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you're  allowed  to  lean  on  me.  that's  what  i'm  here  for. / Scott for Ruby

This world was too bright, too clean… to hopeful in ways that almost made her sick. She'd lived her whole life on the edge, surviving only by virtue of instinct, training, and the good fortune to have a mutation that protected her from just about anything the world could throw at her. Danger, disaster -- hell, she'd even spent long stretches of time in her ruby form just because it meant she wouldn't be hungry -- but eventually, the fear of how all of that would catch up with her turned that into a curse. She was trapped in this form. Never to be soft again. Never to hear the minds of those around her again.

Silence. Isolation. Fear.

She shouldn't have trusted that Layla could figure out how to fix things. She'd cocked it all up already, and here she was, doing it again. She'd promised if she went through the portal, she could help guide the future, to prevent the world she came from.

But if she was successful… would she simply cease to be?

It was a lot to ask of someone, especially since, because she hadn't aged in so long, her mind was still somewhat trapped in the same form as her physical one. A young adult mind with an unfinished cortex, quick to anger, with a familiar "Summers" stubborn streak. Still -- Ruby scoffed gently at the statement, shaking her head.

"No it isn't. You're here to help me stop what's coming. Don't need anybody half my age babying me."

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Gaze averting not from a sense of propriety (Julian had seen naked bodies aplenty since starting his 'second life' as a paramedic) but out of self-preservation (who knew if Laura would appreciate getting looked at in her skivvies), he took the bag and headed for his kitchen sink, plugging one side and letting it fill with cold water while he started rinsing the other garments in the other. With a start he dug the wallet from the jacket before it got drenched; thankfully spared from the worst of the bloodbath, he set it on the counter as he got back to scrubbing. Julian was just glad his prosthetics were waterproof...

"Yeah, I'll grab you something in one sec. Not sure how in love with this outfit you are, but I should be able to get the worst of the blood out before it goes in the washer..." Not many people kept peroxide by the sink, but such was his life... he saturated the clothes with it, letting the water dilute it, so that it helped draw some more of the blood out of the fabric; once he was satisfied he squeezed out the excess and then pushed the clothing into the other side to soak, dried his hands on a kitchen towel -- and sighed, because there were drips and drizzles of dark blood all over the floor. Amazing how one could get used to that, much less see it as a mild annoyance instead of a concern.

His bathroom had jack-and-jill doors, so he went into his bedroom, fished up a pair of shorts he rarely wore and one of his faded gym shirts from the Institute. Paused, considered, added a hoodie to the stack. Maybe she'd get cold. Blessing his own foresight in getting an opaque shower curtain, Julian cracked open the door and set the clothes on the countertop. "There you go. Once you're out the rest can go in the washer. I'm gonna run down to the corner for food and run interference with the neighbors. Anybody knocks you went to a GWAR show and it's corn syrup."

His footsteps receded, keys jingling as he picked them up; front door opened, closed, deadbolts clicked home. There was a hibachi place on the corner that he liked, hopefully Laura would like it too...

Laura took the plastic bag, the surface crinkling beneath her palm. She eyed it and then stuffed her shirt into it, blood gushing out where her grip squeezed. She could smell, and see, Julian's disgust, and okay, Laura would admit it was kinda gross. Off went her boots, socks, jeans, leaving her in just panties and bra, both of which had been protected from the worst of the splash by her outerwear. She handed off the bag to Julian.

"Um, thanks," she muttered. "I'll get uh, cleaned-up. Can I borrow a shirt? And your boxers."

She knew where the bathroom was in Julian's apartment and she navigated there quickly. Less she touched the less mess she made. Laura kept the door cracked open, so Julian could exchange the clothes and he could hear when she got into the shower. She took off the last of her clothes, ran the shower, and got in while the water was still cold.

"I think I owe you dinner," Laura confessed. Speaking loud enough he could hear her under the shower spray, which ran rusty red at her feet. "My uh, wallet is in my jacket! If you wanna order something?"

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[ oh my god i just stumbled ass first into an insane thought bc

according to New Exiles, squirrels have been extinct in the Age of Apocalypse long enough for Sabretooth to not know what they are

which leads to one of two conclusions

a) doreen green was simply never born in this reality because she has no genetic template to mutate 'into' OR

b) she was considered even more of a freak of nature because nobody's seen a squirrel in 200+ years ]

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[ marvel: here's a one-shot comic where we expand on the timeline that several beloved characters originated from and also here's a badass daughter for our current power couple scott and emma

also marvel: let's never revisit this again

me: mine now ]

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The softly stifled growl made the hair on the back of his neck stand up a little, but if Julian could boast nothing else, it was that he had irritated more than one Wolverine and lived to talk about it. Still, he had the good sense to give her space, moving to the shelf next to his door where he kept his gear bag and extra supplies. Not because he thought she needed them, but because he had the right materials to clean up a bloody mess --

at which point her shirt came off, the noise reminding him uncomfortably of cold cuts and he had to give himself a little shake. Hold it together, Keller.

"Yeah, uh... There should be clean towels on the bar. I'll dig something up you can wear, just --" he pulled a plastic bag from the side pocket of his bag. "Stick your clothes in here, I'll soak 'em so the blood doesn't stain..."

Starter Here x Laura w/ Julian @raregcms

Force pushed Laura into the apartment, stumbling to regain her balance. An irritated growl sounded from her chest but she let it go as Julian closed the door.

Her wounds were half closed, healing slowly from a long night of fighting. She was no longer 'fresh,' when injuries like this would be closed in just a few minutes. Even when she did heal, Laura knew she'd wake-up sore in the morning. And she was still conspicuously soaked in blood.

"You probably don't," Laura told Julian. "Less you know the better. I'll heal but um, I need to shower?"

To that end she reached underneath the hem of her shirt and pealed it off, over her head.

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[ picked up a shift because overtime & manager texted in a (mild) panic bc the Powers That Be decided we only need 2 guys on graveyard shift on weekends and whaddaya know, one called out

fine n dandy

except now a migraine is taking hold and it feels like a railway spike is being driven flat side down into the space where my eyes and nose meet and i want to d i e ]

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[ poor kurt

now tj has both grandmommies ]

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[ finally got my bars made for the power pack, now i just gotta make some icons and then imma sic these wild kids on all ur muses

especially franklin, leech and artie matticks so come at me ]

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[ work related rant under the cut ]

i swear to god i don't know how some of these guys get qualified as tech if they don't know what the parts inside the machines are called like my guy, i should not have to be looking it up to tell you where it is and what it does i am help desk you are the tech

fuck sakes

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[ just imagining the idea of Raven arriving at the institute like "yes hello son I am taking my granddaughter for the day. no, she doesn't need logan to escort. she will be perfectly safe and returned to you by dinnertime. oh, and tell your lovely wife her hexes are also unnecessary."

and TJ comes back home absolutely hopped up on sugar and caffeine with a GIANT stuffed animal and new outfits like I LOVE NANA RAVEN while the rest of the household looks on in horror ]

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[ sidebar thought but i think one of the things that frustrates me the most is how many near misses TJ had with her relatives during her time spent in 616

like yes, she bonded with Kurt, but we never get to see her meet Wanda (missing in Latveria post-M-Day), nor even Wolverine, and even though she spent some time as a member of the Brotherhood it happened to coincide with Raven being conspicuously missing.

like by god Marvel you wanted her to settle in 616 and then isolated her from anybody she's related to. like I get she isn't Rachel or Nate she can't seamlessly blend into the madness that is the extended Maximoff-Darkholm-Wagner collective but like

c'mon. ]

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[ psst @bluemetamorph imagine raven finding out she has a sassy granddaughter 👀 ]

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"When in Rome," Steve. Rome fell, you know.

-- "What If?" - Vol 2 - #46

What If the Fantastic Four's Second Child Had Lived? (2nd story - good ending)

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༘⋆｡ where it hurts starters.

caretaker.

i'll  stay  until  you  fall  asleep.

you're  not  a  burden.  not  to  me.

you  don't  have  to  act  tough  with  me.

let  me  help.

if  you  need  to  cry,  i'll  look  the  other  way.

you  don't  have  to  talk.

let  me  handle  it,  just  for  a  minute.

rest,  i'll  watch  over  you.

i  don't  care  if  you  think  you're  fine.  i'm  staying.

deep  breaths.

just  lean  on  me.

you're  safe  now,  okay?  just  breathe.

i  know  it  hurts.  i'll  sit  here  as  long  as  it  takes.

i'm  not  leaving  until  i  know  you're  okay.

you  don't  need  to  hide.

let  me  take  care  of  you  this  time.

shh.  i'm  right  here.

you  don't  have  to  put  on  a  smile  for  me.

i  don't  think  less  of  you.

i'll  be  here  when  you  wake  up.

you're  allowed  to  lean  on  me.  that's  what  i'm  here  for.

you  don't  have  to  be  okay.

scoot  over,  i'm  not  letting  you  sleep  alone.

your  hair's  a  mess.  let  me  brush  it.

don't  apologize.

cared  for.

i'm  tired,  that's  all.

please  don't  go.

i  don't  know  what  i  need.

you  didn't  need  to  come.

you  shouldn't  have  to  see  me  like  this.

i  hate  feeling  like  this.

i  was  trying  to  push  through.  i  think  i  made  it  worse.

this  is  so  embarrassing.

can  you  just...  stay  a  little  longer?

i  didn't  think  anyone  would  notice...

i'm  not  safe  in  my  own  head  right  now.

why  are  you  being  so  gentle  with  me?

i  don't  want  you  to  fix  me.

today's  just...  one  of  the  harder  days.

i  didn't  know  i  needed  to  hear  that.

can  you  stay?  after  i  fall  asleep?

sorry.  i  didn't  mean  to  flinch.

i  don't  always  know  what's  going  to  help.

this  is  the  nicest  anyone’s  been  to  me  all  week.

i'm  sorry.  i  know  i'm  a  lot.

i  don't  even  know  why  i'm  crying...

i  think  i'm  broken.

you  didn't  have  to  do  all  this  for  me.

i  don't  want  to  be  a  burden.

i  didn't  think  anyone  would  stay.

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[ like maybe i'm just defensive of age of apocalypse as a whole because it was the first Major Event I read and it's had its hooks in me since the 90s but

you really do not understand AoA if you're gonna say a girl who had a latent mutant power like hers wasn't

brought in for experimentation the MINUTE Apocalypse sent his horsemen out to collect valuable mutants

killed outright bc she was 'human' and hadn't manifested her power yet

turned into one of his horsemen which plotwise would have made a lot more sense bc nobody knows who abyss is anyway

i'm just

nyehhhh i know i'm being a bitchy lil gatekeeper but i'm just sick of not being able to swing a cat without it either being kamala khan or gwen stacy standing there ]

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[ it's not that i hate kamala's existence as a character, in her inception she was a very interesting and fun character

it's just that here lately she smacks of 'industry plant' more than any character in the books and the way they're just farming nostalgia points by cramming her in beloved eras of the franchise actually hurts bc i was genuinely excited for a revisit to age of apocalypse and now i'm just

ugh. let it go, marvel. stop trying to make kamala as a mutant happen. ]

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[ thought about julian quietly wishing he could actually feel when he touches someone with his prosthetics and made myself sad jadkflj ]