Ohhh my word, I'm so sorry I left for this long! Please be appeased by some fluff. Also, now that AOU's out on DVD, guess who's going to be looking for that doggone deleted scene? (You know the one) (yes it's me I am trash and I'm going to cry).
oOoOo
"What does meeshka mean?"
Pietro stops in his tracks and looks down at Lila. She innocently sucks on a blue raspberry lollipop, staining her teeth and tongue a brilliant indigo as the children of the house traipse across the large field by the farmhouse, kicked out by Laura so she can do some canning. Nearby, Cooper throws a stick for an overly enthusiastic Lucky, and Wanda collects a bright bouquet of daisies, buttercups and Baby's Breath.
He smiles as he sees her humming, the yellow and white of the petals a stark contrast to her black, soft shirt. He remembers being in Strucker's laboratory, his body nothing but blazing agony and death, and concentrating on reminding her of flowers and blue skies to keep her going. The fact that those dreams are standing in front of him with daisies in her hair and a happy smile on her face makes every agonized second worth it.
He turns back to Lila, her bright face still staring upwards expectantly. "What?"
"What does meeshka mean?" she repeats expectantly.
"What are you talking about?"
"You call Wanda that all the time. But her name isn't meeshka. It's Wanda. Right?"
Pietro is at a loss for a second. Meeshka…meeshka…myshka? "Well…yes…myshka is nickname."
"A nickname?" It's Lila's turn to seem puzzled.
"Yes, a nickname." After a quick scan of the field, he sees Cooper tumble into the dirt after Lucky, no doubt getting grass stains on the knees of his pants (Laura will have his head). "You know when your father calls Cooper 'Coop'? Is same with Wanda. Only is myshka."
"I know what a nickname is," Lila scoffs, rolling her eyes. "But meeshka doesn't even sound like Wanda."
"Myshka," he corrects her. "Like my. And of course it does not. Is a nickname. It means something."
"What does it mean?" she questions, curiosity piqued.
"Is my language for little mouse."
Lila laughs and shakes her head, her little shoes kicking up pollen and grass with every step. "That's silly! Why is she a little mouse?"
Pietro shrugs, trying not to let past memories of happy times get into his head and poison his mood. "Our father calls her that, when we are little. He says she is too small and quick to be full human. And she is shy, and sometimes a little scared." He remembers hugging her during thunderstorms, and protecting her from bullies, and hiding from scary movies, and shielding her from bombs—stop, Pietro.
Lila gapes. "Wanda's a superhero, she's never afraid! Besides, Daddy says she's not scared, just smart."
Pietro arcs an eyebrow. "Oh, he does, does he?" A little warmth pools in the bottom of his stomach at the thought of Clint saying such things, even when they aren't around.
"Mhm!"
Pietro ruffles her hair. "Well, he is right there. Wanda is very smart."
"So why little mouse?" she presses, and Pietro sighs.
"I don't know. Is just what our father calls her."
Lila lapses into silence, concentrating on this for a while, and leaves Pietro in peace to mull over his thoughts. Wanda's pealing laughter echoes from nearby, as Lucky licks her face and Coopers rolls in the grass. The sun kisses his eyelids as he allows them to close, warmth spreading from his skin to permeate his very bones and shed some healing over the scars that still ache and pierce (he should be grateful for a body that allowed him to stay alive, but he wishes it wouldn't screw with him to this extent). It's almost lulling him into a comfortable walking doze when Lila asks,
"Can I have one?"
He starts and peels an eyelid open, arching his brow at her once more in what he should call his 'Lila' expression.
"One what?"
"A nickname."
"Oh. How about we call you 'Loud'?"
"No, silly," she giggles, nonplussed. "A nickname like Wanda!"
He frowns, then shrugs again. "Okay, let me think." He envisions Lila in his mind's eye, all flying limbs and ever moving body, her never ceasing chattering. He thinks of the bright colors that seem to follow her every where, from her clothes to her room to her food to the paint that her mother abhors. He thinks of her infatuation with flowers, and the menace that she poses to those she finds displeasing (such as Cooper). She is a colorful, violent little thing, he decides.
"We will call you korovka, yes?" he finally says, breaking the expectant silence. "Little ladybug."
Lila seems pleased, testing out the new word. Her cheeks turn pink, and she laughs before grabbing his hand and sending them both running (well, in the loosest sense of the word concerning Pietro) across the grass towards their respective siblings.
And as he watches her collapse in daisies and buttercups, sighing in their warmth and threatening him with bodily harm if he doesn't wear the flower crown she fashions for him, he decides it is a good one.
oOoOo
"Well, look at you!" Clint crows at Pietro as the children troop back into the house. The sun has set long ago, leaving them with no course but to hunt for fireflies until long after, and they are grimy and happy, though famished. "Aren't you a pretty princess?"
Pietro resists the urge to flip him off (that and Wanda's foreboding presence hovers in his mind) as Laura hands him a burger, piling a few more on a plate for him on the table.
"Leave him alone, dear," she orders him, but she can't mask the smile on her face as she snaps a picture of Pietro's tousled, beflowered hair on her phone before allowing him to eat.
Truth be told, he'd forgotten about the damn thing.
"Daddy, Daddy, Pietro gave me a nickname!" Lila crows as she climbs on his lap, clutching her own burger to herself.
"Oh yeah?" Clint replies as he hugs her, suddenly looking mildly interested. "What is it? Stinky?"
"No," Lila laughs, "it's ko…kov…"
"Korovka," Pietro encourages her, laughing at her hesitant, bungled pronunciation.
"Korovka!" she repeats triumphantly, beaming at her father. "It means little ladybug. Because Wanda is a little mouse. And I asked him for a nickname."
"Oh yeah?" Clint looks at Pietro. "That's pretty cool. I still like Stinky, though."
Lila collapses with laughter as Clint smirks and asks, "I wonder if Pietro would give me a nickname if you asked him very nice?"
Pietro pretends to think for a moment. "Mudak s malen'kiy chlen."
Wanda gasps and smacks Pietro's bicep, making him drop his burger onto the floor. Lucky snaps it up in a flash, and Pietro glares good-naturedly at his sister over the sound of Clint's guffaws.
"Yep, been around Nat enough to catch the gist of that one," he laughs, and Laura simply rolls her eyes and stifles a grin as she hands the teenager another burger.
Lila looks confused. "…That's a long nickname."
oOoOo
myshka-little mouse
korovka-little ladybug
mudak s malen'kiy chlen-asshole with a small dick
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, again sorry for the delay. Please drop me a review! Say hi, say you liked it, hated it, whatever. Thanks for reading!