The Other Symbiote

A Little Party...

Raiva woke to the overpowering smell of mint shampoo, looking down and seeing Wanda's wet hair sticking to her chest.

"Morning." Raiva blinked her eyes and saw Wanda smiling softly at her, looking back down at her phone and smiling slightly wider.

"You're smile is beautiful, Mina."

"What does that mean?"

Raiva chuckled sheepishly and lightly pecked Wanda's soft lips. "Cherry, huh? Tastes good."

"Oh does it now?" Wanda scrunched her nose and smiled, which Raiva found irresistible.

*Whilst I'm utterly loving the effect she has on us, I'm incredibly hungry.* Wanda chuckled softly.

"What's funny, Maximoff?"

"Sorry. When I'm touching someone or in close proximity, I can hear people's thoughts. Including a special symbiote." She teased, scrunching Raiva's tank top in her hand.

"Well dang." Raiva was clearly flustered but smiled as she heard Wanda's heart quicken.

"Well, you heard the parasite. Let's eat."
*I AM NOT A PARASITE.*

"No wonder you two have a mutualistic relationship. You're almost the same, but also opposites."

"Care to elaborate?" Raiva asked whilst digging around in the cupboard for red frogs.

"Nemesis claims that she isn't a parasite, which you playfully tease her with. Whilst you claim you are a monster when everyone tells you that you're not." Wanda didn't know the full extent of her words and was interrupted from knowing as Nat entered the room.

"Hey auntie."

"Mm." Nat didn't function without a morning coffee, which is why she walked straight to the coffee machine. Raiva didn't even notice the group of Avengers sitting at the table, all eating breakfast and chatting cohesively.

"Well, isn't this a sight for sore eyes?" Thor laughed at her quip, inviting her to sit down next to him. "Happy 19th birthday, Lady Raiva." He carefully clapped her on the back and she chuckled.

"Thor, you only have to be careful with your footsteps, not your strength. I can handle that part. But, thank you."

"Wait, that means you can drink!" Nat cried happily.

"Well, only in Spain. And a few other countries, like Australia. I could have been drinking last year but oh well." She picked out a plate from the end of the table and loaded it with toast, eggs, bacon, mushrooms and sausages.

Apparently, you could eat sausages for breakfast. Raiva wasn't complaining though, digging into her food. "Easy, Rai. We don't want you to choke."

"Or maybe we do."

Raiva almost did so when Wanda's whisper hit her ears, her eyes widening at the brunette. *You devilish witch.* Wanda scrunched her nose and Raiva relaxed, the simple action calming her.

Nat saw the interaction and laughed under her breath, knowing Raiva could hear her. "Did she say what I think she said?" Raiva pulled her fork up to her head, subtly nodding to the Russian.

She accidentally clamped down too hard on the fork and ended up eating it, hearing Nemesis grumble happily at the substance. "Good job, Nemesis." The others echoed laughs and chuckled before she went to retrieve another fork.

Her distracted state gave the others enough time to pull out their gifts that were hidden around the corner, with Vision and Wanda distributing them quickly. As Raiva turned around, she dropped the replacement fork on to the tiles.

"You guys!" She saw that each of them had two gifts in their hands. "We missed last year, so we thought we'd make it up to you this year." Nat placed her neatly wrapped presents on the table and hugging her niece.

"You didn't have to." "Yes, we did." Murmurs of agreement echoed Tony's words before he gestured for her to sit down. She carefully obliged and Pietro quickly cleared the table.

"Mine first." He asked and he slid the presents across the table to her. "You didn't have to get me two - you've only known for... 2 weeks?" "He wanted to." Nat shrugged at Raiva and she responded with her one.

She carefully opened the presents and smiled at the first one. "A voucher at my favourite tattoo shop! How'd you find out?"

"A certain species of spider may have slid a piece of paper with its name to me."

The other one contained many, many bags of red frogs, almost $50 worth. "At least we won't starve anytime soon." She opened Steve's, Bruce's, Clint's and Thor's, each giving her some oversized hoodies, a new lab coat, some snack arrow blueprints and a small Asgardian helmet.

She moved to Tony and he slid her two small boxes. She opened one and saw a smart watch which lit up with FRIDAY on it.

"This way we can watch your vital signs regularly and see when your about to lose control or when you need energy."

The other one contained a set of high-tech earbuds that fit perfectly into her ears.

"That same species of spider may have told me that you broke your old pair. I quickly put together some designs and FRIDAY printed them this morning."

The matte blue design with iridescent indigo lines made them look beautiful, matching her style immediately. "There's also one more present from me but it's for later tonight."

"What's happening tonight?"

"Little niece. What's a birthday without a party?" Nat smirked as Raiva blushed at the lavish gesture - a party, dedicated to her and her only.

Wanda moved next to her with Vision also moving slightly with her. She placed her hand on Raiva's thigh softly and slid the presents over with her free hand.

"Happy birthday." She whispered, watching contently as Raiva's eyes gleamed at the contents of the wrapping.

"You saw me trying yours on, didn't you?"

"Yep. Caught you red handed but I didn't say a word." A box of golden rings with a variety of designs and jewels.

"Tony paid for it, but I designed them. I may or may not have measured your fingers once or twice whilst you slept."

Raiva chuckled lightly and put a few on, involving a solid band, a weaving one and one with a small sapphire, placing it on her right ring finger. She soon had one on every finger except for her left ring finger as she was saving that one for a special occasion.

She turned to the other present and opened it to find a couple of bottles of Wanda's signature perfume, the smell that Raiva told her she adored.

"Now you won't ever be without me." She lightly pecked her girlfriend's lips before her aunt stepped forward, the last but most significant to give her presents.

The sleek paper covered two boxes, with Raiva flicking out a claw to carefully cut through the layer of paper. She retracted the deadly weapon and opened one of the boxes to find a tattoo gun and some coloured inks, causing her to smile and open the next one.

Raiva was shocked, to say the least. A small syringe had a green coloured liquid which matched the shade of her eyes and she looked up. "Is this...?"

"Yep. Tony made FRIDAY run variation after variation until it finally worked. You have your serum sitting in front of you."

Raiva began to cry and Nemesis emerged from her back. "Rai, it's just a syringe."

"It contains the key to you living without me for more than 24 hours. This is the solution I've searched for... for five years. Now we don't have to worry like Dad and V."

She carefully covered the boxes and moved swiftly over the table to hug her aunt tightly. "Okay, that's enough. Wanda, let's go." The witch nodded and grabbed a small bag that hung on a coat rack nearby.

"Um, where are we going?"

"To get ready for tonight. Tony's final gift. I'm not letting you wear that."

"What's wrong with my pyjamas?!"