A Stab at Normal (Maximoff Twins)

- 2 -

When Pietro got home the next night, he found one of Wanda's glittery sticky notes on the table, saying she went out and would be back soon. He started boiling some water for pasta and sat at the table for a while.

He got up to put the pasta in the pot when Wanda came running in the door.

"You'll never guess what happened!" She threw her coat on the couch and took a bottle of water from the fridge.

"I'd try, but I have a feeling you'll just tell me anyway" He teased. She shot a playful glare at him.

"You know that bookstore across the street?" She sat down at the table.

"You're second home?" He smirked.

"Yeah, that one. Ally, the American owner, hired a new..." She trailed off and looked up. "Intern? Is that the right word?"

"I don't know, you haven't finished your sentence" He chuckled. She sighed.

"We're gonna go with 'intern'. Anyway, he goes the Crystal River and offered to show us around" She smiled.

"You seem a little too excited for a tour guide."

"Well, he may or may not have given me a few free books" She grinned as Pietro rolled his eyes.

"Have you eaten?"

"Nope, no time" She pulled a shopping bag from underneath the table. 

"Yes, time." He said pointedly, stirring the pot on the stove. She dumped the contents of the bag on the table, making him sigh. The table was now covered in all sorts of pens, pencils, and notebooks.

"I know you don't like pens, but these ones are erasable. I got you pencils too, though, in case you don't like them. I don't know why, you never take notes anyway." She rolled her eyes.

"That's what I have you for," He said, taking two plates out of the cupboard.

"Mhm," She took out two pencil cases and started sorting all the supplies. She filled a glittery black and red case with all sorts of colored pens for her and a pencil just in case. She filled a shiny blue one filled with blue and black erasable pens and a few pencils for Pietro.

"Did we really need all these notebooks?" Pietro asked as he set a plate of spaghetti in front of her. 

"Yes," She replied simply, "But I only got you one, since you never use them, but if you need to you can use one of mine." She took out five red notebooks and started drawing patterns on the covers in black Sharpie. Pietro picked up the bright blue one beside and flipped through it. 

"It matches your eyes" Wanda looked up at him and smiled. He rolled his eyes.

"Eat, Wanda," He told her, spinning the pasta around the fork on his own plate.

"No, that's okay. You can have it and I'll eat tomorrow" He sighed. She had always had a hard time eating. They didn't give them much to eat during the experiments, and so she was used to not eating. 

"Please, Wanda, you need to eat."

"You need more food than me anyway. I promise I'll eat tomorrow morning" She said, not looking up from the book she was drawing on.

"I'm holding you to that," He said, sliding her plate toward him. 

"I'm fine with that"

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Pietro woke up that night to an ear-piercing scream. He sat up and looked around. Realizing it was Wanda screaming, he jumped up and sped over to her room. He looked around, he didn't see any threats, but Wanda was thrashing around in her bed.

"Wanda," He sat next to her and tried to shake her awake. "Sestra, wake up" She bolted upright and her hands flew to her mouth. She looked around frantically until her gaze landed on her brother. 

"Hey," He wrapped his arms around her and she clung to him. "You're okay" She shook her head.

"No, no it's not okay," She said quickly.

"Wanda, calm down, okay? You're fine" He stroked her hair. She took a deep breath. "What's wrong?" He wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"They're here!" She cried. "They found us, they're going to take us back!"

"Shh, hey. They aren't here. You were dreaming. And as long as I'm here they won't ever take us back. I told you I would protect you." He hugged her again, rubbing her back. He didn't let go until her breathing evened. 

"Are you okay?" He asked gently. She nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" He shook his head.

"It's not something you can control. I'm sorry I can't stop your nightmares" He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked over at the digital clock on her nightstand. It was almost four in the morning. 

"You should go back to sleep," She said.

"So should you" She shook her head. He moved so she could lay down. "Get some rest" She sighed and laid down. He kissed her forehead before going back to his own room. He was only laying there for a little while before he felt the bed dip beside him. He opened his eyes to find Wanda curled up next him. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him, away from the edge. It was clear she didn't want to disturb him, but he really didn't mind.

He noticed she was just laying there, eyes wide open. "Sleep, Sestra. I'll be here when you wake up." He whispered. He watched her fall asleep before drifting off himself.

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Hey guys! By the way, I'm using Czech as Sokovian (their native language) and 'Sestra' means sister. I didn't think this was too bad, but:

Let me know what you think!

Talk later,

-Harmony✨