Wanda woke up after a bad dream, at least she couldn't remember what it was, it was probably around dawn, a faint light entered the cool room, the fire was almost out and she summoned more fire, she noticed Loki laying on the floor covered with a blanket, he had probably had one of the worst nights of his existence, why was he constantly doing things like that for her? She quietly stood up and covered him with her blanket, she made her way to the set up and saw no response yet...
She took a deep breath and looked through one of the windows, the storm had passed, very quietly she left the house and admired the frozen view.
Winters had never been a good memory for her, during her childhood snow meant hunger and cold, Steve and Sam had taught her about the American holidays, she had tried celebrating with Vision, they had been happy and confused, but willing to go with it.
Snow now meant little to her, she tried to bury down her memories connected to it, and learn to see things for what they were, in this case something as natural as frozen water, nothing more.
She took a deep breath knowing that from now on she'd have to use that technique with almost everything she had grown used to, maybe Sam had been right when he tried to invite her to see a professional therapist, there was nothing wrong with therapy per se or seeking help, but in her case she always felt uncomfortable thinking about being analysed by someone who's mind she could easily go inside of.
She took one last breath of fresh air and returned inside, there were some provision bars inside the cupboards so she pulled two out, one for Loki and the other for her, causally she walked back to the computer, pretending that would somehow help.
Nothing.
She felt out of breath but kept on going, she bend down to the set up and typed "Waiting for a reply".
The little black screen was making her go crazy.
"Still nothing?" Loki asked from the fireplace, he had just woken up and started to stand up.
She shook her head and went to the kitchen to get his meal, once he was standing up and dusting himself she extended to him.
"Thank you" he smiled, there was a glint in his eye she had started to notice quite recently.
They ate in a comfortable silence and began exploring the small cabin since the blizzard hadn't really helped, it would have been the perfect place if it wasn't so cold.
"Where are we?" She asked
"Far from everything really, I believe this house was Thor's, in his youth he had a strange phase in which he demanded to be left alone to train himself, somewhere he could run up and down and make himself stronger without any distractions" he explained "I personally found it ridiculous"
"What phases did you go through?" She asked "being a prince must have had its eccentric opportunities"
He smirked "I used to go to Midgard and create small problems, I once highjacked a plane"
She laughed "Completely understandable"
"What about you?"
"As an orphan teenager I did a lot of things I swore to never tell"
"Oh c'mon" he insisted with his devilish smirk
She rolled her eyes but complied "When I was 15 I made a man buy me the most expensive necklace there was in town, Pietro helped me find clothes and make up that made me look older, and so I crashed into a foreign journalist, I invited him to a bar and Pietro made sure his glass was constantly full while I only pretended to drink. After we made sure he was drunk I took him to the jewelry store and promised that I would give him anything he wanted if he bought me the the biggest diamond necklace, and so he did, the man ended up so drunk that escaping him was pretty easy"
He grinned enjoying the story "I admire your confidence, it could have turned out very bad"
"Well we really didn't think much back then, surviving was our only goal"
"What happened to the necklace?"
Wanda smiled and sighed "It was the most beautiful thing you could think of. Sadly we had to sell it, but I never complained, we were able to eat without worrying about money for five whole months"
"Do you remember it well?"
"Surprisingly, yes"
"Maybe you could try to make it"
"Now?"
"Well yes, it would be a nice little present for yourself and a good practice of your magic"
She the nodded and cleared the table surface, she closed her eyes and tried to replicate the necklace.
"You must think of it in its tridimensional form, not as an illusion, but as a true object" he instructed.
She focused and before she knew Loki had begun clapping, she opened her eyes and saw the beautiful necklace that had been once her wildest dream, she grinned and hugged Loki.
"May I?" He pointed at the necklace and at her neck.
Wanda nodded excitedly, Loki took the golden accessory and went behind her, gently and slowly he pulled her hair to her right side, his fingertips leaving trace of his ghost on her neck.
Very carefully he placed the chain around her, she could feel his breath on her neck, and somehow the room got hotter, she tried to hide a blush, meanwhile Loki's hands had begun to shake, he hadn't thought about the effect of touching her soft skin.
He pulled back her hair in place, and she turned to him.
"So" she cleared her throat "what do you think about it?"
"Breathtaking" he answered right away looking into her eyes.
He probably had the strongest most hypnotizing gaze she had ever seen, she couldn't look away, and he didn't even pretend to try. His heartbeat seemed to increase, she was having goosebumps all over her body.
She managed to be the first one to turn away, she excused herself to the bathroom, Loki was left alone to catch his breath, what had she done to him?
The rest of the day they pretended their weird interaction hadn't happened, they took a long walk, practiced some magic and even did some reading. The Avengers hadn't sent a message yet but just in case they would stay there one more night.
During nighttime she lit the fireplace, she would take the floor and one blanket this time, Loki had been forced to agree and so she went to sleep, of course he couldn't let her do that so he covered her with his own blanket.
Wanda woke up to two blankets instead of one, Loki was still sleeping but curled up in a ball from the cold, what the hell was he thinking?!
She stood up and went to the computer, still no response, she opened the cupboards and took out two other provisions bars.
"Message?" Loki's early morning voice resonated
"No" she answered dryly and walked over to him, she extended his meal, but before he could grab it, she disappeared it.
"It's the last time you do that, okay?" She threatened
He frowned "What are you talking about?"
"The blanket. I'm not a child, Loki, I know I might seem weak and unstable, but I'm not, so please stop putting yourself in disadvantage like that" she explained herself
"I do not think you're weak or unstable!" He protested "and I certainly do not put myself at disadvantage"
"Then don't do things like that for me, please"
"Why are we fighting over this trivial thing?"
"We aren't fighting!"
"You're clearly yelling, Wanda"
"I'm not! I'm...not, I just, I don't want you to do things for me"
"How is it a bad thing?"
"Because I know you are..." She stopped herself
He frowned "I'm what?"
She shut her eyes in frustration and finally answered "Confused"
"Oh since you know me so well, please do enlight me on what this confusion is about" he was being sarcastic now
"Me" she finally answered
His expression fell, he tried to cover himself, but it was of no use "You?"
Loki, please. She whispered in his mind.
He sighed and sat back down on the couch, she thought he wouldn't say anything else, but he did.
"I don't want or expect anything from you" he said softly
"I know" she whispered
He chuckled
"What's so funny?" She asked confused
"You felt it too"
She blushed "No"
He looked over at her "You should know better than to lie to the god of mischief and lies"
"Don't give me that shit" she shot back
"Ever since the Lake incident I could tell you were keeping something from me, I could feel your heartbeat rising, at first I thought I was imagining it, but yesterday with the necklace, I was sure there was something, we both felt it, I-"
"Enough!" She yelled, her voice breaking "I've lost the love of my life, he's not just someone I could ever replace, and whatever confusion I might have towards you... that's all it will ever be"
Loki felt a punch straight to his face, invisible but still there.
"Good" he finally answered
They stared at each other finishing their unfinished conversation.
A beep came from the set up, she ran to it.
Come back.