InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Just bend the slurry, woman!"

ᴡᴀɴᴅᴀ (hexx) wrote in avengers_logs,
@ 2020-06-29 11:00:00

Entry tags:

-complete, peter parker, wanda maximoff

Who: Wanda & Spidey (plus Billy & Tommy are there too)
What: A picnic and catching up
When: Now?
Where: Central Park
Status: Complete

Just a few weeks into being Spidey-grounded, Peter was getting restless.

There were some benefits - he was getting more schoolwork done, and time with MJ wasn’t interrupted by his after-class patrols. May was less anxious than she’d been in months knowing he was off the streets, and thanks to Morgan’s insistence, he discovered that coloring books really were relaxing. It wasn’t the first time he’d been benched, but he missed it. He missed the city, he missed Queens, and he missed helping people. Drawing up plans for his own version of the stealth suit was something, but it didn’t feel like enough. After the storm - after everything he felt he owed to New York - he had a lot to make up for.

Today, though, a picnic in Central Park with Wanda and the twins was keeping him out of trouble. It was a perfect spring day; not too warm, not too cold, and the foliage finally was bursting bright with green. And Peter’s mind, at the moment, was far from guilt, and more on whatever Billy was trying to grasp at with that tiny fist of his.

“Hey hey hey - not that, that’s a leaf,” Peter told the infant, carefully prying the foliage away from his mouth. He had Billy half-resting against his side, tucked in close so he didn’t flop over. “It looks cool, though, right?”

He glanced over at Wanda and Tommy, squinting past the flickering sunlight. “It’s like they know how to do new stuff every time I see them. They’re growing so fast.”

“They really are - though one good thing is they have become better at sleeping through the night. I get a solid five hours now,” Wanda chuckled, bouncing Tommy a little in her lap, while Peter attempted to get Billy to not eat the leaf. She had a bottle for him, so she figured that now was the time - he was hungry, clearly. And curious - but that was just the way he was. According to her baby milestone books, his hearing and vision senses were completely developed now, and he just loved to look at everything. Tommy was able to hold his head up confidently and do push-ups, like he was ready and raring to crawl already. Little speedster.

It was a pleasant day out, one that held the promise of warm summer days in the air. Wanda liked the nourishment the sunshine provided and she liked being outside - the boys did too. Besides, it was nice to take a break from work, even if she was grateful for her new job at Stark Industries. For their picnic she’d packed plenty of sandwiches, fruit salad, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. “Do you want to feed him? I have a bottle here,” she added, rummaging in her diaper bag. Pretty soon, she’d introduce solid foods to the twins, which would be an adventure in its own right.

“Also how are you doing, Peter? It’s been some time since we caught up.”

“Oh - yeah, I could try.” Peter was always a little hesitant with the twins, because they were so tiny and so breakable - even if with parents like Vision and Wanda, he imagined they were far tougher than they looked. He shifted Billy until he was nestled in the crook of his arm, waiting until he’d stopped squirming to offer him the bottle. It took a bit of coaxing, but it wasn’t long until Billy happily drank away, his little hand resting over Peter’s as if he wanted to help out holding it too.

As distracting as that cuteness was, Wanda’s question didn’t have an easy answer. “I’ve been…okay?” He re-evaluated that answer after a moment; Wanda knew him better than that, and he didn’t have a great poker face. It was one of the many reasons why as Spider-man he wore a mask. “It’s been hard. I mean, being half-grounded hasn’t been that bad, just different, and I get why I am, but - there’s just so much more I could do. And so much more I should have done.”

He would always think if he had been better, if he’d done something differently, then Loki wouldn’t be in custody, and the countless people lost in the storm would still be here, too. Thor wouldn’t be miserable, and Jane and the Asgardians wouldn’t be designated enemies. Even on days as bright as this one, where the world looked perfect from the outside, it felt heavy, a lot like the memories of his uncle’s death.

“…Guilt sucks,” Peter decided, because that summed it up more than anything else could. Billy’s small fist waved in the air as if to catch his attention, and Peter had to crack a slight smile at that. “I hope I’ll get to help teach these guys to make better decisions.”

“You will,” Wanda smiled reassuringly, hand passing over Billy’s excuse for hair - it was nothing more than dark peach fuzz, really. He looked so content being fed by Peter though - such a sweet scene though, no, it wouldn’t erase feelings of guilt that weighed heavily, like a heavy coat worn during an Egyptian summer.

She shifted Tommy in her arms too - or held him in one arm (he was wiggling and squirming anyway, wanting to be set on the picnic blanket so he could grasp his toys and study their textures), reaching for a bottle of water for herself. “If it helps, Loki said he does not blame you for anything, or hold anything against you,” she added. “I spoke with him. Telepathically. I have been trying to keep tabs on him.”

It wasn’t an easy task either, that was for sure.

“Wait - you did?” Now that brightened Peter up a little. It didn’t mean that Loki was all right, or that anyone was out of the woods, but at least this implied he was capable of communicating. He looked over at Wanda and the other squirming twin, letting Billy grasp onto one of his fingers. “Does he know where he is? Is he okay? Well - physically, I mean?”

It was a relief to hear that Loki didn’t blame him - it’d be harder for him to stop blaming himself, but he was grateful it was at least known that Peter had tried his hardest to save him too. “It’s…funny. I remember hiding under the bed with May during the Chitauri attack when it happened. I was scared of him for a long time.”

And now here he was, a partner in (well-intentioned) crime with the chaos god. “People who get mixed into bad things don’t always want to change. And he’s someone who wants to. Locking him away - that’s not going to help with any of that.” Just like it hadn’t helped for so many, the mother sitting in front of him included.

People usually feared what they did not understand - Wanda was familiar with that line of thinking. And the general ‘solution’ of locking someone away was also favored as a solution for people like her - so you wouldn’t have to think about them, or deal with them. She also got the feeling that Loki’s captors even liked watching him suffer, that he was some sort of prize - a violent criminal, brought to justice. But that was just - wrong. In so many ways.

“Physically, he has been better,” she admitted. She didn’t want to go into detail about the shock collar or anything, the same one they’d slapped on her when she’d been held in the Raft. It was infuriating and there was nothing they could actually do about it at this moment in time. “They obviously haven’t offered him legal representation or anything. I do not know exactly where he is being held and he doesn’t either, but I told him the Raft is underwater and he will be listening for any clues - perhaps next time I speak with him he will have gathered more.”

She sighed a little, setting Tommy down so he could play. “I agree that he wants to change - he has good things here waiting for him. I wish we could speed up the process of getting him out of wherever he is.”

“That’s something,” Peter said, encouraged by the small amount of good news. “And that’s amazing that you were able to find him like that.” The idea of the Raft was enough to make anyone get the shivers - an underwater, impenetrable prison with power-constricting restraints was bad news for any of them. Peter hated that Wanda and the rest of Cap’s team had experienced all of that first-hand, and though he’d been too young at the time to understand the full extent of that conflict and its consequences, he still wished he’d been able to do things differently.

“He’s got a lot of good people on his side. Something has to work out. Asgardians don’t seem the type to sit still for long.” Peter shifted Billy as he finished the bottle, the baby intently watching his brother as he squirmed around too. He would be the first to volunteer (if allowed, anyway) to help Loki out when the time came for it, but it wasn’t easy feeling powerless in the meantime. Although now that he thought about it, Wanda had figured out a way to turn some of that into action.

“I talked to my aunt - about the storm relief fund? And she’s definitely interested in linking up resources with what she’s been doing at work. And if you need an assistant or anything…I’ve got time.” If being grounded had taught him one thing, it was that there were a lot of hours he spent as Spider-man that were suddenly freed up. “I was thinking of seeing if I could set up a bake sale at school? Put a bunch of cookies and cupcakes in front of a bunch of stressed out students studying for finals and you could make a ton of money for a good cause.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Wanda smiled. Billy smiled too, cooing and flailing his chubby little arms - though she doubted he had any idea what he was actually smiling about. The joy and innocence of babies. “I could definitely use an assistant. And I’d be happy to bake a few things to be sold at your school - we can work on it together.”

She’d also need a taste-tester, so, Peter could do that as well and everyone would win. As he said, it was for a good cause - and stressed students would get a chance to treat themselves too. “If you want to come by the Tower sometime soon, I’ve got my office set up there,” she offered. There was an entire floor dedicated to Pepper’s space and her staff, in fact, which was the same floor Wanda set up shop on. “I usually put the boys in daycare while I work. The facility is very good.” It was the Happy Hogan Daycare, mostly. But he did great.

“That sounds perfect,” Peter said, eager to turn his temporary Spidey-grounding into something positive. It would be much more worthwhile than the free time he spent in an anxiety loop about the city’s safety and procrastinating from studying, at least. “I could ask MJ and Ned if they want to help out, too. Maybe get the Decathlon team on it.”

He placed Billy’s empty bottle in one of the picnic baskets and settled the baby down on the blanket again. There was a lot of gurgling coming from the brothers as they wiggled in each other’s direction, and Peter watched them with a quiet laugh. They were the cutest - and he couldn’t shake the sense that he was looking at the future, too. The two of them gave him even more reasons to want to make the world a better place for them to grow up in.

“Thanks, Wanda.” And he didn’t just mean for the incredible sandwiches (although that was definitely part of his gratitude). “I think I needed babies crawling all over me today.” Which Billy was stubbornly making his way back to doing now. “You’ve been doing okay, though? Are they actually letting you sleep through the night yet?”

“Baby cuddles make everything better,” Wanda stated sagely, with a chuckle. Billy was definitely trying to get at Peter - he couldn’t exactly crawl yet, but he could reach and grasp with his fists, making it fully known what he wanted, which was to be loved on like he was the most important thing in the universe.

Which, to Wanda, both he and Tommy sort of were. They made it easier, being without Vision - knowing that when he disappeared, it was back to a place where he wasn’t just missing, he was gone from the world. At least she had two little pieces of him here, in this world.

“I’m okay, yes,” she promised, sipping on her water. “I don’t get a solid eight hours but they sleep for most of the night now.” It usually took a few months - some parents were not so lucky and sleeplessness continued for a year - but for her, it had happened; Billy and Tommy were pretty great babies. “They nap a lot too - it helps so they develop and learn and grow,” she added, poking Tommy in the belly, giving him a tickle so he’d laugh.

She glanced at Peter. “And you? Besides...more recent events? Have you been successfully charming your MJ?”

Baby cuddles really did make everything better. Peter picked the squirming Billy up and gingerly settled him in his lap, poking his little socked foot. “Good,” he said, mostly to the twins. He pointed at Tommy, who seemed to take the gesture with a lot of gurgling and happy flailing of the hands. “You two better let your mom get all the sleep when she can. She deserves it.” Who knew what things would be like when they actually learned to walk - but they’d have plenty of aunts and uncles to run after them.

“Oh, that’s - that’s been good, yeah. Really good.” The color rushed to Peter’s cheeks, and he grinned sheepishly. He still got flustered when it came to MJ, a hard habit to break. Even so, he could feel some of the puppy love and infatuation fading back a little as time went on - but only to make room for something stronger in its place.

“I know you’ve probably got a line for babysitters, but if you ever need two of them, I bet we could?” Though he didn’t know how MJ felt about babies, it’d be interesting to find out. “She’s amazing. …And I’m a tiny bit more responsible when she’s around.”