The volleyball game
It's around six AM and Wanda has only closed her eyelids during one or two episodes. Steve has agreed to watch a few with her, but left her room to sleep when he saw his watch indicate that it was two. He generally looks very serious whilst watching sitcoms with her, and she thinks it's sweet. When he laughs, it makes Wanda smile and she's glad Natasha has him.
It might be stupid but she simply wasn't in the mood to lie in her bed and be alone with her thoughts, not that they're too bad, they're just slightly disagreable. She's still feeling a little stupid for what happened earlier, she wanted to go along Natasha's strategy, but she also phrased that she didn't like Natasha, which wasn't a smart move.
Because Wanda does like Natasha, it's been two years now and she still gets flustered around her, especially when the redhead deeply stares at her with her green eyes. She isn't sure of how she's supposed to ever confess to Natasha that she dreams of being able to caress her jaw with her bare fingers, but it's always all so natural with her. Wanda doesn't want to ruin what they have, although she can't even define what it is that they have. She just knows she wants her.
When she comes out of her room, Wanda simply wants to buy black nail polish because she forgot to pack some, and her nails are starting to look chipped. It always happens, they're more often nicked than neat, which makes her mind wander to Natasha, again, it's inevitable. She wonders how the Russian achieves to have perfect nails at all times, Wanda has admired Natasha's hands a lot. That's how she's certain she's panting for Natasha to run her fingers on her body. Well, it's not something she would say out loud, but she finds herself thinking about it very often. Too often, perhaps.
This is why Wanda feels even more surprised to see Natasha in the hallway. It seems like she somehow exited a thought out of her mind, she believes that even more since Natasha looks sweaty and, pretty hot, she has to admit. Wanda can't help but blush, as she stares at the redhead, she's wearing a fitting tank top and black leggings. Her hair seems messy, she attempted to braid it but lots of hairstrands have escaped the plait, which causes Natasha to move one behind her ear, and it reveals her bicep.
Wanda swallows with difficulty, she wishes she had the courage to tuck that hairstrand behind Natasha's ear herself. And she's scared it may be strange that she's simply gazing at her, in silence, and luckily, Natasha breaks it, "Already awake ?" she casually asks. Wanda slightly smiles, like she's done something bad and is proud of her, "Not asleep yet."
And Natasha laughs, she fully laughs this time, and it sounds incredible. She seems very impressed, "Well, while you were partying, some people worked out." She doesn't know why she said that, she's just trying to make conversation, and Wanda unsettles her in the best way with her shining eyes. It's Wanda's turn to be impressed, she could never wake up early to exercise, she hates practicing this activity. "You must be starving," she declares, hoping that the redhead catches up her train of thoughts, which she obviously does.
"I am. Would you like to go eat breakfast with me ? Tony kept bragging about how good it is when he convinced me to come here." Wanda happily nods, she realizes that she's hungry as well. And she seems quite impatient as Natasha adds, "Not right now though. I have to take a shower, I smell." Wanda shrugs, "Not a problem to me," she admits, her accent strong with lust, it makes Natasha laugh again.
"Think you can stay awake another ten minutes for me ?" she questions, perfectly raising her left eyebrow in the process. A mysterious smile is hanging on Wanda's lips, "Guess you'll have to wait to find out." And on that note, Natasha leaves, heading back to her room, not missing the chance to turn around at the last minute to get a glimpse of a still grinning Wanda. Today will be a nice day.
They're settled on a table for two, Natasha has picked a few fruits along with a yogurt whereas Wanda went for cereals, not the ones she usually eats, though. There aren't many people in the dining room, which relaxes Wanda, she's less good at dealing with crows after a sleepless night. Natasha focuses her stare on her while she's eating, a subtle smirk on her lips, "So, what's your beef with sleep ?" There is something about the way she speaks that Wanda just loves, perhaps it's how her voice sometimes drops lower and sounds more raw. It's all so pleasing to hear.
Wanda shakes her head, "I like sleeping, it's a great concept. Sometimes, I just don't feel like sleeping. I want to appreciate the night," she asserts with a distant smile. She's remembering how many nights in her life she spent not sleeping. She's not aware that the best ones are yet to come.
Natasha seems to be thinking, as if she's attempting to imagine what's so good about the night, "I'm not the biggest fan," she breathes. And Wanda is sure that she feels her nervousness rising, but she just waits for the redhead to talk again because she can sense she's about to add something else. "I don't know... There's something about it that makes me feel like a kid again," with the way she says it, Wanda assumes it's not a good thing.
The Sokovian is a bit unsettled by the confession, and her instinct somehow tells her that Natasha doesn't like to feel like she's in a vulnerable position, so she tries to shift the conversation energy. "Are you saying that you're scared of the dark ?" Wanda jokes, her voice vibrating with amusement and wonder because there's something about it that she finds incredibly human, endearing even. She's imagined various versions of Natasha, since she rarely dared to be around her, and the one she's in front of right now is by far her favorite.
Natasha seems steady and solid, but she's not invincible, she's a real person that is fakely smiling at Wanda, out of annoyance. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe," she rolls her eyes. "I'm not really afraid of the dark, it's the unknown part I don't like. You never know what's hidden in the shadows," she's looking straight through Wanda's eyes to get a better glimpse of her reaction, as if she's attempting to witness if the brunette thinks it's not completely stupid, because she deeply needs to feel understood.
And Wanda understands, she can see it. The Sokovian slightly nods, caught off guard by how Natasha perfectly put words on a fear she used to experience, it's at this exact instant that she's sure she wants to be with Natasha, because no one has ever made so much sense while looking so effortlessly breathtaking.
A smug smile is hanging on Natasha's lips, as once again, Wanda has got lost in her glance. It occurred twice in only an hour, they can both tell it will happen so much more, and they're eager to see when one of them will close her eyes and lean in. However, they can't, unless they want to lose a bet, which they couldn't stand : Wanda can't bare to suffer a defeat, while
Natasha has too much pride to give up her self-control and let Stark win. Natasha patiently waits for the brunette to recover her composure, eats a bit more, and leans back in her chair with her arms crossed. "What do you like so much about the night ?" she questions, very curious, as she had relived her worst memories alone in the dark too many times for her own liking. As a child, she had been told and even believed that adults didn't have nightmares anymore, but it was just another lie.
Wanda thinks for a few seconds, "It's always so calm. Everyone is asleep, and it's just me," she smiles. "It feels so special, you know, so free." The affirmation steals an almost imperceptible smile from Natasha, she likes that idea. Freedom. It's something that she had wished for during her entire childhood, and now she has it and she's finally starting to figure what she wants to do with it. "Maybe I could show you, some time. How great it is," Wanda suggests, eventually noticing that Natasha has lots of piercings on her right ear. She simply looks perfect, and not only in this moment, but Wanda is remarking it only now that they're both still and just gazing at each other.
"Yeah, maybe," Natasha smiles in the distance, like she's picturing it. "And maybe I'll find your big fear, so that we're even," she smirks, as she does when she's challenging someone. Wanda doesn't lower her stare from Natasha's, "I don't have any," which they both know is untrue. She solely wanted to hear Natasha laugh again, and succeeded.
A loud voice gets heard from afar, it's Yelena, who just swore in Russian. "Natasha, did you see they have pancakes ?" she interrogates in an overly enthusiastic voice whilst walking toward their table. "So nice of you to have reserved a table, although it's quite tiny. I'll bring another chair," she sounds very serious, and Natasha can't tell if she's kidding because it has to be the worst timing ever. Yelena's definitely not the best at reading the room, and it makes Wanda chortle. It's during moments like these that she takes in her love for these people.
Not long after, Yelena is back with a plate full of pancakes and all kinds of topping : sugar, chocolate, mapel sirup, strawberry jam. She seems delighted, which draws a huge smile from Natasha, the smile that is only ever destined to her sister, "Good ?" And Yelena answers with two thumbs up, as her mouth is full. When she's done, she looks at the two women, "They're better than the burnt ones you make," she points at her sister, who looks quite offended.
"It happened once, Yelena !" Natasha argues, although her sister doesn't seem convinced. So she goes on, "You were playing with a knife around Fanny, that's a pretty serious distraction," her voice is a little reproachful, but she's not mad anymore. Yelena gets up, in order to get more pancakes, "I was just trying to do it like in the movies. You're lucky I didn't ask you to put an apple on your head and throw a knife in it. Anyway, I thought you were multitasking," she deadpans, and Natasha simply shakes her head. Wanda feels lucky to witness their interactions, and that she doesn't have to worry about feeling comfortable with Natasha's family. It's all easier than she had imagined.
After breakfast, the ones that are awake meet up at the same beach as yesterday, Pietro is of course still sleeping. Thor is lying on the sand while drinking from some gourd, he borrowed Tony's sunglasses because he forgot his, and they honestly look better on him, which Rhodey didn't fail to point out with a smile on his face.
Steve has been approached by a younger man and he's politely attempting to put an end to the conversation while Natasha is forming signs with her hands to guide her friend through the exchange. It's not exactly working well, Steve isn't understanding much, and Natasha eventually stops when the stranger seems to get suspicious over Steve's awkwardness.
"Better luck next time," Natasha pats him on his shoulder when he sits beside her on the sand. Steve grins at her whilst she offers him a glass of water, she knows that's basically all he drinks and never forgets to propose some to him. "He's not my type," he asserts, his tone serious and almost convincing. "Please, you don't have a type," she chuckles, it's a bit of a mocking remark but he doesn't take the offense, it's just Natasha who is teasing him.
They both look in the distance at the same time, they're actually similar in lots of different ways, although most people would say that Natasha is more fun to be around. The redhead is as protective as Steve, it's simply in their nature, which is why they're paying close attention to Valkyrie and Carol. They seem to be duelling each other over who can hold their breath longer in the water, neither of them is very good, but they're trying really hard and it could be dangerous. Carol finally comes out of the sea, her breath sharp and irregular. She crumbles beside Natasha, at the same spot Steve previously occupied – he just got to check up on Valkyrie.
Carol slightly turns her head to gaze at a smirking Natasha, the blonde's eyes are almost shut, since the sun decided to dazzle her. "I'm sorry, is my incredible body hard to stare at ?" the Russian playfully asks, tucking a hair strand behind her ear. She forgot to do that little braid which avoids any hair to get onto her face, so her fingers assemble these annoying hair strands and shape it into a long braid. She let her hair grow just so that she could do this because she was sick of envying how many hairdos Yelena could style.
"Yes. I can't believe you're wearing so little clothing," Carol jokes back, and Natasha chuckles. They've grown to be quite good friends, since the latter helped Carol with starting her work out enterprise. Natasha even agreed to be in charge of teaching hand to hand combat – it was more focused on how to defense oneself – and she's pretty great at it, Carol didn't dare to ask why.
Natasha is a good friend, she lets Carol rant to her about her love life whilst she bakes cookies. And when things get emotional, the cookies get in the game and offer some comfort. Natasha is a great listener, and she gives solid advice. To be fair, she's truly the best, there's no one like her. Carol hopes she knows that, although she probably already told her on a drunk night, but Natasha had most likely been kind enough not to bring it up.
Valkyrie walks toward them, and when she's close enough, she stops, her muscular arms crossed and a smug smile on her lips, "Tired already ?" And Carol rolls her eyes, because she is, and she doesn't like – hates, to be more precise – feeling defeated. So Natasha saves the situation, again, "Maybe we could all play beach volleyball ? When our king Tony has risen from his profound state of sleep." Valkyrie snorts, she's already starting to like the redhead. It doesn't take much for Natasha to be appreciated, she's got it all, but it takes a lot for her to be understood and fully loved without any limits.
Wanda arrives right after Natasha's suggestion, and forgets to acknowledge everyone else's presence. She just stares at Natasha, and at her body as well, she's not being very subtle. And then Tony's there, fully rested after taking a nap in the ocean on his giant swan. Even sleeping needs to be spectacular with him. "Wanda, I'm starting to wonder if you've ever seen a woman in a bikini before," his comment makes her blush. "Maybe you should join Steve's virgin club," he adds, and it seems like he's decided to upset as many people as possible.
"That's very clever," Steve replies, unamused. "Your fly is open, Stark," and Tony stares down to check, even though he's wearing swim shorts. Natasha snorts, because it's the worst comeback she's ever heard. He probably learned it from one of Clint's children, which is even worse. Tony feels stupid that he looked, so he doesn't say anything else. It somehow worked, in a way.
Pietro and Yelena are walking fast in the group's direction, along with a very enthusiastic Fanny, she apparently loves the sensation of the sand under her paws. Fanny comes closer to Wanda, looking for a few cuddles that she offers with a nose scrunching smile. Natasha loves that smile, it's simply her favorite over all the ones she's ever seen. "Okay, so we have almost everyone for that beach volleyball game. We just need Tony to ask his date to come back from the bathroom," Natasha strikes, a witty smirk on her lips, the kind of smile Wanda adores.
Steve chuckles, he's thankful that Natasha defends herself better than him when it comes out to fights which involve talking. It's not that he isn't goot at expressing himself, it's just that he's afraid to say something too mean and ruin the moment. But luckily, the redhead is always there to make Tony scoff.
Rhodey comes back not long after they've made the teams, explaining his absence with a weak, "Bad eggs," while rubbing his stomach. They don't need a drawing to picture what happened in that bathroom, Tony doesn't make a joke because it's Rhodey who has just faced some issues.
The group has plit into two : it's Carol, Natasha, Steve, Pietro and Rhodey VS Valkyrie, Thor, Yelena, Tony and Wanda. They know that it's a bit of a disavantage for them to have Carol and Natasha in the same team, but Carol chose her first, and it's just how the rules work.
Carol and Natasha's team is leading the game, whilst Valkyrie is starting to get cranky and even threatens one of her teammates, which is a terrible move, no one can do such a thing to Yelena and get away with it. Her team has some chemistry issues, they don't communicate well, so during the first break, Wanda and Thor step up to make a little speech. It's very messy, and unintelligible at one point, because Yelena raises her voice when Valkyrie criticizes the handoff she missed.
Natasha is looking at them from apart with her signature smirk, vaguely listening to a Steve attempting to explain another strategy they could adopt. Carol doesn't agree, but they eventually find a common ground thanks to the wise Rhodey, whereas Pietro is seeking for Wanda's attention to show off his thumb pointed toward the ground as her team is greatly losing. But Wanda's focus has already been caught by Natasha, and there's no way she's going to look away, nor notice that a ball is coming straight to her head.
Luckily, Valkyrie is there to seize the ball and begins to yell at whoever threw it – Pietro. "I'm sorry, I really thought you'd see that coming," he's trying to apologize but he sounds more amused than anything else, and he thinks he's allowed to since nobody has been hurt.
"Of course she didn't see that coming, you idiot ! You're super fast. A meteor could hit the Earth, and she'd still be staring at Natasha," Tony seems mad, Wanda can't tell if she's grateful for his intervention : she's embarrassed – Natasha is smiling and the Sokovian can't bring herself to look at her – but he defended her and she appreciates it.
"I said I'm sorry, and anyway she's fine," Pietro's eyebrows furrow, he doesn't like where this conversation is heading. He would never try to actually harm his twin sister, he simply enjoys scaring her a bit sometimes and it's none of Tony's business. "Well, you", Tony points his finger at him, "put her in unnecessary danger," his tone is firm, imperious even. Carol has to grab Pietro's shoulder to restrain him from hitting anyone, he can't stand to be bossed around. And Tony's peacefully smiling because he just realized that they had found a group motivation, a common enemy.
After the incident, the game gets more heated, the score is extremely tight. Valkyrie's team has earned a few points so that their opponents are not too far ahead. Anytime a team scores a point, so does the other one, right after. "For someone so tall, it's hard to believe you haven't scored a goal, yet," Yelena's accent is thick with provocation, perhaps if she can get to Steve, he'll be a bad player, because he's definitely good at the moment. Too good. It's not his role to score, he passes the ball and avoids it to touch the ground, but she hopes her little comment can unsettle him at least a bit.
Steve shakes his head in disapproval, "Watch the ball," he casually suggests with a shrug. The ball almost hit her, fortunately, Yelena has got great reflexes, but she's embarrassed herself. She clenches her jaw, and Wanda lands a calming hand on her shoulder, she often does that whenever she feels Yelena get overwhelmed with any sort of emotion. Wanda seems to always feel that kind of things, she's a huge empath, it's both very useful and a burden.
Carol takes a step closer to the net, she has a slightly arrogant smile hanging on her lips, "Looks like you guys are struggling with the ball. Must be the sun. You need sunglasses, maybe ? Tony could certainly buy you some." Valkyrie's gritting her teeth, she picks up the ball from Yelena's grip and pretends to throw it in Carol's direction. She quickly backs away, although the ball hasn't been tossed, and for a second, she appears thrown off, but she soon recovers her wit. "Is that all you got ?" Carol opens her arms, almost offering her opponent to throw herself in them to kick her ass.
Natasha chuckles, but before anyone can retort, she speaks, "Come on, Danvers. That's enough." Her voice sounds steady and she's got that natural authority so Carol leaves it there, and they all continue to play merrily. Almost. It's still them, after all. One half of the group is pretty impulsive, whereas the other one is more thoughtful, still as feisty as the first half though. They all had to learned too soon to defend themselves, so now they have a tendancy to see threaths everywhere.
At a certain point, when the sun is getting too high in the sky, Wanda lies down in the sand, next to the court – in the middle of the game. Her face is hidden in the pit of her elbow, and she's simply letting her tired body rest a bit. Natasha has noticed her and leaves the field herself to go near her, she's looking down at her when Wanda feels her presence. "It's so hot," she complains, sighing. It's almost twelve AM so it makes sense.
Natasha smiles because something else than literal heat related topic – someone – is certainly hot, "It is," her facial expression softens a bit, although she still looks like she's unspokenly making fun of Wanda. "Want me to carry you to a deck chair ?" she asks, crossing her arms in a relaxed manner.
Wanda stares up at her, her brows furrowed in a serious countenance, "I can't tell if you're serious," she admits, still trying to read Natasha's expression. She's the hardest person to read, but Wanda doesn't mind, she doesn't care whether it's easy or difficult to understand what Natasha is truly thinking.
Sometimes she feels like nothing but Natasha matters, especially when she's looking at her this softly, but then she remembers than she doesn't even know her last name. Wanda is aware of how she likes her coffee, of how she prefers cookies over muffins, but she also ignores basic information about this woman.
Natasha shrugs, shoving away all of Wanda's interrogations – she generally has a lot of them, and they're mostly stressing, so it's good that the redhead can make them temporarily disappear with a simple gesture. "Come on. Get up before an angry ball actually hits you in the face, this time," she offers her a hand to make up from the teasing allusion to earlier, and Wanda takes it, but Natasha's grip is firm and perhaps too energetic.
Therefore, Wanda finds herself landing on her feet, standing very close to Natasha, and they're both too stupid to move, whether nearer or further away. Anything would be good enough. Standing this close to each other is just torturing, and Natasha, who sort of did that on purpose, loses herself a little in Wanda's lips. She's simply staring at them and imagining how they would feel like on hers. Wanda notices, she steps forward a bit, it's nearly unnoticeable, but a scream afar brings back Natasha into the real world and she abruptly steps back.
Wanda represses a disappointed sigh, because as nervous as she had felt, as fast as her heart had just beat, she wanted this. And now she's flustered, the tense silence is killing her, it's at this moment that a wave of exhaustion hits her again, which gives her a chance to finally talk. "Coffee ?" Her poll sounds unsure and intense, too passionate for a simple liquid.
She's also a bit breathless, which makes Natasha smirk, "Yeah. 'Cause I never drink that." And Wanda lets out a soft giggle, "You're stupid," her accent is biting through the words, but Natasha can tell than she doesn't mean it in a bad way because Wanda's smiling so much she's scrunching her nose.
An unfamiliar sensation settles in Natasha while they walk side by side, sometimes exchanging words about their beach volleyball team or how they will win their future card game. She feels at peace, like she's here and it's truly where she should be, where she belongs. The realization hits her hard, although she stays silent, she's seeking for a meaning. Has she finally found someone capable of keeping up with her, someone who doesn't drown her with questions but can still show that they care ? Perhaps she has, and she's going to celebrate with a good coffee.
When they arrive to the bar, Natasha politely orders two cups of coffee, since she knows Wanda doesn't exactly enjoy talking to strangers, as ironic as it is. And whilst the employee asks her what sort of coffee Wanda wants, she figures that she doesn't know, so she turns to directly question the Sokovian. She's stepped away from the counter a bit, and Natasha just wants to reassure her that she'll forever order for her if it can make her feel better.
"Do you want something special in your coffee ?" Natasha interrogates, her voice is vibrating with care and it almost causes Wanda's heart to sting. It always does that whenever someone acts nicely toward her, but it's not just someone here, it's Natasha. It's Natasha and she remembered that talking to new people makes Wanda feel nervous so she's doing it herself and it just feels so sweet.
"Sugar and cream, please," she replies, and Wanda can nearly feel Natasha taking a mental note so that she can someday surprise her with the kind of coffee she prefers. They can both sense this is going to happen a lot more : Natasha helping without needing Wanda to ask, and Wanda simply feeling protected and cared for.
Natasha is looking at her with this stare that makes Wanda feel more heated than when she was outside, playing volleyball while trying not to get hit by a ball. And she's starting to regret that the only thing she has to drink is hot as well. "I can't believe you work at a coffee shop and you don't even drink your coffee black," Natasha teases, her eyes still focused on Wanda.
She wishes she could take a cold shower right now, because there is something very warm inside of her, Wanda can feel her stomach bouncing as she watches Natasha wetting her lips after a sip of coffee, so she clenches her thighs together in a hope it will calm her down. It's just Natasha who is staring at her, but it's already too much and yet she wants more. So much more.
"I can't believe you ditched your team," she bites back with a provoking smile, Wanda's getting better at this. Even though she will never reach Natasha's level of comebacks, she's beginning to become serious competition.
And the redhead smiles, it's not playful or mean, it seems genuine, but then she speaks again and Wanda questions her honesty. "Just because it's you," Natasha's voice sounds honeyed, which makes it hard for Wanda to tell whether she's messing with her or admitting something real. "We're still going to crush you, your team sucked anyway," she adds, a smirk on her lips this time.
Wanda rolls her eyes, she didn't like her team at first, but it grew on her and now she's just unable to accept any form of criticism. "Your team was a threat to society !" she raises her voice, truly sounding outraged, because Natasha is being overly bold.
The Russian chuckles, she's enjoying this a little too much. "It's your brother that threw the ball, Maximoff," she calmly sips her coffee, hoping it will annoy Wanda a bit more because she's kind of interested to see how she will react if she gets pushed too far. She would like to witness how Wanda handles situations when she's mad, maybe even see how she acts when she's in charge.
Wanda glares at her, "Don't use my brother to prove a point. I'm sure we're destroying you as I'm speaking," she asserts, more certain than ever. Natasha hums, definitely not convinced, "Maybe you would've won sooner if you had slept," she raises an eyebrow while stating her argument and Wanda rolls her eyes again. But this time it's because she's attempting to hide a smile, and Natasha sees it, so she playfully smiles at her. Wanda just can't resist and her lips break into a grin, she's lost this battle.
As soon as they finish their coffee, Natasha offers to go back to the beach so that they can see which team won the game, and Wanda can't say no. What would be her excuse ? She wants to spend more time with Natasha but she's not sure she's comfortable with showing it yet, especially when Tony is always paying attention to them and making comments.
"So," Tony attempts to raise an eyebrow, as a failed imitation of Natasha, "Should you just give me your money now, or ?" He smiles like a perfect idiot. And Rhodey shakes his head in a disapproval, when he's just really hiding his grin because he loves Tony's bullshit. There's not quite anyone else like him, although there has been some pale impersonations.
Natasha silently greets Tony with a raised middle finger, whereas Wanda normally replies to him, "We just drank coffee. Your money's ours, Stark." Natasha stares at her, a proud smile on her lips, the one she doesn't show a lot. The pair is quite a team, which makes Tony cackle, as it might be the first bet he's made that he doesn't necessarily desire to win. He simply wants Natasha to finally make a move on the woman she's had a crush on for more than two years. It's very painful to witness, all that yearning. But who is he to talk when Rhodey is still confused about the nature of their relationship ?
"Casual," Yelena carelessly declares, and Rhodey adds a "That's wild." They're both slightly mocking Natasha and Wanda. Well, it's hard to say if Yelena is, because her tone often sounds a bit threatening when she's talking normally. They all love it.
Natasha puts her hand on her hip, and Steve grins at himself since he's been in the same position for a few minutes now. They often laugh at one another at work whenever they realize this happened again. "Who lost ?" she asks, her voice so serious it sounds like she's in a work meeting. But the matter is very important, she's been bragging about the assets of her team to Wanda and it wouldn't be a good look on her to not be part of the victorious team.
Wanda shots an hopeful look in Valkyrie's direction, it's all about pride but she wants to know they won. No one has said anything yet, which is surprising, the winners would usually be showing off right now, laughing at their opponents. But they probably agreed to wait a little bit before telling the pair, as a revenge for giving up on the game, so Natasha stares at Steve. He sends her his signature sad smile, the one he gives when he has to return a bad graded copy to a student.
Wanda starts to smile, still unsure of the game results, she doesn't want to get her hopes high. And then Valkyrie speaks, "That's correct, we won !" Wanda jumps in excitment, it's pretty touching and Natasha just can't be mad. Carol puts a hand on her shoulder, gives the redhead a small apology that Natasha quickly brushes away with a shrug. It was all worth it.