Take Your Chances (X-Men: First Class, Jean/Wanda, G)
Title: Take Your Chances
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Pairing: Jean Grey/Wanda Maximoff
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,500
Summary: Wanda decides that some things are worth the risk.
Author's Notes: Written for likeadeuce in femslash08. And I'd like to give massive thanks to anat_astarte for her beta job!
Wanda shifted through her closet, still somewhat dazzled by the sheer variety and mass of clothing she had managed to obtain in such a short amount of time. Most of it with money that didn't actually belong to her, although Jean had assured her on multiple occasions that Warren barely even noticed the dent in his bank account. It was one of several signs that living in America was slowly picking away at the more ascetic lifestyle she'd grown up with.
She hadn't liked America very much at first. She'd missed Transia, and for all Magneto's lecturing about the superior part of homo sapiens superior she had desperately resented the powers that had divorced her brother and her from their old home. Leaving the Brotherhood had made things so much better, and for a while she had just assumed that she and their brother would pick up with their old life in a new location. Just the two of them in their own little bubble, safely separate from the rest of the world.
But at some point between Transia and New York Wanda had found herself craving the attention of someone other than her brother. She wanted something like the X-Men, a group she could belong to; not just her over-attentive sibling or Magneto's group of psychopaths. She wanted something like what Jean had. She wanted friends.
Because, as much as she loved him, she'd come to find Pietro a little annoying. "You spend too much time with her," said Pietro. He was sprawled out on her bed, fidgeting like he always did as he watched her try to make a fashion decision.
"Yes, brother," responded Wanda. She was only half listening to him, and the only reason she was refraining from telling him to mind his own business was because of the lingering guilt she felt about leaving him all by himself. One day he would eventually loosen his pride and find someone worth being friendly towards, and until then she just had to remind herself that his stubbornness was not her responsibility.
"And when you are not spending time with her, you are getting ready to spend time with her," whined Pietro, "and why are you spending so much time trying to pick an outfit? It is just Jean, it's not like you've got a boyfriend." He paused. Wanda felt him bristle. "Wait. You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"
Wanda blushed. "No, Pietro. You know I don't have a boyfriend," she said, glad that he couldn't see her face from where he was sitting. She didn't want a boyfriend anyway. She liked Jean, and she wanted Jean to like her as well, so it really wasn't odd at all that Wanda would want to impress her friend. She returned her attention to her closet - maybe the red dress would look nicer than the yellow one?
But the doorbell rang, and it was too late for her to change her mind. "That's Jean. So I am going to leave now, and you, brother, are going to stay exactly where you are." Pietro scowled, but he thankfully made no attempt to follow her to the door and hassle her or Jean.
"Hello, Wanda!" Jean reached in and gave her a hug just as soon as the door was open. "You look really pretty tonight. See, I told you it was a good idea to buy that dress! It goes great with your hair."
"Thank you," said Wanda. She never knew how seriously she should take Jean's compliments, since Jean always thought that Wanda's confidence needed boosting and so tended to be too generous with her praise. "You look nice, too." And Wanda wasn't just returning the compliment to be nice, because as far as she was concerned Jean always looked lovely.
"Are you sure you just want to hang out at the mansion?" asked Jean as she got into the car. "We could always go out somewhere, meet new people. I don't want to smother you." She didn't add 'like Pietro', but Wanda was fairly certain that was what she was thinking.
"No," said Wanda. "I like spending time with just us two. If that's alright with you?" she added, suddenly aware that Jean might want some more varied company herself.
"Of course it's fine with me," said Jean, lightly knocking Wanda's arm with her elbow. "I enjoy every opportunity I get not to be surrounded by a bunch of teenage boys. Do you want to watch a movie? We've seen all of mine, but I know where Warren keeps his and he's got like a million of them."
"Does he have any good action movies?" asked Wanda. Action movies were her favorite, because they were the kind most likely to have brave people doing incredible things to save the world and vanquish evil. They reminded of her of what she wanted to become, a person who was brave and could fight to make things better and was the exact opposite of what Wanda had been in the Brotherhood. A person like Jean.
"Of course he has good action movies. It's Warren. He'd like anything that took millions of dollars to produce and had explosions."
They arrived at the mansion, found a movie, and Wanda curled up on the couch while Jean made it clear to the others that she didn't want to be interrupted. After a few seconds of making sure that she had been well understood Jean settled down beside Wanda, while Wanda tried to ignore the fact that just being next to Jean made her happier than it should have.
She added it to the long list of things she was already trying to ignore, like how pretty the hues of Jean's hair were in the sunlight and how she had a lot of tops that dipped low enough to show off her collarbones.
The movie was probably pretty good, but it still wasn't enough to distract Wanda from her Jean-centered thoughts. Calling Jean for the first time might have been one of the best decisions in her life, but there was a good chance that she'd ruin it by pushing too much. And then it would be back to just Pietro and her, all the time. Then again, there was also a good chance that she would eventually go crazy if she didn't try to push it further. Not-noticing didn't seem to working out too well. And Jean would figure it out eventually anyway. A very polite telepath with a good understanding of personal boundaries was still a telepath, and Wanda had never even been very good at hiding things from normal people.
So she did what she had done when she first decided to call Jean and see if she wanted to hang out. She forced herself to stop thinking so hard, to stop worrying, and to just act.
Wanda slide her arm around Jean's shoulder, leaned in closely, and whispered, "Jean." She meant it to come out louder, and she also meant to follow it up with something meaningful, but when Jean turned to face her all Wanda could focus on was Jean's mouth, and how pretty it was, and how her silence was going to get awkward and kill her chance if she let it go on too long. But she couldn't think of anything to say, and so instead she thought this will either be a disaster or a miracle as she leaned in and hoped to God that she wasn't ruining her one escape from her old life.
"Wanda," said Jean just as soon as their lips separated, and Wanda was about to apologize but Jean cut her off with an embrace so tight it nearly took Wanda's breath away. "Wanda, I can't believe you just did that."
Wanda tried to apologize again. "I'm- "
"Don't apologize. You apologize too much."
Jean leaned in and kissed her, gently, and Wanda felt all her fear and nervous tension slip away. Some day she planned to have a marvelous life, with lots of friends and a family of her own and a career as one of the greatest super-heroes the world had ever known.
But for now she had everything she wanted.
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Pairing: Jean Grey/Wanda Maximoff
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,500
Summary: Wanda decides that some things are worth the risk.
Author's Notes: Written for likeadeuce in femslash08. And I'd like to give massive thanks to anat_astarte for her beta job!
Wanda shifted through her closet, still somewhat dazzled by the sheer variety and mass of clothing she had managed to obtain in such a short amount of time. Most of it with money that didn't actually belong to her, although Jean had assured her on multiple occasions that Warren barely even noticed the dent in his bank account. It was one of several signs that living in America was slowly picking away at the more ascetic lifestyle she'd grown up with.
She hadn't liked America very much at first. She'd missed Transia, and for all Magneto's lecturing about the superior part of homo sapiens superior she had desperately resented the powers that had divorced her brother and her from their old home. Leaving the Brotherhood had made things so much better, and for a while she had just assumed that she and their brother would pick up with their old life in a new location. Just the two of them in their own little bubble, safely separate from the rest of the world.
But at some point between Transia and New York Wanda had found herself craving the attention of someone other than her brother. She wanted something like the X-Men, a group she could belong to; not just her over-attentive sibling or Magneto's group of psychopaths. She wanted something like what Jean had. She wanted friends.
Because, as much as she loved him, she'd come to find Pietro a little annoying. "You spend too much time with her," said Pietro. He was sprawled out on her bed, fidgeting like he always did as he watched her try to make a fashion decision.
"Yes, brother," responded Wanda. She was only half listening to him, and the only reason she was refraining from telling him to mind his own business was because of the lingering guilt she felt about leaving him all by himself. One day he would eventually loosen his pride and find someone worth being friendly towards, and until then she just had to remind herself that his stubbornness was not her responsibility.
"And when you are not spending time with her, you are getting ready to spend time with her," whined Pietro, "and why are you spending so much time trying to pick an outfit? It is just Jean, it's not like you've got a boyfriend." He paused. Wanda felt him bristle. "Wait. You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"
Wanda blushed. "No, Pietro. You know I don't have a boyfriend," she said, glad that he couldn't see her face from where he was sitting. She didn't want a boyfriend anyway. She liked Jean, and she wanted Jean to like her as well, so it really wasn't odd at all that Wanda would want to impress her friend. She returned her attention to her closet - maybe the red dress would look nicer than the yellow one?
But the doorbell rang, and it was too late for her to change her mind. "That's Jean. So I am going to leave now, and you, brother, are going to stay exactly where you are." Pietro scowled, but he thankfully made no attempt to follow her to the door and hassle her or Jean.
"Hello, Wanda!" Jean reached in and gave her a hug just as soon as the door was open. "You look really pretty tonight. See, I told you it was a good idea to buy that dress! It goes great with your hair."
"Thank you," said Wanda. She never knew how seriously she should take Jean's compliments, since Jean always thought that Wanda's confidence needed boosting and so tended to be too generous with her praise. "You look nice, too." And Wanda wasn't just returning the compliment to be nice, because as far as she was concerned Jean always looked lovely.
"Are you sure you just want to hang out at the mansion?" asked Jean as she got into the car. "We could always go out somewhere, meet new people. I don't want to smother you." She didn't add 'like Pietro', but Wanda was fairly certain that was what she was thinking.
"No," said Wanda. "I like spending time with just us two. If that's alright with you?" she added, suddenly aware that Jean might want some more varied company herself.
"Of course it's fine with me," said Jean, lightly knocking Wanda's arm with her elbow. "I enjoy every opportunity I get not to be surrounded by a bunch of teenage boys. Do you want to watch a movie? We've seen all of mine, but I know where Warren keeps his and he's got like a million of them."
"Does he have any good action movies?" asked Wanda. Action movies were her favorite, because they were the kind most likely to have brave people doing incredible things to save the world and vanquish evil. They reminded of her of what she wanted to become, a person who was brave and could fight to make things better and was the exact opposite of what Wanda had been in the Brotherhood. A person like Jean.
"Of course he has good action movies. It's Warren. He'd like anything that took millions of dollars to produce and had explosions."
They arrived at the mansion, found a movie, and Wanda curled up on the couch while Jean made it clear to the others that she didn't want to be interrupted. After a few seconds of making sure that she had been well understood Jean settled down beside Wanda, while Wanda tried to ignore the fact that just being next to Jean made her happier than it should have.
She added it to the long list of things she was already trying to ignore, like how pretty the hues of Jean's hair were in the sunlight and how she had a lot of tops that dipped low enough to show off her collarbones.
The movie was probably pretty good, but it still wasn't enough to distract Wanda from her Jean-centered thoughts. Calling Jean for the first time might have been one of the best decisions in her life, but there was a good chance that she'd ruin it by pushing too much. And then it would be back to just Pietro and her, all the time. Then again, there was also a good chance that she would eventually go crazy if she didn't try to push it further. Not-noticing didn't seem to working out too well. And Jean would figure it out eventually anyway. A very polite telepath with a good understanding of personal boundaries was still a telepath, and Wanda had never even been very good at hiding things from normal people.
So she did what she had done when she first decided to call Jean and see if she wanted to hang out. She forced herself to stop thinking so hard, to stop worrying, and to just act.
Wanda slide her arm around Jean's shoulder, leaned in closely, and whispered, "Jean." She meant it to come out louder, and she also meant to follow it up with something meaningful, but when Jean turned to face her all Wanda could focus on was Jean's mouth, and how pretty it was, and how her silence was going to get awkward and kill her chance if she let it go on too long. But she couldn't think of anything to say, and so instead she thought this will either be a disaster or a miracle as she leaned in and hoped to God that she wasn't ruining her one escape from her old life.
"Wanda," said Jean just as soon as their lips separated, and Wanda was about to apologize but Jean cut her off with an embrace so tight it nearly took Wanda's breath away. "Wanda, I can't believe you just did that."
Wanda tried to apologize again. "I'm- "
"Don't apologize. You apologize too much."
Jean leaned in and kissed her, gently, and Wanda felt all her fear and nervous tension slip away. Some day she planned to have a marvelous life, with lots of friends and a family of her own and a career as one of the greatest super-heroes the world had ever known.
But for now she had everything she wanted.