There was a lull in their light and pleasant lunch conversation, and instead of feeling awkward or the suddenly urge to fill the silence with something, Wanda found herself just… staring at him. Staring and smiling. It made her stop and think for a moment because, although she had no idea what her own smile looked like, it felt… like how she used to smile at Vision.
It didn’t surprise her, given how she now realized she’d been feeling for some time about Stephen, but she’d only just now become aware of it. That was how it had happened with Vision, too. One day she just… knew. She cared for him.
Her cheeks took on a subtle shade of pink. “You’re staring at me, Stephen,” she said, not at all annoyed by it. No, in fact, her smile still remained as she told him so, and she bit her bottom lip playfully. It felt good… to care for someone like this again.
“Well, good. You deserve to smile more, after everything that’s happened,” she said, but as soon as she did, her smile faded into something a bit more serious. “I really mean that. None of us would be here right now if it weren’t for you. I know that many others had a hand in it as well, but… I wouldn’t even be here right now if you hadn’t done what you did.” She swallowed hard. “I just want to see you smilenow. That’s all I want. Because there’s been too much pain otherwise. You know…?”
Wanda shook her head, trying to shake off the wave of reminiscence that had threatened to bring her down. “Sorry,” she said with an awkward smile. “I was almost a bit of a date-ruiner right just then.” Chuckling at herself, she turned to the food. It was hard for her to leave everything at home and unburden herself sometimes, but when she was with Stephen, she found it much easier to change the subject to something lighter. “But for the record, I likeyour grouchy-sorcerer-self. It’s cute. A lot cuter than I think you are aware.” She could hardly contain her grin after that comment. “Your reputation is safe with me, though.”
She laughed even more at herself when she saw Stephen’s reaction to her trying to jalapeno poppers. “No, I haven’t! I guess I don’t get out much.” her grin widened and she bit her lip, tilting her head at him. “Adorable? Really? Okay, so it’s going to be that kind of date,” she teased… and she was loving every minute of it. “They really are good. These are pretty common around here, then, I am to assume?” Judging by his reaction, that was the only sensible conclusion. What other wonderful foods was she missing out on?
“So what’s something you know how to cook that’s a popular New York dish? And mind you, I am just distracting you so I get to eat more of these,” she joked, taking another popper. The real reason was that she loved to learn more about him and could listen to him speak in that wonderful voice of his all night long.
