WORDPLAY
Theo would never in her entire life,even if held by the edge of a knife, admit to that, and knowing that Natasha wouldn't either helped quite a bit – but the truth was, she deeply appreciated sleeping with her.
Sharing a bed with a friend as old as Natasha was, truly allowed Theo to rest,even by a little. She managed to close her eyes for a couple hours, three max. It was more than enough to her, she was pretty much used to sleeping under bad conditions during missions, or even one hour tops.
Tony, despite what Theo could say about him, made sure to always keep a room for each and single one of them. So, as soon as she woke up, she went ahead and took a bath. It felt long overdue, and having the warm water run down her body felt rather calming to her.
Besides, the shower was the one place she could feel a little more free. A little more at ease, without the danger of being seen. She could allow herself to shed a few tears, despite her refusal to do so. She could allow her breathing to grow irregular, her chest to clamp all the way.
It felt good, being able to let go even by a little.
Thankfully, her room had a few changes of clothes, since the last time she'd been here. After all, the Compound was used by them rather frequently during the blip.
Theo dressed herself up; she dried her hair,although braiding them felt a little too much at the time. She merely let them down, lacking the strength to care too much about them.
She decided to let Natasha sleep a little longer; she hadn't had the chance to sleep ever since the party in Asgard, and Theo wasn't about to disturb her. Not until they'd need to take their leave, early in the morning at least.
Walking down to the second floor in order to get to the main living room,joined with the kitchen, Theo spotted quite the few familiar faces sitting there. First one would be Peter, sitting down in a rather odd way on the couch,as per usual.
“Ey- “,he waved at her, a big smile on his lips, “Thor was wrong about Asta!”
Theo raised her eyebrows, feeling the strings of innocence detach themselves off the room as her mind connected the dots. She mouthed an 'oh' , her expression growing immeasurably awkward.
“I.. Uh..- Jeez,Parker. Isn't that.... illegal?”,she mumbled, trying to pour herself some coffee.
Peter himself was still smiling, a rather unnatural smirk on his lips. Theo chuckled, deciding she'd cancel that information out her brain.
Second person she noticed, was much smaller.
A certain someone's little spawn, tying her hands and playing with her fingers as she eyed Theo with a particularly teasing expression. Theo leaned on the counter, holding her cup.
“Morgan-Stark”,she spelled out in a smirk.
Morgan immediately stood up, straightening her back as much as she could. She raised her chin all the way up, and saluted her. Theo chuckled,though tried hard to hide it.
“Morgan Stark,reporting for duty ma'am”,she shouted in a deep – as much as a child's could be, voice.
Morgan would emphasize each word coming out her mouth equally, holding a certain accent she'd deny getting rid of. Theo figured it was an age appropriate characteristic, seeing how her own niece would do the same.
Theo herself played that part quite nicely if she had to say so. She walked towards Morgan, bent her knees down until she found herself to be on the same level as her. Morgan had pursed her lips, and Theo could see with the corner of her eye Tony's eye roll and Peppers smile at them. She deepened her voice, trying hard to sound as any adult sound around a child.
“At ease,soldier”.
“Yes ma'am!”,she laughed,letting her hand fall down.
Theo patted Morgan's head lightly.
“She's gonna turn my child into a soldier...”,Tony muttered, turning over to Pepper as if to find some consolation.
Pepper couldn't hide away that chuckle as she patted his head gently, trying hard to empathize.
Morgan wrinkled her nose; Theo took notice of her starring, and arched an eyebrow at her,crossing her arms against her chest.
“Got something to say there, little spawn?”
“Why's your eye like that? Did you change it on purpr... on purpors...on..”
“Purpose, Morgan?”,she laughed lightly.
Morgan nodded, feeling a little embarrassed over her confusion.
Pepper breathed out, massaging her temples.
“Sweety, we've talked about this. You can't say things like that to people..”
“Why? Does she know anyone else with an eye like this?”,Theo joked. “Do you, little spawn?”
She pouted, tying her hands behind her back as swirled a little around herself.
“No..”,she sighed,disappointed. “You look like a pirate”,she then huffed out.
“A..pirate?”
“Morgan!”,Pepper shouted her name, all the while Tony's chest was trembling from the suppressed laughter.
Pepper slammed his arm,looking at him with her mom eyes, ready to scold him as well.
“Come on, this one was funny”,Pietro chimed in, a half smile on his face. “She ain't wrong. You do look like a pirate”.
“Good”,Theo motioned her eyebrows at him. “Pirates are tough,aren't they Morgan?”
“Mm. Some of them, I guess..”
“Well, am I one of them?”
“Yes. You look like a tough pirate Theo”.
Theo nodded to herself, quite pleased to hear that. Pietro rolled his eyes,leaning back onto the couch, as to lie. He placed his head on Wanda's shoulder, who then pushed him away. Pietro let out a whispering curse, probably Sokovian as Wanda starred daggers at him afterwards.
Theo bent her knees down, pinching Morgan's nose. She tried pulling her face away a little, as to escape the all so great pain. Theo chuckled as she watched Morgan rubb her nose.
“You came to say goodbye to your dad,Morgan?”
“Yeah..”,she mumbled. “You still don't like him Theo?”
“Nope”,Theo smiled brightly,speaking in an all deep and enhanced voice for her. “You're lucky you took after your mom, or I wouldn't like you either, little spawn”.
Morgan took great pride in Theo's liking her, although Theo figured she didn't exactly understand all the things she told her. It was enough to make her smile though, and that much was fine for Theo.
She stood back up, found her way further into the living room and sat down on the couch, next to Peter.
“Could you stop calling her that?”
“She is what she is”,Theo stated,her eyebrows arched.
Tony took a deep breath, opening his hands as he cued Morgan to come his way. She practically run over there, falling into Tony's arms. This was a great picture to view, Theo thought. Tony sure had his moments.
“How're you holding up Pepper?”,she asked in a carefree voice, sighing.
“It's not happening, Theo”,she laughed lightly.
“You sure? I got myself quite the divorce lawyer. Went to high school together, he's gonna make sure you get every last penny”,she smiled tightly.
Pepper huffed out a short chuckle, patting Tony's knee as he was massaging his temples.
Thor's absence was quite evident, along with many others'. Steve would be one of them, but Clint and Bruce's not being there felt extremely wrong to her.
It was still too early for them to get used to those changes. To the deaths and taking of of friends that had been there for most than a decade. It was hard to get used on alright, even harder to accent.
“Where's Natasha?”,Wanda asked her,sipping her tea.
“Sleeping. She looked like crap so I let her be”.
“Language”,Morgan giggled.
Theo froze over that word. Morgan was still laughing in all her innocence. She had heard a story about that word, from both Tony and Theo; ever since then, she'd adopted it as her own, being the cause for many laughs.
Morgan couldn't possibly know what she had done wrong, but the suddenly all too heavy atmosphere and the absence of any laugh, or even a smile, made her pout. She looked at Theo, the otherwise first person to always give her a high five at that joke and laugh, and all she saw was a bitter expression. As much of that as Morgan could interpret,at least.
She climbed over at her mother's lap, whom brushed her hair softly as she kissed her forehead. Pepper tried explaining, in as much a quiet and low voice as she could manage, that this joke would have to stop.
“But why's Theo sad?”,she asked,trying hard to whisper.
Theo managed to force a smile on her lips, “I'm not,little spawn. How about we teach you some new jokes? This one's getting a little old, doesn't it?”
Morgan pursed her lips and wrinkled her nose, deep in thought about this negotiation. She pressed a finger on her cheek, as if to show them just how big her temptation was. Theo huffed out a weak laugh at that view.
“Mm.. I dooon' know...”
Theo put an arm around Peter, surprising him quite a lot as she pulled him closer,her cheek pushing his inside; Morgan couldn't help but laugh at the image of their faces pressed together like that, especially given that Peter's eyes had grown quite big, his body completely frozen.
Theo figured he must had been a little terrified to move, afraid he might do something wrong and get himself a scold- or a smack. Whichever came first.
“Have you met Peter, little spawn?”
“Y..Yes. She..she has”,Peter stuttered in Morgan's part, his eyes stuck on Theo from the side.
“He's closer to your age than any of us. How about you two become friends,hm? He knows all the good jokes, you know”.
Morgan's eyes sparkled at that statement. For Theo to be saying that, Morgan figured it must have been true. She climbed over Pepper, looking at Peter like a puppy. Peter himself knitted his eyebrows, wondering if he was in trouble or not.
“Really??”
“Mhm”,Theo nodded,pursing her lips. “He even knows how to play those fancy games your dad keeps buying you”.
“Wha-.. what games?”
Theo rolled her eyes. She pulled away, slamming the back of his head.
“Ow!”,Peter shouted in a high pitched voice, rubbing the back of his head.
“Who's the child here?”,she mumbled.
Tony breathed in. He couldn't escape all this guilt. Theo was going out of her way just to make sure Morgan wouldn't get too sad about that damned joke, he heard that tiny voice whisper in his mind.
Given that Steve had told him more things than he should,or ever would share with them – he truly wondered about that decision he had made. After all, it wasn't just about helping Steve out. It was about Theo as well. Or..so he told himself.
Tony grabbed Morgan by her armpits, raising her,then placing her down. He patted her back gently, leaning in and crouching his body enough to reach her ear.
“How about you take Peter to your room and show him those vintage Crash Bandicoot games I got you,hm Maguna?”
“You got Crash Bandicoot?”,Peter gasped out.
Morgan took great pride in seeing Peter's reaction over her game. She jumped around a little, then took his arm. Peter stood up,following her inside her room, as Theo rolled her eyes at him.
“Thank you”,Tony said calmly though in a mostly guilty tone.
Theo leaned back to the couch. Her expression softened a bit, only to show her exhaustion. Mental,mostly.
“She's a child..”,she whispered. “No need to depress her over a stupid word”.
“You're a good person,Theo”,Pepper said quietly, a sweet smile on her face.
Theo allowed her lips to curve slightly upwards and let a puff out. It was mostly an ironic opposition to that comment, but she didn't say anything about it.
Wanda wrinkled her nose,a though coming to mind.
“You know, I gotta say,Theo.. I never really noticed it before but.. You're really good with kids”,she said.
Theo didn't react the way she'd thought she would. She lowered her gaze, and merely let out a nervous smile, too short to be completely grasped. Tony wished Wanda wouldn't have said that. Ever since the day before, he'd caught himself wondering about one thing many times.
About what Theo had told him, when she confessed she knew of him helping Steve out. There was a certain passage of those sentences she had spat out, that was carved into his mind.
“Even I […] would never let you feel this much heartache without warning you about what's to come. Wouldn't be able to bear so much guilt on my own..”
This guilt she spoke about- Tony couldn't get rid of it. The remorse, the shame he felt lying on his shoulders. His debt towards Steve was too great to dismiss. Steve had been a friend for over twelve years. Had saved him many times,as had Tony.
As Tony believed, this wasn't just a favor to Steve; it was one to Theo as well. To save her much more heartache than she was feeling now. Steve- she would eventually get over. But,what he had told him... No, this, she wouldn't be able to survive.
And so, Tony had to force himself and live with that guilt. To live with that annoying voice screaming inside his head, and Theo's snarky comments.
His only hope was that Theo hadn't realized how greatly she truly loved Steve.
His only hope was that she'd actually get over him,at time. But, something told him that this wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
Pietro had been playing a game on his phone; lying down on the couch with his legs crossed, he didn't move his gaze off the screen, nor did he mind enough to stop playing when he spoke.
“So- we trust Bennet's old boyfriend, or not?”
Wanda and Theo both turned their heads at him, Theo herself bearing a rather puzzled expression on her face. Pepper on the other hand, pursed her lips confused.
“Her..old boyfriend? Have I missed something here?”
“That makes two of us,mama...”,Theo mumbled,her upper lip raised.
Pietro hadn't bothered to turn the sound off on his phone, turning the screen right and left as to pass the level on the game.
“This guy had the hots for you”,he simply stated.
“He didn't seem like that to me..”,Wanda muttered, although she did give Pietro's thought a chance of evaluation. “Hm..”
Theo shook her head, her mouth moving and yet no word coming out ,seeing how she didn't even know where to start with this. She raised her palms, as if to stop and calm herself for a minute.
“He's a friend”,she spelled out.
“That's just something guys tell girls they wanna bang,Bennet”.
“Huh...”,Wanda grimaced, ultimately seeming as if this made some sense in her mind. “What about those they don't want to bang?”
“They wanna bang thosetoo,Wanda”.
Theo began blinking really quickly,before raising her palms once again, now showing signs of defeat,as Tony's smug expression made Pepper narrow her eyes at him.
“Know what? I'm not even gonna ask. I'm going to exercise a little, I feel the blood flow coming low on my brain after this..”
She stood up and began walking,putting her hands inside her pockets as she left the room. Wanda began poking Pietro's shoulder,until at some point he slammed his phone down and turned at her.
“What- what,what?”,he shouted.
“Is that true?”
Her eyes showed genuine interest,along with wonder. Pietro rolled his eyes, let out a sigh as he brushed his hair back. He turned his body around completely,sitting a little more comfortably.
“I'm beginning to worry about your knowledge over how this world works here, sis...”
“Tsk..”,she huffed some air out,obviously annoyed.
Pepper was still eyeing Tony,her arms now crossed. Tony didn't like it when she did that. It usually meant he was in for trouble, although he rarely was at fault. Or so he like to believe.
“So- we trust him?”,Tony leaned forward,hoping the subject would change.
“Dunno. Something's not that right with him. I don't like him”.
“Hm”,Tony clicked his tongue. “Maximoff, do you by any chance like our redhead number two?”
Pepper and Wanda both raised their eyebrows at him. If the last remark hadn't done it, this one had,he thought. Wanda opened her mouth, offense too obvious on her expression.
“You have..ranked us?”,she gasped out.
“I- of course not..”,he pulled his words,as he did with his face. “It's a matter of seniority, Wanda. Natasha's redhead number one, Bennet's two and you- our most recent addition, number three”,he shrugged.
He was smiling, happy with that smart explanation. But Pepper and Wanda still had the same expression on their faces. Pietro on his part had began chuckling.
“Good luck getting' outta this one,Stark”,he mumbled.
“What? What?”,he repeated, raising his shoulders.
“I think I am going to ask Theo for that number..”,Pepper arched an eyebrow at him.
Tony chuckled, though his smile soon disappeared as quickly as it emerged.
“Wait. You're not serious,are you?”