To Know the Unknowable (Closed)

Participants: Wanda Maximoff + Billy Kaplan
Open/Closed: Closed
Location(s): Wanda's penthouse apartment
Time of Day: Morning
Weather: Fair
Summary: The Scarlet Witch invites one of her sons to start something that is long, long overdue - and accomplish bonding that's just as sorely needed at the same time!

The girdle of enchantments ensconcing her abode bloomed in welcome warning. Wanda Maximoff paused from where she was, pouring a cup of black coffee fresh from the pot. Her hazel eyes widened, then sparkled with kind excitement. She smiled and picked up the two, steaming vessels, then turned and swept out of the sprawling kitchen. Off... to meet her cherished guest.

Billy was found standing in her foyer, no doubt after having been whisked there when he went to rap on her apartment door. Shadows clung thick and brooding to the walls; drapes and cloths drifted without a breeze, gilding pillars at the edges of the room; strange lanterns of opalescent light floated in the air overhead, shedding a mysterious twilight on the floor, which was polished tile with several assorted carpets thrown haphazardly over them.

Quite at odds with the enchanting atmosphered, Wanda wore only a modest sports bra, athletic shorts and, over it, a thin crimson shawl. "Good morning," she smiled at the young man, and offered him the spare cup. "Coffee?" Wanda beckoned for him to follow and strode between two of the drape-strung pillars. The light was just enough to walk by, and she moved down a very short hallway through a door as she spoke.

"I see you got my message. I'm so glad." Not only did that message invite him there that morning, but it told him to wear athletic gear and bring a change of clothes - both clear added evidence that he had obliged. Wanda moved casually into a new room, and if she had been at odds with her foyer, this room was just as much so. It looked like any old simple living room, even sharing, via a modern open floor plan, space with the kitchen. Mullioned windows that betrayed the age of the building welcomed slanting beams of fat, honey-gold sunlight.

Billy was a little nervous. It had nothing to do with Wanda. She wanted him in her life and he was fully aware of that. Even if the two of them hadn't spent much time together as of late, he knew she cared about him and that was all he really needed to be comfortable - or as comfortable as he could get - around her. He simply wanted to make her proud. He wanted to be a good son to her and his biological parents; he wanted to be a good brother to Tommy and the twins; he wanted to be a good boyfriend to Teddy. Some days he thought he was accomplishing those things, others he felt like he was falling short. He was still learning how to manage the self-doubt that hovered above him like a knife.

One day he hoped to fully overcome it. Until then, he settled for simply trying to manage it. Some days were easier than others.

He wore a simple white tank top and blue jeans with black and white checkered sneakers on his feet - It was about the most athletic thing he owned nowadays since graduating high school and no longer having gym class. She'd told him to bring a change of clothes but frankly he hadn't been sure what kind of clothes - his costume maybe? - but magic easily solved that as he could just make any clothes he owned appear. Speaking of magic, he should have expected it when he got to her front door. He hadn't but he should have. He was about to knock on the door, eyes looking for a doorbell in case one was available instead, when he suddenly found himself inside. He blinked, eyes searching the room for Wanda, hoping he hadn't arrived right as she'd stepped out.

She'd been the one to message him but he wouldn't have put it past life to make him just miss her. But then she was there and he found himself smiling because she was there. He could still remember quite vividly his search for her, believing when no one else would that she was his mother - technically one of his mothers. He moved to stand closer to her, taking the offered cup and enjoying the warmth holding it in his hands brought.

"Morning," he replied, matching her smile with one of his own as he followed her down the hallway. He wasn't entirely sure what she had planned but he was more than happy to spend time with her, especially with it being just the two of them. He glanced around the room as they stepped in, bringing the cup to his lips to drink some of the coffee - the caffeine was a welcomed taste in the morning.

"Of course," he said at her comment about getting her message. The thought of ignoring her message and not showing up had never even crossed Billy's mind. "I uh - Thank you for having me over," he added a bit awkwardly, unsure what else to say because he didn't know what she had planned exactly and he didn't know whether she expected him to know or not. Eventually after tapping his fingers on the cup a few times and lightly biting down on his lower lip, his eyes found her again and he found himself asking, "So uh - What's the plan?"

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559 words
Wanda Maximoff
This is so bad I'm so sorry. Let me know if you need more.

Wanda could feel the questions and wariness in her son, and she would've been lying if she claimed not to be enjoying the mounting suspense. Superheroes were always fans of the dramatic, it's part of the reason they wore such striking costumes. Magic practitioners were, too, and since Wanda straddled both of those lines evenly, it was only fair.

Billy followed her obediently while Wanda began moving around the living room. She tossed the curtains wider, illuminating the conjoined chambers even more, allowing the rays to warm the wooden floorboards underfoot. Wanda had been waiting for Billy to break the air with a question, and he didn't disappoint.

Wanda smiled, still turned away, before pivoting to look at him. "The plan, dear Billy, is to begin something that I have neglected far too long - for which I apologize." She drifted closer, until she could reach out one hand and place it reassuringly on Billy's shoulder. Her hazel eyes were dancing with excitement.

"Today we begin your practice and study of witchcraft." Wanda smiled, letting that sink in, hopeful that Billy would be surprised, but happily so at the news. She remembered, years ago, her first lesson beneath Agatha Harkness. The way it had changed her, not only her powers, but her as a person. How much it had influenced and molded her since.

"And to start-" Wanda snapped her fingers and two dark grey exercise matts unfurled themselves parallel to one another in the middle of the room, "-are you familiar with yoga at all?"

Billy Kaplan

He arched a confused eyebrow at Wanda's explanation of the plan. He couldn't think of anything she'd neglected regarding him. Then again he had a hard time seeing her in anything except a positive light. She was here, alive, and in his life. That would always be enough for him. He was more focused on making her proud, on trying to figure out more ways in their busy lives to spend time together, all the while not wanting to come off as too clingy or needy. He was an adult... Technically. But ever since getting her back in his life, he hadn't stopped wanting to make up for the lost time between them.

He blinked when she revealed what she'd been neglecting. He'd once dreamed about learning from her. It was still a dream but, well, life as an Avenger was much busier than that of a Young Avenger. He simply hadn't had the time and thus the thought had moved more to the back of his mind along with far too many things such as planning a wedding for him and Teddy. They still needed to do that.

His surprise turned into a smile, excitement glinting in his eyes to match his mother's. The thought of learning witchcraft in itself was exciting enough but the thought of learning it from Wanda made it immensely better. It would become yet another thing they had in common and he welcomed that giddily. His excitement smoothed into confusion at the exercise matts that appeared before he heard the rest of her question. He was familiar enough that he had a basic idea of what yoga was and what it entailed but he'd never personally tried it.

He'd been tempted to once but Tommy had teased him upon voicing that temptation and he'd quickly and embarrassingly pushed that thought away.

"I've never tried it," he admitted a bit sheepishly, wondering if he should have. Embarrassing himself in front of Wanda by being terrible at yoga wasn't exactly on his to do list for the day - or his life. "Tommy thought it sounded lame and I'd be a cliché gay if I tried it," he added with a light roll of his eyes because Tommy was Tommy and he had no problem throwing his twin under a metaphorical bus.

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385 words
Wanda Maximoff