InsaneJournal

WHO: Wanda Maximoff & Peter Quill
WHERE: Peter's home
WHEN: {backdated} mid September
WHAT: Peter and Wanda adapting to Wanda's new schedule -Peter's a bit of a brat.
WARNINGS: Language PG13
STATUS: Complete

Karma was a fucking bitch.

All summer, ever since that … thing started between Wanda and him, Peter had been in control. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, it was true. It wasn’t something he consciously had done. That didn’t make it any better of course, which he was fully aware of. Still, it’d been nice ...and then September reared its ugly head, and Wanda was back in school full-time.

Peter didn’t know why it was bothering him so much. It wasn’t like he responded to texts right away or returned her calls immediately. It wasn’t until a few weeks had gone by that he realized what he missed the most was just her.

He missed Wanda.

And it was terrifying.

So he did what he knew he should do -- invite her over and actually make it clear that he wanted her to spend the night. Not just their ‘oh oops, we fell asleep cuddling’ but an actual to goodness ‘come over, and bring your pajamas’. It made him feel weirdly vulnerable and he couldn’t shake the anxiety in his stomach, especially after she accepted.

So here they were, on Yondu’s couch (Yondu being at work again), hands intertwined, with her on his lap. Her hair smelled good. She felt good. Goddamnit, he was comfortable having her his arms, and that was probably why he blurted out the following. “I really fucking missed you, babe … you have no idea.”

---

If she were honest, Wanda liked that she had more going on. It kept her mind occupied a whole lot more, even if she was already ahead in class and working on bigger projects, it was good for her. She had set days for going to class and she was meeting up for seminars and group tutoring with some classmates, she’d kept up the lifeguard job on the weekends until the pools closed, just for a little additional money.

But it did mean she was busy. She didn’t think it was a bad thing, she got home from class some days really tired and just wanted to laze around with Hayley or just go to bed early on some days. She didn’t not text Peter on purpose, but she did assume that he was equally busy too.

That being said, she was rather happy that he’d invited her over, with the intention of her spending the night, not just planning something else and ending up doing something different. She didn’t even care that they were staying in either. Peter was somewhat more tactile too; Wanda didn’t even get a chance to take a seat on the couch before she was pulled closer to Peter, perching comfortably in his lap, practically cuddled up. Not that she had any complaints at all, she enjoyed when he was more open and affectionate than when he took those inexplicable steps back and put some distance between them.

“I’ve missed you too,” there was still the occasional text, the odd call. But she understood that it wasn’t exactly the same as having all the free time in the world. “I hate being so tired all the time and barely getting to hang out.”

---

“So slow down,” Peter said almost automatically. “Maybe you’re doing too much.” He really had no basis for that, considering she wasn’t doing anything more than an average college student was doing. Or so he thought. He didn’t actually know what college students did -- just what he saw on TV.

“Do you have to work? I thought Stark was fully funding you. Doesn’t that include rent and food and all that crap? If you need anything more, I can help too.” The Stark renos were responsible for Peter’s nest egg which he had invested right back into his business. Business. He was a small business owner. Sometimes, he still found that hard to believe. “You don’t need to stress about things, you’re not alone, y’know.”

---

Wanda wondered if maybe she was doing too much, with college and the part time work. It was what a lot of her classmates were doing though, some of them were working longer hours than she was, they had more bills than she did after all. “My education is paid for, and I have a bursary.” For things like books and study materials and her travel and all that, something that she would potentially have to pay back later, but not like a loan at least. “But I don’t want to get too comfortable living off Tony’s generosity.”

It almost felt like Tony expected people to want him for his money, and she didn’t want to rely on that. She wanted to be able to sustain herself while remaining somewhat close to Tony -although where his dreams led were a little worrying. She wouldn’t blame him if he later cut her out of his life.

“But I’m doing okay,” financially she wasn’t struggling, and while she knew that college would bring more time consuming days, she didn’t hate that she had the hours filled, “and it’s just until the pool season is over.” Depending on how things went, and how she felt later, she might pick up a season job too. But she didn’t mention that, leaning in to half cuddle Peter, “We can make the most of when we’re both off, can’t we?”

---

“I guess…” That wasn’t really what he wanted to hear, even if he didn’t know what he expected to hear. As confused as she must be feeling, he felt it was worse in his head. He’d been around the block a few times and there was a very good reason he never progressed more from friends with benefits to something more ..permanent. It didn’t help that he was almost 99.9% sure his last girlfriend was the one that gave him up to the cops.

“It just sucks.” He shifted slightly so that he had better access to her neck and he started planting a trail of kisses, softly at first before becoming a bit more insistent by the time he reached her lips. “I wish I could see you more…” And that was true, regardless of his weird disappearing acts. In fact, he wished he could see more of her as well...which was why his hands started roaming a bit more bravely than normally. It was hard to talk when he wanted to keep kissing her, so he stopped talking, the show they were watching completely forgotten.

To date, they’d always managed to keep things PG-13. Making out was as far as it went, and he’d been okay with it but right now? He was pushing boundaries and he knew it as his hand slipped under her shirt, his thumb tugging lightly on the waistband of her pants.

---

It did suck, and Wanda did wish she got to see more of Peter too. She missed when they could just do whatever and not worry about who was meant to be where the next morning. But it wasn’t like summer was going to last forever and they both had commitments to things.

She knew that Peter understood that, although the situation wasn’t ideal, so she didn’t begrudge him the pouting about how rarely they got to spend a lot of time together now. It wasn’t like she really had the wherewithal to comment on it though, since Peter graduated from peppering her neck with kisses to straight out kissing.

It wasn’t that unusual, Wanda had started to get used to the tactile affections that Peter just seemed most comfortable with, and while it was occasionally confusing, she was able to compartmentalise it as Peter’s way of giving a hug. But his hands tended to stay either on her hips or on her thighs, rarely roaming and never really pulling at clothes.

She frowned a little into the kiss, her hand tugging Peter’s away from her waistband to put it back on her hip, on the fabric. As much as she was getting to terms with Peter’s simple kisses freely given, she wasn’t prepared to remove any layers right then.

---

The sudden movement of his hand was enough to jar him back to reality. He couldn’t help but frown in response and pull away. Being rejected like this had never happened to him before -- at least, not in a long time, and even though she hadn’t said anything, the fact that she very firmly removed his hand?

It meant she didn’t want him like he wanted her.

Sitting back up abruptly, he reached for his sweater. “I need a smoke,” he said suddenly, getting up and walking to the porch. Throwing himself heavily on a chair, he tried to calm down his breathing and grimaced as he noticed how shaky his fucking hand was. It wasn’t that Peter smoked regularly -- he really didn’t. Just sometimes after sex, or while drinking, and sometimes when he just needed to think.

This was one of those thinking moments.

Realistically, he knew Wanda had every right -- EVERY right -- to stop him. He was constantly tiptoeing around lines, making zero promises to her, and he had no right to be annoyed or pissed off or anything he was feeling.

But he was. And this was shitty because he still didn’t feel prepared enough to say anything to her.

So he lit his cigarette, pulled up an ashtray on the table and stared out into the yard, ignoring Kraglin who was laying down by his feet for attention.

---

Wanda felt like her head was spinning from the whiplash of the moment, the speed at which Peter had practically huffed off. She sat on the couch for a moment, a little stunned and uncertain and a tiny bit annoyed with his reaction.

It wasn’t like she didn’t know that Peter was sleeping with people, she wasn’t completely obtuse and she didn’t wear perfume, so sometimes she could smell it on him. Usually right before he went and cleaned it off, so at least he wasn’t just flaunting that. But it didn’t really matter, because they weren’t really a thing. Wanda’s feelings on the matter were complex. She knew she liked Peter, she found him attractive and once or twice she’d needed to stop the soft kisses and cuddles because it felt a little too intense.

But Peter was far more free about his affections and clearly had no intentions of stopping in that vein and Wanda wasn’t about to be another notch or just for fun.

Wringing her hands together didn’t feel like it was doing enough for her, she needed to busy her hands, do something. So she started cleaning, first arranging the sitting room into a neat order, then shifting into the kitchen and organising everything there to the point where she was second away from cleaning out the fridge.

This was stupid. If Peter was going to throw a tantrum she should just go home.

---

This was stupid, and it was all Peter’s own fault. The smoke did actually help clear his head, and he even had a second one, more to calm himself down. Wanda had every right to push him away, and to be honest, a little part of him was surprised it hadn’t taken her longer. What had he promised her? Nothing really. And he continued to feel like he wasn’t a good match for her, that she would do better with someone else, someone more appropriate.

Someone completely opposite of him.

With a sigh, he went back into the house, Kraglin trailing behind obediently. He could hear her in the kitchen, and he was a bit relieved that she hadn’t also stormed out. She was such a way better person than he was. A few moments later, he had brushed his teeth, washed his face (the cold water helped bring him back to reality), and was back into the kitchen. He knew she knew he was there, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he came up from behind her, wrapped his arms around her middle and put his chin on the top of her head.

“So I’m a child,” he started, clearing his throat. “And I’m sorry.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And I don’t blame you for being mad at me but before you let loose and tear a strip off of me, wanna go to Vegas with me in October? Yondu got me tickets for Barry Manilow. You should come with me because there’s no one else I wanna go with me. He even cleared it with my PO to leave town, so come on babe -- let’s go listen to beautiful music together.”

---

In some ways, Wanda felt like she was being pulled back and forth with Peter, like one second they were getting closer to what she thought they were heading towards, and then the next there was like a brick wall between them.

She didn’t quite keep herself rigid as Peter hugged her from behind, but she was a little more tense than she’d usually be. Sighing slightly, Wanda was somewhat appeased that Peter at least understood that he was being a total tool right then.

“You can’t storm off any time you don’t like something,” although she was aware that he was inviting her away, on a trip out of town. And that was something, a big something, but she wasn’t sure if Peter was aware of the big something or just because he was trying to make up with her. Twisting around, so that she was facing Peter, but starting to return the hug, Wanda thought it over.

“I would like to go to Vegas with you,” and she genuinely would, because it would time to just spend with Peter doing something fun that he enjoyed and she could experience. “It would be nice to spend time together.”

---

“I know,” he said, glad she was returning the hug and feeling slightly bolstered by it. And he did know that he shouldn’t behave in this way...it was just hard to process all the emotions when it wasn’t something he did often. Or ever, really. Disappearing was his way of dealing, and look how well that went before? It just made him miss her even more.

“And really?” He grinned and leaned down, giving her a gentle kiss and making sure that his hands were decidedly NOT under her clothing.

Sometimes Peter learned. Sometimes.

“It’ll be cool,” he said, pressing himself just a little bit closer (okay so he learned very slowly). “We’ll have a hotel room...and watch Manilow … and if you wanted to do anything else, we could do that too. Gamble. Drink. Dance. Whatever you want, babe. This trip is as much for you as it is for me….and now, I can’t wait.”

---

Sometimes, Wanda was sure she was the only adult in this … friendship. Considering she was the younger of the pair of them, that was really saying something. In certain ways she understood why Peter was maybe a little immature about things, given a lot of his life had been spent in jail. It hampered things.

But she felt like she was giving Peter a lot of leeway -it wasn’t like they were dating, she wasn’t his girlfriend, so the restrictions on what he should or shouldn’t do weren’t there. And unless Wanda was willing to discuss feelings it was going to remain that way for a while. But she could still enjoy his company as a friend.

With added affectionate extras.

“I’ve never been to Vegas, it will be something fun.” And something that maybe could make up for both of them being busy now. Snuggling a little into his chest, prepared to forget the momentary tantrum for now, Wanda focused on the fact that he’d asked her to go with him instead of anyone else. “I’m not sure I will be good at gambling,” she’d be good at cheating, telekinesis and all, “but some dancing would be fun.”

Wasn’t there a saying about Vegas too?

---

Peter couldn't help but be happy. Vegas with Wanda and Manilow? Perfection.

"I'm good at gambling and I'm good at dancing," he said, sweeping her into a spin and a dip which he then punctuated with another kiss. "I'll start booking things now, be prepared or something." He looked down at her, his hazel eyes meeting hers for a moment.

God, he really liked this woman. Way too much. Maybe even… no. He wasn't going to think that. He wasn't deserving of love anyways.

"Wanna finish the movie now? Or go to bed?" He lifted her up and brushed her hair from her face. "Your call."

---

It was stuff like this, she was sure, the way he went from pouty to smooth in a second, that really just made it easy to brush things aside -serious things too, she shouldn’t really let those be brushed away but the alternative was likely more huffing and she didn’t want to mess up a good thing right then. She giggled as he spun her into a dip, hands gripping at his shoulders even if she could levitate with her powers.

“Being prepared is smart, wouldn’t want to get there and not have a room.” Although there’d probably be a room somewhere, it might just be too expensive. “It will be fun, I’m sure, seeing everything there is.” And she was already looking forward to it, because it’d be out of Orange County, just her and Peter, doing some tourist style things.

“Let’s finish the movie,” she leaned into his brush of fingers in her hair, feeling a little bit more settled from before, but very aware that they would just be watching the movie now. “We should see if the hero wins.” Obviously, he was going to, it was just if he was going to be smart about it or be an idiot.

Wanda had an idea that he’d take his time getting to the point of things. A bit like someone else she knew.

---