' when the world has dealt its cards, if the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart '

WANDA RAN A HAND THROUGH HER BRUSHED OUT HAIR, fluffing it out slightly as she looked back at herself in the mirror. Drawing her attention to the woman sat beside her, she watched on with amusement as Natasha ordered for Gamora to stop squirming away from her makeup brush.

"Romanoff, I already told you to be careful-"

"Oh hush, I'm barely touching you. Hurry up, I have to do Wanda's too," the assassin defended, pulling her arm away for a second to let the woman adjust herself.

"No, It's fine Nat, I told you I'll do it," Wanda assured, laughing at her friends shocked face at her words as she insisted that she do it. When Natasha Romanoff had became a makeup enthusiast, she did not know.

"Nonsense, I'm doing it." Nat declared, leaving no room for protest as she redirected her attention back to Gamora who seemed very displeased at the idea of it. Her hair was tied back in a low pony to allow for the spy to have more access to her face.

Scoffing lightly, the witch lifted out of her seat next to the vanity and walked toward the bathroom, muffled grunts rung from behind the door prompting Wanda as she wrapped her knuckles against it twice.

"You okay in there, Kate?" She asked, suppressing a laugh at the girl who was clearly struggling to put on her dress.

"Uh- yeah!" The young archer assured, before jumping in surprise at the sound of the soap dispenser she had just knocked over in a hasty attempt to thread her arm through the sleeve hole. Letting out a frustrated groan, she accepted defeat.

"Okay, nevermind. A little help?"

"Of course," Wanda chuckled, peaking her head through the door after the ravenette unlocked it for her. The witch couldn't help but grin at the state of Clint's apprentice, her arm in an odd position and her head half peeping out.

"Okay, let me just- There you go," she narrated, zipping the dress down slightly more before adjusting the sleeve so it was more in reach for her to slide her arm into. After she had successfully untangled herself from her own trap, Wanda zipped the dress up as Kate gasped at herself in the mirror. With a soft smile on her lips, Wanda rest her chin on Kate's shoulder as she looked at them in the mirror.

"You look stunning," she complimented, eyes glimmering with such conviction that Kate couldn't help but believe her. Breathing out a thanks, Kate wrapped her arms around the woman whom accepted her hug gracefully, despite her initial shock at the affection. Wanda stroked the girls hair gently,

"I take it you've had a good day?" She whispered, drawing something like a giggle from the younger girl who nodded, pulling away from the hug.

"Thank you, truly."

"Anytime, we love having you around, Bishop," she assured, stepping out of the bathroom to give the girl some privacy. At the same time, Maria stormed into the room with a groan at her hair which refused to stay in place. Honestly, it looked fine to the others, but Maria couldn't seem to get over it.

"Got someone to impress, Maria?" Nat teased, beckoning Wanda over to a chair beside her so she could do her makeup having long finished doing Gamora.

Huffing, Maria fell onto the bed, arms flopping by her sides in defeat as she denied Nat's insinuations profusely. The two woman in question shared a look, and it seemed to just deepen the lines of annoyance on Maria's face.

"Woah, what am I missing here? Does Mia like someone?"

"No-" She refused at the same time Nat said, "Yes."

Raising a brow, the witch looked between the two of them, "Yes or no?"

With a sigh, Nat moved her chair for Wanda to sit facing her so she could start doing her makeup as the agent on the bed began to explain herself.

"Okay maybe, but if you tell anyone, Wanda, I swear to fucking-"

"I won't," Wanda assured, hands up in surrender as she gave into Maria's threats. After sharing a toothy grin with the other woman, Nat brought a sponge to her face and began to dab it with liquid, and she instinctively raised her chin. "Who is it?"

"Nat."

"..What?"

The two woman burst into laughter, pulling a surprised chuckle out of Wanda as she sat jaw dropped on her chair.

"Wha- wait. What? I'm so happy for you, but whe- when?" She stuttered out, attempting to recover from the sudden announcement. Rolling her eyes at the way her friends laughed at her struggle, she watched Nat resume decorating her face as Maria explained how they had been an item a while ago, but broke off due to circumstances and had only recently rekindled.

"Rekindled? God, please do not go into detail," Wanda groaned as her eyes fluttered shut for the Widow to do her eyeshadow, applying gold to the lids of her eyes. "This is gonna sound offensive.. but I thought you and Steve were.."

"No," Nat quickly amended, a smile ghosting her lips indicating the lack of malice in her tone, "We're just friends. He knows that, we both do."

Nodding, Wanda opted to just move on and avoid making anyone else uncomfortable with the situation at hand.

Bang. Flinching slightly at the sudden noise, Wanda's head snapped around to the window, the rumble of thunder announcing itself in the darkened sky, grey clouds looming ominously above. Laughing it off, Nat and Maria returned to their conversation, but Wanda couldn't avert her eyes from the window, and the low, constant grumble of thunder followed by fierce rain. Rain was always so comforting, so relaxing.

But now? The sound of thunder was everything she dreaded.

Sighing softly, Wanda flattened out her skirt, the rain had calmed now, but she couldn't help but cast a longing gaze out of the window every few minutes. Now, as she stood fully dressed up in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but gape slightly. This was all of young Wanda's fantasies; stunning gowns, dazzling chandeliers, a masked mysterious lover. But it didn't feel how it should, the lurking whisper of danger too close for comfort.

Shaking her head slightly, she banished away her thoughts, why shouldn't she let herself enjoy this. Besides, staring into the vanity mirror in front of her, she could finally admit that she looked.. pretty? Wanda had never thought much about her looks, it was an issue she just didn't have the time to think about as a child, her mind too fussed with problems she shouldn't have been dealing with at her age. Despite that, she had only began to wonder what she thought about herself when a particular someone insisted on admiring her like was the only person in the universe. Someone who looked at her like she were the sun and they were icarus. Danger so imminent, but they flew towards it anyways.

Bunching up the side of her gown in one hand, she forced a breath through her nose before releasing her grasp on it, moving to place her intricate mask on her face. She was going to enjoy tonight, she may as well. There was simply no point in worrying, the fight couldn't hurt her in a party, couldn't kill her.

And if it did, at least she'd look pretty doing it.

Suppressing a snort of amusement, she made a final adjustment to her hair, before leaving her room without a glance back. The floor, along with majority of the others she assumed, were empty, everyone either at the party or elsewhere. The lift doors slammed shut and took her down to the floor, an immediate sound of blasting music assaulting her. Tony Stark did not hold back on a party.

As the doors opened once again, she solidified her strength with a final deep, controlled breath in, releasing it out of her mouth as a smile ghosted over her lips.

The music was classical, almost giving her an 1800s vibe, but she supposed that was the point. Almost instantly, a man clad in a black suit walked past her with a tray of drinks, and she rather ungracefully snatched one up immediately. Taking a small sip, her eyes scanned over the room for a familiar face, but it was bustling with people, and all her friends seemed to be distracted.

"Wanda! Come here," Sam beckoned her over suddenly, almost as if sensing her discomfort. She obliged with a polite smile, laughing as Sam whistled at her teasingly. "Sarah, this is my good friend, Wanda. Wanda, this is my sister, Sarah."

Pulling up her mask in a polite manner, Wanda held out a hand as she greeted the other woman whom accepted the gesture. "Nice to meet you, I've heard so much," Sarah laughed, drawing a genuine smile out of Wanda.

"As have I, Sam really never shuts up so-"

"Hey!"

"- you are certainly one of his most common topics to talk about."

"That's just not true, I don't talk about her that much," Sam grumbled, "Lets not raise her ego."

Sharing a look, the two women burst out in laughter at his antics, and Wanda felt warmth bloom in her chest. Yeah, something told her they'd get along just fine.

For a while, the three of them spoke about trivial things, the party, their families, their jobs, but Sam and Sarah were pulled away soon after by Tony who had someone for them to meet. He sent her a small smile, along with a mouthed apology for stealing them away to which she responded with a sarcastic eye roll and wave. Shooting her a thumbs up, he twisted on his heel and followed in the direction he had just ushered them in.

Sighing, Wanda glanced over her shoulder as she fell back to square one, being alone again. Locating a nearby chair beside the door, she surrendered herself to it, switching on her phone as she began to scroll mindlessly through unread emails. To be completely honest, she was hoping tonight would be more enjoyable than it had turned out to, and she certainly was not off to a good start.

Suddenly, a hand clasped on her shoulder, and she lurched forwards in surprise as she heard a familiar laugh from behind her. As soon as she turned around to investigate the source, she couldn't help as a smile grew on her face.

"Loki."

"Wanda," he returned, slightly breathless as he took her in. A blush rose to her cheeks, tinging them a light shade of pink as he looked her up and down, inspecting every inch of her. Taking a small step forward, he reached out a hand to lift her mask gently, hand cradling her cheek as his eyes flitted between her own and her lips.

Shaking his head gently, he let out a scoff as he locked their lips, a hand navigating to the small of her back as he pulled her in closer. As soon as they parted, he lay another kiss to her temple, hands not shifting from where they held her against him.

"You look-" His eyes shone with something so honest, so pure that Wanda couldn't help but feel compelled to believe every uttered word, every unspoken whisper swimming in his irises, "Perfect, my darling. So perfect."

And he meant it. He was sure that in his hundreds of years of life, despite all the realms and planets he had stepped foot upon, all the people whom he had come across, Wanda Maximoff seemed to be the most stunning of them all. The only woman to ever capture his breath, the only woman to have such an irrevocable hold over him.

Turning her face away, she pretended not to feel her cheeks heat up after catching a glimpse into his thoughts which he was clearly not trying very hard to guard at the moment.

"You idiot, that was on purpose," she whispered at his laugh, and he brought a finger to lift her chin towards him.

"Maybe it was," he shrugged, prompting her to roll her eyes at his antics before leaning into his hold. A hand moved up instinctively to caress the red locks tumbling down her back, and he ran nimble fingers through it, careful not to disturb the nature of the curls, because he was sure she'd be pissed at him for it.

"Come on, gorgeous, we can't stand here forever."

"What if I want to?" She mumbled against the shoulder of his black suit, the material muffling her words. With a laugh, he pulled her away gently, bringing her knuckles up to brush his lips against them politely, "A dance, Madame?"

Scoffing, she bit her lower lip in contemplation, she would love to, but slight problem; she couldn't dance. As she began to shake her head, lips parted slightly to protest, her gloved hand was taken by his own as he all but dragged her towards the floor.

"Loki, wait, I can't-"

"Hush, yes you can, my love. Just follow me," he assured, waving away her protests as he took a hand to intertwine their fingers, the other travelling to find the small of her back, fingers curled slightly. As soon as the music met a steady beat they could follow, he took a step back, discreetly ushering her along with him. His movements following that were similar, small movements, hand shifting for just a moment to pull her mask back over her eyes, before meeting hers again.

She could feel his breath against her forehead, warmth settling against it, his hand clasped firmly against hers, and she gripped it like the lifeline it was. Every gentle swing, dip, spin, she felt herself further into her own fantasy, the idea of worry and danger which had been encompassing her recently fading away into a whisper of wind, as to not be seen again. Falling into obliviousness was dangerous, so dangerous. But as every danger is, it was so addictive, and for tonight, she was ready to lose herself in it.

The safety she felt in his arms was almost strange, no one could have ever convinced her a year ago that the very God Of Mischief would hold her so gently, and that she'd trust him to do so. She would laugh in your face. But now, she was surrounded by him and only him, her every sense overwhelmed by his touch, his scent, just him.

Gently, he pressed his forehead against hers, and she let her eyes flutter shut.

"I told you that you could," he whispered softly against her forehead, and she stepped impossibly closer to him.

"Ofcourse you did."

The song eventually met an end, and after the course of another, they pulled away, her head spinning at the sudden halt in movements. A laugh was drawn from her as he jokingly bowed his head before her as one would to royalty. In the moment, she felt like it.

"Wow, okay. I assumed dancing would be-"

"Harder?"

"Less fun. That was oddly freeing," she confessed, tone tinged with realisation at her own discovery as she continued on. Pursing his lip in amusement, he assessed her, a glint of something unreadable shining in his eyes as she rambled.

"- I don't know, I suppose I just never considered dancing.." she trailed off at his expression, "Yeahh.. I'm really sorry, I'm probably boring you."

"No, not at all," he rectified with a shake of his head, gaze softening, "You could never."

"Okay," she drawled, a nervous smile playing at her lips as she inspected him.

"Brother, Wanda! Come here," Thor slurred, and the two in question looked toward him. Scoffing, Loki picked a glass from a man holding a plate of them, backing it down instantly.

"How many do you think he's had?" Loki murmured against the rim of the glass, as the witch beside him shot him a smile before dragging him towards his brother.

The rest of her night was spent rather successful in her overall aim to stray her mind away from the events swarming her. Indeed, her mind had left all her multiple issues, but maybe that ignorance had blinded her toward the growing nature of those issues. Those issues which would come back to haunt her. Maybe ignorance was bliss.

But maybe, ignorance was a curse just as much.

a/n: literally took years for this one, so i tried to make it longer for you. for those of you who love action, i can assure you its coming back. but for now have this.

i really hope you enjoyed this as always <3