8524/Circling The Wagon

Circling The Wagon
Date of Scene:	26 July 2019
Location:	Wanda's Room - Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Lorna visits and sees some old family items from Wanda's life with the Maximoffs, and sees the replicate of their wagon that Josh made. The sisters bond over the difficulties of their lives.
Cast of Characters:	Scarlet Witch, Elixir, Polaris

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Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda had been texting with her sister. She'd mentioned something that Josh had given her, but when asked for details Wanda was playfully secretive. "The kind of thing you need to come visit to find out," the text message back had read. And after was an invitation to do just that if Lorna was up for it.

Wanda is still in the process of getting Josh cleared to do more than be visiting and staying over, but hopefully that won't take too long. Especially with him already having worked for Stark, plus his connection to Xavier's, allies of the Avengers especially of late.

Wanda finishes making a pitcher of margaritas in preparation for Lorna's arrival. "Did you manage to get some snacks together?" she asks Josh. "If not we can call down to the kitchen for something."

Elixir has posed:
"I did," Josh says with a smile. "Fit for a princess. I hope. /And/ I went down to Pelham Parkway and got some Pelj... Pjels... Damn it! Whatever it is. And a few other things. The lady in the store realized who I was and was just ruthless," Josh says with a chuckle and colours a bit. "The Transian community follows you pretty close!"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna approached the Mansion as a guest, and found herself easily escorted up the proper elevators and ushered to where she needed to be one way or another. The youngest of trio of siblings, Lorna was still getting used to the concept of having her older half sister //texting// her at all. Much less inviting her over regularly. Still, the greenette was willing to come, and deeply curious at this point.

At the entry way she knocked, before entering all the way into Wanda's quarters. "Hey... Wanda. Josh. Long time no see. How are things?" She looked tense, and how could she not, given the chaos going on in the outside world at any given moment.

Lorna wore a pair of jeans with a button up black shirt. Her heels clicking with each movement.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda lets out a warm laugh and smiles to Josh. "Pljeksavica," she repeats for him slowly to help him learn it. "It's good, but a greasy cheeseburger is not bad either," she tells him as she carries the pitcher and some glasses with salted rims over to the coffee table by the couches and chairs.

Wanda is fairly casually dressed, a pair of khaki shorts and a purple cotton top with short sleeves. Something perfect for a nice summer day. "There you are," Wanda says, moving over to give her sister a warm hug. "I'm glad you were able to make it," she says. "Come in, I have cold margaritas. And Josh picked up the equivalent of Transian sliders," she says, smiling as she walks over to join Josh. There are a few things set out over on the coffee table in addition to the drinks. There's a file folder. And a marionette in a case. A carefully stained wooden sign with Wanda written on it with a wood burning tool. And there is an old Bible in not the best of shape, more a loose collection of pages with the binding in such bad shape.

Elixir has posed:
"Hey Lorna!" Josh says brightly. He is in jeans and a t-shirt, and is padding around barefoot. He comes over with the plate of 'sliders' to add to the collection of snacks, but keeps them carefully away from the precious items on the table.

"Wanda didn't even look terrified when I told her we went for lunch yesterday," Josh says to Lorna as he takes a seat near Wanda. "Either she trusts you or she really doesn't have any embarrasing secrets!"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna returned the embrace Wanda offered her, giving her older sibling a lingering squeeze before she stepped back and glanced around as she made her way over to the offered drinks by the couch. "Traffic was gross, but that's more or less standard around here." She sighed, as if it would just be so much more sensible if the rest of the world could handle transportation like Genosha. Flying. Portals.

"So," She clapped her hands together as she settled in on a couch, crossing her legs. "What //did// Josh give you already? Please don't tell me it's a tattoo, offspring, or a ring." She drawled, casting a glance to Josh with a raised eyebrow.

"I think Wanda trusts that you're basically indestructible. And therefore, secrets are more or less safe with you."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda takes a seat and pours the margaritas. "Well, we only have so much history together," Wanda says. "Which is normally not a positive, but I guess for embarrassing stories it is. Pietro is the one who would know those." Unless he had told Lorna. Wanda pauses, considering that. Hrm.

She passes the drinks around. "And yes, I think I trust Josh with a lot," she says, flashing a soft smile over to him. "Well, actually, first I wanted to show you these. He pulled them out of my closet the other day getting something else out. An old friend of the family had salvaged them after my... after the Maximoffs passed," Wanda says. She pulls out the Bible and opens it to a family tree in the middle, and lets Lorna look at it.

The family tree is old and faded to the point that it is often barely legible, and sometimes not at all. The Maximoffs are a prominent portion of the tree, though there are other Romany names as well. Names like Kolarov, Codona, Balaz and Sakic. Down near the bottom, after some looking, one might spot a pair of familiar names. Wanda and Pietro are listed as the children of Django Maximoff and Marya Dudic. There are two other names listed as children to the pair, Ana and Mateo. Ana has 1994-1999 beside her name, and Mateo has 1993-1999 by his.

Elixir has posed:
Josh smiles his thanks to Wanda and gently bumps her shoulder with his. Then he settles back to let Wanda and her sister share in the treasures from Wanda's past without being in the middle of it. It is not a hard thing to do given the company, the margarita and the light of a beautiful day streaming in through the windows.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna took the glass offered to her by Wanda, sipping at it before she set it off to the side. She leaned forward instead, vastly curious as to what Wanda had there in her grip. She scooted closer to her half sister, curiously looking over old, worn, family Bible. She arched a brow, and glanced down at the family tree listed there. She smiled gently at Wanda, and glanced back at her older half sister.

"Wow, that's amazing. This must be ancient." She murmured, and leaned back. Her gaze swung back toward Josh, arching a brow.

"So you found this in Wanda's closet. I'm not gonna ask what you got up to in there besides finding things." She drawled, teasingly. It was all meant to displace the awkward knot that formed in the pit of her stomach.

It was a reminder that she and Wanda weren't full siblings, and unlike Wanda.. she had nothing belonging to her mother's side.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda bumps back against Josh, smiling over to him. "Oh, he was just grabbing an old sweatshirt of Pietro's I stole awhile back, on a day I had the air conditioning blasting while I was cleaning and working," Wanda says.

She gazes down at the Bible. "I hadn't thought about these in awhile," she says. "We were... well, reasonably young still, when we lost the Maximoffs," she says. Wanda touches the woodworked sign with her name on it. "Pappa helped me make that to hang over my bed in the wagon," she says. "And by helped I mean he made it but let a child hold the tool so feel like she'd made it," she says fondly.

Wanda reaches over to get the file folder, opening it to reveal a few pictures. "This was them, holding us when we were very young. I don't know exactly when. It couldn't have been too many weeks or months after we were given to them to raise," she says.

The picture shows a wooden wagon in the background at a campsite, the kind of vehicle one just doesn't ever see in New York. A somewhat swarthy man with a thick jet black mustache and wearing a bandanna holds a toddler wrapped in a blanket, while beside him is a Romany beauty. Dark hair and hoop earrings and in a skirt, her arms cradling a second tiny figure.

Elixir has posed:
Josh colours a bit at Lorna's tease. "Ah, just looking for clothes, your highnessness," he grins and tries to hide the colour in his face behind the margarita glass. "Wanda likes it kinda cold in here, but I'm getting used to it."

"I still think you look a bit like her anyway," Josh muses again when Wanda brings out the picture of the Maximoffs. "You make that face, and stand like that," he points out.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna arched a brow in Josh's direction, a laugh bubbling up at the back of her throat as she shook her head. "Call me Lorna. Geeze." She rolled her eyes as she glanced back to Wanda, sobering immediately as her older half sister told her the story behind those precious objects. She felt a lump form in the back of her throat, and she swallowed dryly once before she reached for the drink to staunch that thickness which clogged her throat.

Still, Wanda held the entirety of her focus and she watched with great care and attention to detail. Her frame leaned forward and she looked at the pictures, "Wow. That's amazing Wanda."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda grins over to Josh and says, "It's odd, in summer I like it cold inside. In winter I like it hot. It's like I just want the control over the weather after having been subjected to it for so many years." She sips her margarita, perhaps considering she is not subject to it anymore, though Wanda rare manipulates the weather without purpose. Some things have a way of pushing back.

Wanda perhaps notices the tightness in Lorna finally. She reaches over and rests a hand on her back, rubbing gently. "All we had were memories for the longest time. This was our wagon we had when we lost them. Pappa was a doll maker. Excellent at wood carving," she says. The marionette in the case then is surely his work. Though it has been cleaned, there is some char on it as if the doll was on the edge of a fire, which it appears there hasn't been an attempt to repair. "Josh got me the case for it," she says.

But then she glances over to the golden-haired man. "But the case isn't what I was referring to him giving me. Do you want to go get it?" she asks Josh.

Elixir has posed:
"I thought something that special deserved to be safe and on display," Josh says with a shrug then nods to Wanda. "I'll be right back."

Josh pads off to the bedroom. He is only gone a moment and comes back cradling something in both hands. Josh looks faintly embarassed at the deal Wanda is making of it when he comes back. But he bends over and puts a painted wooden replica of the wagon in Wanda's picture on the table. It is close in the details, hand-painted. The worksmanship is not masterful by any means, but shows the signs of someone with a reasonable eye for it and some skill.

The young X-Man takes a seat again and picks up his drink. He eyes his workmanship briefly and then sips from the glass, but avoids looking at Lorna. He couldn't help but wonder if what looked like a thoughtful to Wanda would be hopelessly cheesy to someone like her sister.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled a breath, reaching up to comb her fingers through her hair. Her insides were a tumble of emotions, a complicated knot had formed at Wanda's careful words about memories and her past. It was hard, in many different ways, for the youngest half sibling to sit and listen to it all. But she did. And she did so with extreme care. Her green eyed gaze lingered on the case with the charred edges and at the gentle touch, a flicker of a smile came to life in her expression.

"Thank you for sharing all of this with me Wanda. I wish.. I wish so much that I'd known it all already..." She trailed off as Josh spoke up, and left only to return moments later. She blinked in surprise at the sight of the little recreated wagon in miniature. She leaned forward, looking at it closely and tilting her head as she studied it critically. Finally, she leaned back, looking at Wanda with a faint smile. "It's pretty good work there."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda smiles to Josh as he brings the wagon out. The care that went into matching the picture is so obvious to Wanda. If not so much because of comparing it with the picture as the way that the sight of it tugs at her heartstrings and her memories. She leans over to the man, slipping her arm about his shoulders for a moment and brushing a kiss to his cheek. "I wasn't expecting it at all, and... it's just so thoughtful," she says.

After letting the moment linger with Josh, Wanda looks back over to her sister. She doesn't think of her as a half-sister. Just a sister. Wanda slips her arm about Lorna then if allowed. "The three of us had such... odd upbringings, didn't we?" Wanda says softly. "I still know so little about our mother, or, the woman who gave birth to us. Part of me, I don't like saying she wasn't my mother," Wanda says, touching the picture of Marya holding Wanda.

She looks over to Lorna. "As precious as these memories are, having you here is even more precious, Lorna. I'm sorry I squandered that early on," she says. Her arm will tighten a bit about Lorna if the hug was permitted in the first place.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna's shoulders would feel vaguely tense under Wanda's arm, but she allowed the hug, and even leaned into it. The reason for the tense line of her muscles wasn't immediately clear, but as Wanda spoke of her mother, or the woman that birthed her at least, Lorna winced. Her lower lip was captured by her teeth and she exhaled a rough breath after a moment. "I don't remember my mother at all. I don't have anything from her. The people that raised me.. the Danes.. They were her husband's family. And they raised me but.. I still knew that my parents were dead. Or at least, I thought they were." She exhaled a breath.

"Father knew where I was that whole time. He knew who I was. That I existed that whole time. I don't hate him for it anymore.. but there are certain things that we missed because of his choices." She swallowed a lump that formed in the back of her throat.

"You and Pietro had each other. You grew up together." She had been alone before the twins' shared heritage had changed everything. And now, she felt the lump rise in the back of her throat again. Her voice was soft and it crumbled slightly at the edges.

"And I've missed so much already.."

Elixir has posed:
Josh smiles a bit at Lorna's comment on the wagon, and more broadly at Wanda's kiss. He leans in to her for that moment but keeps quiet. This is a moment for the sisters and even Josh recognizes that. He sees what is coming for Lorna, squeezes Wanda's leg and slips out with some vague mutter about needing to get something. The door closes behind him a moment later.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda will reach down as Josh squeezes her leg. Resting her hand on his arm there and smiling over to him. He'll have no problem telling through the bond forged when she gave him control of her magic to heal Sarah, how much Wanda appreciates his thoughtfulness in the moment.

Her attention focuses back on Lorna. "I'm sorry you didn't have us, sister," she says quietly. "But I try not to focus too much on what we lost. We could have gone all of our lives and not known. And even after we knew, time was wasted. But we're not wasting it now. And I'm grateful we have this chance to have each other as family," Wanda says.

She adds her other arm to what started as a side hug, turning towards her sister and hugging Lorna more tightly if allowed. "You mean a lot to me. And that you have had the choice of letting me into your life, and of being in mine, rather than just being raised that way and never thinking twice of it? That means something to me too, my sister," she says quietly.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna felt tears well up unwillingly in her eyes, and she struggled to blink them back as she wrapped her arms around Wanda as her older sibling embraced her with both. There was a tell tale dampness however that Wanda would feel on her shoulder as she spoke, that betrayed Lorna's struggle to hold back her tears. She sniffled once, leaning back after a few minutes of simply enjoying having her sister hug her, to rub at her nose and eyes.

"I just.. I just struggle so much Wanda with that. I keep thinking of everything we lost. Everything we should have had as a family. We should've been able to know our mothers. Been raised together.. And it hurts. To think that we missed out on so many things. Sure we have now, and the future. But we should've had a past too." She breathed, and her lips twisted into a bitter smile.

"I can't entirely blame Dad for that either." She rubbed at the corners of her eyes, and pursed her lips together as she blinked back further wetness that rose in the corners of her eyes.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda keeps her arms there about her sister, the embrace growing more gentle after a bit. Wanda's hand gently brushes back and forth over her sister's shoulders. "I'd have loved to have you gang up on Pietro with," Wanda says, her own eyes looking distinctly misty. But the Transian woman's expression still tries to inject a little light-hearted levity into the moment.

"Lorna, while I wish you'd been with us so we could have been family? I can't wish that upon you. We had a few good years. Good, but rough years. After that? We lived our lives on the run for the longest time," Wanda tells Lorna, shaking her head. "It was not something I would wish you subjected to, it would be greedy of me to wish you had to go through being literally hunted at times as we were. As much as I'd have like to have grown up together... I guess I don't really understand fully the circumstances you did have. I just can't imagine too much that I'd have chosen our life over, for my sister to go through."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna's lips curved faintly as Wanda reached up to brush her back and shoulders, and she exhaled a heavy breath, her eyes squeezing shut briefly. As she contemplated what Wanda had said. "I understand that, but.. I just.. I was alone, Wanda. I was alone here in America. A bipolar kid with green hair and dead parents. I grew up in the middle of nowhere... I was never on the run, but... I was just so alone." She whispered, pursing her lips together.

"There were times when I'd have given anything to have a sibling. Someone that understood me, accepted me. Before Xavier's.. the school.." She shrugged, and wiped her eyes again.

"There was a lot that would've gone differently in my life if I'd known who and what I was. If we'd all been together from the start. Father too." She murmured.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The slow nods of Wanda's head express her understanding of how Lorna feels. "There's a lot to our lives that could have gone so much better. But it didn't. And we made it through to become the people we are today. And I'm /so/ proud of what my sister has made of her life. You've done wonderful things, Lorna. What you've accomplished as part of the X-men. What you're doing for the people in Genosha. I think my place has needed to be here more, with the Avengers. And it's easier knowing that they have you as involved as you are," Wanda says.

She finally lets her sister out of the hug, picking up both of their salted margarita glasses and passing Lorna's to her. "I would have made these stronger if I'd known we might need it," she says with a soft smile to Lorna. If it seems like her sister is feeling better, Wanda will look over across the open room towards the part that serves as the bedroom. "Josh?" she calls over to get his attention again.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled a soft sigh as Wanda nods and continued to understand the sudden release of Lorna's pent up feelings. It hadn't been exactly expected for the green haired young woman, to get teary eyed over past events regarding her family. Much less about things she couldn't actively do anything to change or improve. She knew it wasn't healthy for her to linger so much on such things. Even while she found herself doing just that.

Still, Wanda's words earned a faint smile, and an amused glance as Wanda handed her the glass of margarita. "Do you really like these or something? It's all you ever seem to make when I come over." She drawled, taking a sip of her drink as she nodded to the glass in her grip.