Temporary - Chapter 7 (Agatha/Wanda Story)
Story-Overview // previous chapter <<<>>> next chapter
A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to 2023!!!
I can't put into words how sorry I am this story is taking me so long to update. I hope everyone understands that I am in my last semester at uni - writing my final thesis and like.... 100 pages don't write themselves :D Anyhow. I am eager to continue and, ultimately, finish this story, hoping you all enjoy!!! Have a nice Sunday and I great start into the new week!
Agatha Taglist: @danvers97 @ara-a-bird @queennoella087 @our-blood-is-our-ink @harknessesbae @dazzlinghahn @emril-osvigne @m-h-r-h
Temporary Taglist: @thoroughly--confused @chaosqueen2 @tr333sus
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The following week goes by in a blip, but, simultaneously, time appears to stand completely still. Right when she wakes up, Wanda contacts her management team and asks for them to find and get in contact with the other woman. The person who took away her breath at the signing. Agatha. Everything else is now out of her hands, so, for the next week, the author fully immerses herself into the book. Tries to understand. Learns the runes. Reads as much as she can. Just like before, pages start to appear and disappear, and she feels drawn to the page of the other woman over and over again.
Convinced of a PR-stunt, Wanda does not spend a single second trying to get behind the book. Trying to figure out how it works or what it is for. Because she wishes for Agatha to tell her. For the beautiful woman, the talented author, to come to her office, sit down in her library with her, and tell her about her plans for THEIR novel.Little does she know that, one day, she will wish she never hoped for that.
Three weeks go by in which Wanda spends every waking moment on her newest book. She writes, day in, day out, drafts over drafts pile up in her basement as she sits on her chair, hair up in a messy bun, eyes squinting as she hovers over yet another page of the darkhold.
The office is filled with takeout boxes and bunched up papers from endless nights of writing. Years ago, Wanda had asked her team to stay out of her home. To give her privacy. With only a few exceptions in which they had meeting in the redheads living room, everyone granted her her wishes and gave her every space she had asked for. Because of that, Wanda finally gets a call one day, instead of an executed assistant running down the stairs to her basement.
Groaning, because her brain does not connect the dots yet, she picks up: “Yeah?“
“Wanda… Ms. Maximoff. I mean.. Boss. We found her.“ The person in line is nervous.
“You WHAT?“, noticeably confused, Wanda nearly kicks over the glass of water standing on her table as she jumps up from her chair.
Without hesitation, the other person in line continues. “Ms. Harkness! We found her. She agreed to come see you.“
“Come see me? Ms. Harkness?“ It takes another few seconds for her to get it. To understand who Ms. Harkness must be, and when she does, she needs some time to process the information, this sudden development being too unexpected to fully set within her just yet. “The woman we’ve been searching for for like a month agreed to come see me? In my home? I assume, soon?“
The other person in line must be nodding right now because there is no immediate answer. “Yes! Exactly. You name a time and date and she will be there. In your home. Alone. That was her only demand.“
Pinching the top of her nose, Wanda considers. Of course it feels strange for a complete stranger to demand being in her home all by themselves, but then again, maybe she wants to go over drafts, compare ideas, speak about a project she hasn’t told anyone about just yet. Wanda gets it. She probably would ask for the exact same thing. After all, she was the one who came up with the location. Ms. Harkness is just adding another circumstance.
She arranges an appointment with her assistant before she hangs up and releases a long breath she didn’t know she was holding. Sighing, Wanda makes her way up the stairs towards her living room, where she grabs a glass and pours herself some white wine to celebrate the occasion.
It takes her until she plops down onto her couch until she realizes what had just happened. This woman wasn’t just some author. She was so smart her work had wrecked Wanda’s brain for the last month. And she was beautiful. So beautiful that her pretty blue eyes had followed Wanda in her dreams, every night ever since she had first fallen into them.
Another couple of days go by before the day of the meeting has finally come. Excitement rushing through her veins, the young author finds herself standing in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. “Why do you care so much? Jeeeeez. This is a work meeting.“ She squints as she bites her lips.
Closing her eyes, Wanda takes a deep breath and slides her hands across the sink table as she exhales. One last look into the mirror.. and it’s time.
Just a few moments later, the doorbell rings. Wanda had decided to meet the other woman in her own four walls because that’s were she feels most comfortable. That’s where her books are and where her creativity flows best. After all, she was gonna convince the woman to work on what might be the project of their lives with her. This could be a huge opportunity, this could change her life. Forever.
“Hiya, Hon!“ The brunette chimes and flashes a bright smile as soon as Wanda opens the door. She is as beautiful as Wanda remembers. Long dark hair flows down and hugs her shoulders, highlighting the crystal blue eyes looking up at her. Her smile is dazzling and the soft wrinkles around her eyes speak of a lifetime of laughter and joy.
The redhead’s lips curl upwards in a shy, sincere motion. “Hello there.“
This is so different than she had imagined. Instead of the formal professional greeting she expected, the other woman has already made her face flush before extending her hand for Wanda to grab. As soon as their fingers touch, the young author takes in an unnoticeable breath and her heart rate speeds up. Silently cursing herself, she finally takes a step to the side.
“Come in!“ Holding the door open for the other woman, she extends her arm to grab her jacket. “Welcome!“
Taking in the place, Agatha walks right into Wanda’s space as the redhead puts away her belongings. Respectfully, she doesn’t walk too far into the house without the other woman at her side. “Beautiful home you have here.“ She turns around and smiles.
Nodding, Wanda finally joins her at her side and leads her to the sitting area. The TV hanging on the wall across the house is currently set on frame-mode, displaying a variety of beautiful classic paintings. Sitting down, Agatha’s eyes land on the screen, dazzling as the Starry Night by Van Gogh appears.
“That’s my favorite..“ Wanda sighs, as she sinks down on the opposite side of the couch, following Agatha’s eyes.
For a moment, the women sit in silence.
Even though she is intrigued by the mysteriousness surrounding the other woman, Wanda finally has enough. “So… Ms. Harkness. Who are you? What do you want?“
Taking her eyes off the frame-TV, the brunette finally makes full eye contact. “Right! I’m so sorry! I forgot that you must have no idea about any of it.“
Wanda slightly squints, trying to figure out what ‚it‘ means.
Getting no reaction from the redhead, Agatha continues. “My name is Agatha, Agatha Harkness and I’ve been a huge fan for years. Read all your work. Loved Scarlett. Really. Big fan.“
Wanda nods, but doesn’t answer, as this is not the kind of information she was hoping for. Unable to tell where this sudden awkwardness is coming from, she shivers as the air around them changes.
“Right, Agatha. Nice to finally meet you. I’m sorry my team hunted you down like that but I, I really needed to talk to you after reading that book you’ve planted in my home. You really gotta tell me how you did that, by the way.“ She takes a quick breath. “But really, I know their ways of finding you were unconventional and I…“Agatha falls right into her sentence. “Let's not talk about that. In all my excitement when preparing this for you, I must have forgotten to include my name in the book.“, she huffs, “Really, I’m just glad they found me.“
Slowly nodding as Agatha talks, Wanda lays her forehead in folds. How does someone forget to put their name into their work of art? Something that essential forgotten by someone genius like that? Uncertainty and concern spreads in her chest, leading Wanda to come to the decision. She will not share any idea about her book’s content without getting to know the other woman and her intentions first.
“I’m glad they found you, too.“ Looking up, their eyes meet again and Wanda remembers the first time they’ve ever seen each other. The times she thought of her. The dreams she’s had of her. Damnit.
Taking any decision out of her hands, Agatha finally starts talking. “I know you’ve probably invited me here to talk about my book. I would be highly interested in working with you. Being at your reading fully convinced me of it, if I wasn’t convinced before,“ she winks, “however, I really feel like we should get to know each other before we start to get to work. After all, this project could possible take ages and you’re not getting rid of me that easily.“
Not that Wanda would mind. Giggling, why the hell is she giggling now, she agrees and gets up. “Do you drink wine? I’ll pop a bottle for us and then we can… talk.“
Agatha grins, “White, please.“, and makes herself comfortable in her corner of the couch.
As soon as she gets into the kitchen to open a bottle, Wanda pours herself half a glass and downs it right away, before making her way back to the other woman.
Finally plopping down onto the couch for good, she inhales and slowly exhales, before locking eyes with the brunette. Said woman smiles back, raising her glass. “To us. Thank you for having me.“
“To us.“ Glasses cling and the first sips are taken.
“So… Agatha, what kind of stories do you write?“ Wanda raises an eyebrow and keeps her eyes glued to the other woman, taking in her full frame. The way her slim fingers wrap around the glass, her silver rings complimenting them, the lightest twitch of her lips before they break apart into the sweetest smile. Agathas eyes focus on a droplet of wine as it moves towards the brim of the glas as she picks it up to take another sip before answering. Taking her sweet time, she moves her pointer finger around the top of the class. “Well, mostly mysterious. Dark dramas. Thrillers even. I used to study runes and ancient tales - Witchcraft - which is why I came across your books and fell in love with them. And writing in general“, she adds quickly.
“Runes, huh?“ Wanda smirks. “Looking at the book you prepared for me, I got really interested in them myself. Maybe even believe in their magic. Have you got a favorite one?“
For a moment, Agatha is perplexed, noticing the vulnerability coming with this kind of question. Answering truthfully, she will lay out a part of her unconscious inside thoughts she’s never talked about. Nevertheless, she is eager to share, hoping the beautiful redhead will continue spending time with her. Choosing the most mysterious answer, she smiles to herself as she starts talking.
“The 14th rune of the old Futhark. Perthro.“ Interested because she has never heard of this specific one, Wanda leans closer as Agatha continues. “I like it because it’s the one rune I couldn’t get behind. It’s like it’s keeping a secret from me. From us all. But… The one thing it appears to be useful for is.. well.. finding something that is lost.“
A soft smile plays around her lips as she locks eyes with Wanda again.
Wanda inhales. Her voice is soft. “And… Did you find what you were searching for?“
They both sit in silence for a moment, seemingly moving closer. Their hands on the couch inch towards each other, radiating heat off of them. Wanda bites her lower lip as she tries to calm herself down, noticing Agatha is, indeed, gravitating towards her. Her breath quickens and she feels her body reacting to the moment until…. A loud peng pulls her out of it all.
“Oh god, oh, I’m so sorry“ Agatha crumbles and bends over, down towards the floor, wanting to pick up the fallen over wine bottle. As she does, she beams. “Oh, it’s fine! Look, it was empty.“
Looking at the other woman and the empty bottle in her hand, Wanda finally catches herself. What went into her? What was she thinking? Taking the sign, she gets up from the couch, searching for a way to leave the moment. THE BOOK. Right. They keep talking about it, so it only makes sense to get it upstairs again.
Shooting Agatha an apologetic look, Wanda excuses herself and takes the stairs to the basement, eager to catch a short breath by herself, leaving behind a baffled brunette. As soon as she finds herself in her sacred place, the young author has to hold on to one of her bookshelves. This woman will be her death. It’s hard not to want to stare at her. Touch her. Be closer to her. Let alone now that they had somehow agreed to drink wine to loosen their tongues. Wanda shakes her head, furiously, trying to get rid of her nagging thoughts.
Book tugged under one arm, she comes back upstairs a moment later, rounding the corner to find Agatha still sitting on the couch. Making her way back to it, she softly places the book on the table, opening it to a page she thinks Agatha might be ready to talk about.
Agatha smiles at her, probably thinking of the moment before. Trying not to channel another moment of nearly getting too close, Wanda keeps a straight face and looks at the book on the table. She has studied this page before. Multiple times.
A seemingly young woman is floating in the air, black lines leading away from her, surrounding her like snakes. On her head, there is what appears to be a crown, the details not visible due to the pictures black, dirty look. Wanda taps on the page with one finger, looking at Agatha just briefly before focusing again on the woman. “This one is most interesting. She doesn’t have a face. So… Who is she? What’s her story?“
Looking back at Agatha with her beautiful green eyes, Wanda is now fully immersed in what the brunette has to say and doesn’t notice her getting closer yet again. Childishly, her fingers are still resting on the page as she waits for the other woman to start explaining as, suddenly, her focus shifts.
Agatha’s movements are followed by an airflow that grants Wanda with the sweetest scent that has ever hit her. The brunette smells like lavender that is growing on a clearing in the middle of untouched woods. Like a chilling breeze dazzling through her hair in cold summer nights. Like the feeling of falling asleep on a blanket under the stars.
Right when Wanda is about to lean way closer to Agatha than she should to take in more of her scent, the brunette places her hand on Wandas, gently taking it off the page, before touching the page herself. With two fingers this time. Her face darkens.
“This, Wanda, is the strongest being in every universe. The one person undefeated by anybody.“ Agatha looks up, fingers still on the face. “This page is showing you someone I’ve been searching for for an eternity. The Scarlet Witch.“
Wanda frowns, unsure of where Agatha is going with this, using her own character for her story already without consent. The other woman’s smile changes, something wicked finds its way onto her face, as she slowly moves her fingers from the page, locking eyes with her.
Scared by the sudden change in Agatha’s eyes, Wanda looks back down onto the page, her heart dropping to the floor. Shaking, she raises her hand to her lips. The sketch suddenly has a face. A face that is staring right back at her. Just like a mirror.
