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A Present For Miss Scarlet; [Wanda...and Pietro, if he wishes]
Topic Started: Jan 16 2008, 03:31 AM (747 Views)
Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
Time of Day: The Afternoon

Place in Time-line: After Duet, and A New York Jaunt...before New Years.




The scent of wildflowers was strong as her poor tummy twisted and did flip flops. She had been meaning to go there for days now, but kept putting it off. The fair sized flower pot she held, snuggled in her arms was gripped ever so tightly in her nervousness. The flower it held, however, was caused to shift and shake in her near silent pacing before the door, her reluctance to knock. Oh how she wished she didn’t have to fidget, to have to worry about such a simple encounter. Sure she had been introduced to Wanda in the falling snow a long while back, but at the time she hadn’t gotten a true impression of the elven girl.

She promised that she would go, had committed to it. Yet it wasn’t all for Pietro, she honestly wanted for his sister and herself to get along...for her to like her. For if the two did not get along then that would not only put a great strain on her relationship, but one between the twins as well. Avery certainly didn’t wish to be a thorn in anyone side. Though Pietro assured her of the positive outcome of the encounter, Avery had still been doubtful. But then, that was just Avery’s way.

Hefting the pot into one arm she bit her lip as she hesitantly knocked on the door. Moving back from the door she gave a little call that accompanied her knock.

“Umm...Wanda? Are you home?” She beckoned tentatively. As she waited for a response she fussed over flicking her hair into place and smoothing her clothes, ever worried for her appearance might affect her impression. Since Pietro had said she was ‘a delicate and strangely ethereal creature, with a gentle soul and a pure heart’ and that she would be a delight to her, Avery had tried to play up on her ‘unique’ look. She wondered what elves did actually wear as she riffled through her closet and dressers. She settled for an off the shoulder ivory dress that fell down just above her knees. The mansion was always warm to wear whatever she pleased, and white colors always complimented her skin nicely, often giving her a more celestial look, oddly enough. Her hair she had left down in loose ringlets and waves adorned by just two pearled hairpins to keep a few strands back. She hoped that she looked sufficiency nice. Wanda was the absolute vision of beauty, Avery couldn’t help but to compare and falter in the radiance of such a woman.

In her hands was the exotic flower she had suggested she’d make for Wanda, a golden ribbon tied around its reddish-brown pot. Long and hard had she worked on it for several nights, with her laptop searching images and a botany book at her side. She was still not satisfied with her results but she had overloaded her mind with indecisiveness that she could no longer see what were improvements or failures. When other people did things half assed, it never bothered Avery. Yet when she did things it had to be right to the ‘t’. Though she didn’t wreck herself if in the end she didn’t get it right. Did that still make her a perfectionist? She had often wondered about that.

The flower in question was actually not quite a flower. Taking the idea of a bonsai tree, Avery had created a miniature weeping cherry tree. It’s trunk was thick and it was a full and heavy tree for its size, hardly a limb could be seen through its long tendrils of flowers which some reached beyond the brim of the pot. Particularly about this one was that it was not pink or cherry in color. Rather it was a most christmasy of white, as if made of soft snowflakes. To this she added a pigment that would cause the petals to shimmer, mimicking the sugary look of African violets. The most particular thing about this plant, perhaps what she was proud of most, was the fact that it would not loose its flowers with the change of seasons. An experiment she had been playing with for long before she’d known even Ari, Avery had found a way for flowers to change with the season rather than die because of them. If she was correct in her tinkering this particular plant should begin to show its pinkiness as spring occurred, then in full bloom a vibrant fuchsia and lastly fade into golden and red autumn colors before winter came around again. It was quite the exotic flower she had promised, but she still thought she could do better.

She only hoped that it would strike Wanda’s fancy. After all Pietro did say she had a fondness for flowers. Perhaps in consequence she would like her as well. If she rejected her, she would be crushed, and in turn Pietro would probably receive an earful for being wrong. Anxiously she waited for the lovely gypsy to answer the door, wishing that her wildflower scent would go away. The flower would have to take the blame for this one.
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Wanda
Reality Warping
“La lal la laaa braa rummm…” The soft tune on Wanda’s lips was one her brother played often as a street performer while she sat nearby. He’d run off only a few minutes ago, to help Alex at some place they were calling X-Factor; she’d asked if she could go with him but Pietro had said ‘No, my love, the place Alexander has picked is not yet suitable,’ he kissed her cheek, ‘but soon, my beloved,’ and he was gone.

Although she’d been physically at the school for months, that time was a blur… with the feeling of waking up from a dream of being lost inside a maze in the dark; she felt like she was experiencing the school again anew. Wanda found that her new sight was not making that any easier; it wasn’t merely that the colors were more vibrant than normal sight but she had already told Pietro of strange walls and shapes floating in the air and getting is solemn promise that he could not see them. He took her announcements in stride, then kissed her head and told her that she was special.

With chalk that she’d blessed in hand, Wanda stood on a chair, drawing symbols high in the corner of the room and idly watching her humming tune leave her mouth as colored air; the sounds tending to have a lovely pinkish/greenish combination, worming their way out of her mouth in squiggly and corkscrew shapes.

“Umm...Wanda? Are you home?”

Wanda blinked and half turned toward the door, her chalk poised in the air. “Yes… I am here.” She hesitated a moment, reluctant to leave her spell half finished, but stepped down from the chair and opened the door.

Her eyes widened as she took in the visage of the elf standing before her with a small tree in a pot. “I … I…” she’d seen the elf by the World Tree when her vision return but that day anything was new; Pietro had told her the Xavier mansion was a wondrous place, a place where angels and elfs roamed the grounds as commonplace.

“May I help you, elf?”
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
She smiled warmly as Wanda opened the door, glad that she was there and not have to go through this nerve wrecking procedure until she was. God knows how long it would be for her to get boldness up again. Wanda seemed to stammer lightly as she regarded the form before her, until she collected her words in a enquiry.

“May I help you, elf?”

She blinked as Wanda was inclined to call her elf instead of anything else. No ma’am, no miss and certainly not Avery. Though Avery had blinked in a little bit of surprise at her greeting, she realized that the Scarlet Witch did not know her name. Perhaps she would not recall being introduced to her by Ari in the snow that day, but Pietro surely had described her to his sister. After all, there was no one else in the institute that would fit her description. It was then that Avery had come to conclude that he had not spoken a word about her to his sister. Nothing of his feelings of her or the time they’ve spent, perhaps not even that they shared a common talent. Not one word. This has not angered her, however, Avery felt more....inadequate at the moment.

“Oh! Well I...” She stammered, coving her disappointment with slight nervousness. She gave the woman before her an apologetic smile before starting over again.

“I’m Avery...” The elven politely introduced herself with a gentle nod. Her bright eyes shifted as she looked at Wanda. “Pietro told me that you two just recently moved into this room...And I heard to liked flowers.. So I.....made this for you..”

With her words she held out the flowered tree shyly to Wanda. Her head slightly bowed had caused her lengthy bangs to fall over her violet eyes. “Think of it as a welcoming gift...”
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Wanda
Reality Warping
The elf stared at the witch, lost in her thoughts. The witch stared at the elf, lost in her thoughts also; although hers were more inquisitive and less self doubting than the elf’s. Wanda’s thoughts turned back to her childhood, trying to remember all the stories of elves Grandma Ingrid told her. The knowledge was regrettably unhelpful; some elves were good and helpful, cleaning the house in exchange for a bowl of fresh cream or repairing shoes for a pocketful of hazelnuts, while others were vile and evil, stealing away babies and drowning people in rivers and tying them into the roots of trees on the river banks. The elf offered her name, Avery, and gift, a beautiful magical flowering tree, the like of which she’d never seem before.

One part that all the stories seemed to have in common was that it was unwise and possibly dangerous to be rude to an elf. She eyed Avery’s long ears and green skin… green skin… that clicked somewhere in Wanda’s memory… Jenny Greenteeth - she had green skin, long hair, and sharp needle-like teeth, who lurked just under the water’s surface. When this… Avery… grinned at her before, Wanda noticed a telling lack of fearsome needle-like teeth and took that as. Half turning back to the room and seeing no babies or rivers, she assumed it was safe enough to allow the elf entry.

Hesitantly, she reached out and accepted the magical plant. Overcome by the beauty of it, she tilted her head to one side and stroked its leaves like one would scratch the family pet behind the ears. “Please, come inside. Your gift … beautiful is such a pale word to describe it. Does it have a name?”

Wanda took in Avery’s long silken green hair framing her delicate features, a vision of ethereal beauty. She could easily see how such creatures could ensnare a man’s mind and was glad that her brother was absent.
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
Avery forced herself to not to bite her lip this time as Wanda showed light reluctance to accept the gift. She wondered if she had done something to make her mistrust her. Something in her actions, maybe, that she was not even aware of, but made her wary.

Wanda seemed pleased enough with her gift as she caressed it lovingly, something Avery found a bit odd but showed no reaction to. If anything she was happy that the dark haired woman was happy with it, taking her unease down a notch. At least that was one less thing she would have to worry about. All the time she put into it because well worth it.

“Please, come inside. Your gift … beautiful is such a pale word to describe it. Does it have a name?”

Avery nodded to the gypsy’s offer to come in, giving her a polite thank you as she did so. Though at her question her fluting ears lowered considerably in her light shame. She hadn’t even considered on giving the plant a name, more concerned with making it an acceptable gift than having something to call it by.

“I...um...” Her eyes searched the plant as she tried to come up with a name on the spot. A second after she let out a short, almost nervous chuckle and shook her head. Her long digits fumbled with her image inducer as she did when she felt uncomfortable. “I actually don’t have a name for it.....I made it only for you, so....I think its more fitting if you named it...” Avery encouraged with a smile before her eyes timidly swept to the floor. “I’m sure you could come up with something far better than I..” Her tones were still sweet and modest rather than dejected as they could have sounded.

She now stood before her, wondering what fanciful name she would apply to the plant. Yet her mind raced for other things to speak of, things that would help welcome Wanda to befriend her. One slip up and she could crush any relationship that Wanda and herself might have. Alas, she also knew it was something that she couldn’t force. She may like her or it may take some time. Or worse of all, she might not like her at all, seeing her as a threat to herself and her brother. The way she regarded her was slightly different than Pietro. She could see the signs of awe and wonder in her expressions, but there was something else about her, about the way she looked at her. Needless to say it worried her.
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Wanda
Reality Warping
“I actually don’t have a name for it.....I made it only for you, so....I think it’s more fitting if you named it... I’m sure you could come up with something far better than I..” [Avery’s] tones were still sweet and modest rather than dejected as they could have sounded.

Wanda knew plant names and she loved the ones with character, the ones like she had learned at her grandmother Ingrid’s knee: Baby’s Breath, Cat’s Tongue, Bat’s Wing, Bull’s Blood, Elf Root. She looked at miniature cherry tree with its white, lustrous blossoms. She looked at the green elf, puzzled but honored, her fingers lightly brush over the tiny tree.

“You made? … Oh, yes, of course… with your magic. Then it should be … Elf’s Grace…” she said at last with a slow nod of her head. She held up the miniature tree to Avery as though she were presenting a new baby. “This Elf’s Grace. I wonder…” She looked at beautiful elf before her, “If this is a new tree… then… the fey folk it brings will be new too… Just for Gracie,” she said, Wanda’s gaze shifted from the tiny tree to Avery.

“Do you know what the little fairies they will be like?” Then Wanda’s milky eyes seemed to widen at a thought. “Or … this being a tree, will they be elves? Not as large as you, of course.” She looked Avery up and down, “You must have sprung from a large, old tree.”

She looked at Avery’s face, a mixture of confusion and blank disbelief. Wanda smiled kindly at her, assuming her to be a young elf and that was why she was confused.

“It is of no matter… we should see.” With the tree and pot cradled in her arm, she reached and took the young, confused elf by the hand. “Let’s put it in the hot house,” she said, tugging Avery gently toward the door that lead out to the greenhouse.
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
As Wanda presented her tree to her she seemed to be very pleased with the name and Avery was inclined to agree. Yet at the same time she favored the Scarlet Witch with an unsure smile, she began to wonder thing about her that she hadn’t before. Why did she refer to her powers as magic?....Perhaps that was just her other worldly way of saying it. And so it was shrugged off.

Her eyes swept the room as it had been the first time she’d ever set foot within, not even before the siblings had taken residence. Her eyes caught the corner of the room where odd symbols were drawn in chalk. She gave them a fleeting strange look of confusion as she had no understanding of what they meant or why they were there. Her attention went back to Wanda and her quips which proceeded to be more strange than the symbols.

“Do you know what the little fairies they will be like?” Then Wanda’s milky eyes seemed to widen at a thought. “Or … this being a tree, will they be elves? Not as large as you, of course.” She looked Avery up and down, “You must have sprung from a large, old tree.”


The more the went on the more the complexity of her confusion grew. Her brow had furled into perplexed befuddlement, not knowing really how to answer her. Pietro had mention on a few occasions that his sister was ‘ill’ but Avery wasn’t quite sure what category this illness fell under. Mentally she kicked herself for not inquiring before hand what she would be dealing with.

“Whaa...Uh....Large...me?” Avery seemed to be totally lost and her words fell upon near deaf ears as her confusion was waved away with a gentle smile. It was obvious that these two girls were from totally different worlds. It was just as well as she was talking to her in her native tongue, she would be no better off.

“It is of no matter… we should see.” With the tree and pot cradled in her arm, she reached and took the young, confused elf by the hand. “Let’s put it in the hot house,” she said, tugging Avery gently toward the door that lead out to the greenhouse.

“Hot house...?” She quipped meekly as she was lightly pulled along. Holding the older woman’s hand she pieced things together that seemed to happen so quickly. Wanda believed her to be a honest to god elf. Not only that but she believed in very fairytale things, as if she lived in a fantasy world. She made another mental note to ask Pietro what is definition of ‘ill’ was again.

Though she did not resist her expression was very unsure, her fluted ears lowered considerably. It would not be fair to go on deceiving Wanda that she was such a wondrous, magical creature. Once she found out of Pietro’s interests in her, that would be enough strain on things, at least Avery assumed. The two were so close, together practically all the time, that she was unsure if Wanda would be prepared to give him up. She would have to set things straight, but in a manner that would not confuse or offend the beautiful gypsy. How the hell would she do that?!

“Wanda......I don’t think you understand...” She stumbled in saying as she was lead to the green house.. Her expression changed to that of slightly regret as if she really wished she could be something as mystical and enchanting as Wanda thought she was. “...I’m not at all what you think I am...I’m very sorry...But I’m not..”
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Wanda
Reality Warping
“Wanda......I don’t think you understand... I’m not at all what you think I am...I’m very sorry...But I’m not..” Avery rambled as Wanda took her by the hand and lead her out the side door.

Outside, the sun sparkled blindingly off the snow but there was still a chilly nip in the air. Wanda shivered, her breath coming out in a plume of white vapor. She felt Avery’s hand in hers become cold and start to shake. “Burrrrr… It is strange… Back home, I could stroll through a snowy day and hardly feel it… and here, it seems to cut through my skin like blades. Perhaps if I ask nicely, the spirits will take pity and warm the air for us.”

As though hearing the witch, the air around the two women seemed to blur into Spring colors: green, yellow-orange, and red, spinning in orbits until it seemed like the colors merged and heat insulated Wanda and Avery from the biting cold.

“Thank you, spirits,” Wanda said to the air and started toward the greenhouse, casually tugging Avery along like a balloon on a string.

“Not what I think you are?” Wanda parroted in a thoughtful tone as they neared the greenhouse. She turned her milky eyes to look at Avery’s long ears, green skin and hair, and her purple eyes and she had created a beautiful tree; what she was seemed obvious. Wanda pursed her lips as she set Elf’s Grace on the nearest table. Deciding that in a compulsion of honesty, Avery meant that she wasn’t a good elf.

Wanda glanced over a small pile of spare iron foot long nails that Pietro had hammered into the frame for vines to grow on. Her gaze lingered on the nails; iron was said to be a protection against malicious elves. But she dismissed the idea of seeing if the iron would hurt Avery; an iron nail in the heart would kill an evil elf but it would also kill non-evil things too.

“Not what I think…” Wanda shrugged, “the world is often a mystery… I don’t understand it… and it doesn’t understand me.”
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
Wanda seemed not to be concerned by her statement, making no attempt to acknowledge her words at all. Pulled out into the cold, as it struck her skin, Avery had been forced a staggering, indrawn breath; a gasp. She was but in a shoulder bearing, breezy dress and small shoes, she hadn’t counted on stepping outside. “Shhh...-it” She cursed under her breath as she shivered uncontrollably. It was unlikely that Wanda would not notice how quickly her body was affected by the cold.

“Burrrrr… It is strange… Back home, I could stroll through a snowy day and hardly feel it… and here, it seems to cut through my skin like blades. Perhaps if I ask nicely, the spirits will take pity and warm the air for us.”

It was almost odd how the atmosphere complied to her needs, the air around them becoming warm signified by wondrous colors that swirled so fast it made her dizzy until they became one. Feeling the warmth envelope her she immediately felt better and began to relax, the thought of collapsing before Wanda plaguing her mind. No more to think, Wanda thanked the ‘spirits’ whom apparently were caused for this change. Avery gave her an odd look, seeing things for as they were, all a reaction to Wanda’s gifts, not anything supernatural. Though her look vanished as she was toted along behind the witchy woman, finally realizing what ‘hot house’ was referring to.

Finally Wanda had given thought to her earlier protest, repeating Avery’s words almost thoughtfully. She regarded her with her cloudy white eyes, ones that may seem disturbing to those who hadn’t seen such things. To Avery they seemed gentle and soft, though perhaps very frightening if Wanda was angered. God knows she didn’t wish to be the bearer of her wrath. Avery would stay away from the plane if she could help so.

Avery watch her set ‘Elf’s Grace’ upon a table as they entered the green house. The look she carried, her casualness as she went, told the botanic kinesis that once again Wanda had taken her words differently than she had meant. At this point Avery really wished she knew what went through her head when the elven spoke.

“Not what I think…” Wanda shrugged, “the world is often a mystery… I don’t understand it… and it doesn’t understand me.”

“But...that’s not quite what I meant...” Avery replied tentatively, as she tired to think of a better way to word things. An impatient person might have started to get irritated with the constants misunderstandings of their words. However Avery was blessed with a mountain of patience and then some. If she would have to rephrase things a dozen times until she understood, then so be it.

For a moment she chewed on her lip and thought. A quick and simple explanation had been her folly, perhaps she should explain things more clearly. It was trouble enough that english was not her first language, she considered, let alone the fact that both Americans and Canadians alike spoke a complicated fashion, sometimes one thing said was not of their actual meaning as one would assume. People just did not speak so extravagantly anymore.

“What I mean is...” She moved away a few paces as she admired the flowers and plants that Pietro had gathered for his lovely sister. “...I was born from a woman, my mother, just as you were.......I had pale, white skin, long brown hair and dark, dark eyes...Just like Momma.” She smiled fondly in a sad sort of way. Avery had always been proud that she grew up to be an image of her mother, she had such a classic beauty. All until her change...it had only contributed to her misery, not being able to see her mother in her reflection anymore.

“Then...adolescence came and I developed special abilities as did all the residents of the institute...” She then frowned lightly. “Only, God found amusement in changing my appearance to as it is now...I’m still trying to get the joke.” To this she gave a shrug of her delicate shoulders, elongated fingers lightly brimming one of the flower’s petals.
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Wanda
Reality Warping

Wanda’s ears worked… and her eyes too, after a fashion, but what she saw and heard had to filtered through a mind warped by her mutation; no mind could truly fathom living a in reality had was play doh for you; gravity, objects, minds, your family and friends, your past, all of it was as real and substantial as a sandcastle on a beach and the tide was always coming in. In short, reality was real to her because she decided that it was. What Avery said, while perfectly reasonable and understandable to a normal person, had to be filtered through Wanda’s into something that fit into her skewed perception and it was anyone’s guess what finally poured into Wanda’s mind.

Wanda’s eyes never left the green elf as she drifted aimlessly, pausing to play with a flower petal between her long fingers. Avery’s sorrowful words tumbled from her lips in frosty blue vapor to collect around her feet like chilly ground fog.

Wanda walked through it, spreading it with her feet as she joined Avery. The green elf looked toward her, surprised to feel Wanda’s warm hand against her cheek.

“I find that when one has lost something that can not be found again, it is always wisest to cherish what one has left all the more… and let what you lost rest in its grave.” Wanda’s thumb glided over the smooth, full plane of Avery’s cheek. “You lost your face… but you were given another good in return. It could…,” Wanda stopped, staring at Avery through the confines of her splintered psyche, and stepped away, unable to continue. “That is why I cherish my dear brother, he is all I have,” she said, walking back toward the miniature cherry tree Avery brought. “Pietro and now I have Grace,” she leaned forward and breathed in the sweet aroma of the flowers.

“We shall see, what you bring,” she said, seeming talking to the little tree now, as she held her hands together over the top of it. “Pietro never sees the tiny folk but maybe they will see you as one of their kin and let you see them.” As Wanda spoke, her hands parted and hovered, palms down, over the tree; a weightless white dust slowly fell from Wanda’s empty fingers. She stepped back near Avery, “And now, we wait and see.”

Around them, they heard the nearly silent flapping and movement of leaves among the greenhouse plants, an odd occurrence considering the absence of wind. What came hardly seemed more substantial than colored air; the walking, flying outlines of tiny ethereal beings who were practically invisible except for the shine of sunlight off sharp, pointed features of tiny faces, the outlines of tall pointed ears, or the feel of tiny, unseen eyes watching from behind leaves and flower petals.
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
Avery tried her best not to look odd upon the strangeness that lingered around her. Never spending time with Wanda she was not accustomed to how reality seemed to bend at her whim. As she spoke and blue mist flowed from her lips, her eyes seemed to follow it for a moment before she turned to Wanda. Surprisingly as she looked up from the flower the gypsy woman had been there, her hand reaching out to touch her cheek.

It had been hard not to flinch. Avery had been known to be skiddish around men, this was true. Yet ever since her change she found herself afraid of another’s touch. She wasn’t quiet sure why this was, since she had no problem with Wanda taking her hand. Perhaps it had been all the time she had secluded herself from any contact whatsoever. Had she been a man, she would received another reaction.

Her bright eyes were caused to shift unsurely to Wanda’s white, as she spoke and caressed her cheek. From whence she came such touch was considered affectionate and so Avery was caused to wonder why Wanda touched her so freely, yet with care. This women puzzled her to no end.


“I find that when one has lost something that can not be found again, it is always wisest to cherish what one has left all the more… and let what you lost rest in its grave.” Wanda’s thumb glided over the smooth, full plane of Avery’s cheek. “You lost your face… but you were given another good in return. It could…,”

And then she had suddenly stopped, her eyes fixated upon Avery before she stepped away. Feeling very much awkward, Avery’s hands went to her waved tresses, smoothing them back behind her fluting ears. This awkward expression was coupled with furled brows. Why had she stopped, for Avery wanted her to finish. ‘It could’ what? Avery was given no time to ask nor ponder what had been swept from Wanda’s mind as she was already speaking again, and then to the plant of that!

To this Avery tilted her head. Really at this point it was a wonder why she was ever surprised at Wanda’s nature or tried to make sense of the things she did. It was obvious now that they had two different minds. How then, could they ever manage to be friends if she could not see the same world that Wanda did? And would she still find her fanciful and captivating once she realized that in truth Avery was a rather bland girl in comparison to herself?

Shaking her head Avery brought herself back to reality, or at least the reality that, she could only assume, Wanda had woven. She spoke, her words again confusing Avery, as white dust poured from her hands, sprinkling over the plant she’d named Grace. In wonder as she returned to her side, Avery stared intently at the tree not seeing any change.

“...To see what??” Avery quipped softly as her eyes searched for a growth, or perhaps a movement of some sort.

To any other the sound would have been strained to be heard, but to Avery it was as if the slight moments had been whispered directly into her ear. Like a doe in the forest she had become very still and stiff suddenly. Her long ears twitched with each noise as she tried to determine from where it came. There was no draft. She knew they had been alone when they entered. Yet the soft, rustling of the plants was cause enough for her to think different. There! Her eyes suddenly caught something...definitely something moving, but hard to determine and oh so very small. Avery’s violet orbs blinked, unsure that she had seen anything at all. But then, another...and another! Figures barely possible to distinguish flittered through the air, across the leaves, heading seemingly towards Grace.

Her eyes had become very wide now as she crept closer, her steps silent as if she padded on soft grass. Her eyes might not have been as sharp as others but she had certainly seen them. Tiny, fray figures with fluting ears similar to her own, meek little faces that she could hardly read. Many times she had blinked, unsure of what she was seeing. A smile of pure awe and wonder curved her lips, and for a second was her eyes tore from the creatures to look to Wanda.

“Are these yours?” She questioned in her softest of voices, very childlike sounding in her whisper. “Did you make them?”

Long, long ago had she forgotten about such magic things. By the time she was eight she knew that all things she had believed in once, magical things such as fairies and Santa, were not true. Her dolls did not come to life when she slept, making wishes on stars did nothing... Though, this did not keep her from pretending and letting her imagination take her to far away places. It was just that in the end, she knew they were just make believe.

And so she could not believe that the tiny figures before her had always been. Surely they had been created by Wanda’s magic. Even she herself had admitted that Pietro had never seen them and he had been with her all her life. Perhaps it was something only she could see. Yet, that in itself puzzled her. If this was all created by Wanda, then certainly at some point Pietro would have seen them too. It just didn’t make sense. It was just enough to give herself reasonable doubt...Even science told her that just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Her eyes never left their searching for the creatures as she could feel their tiny eyes upon them from their hidden spots. She felt as she always had when seeing something for the first time. Like a child introduced to a museum of strange, new things. She smiled to herself though was caused to recall something Wanda had said earlier, looking at Grace fondly now.

“You’re wrong you know...” The wonder was still in her voice as she straightened from her leaned forward position. “Pietro is not all you have....Not anymore.” She smiled with a nod, looking to her. “You have us now. Ari and Alex...Jean and Scott. They all care about you dearly, I know. They’re like a family....the ones within those walls. You’ll see. You and Pietro are not alone anymore...” In the moment she had reached out and softly squeezed her hand, before she let go. Of course Wanda would not see the great meaning behind Avery’s touch, for it was a gesture, that in the elven’s seclusion, did not often offer.
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Quicksilver
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Superspeed/ Superstrength
Alex Summers was a buffoon, and Pietro never failed to leave his work at X-Factor exasperated. Of course, a man such as himself, with little or no insight to the interpersonal relationships of society, would find a man such as such Alex annoying. Summers, for all his misplaced loathings and unseemly jocularity, knew how to make people... like him, which was something that Pietro so rarely thought about. It made Summers a good leader, oddly, for his team was made up of misanthropes and malcontents, and under his determination to make them heroes, it made them want to be more, somehow. How that worked exactly, Pietro did not understand, in the slightest. But, Summers cheerful optimism grated on his nerves a bit.

After all, Pietro did not know the doubts in Alex Summers's heart, he only knew the doubts in his own. A team like X-Factor had the potential to do much good, and maybe they would be the saviors of the human race. But then, maybe they would not do what was best and they would fall to temptation, a desire to make the world right corrupted by greed or laziness or wrath.

There was so much to consider, and Pietro and Alex, as they worked in X-Factor, Alister sometimes helping, Danielle never being anything but a distraction, argued over philosophy in heated discussions that neither would ever admit that they enjoyed. They were friends. How strange to think it. A friend who was not related by blood. So, though Pietro raced home with his mind filled with sharp words and flustered thoughts, his mood was high, actually, as he slid to a stop at the doors of the school.

He entered at a normal pace, knowing by now that it was wrong to run indoors, because his passing was destructive. He went to their room, which he found so much more pleasant than the holding cells, and called out, cheerfully, "Wanda, my darling one, I am home.... Wanda?" He looked around and there was not the panic that there had been when they first arrived here. This was a safe place, where people loved them. She would not be hurt.

He stepped outside, thinking perhaps she had again gone to the greenhouse to play with her flowers. He had traveled the world to choose for her dozens of the rarest plants in existence, arranged them in colorful arrangements, so that when spring came, she would have them safe to plant in a garden of her own. He found it odd that he planned on them being here once the snow had melted. They were gypsies, should they not roam... see the world again? Yet, there was so much in this place to tie them here...

And as he stepped into the hothouse as Wanda called it, he saw one of those things that made him want to take root. Avery Doyle, the beautiful elf who had captivated him so. She stood in repose with his darling sister. whose white clothes were too thin for the weather, but in this warm little outbuilding were adequate. Avery looked bewildered, and Pietro could only smile. She'd been talking to Wanda and everyone who spoke to her for the first time bore that face. Talking with Wanda was a glimpse into a world that few ever saw. How he adored her. Without his twin's fantasies, Pietro would be lost in the reality he knew to be a cold and dark place. She kept him young, and alive, and his heart leaped to see her speaking so freely to her new friend. Avery would see how wonderful Wanda was, and Wanda would see how wonderful Avery was.

He watched them for a moment, their eyes following something he could not see. Wanda had worked a spell, it seemed, one meant only for Avery. Yes, Wanda would charm her, and maybe it would be easier to tell her about his feelings for the elf. Maybe she would understand more.

"Ladies," he said, softly, "You look so lovely standing there together, I am loathe to interrupt so pretty a repose."
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Wanda
Reality Warping
Wanda was puzzled by Avery’s question, asking if she had created them. She turned her white eyes toward the elf, “No,” she said softly. “I called them … and they came.” She said, dismissing the possibility that they were her creations.

She felt Avery’s hand curling in hers but didn’t take her eyes from the tiny sprites as they made their way to Grace, seemingly investigating the strange, unique tree. Strictly speaking, plants weren’t really where her sphere of influence, not like it was Avery’s, she merely had an interest in them, plants and herbs were essential elements in many of her spells. Her element, if she could really be said to have one, was the impossible, changing reality to make the miraculous occur.

She heard Avery telling her that she had more than just Pietro and Wanda shook her head, her pleasant smile turning watery with emotion.

“There are people here who would sit and exchange pleasantries with me while we ate chocolate ice cream or take me for a stroll in the garden. Both things being pleasant enough but those people aren’t there when,” she stopped when she heard… and felt, Pietro’s words "Ladies," [Pietro] said, softly, "You look so lovely standing there together, I am loathe to interrupt so pretty a repose."

The sprites vanished like frightened creatures into the surrounding plants at Pietro’s sudden appearance. Releasing Avery’s hand, Wanda held open her arms, inviting her brother into a hug.

“Avery brought us a gift,” she said and pointed to the unique miniature tree. “I have named it Elf’s Grace.”
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Avery
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Botanical Manipulation and Biology
By her expression Avery could tell that Wanda had been puzzled by her question, as if it was ridicules to even consider such a thing. Her reply was simple, yet to Avery it still didn’t dismiss the possibility of the creatures were called by Wanda’s magic. Yet no further protests or questions were made regarding their validity. She was enjoying the moment between the two and didn’t wish to spoil it with her lack of childlike imagination.

It was then that Avery became bold to tell Wanda that she and Pietro were not alone anymore, that there were those who loved her under their roof. Yet Wanda’s retort was something less than what the elven had hoped for.


“There are people here who would sit and exchange pleasantries with me while we ate chocolate ice cream or take me for a stroll in the garden. Both things being pleasant enough but those people aren’t there when,”... Wanda seemed to stop suddenly as her brothers voice cut through.

Yet Avery’s vibrant eyes had already been on the pale featured, silver haired man. He hadn’t spoken at first which was why his first words had not entirely startled her as they usually did. Having enough time for her hearing to pick up his footfalls, she had looked towards the entrance as Wanda spoke mid sentence.

A light smile of amusement was still upon her features, her other hand humming with the sparkling, white mist as she pushed forth her gift to do something. Whatever that was, was lost upon Pietro’s arrival. Immediately she sobered up, pulling herself out of the fantasy that had been around her. Bleakly she noticed that the fray figures that had been gathering to Elf’s Grace had vanished. Pietro’s presence had either broken the spell or Wanda’s concentration. Mentally she shook her head in disapproval of herself, sadly. She had been foolish to even begin to consider that such things were real. They were only real because Wanda wished them to be real, and when she no longer thought of them, they had disappeared. Just like the Tree of Life. It was rather disappointing, but not as much so as Wanda’s words. Not finishing them she could only assume what she was going to say, which frankly hurt a little. She knew for a fact that at the very least, Ari adored and thought much over the twins. Why couldn’t Wanda see that these people would treat her like their own, their family, if given the chance? Avery supposed that more time would have to be given, Wanda would see...with time she would.

And so Avery watched the gorgeous, dark haired gypsy embrace her brother the moment he finished speaking.

"Ladies," [Pietro] said, softly, "You look so lovely standing there together, I am loathe to interrupt so pretty a repose."

With the shimmering now fading from her hand, she clasped them before her and favored Pietro a meek, yet warm smile and a nod in greetings. Since his sister knew nothing of them, of their....affections, it was best to keep things at a distance for now. Forcing down her excitement, yet unable to detain the scent of pares, Avery kept her face as serine as possible. Slightly at the back of her mind she worried for what would take place between them now that Pietro had arrived. Avery’s eyes swept up from the floor as her thoughts were broken upon the mention of her name.

“Avery brought us a gift,” [Wanda] said and pointed to the unique miniature tree. “I have named it Elf’s Grace.”

To this Avery gave another little smile with a soft, modest shrug of her bare shoulders. Unknowing really what more to add she remained quiet, her shyness perhaps getting the better of her yet again.
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Quicksilver
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Superspeed/ Superstrength
“Avery brought us a gift,” [Wanda] said and pointed to the unique miniature tree. “I have named it Elf’s Grace.”

Pietro fell into his sister's embrace, kissing her cheek, before turning to see the little tree. He touched the leaves, delicately, with the back of his fingers. "Elf's Grace. A better name could not be found."

Turning to Avery, he caught her shyness, and he was not surprised by it. She must know by now that he had not yet told his twin of his new affections. Wisps of white fled from her finger tips, and he reached out with a pale hand to her arm, lifting it gently, "Do not let my arrival stop your own gifts, Dear One," he said, his voice tender. "You and my sister were in the middle of a moment, and clumsy Pietro spoiled it."

In the warmth of the greenhouse, Pietro was very aware of the sweet smell of Avery's pear scented pleasure. He was beginning to learn the meanings behind her smells and the pear's sweetness made him smile. She was pleased to see him, even if he had not told his sister yet, and it made him happy to know that, but sad as well. She deserved to know that she was important, and Wanda deserved his honesty.

Moving his fingers to intertwine with Avery's, Pietro extended his other hand to Wanda's, linking them in a chain. "Wanda, my love, I have something to tell you. I have tried to find the words for some time, but your brother is a cowardly man at times, and he loves you far too much to cause you any hurt. Do you remember when we went to Transia, and I brought home our family's book of songs?" How could she not remember, that beautiful ancient collection of music, the soul of their clan, his own soul written in ink and passions. "I brought it home as a gift for Avery. I... "

He looked at Avery and smiled, gently, "I think perhaps I have grown fond of her, as a man does of a woman."

His loving gaze turned back to his sister and he said, "My beloved, I ask you to understand this is not to pull away from you. I love you more than life itself. But, I pray you understand that I wish to court Avery, I wish her to be a part of our lives, our clan if she would choose, within our circle of protection and care. Can you understand, my most perfect sister?"
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