sixthiterationlogs | 004 - Hellos [CLOSED]

WHO: Wanda Maximoff
WHERE: At the Inn
WHEN: Around Now-Ish.
OPEN TO: Foggy Nelson
WARNINGS: N/A

Wanda couldn't remember the last time she had a good night's sleep. Her thoughts had been racing since she saw the brief glimpse of her future and she didn't know what to make of it all. She found a place towards the back of the inn, just after finishing her task of preserving meat. She's sitting in a pair of green cargo pants and a tank top, her hair falling over her shoulders in thick brown waves. A wooden post was pressed between her shoulder blades and her legs sprawled over the floor while the old ukulele sat in her lap.

She knew how to play a few songs on the guitar but the notes were transferable. It helped her clear her thoughts and she hoped that playing might magically help now.

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of Colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night

Wanda plucked the last few cords and then looked up when she spotted someone new. She didn't know Foggy but he looked like a reasonably nice person. "I wasn't bothering you was I?"

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"There's this movie. Dark City. Which is sort of about who and what we are. If we're our memories, or something less defined, less definable. But memories make us the people we are, I think. The experiences we have, which are kept in those memories. I'm as much Franklin Nelson as anyone else with these memories."

It's enough for him.

"And knowing that? You should trust that if that happens, big if, and if you are the individual to experience them, you have your reasons and they make sense to you."

It sounded fantastic in theory but it still left a little hole in Wanda's chest. "By that logic, I'm not the Wanda Maximoff from home. I've been here too long and those experiences and memories have changed me." She doubted that she'd be recognized as the same young woman who had joined the Avengers all those years ago.

She didn't feel like the same person.

"But-" Her mouth twitched into a light smile. "Maybe that's a good thing too. I've gotten stronger here." In ways that she hadn't really expected.

"You're not Wanda from home. You can't be. You're Wanda from home with more experiences on top of that. Every morning we're born someone new and that person dies each night when we sleep, only to be born again. We can, if we choose, be a phoenix of ourselves every day."

It's surprisingly poetic, even for Foggy, but maybe the music is bringing it out of him.

She smiled and for the first time in months, she felt a little bit better. She still missed Clint and felt his absents in the village but she was going to go on being herself, like she always did.

"Thanks. It's actually nice to hear that." Also to hear someone with such a chipper attitude. "Are you sure you don't have a request? I think you've earned it."

"Nah. All the songs I can think of will just make me think of people who I don't have anymore. Or are probably too obscure." And he doesn't need to be thinking of the past right now. "How about, the next person who makes a request, you play for them. For me."

Wanda laughed, the sound low and warm. "Okay. I'll do that." She wanted to show him how thankful she was to have run into him. Wanda has met a lot of people here but no one has made as much sense as Foggy. It was nice to have someone to help ground her since Clint's disappearance.

"If you need help with anything. Let me know." Her fingers skillfully flicked over the tight cords of the ukulele. "I feel like I owe you."

"Nah, you don't owe me anything. I'm a lawyer, trust me, I'm very good at working out who owes what to whom." He gives her another warm smile.

"Good to know." Her fingers strummed again. Wanda didn't know what she was playing but she began to fall into another song originally written by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was only the chorus because Wanda didn't know the whole song but it was catchy.

There were things that she needed to short out but Wanda felt like she was on a more firm path now. She'd made up her mind and now she just needed to stick to it.

"I've met a few politicians, not many layers." She glanced up at Foggy with a small smile. "You seem too nice."

Foggy starts to hum along without thinking, because he knows this song. This song was part of his growing up. "Personally, I am too nice. Way too nice. Fatal character flaw. Professionally? Not the same. I'm fighting for other people. It's easier if you like them and understand their reasons, but regardless, it's what I signed up for. The system cannot work if people don't get fair defence."

"I can understand that." Wanda continued to play the notes of the song, trying to figure out the parts that she'd forgotten through playing. "It's easier to be strong when someone is relying on you."

She glanced up at him before shifting her gaze back down to her fingers. "I used to fight for others." Wanda paused and then added. "Not that I don't know but it's a little different here."

"Yeah, it is." It's what's keeping him together right now. He needs to keep it together and get Matt mobile and confident with coming and going.

"Different sort of fight." Different things.

"Yeah." Wanda looked out the window of the inn and noticed the stark darkness of the evening fading into night. She exhaled a tired breath and shook her head. "I should go. I have a dog at home that'll whine if I'm late."

She met Foggy with a warm smile. "It was nice to meet you. I hope we can talk more soon."

"Pets are demanding things," Foggy agrees absently. "Go, look after your dog. We'll catch up again soon, I have no doubt. This place doesn't have that many people in it."

"They can be. Arado was given to me when a good friend disappeared. I think he's worried that I'll do the same." The dog had been in the village longer than most of its people and has experienced two previous owners disappearing. Wanda understood the nervous sensation and generally allowed Arado to follow her around. She had insisted he stayed home after hurting his paw but he wouldn't stay down for long.

"I'll see you soon. I'm sure."

Wanda rose to her feet, her mouth curving into a warm smile. She kept the ukulele in her hand and headed towards the inn's door.

004 - Hellos [CLOSED]

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