till forever falls apart

brunch with the in-law

another one here we go

Wanda's uneasy.

She's never met Melina before, and judging by how the woman's expression and demeanor changed when she was introduced as Natasha's fiancée,she guesses Melina's never heard of her.

It's not surprising, Natasha doesn't spend a lot of time talking to or about her parents and has made it abundantly clear that Yelena's all she needs. Despite that, Melina's here, Yelena's on crutches and looking more exhausted by the minute, and Anya hasn't said a word since arriving.

Wanda desperately hopes that that's not permanent, though she's far more prepared than when she first met Anya and she was mute. She's learned her fair share of sign language and even for the stuff she doesn't know, Yelena's able to translate (when she's paying attention).

Either way, they're currently at a little diner and shoved into a booth, Kate, Yelena, and Melina on one side and her, Anya, and Natasha on the other.

They're currently waiting for their food and Wanda can't help but wish they just stayed at home. The tension radiating off of Anya and Natasha is overstimulating her so much that she wants to crawl out of her own skin.

She finally decides to take a step away, sitting on the steps outside of the diner and recalibrating herself. She can't help it, negative emotions - especially those of people so close to her - are too hard to filter out and tend to overload her senses. It's gotten better since she's started living in the city again, but for some reason, today it's hurting a lot more than usual.

The door eventually opens behind her and she would expect Natasha, but the energy is completely different, almost muted. It reminds her of when she first met Natasha. There was an air of almost complete indifference.

She turns, seeing Melina wearing an almost completely neutral look on her face.

"Sorry for walking out," Wanda finds herself apologizing, twisting the loose red wisps of magic between her fingers as Melina slowly walks down the steps. She stops at the bottom, turning around and facing Wanda.

There's a second before she speaks, and it feels like the longest second of Wanda's life.

"I did not know about you being engaged to Natasha," she says matter-of-factly. Her fingers rub at the material of her pants as she looks almost past Wanda thoughtfully, "How long have you been engaged?"

"Since my birthday," Wanda replies, "but we've been together for years."

"Were you..." Melina pauses, seemingly readjusting before again avoiding her eyes, "you were dusted? Like Yelena and Alexei?"

"Yes," Wanda nods, "It was... painless. Physically, at least. Jarring emotionally."

Melina nods, "I don't know... I don't know how to..." she sighs, trying to piece the words together, "I don't know why I am here."

Wanda can't help but be a little perplexed at that statement. Melina doesn't seem like the type to admit it when she doesn't know something - to be fair, she doesn't seem like the type to not know things - but here she is, confessing that she doesn't know something to someone she's barely met.

"You're a mother," Wanda responds, "Your daughter is in trouble. It's what mothers do - help their kids when something goes wrong."

Melina shakes her head, "I'm not their mother."

"Why not?" Wanda asks, "You raised them for three years. And you're here now."

Melina's quiet and Wanda decides to keep talking, "It's okay if you don't feel like their mom. But you've taken the steps to try and make amends, and Yelena wanted you here. That's better than nothing."