Flufftober 2023

It should, in theory, be a perfect day. The sky is perfectly clear, there is no impending doom to attend to, and it’s Halloween weekend. The whole Avengers team is even getting along, an event so rare that Vision nearly calls it a miracle in spite of his own steadfast belief that there are no such things as miracles.

It should be a perfect day, except that Vision is horribly confused.

Steve decided to take advantage of the high spirits and take the team out to a field in the midwest for what he called “festivities.” Vision adores festivities. However, upon arrival, the rest of the team seem less than amused.

“Where are we?”

“The best haunted corn maze in America,” Steve grins.

“Um,” Sam starts, then pauses.

“And you’re imagining that we’ll… wander aimlessly through a corn maze?” Tony raises an eyebrow, his arms crossed.

“Not aimlessly,” Steve corrects him. “With purpose.”

“I know you’re trying to relive the good ol’ days, grandpa, but I was really imagining something more like a rager,” Tony counters.

“Maybe we shouldn’t let Steve plan team bonding,” Nat mutters under her breath, ostensibly to Wanda, though Vision can overhear.

“This is a real treat, alright? It’s run by a family of actual witches,” Steve grins. “And I’ll have you know that I did come here as a kid. My parents drove me out on the only road trip we took, and… I’ll just say that it’s definitely run by the same woman.”

“Alright, counter point,” Sam says. “Witches aren’t a real thing.”

“Explain Maximoff, then,” Tony shrugs.

“She had some alien tech that gave her wiggly woos or whatever.”

“Loki? Thor? However the hell Vision came to life?” Nat asks.

“Or maybe Steve’s pranking us,” Wanda rolls her eyes.

“Hot topic,” Steve grins. “I’ll let you wonder. But let it be known that this beast is terrifying enough to serve as training and team bonding.”

Everyone grumbles and sits at the picnic tables nearby, sharing miscellaneous snacks and chatting amongst themselves. The mood already seems lighter, and Vision wonders if maybe this is an instance of everyone sarcastically giving Steve a hard time.

He ponders until Wanda sits beside him with a container of popcorn, at which point Vision gladly gives up on thinking about anything but Wanda.

“They bicker like children,” Wanda chuckles, scooting toward him until the side of her thigh is flush against his.

“Indeed,” Vision hums. “This activity does seem rather… odd, though. Is this a standard festivity?”

“Don’t ask me,” she shrugs. “This feels very American. They have some weird ass traditions over here. And a lot more corn.”

“Peculiar,” he laughs.

“Could be fun. Especially if Steve is serious about the witches.”

“Ah, yes. Witches.”

“Do you believe in witches?” Wanda asks, her mouth curling into a smirk.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think magic is real, necessarily. But there are things I don’t quite comprehend, such as why I’m alive or how your powers work. On the other hand, both of those things can easily be explained as advanced alien technology.”

“Does the idea of magic scare you?” Wanda teases.

“Hm. It confuses me, I suppose. And inspires some existential terror. So, yes. I am frightened of phenomena I can’t comprehend.”

“And…” she rests her hand midway up his thigh. His breath catches, because his breath always catches when she touches him. “Do you like that?”

Something about her tone seems like she may not be asking about magic.

“Um. Can you elaborate?”

“Fear. Do you… enjoy it?”

“Am I supposed to? I’m admittedly a little confused about why humans try to induce terror on this holiday.”

“Same reason people like roller coasters,” she looks up at him and smiles, her thumb drawing little circles on his leg. “The adrenaline rush makes your body react. Quickened heartbeat, shallow breaths, an acute awareness of your whole body. You know…”

Wanda bites her lip and Vision has never seen this look in her eyes outside of very private contexts. (He would say outside of the bedroom, but they admittedly have quite varied location preferences.)

“Do you like it?”

Vision nods quietly and swallows hard, his body alight for a completely different reason.

“Me, too,” Wanda winks. Vision thinks he could faint.

The sky suddenly blackens and a loud clap of thunder startles him out of his daze.

“It’s time,” Steve says, standing in front of them. “There are enough entrances that you can all go in alone, for maximum terror.”

“Pretty sure that’s not bonding,” Tony chides.

“Oh, stuff it,” Steve replies, tossing a crumpled napkin in Tony’s general direction.

Wanda gives Vision a quick kiss on the cheek before giggling and sauntering away toward her designated entrance. Vision stands up and stumbles a little, trying very, very hard to hide how much he’s staring at her.

The thunder rumbles once more and Vision recalls the weather reports, which have been nothing but clear. He quickly pulls weather data from the area and… every source says it should be clear skies. Huh.

He starts walking. It’s weird. The rustle of the corn stalks is a little disconcerting, for some reason, and everything else is eerily silent. Whatever, he tells himself. It’s rather silly to be afraid of this, especially knowing that it’s intentionally engineered to induce fear. Nothing will actually hurt him.

But lightning strikes two feet in front of him and he jumps, a tiny yelp escaping his throat as he does. With a few deep breaths, Vision gathers himself enough to keep walking. The terrain is a bit uneven, but it’s nothing unmanageable.

A familiar warmth prods at his brain and he smiles to himself. Wanda’s voice in his head is much preferable to bumbling around a corn maze by himself.

Enjoying yourself? Wanda projects, and he can practically hear the smirk in her thought voice.

More or less, he replies. I’m not sure I find this ‘fun,’ necessarily.

Oh, good. I’m bored out of my fucking mind.

Vision chuckles, until he feels the familiar and intense sensation of Wanda’s fingertips running along his collarbones.

Wanna entertain me?

Oh, god, he thinks to himself, his pulse already audible in his head.

I heard that, she counters. The telepathic imprint of her hand travels down his chest, and she’s so good at that. Vision doesn’t have nearly the same amount of control over the link, and as much as he’d like to return the favor, he’s not, like… complaining.

So… is your brain quiet because you want me to stop, or are you turned on?

The latter. Definitely the latter.

Vision walks along the dirt trail mindlessly, choosing the left fork in the path arbitrarily. His stomach is in knots. Wanda’s hands are slowly drifting south. All of the blood in his body follows.

Think you can stay quiet for me, Vis?

I’ll do my best.

You better.

Vision is a little afraid of inclement weather that he cannot explain. Vision is not remotely afraid of telepathic handjobs that he cannot explain.

He stops in his tracks as he feels Wanda’s warm hand wrap firmly around the base of his cock. Frantically, he searches for something, anything to grab onto to steady himself. But there is nothing but corn. Stupid fucking corn stalks.

You need to keep walking.

Wanda’s hand moves. Vision’s legs do not.

Vis, baby, the longer you stay still, the longer we’ll have to wait until we get home.

Oh. Fuck. Yeah. Right. Okay. Vision puts one foot in front of the other, focusing all of his energy on the process of walking. Wanda’s phantom hand twists at his favorite spot and he stifles a moan.

I don’t know if I can—

Thunder booms overhead again and this time, the spike in blood pressure seems to go straight to his erection. Weird. Vision doesn’t really have the brainpower to think about why that might be happening, but he’s having fun and throbbing with need, so… that’s all he really cares about right now.

Keep walking, Wanda’s voice warns, low and stern.

Right. Vision also cares about walking.

The corn stalks move of their own accord and Vision stumbles forward, trying to pick a direction. Wanda’s telepathic hand flexes around his throat as she lazily strokes him.

And then, in a flash of light, a white figure jumps out in front of him. Vision shrieks as a wave of both alarm and utter embarrassment at being caught wash over him, until whatever, whoever it was fades right through him, practically immaterial, and disappears. His heart thuds, but something about the sharp spike of emotional and physical arousal makes Wanda’s touch all the more intense.

He stands still and tentatively reaches in between his own legs, wondering if the sensation might continue getting more and more overwhelming.

Hands off, Wanda whispers.

Vision whimpers aloud. He can almost feel Wanda’s breath on his neck as she chuckles in his head.

You’re very close to the end, she adds.

Fuck. That’s not good. He can’t just stagger out of this maze with a dazed look and a throbbing erection. Please. I need…

When we get home, Wanda whispers, and the feeling of her touch disappears entirely.

Oh, god.

If you get yourself off, I’m not letting you touch me.

Wanda…

Yes, my love?

Where are you? Can we try to sneak away?

I’d much prefer you take that impatience out on me later.

He takes a few deep breaths and forces himself to keep moving, unphased by the remaining jump scares because he sincerely can only think about Wanda.

Then, he hears laughter. He follows the noise until he makes it out of the maze, eyes more or less totally glazed over.

The dissonance is jarring. Steve, Nat, and Sam are joking about Tony taking forever, while Wanda approaches Vision and loops her arm in his, grinning.

“You look like you saw a ghost, dude,” Sam laughs as Wanda tugs Vision to sit with the group. “Steve’s ridiculous haunted corn maze scared you?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even know you could look pale like that,” Nat adds in the sarcastic but loving tone he’s grown to expect from her.

“Uh,” Vision coughs, trying very hard to remember how to speak coherently. “Yes. It’s… fear.”

“See?” Steve raises his eyebrows pointedly at Sam and Nat. “I told you guys this was scary.”

Wanda rests her hand on Vision’s thigh under the table and he nearly chokes on his own tongue. Absolutely everything about this is profoundly inconvenient and he’s… sort of loving it. There’s something sort of thrilling about keeping secrets (even when said secret is causing his pants to feel way too tight).

“Terrifying,” Vision nods quietly, trying to hide the strain in his voice.

“Exhilarating, though,” Wanda adds with a squeeze to his thigh under the table.

Natasha looks like she’s stifling a laugh, her gaze flitting between Wanda and Vision like she knows something she shouldn’t. He wonders if he’s horrifically obvious.

You are, Wanda’s voice rings in his head.

I’ll be getting you back for this, he replies—-and fuck, does he mean it. Vision is preparing a revenge plot and a thoroughly perfect night.