13.| LITTLE WHITE LIE

NIGHT CONTINUED TO TRICKLE AWAY AS VISION AND JASMINE SAT WITH EACH OTHER IN HER APARTMENT. She had her dark hair tucked behind her ear as she sat on the couch, with her knees pulled into her chest. The dark-haired woman stared off into nothing in particular as she sat on the couch, and as she sat there, she could see Vision out of the corner of her eye. The Android made his way around her apartment. He made her a cup of tea and he lifted his eyes up as he stared at her. He pressed his lips together as he stared at her and watched as she let out a heavy sigh.

He knew that it was going to be a difficult adjustment for her, and it would be for any of the Avengers. There were things that she had done to her Host form, that he wasn't able to do. One of them being that she was able to consume human foods and drinks, probably to make the transition easier for when she would realize that she wasn't human anymore-that she was a host that no longer would age. That would no longer feel the same things that the rest of the Avengers would. It would have to be handled with care, and Vision figured that the others were going to have him talk to her about it when the time came. And it made sense, seeing as the two of them were the closest.

But he didn't even know how he was going to tell her. He knew that it was the truth that he was going to stick to. He couldn't bear to lie to her about what it was that had happened to her. That she had died while working on the project that had gifted her a second life. But he didn't know how he was going to explain why the rest of the team didn't tell her at first. How they had kept it a secret from her, even if it was the best thing for her.

Most of all, Vision hoped that it wasn't going to break the relationship that they had. That it wasn't going to ruin everything that the two of them had. He didn't want to risk the relationship that the two of them had and he knew that he would've done whatever it was that he could to keep her in his life. To keep her as close to him as he had before.

Vision stared down at the cup of tea in his hand before he began to make his way back over toward Jasmine. The android offered the cup to her and she lifted her eyes up to him. Jasmine stared at him for a few seconds and he saw the expression in her gaze. It wasn't something that he wanted to see, but he had expected it. He had expected the very look that she wore in her eyes and he wanted it to go away. He hated to see the confused glance in her eyes, and it only made him want to tell her what was going on more and more.

Instead, he took a seat beside her and watched as she took a sip of the tea. He hesitated, waiting for her to have a reaction to the taste of the tea-but it never came. She let out a sigh of relief as she stared down at the cup, before glancing over at him.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "I don't know what it is . . . but this readjustment after that surgery . . . it's just been so difficult," Jasmine spoke as she shook her head. She tapped her fingers against the teacup in her hands, before she tilted her head to the side. "I know that Fayre had explained that it was going to be a while before I felt like myself again, but I can't put my finger on it."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "Can't put your finger on what?" Vision questioned, even if he didn't want to know the answer. Even if he was afraid to know what it was that she was thinking in the back of her head. She was an intelligent woman, and he was afraid of the chance that she had pieced it all together.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "It's like I'm a completely different person," Jasmine replied as she glanced over toward him. She pressed her lips together as she stared at the android and she shook her head. "I don't know what it is, but it doesn't even feel like I'm in my own body. It feels . . . like I'm a stranger. That I'm not who I say I am."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Vision reached over and rested a hand on her knee, and he offered her a kind smile, "You're the same woman that you have always been, Jasmine. You're the same sweet, and intelligent, and compassionate woman that you have always been. Nothing has changed." Vision explained to her, which brought a small smile to Jasmine's lips.

A small sigh left her lips as she rested her head on Vision's shoulder. The android stared down at her for a moment, before he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and he held her against him. He could hear her breathing softly and he knew that for the moment at least, she had calmed down. Vision began to believe that she had begun to stop thinking about what had happened to her.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "You would tell me if there was something wrong with me, right Vis?" Jasmine questioned, and Vision stared down at her. The woman lifted her head from his shoulder in order to look into his eyes. The two of them stared into each other's eyes, and that was when Vision knew that he was going to have to tell another little white lie.

And he hated that he had to do so. He just wanted to tell her the truth.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "Yes," Vision answered as he nodded his head to her. "of course, I would."