[ There's some level of relief knowing that he hadn't kept her waiting that long. Over the years he had developed a nasty habit of being late or simply never showing up sometimes - not because he intentionally meant to but because life seemed to perpetually throw him into situations beyond his control. This place included.
Lamenting about situations and how he seems to be a magnet for them however is neither here nor there.
The offered box is met with the slightest lift of his lips in appreciation. ]
Thank you.
[ But he puts them aside for the time being, or rather, holds onto the box, making no move to open them just yet. ]
( which should be answer enough that, no, she doesn't have places to be or other plans other than this. besides, he's just arrived after driving from the scrapyard; even if she was impatient or had to be elsewhere, she wouldn't make anyone immediately jump into another task.
he can take a break.
and because it's clear that he is a good carer for droids, wanda adds, as she starts making her way toward the stairs, until he leads the way to his motel room: )
If you're going to be out of Panorama for a long time, I should look after C4T. Someone I work with was saying that they returned to their room once and the locks were changed.
( glancing at him, hand on the railing of the stairs, shoulder pressed to the wall, comes the offer, )
I can look after some of your stuff. Just in case.
( maybe she feels indebted to him, but that's not entirely why she's being somewhat pushy and wanting him to rely on her more. )
Wanda [ He can't help but start, this time looking mildly amused. ] I don't have to check on C4T. They're probably fine.
[ After all when he'd left he'd left them on their charging dock. And hypothetically, C4T shouldn't have moved from that spot.
But it seems that Wanda is intent on this, and though he gives a huff of mild amusement he ends up leading the way back up to his motel room. ]
I'm friendly with the manager. I don't think they would do that.
[ Mostly because he'd taken up a temporary and very loose title of motel maintenance guy. As cut throat as the city could be, it probably wasn't a good idea to lock out the guy that was doing most of the repairs pro bono. (Well, and for maybe a bit of a cut on his motel rate, but it was still mostly free work.) It's only when he's unlocking his door to let her in first that he asks, with perhaps a little more concern - ]
( it's entirely suffocating how his amusement feels a little judgmental, but wanda concedes that that's entirely her own perception. especially when her ushering to check up on c4t feels like it's being met with more resistance than otherwise, as well as her offers to do something for him.
it's the reason why, when he unlocks the door to his room, that wanda stays rooted to the spot even despite his body language that reads: you go in first.
it's the question, too, that makes her feel inadequate.
with a shrug of her shoulders, her gaze turns downwards, and she's fidgeting now, pulling at the sleeves of her jacket over her wrists, to cover her hands, fingers; it's such a bad habit, stretching her clothes out like this, but there's comfort in trying to hide, make herself small. )
Does something have to happen for us to hang around each other?
( does the illusion she cast, unknowingly, that nearly drowned them both in a very metaphorical sense really press such an image of her onto his mind? that something ought to happen in order for her to want to be with him? talk to him? )
[ There's no denying that what she feels he's projecting is in her mind. But as she stands there in the doorway it occurs to him that perhaps some of his amusement isn't entirely appropriate in this moment. Whatever levity might have existed in his expression immediately drops as she begins to fidget, makes herself small.
Almost immediately he reaches out, gently gathering her hands in his for a moment if just to still her. ]
No. [ And when she eventually looks up he continues. ] Nothing had to happen. That's just what I'm used to, Wanda.
[ There's another pause as he holds her gaze suddenly overcome with the oddest feeling. Like he can feel the anxiety that prickles across her skin on his own. ]
I got into some trouble. I didn't want to get anyone involved. That's why I left.
( gathering her hands in his untethers wanda from this ugly feeling pulsing through her skin, this expanding anxiety that was gaining traction in diminishing how she feels about her place in the world. it's a constant, ever since she lost pietro, of being uncertain that she's doing anything right—of believing that she has nowhere else to fit in, with people.
it's warm, even if she wasn't feeling particularly cold, and as wanda remains stuck to where she stands, feeling it all melt away as her gaze keeps to his brown eyes, his words knock away her worries. )
You did say.
( —is her whispered response, letting him finish what he wants to say. no, cassian hadn't said exactly why he had left, but he had alluded to it in a way that made her figure it was something like it.
she can't really pinpoint if he came back because he wanted to, or because of her asking to see him. regardless of the answer, wanda reminds herself that he didn't seem annoyed or disappointed to find her waiting, and his wariness comes from wanting to keep her uninvolved.
suddenly, it becomes a little less difficult to ascertain where she stands with him. )
You're always helping me when I'm in a pinch. ( when he had offered her a ride out in the fringes, picking her up from the rave when she was out of it, when he came looking for her when she was drowning inside her grief, even after he had banged the door into her nose— ) Let me return the favor some time.
( that certainty cements itself in wanda pulling her hands away now, if just to wrap her arms around him for an embrace, her anxieties gone now (if just to be replaced by a different kind of sentiment). sounding a little annoyed, she says, )
I know how to handle 'some trouble'.
( and draws away, as to not make the moment any more awkward. )
[ In some ways Cassian can relate to that. Feeling "othered", feeling as if he didn't necessarily belong even if the majority of those around him were technically kind and welcoming to him. In reality he hadn't felt like he was a part of Ferrix's stone and sky until he had earned it. Even when he felt like he had, even when people accepted him as a part of the planet's fabric and its community, he still felt like a part of him existed elsewhere. Still feels like that in fact. Though, like any wound, it eventually heals even if it stays persistent.
Maybe that's what it feels like for Wanda. He hasn't asked so he can presume. But the feeling that resonates from her (he can't even begin to understand why he feels that way) only seems to prove that assumption. They stand there in the doorway to his room seemingly trying to puzzle one another out until Wanda seems to come to her own conclusion first and wraps her arms around him for an embrace that is returned though brief.
When she pulls away he's left standing there again with amusement peppering his expression. ]
I know. You told me.
[ There's more that it seems he'd like to say before stopping himself short. Telling her that he doesn't want to get her involved, telling her that it isn't her fight or mess to help clean up seems like a moot point. So for now he acquiesces, the corners of his lips twitching upwards in appreciation before ushering her inside as the sounds of C4T stir from inside. ]
( after losing pietro, it was difficult for wanda to feel like she could hold a bond with someone as close as she did with him. being wrapped up in an embrace came without asking, and there was never any feeling of awkwardness or shame about it. ever since coming here, she's been learning that letting her hands be held feels gentle; letting herself be hugged back feels warm.
it'd be easy to brace herself for an expected teasing from cassian during or afterward, but it never comes. and that's the bit that surprises her, how much she can still be surprised (and feel content about).
he smiles softly and wanda can't help but mirror him, doing the same, shrugging her shoulders as she's ushered in. )
Right, robots. And teaching me about cars— ( she looks at him from over her shoulder ) —don't forget.
( before her attention falls, ultimately, in the robot that she considers more of a pet than actual object. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Lamenting about situations and how he seems to be a magnet for them however is neither here nor there.
The offered box is met with the slightest lift of his lips in appreciation. ]
Thank you.
[ But he puts them aside for the time being, or rather, holds onto the box, making no move to open them just yet. ]
Would you rather do the lesson now?
[ Maybe she has places to be or plans. ]
no subject
( which should be answer enough that, no, she doesn't have places to be or other plans other than this. besides, he's just arrived after driving from the scrapyard; even if she was impatient or had to be elsewhere, she wouldn't make anyone immediately jump into another task.
he can take a break.
and because it's clear that he is a good carer for droids, wanda adds, as she starts making her way toward the stairs, until he leads the way to his motel room: )
If you're going to be out of Panorama for a long time, I should look after C4T. Someone I work with was saying that they returned to their room once and the locks were changed.
( glancing at him, hand on the railing of the stairs, shoulder pressed to the wall, comes the offer, )
I can look after some of your stuff. Just in case.
( maybe she feels indebted to him, but that's not entirely why she's being somewhat pushy and wanting him to rely on her more. )
no subject
[ After all when he'd left he'd left them on their charging dock. And hypothetically, C4T shouldn't have moved from that spot.
But it seems that Wanda is intent on this, and though he gives a huff of mild amusement he ends up leading the way back up to his motel room. ]
I'm friendly with the manager. I don't think they would do that.
[ Mostly because he'd taken up a temporary and very loose title of motel maintenance guy. As cut throat as the city could be, it probably wasn't a good idea to lock out the guy that was doing most of the repairs pro bono. (Well, and for maybe a bit of a cut on his motel rate, but it was still mostly free work.) It's only when he's unlocking his door to let her in first that he asks, with perhaps a little more concern - ]
Did something happen?
no subject
it's the reason why, when he unlocks the door to his room, that wanda stays rooted to the spot even despite his body language that reads: you go in first.
it's the question, too, that makes her feel inadequate.
with a shrug of her shoulders, her gaze turns downwards, and she's fidgeting now, pulling at the sleeves of her jacket over her wrists, to cover her hands, fingers; it's such a bad habit, stretching her clothes out like this, but there's comfort in trying to hide, make herself small. )
Does something have to happen for us to hang around each other?
( does the illusion she cast, unknowingly, that nearly drowned them both in a very metaphorical sense really press such an image of her onto his mind? that something ought to happen in order for her to want to be with him? talk to him? )
no subject
Almost immediately he reaches out, gently gathering her hands in his for a moment if just to still her. ]
No. [ And when she eventually looks up he continues. ] Nothing had to happen. That's just what I'm used to, Wanda.
[ There's another pause as he holds her gaze suddenly overcome with the oddest feeling. Like he can feel the anxiety that prickles across her skin on his own. ]
I got into some trouble. I didn't want to get anyone involved. That's why I left.
no subject
it's warm, even if she wasn't feeling particularly cold, and as wanda remains stuck to where she stands, feeling it all melt away as her gaze keeps to his brown eyes, his words knock away her worries. )
You did say.
( —is her whispered response, letting him finish what he wants to say. no, cassian hadn't said exactly why he had left, but he had alluded to it in a way that made her figure it was something like it.
she can't really pinpoint if he came back because he wanted to, or because of her asking to see him. regardless of the answer, wanda reminds herself that he didn't seem annoyed or disappointed to find her waiting, and his wariness comes from wanting to keep her uninvolved.
suddenly, it becomes a little less difficult to ascertain where she stands with him. )
You're always helping me when I'm in a pinch. ( when he had offered her a ride out in the fringes, picking her up from the rave when she was out of it, when he came looking for her when she was drowning inside her grief, even after he had banged the door into her nose— ) Let me return the favor some time.
( that certainty cements itself in wanda pulling her hands away now, if just to wrap her arms around him for an embrace, her anxieties gone now (if just to be replaced by a different kind of sentiment). sounding a little annoyed, she says, )
I know how to handle 'some trouble'.
( and draws away, as to not make the moment any more awkward. )
wrap soon?
Maybe that's what it feels like for Wanda. He hasn't asked so he can presume. But the feeling that resonates from her (he can't even begin to understand why he feels that way) only seems to prove that assumption. They stand there in the doorway to his room seemingly trying to puzzle one another out until Wanda seems to come to her own conclusion first and wraps her arms around him for an embrace that is returned though brief.
When she pulls away he's left standing there again with amusement peppering his expression. ]
I know. You told me.
[ There's more that it seems he'd like to say before stopping himself short. Telling her that he doesn't want to get her involved, telling her that it isn't her fight or mess to help clean up seems like a moot point. So for now he acquiesces, the corners of his lips twitching upwards in appreciation before ushering her inside as the sounds of C4T stir from inside. ]
Robots, right?
WRAP NOW!!!!
it'd be easy to brace herself for an expected teasing from cassian during or afterward, but it never comes. and that's the bit that surprises her, how much she can still be surprised (and feel content about).
he smiles softly and wanda can't help but mirror him, doing the same, shrugging her shoulders as she's ushered in. )
Right, robots. And teaching me about cars— ( she looks at him from over her shoulder ) —don't forget.
( before her attention falls, ultimately, in the robot that she considers more of a pet than actual object. )