Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 29: Awkward!

It was safe to say that Wanda and Claire avoided seeing each other for the rest of the day if they could help it, a fact with which Jemma understood but disapproved of, so she devised a scheme to get them talking. As the day turned into late evening, Jemma gathered Wanda from her room (after she washed her face) and led her into the dining room to join the rest of the team for dinner. Everyone was already there, laughing and joking around like normal, but when Wanda walked into the room, her eyes naturally found their way to Claire's and the awkwardness settled into the room once more.

The chatter died down and the team shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Wanda struck up a quiet conversation with Jemma, keeping herself from looking in Claire's direction; which was easier said than done, considering that by the time that Jemma grabbed Wanda from her room, the only open spots at the table were in between Claire and Steve. Not wanting to subject Wanda to anymore awkwardness, she volunteered to take the seat next to Claire, leaving Wanda to sit next to the Star Spangled Man with a Plan himself.

"Jemma, could you pass me the potatoes, please?" Wanda asked keeping her Sokovian accented voice soft and low. Jemma gave her a sly smirk and looked over at Claire, nudging her with her elbow.

"Claire, could you pass the potatoes to Wanda?" Claire stiffened in her seat before she whimpered out an okay. With shaking hands, she grabbed the ceramic bowl the potatoes were in, and handed it to Wanda. Her breath hitched as the brunette's fingertips grazed her own as she took the bowl. She hoped—she prayed—that Wanda didn't hear her, though it didn't matter because Wanda inhaled sharply at the touch.

"Thank you," Wanda mumbled when Claire's hands let go of the bowl. Claire nodded her head in acknowledgement and went back to eating her food in silence. The rest of the dinner proceeded in a similar fashion and before long, one by one people left the table to escape the growing suffocation of the tension between the two young women.

After dinner came to an uncomfortable end, Claire walked back to her room, shutting and locking the door behind her. Walking over to her small desk, she took the old laptop that sat on top and carried it over to her bed. She sat on the bed, leaning her back against the wall and opening Skype. Steve had told her weeks ago that Bucky was out of cryo and living in Wakanda, but she's never had the nerve to talk to him...until now. She was still angry at him for not telling her that he planned to freeze himself again, though she admitted she needed someone to talk to, someone to give advice; and for someone who didn't have many wise figures in his life, Bucky gave good advice, though he tended to not listen to it.

She waited patiently for Bucky to accept her call, already second guessing the whole thing. It's probably like 3:00am or something over there. What was I thinking, he doesn't want to talk to me. Just as she was about to hang up, the screen blinked, and Bucky's bearded face appeared on the screen and he smiled.

"Hey, Claire Bear," he greeted her, sending her a bright smile. Claire returned it as best she could and chuckled at his little man bun.

"Hey, Bicky. How's Wakanda?" Bucky rolled his eyes at his lame nickname, chuckling at her. She hadn't changed.

"Wakanda's okay. Wish you were here though. It feels weird without you." He took a brief pause before he let out a loud sigh and began again. "I'm really glad you called, Claire. I really missed you."

"Yeah, well, you would've heard from me sooner had you not frozen yourself, you asshat," Claire said, her voice light and playful though she meant every word. She rubbed her nose and ran a quick finger by her eye, wiping the new tear that started to form. Bucky's smile disappeared and he looked...sad.