Ficlet Prompt: Further Rio + Wanda (mis)adventures! In the ghoulniverse or otherwise. They both attempt to do something nice for Agatha? Or are trying not to get in trouble with Agatha? Whichever is more funny.
ghoulniverse rio&wanda misadventures feat. agatha 𫥠2,600 words of such things 𫥠set about 4 years after fic series' end đ«Ą
âIf youâre trying to do a terrible job,â Agatha says from her spot splayed comfortably on the kitchen floor, catching the grape in her mouth as it plummets toward the tile, âthen youâre doing a wonderful job.âÂ
Billy lets out a bitchy little ugh, selecting a fresh grape from their dwindling bunch on the countertop. âI thought you said you had a special spell to help me beat up bad guys,â he says irritably, suspending the grape in midair.Â
âMhm,â Agatha says, lacing her hands behind her head. Surely, after so many years under her tutelage, Billyâs capable of putting the pieces together. Itâs Wic-can, after all. If heâd gone and named himself Wic-canât, theyâd be wrangling a different rodeo.Â
âExactly how is this useful in a bad guy situation?â Billy says, a glow of blue magic peeling the grapeâs skin from its fleshy pulp.Â
Dear god. Wic-couldnât find his ass with both hands and a map. âYou know how you made me sit through seven seasons of Buffy even though the lezzies barely boinked while the straighties boinked like it was going out of style?â Agatha says.Â
âYesâŠ?âÂ
Billy loses his psychic grip; Agatha gains another grape snack, chomping happily. âAnd you know how my fave scene was Willow flaying that guy to CGI hell?âÂ
âYes. Disturbing. Whyâre you talking about â â
Through a mouthful of grape mush, Agatha gives Billy her creepiest child-eater smile.Â
When the realization hits, superboy sucks in a harsh breath. Look at that! Through the power of friendship, Wic-can find his ass.Â
âThis is a people-flaying spell?â Billy says meekly, looking at the remaining grapes in horror.
âItâs a peeling spell,â Agatha corrects. âPoint it at a grape, peel a grape. Point it at a personâŠyou get the gist. Pretty a-peeling, donât you think?âÂ
Billy starts frantically wiping his hands on his shirt like heâs Lady freaking Macbeth. Drama queen. âWhat if Iâd missed the grape and hit you?âÂ
âThen weâd be hitting up your Maxi-mom to help us engineer Agatha three-point-oh,â Agatha says impatiently. The moral handwringing is putting a real damper on the fun of tricking Billy into feeding her grapes. âIâm trying to help you, kid. God forbid I jam some rejuvenating knowledge into that dried-up dad brain of yours. Can you chill out?âÂ
Despite Agathaâs glorious dionysian plans for her afternoon, the forecastâs never appeared less chill: with a clap of green light, a half-skeletal Rio storms through a tear in the air.Â
âHey, you,â Agatha says, her heart picking up speed as she scrambles to her feet. Todayâs interdimensional outing wasnât supposed to wrap up for hours. âWhereâs â â
Another green flashbang, this one blindingly bright. When Agatha blinks herself back into functional eyesight, her spineâs been slammed against the kitchen wall; Rioâs hand is over her mouth, removable claws slicing into her cheek.Â
âNot a single word,â Rio rasps in the sandpaper-scrape of a voice that comes out when she doesnât bother to form a larynx. She leans in, sniffing at the air with her cartilage nub of a nose. âWhat is that? Excoriation magic? Youâre teaching him how the witches of eras past dispatched their enemies?âÂ
âIâm teaching him how the witches of eras now eat their grapes in style,â Agatha tries to say against the palm smushing her lips.Â
Losing their shape, Rioâs pupils become jagged black streaks. âIâm walking into our bedroom,â she sandpaper-scrapes. âIâm closing the door. If you follow me, Iâm excoriating the flesh from your bones in one long pasty New England ribbon.â With her free hand, Rio unsheathes her knife; drags the tip over the line of Agathaâs jaw. âNo magic necessary.âÂ
âHot,â Agatha says against Rioâs hand, waggling her eyebrows.Â
Snarling under her breath, Rio makes good on her two-step promise â bedroom-walking, door-closing. For once, when Billy looks at her quizzically, Agathaâs fresh out of answers. What the hell was that about?Â
A red clap of light briefly illuminates the room, half as bright as Rioâs green; Wanda fumbles through a new rip in reality, her face frozen in pure shock.Â
âWhat happened?â Billy asks anxiously, hurrying over to grasp Wandaâs shoulders. âWhat did you guys see?âÂ
Rubbing her fingers over her lightly-bleeding cheek, Agatha braces herself for the answer. Million-eyed monsters? Deep-sea leviathans walking on land? At Agathaâs urging, Rioâs been taking Wanda on mini trips around the multiverse, giving the Scarlet Witch some hands-on experience in dimension-hopping. (âNone of us want a baby behind the wheel,â Agatha had argued while making her case for these one-on-one seminars. âBut if the bundle of joyâs already in the driverâs seatâŠdonât you wanna teach it how to slam the brakes?â)Â
Although Agatha stands by that airtight logic â the Scarlet Witch is in dire need of interplanar training, lest she accidentally vaporize them all â she also knows that Lady Deathâs lessons can beâŠintense. Especially when aimed toward Sokoviaâs finest finger-sucking menace. What did Rio put them through this time? Does Agatha need to fetch her umbrella to endure the oncoming Wanda waterworks?
Apparently not. Meeting Billyâs concerned gaze, Wanda seems to break out of her stupor; a smile slowly splits her face, passably-witchy laughter bubbling up her throat until sheâs bent over in genuine hysterics.
*************************
If thereâs one thing Agatha canât stand, itâs not being in on a joke.Â
âYou know how Iâve always been a font of honesty?â she says, chin in her hands. Todayâs class was supposed to end in some silent reading on the history of transmutation; Agatha forgot how boring it is to watch someone else stare at a book.
Wanda looks up from said book, lips pinched in annoyance. âUh huh?âÂ
âAnd even when Iâm not, you take it upon yourself to crack my head open and scoop out whatever tragic lore I didnât feel like sharing?âÂ
The lip pinch intensifies. Wandaâs going to achieve her rightful wrinkly hag status in no time. âAgatha, Iâm trying to read what you told me to read.âÂ
âYou are,â Agatha agrees. âAnd right in the middle of our conversation, too.â
âIs there something I can help you w â â
âWhat did you see?â Agatha says, repeating Billyâs question from the day before.
Itâs a question that Wanda and Rio have both repeatedly dodged. Which is, to say the least, unusual. Whenâs the last time the witch equivalent of water and oil shared a secret? Never. Agatha feels like sheâs vibrating out of her (thankfully un-excoriated) skin.Â
âWhy are you hounding me instead of your wife?â Wanda says without looking up from her book.
âUh, because that bitch is crazy. In case you havenât noticed.âÂ
Wanda turns a page. Twitching her fingers, Agatha rearranges the letters to spell Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell âÂ
âIâve noticed,â Wanda snaps, tossing the book on the table. âWhy do you think Iâm not telling you?âÂ
âSo you donât care if I know,â Agatha muses, stroking the bridge of her nose in thought. A plausible scenario takes shape. âWas it me? Did you see an other-universe me?âÂ
Wanda tilts her head, chewing her lip. Thinking about how to respond. Interesting.Â
âWas other-me with someone else?â A dagger of dread cuts through Agathaâs guesswork. âOh, god â was I straight?âÂ
âWe didnât see you,â Wanda says carefully.Â
Interesting. Had they visited the other-Wanda who had inadvertently led to real-Wandaâs first death? The one whose cowering sons had made Wanda realize that she was a couple doggypaddles past the deep end? But that doesnât make any sense: Wanda never wouldâve come back from that visit laughing.Â
What sort of alt-Wanda would make her laugh, then? (What sort of alt-Wanda would get Rio in the mood for some old-fashioned flaying?)Â
Something large and fuzzy starts crawling up Agathaâs leg. Biting the inside of her cheek, Agatha resists the urge to torch the intruder; as sheâs grown to expect, her calfâs passenger is Rioâs pet tarantula. They never shouldâve taught him how to teleport.
âBad Bitey,â Rio scolds, appearing with a soft whoosh. âWeâre working on being intentional with where we reappear. Itâs a work in progress.â When she notices Wanda, the tarantula-softness of her expression disappears. âTo be clear, heâs still my best student.âÂ
âItâd be such a shame if you lost him,â Wanda says, a smile playing around her mouth. âDo you want me to get him a collar?âÂ
The flash of steel is the only warning Agatha gets; her shield spell materializes in the knick of time, Rioâs dagger forced to stop half an inch from Wandaâs heart. And Wanda is laughing. Why is Wanda âÂ
âTell Billy to prep his least comfortable sleeping bag,â Rio barks in Agathaâs direction, angrily plopping her tarantula on her shoulder. âI want the place to myself.âÂ
Agatha scoffs. If sheâs gonna be kicked out, she might as well earn it. âYou know, Iâd expect this kind of tantrum from someone in their Terrible Two-billions, but when youâre thirteen billion years old â â
âOut,â Rioâs voice echoes in Agathaâs head, loud enough to cause a tinnitus-like ringing.Â
Agatha shuts her eyes, waiting for the soundwaves to stop ping-ponging around her skull; when she reopens them, sheâs standing in the middle of Billyâs kitchen.Â
âHi, Auntie Agatha,â Alice says guiltily, whoâs standing on her dadsâ countertop with chocolate dust powdering her face. At four years old, sheâs just tall enough to reach the high-up cabinet shelf where the Oreos are hidden. âIâŠam not eating cookies.âÂ
âSure,â Agatha says, resting an elbow on the counter. âWhat are you doing, my friend?âÂ
Alice clearly hasnât thought this far ahead. âUm â â
âBecause if Billy Dad were to walk through the front door,â Agatha says casually, taking an Oreo from the packet, âheâd want to know what youâre up to. Not what youâre not up to. You know what I mean?âÂ
Alice jams two Oreos into her mouth at once. âIâm standing on the counter,â she says, spraying Agathaâs shirt with crumbs.
âYou sure are,â Agatha says, wiping her shirt. âI donât know if Billy Dad would love that either, though. Can I tell you what Iâd say, if I were you?âÂ
Eyes wide, Alice nods.Â
âIâd say that your brother got the Oreos out, that little rascal,â Agatha says, lowering her voice conspiratorially. âBut he forgot to put them away, so youâre doing him a solid. Harry never puts away his toys, does he?âÂ
âUgh. Never.âÂ
âSo itâs believable,â Agatha says, ruffling Aliceâs hair. âYou got that? Itâs something that your dads would believe is real.âÂ
âEven though itâs not,â Alice says, swallowing her Oreos.Â
âItâs not real until you make it real,â Agatha corrects, offering her niece another stolen cookie. âTrust me, kiddo â thatâs something Billy Dad knows all about.âÂ
*************************
After a full week of failing to wear down either the water witch or the oil witch, Agatha convenes an emergency meeting.
âAlice and I were chatting the other day,â Agatha begins, doing her best to address both members of her audience equally. (Not easy to do. Wandaâs cross-legged on the couch; Rioâs hovering near the ceiling, arms tightly folded across her chest.) âShe reminded me about the importance of healthy communication. Smart kid.âÂ
âCut to the end so I can say no faster,â Rio says in a monotone, lazily spinning in place.Â
âYou donât even know what Iâm gonna â â
âYou want to know what we saw on our field trip. Iâm not telling you.â Rio pauses mid-spin, making bored upside-down eye contact. âMeeting adjourned?âÂ
Agatha feels her blood pressure spiking. âThe last time you two couldnât talk things out,â she says testily, âwe ended up leveling part of the great state of Massachusetts. And Wanda almost died.âÂ
âWhich isâŠbad,â Rio says, her voice lilting upward in a semi-question.Â
âWhich is bad,â Agatha confirms. âGrudges grow like weeds. Letâs rip this one up quick and save ourselves some trouble down the line. Howâs that sound?âÂ
âCan I make a proposal?â Wanda says, adjusting her stance to properly address Rio above her head.
Rio rights herself, pushing her hair out of her eyes. âMaybe.âÂ
âIf we tell her,â Wanda says with a strange, hushed giddiness, âthen she knows. But she doesnât get to see. And she never, ever will.âÂ
Rioâs eyes narrow. âDamn it,â she says after a long, tense moment. âThatâs really fucking funny.âÂ
âIn the spirit of healthy communication,â Agatha says, her rage reaching proportions unheard of since the Darkhold days, âIâm about one vague sentence away from heading out and leveling the great state of Massachusetts myself. So if you gals could use your words to actually say something â â
âYears ago,â Wanda starts, looking to Rio for approval. (From the ceiling, a small nod.) âOutside one of Billyâs first shows. We were talking aboutâŠpreferences. You said â I donât know, it was like â âI hope thereâs a cooler Wanda out there with some decent taste.ââÂ
âSounds like me,â Agatha says, the rage maintaining its boiling point. âSo?âÂ
âSo we found one,â Wanda says. âNot on purpose, but â â
âYouâre bad at talking,â Rio says, floating down to claim the free half of the couch. To Agatha: âI was trying to show her how to find stuff when itâs thirty thousand universes away. âOh no, I forgot my keys ten planets ago,â whatever. That way â she misplaces a kid, she can just find him. No more stomping everywhere wrecking my shit.âÂ
âYou told her to find herself,â Agatha says, her rage giving way to mild disappointment. âThe closest available bizarro-Wanda. Who eats pussy! Thatâs fun. Is thatâŠit, or â ?âÂ
âBizarro-Wanda has a girlfriend,â Wanda says through a cresting wave of laughter, glancing over at âÂ
Rio. Whoâs glaring sullenly forward, tongue assaulting the inside of her cheek.Â
Agatha hasnât breathed this little since her reign as Ghost with the Most. âBizarro-you? How â but thereâs â thereâs no you, youâre not â â
âI look like a human,â Rio says, shrugging. âFlip side of that â there are humans who look like me. Not exactly, but. Pretty close.âÂ
Is the room spinning? It feels like the room is spinning. Agatha sinks into the nearest chair, Wandaâs annoyingly-vague statement starting to gain some meaning. She doesnât get to see.Â
âOur working theory is that my magic subconsciously reached out for both of us instead of just me,â Wanda says, giving Rio a tentative smile. âThere are obviously a lot of dimensions out there. I found the singular one where someone who looks like me and someone who looks like her were â â
âFucking,â Rio says, her eyes boring into Agathaâs. âWe were fucking. We walked in on bizarro-me and bizarro-her fucking.âÂ
Agatha needs to sit down. (Agatha is already sitting down.) âHuh,â she says. Itâs the sound that people make when they get their cancer diagnosis. âWell. Thatâs â â
âAnd Rio was wearing a dog collar and I was totally the top,â Wanda says in a giggly rush, bubbling herself in protective red magic.
When the luxury buildingâs manager is grilled on how the explosion couldâve possibly happened, he has no choice but to grasp at straws: a science experiment gone wrong, some snotty teenagerâs fireworks all going off at once. What else couldâve prompted that detonation of green energy, captured by security cameras on a dozen surrounding buildings?Â
Itâll be up for the court to decide, pouring over clip after clip of the ten-second-long disaster. While some of the footage caught the roar of noise, even the most state-of-the-art technology didnât manage to pick up a womanâs voice shouting Wait hold on what position, you canât not tell me what position, whatâs the deal with the collar, was Wan-dom grabbing it or what, can we get a diagram up in here, actually can we get a super quick demonstration, actually actually can you just point me to the universe. Which universe. Guys. Which univ -
unfortunately i dont think its queerbaiting if the creator is just so terminally heterosexual that they never remotely considered the same gender relationship their show is centered around could be read as romantic. it is deeply painful however.
pros and cons so far of having my dad stay with me for a week. con: literally two minutes after he arrived, the skies opened in some kind of new and exciting plague and my basement IMMEDIATELY flooded, forcing him to help me bail water out of said basement. pro: he took one look at the art around my office and cheerfully said "very sapphic wall you've got here!"
pros and cons so far of having my dad stay with me for a week. con: literally two minutes after he arrived, the skies opened in some kind of new and exciting plague and my basement IMMEDIATELY flooded, forcing him to help me bail water out of said basement. pro: he took one look at the art around my office and cheerfully said "very sapphic wall you've got here!"
hey kitten. daddy needs to talk to you. your kink blog is great, but you are not highlighting the words correctly. kitten. stop highlighting. this is shit. did you seriously highlight that period. kitten.
AAA ep 3 through the lens of "agatha and jen have decades of a fucked up situationship behind them" goes so incredibly hard. jen bringing up the kid killing rumors to billy. constant mutual snipping. literal hand holding during the potion ritual. agatha grabbing jen's shoulders for worst pep talk of all time! i've always hated you but I also think you're smart and important and I am staring so deeply into your eyes! and we're both girls!
âAnd if youâll give me 40% of the MOST POPULAR VOTE, Iâll give you my SPECIAL REWARD... A yearâs supply of NON-GLOOBY SLIME!!! Never or BARELY used!!!â Tenna concluded his speech with a huge smile, jetting his hands up in double peace signs.
The crowd roared in confused enthusiasm as Tenna gave a gracious flurry of low-FPS bows, pausing only for the occasional stink-nose at his audience plants who werenât throwing enough 3D roses.
Eventually, the room fell silent. It was Senshiâs turn to speak.
He puffed out his chest, took a long, sweeping look over the audience⊠and shook his head.
âI can see not all of you are eating properly.â
The crowd murmured with embarrassment.
âI donât know who needs to hear this, but itâs time to take the turkey out of your icebox. I have seen the ingenious technology with which your people store food... and I have also seen the waste which results from such convenience.
âThe food you take had a life. Beasts grew fat on the grass of the field, plants grew from the sunâs rays, and mushrooms grew from minerals in the cracks of caves. And yet, it sits in your iceboxes, collecting moisture until it perishes.
âEat what is given to you. Because its life will make you stronger, too.â
Without another word, Senshi left his podium and stepped away from the stage. The crowd murmured in confusion. âIs he really like that?â somebody said. âI only remember reblogging the photosets of him tripping and showing ass.â
--
Back in the Green Room, Tenna wrung his antennas nervously.
âY-y-you think they liked me!? They HAD to!! I mean, I donât know what Asgore was thinking, getting that weird haircut and running that food waste campaign, but⊠YOU thought I did good, didnât you, Kris?â
Laios nodded aggressively, a streak of blue face paint peeling from his forehead.
âYou did AMAZING, Tenna! By the way, now that weâve seen all your insider campaign secrets, do you have any more videos of Susie? Especially her tail... If I could get a look at that, I could finally tell if sheâs a dinosaur or --â
THWACK. Fake antlers butted Laiosâs head.
âLAIOS?? Werenât we dressed up to help SENSHI???â Marcille hissed, gesturing awkwardly with her hooves.
Suddenly, Tenna turned to the two adventurers.
âHey, WAIT a second. SOMETHINGâs not right here...â
Laios and Marcille held their breath.
âWhere the heck are my POINTS!?â
Just then, the door opened. Chilchuck took one step into the room, whistling and holding a large bag.
Everyone turned to him.
Chilchuck paused, took a step backwards, and closed the door.
âCHILCHUCK!!!â yelled Tenna.
âHow come Chilchuck got to stay Chilchuck!?â yelled Marcille at the same time.
--
Meanwhile, in outer space somewhere, some guy was making out with a rock.