till forever falls apart

permanent decisions

OKAY TEN TO GO!!! this should finish like either on black panther day or the day after - anyway enjoy!

When Wanda goes out into the living room in the morning, she finds Anya curled up on the couch with the dogs, playing some video game on the TV.

"Good morning," Wanda smiles softly, sitting down on the empty end of the couch, "What're you playing?"

"This," Anya moves her character around on the screen, "is Stardew Valley. You kinda just get to be a farmer, it's relaxing."

"How long have you been out here?" Wanda asks, watching as Anya's character plants seeds on the farm.

"A couple of hours," Anya says sheepishly, "I had a bad dream and couldn't fall back asleep."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Wanda probes gently, making sure to not overstep anywhere.

Anya shakes her head, "I'm good. Um, are you gonna cook breakfast?"

"Yeah, I was thinking pancakes," Wanda replies, absentmindedly petting Fanny when she rolls into Wanda's lap.

"Could you put chocolate chips in mine?" Anya asks with a sickeningly sweet smile. Wanda smiles in response and nods. She wouldn't ever tell Anya, but she loves it when Anya asks for simple things like that. It feels like such an improvement compared to when they first adopted her.

"I thought Nat would be up before you," Anya says after a couple of minutes, snapping Wanda out of her head for a second.

She couldn't help it. Today's the day that Yelena's having her amputation, she's still in the midst of planning a wedding that feels far too overwhelming, and the conversation she had last night with Natasha won't stop playing in her head.

A part of her wishes she could understand exactly what Natasha was thinking about the whole thing, but she's promised Natasha and herself that she'd never go in her head without her permission. And they've talked about it already. She just has to believe that Natasha's telling her the truth.

"She was tossing and turning last night," Wanda shrugs, "It's not going to kill her to sleep in for once. And Yelena's surgery isn't until two, anyway."

"How do you know that?" Anya asks, her focus still on the game that she's playing, "Telepathy?"

"No," Wanda stands up, "Kate's coming by in an hour to see the dogs, she told me."

"Ah," Anya nods, "Don't forget my chocolate chips."

"Don't worry," Wanda smiles, giving Fanny's head a final scratch before going to the kitchen.

It doesn't take her long to start up the pancakes and get the first batch on the pan, and by that time Wanda hears Anya greeting Natasha. Wanda turns, looking at her fiancée.

Natasha looks exhausted, like she never actually slept last night, and her movements all look sluggish.

Still, she walks over to Wanda and kisses her cheek. Her head then lands on Wanda's shoulder, watching as Wanda cooks.

"You're warm," Wanda says softly, her free hand going to Natasha's forehead, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just tired," Natasha replies quietly. Wanda knows she's lying, something's up, but she's not going to say anything. At least, not yet.

"How about you go sit on the couch with Anya until breakfast is ready?" Wanda suggests gently, her empty hand moving to rub the small of Natasha's back.

Natasha only grunts in response and Wanda decides to shut up and finish what she's doing before pressing further.

Natasha eventually walks away, sitting at the kitchen island with her head in her hands. Wanda hopes that she's overreacting and that Natasha's not actually sick - this is really not the day for that to happen - but she's erring on the side of caution and keeping an eye on her.