This Is Stella's Reality

July 28, 2015

"So, how did you rendezvous with Steven go?" Loki asked as he sipped a steaming cup of herbal tea. His fingers flicked through the pages of a worn book on alchemy.

I sighed, "Better than I expected." My hand held a sharp knife, mincing herbs and mashing blackberries to prepare for jam.

He hummed in response as Bucky walked in from the garden, carrying more herbs for me to toss into the soon to be bubbling pot of fruit and sugar.

"She looks lost out there," Bucky said to either Loki or I. Wanda was in the garden picking herbs to try her hand at potion making once more.

Loki huffed and stood, walking out the back door to find Wanda.

It was bright today. The sun was shining after the previous night's storm. It glittered off the dew that still clung to the grass, and the cloud overhead passed us by quickly with the breeze guiding them along.

Bucky washed the mint and other herbs off and placed them on my cutting board. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "We should make some brioche to eat with the jam," he commented.

I smiled and nodded. "Maybe we could invite Steve over for breakfast tomorrow and eat it together."

He smiled a bit sadly but agreed. "I think that'll be good for us," he mumbled. "We can ask Maximoff to tell him."

"She is quite the disaster," Loki said loudly as he waltzed through the door. He washed his hands in the sink and scoffed. "Don't try the potion she'll be making. I'm sure it'll be poisonous."

I laughed. "I'm sure my first few were just as disappointing to you."

He looked at me with wide eyes and shook his head gravely. "Never like this, goddess."

Just then, Wanda walked through the door. She was covered in dust and a thin layer of dirt. Her arms were weighed down with a basket stuffed with herbs of every kind.

Looking at her ingredients, I had no clue what she was trying to make. She disappeared again to go back outside, seemingly forgetting something.

"What were we talking about?" Loki asked. "Ah, Steve."

I huffed a laugh and looked up at Bucky who was shaking his head. "It was okay," I sighed. "We didn't really get anywhere. He said he was sorry which I already knew. I couldn't forgive him, but I don't hate him."

Bucky was nodding in silent agreement. "We'll keep working. I don't want to strangle him anymore, so baby steps."

"Baby steps," Loki echoed. "Well, I'm certainly glad he won't be moping around the compound so often. His thoughts are quite distracting. He seemed a bit lighter today."

Breakfast tomorrow would be good for him. He can see the sunroom in the daylight, and we could go on a walk around the island.

Maybe he'll smile and laugh. Maybe we can hold hands. Maybe the three of us can be a little normal.

I smiled at the thought and turned back to my blackberries. They crushed easily under the weight of my knife.

Their purple juices dripped from the blade and over my fingernails, surely staining my skin as well. I looked up at Bucky to laugh about it, but he wasn't there anymore.

Loki wasn't there either.

And when I looked out the window to find Wanda. Her herbs laid abandoned in the grass.

There was a swift knock at the door. My heart hammered, and blindly, I summoned my magic in black swirling poison around my hand which I hid behind my back.