general catch-all musebox post

[solarisirius]

Nothing fancy, just a general post to hold my top-levels for Musebox threads. It's about time I made one. Feel free to comment here with a character to receive an opener, or comment with your own top-level and we can play! You can see my muselist here!

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[notmutantbutmiracle]

Wanda had no idea why exactly she'd been chosen to be the one to meet with Dr. Banner. In the back of her head, Steve's voice could almost be heard telling her that it was their chance for the two to "patch things over." Positive sentiment aside, she honestly couldn't think of a person that he'd be less happy to see.

It was not like the events of Ultron's uprising were a distant memory to her, something that had happened and that she'd moved on from. No, she would take those memories, like the last memories of her parents, with her for the rest of her life. Part of that guilt and pain naturally could be attributed to the loss of her brother, Pietro, as a result, or rather a consequence, of the choices she had made. The other part, what she had done to the Avengers, while acting as Ultron's ally. She'd played with their minds, used their deepest fears and painful memories to tear them apart from the inside out. One of her targets had been Dr. Banner, her powers unleashing the Hulk and causing him to go on a rampage of nearby city.

At the time, she'd been proud of her little accomplishment, how she'd brought the world's mightiest heroes to their knees, but now... now, all she felt was remorse. How many lives had been lost, because of her choices? The lives of so many Sokovians they had failed to save, and the lives of civilians that were lost during Hulk's rampage.

She'd since sworn off that kind of use of her abilities, unless under very specific circumstances, but she doubted that'd bring much comfort to Dr. Banner, even if he did believe her. As she walked down the hall of the Wakandan headquarters she and her fellow "rogue former-Avengers," all of these thoughts and feelings came over her in waves. She did her best to try and stay calm, to tell herself it was in the past. If the other Avengers were willing to coming around to her presence, then perhaps Dr. Banner would, too. Still, she very much doubted out.

As she reached the door to the waiting room, she paused a moment before entering. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and tries to center herself. No matter what his feelings were towards her, Wanda knew that it was more important for Dr. Banner to be brought up to speed, to be informed of everything that had happened. Steve had been unclear after that, as to what exactly should be done regarding Dr. Banner. Likely, that was intentional, wanting to let him make his own choice. That had been what they fought for, hadn't it? Besides, other than Wanda, there wasn't exactly anyone around that could stop Dr. Banner from leaving if he really, really wanted to.

After the moment, she opens her eyes, knocks on the door, and slowly walks into the room. Taking a standing position just slightly between Dr. Banner and the door, but no so to seem as though she's trying to bar his exit. Oh no. If anything, her choice of standing position was based entirely on her own potential need to make a swift exit.

"Hello Dr. Banner."

[bhagadara]

The polite knock on the door prompts Bruce to stand, because years of being on the run are hard to forget, and it's hard to get out of a room quickly if you're sitting down when a potential threat enters your space. This whole building seems to be made of windows, so there's no shortage of escape options, but he does have to wonder why Steve would bring a human time bomb into a place that he could level in less than thirty seconds (and that probably cost more money than he'd ever be comfortable allocating to architecture).

He's not even sure who to expect, since none of the females associated with the Avengers are young enough to be called a "girl". Natasha would probably hamstring anyone who dared, as would Maria, so he's expecting someone he's never seen before.

Not Wanda Maximoff.

It makes him laugh. What else can he do? Running a hand roughly through his already messy hair, Bruce turns to the windows for a moment before returning his gaze to Wanda, and of course, she's still there. She doesn't look particularly threatening, but he knows deeply and personally what she's capable of despite that demure, almost nervous look on her face.

"This is great," he says, and the displeasure is apparent in his voice, in his tense stance. "Is this some sort of set-up, or did Steve really think it was a good idea to send you in here to greet me?"

[notmutantbutmiracle]

"I would ask him much the same thing were he still here."

Wanda's voice is flat, both making an attempt at dry humor and also equally lamenting the awkward social scenario here.

"But, he's away on a mission at the moment. So, I suppose I'll have to make do."

Even she's not sure if she meant that to be reassuring or dismissive. She stays standing where she is, again, making sure she can make an easy exit out the door if need be. She has no intention of having things turn ugly here. While she had managed to overpower Vision during Clint's jailbreak at the Avengers HQ, she was not exactly sure she could get the same result against The Hulk. Frankly, she didn't want to try. Too much potential collateral damage, plus angering Dr. Banner was kind of the last thing they were going for here.

"I know you do not like me, and you have every reason to walk out the door right now." She gestures towards the door, trying to sound as sincere as possible and show him how little she desired to make things hostile. "I only ask that you first let me get you up to speed on what you've missed since disappearing after Sokovia. The fact is, there are very likely people out hunting for you right now. Just as they are hunting for us."