AN: Enjoy!
Victor 'Vision' Jarvis loved being on the stage.
He loved singing in the chorus, finding harmony with his fellow performers.
He loved putting on a costume, learning all the lines, and disappearing into a character for a while.
He loved the energy of it, the companionship, coming together to create something wonderful, to create a show that would bring people joy.
However, Vision did not need to be in the spotlight. He was good looking, or at least he been told so by friends, had a passable singing voice, a decent amount of acting talent, and, he had also been told, a rather good stage presence. He'd auditioned for leading roles, mostly because it looked good on his resume when he wanted to take part in larger shows, and a few times, he'd apparently been close to winning these parts.
But.. he belonged in the ensemble, not taking centre stage.
Vision was not a leading man.
At least, he did not see himself as one.. until the day he auditioned with Wanda Maximoff.
—
Vision had been attending a casting call for a one-night only, all proceeds to charity, Westview community theatre production of 'Wicked', a show he had always wanted to be a part of. While he had come in to read for Fiyero, he would be happy with anything, even just a Munchkin. After the solo auditions, the most successful Fiyeros (Vision among them), were paired up with the most successful Elphaba auditionees, for chemistry tests, and to see how well they managed to sing the show's big romantic duet.
Each pair had been given a room in which to practice, and Vision was waiting in one for his new scene partner to arrive. The door swung open, and that was when he saw her for the first time.
Wanda Maximoff.
All dyed fiery red hair, wide, sparkling green eyes, and soft, pale skin that he almost immediately felt like he wanted to touch.
"Hi" Wanda smiled a smile that lit up the whole room, speaking with an accent that caused heat to coil in Vision's belly, "I'm Wanda. Are you my Fiyero?"
"Yes" said Vision, managing to find his voice. "I am Fiyero.. I mean, Vision, my name is Vision. Well, it's Victor, but everybody calls me Vision. Your accent.. Sokovian, isn't it?"
"Yeah" Her smile grew even brighter, if that was even possible. "No-one usually knows it. Yours is British?"
"I was born in London" Vision confirmed. "I was brought to the U.S quite young, but the accent never faded."
"Well, that makes you pretty special" Wanda replied, and Vision blushed. "Should we run a few scenes first, and then try the song?"
"Y-Yes, let's do that.."
So, they ran the scenes, and everything went perfectly.. Almost too perfectly, considering how recently they had met. The words just flowed, and everything clicked into place. Then they tried the song, and.. Wow. Wanda had one of the most beautiful voices that Vision had ever heard.. And it made him better, made him try harder to hit the notes, to be worthy of performing with her.
Very quickly, Vision had gone from wanting some role, any role in this show, to desperately wanting the male lead, to continue working with Wanda, because surely, nobody else could possibly win the role of Elphaba
"You're pretty good, Vizh" Wanda smiled at him. "I think we might have a shot at this."
His heart fluttered at the unexpected nickname
"I certainly hope so.."
As it turned out, Vision's hopes were not for nought.
Later that afternoon, he and Wanda were called back to perform for the play's Director, a young but passionate young woman named Darcy Lewis.
They were the last pair to try out, and Vision was nervous, but a smile from Wanda calmed him ran through their scenes, sang the song.. and then they got a standing ovation.
"That was awesome!" Darcy.
"Uh.." Vision blinked. "It was?"
"Yeah" Darcy nodded eagerly. "Are you two a real couple?"
"Well, no" Wanda blushed in a shade not dissimilar to the ruby slippers that would become so important towards the end of the play. "Vision and I just met Today."
"Well, you wouldn't know it.. You guys look like you're made for each other!"
"Oh?" Vision almost squeaked. "Really?"
"Mmmhm" Darcy grinned. "You're perfect, this is exactly what I wanted for Elphie and Fiyero!"
Darcy's assistant director, a woman named Monica Rambeau, nudged her.
"But.. isn't the Elphaba/Glinda relationship more important to this show?"
"Well, yeah, but friendship is easier to fake. Romantic chemistry isn't." Darcy explained, while Wanda and Vision, still standing on the stage, glanced at each other awkwardly.
"Good point" Monica admitted.
"So, Wanda, Vision, The lead roles are yours. You both okay to start rehearsals on Tuesday?"
"Uh.." Vision blinked, a little bit in shock. He'd never won a lead before, and definitely not via chemistry test.
Wanda chuckled, a wonderful sound, and gently patted Vision's arm.
"We're up for that, right Vizh?"
"Oh.. yes" Vision's heart fluttered. "Of course."
And so, every afternoon for the next few weeks, Vision attended rehearsals for Wicked. He danced through life, half-heartedly fake flirting with Agatha, the rather annoying woman cast to play Glinda.
But the parts of each rehearsal he enjoyed the most were the parts with Wanda. Helping her rescue the Simba plushie that acted as a stand-in for their baby Cowardly Lion. Watching from offstage as she belted out Defying Gravity.
And of course, singing 'As Long As You're Mine'. Sharing the stage with her, the lyrics took on a new meaning.
Vision knew it wasn't real, knew that Wanda was just acting, and he should be, too. But sometimes, it didn't seem like she was.
Just for those few precious moments, shared on stage with her, when she was, however briefly, his, everything was wonderful. He began to imagine how brightly they could shine offstage, together.
And once or twice, practicing the kiss at the end of the song, Vision felt himself almost go too far, but Wanda, strangely, hadn't seemed to mind. In fact, and he may very well have been imagining this, she'd seemed almost disappointed.
On one occasion, and again, he may have been imagining this, Wanda had cupped his cheek, and almost, he thought, leaned in again.. But were interrupted by Darcy erupting into cheers, applauding the duo's genuine chemistry.
As the days went by, Vision and Wanda got to know each other better, and as it turned out, they had quite a bit in common. Both orphans having immigrated at young ages, and both with somewhat traumatic childhoods.
This had caused a small issue during their final dress rehearsal a few hours before the show, when they'd been about to do a full technical runthrough of the show's final scene, in which Fiyero, now the Scarecrow, retrieved the not-actually-dead Wicked Witch from a trapdoor leading beneath the stage. Usually, Wanda, while clearly not being entirely comfortable in the small space below the stage, kept her cool. But this time, she suffered a sudden panic attack.
"Get me out!" She had yelled, banging on the trapdoor. "Help! Get me out!"
Vision, who had been waiting offstage for his cue, bolted out, interrupting and ruining Glinda/Agatha's final monologue, wrenched open the trapdoor, grabbed Wanda's hand, tugged her up and out. She clung to him, shivering and whimpering softly, and Vision, wishing to spare her from prying eyes and unpleasant questions, ran with her offstage, heading right out the stage door.
Once outside, Vision gently set Wanda down. She still clung to him, but slowly, her breathing calmed.
"I'm sorry.." She murmured. "I.. when I was ten years old, a missile destroyed my home, and my brother and I were trapped in the rubble for two days. I've been uncomfortable with small spaces since.. Usually I can breathe through it, but that spot beneath the stage, it's too small.. Too dark.. Oh, I'm sorry, Vizh, this is your first big show, and I'm ruining it.."
"It's okay, I understand.." Without really thinking about it, he had begun gently running his fingers through her dyed red hair.. Darcy had chosen to have her go without a black wig since they could not find a realistic one within a community theatre budget. "I don't like small dark spaces either. When I was a little boy, my adoptive Father used to lock me in a closet if I said or did anything that he didn't like.."
"That's terrible.." Wanda looked up at him with sadness in her wide green eyes.
"It was.. my Father died years ago, and I actually haven't thought about him in quite some time.." Vision continued. "But the scars of traumatic moments still remain."
"I guess they do.."
"Oh. I've just had a thought!" Vision rushed back into the building for a moment.
"Okay.." Wanda gazed after him, confused.
He returned soon afterwards, with a torch made of teal coloured plastic that glowed with a soft yellowish light when he switched it on.
"I carry this torch with me in case I find myself in a situation where I am not comfortable.." Vision explained. "If you are not comfortable below the stage, you should not have to go back down there, and we can do the last scene another way. But if you feel like you want to try, you can take this."
"That's really sweet of you, Vizh.." Wanda blushed. "This should help, thank you.."
"You're welcome" Vision blushed a little himself, heading back to the door. "We'd better go back in before Darcy panics and sends a search party.."
"Yeah.." Wanda hovered for a moment. "Hey, Vision?"
"Yes?" He looked back at her.
"I want to do something.." Wanda took a few steps closer to him, "Something I've done like fifty times at this point, but.. I'd really like to try it for real."
"Okay.." Vision's heart was suddenly racing. "What would that be?"
Without another word, Wanda leaned up on tiptoe, and pressed her lips to his.
Vision's brain nearly short circuited for a moment, but he quickly recovered, cupping her face and kissing her back. He was dimly aware of the fact that he was probably smudging her green make up, but that was easily fixed.
When they broke the kiss, slightly breathless, Wanda smiled softly at him.
"Was that okay?"
"Oh yes" Vision nodded excitedly. "Very okay."
"We could try it again after the show.." Wanda chuckled, "Or maybe have dinner first?"
"Of course" Vision smiled brightly. "I would like that very much."
Apart from a few sly smirks courtesy of Darcy and Agatha, everyone kindly ignored the smudged green make up on Vision's face and hands.
With Vision's torch in hand, Wanda easily made it through a repeat rehearsal of the final scene, and later that night, the show went off without a hitch.
In the next day's reviews, the Westview Community Theatre production of 'Wicked' was highly praised, mostly for the genuine chemistry between the show's romantic leads.