Operations at the Looking Glass Tea were going smoothly. Now that she had fully embraced that she could run the kitchen on the whims of her chaos magic, she worried less and stressed very little. Scorpia had a good grip on the frequent customers (and a hot shot at providing customer service, something Wanda struggled with when it came to her patience), and the staff was for the most part reliable. It didn’t mean she didn’t come in often, though, as there were times she paused the magic to work on things with her own two hands. Baking proved to be therapeutic, and the motions of it kept her busy.
Then she would also come to add a couple new additions of reading material to the book wall she had added after Stephen had left. People could enjoy some reading while drinking tea and nibbling on a croissant, and there were a few hidden gems on the shelves that some people came in for in particular.
When Vallo gave her the temporary superpower to creatively write fiction in less than a minute, it really fucked with her when the exception was that she could only write for a specific genre. There were pages written. Pages that became books. Books that she published because why not?? This place had thrown her into an emotional tizzy when she had taken her husband with her and it was a better coping mechanism than slaughter.
She was about to put another book onto the shelves when she noticed someone browsing, and today she felt amicable enough to actually engage with customers. A Karen hadn’t soured her day quite yet. “Hi,” she greeted Robin, drinking the sight of her in. The face looked familiar - new Outlander on the network, maybe? “Are you looking for anything specific?”
“Hm?” Robin had been so engrossed in browsing the books lining the shelves, she had failed to notice (or had forgotten to notice) the woman standing nearby. How foolish of her. Her crew wasn’t here with her to watch her back. She had to regain her situational awareness. It was just…there were so many books!
Robin gave the woman a small, but friendly enough smile. “I’m sorry,” she said by way of apologizing for not noticing or acknowledging the woman earlier. “I’m just browsing right now. I originally came in for tea and got distracted.” She indicated the shelves in front of her, her eyes following her hand and fell on one of the bindings. She selected the book, her long fingers pulling it from the shelf. “Do you work here?” She asked the woman, her eyes momentarily flitting up from the book cover.
“I own it,” Wanda answered with a small smile, grabbing another book from the bunch piled up in her arms to stick to the shelves. There was no rhyme or reason when it came to the organization here, and probably drove some people mad but she liked the chaos of it; how eclectic and mismatched it all looked. Most of them were found at thrift stores and were worn around the edges with the occasional name inscribed on the inside.
Maybe a hidden secret or too. It was a healthy mix of different genres - magic books included - but a lot of people would hunt for a few very specific books rumored to be here.
The rumors were not wrong.
“I can take your order if you want,” she then added. “Chai is pretty popular right now with the weather cooling. And we have peppermint ones if you’re into the more festive flavors.”
Tea had been the initial reason why she had come into the store in the first place. It hadn’t taken Robin long to learn that the tea in this world was quite different than the tea in her’s. She assumed that was due to the fact that there were far less islands here with varying climates. She’d tried chai already and rather liked it. “That sounds nice,” she said with a nod. “Maybe without the peppermint, though.” That was a bit too much for her.
Her order in, Robin’s attention was back to the books. Their lack of organization on the shelves would have been maddening if she were in a library or a store. However, Robin felt that it added to the atmosphere of the store. The point wasn’t to immediately find what you were looking for, rather the haphazard way the books were placed was an invitation to sit, stay and browse.
“This is quite the collection,” she commented to the owner, her smile growing in appreciation.
It didn’t take long for the tea to come out. Wanda’s methods for customer service weren’t always typical - it took a flick of a wrist, the brief aura of red magic at the tip of dancing fingers. “I’m not the most avid reader,” she admitted, shoving a thinner book into a tight gap. Meanwhile, a tea saucer flew over. Then a tea cup, followed by a tea pot - and Robin’s beverage began to pour right in the air. “But quiet tea time and a book seem like a solid pair, and people seem to like coming here to unwind with it.”
Magic wasn’t a thing in the world Robin came from, but powers where. Certain abilities that one could gain by eating Devil Fruits. However, she had never seen anything quite like this before and it was fascinating to watch. So much so that while the tea was being prepared, Robin had forgotten about the books. She didn’t want to be rude, however, and looked away when she caught herself staring.
“Yes,” she agreed, pulling her eyes from the tea pouring in mid air to look back at the owner. “Books and tea are two of my favorite things.”
The final book put away right as the pouring came to a halt. “I’m Wanda,” she introduced herself, tucking some hair behind her ear. “I think I have seen you comment on the Outlander network. I hope this place has treated you nice enough so far.”
This place was in reference to Vallo as a whole. Wanda liked it here - most of the time. It had given her more than she had lost at the moment so she couldn’t complain much, even if one of the things Vallo had taken from her was her husband.
“You probably have,” Robin answered. “My name is Robin. I’ve only been here a couple of weeks and I’m still getting used to it. This place -- Vallo -- it’s very different from where I’m from and I’m not used to being treated so…” she trailed as she searched for a word, one of her hands waving as she thought. “Civilly,” she finally said. “I’m trying very hard not to be paranoid and act as I believe my captain would, but it’s not been as easy as he makes it seem.”
“Civilly,” Wanda repeated, watching Robin with a raised eyebrow with a teeny bit of amusement. Was she an outlaw of some sorts? “You can be at ease here for the most part. Everyone is welcoming. Usually, that may not always be the rule of thumb. The DOA has resources available to help people acclimate. Job opportunity leads, that sort of thing.”
Not once did she think she would have actual trust in any government with her experiences, though Vallo’s was generally helpful. She had refused to register her name upon arrival (Sokovia Accords, they had left her with distrust) and found housing with Stephen minutes after being transplanted but considering she has now been around for a year and a half? The free housing, the free money - it was not a ruse.
Robin’s smile turned wistful. “Perhaps if my captain were here it’d be easier to relax,” she admitted. “Life is an adventure to him and he meets everything, no matter what it is, with the same kind of intensity and excitement.” Robin shook her head. She hoped wherever he was, Luffy was alright -- the others too for that matter.
Robin’s eyes moved from Wanda, to the tea and then back again. “Have you come from an outworld as well, Wanda?” She asked.
The tea cup floated to a nearby table that had fixings; sugar cubes, honey, creamer, disposable little spoons for Robin to mix as she saw fit. Wanda motioned a hand towards it too, in case she wanted to sit. “I have,” she replied. “I’ve had friends from home come and go but I have never been alone - the adjustment hasn’t been difficult. I prefer it here.”
Some people had lives they were torn from and Wanda did not. Her last memories were of the Darkhold castle crumbling around her, Stephen staying so she wouldn’t be alone. It would be nice to believe that it was the end of her and she could pour all her focus into Vallo, but the Scarlet Witch didn’t die just because blocks of stone fell on her.
“I have been here for… hmmm. Nearing more towards two years now,” she went on, calculating the months with a scrunched up nose. “My husband inherited this shop from an Outlander that got returned home, and then I inherited it when he returned as well.”
When the tea cup reached the table, a pair of hands on slender arms sprouted from the table top like two flowers on a pair of stems. The hands went about doctoring the tea as Robin continued her conversation with Wanda at the book shelves.
“I’m sorry to hear that your husband isn’t here with you,” she said as the hands added some sugar and milk to the tea. Robin wasn’t married herself, but she was well acquainted with what it was like to be on your own.
Wanda blinked. Those were - yes, hands. Not her own. Or visibly Robin’s own but they had to be hers in some way, and she has witnessed a lot of peculiar magics (or abilities, more like it) and this was… particularly new. She observed the tea being stirred, and then brought her focus back to Robin.
“It’s alright,” she told her with a slight smile. “That is the risk of putting roots down here - people make the best of this place with the time they have.”
Robin noted Wanda’s reaction to the arms on the table and smiled. She hadn’t screamed or yelled or called Robin a freak. That was very nice of her, though Robin had suspected as much given that she witnessed the tea practically make itself. People with abilities tended to be more understanding -- though that wasn’t always the case and Robin was almost certain that Wanda’s abilities didn’t come from eating a Cursed Fruit.
Her tea appropriately doctored, one of the arms disappeared in a small puff of cherry blossoms that quickly vanished once they reached the table’s surface. The remaining hand picked up the tea to hand to Robin as she approached the table. Once she took the tea, it too disappeared in the same manner. “It sounds as though you’re quite happy here,” Robin said to Wanda. She paused a moment to thoughtfully sip her tea before venturing further. “Wanda, may I ask you something?”
Wanda was… very happy here. The ups and downs happened, and there was a hole in her very specifically shaped after one Stephen Strange - but that was the gamble they risked playing, and she had played it hard. There were no regrets.
“You’re welcome to,” she replied, folding her arms over her chest. “I may have a question revolving around the–” Wanda gestured widely towards Robin. “Hands. That was interesting.”
Robin nodded. “Of course,” she said, the corners of her eyes scrunching up slightly as she smiled. “I think that’s only fair.” She took another sip of tea before she ventured further with her own question. “Your….powers?” She wasn’t too sure if that was the correct terminology “They’re very unique. I’ve not seen anything like them before. May I ask where they originate from?”
Ah. That question. Wanda’s arms shifted, and her hands moved to fidget her sleeve over her hands. “Long story,” was her answer, and that slight smile hadn’t faltered despite the nature of the inquiry. “I was a volunteer human experiment, and it - amplified some latent powers I didn’t know existed.” So Agatha had claimed when she had forced her down a lane of memories she particularly didn’t care to call. “It’s easy to pass it off as telekinesis, or energy blasts in combat? But the formal term for it is chaos magic.”
That was a very diluted version of the tale. Robin didn’t need to be bogged down by the specifics; that usually required a lot more backstory to help with context, and she was content about the Scarlet Witch mantle being a more contained title.
Robin’s head tilted slightly. She didn’t know anything about telekinesis -- such an ability was fiction in her world, But she did know about human experimentation. Well, she didn’t specifically have an any experience with that sort of thing, but she knew of at least two cyborgs, one of which was her crewmate. “I see,” she said thoughtfully. She was curious but thought asking about the experiments themselves would be a bit too personal. “So you always had the powers -- were born with them? -- And you didn’t know until the experiments woke them up?”
“Somewhat,” Wanda answered. The smile became a more thoughtful frown. “I thought the powers were from the experiments at first but I later learned there was… just something underneath the surface. I learned that later in life.”
How it was her penchant for manipulating probability in a way to suit her needs; the bomb that landed in their apartment as children, Pietro surviving the experimentations himself. “What about you and–the hands?” she asked, an eyebrow arching.
“I ate the Hana Hana no Mi and gained the power to ‘bloom’ any body part I wish anywhere I want.” She set her cup down. “The Hana Hana no Mi is a devil fruit,” she explained. “People in my world aren’t born with powers. Anyone who has any kind of special ability has it because they ate a devil fruit.”
“A devil fruit,” Wanda repeated, letting out a curious hum afterwards. “I want to say that I like the name–but I hope there are no consequences to it?” Eating fruit to gain powers seemed too easy, and her immediate thought was what’s the catch?
And since she had the time to chat, well – she conjured a cup of tea for herself, wisps of red magic dancing on her fingers. Hers was a peppermint chai since she did enjoy those festive, seasonal flavors.
As it appeared the two of them would be chatting a bit, Robin took a seat at the table and motioned for Wanda to join her. She propped her elbows on the table’s surface and sipped her tea thoughtfully. Ordinarily she wouldn’t reveal a weakness to a complete stranger. However, Wanda had been very forthcoming in their brief conversation. “There are a few drawbacks, yes,” she admitted. “The world I live in is a dangerous place and not everything or everyone is as the appear. Especially when you sail the high seas as a pirate.” She winked at Wanda.
“A pirate.” Wanda blinked. The stereotype came to mind–the missing teeth, eyepatch, peg leg kind of image with a parrot on the shoulder. Robin looked very put together but Vallo did offer luxuries like actual plumbing. Some people came here and were shocked by the concept. “You don’t…”
No, that was rude to say. She took a seat. “I was going to say you don’t look or sound the part but that is presumptuous. Maybe that is what makes you a good pirate.”
“Oh?” Robin asked, her head tilting to the side as though in question, but there was a playfulness to her voice and in her eyes. “I suppose I don’t,” she said with a light chuckle. “I didn’t set out to be a pirate originally. None of my crew did. Except for our captain, but he’s an entirely different story.”
Robin smiled warmly thinking of her crew, but her expression softened and turned a little sad. She wondered where they all were now and if she would ever see them again. Wherever they were, she hoped they were alive and safe.
“I don’t think piracy is a career option people seek often,” Wanda replied, but also - what did she know? Her knowledge came from fiction and media. She had met people of all walks of life living here (and even at home, there was a lot of diversity). A pirate hadn’t been one of them but there was a first time for everything, especially living here. “Have you found any leads for a job? I know there’s probably a lot of places that could find your multiple-limbs power useful. Myself included.”
Robin raised a brow in genuine surprise. “Really?” She asked. She couldn't remember the last time she had worked an honest job, if she ever had. It had never been an option for her as a wanted woman. Her head tilted, that surprised look still in her eyes. “You wouldn’t have a problem hiring a pirate?”
Wanda raised an eyebrow right back at her. “Unless you’ve plans to rob me,” she replied, and while she may know Robin for ten minutes tops, she had a gut feeling that wouldn’t be the case. Counter intuitive when dealing with a thief of the seas, maybe. “The current staff I have are interesting. My shop manager has a scorpion tail–she’s very cheerful, and she wields hugs like they are weapons. Do you like people?”
She didn’t. Not usually. But that is what she hired people for anyway.
Robin went to respond, but stopped herself before the words got out. Her brows scrunched together thoughtfully as she reviewed the last several months of her life. She glanced down into her mostly drunk cup of tea. “My experience has been that people don’t typically like me. Mostly for the multiple limbs thing.” And being a fugitive of a destroyed country, but Wanda didn’t necessarily need to know about that part. At least not yet, anyway. She raised her eyes up again. “I don’t dislike people as a whole. The people here seem friendly enough, though.” She smiled and laughed. “No one has run screaming in terror upon seeing me, yet. Nor have they tried to turn me in for any bounty.”
“My experience has been the same,” Wanda sympathized–considering she had been viewed as someone to be feared, someone that needed to be contained in a straight jacket and collar. In people’s defense, though, she may have been responsible for hurting others more than actually saving them. “My powers back home frightened people, with reason, but no one here blinks an eye. It’s a good second chance for people whose reputations have not been the best at home.”
She finished her tea, did a flair of her hands–and her cup and saucer vanished, most likely back to the kitchen to join the other dirty sets. “There is no pressure; you can work here short-term if that suits you, or long-term. No one will think twice about your abilities.”
Robin tilted her head slightly and pondered what Wanda said. It’s a good second chance for people whose reputations have not been the best at home. At first Robin had thought of her presence here in Vallo as a challenge, and then as a kind of a pause from her regular life (though still taken with a healthy dose of weariness as she did not fully trust the DOA yet). She had never considered it to be an opportunity to live a normal life.
Robin had never considered what a “normal life” may be like or whether or not she even wanted one. Now that one was more or less being presented to her through Vallo, she may as well give it a try. Robin’s eyes followed the movement of Wanda’s hands as she waved her tea cup back to the kitchen, a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. Normal, perhaps, but not boring.
She set her cup down. “If you are offering me a job, I think I would like that very much. If not, then you have more or less convinced me that I should take advantage this second chance.”
Wanda let out a short laugh. “Definitely a job offer. Our staff is composed of Outlanders and locals, and they’re all unique. I think you will mesh well with them. Consider our conversation your interview?”
It was their initial meeting, but–she had a good feeling about it. Robin was personable, easy to talk to. Whether or not she could handle Scorpia, however, was to be seen.