deercountry | ( wow this sand is so quick!! )

[ quietly, ] And now you have jinxed it to include cave ghosts.

[ while wanda would like to meet a ghost one day, she's not too sure if she'd like to see one in these caves. she clears her throat gently and hears it reverberate strangely around them. ]

Did you want one? [ she gestures to the ball of red light in her hand. ]

What?

( that question catches him off guard and he stops and looks at the ball of red above her hand. )

Don't know if it escaped your notice but I don't do magic so I can't really corral it either.

[ she chuckles. ] That's why I do the magic.

[ as if to show him, she wiggles her fingers and makes that ball grow slowly in size. it expands gently like it's a blooming flower before it becomes smaller until it's the size of a golf ball. ]

You just do the holding. [ she smiles at him. ] It won't bite too hard.

It better not bite me at all or I'll throw it at you.

( but, after some thought, he holds his hand out. )

All right, come on. Do your magic and let me hold this thing.

[ she stops walking. wanda observes his open hand for a moment before she assesses her own. the red ball glows and hovers above her open palm like a nest of fireflies. with a gentle wiggle of her fingers, it grows a little in size to that of a tennis ball. ]

Hold still.

[ she gently pushes it over to amos where it hovers over his open palm, barely brushing against his lifelines. ]

All you have to do is keep your hand open and wrist relaxed. It will stay with you.

( amos does as she asks, holding his palm out and watching as she transfers the ball of magic over to his hand. his fingers twitch a bit when it's there and then he looks over at her. )

If this thing eats my hand, I'm really gonna be mad.

( but he sighs and nods before he starts walking again. )

Come on, let's see what we can find.

[ she chuckles. ]

It will only be the tiniest nibble.

[ she scrunches up her nose. following him, she manipulates a new ball to appear in the palm of her hand. this time, hers slithers like a snake along her fingers, stretching long and nibbling at her nails.

yes, wanda's showing off while appearing very nonchalant. ]

I hate you.

( why does he even hang around her? he doesn't know the ansewr to that question but he doesn't have a lot of friends left so.

maybe he needs someone. )

Quit showing off unless that magic of yours can conjure us a map.

[ wanda stops walking.

she doesn't offer him her ball of light. she removes her hand and it remains hovering beside her, glowing bright and small. wanda wrinkles her nose as she regards the dark tunnel ahead before she lifts her hands and points the index on her right hand. it's like she's wagging her finger back and forth, but as she does that, something stringy-like and rectangular appears in red before them.

the map she produces appears like a child drew it with wobbly lines and circles. ]

That is all I can see.

Better than anything else I've seen.

( he peers at it and tries to make heads or tails of it but there's really nothing to indicate which way to go. he waves his hand through the magic and sighs. )

Come on, let's just keep going this way. It hasn't tried to kill us yet.

[ she doesn't think to rebuff him. dissolving the map as if she's rolled it up and slipped it into her pocket, she follows him a quarter of a step behind. her magic continues to trail over her fingers as if it's a small snake. ]

Do you think it will?

[ she regards him a touch nervously. ]

I don't think this is going to be any walk in the park.

( hopefully it would just be a dirty walk and not a deadly one. )

We'll be okay. We'll figure out how to get out of here and then we can shower.

[ his optimism is refreshing, especially since he's such a realist.

wanda wants to believe they'll get out of here, too.

she arches her brow and smiles at him. she wants to tease him, and she'll concoct something in just a short moment. ]

As much as I enjoy your company, I like to shower by myself. Much singing is had with the shampoo bottle.

I wasn't offering to join you, don't worry.

( would he mind? no, but he wasn't offering. he doesn't want to be seen as some weirdo. )

Come on, we should probably just keep walking straight. This thing has to end at some point.

[ too late ]

Is that what you do when you are lost in space? Float straight?

[ she isn't asking to be shady. she's genuinely curious. does walking straight mean they have a higher chance of getting out of here? she hopes so. she hopes they find a pocket that feels weak and she can use to teleport out. ]

We don't get lost.

( that was a lie but it was very hard to get lost, really. )

We have communication and radar and such that makes sure we don't end up floating aimlessly in space.

Is that what you think we need?

[ she glances at him before peering up at the high and dank ceiling. ]

If we get lost...

[ technically, she should be able to find him. but if she's unable to magic her way out, then perhaps her telepathy is muted, too. ]

If we're not already lost, then we're not going to get lost. We just stick together until we figure out how to get out of here. If we got in here, there has to be a way out.

( only logical, right? )

How am I being the optimist this time?

[ she can't help but chuckle. he's not wrong. wanda's often the one spurting the positive motivational speeches, but she's finding her lack of connection to the trench at large has her a little more worried and a touch more paranoid than before.

she shrugs and teases, ] I thought it was good for our relationship. Swapping roles from time to time is character building.

Our relationship?

( that word's always made him...uncomfortable. he's had relationships but every single person he's gotten close to has just left. he doesn't know if he can handle it again. )

What are our usual roles, then?

You [ she points at him. ] are grumpy and pessimistic. I [ she points at herself and smiles glamorously. ] am the pretty and positive one. I bring many things to the relationship.

[ the implication is that he brings nothing, which is hardly true. but given where they are and wanda's desire to tease, well... ]

What relationship is that?

( he's going to make her define that because he has no idea what kind of relationship they are. )

You keep using that word to describe...what?

[ she furrows her brows, but wanda still looks amused. ]

Is that not what a friendship is? A relationship?

[ that's how it's always been explained to her. it's what vision had referred to their acquaintanceship, then their friendship, and then their romance. all of it is a relationship, isn't it? as someone who isn't a native english speaker, it simplifies a lot for her. ]

I just always heard it called a friendship and not a relationship.

( relationship just had a different connotation for him. he shrugs. )

Come on, it's not a big deal. Let's keep moving. No need to have conversations like that.

[ "it's not a big deal" is just asking for it. you did this to yourself, amos. ]

Is that not what it is?

[ she continues to furrow her brows. vision would never lead her astray—it's nearly impossible given he wears his heart on his sleeve (in his case, literally on his forehead) and is so literal it's hilarious at times. ]

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