Flufftober 2023

The winter holidays are rolling in, and Steve has announced a new policy on taking time off—namely, that everybody has two weeks off for December, whether or not they request it. Wanda takes the first two weeks off and opts to work for the second two weeks, since she more or less observes Hanukkah and very much doesn’t observe Christmas.

(Every fact Vision learns about her feels like sacred knowledge.)

On the eve of her first vacation day, Wanda invites Vision over for movie night. It’s a routine they have, and one Vision cherishes like nothing else. Each time, they’ve migrated further up the bed, eventually sitting beside one another leaned against the headboard in a position that makes Vision think intensely about holding her hand.

He settles in beside her tonight as he often does, and the pull toward her hand is persistent as always.

“What are we watching tonight?”

“I pulled out some holiday movies,” Wanda smiles. “I always love winter. I’m not totally sure why, but I find it all soothing.”

“I’m excited to learn what you love about it.”

“You’re cute,” she laughs, and Vision feels like he might float away. She certainly doesn’t mean it that way, but… it’s nice to dream.

“Oh my god, Vision, wait! This is your first winter, isn’t it?”

“Mhm,” he nods tentatively, unsure whether or not he likes the reminder of his relative newness to… everything.

“So you haven’t experienced snow?”

“No. But I’m intrigued by it!”

“Oh, we’ve gotta go to the mountains and really… or, I mean, you should go check out the mountain snow,” Wanda says. “I didn’t mean to invite myself out with you.”

“I quite enjoy your company, frankly. So… would you like to go to the mountains together?”

“Yes. Absolutely. I’m off this week, so… I mean, not to be too eager, but do you want to go, like, this weekend?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“And, hm, we could fly there and back in a day, but… if you’re interested, you can have the full winter vacation experience. Stark gave us those holiday bonuses and I’d be totally down to splurge on a ridiculously last-minute rental.”

Vision feels a smile spread across his face, his eyes searching hers for any hint of sarcasm or jest. He finds none. She looks excited. Genuinely excited to go on a vacation. With him, nonetheless. His whole body feels warm.

“Or not,” Wanda adds. “Sorry if that was weird.”

“No, I would love that,” he replies, shaking himself out of his daze. “I am certain that Mr. Stark has a cabin we can borrow, as well, especially seeing that he’s working this week.”

“Alright, then,” Wanda grins. “It’s a date.”

Vision watches the movie lineup with only partial attention, his mind humming with excitement at the idea of a date.

***

Okay. Vision has packed regular human clothes, regular human toiletries, and regular human… feelings? He’s nervous. In part because he’s going to spend time alone with his crush, but mostly because he’s actually not sure if Wanda meant “date” in a romantic way. He presumes not, since it stands to reason that anything shifting the bounds and definition of their relationship would include a much more in-depth conversation. Still. Nervous and excited.

They take the train upstate mid-afternoon, at which point they rent a car and drive to Tony’s cabin. The whole way there, they talk about endless things, like Wanda’s memories of winter and Vision’s imagination of what snow might feel like. He tries not to be too noticeably on edge, because they’re just regular friends on a normal vacation (a fact he finds himself constantly repeating in his head when he feels the urge to reach for her hand).

They arrive in the early evening, and Vision brings their bags inside and finds Wanda staring at the adjoined living room and kitchen area with wide eyes.

“Wow,” she says. “I think, um… cabin might be an understatement.”

“Ah, yes,” Vision chuckles, looking at the vaulted wooden ceiling and enormous glass window overlooking the mountain range. “As with most things, Mr. Stark tends toward extravagance.”

“How big is this place? Holy shit.”

Vision examines the plush green cushions in the living room and the fireplace in the center of the wall. The window occupies the majority of the back wall, and he notices a sleek hidden door that leads to a balcony.

“It’s three bedrooms,” he replies. “Two bathrooms.”

“Wow,” she whistles. “Fancy as hell.”

“Certainly,” he nods. “Would you like any help putting your luggage into a room?”

“I’ve got it,” she smiles. “Thanks, though. I think I’m gonna go shower and change into something more comfortable, but, um… I’ll be back.”

Vision pauses. That’s an innuendo, isn’t it? Or does she mean it literally? Her winter coat does seem a little uncomfortable.

“Alright,” Vision says, forcing himself to try to act normal. “I suppose I’ll get a fire going.”

“Amazing,” Wanda replies, giving his forearm a little squeeze. “See you soon.”

Vision nods and Wanda disappears down a hallway, though he swears he can still feel her hand on his skin. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts and turns toward his own luggage, which he places in the nearest closet before working on the fireplace.

Maybe a half hour later, Wanda reemerges. Vision is staring into the crackling flame when he hears her footsteps and looks up and—oh. He swears his heart skips a beat. He almost gasps. Wanda’s standing in the entryway in flannel pajama pants and a white shirt, and it occurs to him that he’s never seen her in pajamas before. Something about it feels profoundly intimate. A few locs of hair fall from her bun in curls, just grazing her collarbone, which… is more exposed than usual. His gaze lingers and he notices that she’s definitely not wearing a bra. Vision swallows hard. Wanda sits on the couch, less than arm’s length from where he’s taken up residence on the floor in front of the fireplace.

“Good job with the fire,” she says. Vision feels his mouth go dry as he tries to will himself to look away.

“Thank you,” he replies, hoping he doesn’t sound too strange.

“So… got any ideas for tonight?” Wanda asks with a smile. “It’s supposed to snow in the morning, so we can go on a hike then, but… I’m all yours until then.”

All yours. Oh, those words might very well make Vision believe in the concept of divine things. His heart tugs in his chest. He wants nothing more than to be hers. He already is.

Wanda twirls a loose strand of hair in her hands while she looks at him, and it occurs to him that he needs to reply to her question. Right. He can do that.

“Anything,” Vision shrugs. He pauses briefly, not wanting to come across as disinterested. His eyes scan the room until he finds a bookshelf in the corner. 

“We could play a board game,” he offers. “It seems Mr. Stark has a few.”

“Alright,” Wanda chuckles. “Anything you want, Vis.”

He’s not quite sure why she’s laughing at that, but… truthfully, Vision really doesn’t think he has the mental capacity for much of anything right now, so he nods anyway and goes to pick out a game.

“I know you’re not much interested in capitalism, but would you like to play Monopoly?”

“Yes,” Wanda replies. “I love pretending to buy real estate.”

“Wonderful,” he laughs, settling in on the opposite side of the coffee table. “Shall we begin?”

Wanda grins and they embark on a rather winding game of Monopoly, which Vision is quite handily losing. He just… he’s having a hard time focusing. And he often struggles to focus around her, but this feels different. There’s a different texture to the distraction, though he can’t quite comprehend or articulate it. His gaze keeps drifting to her chest and the unfamiliar but incredibly beautiful way her breasts move without a bra. It’s very odd. He sometimes feels the desire to kiss her, and the longing feeling in his chest feels similar, but… different. He has no idea what to make of it.

They play and talk and laugh as they always do, and something feels remarkably magical. He’s alone with her. On a vacation. And they’re having fun, and they both want to be there, and… wow.

“Well, well, well,” Wanda tuts as they run out of Monopoly money to distribute. “I totally fucked you.”

“What?” Vision chokes a little. He’s fairly certain fucked you means something else entirely, but he doesn’t trust himself to hear and interpret things accurately right now. Not when he’s this distracted by her.

“I won,” she laughs. “By a lot, it appears.”

“Oh. Yes. Sorry. I was caught off guard by the verbiage.”

“You don’t usually seem uncomfortable with me cursing. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, curse all you want! I was just… not familiar with the phrase.”

“Mhm,” Wanda nods slowly. “Well…” she flicks her wrist and the game reorganizes itself neatly into its box.

“It’s getting late,” she says. “I think I’m going to get in bed.”

“Of course,” Vision replies as he gets up to return the game box to the bookshelf.

When he turns around, Wanda is standing right in front of him, her shoulder leaning against the bookshelf frame. Vision’s gaze drifts down involuntarily and lingers on her body for what is probably too long.

“What are you gonna do?” Wanda asks.

“Probably, um… lie down and read,” Vision says. “I don’t want to keep you up.”

“I’d forgive you if you made me lose some sleep.”

Wanda’s eyes are searing into his skin, it feels like. Vision’s whole body is tense. It feels… new. And wonderful. And stressful as hell.

“Well, it’s not my intention to do so,” he coughs.

“Hm. Okay,” Wanda replies. She reaches up and places her hand firmly on his jaw, and Vision feels his mouth fall open. It takes every ounce of self-restraint not to close the distance between them. He wants to kiss her so badly. He wants to kiss her and wrap his arms around her and hold her close to his body and take off her ridiculously sexy nightclothes and—-

Huh. That’s new.

“I’m glad we’re doing this, Vision.”

“Me, too,” he smiles. “Goodnight, Wanda. It’s a pleasure to know that I’ll see you in the morning.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” she says quietly.

Pleasure. Why the hell did he use that turn of phrase? Now he’s thinking about Wanda’s pleasure in a wholly different sense. God, he wants to find out what she sounds like when she’s being touched.

Wanda lingers for a moment, but eventually pulls away before Vision is able to do something too impulsive.

“Goodnight,” she smiles as she slips away.

Vision watches her leave. His brain feels fuzzy and he can feel his pulse in his whole body. He can feel his pulse most pointedly in his… oh. Vision looks down, a little panicked, and realizes he’s… hard? Is that even possible? And is it even respectful to experience this sort of response to a friend without her consent? Why now? Why has that organ never done this before? What the actual hell?

“Oh, no,” Vision grumbles to himself, turning the lights off and slipping out to sit on the porch, hoping that maybe some cold air will shock his systems back into compliance.

He sits there and does some deep breathing until a very cold wind hits him. He looks up, and sees the slightest glints of ice forming above his head.

With a grin, Vision goes inside and retires to the bedroom farthest from Wanda’s, determined to make sure that she gets to witness his first snowfall.

***

After eight hours of restlessly worrying about every feeling he’s ever had, Vision gets up to make Wanda coffee. He’s hoping she’s still asleep, getting some much-needed rest. Instead, he finds her in the living room, wearing a thick hoodie and sipping coffee from a yellow mug. (He’s a little disappointed by how… clothed she is. He cringes internally at the fact that disappointment crossed his mind in the first place.)

“Oh, good morning,” he says with a smile.

“Look,” she nods toward the window.

Vision turns and sees the balcony and the mountain range ahead of it all covered in a thick blanket of snow. A smile blooms across his face.

“Wow,” he sighs. “It’s beautiful.”

“Sorry we missed the first snowfall.”

“Nonsense. There’s plenty more opportunities for that.”

“I guess we do have time,” Wanda smiles into her mug.

Vision sits on the couch, near but not right beside her. It’s strange. For months now, he’s been used to sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with her on her bed. Now, alone in a remote cabin, they’re keeping some distance. Perhaps he’s been too obvious about his crush. It breaks his heart to think that he might have made Wanda uncomfortable.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Fine,” Wanda replies. “Did you sleep last night?”

“No,” he shakes his head.

“I’m curious. Are you on a strict schedule of sleeping every ten days, or is that just an average estimate of how often you get tired?”

“It’s an approximate pattern. It depends on exertion and a handful of other factors.”

“Hm. I’d like to get more acquainted with your sleep cycle.”

“Certainly. Would you like me to update you more often?”

“Sure, Vis,” she chuckles, and he can’t help but feel like maybe he missed something. He’s a bit too nervous to ask, though, so he changes the subject.

“So, would you like to go on a walk around one?”

***

One o’clock comes and goes, leaving them on a mountaintop in their thickest coats. Vision does not technically need winter clothing, but he enjoys having the option to blend in.

Snow is weird. It’s soft ice, somehow. Fluffy, even. Wanda eats a handful. Vision would follow suit, but consuming anything makes his brain feel woozy and, given his current immense and unruly feelings, lowering his inhibitions would be ill-advised.

Still, when snow falls in flurries, his heart stops. He watches her lean her head back, letting the snowflakes fall and melt on her skin. Her eyes flutter shut and, no matter how cliche it sounds, Vision swears that Wanda takes his breath away. Around them, the sky is showing him a phenomenon he’s never experienced.

A miracle of nature, Vision thinks to himself, and he’s not sure whether he means Wanda or the snow.

Wanda turns to him, and something about the look in her eyes makes him want to reach for her in a way he knows he shouldn’t. 

Instead, Vision looks to the sky.

***

It’s the second of their three nights in the cabin and Vision thinks he may be losing his mind. Seriously—he cannot stop staring at Wanda. It doesn’t matter what she does. The last day has given his crush a new dimension. He’s not sure he likes it. (He loves it, but he also hates it.)

Wanda is clearly not privy to his internal crisis, because she sits beside him and leans her head on his shoulder.

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Sure,” she smiles warmly. “Any requests?”

“Whatever you want.”

Vision means that. He does genuinely want her to choose, but also… his whole body is humming because she’s touching him and he really doesn’t think he could decide anything, even if he wanted to. He also thinks he’d be happy with whatever.

He turns his head and finds her looking up at him, close enough that he can feel her breath on his mouth. Wanda’s eyes are wide and staring directly into his, containing some intensity he’s never seen before.

“Vision,” she exhales quietly.

“Wanda,” he replies, wanting nothing more than to get lost in this precise moment forever. The air between them feels charged and magnetic and he wants to feel like that for a long, long time.

“Am I misreading this?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Vision whispers shakily.

“This,” she replies, lifting a hand to cup his jaw again. “Us.”

“Do you…” Vision trails off, not even sure he remembers how to make coherent noises. Wanda is so close to him. His eyes dart down to her parted lips and he… he has no hesitation left in him.

Vision moves closer and Wanda closes the distance entirely, pressing her lips to his. He can feel every molecule in his body in brilliant detail, all humming and pushing toward her. The kiss is soft until it isn’t, his restraint present until it unravels, something like shoddy stitchwork Wanda tugs at readily.

He’s losing track of the details because it all feels so life-changing, which feels silly to say except that it’s true. Wanda throws her weight over his lap, straddling him so he can kiss her better, deeper, longer. Without much thought, his hips jut towards her, at which point he winces, acutely aware that she can definitely feel the persistent appendage between them.

“Sorry,” Vision blushes. He tries to push himself further into the couch and Wanda smiles at him, hair thrown over her shoulder.

“Don’t be,” she whispers. “I like it.”

Wanda drags both of his hands to her hips, guiding him to pull her closer. She buries her face in his neck and kisses the sensitive skin there, slowly rocking her hips against him. Vision’s hands tense and he grabs her much more firmly than he means to. Wanda gasps in reply and, god, Vision has never heard anything so beautiful.

“Vision,” she whines. “Please take me to bed.”

***

They fall asleep together that night, Wanda’s arm thrown across Vision’s chest as he breathes slowly, steadily, drifting off into (his version of) sleep from something he’s nearly certain has to be a dream.

Vision hears her voice first, soothing and bright as though he could hear it being cradled by a smile. Then he feels the soft pressure of her hand on his shoulder, her leg over his leg, her lips on his cheekbone.

“Hey,” she grins against his skin. “Wake up.”

Vision opens his eyes and his heart skips a beat.

“I could quite get used to you being the first sight I see when I wake up.”

“You’re incredible,” Wanda blushes. “But I think there’s another sight you might wanna pay attention to. Look.”

She gestures toward the tall window, which is almost entirely blotted out by snow. Vision stifles a laugh.

“Do you think we could tell Steve that we’re snowed in and can’t get back to work for another, mm, three weeks?” Wanda asks, tugging a little at Vision’s sleep shirt.

“Um,” he replies, slowly (he’s still not used to getting flustered like this). “I think he’d probably tell us that we’re Avengers and that we can handle some snow.”

“Shame,” she sighs. “Better make use of the last day we have, then.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”