The Scarlet Apprentice 2: The Multiverse Between Us

Talking about it

While watching the wind blow the leaves off of the trees for the third time in that day, y/n sat alone in the kitchen. She'd only moved from the breakfast bar to the kitchen island to see the view better, but apart from that, she remained still.

She had no idea what it was - but an empty feeling had swarmed her. Perhaps it was the guilt of what she did with Robin, perhaps it was the grief of missing Wanda. Whatever the feeling was, y/n despised it and tried her best to ignore it.

The hours of that day were spent with her wandering around the sanctum, exploring any room she felt drew her in, until she settled in the empty kitchen. No matter what room she went into or what hallway she looked down, she remained alone. There were a few times where she'd spot someone at the end of a hall and simply turn the other way or wait for them to leave. She didn't know why, but she confined herself to solidarity for as long as she possibly could.

However, while she was distracted and away in another world, someone had managed to sneak into the kitchen with her noticing. She didn't realised his presence at all, even though it was the presence of the Sorcerer Supreme.

He didn't seem to notice her at first either, but when he saw her sitting on the island, miles away, he furrowed his brows and asked her if she was alright. He didn't blame her when he didn't get a response. It was clear that her attention was else where, and he didn't plan on prying or breaking her out of her trance.

Without her noticing, he wandered around the kitchen for as long as he could until he realised the look on her face. Not only did she look distracted, but she looked sad. Painfully, noticeably, deathly sad.

So, he asked again, "are you okay, y/n?"

He asked more firmly this time, which finally broke her out of her distracted gaze.

By the look on his face, she realised that it wasn't the first time he'd asked her. With a small nod, she hummed, "yeah."

"Do you mind sitting on my countertops? I just cleaned them," he told her, clearly joking. He hoped that if he joked, she'd instantly get back to herself. But she didn't do that.

"Sorry," she mumbled before pushing herself off of the countertop and leaning against it instead.

Noticing her visible distress with an observational squint, he stood beside y/n dropped his body weight against the counter, just as she had. His arm was pressed against hers as he tried to stay away from the sink behind him, but y/n didn't complain. She found the sudden contact from someone as closed off as strange rather comforting.

"Are you okay?" He asked her again.

"Yes." When she noticed his worried look, she tried to convince him by bringing back part of herself to seem alright, "oh, yeah. The food in this place is better than expected, Wong set out a lovely cheese board. It's really-,"

"Y/n." He said sternly but lovingly. "You need to talk about this, you can't keep it to yourself. You don't have to tell me, but tell someone. Anyone. Please."

"I can't..." even though she wanted to smile at how worried Stephen seemed to be for her, she couldn't help but think defensively, "I cant get into it with you. Not really. I'd rather beat you in a fight."

He chuckled slightly while nodding, "right, well even if it's not groundbreaking, you can tell me anything. No matter how small. I'm here to listen."

When Stephen turned his attention away but kept his body on the counter beside y/n, there was an awkward silence. An awkward silence that y/n's compulsiveness forced her to fill, no matter how she had to do it.

"I kissed someone," she blurted.

He looked at her in confusion, "who? Wanda? I mean... that's great, good for-,"

"Robin. I kissed Robin," she looked straight ahead of herself as she admitted.

"You-," Stephen paused, "you cheated on Wanda?"

"No- no, Stephen, I would never," she quickly dismissed, "Wanda and I, we... we broke up."

He looked at her in disbelief. "After all of that?"

She nodded - her head thoughtless and her heart empty - "she wanted vision. Agatha promised to bring him back."

"And you're just gonna let her fall for that?"

Y/n looked at him with furrowed brows, not expecting that response, "what? I cant make her mind up for her."

"You really think Agatha will give that to her with no bad intentions?" He sarcastically asked.

"Stephen, I- it's not like I can just hold her back, she loves him," she tried to tell him, "she wants him more than this life, more than... me."

"Oh, come on, y/n," he dropped his arms in annoyance.

"What? What the fuck are you trying to say?"

"It's a lie, it's a trap, and you're okay with letting her walk right into it," he relayed, "I didn't think you'd do something like that."

With anger burning in her face, she turned to face him fully, "you weren't there when she told me about it. I felt it, Strange, it was real. She felt real love, real trust, she wants this. Even if I kill Agatha you seriously think Wanda won't try and get vision back by herself? I'm not going to let her fall into Agatha's trap, but if she wants to be with vision and her fucking kids, then I'm not gonna be the asshole who gets in the way of that."

"Be the asshole," he told her, giving her the same aggressive energy back, "you have every right to be the asshole in this situation. Whatever happened to her in the multiverse has fucked her up, she needs to be reminded of how much she loves you. Y/n, I saw how hard you worked to get her back, the fight doesn't stop here. You don't give up now. Be the asshole, be firm, that's what she needs."

"How am I supposed to?..." she shrugged, "I don't know how to convince her."

"Let her convince herself. This Robin thing you've got going on might just be the perfect thing to make her realise what she's missing."

"Okay, first of all, Robin and I aren't a thing, lets get that right," she declared, "and second of all, oh my god, did the Sorcerer Supreme seriously just give me advice to make an ex jealous?"

"If this doesn't work, I'll help you think of something else," he offered, "I know true love when I see it. I'm not letting you two lose this."