tonight hasn’t totally sucked!”
Giving Mabel a bright smile, Wanda punched in her number, one of the first things she’d memorised when she’d been released into the world as a citizen. “There are upsides to everything, isn’t there.” Optimism was a hard outlook, something Wanda wasn’t always able to maintain, but at least this worked out.
“Please don’t hesitate to text or call. I would enjoy more of your company.”
Mabel beamed. “Me too! I mean, your company, not mine. I live with me. I should introduce you to my brother at some point, too.” She took her phone back and slipped it into her pocket after checking where in her (sadly relatively empty) contact list Wanda’s name sat. “I- uh- you probably wanna go find your boyfriend? I could come with so no one elbows you or whatever…” Though Wanda had been out here first, “I should probably go find my brother too,” since she didn’t want to overstay her welcome. “And tell him I think I’m gonna go home.”
From the brief interaction, Wanda was getting the impression that she and Mabel shared a few personality traits. “Why don’t we both go looking,” Wanda didn’t even bother to tell Mabel that Peter wasn’t technically her boyfriend, she was just going with whatever was easiest, “We’ll see who we find first.”
Wanda was looking to find Peter anyway, she was starting to get tired and wondering how much longer the party was going to last.