ASCENDANCY / P. MAXIMOFF

banter

It had been two hours, two hours sitting out in the blizzard, two hours of them holding each other. The snow storm showed no sign that it was ceasing anytime soon, if anything it was probably increasing in magnitude. They hadn't talked nearly the entire time, and Ana was almost positive Pietro had fallen asleep in her arms. She just didn't have the heart to wake him.

Until things started to get scary.

Ana cried out in surprise when a larger piece of ice hit her in the head, then the arm, then the cheek. They were about the size of ping pong balls, but ten times harder. The storm had begun to produce hail.

"P-Pietro," Ana stuttered out, shaking him lightly. "Pietro, p-please wake up."

She felt him shift slightly and let out a sleepy groan, before snapping to full consciousness.

"Fuck! Did I really fall asleep?" He hissed. Ana nodded, and he cursed under his breath.

"How long?"

"It's been two hours."

"Sorry Ana, I did not mean to-"

"Yeah yeah," She sighed, slowly standing to her feet, wincing when her joints began popping.

Another piece of ice hit her in the head.

"Ow!" She cried out.

"Are you okay?" Pietro asked, hands searching in front of him for her. Ana shook her head, but then remembered Pietro couldn't see her.

"The snow is thickening, it's turning into ice and before long it will start pelting us harder. We need to find shelter," Ana informed him, reaching out for his hand. Pietro's own wandering hands found her open one easily.

"Do you know where you are going?"

"No."

"Then what is the point?"

"When one of those pieces of satan hail hit you in the head, you can tell me yourself."

"Whatever, you are just over exaggerating- Fuck!"

"I told you."

Ana's hands moved blindly out in front of her, trying to feel around for a building, or a tree, or an awning. They were moving painfully slow, in the fear that they might smash into something. But Pietro wanted to run, to scream at her for walking so slow. Despite her warm hand in his, he was still freezing.

"You control the elements, why is it you can not control this storm?"

Ana shrugged, but then remembered that Pietro still could not see her. "The largest body of water I've ever controlled was a medium sized lake, and even then it was a strain. If I tried to stop the storm there's a great possibility I could be seriously injured. It's happened before."

"When?"

"In New York, when Thor's brother Loki was hellbent on taking over the world using the scepter. I did something stupid, as usual. I was out of action for months, I had severe internal bleeding, I was in and out of consciousness for days. It was scary for everyone."

"So, you have a history of being stubborn and reckless?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Pietro chuckled. "You know, I do not know very much about you."

"Seriously? You knew how much I weighed when I was a newborn baby!"

"I am never going to live down that, will I not?"

"Maybe when we are older."

Pietro laughed again, before a strong tremor racked his body. "N-no," He stuttered, due to his shivering. "I mean, f-f-fun facts. Your favorite food. Dreams. Hobbies?"

"Why do you care Maximoff?" Ana asked, suspiciously.

"Because we are friends, are we not? Friends at least know each other's favorite color."

"Fine, if you must know my favorite color is black." Ana mumbled.

"You mean like your soul?"

"Ha ha. Very funny. I can literally let go of you and screw you over, right now."

Pietro scoffed, and kept trudging. Ana kept searching in front of her with her hands, crying out in relief when she felt something hard and solid.

"What did you find?"

"I think it's a building!" Ana exclaimed excitedly, dragging her hand across the surface, which she now knew was wood. When her hand came across a cold metal contraption, which she could only assume was a handle, she pulled. She dragged. She pushed, and finally it budged. The inside of the building was dark, lit only with a few, flickering lanterns. In the full light, she could only see Pietro's hand she was holding, panic rising up in her when she saw it was tinged with black.

"Get inside Maximoff! Before you freeze to death!" Ana ordered, shoving him inside.

Now that she could see him, she saw he looked ghastly. He looked so cold. He was dripping, and shivering, teeth chattering. Her heart sunk.

"Oh Pietro," Ana whispered sympathetically, rushing towards him and enveloping him in a hug. She knew she was a million times warmer than he was, and she could serve as some sort of heater for him.

The place that Ana had found was a barn. Someone must have been in it recently, considering the lanterns mounted on the wall were recently lit, but she didn't care. They could deal with whatever assholes tried to kick them out.

Or, they at least could try.

"Why did you have to come find me?" Ana asked him breathlessly, frantically running her hands up and down his back.

"I thought you were grateful."

"I am! But it sucks seeing you freaking suffer like this! You literally have frostbite!" Ana yelled. Pietro sighed and let his head drop onto Ana's shoulder.

"I would have been fine out here alone, Maximoff. If you hadn't found me you could have literally died!"

"B-but then you would be lonely," Pietro shivered. "And besides, now you know how we feel when you do stupid shit. Does not feel good does it?"

"No."

"S-so, keep that in mind next time you are too busy trying to be hero. Yeah?"

Ana rolled her eyes, letting her head rest on Pietro's. It was completely silent, besides the sound of winds hissing through the tree's, and ice hitting the top of the barn. It sounded like it did when it rained at the bakery, Steve used to take her to.

Mulling over what Pietro had told her, Ana realized that while she knew Pietro pretty well, she didn't even know his favorite color. As trivial as it seems. She didn't know what his childhood was like, what he likes to wear, what he would have done with his life if HYDRA hadn't gotten to him first.

And she wanted to. She wanted to know him, and she wanted him to know her.

They were friends after all.

"My favorite food is French fries," Ana mumbled.

Pietro sat upright, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"What?"

"My favorite food is French fries. As for my hobbies, I used to be a ballet dancer. I don't so much anything else my free time except for play the piano and pretend I can sing. I draw sometimes," Ana told him. The corner's of Pietro's lips tugged up in a smile.

"You should sing to me one day."

"In your dreams Maximoff."

Pietro chuckled, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to generate his own warmth. "In my most lovely dreams, that is."