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annonymouslyblonde · 3 years

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Where I Should Be

Fandom: PJO/HOO

Pairing: Percy x Annabeth

Genre: hurt/comfort, fluff

Summary: Set during Mark of Athena the night of the day they found Percy. What if the stable scene wasn't the first moment alone Percy and Annabeth had? While I love the stable scene, Annabeth just isn't patient enough to have waited that long to catch up with Percy. My take on an additional scene for MoA.

A/N: Everything follows canon for HOO other than the fact we don't have a consistent timeline on the amount of time Percy was missing. So bare with me. My headcannon is that for Percy, it was a few months (thanks to his Hera induced nap), but for Annabeth, he's been missing eight months now.

The slight creak of the door woke Percy. After four years of fighting monsters and Lupa's training, he had learned to sleep lightly. Before the door could close, Riptide was uncapped and at the intruder's throat.

A sharp gasp came shortly before the person hissed, "Percy, it's me!"

Annabeth. Of course, it was only Annabeth. Percy sheepishly lowered his sword. Nothing said "I've missed you the last eight months" like a sword to the throat. Then again, she had judo flipped him, hadn't she? Seemed fair enough.

"I thought you were a monster!" he whispered harshly in defense of his actions, but Annabeth leveled him with a signature glare.

"A monster quietly making it past Jason on guard and opening your bedroom door instead of exploding it?"

His cheeks flamed with embarrassment. Hearing it aloud especially from Annabeth did make it seem pretty ridiculous.

"I was half asleep, and stranger things have happened. Besides I wasn't exactly expecting anyone tonight."

Annabeth looked away from him distracted, half asleep herself. She was barefoot and clad in her favorite worn flannel pants and a camp half-blood sweatshirt of his that was definitely too big for her.

"You're right, I'm sorry," she admitted quietly. "I just- I shouldn't have come, it's stupid. Go back to bed, Percy." She started to turn for the door when he dropped his sword completely to reach for her.

"Hey, don't."

He turned her back to him. In the light of Riptide, tear tracts stood out on her cheeks, and her eyes were red, puffy, and glassy like she may cry again any second. He gently stroked her cheek.

"You've been crying," Percy noted. She wiped angrily at her eyes trying to remove the evidence.

"Nightmares again?" he asked gently. Percy was always gentle with her when nightmares plagued her. Being vulnerable didn't come easy to Annabeth, and he felt honored she would trust him enough to show her vulnerable side.

When she confirmed his suspicions with a nod, Percy collected her in his arms and felt her sigh with relief. He remembered how awful the nightmares had been before at camp and when she'd stay at the apartment, even taken a few elbows as she fought them when she fell asleep during their movie nights. And now? A shudder cut through him trying to imagine how awful they must have been when he vanished. For him, it had only been a few months, but Annabeth had been looking for him nearly a year now not knowing what she may find on the other end.

He pressed a long kiss to her hair and asked, "Which one this time?"

Percy was familiar with most of them by now. Her mother and father rejecting her, blankets turning into spiders, standing at his funeral shroud in hand with everyone telling her he was gone, him accepting the offer of immortality and leaving her alone. And now he had actually left her alone at camp for eight months. The thought made his stomach turn.

"Same one I've had the last few months," she mumbled into his chest. "Every worst-case scenario. You not remembering me, not wanting to leave Camp Jupiter. Or not finding you at Camp Jupiter at all, that you'd never been there and we were completely wrong. Or worse." He knew the "or worse". Her biggest fear used to be abandonment and rejection, but now it had become more than that. The worse was finding him already dead.

"When I woke up, I just- I didn't trust my own mind that we really had found you. That you were really here. I thought I'd finally snapped. Today was probably the best scenario I could have thought up, and you know how it is for half-bloods. Things never go right."

He tightened his hold and stroked her tangled curls, burying his face in her shoulder. "Today they did. Right enough at least. I'm here. I'm with you where I should be."

"I'm so sorry, Percy," she sobbed into his shirt. "I'm sorry it took me so long to find you. I failed you epically."

"No, you didn't." He gently extracted himself taking her face in his hands and made her look at him. "That was all Hera. You did everything you could. I know you did."

"I can't help but feel like that's my fault too. After all, it is Hera," she spat the name out with a much venom as gorgon's blood. Somehow her voice could do that. One side sweet and comforting, another as deadly as poison. "She had to take you. Part of me feels like she took you to get back at me."

Percy couldn't help the chuckle. "Oh, I've done my share of angering that psycho goddess."

The pair stood for a moment in an extended silence. It wasn't enough to alleviate her guilt and he knew it. So he continued.

"It had to be me I think. Any other half-blood getting to California and through the wolf House with no memories? Even if I didn't know about it, I had Achilles' curse protecting me until I got to camp Jupiter. It saved me more than a couple of times."

"Until? You mean-" Her voice trailed off as her fingers grazed the spot at his lower back that he'd confided in her was his only weak spot. His stomach flipped at the gentle touch of her fingers in a way that had nothing to do with the weak spot he previously had.

"I had to give it up to enter Camp Jupiter," he explained. The realization donned on her.

"So when I flipped you earlier-"

"Oh yeah felt every bit of that, thanks. Probably bruised my back along with my ego," he teased. A thunk sounded as she hit her head on the door.

"I'm an idiot," she groaned. "Of course you couldn't carry a Grecian curse into a Roman camp. I'm sorry, Percy. I never meant to hurt you." Her hands skimmed his back hoping she hadn't hurt him too badly.

"I know you didn't, babe." Her heart flipped at the affectionate term. He didn't use that one often, usually when they were alone, but it did strange things to her whenever he did call her babe. It still felt surreal occasionally that they were together in that way. The days of them arguing on the way to LA didn't seem so far in the past.

"You were angry and scared and had every right to be after I disappeared like that. Besides you've done more damage in sparing practice. I'm fine."

She didn't say anything, choosing instead to wrap her arms around him again assuring herself he was really there. Soon, he felt her breathing even out against his neck, and she slumped heavily into him starting to fall asleep again. When he shuffled them towards the bed, she stirred making the task more difficult.

"Come on," he whispered into her nest of golden curls, loving the way she burrowed into his arms. "Lay down with me."

"Can't," she mumbled sleepily. "I shouldn't even be here. I need to go before we get caught."

"I think we've earned this for one night at least. It's been too long since I could hold you." His arms tightened around her, adding to his point. "I'll even set an alarm so you can sneak back before anyone is up. Better yet, where's your hat?"

"Stopped working," she spat out bitterly. "Only gift mom ever gave me, and apparently she kept the receipts. I don't wanna talk about it."

That concerned him. If Athena was taking things from Annabeth, what did that mean for the rest of them with their parents? Percy made them promise to be better with their kids, and here they were a few months later going back on their promises. Typical.

"You and your mom aren't talking again?"

"No one is talking. Olympus has gone silent except for Hera apparently." Bitterness crept back into her voice as the hurt and worry of the last several months tightened in her chest again. Before her mind could go too dark, the ship pitched suddenly sending them tumbling into his bed and Percy into a fit of laughter.

"See even the ship is telling you to stay."

She snorted and settled against him as he pulled a blanket around them. If the Fates seemed to be telling her to stay, then who was she to argue. Curled into his side, she took a deep, comforting breath of the salty air that seemed to follow him. The smell of the ocean, the smell of him, always calmed her now. Automatically, Percy ran his fingers through her hair. Well as much as he could considering it was a knotted mess.

"Speaking of moms though, your mom and Paul are doing well. They've been worried about you, but they're good."

"You went to see them?"

Distractedly, she drew Greek letters across his chest needing to keep her hands busy. Curse half-blood ADHD. It was always worse when she didn't sleep well, but Percy didn't mind. The light touch of her fingers dancing across his chest focused him. All he could think of was her. The smell of her shampoo. Her warm breath as she spoke to him. The feel of her securely wrapped in his arms. He never wanted to forget this again.

"I wanted to keep them informed and see if they heard from you," she answered having finally ordered her thoughts enough. "I've been going at least once a week when I'm at camp. Your mom's kept me sane the last eight months."

"She's pretty great like that. I tried to call her. I don't know if it helped or made things worse. I didn't really explain too well."

"It helped," she assured him with a squeeze. "She managed to forward it to me, and we must have spent an hour on the phone together listening to it. It was good just to hear your voice. And speaking of, you should call her in the morning. The camouflage on the ship will make it safe for a phone call."

"She's going to kill me when I get home," he groaned. Annabeth laughed into his chest. It was the best feeling in the world to hear that laugh again.

"Probably so, then she's going to hug you for a month straight. She wanted me to tell you she loves you and misses you. She never doubted I'd find you."

When Annabeth first came to tell Mr. and Mrs. Jackson-Blofis about Percy's disappearance, she made sure Sally knew she would do whatever it took to bring him home. The older woman merely nodded and smiled at the younger girl.

"Of course you will, dear. I have every faith in you." And she hugged her. Sally never once doubted Annabeth's ability. And later as Annabeth worried over the quest from her mom, it was Sally that held her hand reassuringly and told her everything would be alright. In the past eight months, Sally Jackson had become a rock to Annabeth, and she would never be able to thank the woman enough for that. The woman never doubted that she'd find the most important thing in both their lives.

"And she shouldn't have." Percy interrupted her thoughts, answering both her words and internal musings. "Because you are amazing."

Looking down at the girl curled against him, Percy couldn't help but finally feel at home. Emotions overwhelmed him fighting for dominance. Pride in her. Anger for being snatched away. Fear that it would happen again. Happiness to have her in his arms again. But one feeling was more powerful than the rest, and he needed to make sure she knew before anything else could happen.

"And I love you, Annabeth Chase."

She propped up on her elbows, staring at him dumbfounded. A long quiet moment passed before Percy broke the silence with a nervous laugh.

"Oh that's so sweet," he mimicked in a high voice. "But you know I'm not sure I feel that-"

She shut him up with a kiss. By now, they had kissed lots of times. There was Mt. St. Helen when she had surprised him with a kiss. Or the time they came back to camp high on the victory of defeating Kronos when they had kissed by the lake. And of course, the best underwater kiss ever which had become every underwater kiss since. But every time she kissed him, it made his stomach flip just like it was the first time all over again. When they finally parted, she leaned her forehead against his with a satisfied smirk.

"Of course I love you, seaweed brain. Think I'd have gone searching for eight months if I didn't?"

"I'd do it for you," he vowed, wrapping a ringlet around his finger. "I'd do anything for you."

"You're proving my point for me."

She smirked at him, and he took the moment to truly study her face. She was beautiful as always, but the deep, puffy rings under her eyes had definitely not been there before. Her cheekbones stood out sharper and he realized when he held her, she was thinner, gaunt even. He could feel each of her vertebrae when he ran his hand down her back. Her face was noticeably paler as well, and her hair lacked its normal shiny, glow. Overall, she pretty much looked like death warmed over. He traced the purple skin under her eyes.

"Gods, Annabeth, when's the last time you slept?"

She rolled her eyes at him. The first time he told her he loved her followed up with how tired she looked. Leave it to Percy Jackson to ruin a beautiful moment.

"Always the charmer, aren't you?"

"I mean it." The laugh in her throat died with his serious tone. Percy was seldom serious. "When's the last time you actually slept a full eight hours? And you haven't been eating well, I can tell. I know how you get when you stress."

Annabeth settled against his shoulder again, not able to bear the concern on his face. No, she hadn't taken great care of herself lately, and she didn't need Percy to remind her of that. Sally did enough of that commenting on the increasingly dark circles under her eyes, always insisting she stay for dinner, that she was getting too thin.

"I couldn't," she finally admitted in a small voice. It seemed pathetic to her now that she hadn't been able to take care of herself, but she lacked the will to without Percy. All of her focus has been on finding him.

"I had to find you. When I did sleep, I snuck into your cabin or fell asleep in your bed at the apartment." She paused waiting for his reaction. Would he be angry she snuck in there? Would he not like her sleeping in his beds while he'd been missing? But Percy just tightened his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her head. She released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. It amazed her sometimes how Percy always seemed to know exactly what she needed.

"Being in there where it smelled like you, it was the only way I could actually get some sleep. Chiron had to know, but no one ever said anything."

Tears collected in her eyes, and she turned her face into his chest trying to stop them. Percy was the only person she ever let see her like this, weak and emotional. The only time she let herself break was in the seclusion of the Posidon cabin curled around his pillow.

"I missed you," she whispered hoarsely.

"I missed you too. The whole time, all I could think about was getting back to you. You kept me going, kept me alive."

"You mean you remembered me the whole time?" she asked incredulously. How could she have been the one thing he remembered? When Jason showed up, he hadn't remembered anything. It didn't make sense to her that Percy would remember anything, much less her.

"Yeah. Whether she meant to or not, you were the only thing Hera didn't take from me. The second I woke up, I didn't know my name, but I knew yours and knew I had to get back to you no matter what. More things came. The quests and all. That kiss under the lake. But it always came back to you. You're ingrained into who I am now, Annabeth. You were the reason I kept going because I knew I had to get back to you."

She leaned up pressing her lips to his again, tracing every inch of his face trying to memorize it. The kiss spoke everything they had struggled to say to each other. Her euphoric relief seeing him alive and well. His hope for a future with her in New Rome. The deep connection that had tied them together since they were twelve. Everything.

"I love you, Percy Jackson," she breathed against his lips, pouring every emotion she felt for him into the words. He grinned that lopsided smile she adored so much.

"I love you too, wise girl."

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #percy and annabeth #percabeth #pjo fandom #pjo fanfic #percy x annabeth #pjo hoo toa #mark of athena #fanfic #writing #hoo fanfic #oneshot #percabeth fluff

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hailing-stars · 3 years

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@febuwhump day 12 who are you

the world minus one

summary

“Who the hell are you?”

“Agent Woo,” he says.

“Ha,” says Peter. He grins. “That rhymed.”

“I’ve been assigned to oversee your home detainment,” he tells him, flashing his card as if he were a magician, and they were at a magic show, instead of the most boring place on planet earth

Agent Jimmy Woo is assigned to oversee Peter's house arrest post far from home, and Peter's eyes see probation officer but his brain screams FRIEND.

Peter considers chopping his foot off.

Did he really need two feet? Maybe Mr. Stark could fashion him a prosthetic like he did for his own Infinity Gauntlet damaged arm, or maybe Peter could spend one of his annoyingly long days trapped inside this apartment figuring out how to do it himself.

He’s exiled to a much larger apartment than the one he and May share in Queens, but somehow, it still manages to be cramped and suffocating, as if the air there was thick and might smother him before the boredom drove him up the walls.

That is if his ankle monitor doesn’t choke the life out of him first.

He pulls at it, itching at it from his place sitting in the middle of the living room floor, when the doorbell rings and Peter stops, he frowns. Mr. Stark isn’t expected to visit him today, and May isn’t due for dinner until a couple of hours.

With a sigh, he stands and walks across his apartment. He opens the door to an unfamiliar face wearing a familiar and unwelcome FBI jacket.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Agent Woo,” he says.

“Ha,” says Peter. He grins. “That rhymed.”

“I’ve been assigned to oversee your home detainment,” he tells him, flashing his card as if he were a magician, and they were at a magic show, instead of the most boring place on planet earth.

It’s an awkward moment. Him just standing there, in the hall, and Peter basks in his ability to make a Fed sweat.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Are you a vampire?”

“...I’m sorry?”

“Vampires,” sighes Peter. “They have to be let in. Feds usually don’t wait for an invitation. Not used to one having manners.”

Peter walks away from the door, leaving it open, and hoping that’s enough of an invitation. It isn’t like he has a choice anyway.

Agent Woo shuts the door behind him, and something stabs at Peter. He’s being rude. His aunt taught him better than that, and there’s something about Agent Woo that Peter decides he likes. The magic trick, maybe.

Peter offers him coffee. Agent Woo looks over at the kitchen, which is admittedly a disaster zone, and politely declines.

“So, what’s your job?” asks Peter. He clears a space off of the dining room table for them to both sit down. “Making sure I’m not staging an escape attempt?”

“Basically, I’ll be dropping by from time to time, to ensure you’re behaving yourself,” says Agent Woo. “Tony Stark did bribe me to harass you about your online classes and that’s not typically part of my job description, I need the money for my children’s college -”

“-you have kids?”

“Not yet, but I plan to, and with the way the economy is-” Agent Woo pauses. “We’re really supposed to be talking about you.”

“I’m behaving myself,” says Peter. “I’m attending my online classes, and I’ve got no plans to take up a new identity and flee the country. Now back to you. Anyone special you’re planning on having these kids with? I need all the details.”

It’s true. He does.

There isn’t much entertainment in his life what with being locked up in an apartment, spending most of his days alone. It’s for May’s safety that they aren’t able to live together during his house arrest, during the massively long stretch of time before his trial, but that doesn’t mean Peter likes it.

Agent Woo spills something about a doctor before pausing a second time and getting back on track. He recites the same information Peter’s heard before. It’s really boring and a waste of time, but Peter supposes he’s got lots of it to waste, anyway.

“Any questions for me?” Agent Woo asks, once he’s finished with his spiel.

“Can you show me how to do that magic trick?”

“Maybe another time,” he tells him, then looks around. “You know, a lot of people in your situation find it helps to form a routine and create a clean living space. Waking up in the morning, showering, putting on normal clothes.”

Peter frowns at the sudden callout. “Who says pajamas aren’t normal?”

“Just offering some friendly advice.”

He stands, and heads for the door, telling him he’ll be by in a couple of weeks, when Peter feels the throbbing near his ankle.

“Agent Woo,” says Peter, before he gets to the door. “You wouldn’t, um, know how to loosen the ankle monitor? I may have been what Mr. Stark fondly refers to as tactless with the agent who put it on and they may have retaliated just a little bit.”

So, Agent Woo loosens the ankle monitor, and Peter, once he��s alone in the apartment, collapses on his couch and decides that he and Agent Woo are going to be friends, despite the unsolicited advice.

Peter’s prepared the next time Agent Woo visits.

Coffee is going, the apartment is clean, and he’s got five packs of playing cards laid out on the kitchen table. It had been a lot of whining on his part to convince Mr. Stark to drop everything and run to the store and buy them, but this is an emergency. A magic emergency.

He’s also ordered a pizza, and it arrives just as Agent Woo starts his regular round of checkup, interrogation questions.

“Oh, that’s the pizza,” says Peter, when the doorbell rings.

Agent Woo opens his mouth as Peter leaps up from his chair, but ultimately doesn’t say anything. Once Peter’s back to the kitchen table, he opens the box and lets the aroma fill the apartment.

“Want a slice?”

“That would be crossing professional bounds…” says Agent Woo. His voice trailed off. He stared at the pizza. “But that pizza looks really good, and I haven’t had lunch…”

Peter pushes the box closer to the FBI agent. Agent Woo grabs a slice, and official talk about Peter’s detainment falls to the wayside.

“Tell me about the doctor,” says Peter. “Is she pretty?”

Agent Woo obliges, and Peter begins to understand why Woo’s crushing on her so hard. She sounds kickass. And Peter’s rooting for them.

“You gotta ask her out, man,” says Peter. A string of melt cheese hangs off his mouth and swipes it away. “I mean, Agent Woo.”

The agent laughs, and by the time he leaves, Peter knows how to do the magic trick and almost no time was spent talking about his upcoming trial or the conditions of his house arrest.

Peter bleeds out on his living room floor.

He hadn’t meant to get stabbed. He hadn’t even meant to step out of his apartment, but it’s getting to him. The confinement. The crime happening below his apartment and he’s expected to sit by and let happen.

Mr. Stark is going to kill him, and he wouldn’t have called him if not for the pain, the unbearable pain of his skin stitching itself back together. Superpowered healing doesn’t come without it’s trauma.

To make matters worse, his doorbell rings, and he isn’t expecting anyone, so he knows it’s Agent Woo.

He inhales deep. He tries freeing his face from displaying the terrifying agony he’s experiencing in his leg, and he limps over to answer the door.

Agent Woo isn’t fooled. “Jesus Christ, is that blood?”

“Is that Delmar’s?” Peter momentarily forgets his situation when he spots the brown bag in Agent Woo’s hand, and when he smells the unforgetful aroma of Delmar’s Deli.

“Forget the sandwiches,” says Agent Woo. He walks into the apartment, helps Peter back to the couch, and places the bag on the coffee table. “What happened to you?”

“Don’t freak out,” he tells him. “I accidentally stabbed myself with a steak knife.”

Agent Woo stands, crosses his arms. “I’m supposed to believe you did that to yourself? On accident?”

“To be fair,” says Peter. “You’ve known me long enough to know that’s also extremely probable.”

“How could you do this,” says Agent Woo. He isn’t angry. His voice sounds the same as Mr. Sark’s had on the phone. Worried. Afraid for him, and what’s done, putting his own privilege of pretrial house arrest on the line for a few minutes fighting petty criminals. “You know what’s at stake if you break the rules.”

“I know,” says Peter, softly. “I’m sorry.”

“We need to put pressure on that.”

Agent Woo disappears from his sight and returns with a towel he carefully ties around Peter’s leg wound.

“Are you sure you don’t need a hospital?”

Peter shakes his head. “Spider healing will work it’s magic.”

He closes his eyes and tries to block out the pain, and when that doesn’t work, he decides a distraction is what he needs.

“Tell me about Dr. Lewis,” he says, through a grimace. “Have you asked her out yet?”

Agent Woo sits on the couch next to him. “Not yet.”

“You gotta get on that,” says Peter. “Before someone else does.”

“I don’t know about that, Pete,” he tells him. “I don’t know if someone like her would say yes to someone like me.”

“Someone like you? Someone who’s a nice person? And likes all the same cheesy sit-coms as her?” asks Peter. “Dude, you two are perfect for each other. You’re gonna ask her, and she’s going to say something like geez, finally, I was waiting for you to get a clue, and then you’ll have little Dr. Lewis-Woos running around all over the place.” He stops, the pain stabs, and he keeps going. “She’d be lucky.”

“Thanks, Peter.”

“Anytime,” says Peter, his voice cracking. The edges of his vision blur, but he’s able to focus on the brown bag on the coffee table. “You really brought me Delmar’s?”

“Last time I was here you said how much you missed it.”

“Make a habit of doing favors for murders? Fun.”

The pain’s making him more bitter, more honest, more angsty about the fact that the entire world thinks he’s killed that clown Mysterio. Maybe that’s what his temporary escape is really about. Trying to prove that he’s good. That he’s against the crimes people say he’s committed.

“I know you’re not a murderer.”

The entire world minus one, he guesses, along with his friends and family.

“You believe me?”

“I’ve dealt with killers before,” says Agent Woo. “You’re not one of them.”

Peter feels lighter, better even in his leg, by the idea of someone like Agent Woo believing his innocence. Gives him hope maybe his house arrest will end with freedom instead of prison, like Mr. Stark has been telling him from the start.

His good feeling doesn’t last long, though, because Mr. Stark barges through the door and Peter’s spidey senses know he’s about to get a lecture.

“How could you be so stupid?”

“Mr. Stark -”

“-No,” says Mr. Stark. “No excuses. I’ve warned you over and over again. Where is it?”

Peter pulls the device he’d built to interfere with the ankle monitor out from his pocket, and hands it over to Mr. Stark, who breaks it.

“For a genius,” says Agent Woo, as he eyes the broken parts of the interference device. “You really lack common sense.”

Mr. Stark turns his attention to Agent Woo. “Look, Agent -”

“-I’m off duty,” says Agent Woo, standing up from the couch. “Just a guy bringing some sandwiches, and I’ve really got no reason to believe he didn’t slip and fall, uh, on a kitchen knife. Just… never again.”

Peter nods his head. “Okay, yeah, never again.”

Agent Woo leaves them, Mr. Stark softens and gives him his extra strength pain relievers, and Peter drifts off, but not before devouring the sandwiches he loves and dwelling on the tiny spark of hope Agent Woo offered to him.

Not everyone believes he's a murderer, and for that moment, it’s enough.

#febuwhumpday12 #Peter parker #house arrest #agent jimmy woo

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angelofthequeers · 4 years

Text

A Sticky Situation

Rating: T

Summary: Punning is taken very seriously in the land of Ladybug, Fukō, and Adridamsel in distress. Purrhaps a little too seriously...

Ship: Adrigaminette

My piece for @kagamizine which you can find right here! Please go and give all the contributors heaps of love for all the work they’ve put into it! Especially @masilvi who organised it and made it possible!

AO3 link

“Are you serious? Again?” Ladybug complains. Fukō makes do with a tight-lipped smile and leaps to the next rooftop after her partner, towards the massive spider queen akuma called Aracnide, aka Lila Rossi’s newest akuma form.

“If you’re complaining about Lila being akumatised, I hardly think that’s a surprise by now.”

“Oh, of course it’s not. And neither’s the thing I was actually annoyed about.”

Fukō follows Ladybug’s gaze and lets out a groan of her own. Sure enough, dangling next to Aracnide on the Eiffel Tower is Adrien Agreste, looking rather bored now during his nth akumanapping, especially by Lila. Sure, he’s got a rather astounding lack of self-preservation that could rival the Ladyblogger Alya’s on a normal day, but Lila always seems to target him whenever she’s akumatised. And right now, Ladybug’s leading the overall akumanapping rescue charge nine to eight, and Fukō does not intend to lose this competition, no matter how much she loves her partner.

“That makes it, what, ten to me?” Ladybug says, twirling her yo-yo around her fingers as she and Fukō pause on a rooftop to plan out their next move. Fukō snorts.

��I intend to tie this up,” she says. “Pun fully intended.”

Ladybug rolls her eyes. “Let’s just get this under wraps,” she says. “Or I’ll be late for my date again. I’m surprised they’re not suspicious yet that I keep disappearing whenever there’s an akuma attack.”

It’s at times like this that Fukō can’t tell whether Ladybug is using “they” as a neutral or as a plural pronoun. Maybe it’s just her wishful thinking, what with her also having a plural relationship. With a date that she’s also running late for. Damn Lila Rossi for kidnapping hers and Marinette’s boyfriend again.

“Ooh, can I do the smart remark this time?” Ladybug says, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “You got to do it last time!”

“Fine,” Fukō says. “But only because I want to get this done quickly.”

Beaming, Ladybug swings until she’s on the closest rooftop to the Tower, then rests her hands on her hips. “Your web of lies ends today, Lila!” she announces as Fukō lands next to her. Fukō raises an eyebrow.

“That’s what you wanted quipping rights for?” she says.

“What?” Ladybug grins. “It was too good to pass up.”

“Ladybug! Fukō!” A wide, twisted smile splits Aracnide’s face in half. Literally. Her mouth is taking up half her face. “You’ve finally arrived to save your damsel in distress!”

Adrien’s face is a strange mix of swallowing nails at being called the damsel in distress and beaming radiance that he’s essentially become the male equivalent of Roxanne Ritchi and is pretty much a key part of akuma attacks these days. Fukō dreads the day that Alya decides to turn akumanapping into a competition, because at least all her kidnappings have just been “wrong place at the wrong time”.

“And it’s hard to come up with puns on the spot!” Ladybug says as though Aracnide hadn’t spoken. “Like, you have to balance overused with quick and snappish.”

“You just need to practice weaving those factors together,” Fukō says. Ladybug’s pretty smile lights up the air around them, and Fukō once again wonders if she can convince her partner to join their polycule, and not just for her. She’s seen Adrien’s “secret” Ladybug shrine, after all.

“Yeah, you’ll get the right words to stick together eventually!” Adrien says with a toothy grin. Fukō prays that her warm face isn’t visibly flushed; she’d have an interesting time explaining that one.

“Uh, hello?” Aracnide snaps and stomps one of her spider feet. “Akuma attack here!”

“Or maybe you could find some more on the web,” Adrien continues, ignoring Aracnide completely. To be fair, after like five akumatisations, Lila’s more on the level of Mr Ramier being akumatised into Mr Pigeon at the slightest provocation, now that the novelty’s worn off. “Mari and Kagami and I could hang out and help you.”

Fukō’s torn between rolling her eyes at the low-hanging fruit of, well, hanging, and smiling goofily at how Adrien’s thinking of her even when being held hostage by an angry akuma.

“Stop it!” Aracnide shrieks. “Give me your Miraculouses!”

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Ladybug says, her cheeks pink for some reason. “You all look adorably close whenever I see you. I hope I’ll be invited to the webbing.”

Blood rushes to Fukō’s cheeks. But before she can come up with another pun of her own, Aracnide screams and dives at her and Ladybug, shooting thick strands of webbing out of…well, Fukō doesn’t want to examine the implications of where that webbing’s coming from. Hawkmoth is a sick, sick man.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug catches a large bottle of what looks like cooking oil. Between her two years of experience as a superhero and their many previous encounters with Lila, it takes almost no time for Ladybug to decide that dumping the entire bottle of oil over Fukō and slathering her up is the way to go. Fukō’s not sure whether she wants to marry this girl alongside Marinette and Adrien or push her off the Eiffel Tower.

“Ha!” Aracnide lands in front of Fukō, who bats away the first lot of webbing easily. But then Aracnide switches her focus, and the next glob of web shoots Fukō’s staff out of her hands and sends it clattering far enough away that there’s no way she’ll get to it before Aracnide can catch her. “Your time’s up, pussy cat!”

Fukō braces herself against the next round of webbing, which knocks her off her feet and congeals in a sticky mess all over her body. But, unlike everything else Aracnide has webbed, Fukō doesn’t stay down. With a small, “Huh,” Fukō easily slips out of the webbing, which is utterly useless at holding down her slippery body, and Aracnide hisses at the sight.

“Fine! I’ll just kill you my –”

Ladybug smacking Aracnide around the head with her yo-yo shuts the spider akuma up rather effectively. While Ladybug keeps Aracnide occupied, Fukō springs up the massive web on the Eiffel Tower to free Adrien, the thick white strands just as useless at immobilising her as the glob that Aracnide had hit her with.

“You’ve really got a way of slipping out of sticky situations,” Adrien says once Fukō has Cataclysmed his bonds and has slung him over her shoulder, not trusting her oily arms to keep a proper grip on him. Fukō rolls her eyes and wonders why she loves this boy.

“And you have an extraordinary talent of getting yourself in these situations,” she says.

“What?” Adrien whines. “It’s not my fault they target me. Especially Lila. I don’t know why she thinks kidnapping me over and over will make me fall in love with her. I think she’s reached the end of her tether.”

“If you ever fall in love with someone like that, I’ll tie you back up here myself,” Fukō mutters, choosing to ignore the pun in that complaint. She lands nimbly on the ground and drops Adrien on his feet, just in time to hear Ladybug cry, “Miraculous Ladybug!” and send a healing swarm of ladybugs around to fix all the damage caused by Aracnide. Fukō thanks every deity above when the glistening, slippery liquid coating her vanishes with the ladybug swarm. Next time she and Ladybug meet, she’s going to have very strong words for her partner, even if this had been one of their easiest akuma battles to date. Then again, battling the same person probably does get easier by the fourth time or so.

“Can you get back to wherever you were by yourself?” Ladybug says once she’s landed next to them. Fukō wonders why Ladybug’s not offering Adrien a lift but, well, then she’d have to reveal her own reasons for not being able to deliver him back at the café where she’s meeting him and Marinette, so she’s just not going to say anything.

“Yeah,” Adrien says a little breathlessly. Fukō can’t really be jealous of his reaction to Ladybug; not when she knows how loving and loyal he is to her and Marinette, and not when she also kind of wants to make out with Ladybug. “Just a few streets away.” His eyes widen. “Marinette! Kagami! They’re going to kill me for getting kidnapped again!”

“Well, at least he’s got some self-awareness to go with that pretty face,” Ladybug says once Adrien’s rounded the corner. Fukō snorts.

“Indeed. Well…” She holds out her fist for their usual post-battle pound it, after which Ladybug takes a running leap and swings away over the rooftops. Fukō watches her for just a moment, then kicks herself into gear to get into the nearest alley before her transformation times out.

“Claws in,” she murmurs once she’s safely hidden from any prying eyes, and in a flash of green light, Fukō and her black and green suit are replaced with Kagami and her collared red dress. Plagg tumbles out of the ring and lands on her shoulder, yowling for Camembert as he always does after a battle well-fought.

“I’m dying! Wasting away to nothing! Give Tikki my farewell!”

Kagami rolls her eyes and stuffs Plagg into her fencing slash personal bag, where there’s always a hidden store of cheese for him, providing he doesn’t eat it all like the gluttonous little cat god he is. Once Plagg’s happily munching away, Kagami peeks out of the alleyway to make sure that no one’s around, then darts out and takes off for the café, hoping that if she can’t beat Adrien back then she can at least get there fast enough for him to not bombard her with questions as to her whereabouts.

No such luck. Not only is Adrien waiting at their usual table but so is Marinette, looking incredibly flustered but still radiant with her loose black hair and rumpled pink blouse and white skirt. How close had she been to Aracnide? Hopefully not too close, or Kagami will have to lecture her girlfriend about not ending up like Adrien with his utter lack of self-preservation.

“Kagami!” Marinette tackles Kagami in a tight hug once Kagami’s reached their table. “I got back here and then Adrien came and neither of us knew where you were –”

“Relax, Marinette.” Kagami untangles Marinette’s chaotic limbs from around her and kisses her on the cheek, relishing the way Marinette’s face turns dark pink and she reaches up to touch her kissed skin with wide blue eyes. Then Kagami turns to Adrien and slides her arms around him, resting her head on his chest, reassuring herself with his steady heartbeat that he’s alive and well. “Ladybug’s cure always fixes the damage.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t worry!” Marinette says. She jabs a finger at Adrien. “Just like how you always get akumanapped!”

“It’s not like I want them to nab me all the time!” Adrien says. His voice rumbles in his chest as vibrations that make Kagami grin and rub her cheek against his shirt before stepping back. “And Kagami’s right: Ladybug always fixes everything!”

Marinette’s pink face darkens even further until it’s red. “Y-Yeah, I know. But I still worry.”

“No need,” Kagami says, while Adrien pulls out chairs for her and Marinette like the gentleman he is. “It was just a bit of a sticky situation.”

Adrien snorts. “I’d say Lila reached the end of her tether, but she’ll probably get akumatised again next week.”

“Well, her web of lies will end eventually,” Marinette says. “She just needs to learn how to weave them together better.”

Kagami blinks. Okay, it could just be a coincidental pun, but…how had Marinette been close enough to hear what Ladybug and Fukō had said? Kagami had come back straight from the site of the battle, so there’s no way Marinette could have made it back here to the café before her; or at least, not without Kagami running into her. And if she’d been close enough to hear the hero-akuma exchange, Kagami would most definitely have seen her…right?

“Wow,” Adrien says. “You two really sound like…like…”

All three of them freeze. Kagami stares at Marinette, who stares right back at her, while Adrien stares between both of them like he’s spectating a tennis match.

“Oh my god,” all three of them say together. “No way.”

After another few moments of silence, Kagami decides to end this silent standoff definitively.

“I guess we really will have to invite Ladybug to our webbing,” she says. Marinette lets out a high-pitched squeal, so high that every dog in Paris had probably heard it, and – yes, there it is. There’s the Ladybug in her features. Lots of other girls have black hair and blue eyes but none of them…none of them have the same shape to their face, the same light in their eyes, the same brilliant smile from the heavens themselves. How on earth had Kagami never seen it before?

“Well,” Adrien rasps. “I wonder how we’ll slip out of this sticky situation.”

#miraculous ladybug #aotq fic #kagami zine #adrigaminette #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #lila rossi #kagami tsurugi #chat!kagami #ml polyamory #puns galore #defeating lila with the power of bad jokes #they're all idiots #i love them to bits #identity reveal #damsel in distress adrien

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wu-sisyphus-gang · 3 years

Text

Motion Sickness Chapter 65

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I rolled up on Seventh Heaven with a backfire or two from my bike. It was starting to become familiar to me. I walked inside to see Avalanche around and getting ready for the operation.

I handed Bisque his new weapon and harness and he grimaced. He took his current one off and put on the new one. "Any advice on how to use it?"

"No. It's a gun. I don't like guns. What's hard about point and click?"

"More than you think," he returned. Fair enough. A lot went into a sword fight, too.

"So… what's the plan, Cloud?" Wenge asked.

I pulled my explosives from behind me and juggled them a little.

"Should you be handling explosives like that?" Wenge asked again.

"Probably not. But I'm not a little bitch . I'd survive. The plan is to set the deck on fire and teleport onboard with Neo. We let them evacuate, we kill robots, we put a hole in the hull. Pretty simple."

"No killing," Bisque said.

"No killing," I agreed. "We'll make that shit look easy, too."

"Let's just hope Taurus agrees," Jasper muttered. "He was insisting on being involved when he was last here."

"Good. We could use another killer on deck," I said.

"No killing?" Wenge asked. His voice came out a whinge.

"No killing, but," I drew out the noise, "we could always use another professional. Y'all are amateurs. You could die. Taurus will take a bite out of those robots, chew on ‘em, and spit them out."

"Well aren't you Mr. Take Charge," Jasper came up and wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled herself close to me.

"Well I have to be. None of you know what the fuck you’re doing and could die." I disentangled myself from her and stepped to the side. Her aura at that range tasted of blueberries. It was a delicious flavor, though, not one I would have thought myself partial to.

We wouldn't be a good idea, Jaune. Remember that. You're probably not a good idea for anyone.

I let the self depreciating thoughts rule me. It was better that way. I allowed the familiarity of it to relax me. Someone getting close to me like that had made me tense.

Neo waltzed up from beside me and put both her elbows on the counter and leaned her head down on her hands.

"Are you feeling alright Neo?" I asked.

She gave me a tired thumbs up. She might just be sleepy. She'd be awake when it came time to work.

"So how have you been handling the training?" I asked.

"I'm sore." Wenge stretched. He twisted side to side.

"You're a monster, Cloud," Jasper informed me. "What's a girl got to do to make you take it easier on her?" Her fox tail swished behind her in red and white. Up and down it went. I tried not to stare at her behind, or close to it. It drew the eye, though.

"Not ask me for help with it for one. You think you're up for this? Not too beat up?"

"I'm all ready," Jasper said. She flexed a bicep at me as though that would prove it. I chuckled a little at her antics.

"Me too," Wenge echoed her. He didn't flex, though.

"How about you Bisque?" I asked.

"I'm green. This ought to help. Thanks Cloud." He checked the chamber of his new pistol expertly. He was getting used to the new mechanisms as we spoke.

He examined the loaded magazines and strapped them to a bandolier on his person.

"I have more ammunition for it. You shouldn't need it for this operation. Leave most of the robot killing to me, Neo, and Taurus."

"Hey Cloud, you're not really, um, going to kill Taurus are you?" Wenge asked.

"I might have to. He's unwilling to play the game."

"And what game is that? The drug game? We don't play that either," Jasper said. "You haven't threatened to kill us yet, though."

"You still play along with it. You play the information brokerage game. You still play like your lives matter and you don't kill just because it might be the easiest option. Taurus doesn't. It's his way or the highway. That makes him unreliable for anything other than his agenda."

"I think I get it," Bisque said. "You can't threaten him. You can't barter with him. He's not like you. You're willing to compromise. He's not."

"Exactly. He doesn't do business. I do. A lot. I trade favors, I sell my skills. He's not about that life."

The bar door jingled and Taurus came striding in. His white mask on, katana by his side.

"Speak of the devil," I said.

He snorted. "What's the plan to take down the ship?" He asked. No beating around the bush. No chit chatting. He was straight to the point.

I held up one of the explosives. "We've got two of these. We're going to plant them on the inner hull." I flicked open the map of the ship on my scroll and showed the group where we'd be setting up the bombs. "I go in first with a fireball to set up the evacuation of the people onboard. Then Neo teleports the rest of you to the deck. One of us stays behind and watches the vehicles. That'll be you Wenge."

"It would be easier and quieter to kill the guards. They'll set off an alarm. We'll only have minutes," Taurus growled.

"Which is why we'll work fast. Neo will teleport us back out. Once we reach the rendezvous point, that is. Here near the command deck."

I pointed out the deck of the ship I was referring to on my map.

"We fight through any machines that stay onboard and get in our way. In and out, five minutes."

Taurus looked at my face and that of Avalanche. "It would be easier to kill the crew."

"No killing. None," Bisque said. "This isn't the White Fang. This is Avalanche. If you can't handle that, you're out."

He had guts talking to Taurus like that. Adam could rip his guts out and show them to him. The only thing stopping him was a tenuous alliance.

"Anyone I knock out will go down with the ship when we sink it. It would be more merciful to kill them," Taurus said. I winced. I'd used similar logic before. It wasn't a far leap for me to see his side. And the operation would be easier if we killed the sentries. But Avalanche had rules and I made the plan live within them.

"We'll give them plenty of time to get off the ship. We've got a teleporter on our side," Bisque shot back. Adam hunched over his weapon like he might draw it. He coiled like a spring, ready to strike with alarming speed. I made myself stand relaxed. If he attacked I'd just have to deal with it.

Neo had spun around on her stool when Adam had walked in. She gave a slow barely perceptible nod when she was brought up.

"Very well," Adam grunted. He uncoiled slowly. But he was no less dangerous. I was sure he could draw his weapon fast enough.

"Then it's settled. We'll only have minutes between when the fires start and emergency responders show up. We'll need to be fast and split up. Neo and Bisque will make up one team. Jasper, Taurus, and I will be the other."

I gave one of the bombs to Bisque. "The bombs are both hooked up to my scroll. I'll set them off once we're clear. Any questions?" I asked.

No one had any. They just stared at me in silence.

"Then let's get started."

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The smog of the town refracted the sunset. Casting red and orange light all across us as we drove. Me and Neo were on my bike and all the others piled into Avalanche's truck.

When we came up on the docks I jumped off the bike and hung in the air. I crushed a dust crystal and cast a fireball forward. It splashed in and through the top deck of the ship we were targeting. The White Whale was bold across its side. It's name wasn't the important part of the story. The cargo was the real focus.

Almost immediately an alarm started to blare and red lights flashed in a cyclic fashion that glinted mutely compared to the fading dusk sun.

I didn't land back on the bike with Neo. Instead I glid forward on the air currents and landed on the deck of the ship. I hid behind a mooring station as people rushed past my hiding place and off the ship. Some took to the plank that led down to the docks and others made for the lifeboats.

I let them past me without making a sound from where I hunched down. There was a shattering sound as Neo appeared next to me with Bisque, Jasper, and Taurus.

The alarm wailed for a moment and no more people came rushing up. Machines began to come from beneath deck and put out the fire with extinguishers.

Adam snarled and rushed them. He cut through them with ease, sheathing and redrawing his weapon as he moved. I got my first look at his style then as he side-flipped in place and cast his blade through the machines.

I gave them all a nod and we worked our way beneath deck. Our two parties split up.

We came across more of the small humanoid mechs and I crushed them with my bare hands where they got in my way.

I drew my long sword and I stabbed through a robot's head. I swung to the side as much as I could in the tight quarters and cut another in half at the waist.

I kicked another to the ground as I descended the stairs and I crushed it's chest under my boot. These machines really stood no chance against me. Most were still armed with fire extinguishers rather than sleek Atlesian rifles. They reminded me of ants. They were responding to only one emergency at a time.

It was easy to destroy these smaller robots and there wasn't really the room for bigger ones beneath the hull.

I came across our planting location and began to plant my bomb. I set it against the outside hull and pressed a few buttons on it. A green light flashed and it was good to go.

We ascended back through the ship once more. We got to the command deck and here there was room for larger mechs and for fighting.

I slashed my way through a robot and felt my semblance activate. I pulled my shield from my back. The titanic broad mobile cover allowed me to protect myself from a firing squad of robots and make my way up on them.

I cut through wave after wave of the Atlesian droids. A massive spider bot dropped from the ceiling. I flew at it and Cross-Slashed it before it could do us any real harm. It fell into smouldering pieces with the wires exposed and flickering.

An explosion rocked the ship and I stopped moving. Something was wrong. The ship began to tilt. Something was beyond wrong.

We fought for a moment longer and Bisque came up on us. He was carrying Neo who was singed and soaked both.

"Your bomb went off on her," he said. "I don't think she's going to be able to teleport us out."

I rushed over and put a hand on her face. "Neo…" I murmured.

She opened one eye and looked up at me. She rubbed her face into my hand and sighed a little. She'd be okay. She'd have to be.

A thousand apologies were on the tip of my tongue. I fucked up. I thought my bomb was set up fine but instead it just went off. There was some irony in this. In her getting hurt instead of me when I was the one who deserved it by screwing up.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her.

She smiled and nodded.

I deserved to be the one hurt. I'd been so flippant with those bombs. Instead it was Neo who took the explosion. It should have been me.

She leaned into my palm firmly. I drew back. I felt shaky.

"Keep carrying her. We'll make for the docks. Past the fires-"

"You turned on us, I knew you couldn't be trusted," Taurus prowled up on me nice and slow. More like a cougar than a bull. He had his hand on the hilt of his weapon but it still wasn't drawn.

"Me?" I asked. "How would I benefit from our plan getting fucked. The part where I almost lost Neo? Damn it!"

The ship tilted a little more. Taurus's footing remained sure.

He growled and paced into my range. I stepped back and fronted on him. I drew my broadsword against him.

He slashed at me, drawing his weapon from the scabbard lightning fast. I blocked and activated my semblance. I swept upon him with a glowing blue light.

"Wait, you two! We're still on the freighter. The whole thing is sinking, can you really afford to be fighting?!" Jasper called out.

"Let's find out," I whispered.

"I've had enough out of you, human," he said.

Our blades met between us in rapid horizontal strikes. He quickly sheathed his sword and drew it out again in a dancing fast motion which swept all across my body as he side-flipped in place.

I blocked it all. Then I hit him with my baseball style swing, shoulder to waist with my hips turned into the motion and a shout on my lips.

The blow sent him flying back when he blocked it. And he'd been upside down in mid flip as I swung it at him.

He landed neatly despite the brutality of my attack. He pulled his sheath from his side and fired at me. Shotgun pellets buzzed past my head and I floated into a roll. My hand outstretched to get a grip on his collar.

He backed up and swatted at my hand with his blade and twisted. He fired off two more shots from his shotgun. One hit me in the shoulder and made me falter and the next hit me in the stomach and made me gasp.

He sheathed his weapon and blurred at me in a wide strike in the tight confines of the ship we hardly had room to fight like I wanted and our blades scored trenches in the metal around us.

I front-flipped in a tight fashion and brought my blade down on him in a wave of blue. He stepped to the side but I side kicked him, then I roundhouse kicked him, then I brought my blade around at his head in a tight arc which clipped his stomach and made him grunt.

He slid back and I approached him with a back flip. It was an empty hop, all aggression with zero commitment. He held out his blade partially sheathed to block but I just landed in front of him and waited for his block to drop.

Then I Cross Slashed him. He wasn’t ready for it. They never were ready for it the first time. He blocked the first two lightning fast slashes. But the next three lit him up. It flung him down the corridor of the ship and deeper inside.

He approached me again, faster this time because I didn't have Limit Breaker. He unsheathed his blade as quick as a bullet and slashed at me. Then he slapped me in the face with his hard sheath.

I growled and pressed on.

"Go. Take Neo and get yourselves out of here," I ordered. She was at the forefront of my mind. My slip up could have killed her. Even as I fought my mind raced to find the point where I might have fucked that bomb's construction up.

It must have been somewhere and it must have been costly.

It was distracting me in this life or death battle.

"But-" Bisque started. He and Jasper hovered to the side of Adam's and my battle.

"Don't worry about me, just go! Get Neo somewhere safe. Tell her I'm sorry."

I held my ground and Taurus's and my swords met a half dozen times in a matter of a second. Then we seemed to pause with his blade sheathed once more, me with my weapon back over behind my head, ready for a massive overhead.

Then we flickered out again and that impossible moment broke. He came at me from the side. I blocked and sent my blade in a wide sweeping diagonal cut.

He deflected it and came back at me in an overhead slash that tore into the ship above his head. I countered and riposted but I was finding the amount of room I had to move within the bulkheads lacking. I slashed at him diagonally and he twisted to the side and put a firm boot against my chest. He pushed against me.

I stumbled back a step. The ship tilted more to one side as we fought. I came at him again with my enormous weapon making his look like a toothpick. I cut at him twice horizontally, once from each direction. He blocked both by holding his weapon vertically and shielding himself behind it.

He sheathed his weapon and drew it once more in a flash and came at me with a narrow front-flip. He cut me shoulder to hip and I was forced back a little more.

I gave a narrow rolling side-flip. I slashed at him again and cut his chest once more. I tore at his red aura. Ripping away at it, I landed neatly on my feet inside of his range.

He cut me a half dozen times. I had over extended and his cuts came like flashes. They swept over me from seemingly every direction.

I got out of it by kicking him hard in the side of the knee. He came twisting down and I kneed him in the face hard. Unable to bring my weapon to bear against him I grabbed him by the collar and threw him up into the bulkhead and slammed him down into my knee.

I charged in place for a moment. Storing a little bit of time away where I saw the opportunity, I hesitated mid-fight.

I dragged my weapon around and he slashed forward knocking it aside and cutting me across the chest again.

In that moment I became Limit Broken. We'd traded enough hits that I crossed the damage threshold alarmingly quickly. I came at him in my Limitless state. He swept under a bulkhead, around and stabbed at me. I easily blocked to one side. He furiously cut at me and I blocked each and every single one of his strikes in turn.

He did a tight back-flip and slashed at me. He caught me across the chest and ripped a chunk of my aura out. He shuffled back a step.

Then I Limit Break blade beamed him. He quickly sheathed his weapon and left it partially uncovered. He absorbed it into his weapon. The energy went from deep blue to crimson. It crackled for a moment.

There was a moment where he grinned at me beneath his mask. In that second I knew I'd fucked up again. Maybe just as bad as when I got Neo hurt.

He lit my world up.

Taurus slashed at me and released a beam of red energy that washed through the bulkheads and my aura. The world was painted red and black for a terrifying moment as he slashed forward.

It opened my chest and pierced right through my aura. It left my golden aura bubbling off to the side of the cut. The attack flung me back and my head slammed hard into a wall.

The ship was sinking quickly now and I was bleeding all over the floor. I drew my scroll and with a press I set off the second charge as Taurus paced towards me like a tiger.

The explosion shook the ship once more. Taurus stumbled. It was enough.

And like that I ran. I flew away and up stairs. I made it to the top deck with Taurus hot on my heels. I hovered to the slipping bow and I jumped. I floated away, my half cape fluttering behind me.

I flew all the way to one of the buildings near the docks and collapsed on a roof.

I watched Avalanche's truck make it's get-away. They left my bike behind. That was fair enough, I suppose. I felt a touch delirious. Blood loss can do that to you. I examined my chest wound. I'd probably need stitches. It would have been worse if not for my armor.

I was slipping into unconsciousness. I tried to hold on desperately but I was hurt pretty badly. I leaned against a wall and I collapsed.

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-WG

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chasseurdeloup-retired · 4 years

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A Moment of Rest || Morgan and Kaden

TIMING: Before the cabin in the woods LOCTAION: Woods PARTIES: @mor-beck-more-problems and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: A very normal picnic in the woods with a surprise guest.

“You could look happier to be out in the sunshine, you know. There’s not even any mushrooms in sight.” Morgan said. She spread out the picnic blanket in the shade, and settled down, a little smug today at being beyond heat exhaustion and squirming when she started to sweat through her cami. Corpse chill was so severe, she wasn’t even sure if she would sweat anymore. Morgan squished down the thought, determined to maintain it as a positive. She could look cute in any kind of weather. She didn’t even need ice baths like Deirdre did. Shaking back her hair, she gestured for Kaden to come sit. “In honor of us needing a serious break, and your favorite band of all time, I’ve got a mamma mia mimosa for you, a super trooper brain smoothie for me, and gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, gimmie waffles. Obviously, I can’t tell how much better they are from my last ones, but I’m feeling really confident about how I tweaked the batter. If nothing else, these are at least twice as fluffy. Come on, you know you want some, right?”

“I don’t even want to think about the mushrooms, thanks,” Kaden said as he found a spot on the picnic blanket across from Morgan. “I don’t even know how to begin explaining that one to Regan. She’s finally not five fucking inches so it’d be nice if we could get a two second reprieve from the fae bullshit.” Not to mention, he still wasn’t completely sure about the details on these mushrooms, he just knew he wasn’t ready to face whatever they were going to do to Regan. Part of him considered asking Morgan for advice but no, this was supposed to be a break. Maybe later. He sighed and was about to reach for the mimosa when he heard her little intro. Kaden sat there, blinking at her, fully ready to get up and walk the fuck away. “Erin fucking told you, didn’t she?” Putain. That was his guilty pleasure, not something he wanted out in public. It was embarrassing enough admitting it, he didn’t need ABBA rubbed in his face like that. Still, clear enough she meant well. Teasing. That’s all it was. Like they were friends or something. Fine. “Only if you quit making fun of me, dead girl.” He grumbled a little as he took the waffles from her. “And don’t tell Deirdre.”

“Don’t you know, Kaden? Up in White Crest you don’t think about fairy mushrooms; fairy mushrooms think about you.” Morgan didn’t know how to tell him her flippancy was the only thing keeping her from giving into the dread of being surrounded by those fucking fungi for months. But if he didn’t want an early ticket to the horror show, she didn’t blame him. She laid out all the tupperware and popped off the lids one by one. There was nothing in the make or decoration that signified anything ABBA related. She’d considered arranging berries on whipped cream to spell out the band’s name, but couldn't find any containers that would fit it just right, Lucky for Kaden.

“Of course Erin told me. We’re friends. But I think you still come out ahead of Ms. EDM Queen. I am ribbing you, but I also think there’s nothing wrong with liking ABBA...until you start making faces like that.” She wagged her finger at him, grinning. “And that’s a terrible request to make because she already knows. Sorry, but we tell each other...pretty much everything.” Morgan shrugged and took a deep, satisfying slurp of her shake. “It’s not that deep of a secret, is it? Will you feel better if I say I sing to Rogers and Hammerstein in my car? Or if I had my own brief ABBA phase when the stage Mamma Mia first came out?”

“You joke but if any town had sentient mushrooms, this is the one,” Kaden said. It was fine, Regan was sensible, unlike Deirdre. They didn’t have to worry about fairy mushroom crap. A pit dropped in his stomach out of nowhere, like some part of him knew he was lying to himself. Guess that was a problem for the future.

Kaden sighed. He hated that Deirdre had one up to embarrass him with. She would, too. At least with Erin they were fair and square. “There’s nothing wrong with ABBA, I just don’t want people laughing at me, alright,” he mumbled. It was stupid to admit, considering for the most part how little he cared about what other people thought of him, or at least that was what he told himself. The more he stayed in White Crest, the more he wondered if that was true. Reputations hardly matter if you don’t stay put in one spot for too long. But here he was all settled and cared and shit like that. There were so many days he wondered if that had been a mistake. And here he was, having waffles with a zombie. Probably a fucking mistake. He sighed and bit into the waffles. For a mistake, it was damn tasty. “Of course you sing musical ballads and shit, that’s completely expected from let’s talk about our feelings girl. Hell I bet you’d live in a musical if you could. Everyone belting out their private fucking emotions. I’d put money down that’s your idea of a good time.” He shook his head before taking another sip of Homs mimosa. Sounded like hell to him. Talking about feelings was bad enough. Kaden’s brow furrowed as he heard a soft small rumbling sound. Almost like a… bleating? Odd. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

“Oh, you’re damn right I would,” Morgan said. “You may not know this, but Deirdre and I kill at karaoke. Give me a moving, hummable love ballad, a solo in the rousing group number, maybe a breakaway hit ‘I want’ song. Maybe if I had one I could actually get more direction in my life going.” She took a deep slurp of her smoothie. “Are you saying that’s not your idea of a good time?” She pouted. She was going to relent a little, ask him about the waffles or, heck, whatever else he was interested in outside of work, when her senses perked at a strange sound from the bushes. “Yeah,” she murmured. Setting her smoothie down, Morgan got to her feet and started creeping towards the sound. The leaves rustled. Something was there alright. She positioned herself in front of Kaden, gesturing, sshhh. “We should probably stay quiet,” she whispered.

“Fuck no,” Kaden said with no hesitation. “I can’t imagine wanting to burst out into song or anyone appreciating that, either. All of that sounds tedious. I’ll stick to darts and trivia nights, thanks. Hard pass on the karaoke.” Plus, Regan couldn't sing (by her own admission) and he was fairly fucking ceratin a tone deaf banshee would make everyone else wish they were deaf. He watched, though, as she crept towards the sound. Guess they were going to investigate, huh. He stood and followed behind, nodding and remaining silent at her request. There it was again, the sound. There was no doubt what it was this time. The gentle bleating of a lamb. Which was impossible, there weren’t any farms out here. No livestock was going to survive on its own in White Crest, not out in the woods. He edged up next to her and peeled open the branches to reveal what was beyond them. Sitting there was a small, white lamb. Shit, they had to bring it in, probably take it to the shelter. He didn’t have any of his equipment with him. “Do you have a rope or something? A long string? Anything? We could try to get a loop lead around it,” he whispered.

Morgan gestured for Kaden to keep back as she came up to the bushes. “What are you doing? My limbs grow back, yours don’t!” She hissed. But Kaden peeled back the branches and-- “Aaaw!” Morgan squeezed his shoulder in excitement. “It’s so cute! What do you mean get a rope? Look how small and cute it is!” Morgan reached out a hand to let the fluffy little critter sniff her. It let out a soft bleat and licked her fingertip, testing to see if she was food. Morgan scooped the sweet creature up while it was occupied like this and inspected the little guy on their hands. “Oh, Kaden,” she cooed. “This cutie pie isn’t running off anywhere, are you honey?” The lamb bleated and wriggled in her grasp, ready to be put down. Morgan settled its forelegs on her lap and gave the lamb chin scratches for its trouble. She gave Kaden a look, trying to see if he’d put it together yet. “...It’s a little attached right now?” She prodded. “Because it’s a plant?”

It was always strange to remember that Morgan was damn near indestructible. Sure, Kaden had seen her tossed by a mime moose like a rag doll but so much of him still remembered when a vampire pulled her into the trees and nearly tore her apart. Thankfully, no such danger was there today. It was just a lamb. Well, mostly. It was… tethered to the ground? “Putain. Animal control is ruining me,” he said with a grumble. A year ago, the first thing he would have noticed was the supernatural element of it all. He also probably would have killed the lamb. With how cozy she seemed to be with it, he thought it best not to announce that. Kaden exhaled and plopped back down on the picnic blanket. “I thought it was a lost lamb. Like a real one. I was going to make sure it didn’t get away and bring it into the shelter because I thought it was normal.” That was certainly not the case. “I know what a vegetable lamb is, alright. I grew up knowing this shit, come on,” he grumbled before taking another bite of his waffles. The small supernatural animal across the way bleated and started sniffing the blanket and all the contents there. “Hey. Don’t eat my food; not for you!” he said as he tried to direct the lamb away from the berries on his plate.

Morgan couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, at least we don’t have to spoil brunch by fighting giant spiders or running from creepy tics. It’s just one sweet little veggie lamb! And still has about another year left in its cute little life, judging from the size.” Morgan booped the lamb’s nose and pet its fur. “Oh, yeah, you’re a real big bad expert. What’s the protocol for this one anyway? It’s just so fearsome and terrible.” This, just as the lamb tried to take some of Kaden’s blackberries, made her laugh even more. Morgan lifted the critter out of the way and wiggled its forelegs in Kaden’s direction, ventriloquising sweetly, “Put ‘em up, Kaden! That’s my berries! I’ll fight you for them!”

She made a show of gasping with horror. “What a very rude vegetable! Should we pacify your gloriousness?” She picked up one of the berries from the tupperware and hovered it over the critter’s mouth. It bleated, thrashing and pleading until Morgan relented and brought it close enough to be eaten. “My mom had one once, apparently. They’re hard to grow in the first place. A lot can go wrong and it’s sort of gross when it doesn’t work out. But I’m not sure what this little guy is doing out here…” Bringing the lamb back to her lap, she pushed herself out of her thoughts and smiled over at Kaden. “How’s the food? And the whipped cream? I’ve never made it before and I can’t taste, but I measured everything really carefully.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve got a point there,” Kaden replied. He was sick of being told that normal was a relative word, but at this point, he’d take normal adjacent. And avoiding monsters that ate people, or well, at least actively planned to eat them, was an improvement to most days in White Crest. “Uh, you really want to know?” he asked, mouth pulled into a thin line, looking down at the lamb and then back to her. “Langley code is everything supernatural should go.” He knew those words would fall like a lead weight between them, but it’s not like he could change his past or his family or what he was raised with anymore than she could change what she was. And he was admittedly still a little uncomfortable how much he’d changed himself. He much preferred it when he didn't have to face that reality, it was much easier when he could ignore it, not have to examine what all his contradicting bullshit meant. Good thing he didn't have to think about it long. He couldn’t help but crack a smile at the lamb as she held it up and made it act out a scene. It was so easy to forget that she wasn’t human and that it wasn’t an animal.

Okay, alright, stupid thing was cute. Putain. “Yeah so I’ve heard.” He couldn’t imagine going through all that work for a vegetable version of a sheep when there were standard sheep. Not that he needed one of those either. He rolled his eyes before he held out some of the berries in his hand for the stupid vegetable. It bleated before timedly wobbling towards him, nose sniffing and snuffling to find the fruit in his hands. Funny how similar it was to a normal animal; the corner of his mouth pulled up into a smile all over again as he watched. “Hmm? Oh. Yeah, it’s great. Almost too sweet but that could just be me, I don’t have a huge sweet tooth surprisingly.”

Morgan went stiff as Kaden explained the Langley code. Her eyes did nothing to hide the gravity of what he’d said, the danger she and the vegetable lamb were ostensibly in. She couldn’t help but hold the lamb a little tighter, any number of arguments rising in her throat. We have as much right to be here as anyone else. We didn’t choose how we were made any more than you did. What even gives Langleys the right to determine what counts as ‘natural.’ Cholera is natural too. So was Ted Bundy. ‘Natural’ isn’t a basis for… Morgan stopped herself. It was almost disturbing how easily she forgot what he was. But he was her exception just as she was his. The space they shared as friends wasn’t any more “natural” than the magic keeping the vegetable lamb alive. It had to be crafted with intention and suspended with care. And then, when the moment passed, it would weaken. One day, Morgan feared, it might even break.

Morgan watched in silence as Kaden fed his berries to the small creature, beaming thoughtfully as it nuzzled his hand. Animals were innocent and trusting even when they shouldn’t be; Deirdre had explained that to her enough times when talking about her childhood farm. But the way Kaden handled the lamb, even nervous as he was, was so gentle. She struggled to imagine him stabbing the life out of a creature just because with those hands. “I guess it’s a good thing for both of us you’re only kind of a Langley,” she said quietly. Clearing her throat she pressed on, “I’m glad, though. About the whipped cream. A little surprised since French cuisine is so rich, but, hey, so is Southern food, I guess, and half of my family didn’t have much of a sweet tooth either.” She shrugged, reaching for some thread that would steer the mood back towards levity. Wherever it was, she couldn’t find it yet.

Kaden couldn’t help but bristle hearing her call him “kind of a Langley.” He didn’t know if he wished she was more wrong or more right. Either way he hated feeling like he was either failing or had wasted a good portion of his life. He wasn’t sure which it was yet. Every inch of him screamed at him to fight, snap back at her comment the way he had for so many years at anyone and everyone, especially those who disparaged him. Spit back something about still being a hunter, legacy, any of that. But something stopped him. Maybe it was the waffles, maybe it was lamb, maybe it was the expression on Morgan’s face mere moments ago. Maybe it was because he remembered everything that had happened with his mother’s ghost.

The lamb started to bristle its little lips around Kaden’s fingers to see if there was anything worth nibbling there and he let the thoughts fade away. “Rich and savory is one thing. And I don’t hate sweet things, they just need a balance,” he said as he plucked a berry of his plate and held it out in his hand for the lamb to eat. “Like a good piece of fruit, just ripe. That’s perfect. If it’s too saccharine, it hurts my teeth, all that.” As much as he wished that had pulled his mind from the previous topic of conversation, it didn’t. “Most of my family didn’t have much of a sweet tooth. Not that I remember too much by now.” He hadn’t meant to make it heavy again with talk of loss and death, as inevitable as it was around them. Still, he could try to shift. “I told you my uncle was in town, right? He’s German. Lived with him after--” After he lost his parents. Putain. “Anyway, picked up a decent fondness for good German cuisine, too. Feel like I almost always forget until I see him again, you know? Brings things back.”

“Balance, huh?” Morgan said with a fond smile. “I can get behind that.” But this strange tangent didn’t last long. Kaden hadn’t just lost his family, he’d lost them so young even his memories were faded. For all she knew, his awful ghost problem was the strongest memory of his mother was of her attacking him as that awful creature. She couldn’t help but think about her own mother yelling at her on the beach more than the painfully strained visits in her care facility and later, the home of one of Ruth’s old friends. Neither end was especially wonderful, but the burn was newer in one place than the other.

“I am sorry about your family, Kaden,” she said soberly. “I know how hard it is not to have anyone, to miss people like that, even when your relationship was complicated.” She leveled her eyes at him so he would know she meant it. She wasn’t sure if he realized she’d lost all her family either, that this wasn’t pity, but something about him she might actually understand. “I’m glad Oscar was there for you, at least. It sounds like you two are really close. That has to feel...I don’t even know. How does it feel…? Having him back in your life and accessible in a way he hasn’t been in awhile? Um, cooking and all?”

“Yeah. It’s-- It is what it is,” Kaden said as he tried to keep his eyes on the lamb’s little mouth greedily looking for more berries. It was his constant defense when someone talked about his parents like this. Still, something about the way she said that she was sorry rang true. Kaden could never say where the line was that made it clear to him when people understood loss or not, but it was there, invisible but stark. He didn’t know if it was anything more than just the loss of her own life, though he did recall she also was visited by the ghost of her mother during the whole coin debacle. He wasn’t sure it mattered what or when, if you knew the pain of it, you knew all the same.

“Yeah he was around a lot of my life. Always sort of looked up to him. But ever since I was, I don’t know, twenty or so, we’d split up, reconvene, catch up, repeat.” Kaden shrugged. “It’s always nice to see him. He’s really all I have left of--” Kaden swallowed back his words. Oscar was what he had left of family. His life before anything changed. “But this is, I mean, this is way more complicated than it used to be.” Nothing illustrated it more than this moment right now. He was chatting with a zombie over waffles while petting a goddamn vegetable lamb. There used to be a safety he felt when Oscar was around. Now he felt like the most dangerous person in town. And he hated feeling that way about Oscar of all people, the only person he could always count on to look after him. “Every time I’ve gotten myself into deep shit, I always knew I had someone to turn to. It’s weird not going to him now that I feel like I’m in trouble.” Because the trouble was him.

Morgan didn’t examine the impulse to reach out to Kaden. It came so quickly, and there was something so painful about the way he brushed aside his own loss with such ease, she wondered if he ever let himself feel it now that the wound was starting to numb, or let other people understand what he was feeling. Her hand settled on his shoulder and she squeezed carefully so as not to hurt him. “Yeah, it is what it is, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the worst, or that it doesn’t trip you up almost out of nowhere sometimes.” Life with Oscar wasn’t like anything Morgan could imagine. She craved to have her hands around anything precious she managed to have. But to have a touchstone you could pass by at all must have been special. Morgan was endeared, even relieved by the way Kaden talked about him, even as his mention of ‘complicated’ put a stone in her stomach. Right. Oscar and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, good for nothing supernaturals that couldn’t possibly be people. Of course.

“I’m sorry that things are different between you now,” she said solemnly. At least for now, she thought, though she couldn’t bear to entertain the idea for long. “Do you have a plan, for how you’re going to deal with his visit here? I mean, is it going to be dangerous for you if he finds things out, or just...well, just more normative levels of terrifying encounters and really hard conversations?”

Kaden never knew what to make of physical contact. Well, when it was from people he wasn’t dating or trying to date. Even between family it had been strained. Or, well, perhaps not strained but it certainly wasn’t frequent. It was unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. Funny, her skin was cold, sure, but cold hands barely registered any more. “You don’t have to be, though. Sorry. I mean-- I don’t know.” Talking about what happened was something he was about as good at dealing with as physical affection. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience, though. You don’t have to explain, just-- You can always tell.” He gave the lamb another berry and gave it a small scratch behind its ear. It was easier to just think of it as a real lamb, not supernatural. Focus on the parts that were normal.

“Dangerous? For me, no. But that’s not what I’m worried about.” Kaden tried to swallow back the lump forming in his throat. It felt impossible for him to imagine what Oscar would do if he found out what Regan was, who he was friends with, the fact that he was keeping a pixie as a roommate, any of it. None of it was behavior that he’d ever imagined for himself, so how could he anticipate any reactions? He suspected, at the very least, that Oscar would try to kill them, encourage Kaden to. But maybe he could make exceptions. Or better yet, maybe he’d just leave town before finding out about any of it. He never had to know Kaden had changed any of his views. He could keep thinking his nephew was still a worthwhile hunter, holding up the legacy.

Right. Doubtful. Kaden let out a sigh. “But yeah, no plans. No clue what to do.”

Morgan gave Kaden another squeeze for good measure. “I do, yeah. Family curses of true suffering don’t exactly fuck around,” she gave a small laugh, breathless and humorless to mark all the anguish that had gone numb from her picking at them over the years. Kaden had probably coped by keeping silent, or leaning in extra hard into the ‘it’s fine school of thought.

“Well, lucky for you, I guess.” Morgan said the word gently, meaning it in earnest. “I just mean, you can use that. You can focus on protecting people you care about, and when the time comes, you don’t have to worry about having to save yourself. That can be really important. And, you know, taking care of people can look like a lot of different things. I think you should consider doing a little more than waiting for the sky to fall down, but I’m just paranoid that way. But, you know, if you’re clear with yourself and your intentions, if you tell yourself enough that you’ll protect Regan no matter what, maybe the right plan will come to you later. But then that’s just one hippie zombie’s opinion. What do you think, veggie lamb?” She lifted the fuzzy critter and steered it up toward Kaden so its bright, guileless eyes were level with his.

Kaden looked up and finally met Morgan’s eyes and gave her a nod in return. It was what he could manage. Too much and it would send the grief and pain flooding back, he was sure of it. No need for that. It wasn’t produc-- He froze, the thought rattled in his mind. It was something straight from his mother’s mouth. He wasn’t sure what to do with that. Or what it meant. He tried to let it roll off him. “Yeah, good point. Guess you don’t get to be free of it even when… you know.”

The way she was approaching the situation wasn’t in a way that had occurred to him at all. The thought of having to save himself from Oscar just didn’t--- His brows knit together at the thought. It didn’t make sense in so many ways; it was a scenario he could never imagine himself in. Needing to protect himself from Oscar. Standing against him. Not being just like him. Not wanting to be just like him. And what did it even mean to go against the small scrap of family he had left? What if he-- That possibility was too difficult for him to even begin to consider just yet. Seeing the veggie lamb sitting there brought him out of his thoughts and put a small smile on his face. “Hmm I think he doesn’t know how to plan for that sort of thing. But he’s also a lamb. Well, technically a plant.”

“You mean even when I’m technically un-cursed but still dead and a zombie?” Morgan said, her smile sad for all its warmth. “Yeah. That stuff sticks forever. Get it?”

Kaden seemed confused by something she said, and it took Morgan awhile to figure that he’d never been given a reason to fear the people who were supposed to take care of him. Or at least not enough that he was willing to admit to himself. She wasn’t sure if he was really lucky for that or not. She quirked her brow up at Kaden as he dodged the question. I see you doing that. She held his gaze a moment, debating whether she should give him this out or not. “Lamby over here is both, thank you very much. Lamby is one of two worlds and lives that way in peace. But, as much wisdom as Lamby almost certainly possesses, I think you’re right. He just wants more of your berries.”

#wickedswriting #chatzy #morbeckmoreproblems #morgan #a moment's rest #writing

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thwip--thwip · 4 years

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Hey, I was looking for some new reading material and wondered if you could give me some recs? Please and thank you sm!

ho BOY anon, COULD I! I’ve got over 2,000 bookmarks on AO3 - what are we looking for? I’m going to assume IronDad, or at the very least Peter Parker-centric; short or long? MJ or Gwen Stacy? Angst, fluff, whump? Sorry this took a minute; I went into the vault for you and pulled out some rare gems:

LONG FICS

In the Home by @captainkirkk | 68k

The Avengers have been infected, turned violent and aggressive against their will. And Peter, the only one unaffected, is trapped inside the Tower with six feral teammates.

“Natasha,” Peter says cautiously, “what happened here? Steve attacked me, and if there was ever a sign that something was wrong, it’s having the embodiment of Truth, Justice, and the American Way throw you across the room—”

Natasha comes closer, her stride controlled. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary, but there’s something in her face, in her eyes—

Natasha lunges across the space, and slams into Peter, hard.

This just…hoo. A classic if I’ve ever seen one. There’s going to be plenty of aloneintherain on this list because she’s the bomb dot com and its no secret I’m in love. we Stan in this house; this might be my favorite Spidey fic ever written.

POW Avengers by Punny_Puck |122k

Tony Stark is thrown into a new Nazi POW camp. It’s his fifth–or sixth–and he’d really like to make it to his fiftieth escape attempt this time. But Stalag III isn’t like any of the other POW camps he’s been in. He suddenly finds himself facing an impossible task: Getting two-hundred and fifty men out of the camp in one massive escape attempt. And dammit if he’s not going to make it work.

Very impressive, very lengthy and detailed historical AU set in WWII. This one is more Tony than Peter, and quite a fair bit of Loki (this author does a great job with all the different POV’s, that’s why it’s so long!). Nice and juicy!

5 Times Peter Fell & Tony Caught Him, and The 1 Time He Didn’t by eva7673 | 35k

Peter has a nasty habit of falling. And Tony, bless him, will catch him every. single. time. Until the day he can’t.

I love this series with all of my heart, but especially this first fic! It’s the perfect amount of whump and IronDad, and oh man, that last time? GETS me. Eva definitely put in so much work on this series, and it SHOWS!

Twelve Days of Peter Parker by @upcamethesun | 27k

In each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas, Tony runs into one Peter Parker — for better or for worse.

In other words, an excuse for this author to write gratuitous Peter fluff/angst/nonsense with a Christmas theme, because ‘tis the season.

This fic is so cute I Die. Perfect bit of holiday nonsense! I read it every year lol. It’s got everything you’re looking for and more, to scratch the itch you didn’t know you had.

ever in your favor by @iron–spider | 153k

Peter startles awake when someone shakes him.

“Sorry, honey,” May says. Peter blinks a couple times and she comes into focus, her hair pulled back from her face. She’s trying not to look a certain way, but he can see it in her eyes anyway. She clears her throat, keeps talking. “But it’s…” She glances away, wets her lips. “You gotta get ready.”

He remembers what day it is, and his heart beats like a drum at someone’s execution. But he tries to put on a mask, make it all seem normal. It’s everything but, despite the fact that he’s been dealing with reaping day since he was born, between himself, Ben and May. That fear that one of them could be taken away. Sent to surefire slaughter. But now Ben is gone, taken despite never having his name drawn from a bowl, and May’s finally safe. Now Peter’s name is in there alone. The last Parker sitting on the chopping block. He doesn’t know how to be. He doesn’t know what normal is, when the Hunger Games are looming on the horizon.

I mean…how could I possibly do a fic rec list without this on it? Iron–spider’s latest masterwork, and it truly is a masterwork. The Hunger Games AU your soul has been crying out for, and quite possibly the greatest AU to ever live. Do yourself a favor and get settled in - you’re in for a ride.

Magazineverse by @copperbadge | 56k

Heroes In Manhattan: From Captain America’s Hidden Talents To The Truth About The Hulk, We Debunk The Myths And Expose The Daily Lives Of The Avengers.

Avengers-centric, takes place post-2012. The Avengers team we deserve! The whole series is amazing, and I definitely didn’t see the twist coming (SO original, and you totally got me. Well played.)

MEDIUM FICS

devil in a sunday hat by @captainkirkk | 14k

Peter wishes he hadn’t gotten out of bed that morning. Then, maybe, he wouldn’t be reduced to this—limp-crawling through the rabbit burrows that is Oscorp Tower, a monster of a man on his heels, bloody and bruised and choking on a panic attack.

This series really speaks to Peter, and his experience as a street-level hero. I don’t think I’ve ever not cried reading this series - it’s really beautiful. Aloneintherain always manages to capture how much weight and anxiety sits on Peter’s shoulders - and how dire his consequences can really be.

5 things that change for Peter after the end of the world by @iron–spider | 14k

…and one thing that always remains the same.

(SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR)

Peter knows he’s different now.

The first three months were like a bubble. He didn’t think about the newness of his old life, he didn’t think about the state of the world now that it had been saved—he just worried. Worried about Tony and Steve recovering. Worried about May worrying about him. Worried about everything in general—he didn’t allow himself specifics because specifics didn’t make sense, not yet. He just focused on his routine, kept it normal, the same schedule every day so he didn’t throw himself off.

It felt like the bubble popped when the party ended, and everything became clearer. The differences in who he is now were highlighted, like there was a spotlight on his every move, like everybody could see the invisible scars the world-ending experience left on him.

The first thing he notices is the sleeping. Or lack thereof.

(a follow up to my story “the rattle of their hearts” from Peter’s POV. You can read this one without having read the original, but it would make more sense if you have read it!)

Everyone knows Rattle, and if you don’t, definitely read the first fic in this series! But this second one is really special to me (and MJ never fails to make me laugh out loud, every time). Peter’s PTSD is dealt with intimately in this fic, and I love it to bits.

the conspiracy kids by @tempestaurora | 13k

WHO IS SPIDER-MAN?

The screen showed Peter Parker, sixteen years old and determined to prove the identity of Spider-Man over the course of the three-part documentary he was making, unknowing that it would become viral within days of the first part being released. Behind the camera, way off screen, was Harley Keener, Tony Stark’s other prodigy child, grinning like crazy as Peter started the documentary. Only a few people knew what was to come, and those few people were about to have a great few weeks.

“My name is Peter Parker, and with the help of my friends, Ned Leeds, Harley Keener, and my Aunt, May Parker, who provided me with a lot of red yarn for this project, we’re going to uncover the identity of Spider-Man.”

“what if peter just decided to fuck with everyone who didn’t know he was spider man and make a documentary about him trying to uncover the Truth.”

Looking for a fun, Peter-and-Harley-being-ridiculous-teenagers fic? This is the One For You. I can see it all in my head, and it never fails to make me laugh. Delightful piece of fluff and probably the best social-media-esque fic I’ve read.

Primary Reason Tony Stark Would Throw Down With An Anti-Vaxxer In The Street by @caraminha | 12k

Prompt from my Tumblr: Have you heard of tetanus? I’m studying it for school and it’s got lots of angst potential - it causes severe, seizure like muscle spasms which can break the patient’s bones, but they’re conscious and fully aware of what’s happening. It also causes fever and lockjaw, and difficulty breathing. I’d love to see an angst fic where Peter has bad tetanus and Tony and co are looking after him whilst his symptoms get worse and worse.

Looking for some Peter!whump? This fic is so sweet. Tony is Dad. What more do you need?

SHORT FICS

Come Together by @captainkirkk | 1.8k

From the ground, Tony squints at Thanos and the young heroes the villain is chasing through the city. “Are they…” Tony begins.

Steve, being lifted onto a gurney by starstruck paramedics, laughs a little. “Leading the man who almost destroyed the Earth in a wild goose chase?” In the sky, Johnny Storm sticks his tongue out at Thanos, ducking and weaving out of the villain’s grasp. “Yeah. I think they are.”

Didn’t I promise she’d be on here a billion and one times? All of her stuff is so good, for every fandom. Go READ this queen who’s been killing the game for years. This fic is such a sweet one, an Endgame fic before Peter was even in the MCU. It’s perfect.

Only Road by @garamonder | 2.8k

A rare breather between fighting should have been a relief for the Avengers. Instead, one small comment triggers a confrontation Peter had been avoiding for months.

Oh wow this one…this dialogue between Peter and Tony is incredible. One of my favorite things in a fic is a good argument, especially one where Peter has a distinct and mature point.

Every Penny and More by Princessfbi | 1.2k

She forced herself to inhale air and hold it before releasing it from her lips. She grounded herself in the cheap vinyl in a crappy diner that she wasn’t sure she was ever going to be able to look at the same way again. She thought of the life Peter would have if she said yes because she knew that’s what all of this was about: Tony asking her permission to let him do this.

May and Tony co-parenting Peter is…oh, be still my heart. This is such a sweet little fic of something that definitely happened off-screen :’)

5 Times Spider-Man Saved An Avengers’ Ass (and the 1 Time They Saved Him) by TunaFishChris | 7.2k

What it says on the tin.

Going through an angsty Spider-Man phase. I regret nothing.

YES give me Peter x Avengers team! Peter gets a great moment with each of the Avengers, proving himself a capable hero (and getting assistance when he needs it the most :’) baby makes some friends!). Really cute, a fun little romp.

unbearable loss by @iron–spider | 1.6k

“Peter…he was so afraid, Pep,” Tony says, his voice breaking. “He…he just lunged for me, he was so afraid, he wanted—he needed someone to be there for him. And I tried, I tried—I held him, I told him he was alright, which was a—goddamn lie, and the only fucking thing that came out of my mouth. The last thing I said to him.” He shakes his head, swallowing hard. “The last thing I said to him was a lie.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Pepper says, quietly.

“I do,” Tony says. “He trusted me. That kid trusted me, and I failed him every possible way I could have. I couldn’t save him, I couldn’t—he died in my arms and I couldn’t do one single solitary thing about it. And I couldn’t—me, the human fucking chatterbox—I just stared at him. He was dying, turning to fucking dust and apologizing to me and I just stared at him, like a moron.”

This fic Fucks. Me. Up. Iron–spider’s Tony angst is unparalleled. It hurts me every time, and the dialogue between him and Pepper is just…it’ll get you.

yesterday, I saw a change by @captainkirkk | 6.8k

Inspired by prompt: ‘Peter is unmasked on live television, and everyone goes berserk—you’ve already heard this one but here’s the twist—he’s wide-eyed, staring into the camera, frightened, but not because of his own safety. The first thing that comes out of his mouth is, “Someone please, please protect my Aunt May.” And the entirety of New York cries out simultaneously. Heroes and neighbours and fellow students rain down on the Parker house, ready to defend her.’

This is - surprise! - a May Parker fic. This fic will move you. You will probably cry. I love it with all my heart. If I ever need a refresher on who May is and how she feels - how New York feels, about Spiderman - this is my go-to.

Hope that gave you some new stuff to check out! I have more, do I ever have more. Enjoy & remember to leave comments for all of these wonderful writers!!!

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 4 years

Text

An idea I came up with this morning that I can’t believe has never been done before.

It’d be what I call a What If-lite story.*

That is to say a story where you are kind of writing people arbitrarily differently because it’s an AU, though I’d keep them leaning more towards their canon personalities within the context of the changes.

So the inciting change would be that MJ’s family rather than moving around would simply live with Aunt Anna.

But that’s just something to facilitate what the real ‘what if’ scenario would be, which is ‘What If Mary Jane was bitten by the spider?’

I envision this. Peter is a scientist, he’s good at observation but he’s not great with people. However part of the reason he’s so not good with people is that he’s so often distracted by saving the world or whatever. A younger Peter without those distractions, living next door to Mary Jane, probably seeing her regularly as a result (I’d imagine the Parkers and the Watsons would visit one another a fair amount) would be better at picking up the context clues about MJ.

You also have to figure that if MJ wasn’t moving around as much she’d have less cause to practice her party girl facade and so it’d be less convincing. She was always using it even as a little girl but she honed it in part because she needed to make friends quickly as she moved around and keep people at a distance because they’d inevitably break contact.

So with more time, less distractions and an MJ who’s less convincing it’s possible that Peter could either suss out MJ a bit more.

Additionally MJ always found Peter cute in a nerdy sort of way and given time to get to know him more from a younger age it’s possible that they’d at least develop a friendship of some kind. Not to mention the aunts would still be playing matchmaker.

You could also argue that MJ could sympathise with how Peter is bullied because her father bullied her, her sister and her mother. She gets the rage and resentment within Peter, the heartbreak. But it’s also possible that Peter is actually a more emotionally healthy person in this timeline because unlike in canon he does have a friend in MJ. Her bubbly personality could help him come out of his shell a little and be more confidant or their relationship could get to a point where MJ really does open up to him.

Regardless they are close enough that Mary Jane goes with Peter to the science exhibit and it is she who is bitten by the spider.

This would either

a) scare the Hell out of MJ and cause her party girl facade to go into overdrive, or

b) thrill her immensely, she considers using this power to help her ambitions as an actress but also just hops from rooftops to escape her problems rather than going out partying (who needs a party when you can jump over buildings)

Regardless Peter would notice the change and realize it’s not exactly healthy. Cue dramatic confrontation where their relationship is strained followed by Ben’s murder.

Peter is home this time and along with May stays at the Watson’s home. MJ is horrified by May and Peter’s loss but does nothing to go after the burglar, even though Peter comments about the burglar’s hideout affording him the chance to slip away. I figure that MJ wouldn’t exactly be on a full blown ego trip like Peter was because she didn’t have his exact experiences growing up. She never tried to use her power to wrestle people or cash in on a world that shunned her. And it isn’t her uncle, there wouldn’t be that desire for revenge. All of which would collate into her just staying at home that night and the burglar escaping.

The Parker family would be devastated and in real financial trouble. MJ would then seek to help them by trying to cash in on her own powers, designing a costume and seeking TV work, posting cash to them anonymously.

Peter however would soon figure out MJ is this spider woman person and confront her about it. When he learns she had her powers the night Ben died he’d blame her for letting him die and impart the great responsibility mantra to her. MJ would be devastated by this but realize Peter was right.

When Peter cools off he resolves to help her by inventing web shooters. MJ still wants to use her powers to make money though and so creates another identity with Peter’s help, Spinneret. She’d use the webs in the latter identity and be Spider-Woman on TV.

Jameson though would deduce what’s up and denounce her. Thankfully MJ had hidden her identity throughout all this as at the back of her mind she still wanted to see if she could make it as an actress off her talent alone.

Becoming Spinneret full time she’d work out a deal with Peter wherein he’d take action photos of her and sell them to the Bugle so they could split the fee. He’d also make equipment for her and with the aid of an ear piece feed her intel or science advise to help her (e.g. “Wear these rubber gloves to fight Electro”).

Peter would thus be her ‘man in the chair’ and also her photographer.**

There is loads of potential to explore in this scenario but I’d still have the pair hook up eventually and thus Peter would in a sense adopt some of MJ’s roles in their relationship. He’d patch her up, he’d be the main bread winner, he’d be scared for her health and safety, he’d allow her to unload, etc.

I think it could just be real interesting to explore an AU like this.

*A proper What If story changes one event and then looks at how things snowball from there, keeping everyone in character, altered merely by how the new events shape them.

E.g. If Spider-Man didn’t remove the symbiote, he’d die and so Black Cat would work fo Kingpin in order to kill the symbiote.

**Maybe you could do some flash forwards wherein they’ve turned this into an outright career for them both, where MJ is modelling and Peter is her personal photographer.

#Spider-Man #mjwatsonedit #Mary Jane Watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #Peter Parker #Uncle Ben #Ben Parker #Aunt Anna #Aunt May #May Parker #Anna Watson #J. Jonah Jameson #spinneret

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cutie1365 · 5 years

Text

A Kid from Queens Part 11

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Info: CA: Civil War Era. Tony Stark enlists his daughter to find the web slinging spider in Queens.

Word count: 2.8k

Warnings: language, lmk if I should add anything

A/N: I’ve removed a lot of people from my taglists for being inactive, to be on it and stay on it you must like my posts, and comment or reblog. There’s a google form in my bio to request to be added.

Masterlist linked in my bio. Taglist in the reblog.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

A bright stage light blinded you as you shifted back behind the curtain. A production assistant was clipping a microphone onto your dress that was so tight they’d actually made you wear spanx. Fucking spanx. You were a healthy 18 year old girl, wearing Spanx. You felt like you couldn’t breathe.

Your gaze shifted to the other side of the stage where you saw your publicist-turned-manager, Linda, give you a thumbs up and a cheery smile. You flashed her a toothy smile right back to reassure her. She had been preparing you for this all week, and you were ready. You were used to meetings with important people, investors, and shareholders; Pepper taught you well, you knew what you were doing.

“Ok people! Live in five... four...” A jaunty producer bellowed from behind the cameras.

You took a deep breath in, closing your eyes and reminding yourself why you were here. When you opened them, you put on your mask: a bright smile, wide eyes, and shoulders back. You were no longer the girl who just last week was crying in a conference room over a boy. No, for the next hour you were Y/N Stark: a girl who definitely had her shit together, sporting a nearly $5,000 Oscar de la Renta dress with some Jimmy Choos to match.

The audience roared as the large red “Applause” sign above the stage lit up.

“Thank you! Thank you for joining us and welcome to all of you at home tuning into our live broadcast of The Tonight Show!” The spirited host greeted the audience, he spoke again once their cheers died down.

“Tonight we have a very special guest. She’s a partner of Stark Industries. She’s the daughter of Iron Man! Give it up for Y/N Stark!” His voice grew more and more excited with each description.

Was that really all you boiled down to? ‘The daughter of Iron Man’? Would you ever be able to be your own person? All your accomplishments, and still, the most interesting thing about you was your paternity.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

Unbeknownst to you, thirty minutes away in Queens, May Parker was flipping channels as her nephew ate dinner. Landing on channel 6, she recognized a familiar face.

“Peter, isn’t that your little friend?” She asked excitedly, pointing to the TV. He lazily draws his attention to the screen before he did a double take. Oh God, she looked amazing. He thought.

“We’re not really friends May, she’s just my boss’ daughter.” Peter spoke, hoping she’d change the subject, or the channel.

“Wow, look at that dress! She looks like a million bucks!” May smiled, in awe.

“Try a billion.” Peter muttered, thankful that May didn’t have super-hearing like him. Normally at this time, he’d be getting ready to go out for patrols, but he was curious. Why were you on live TV? You didn’t do interviews. So tonight, he decided to take his place next to May and watch, because honestly - he missed you. If this was his chance so see your smile and hear your laugh, then patrols could wait an hour.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

“Thank you for having me.” You nodded politely as you adjusted in your chair.

“Well it’s not everyday I have superhero DNA seated across from me.” The host joked, and you laughed politely, mentally regretting this already.

“What can I say? It’s in my blood.” You shrugged, the audience roared as the neon sign flashed. Your interviewer joining in, though you could tell it was fake.

“Yikes that was bad wasn’t it, guess I’ll leave the jokes to you.” You declared with a smile.

“I guess out of all those PhDs you have, none of them translate to being able to come up with a decent punchline.” He retorted, playfully.

“Oh certainly not, probably the opposite considering they’re in Electrical Engineering and Ethical Philosophy.” You laughed.

“Which is incredible by the way! You’re 18 and you have two PhDs. How’d you do it?” What an original question. You thought and mentally rolled your eyes.

“A lot of hard work and dedication. And, sure, I’m not oblivious to the tremendous amount of privilege that I have. Sometimes it’s about the right opportunities, and those aren’t always fair. I’m hoping one day to change that.” You spoke honestly, gaining a round of applause from the audience.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” He asked, baiting you. He knew why you were here and what he was supposed to steer the conversation towards.

“Well, systematic change doesn’t happen overnight. But as a start, we want to be able to give young people interested in science, technology and engineering a foot in the door. We’re opening up a Stark Internship program, for kids across the country to come work with us and learn from us. Anyone is welcome to apply. There are more details on our website.” You looked directly into Camera One. You felt as if you were reading from a script, you’ve practiced this so much.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

“Peter, isn’t that what you do?” May asked, turning to her nephew.

“Kinda, Mr. Stark said they were expanding nationwide, wanna help out more people ya know.” He lied, in reality he had no clue what you were doing. A heads up would have been nice, but it was helpful that his alibi was now legitimized.

“I like her.” May said with a soft smile, focusing back on the screen.

“What?” Peter asked, taken aback.

“I like her,” May repeated, “She recognizes her privilege and she’s giving back. Plus her shoes are to die for.”

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

“That’s amazing. Does that include scholarship opportunities?” Your host inquired, just as planned.

“Of course! We already offer a few scholarships, there’s even one named after Dad and I at MIT, but we will be expanding greatly. One hundred of the applicants will receive a $50,000 scholarship, so there’s certainly no reason not to apply.” You laughed.

“You’re going to be a busy girl, doing all those interviews.” He remarked. You hated the way he called you girl. You faked a laugh before responding.

“Oh, I know, but I think it’s important for me to really have an intimate role in the selection, you want to build those personal connections. Ya know?” You nodded.

“Those are important, sure. Now, Y/N, it’s no secret that you’ve also been running Stark Industries’ Philanthropy, so what’s next on the agenda for you personally?” He asked, turning the conversation... this wasn’t planned.

“Um, sure we have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies here at Stark Industries, so we’re constantly making pretty large donations to a number of deserving causes. If you’re referring to large scale philanthropic galas then the NYC Hope Gala is coming up, which targets childhood cancer research and awareness. And of course, The Met Gala is coming up next month.” You nodded. What was he playing at here?

“And can we expect you to attend?” Something about his demeanor was changing, and you cursed yourself for agreeing to do this on live TV.

“Haven’t missed it in four years so there’s a good chance.” You assured him with a smile.

“Are you nervous to attend a public event considering what that took place at the last one?” You felt like you had just been punched in the gut, and you hoped that didn’t translate onto your face. He really was going there, and you had a feeling you knew where this was heading.

“I believe that when you live in fear, the people that orchestrated these terrible things win. So I’m not going to let that happen.” Your mind was reeling trying to figure out his next move, and what your response would be. Should you keep talking to fill the time until commercial break, in an attempt to limit whatever might be coming next? You looked at the monitor, 5 minutes until commercial, shit. A lot can happen in 5 minutes.

“When footage of the attack came out, I think it’s fair to say that the world was shocked.” There were random voices of agreement coming from the audience.

“About?” You asked, surely he wasn’t bringing this up. Your heart began to beat faster.

“I don’t think anyone expected you to stand up and fight the way you did, what prompted you to do that.” Ok this is your chance, stall. You thought.

“I- I suppose it was a spur of the moment, fight or flight sort of thing. In times of panic everyone reacts differently. I have basic self defense and martial arts training and some Stark tech, that’s about it. No crazy powers or anything. Someone once told me that if you have the ability to stop the bad things from happening, and you don’t, then they happen because of you. I knew that I could do something, so I did.” You spoke slowly, hoping to come off as sincere and thoughtful, though you were really just killing time.

“And paid the price.”

“I didn’t say it was easy. But some broken ribs are a small price to pay for saving some lives.” You tried to convince him.

“And how has it affected your relationship with the Mayor’s son, the reason you were at the gala that night?” Shit.

“I think it’s normal that trauma and stress can put a strain on a relationship, but if you’re both willing to communicate and work through it then there’s no reason it should have a negative affect.” You were immediately reminded of your interaction with Thomas last week.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

“Let's be honest, you were using me the entire time.” You said calmly, shouldn’t you be angry?

“Well not the entire time.” He answered with a smirk, dropping it when he noticed you were not amused.

“Thomas.” You spoke seriously, with a brow raised.

“Ok fine, like 95% of the time,” He admitted, dropping his playful tone once more, “Why are you here Y/N?”

“Because it's my turn to use you.” You stated simply, mimicking his smirk.

“What?” His eyes grew wide.

“The public needs to keep thinking were the perfect happy couple.” You explained.

“Why?” He asked, shaking his head.

“I have my reasons and you have yours.” You answered cryptically.

You weren’t surprised when he agreed, his father’s poll numbers had been dropping significantly. He wanted to get back in his father’s good graces. You were going to use this opportunity to look into the family, and the possible weapons dealings Danny Rand had warned you about. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, they say.

Plus, it gave you a good alibi to move the attention off of Peter, well, Spider-Man.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

“So you’re still together, despite the rumors that you’ve split?” Your interviewer pried.

“We are still together, and doing quite well, though I appreciate your concern.” Your reply was confident, and just cocky enough to get a laugh from the audience.

“How did he react to the rumors about a midnight tryst between you and Spider-Man?” He was enjoying this, and to top it all off, blasted that damn photograph on the screen, just in case the world had forgotten.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

Peter choked on his water, causing May to worryingly ask him if he’s alright. He attempts to reassure her, and silence her to hear your response.

You laughed before answering.

“Well I’d hardly consider it a midnight tryst, considering this picture was taken at 7:30. Plus Thomas was over at the time so it would be pretty hard for him to believe there was any ‘trysting’ going on.” You lied. Peter listened more intently as the interview was slowly devolving into an interrogation.

“So are you denying that you know Spider-Man?” The interviewer pressed, his tone near threatening.

“I’ve met the guy once,” Peter saw you shrug, “He saved my life, I thanked him. I’d hardly consider that knowing someone.”

It was in that moment Peter realized why you were doing all of this. You were trying to protect him, to shift the story. You wanted to get the attention off of him, and by doing that, shifted it all onto you. You were taking the fall, and once this blows over you can’t turn back. You were going to have to keep this up, this media persona. That meant more TV appearances, more interviews, more parties and galas. Becoming the exact person you didn’t want to be. Putting aside your work and research, for him.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

“When we come back Y/N Stark is going to answer your questions you sent in on Twitter!” He pointed his note cards to the camera with a smile.

The curtain closed as you cut to commercial break. Your smile dropped and your mask melted away.

Your publicist Linda ran on stage yelling at the host.

“What the hell was that? We told you the attack was off limits!” She scolded him, you almost thought she’d threaten to sue. You’d never seen her this worked up before.

“It’s what people care about, it’s what they want to know! No one cares about how much money you donate to some kids.” He argued, you shook your head at how heartless he was.

You stormed over to the side of the stage, you could hear Linda’s heels behind you.

“Y/N-“ She spoke once she caught up to you, you whipped around to face her.

“This is why I didn’t want to do this bullshit! I’m out here getting interrogated! What’s he gonna ask about next, huh? The incident? The fucking Accords? Jesus!” You ranted, flailing your arms about.

”Back in 10.” A stagehand informed the two of you.

“Listen, I didn’t know he was going to do that ok. But now, you’re going to get your butt back in the chair and answer their silly questions from Twitter and you’re done, ok?” She pushed you back onto the stage, you quickly took your seat as the curtain separating you and the audience was pulled open and you were back live.

- - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

After a painful 15 minutes of mind numbing questions like “Who’s your favorite Avenger?” and “F Marry Kill- Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man” (which you had declined to answer, that was your dad for Christ sake), you were finally making your way back to the car. Linda was giving you instructions in preparations for your day tomorrow.

“Ok, we’ve got the Vogue interview tomorrow morning, then Elle in the afternoon so I’ll send hair and makeup over around 5:45AM, you’ll have to be up and ready. Oh, but don’t eat anything you’ll want to look nice in your dress tomorrow.” You gave Linda a side eye and eye roll when her last words came out of her mouth. You were certainly not starving yourself. If you wanted to eat, you were going to eat, and God have mercy on anyone who got in your way.

Once you returned to the quiet emptiness of your apartment, you immediately slipped out of your dress and into yoga pants and a sports bra.

You began wrapping your knuckles, and attacking the punching bag - a little coping mechanism Cap had taught you. You were furious about how the interview went.

You had doubts that people would ever stop asking about Peter, and if any of this was worth it.

Little did you know, the friendly neighborhood Spiderling was sitting on your roof, after peering in through the window and seeing your assault on the bag.

He was curious about how you were doing. You had looked so happy and put together- but was that just a brave face and a dress? He realized now it was just a mask.

When he glanced once more, he found you in the kitchen, unwrapping your bleeding knuckles and downing a shot... and then another. You looked miserable, and exhausted.

He wanted to talk to you, but he didn’t want to make things worse. He was about to leave when he noticed you pulled out your phone and open the call app.

Your finger hovered over his name and he raised an eyebrow. You had an internal struggle over whether or not to call him, instead you set the phone down and groaned, sliding it across the counter.

“F.R.I. can you set an alarm for 5AM?” You asked, though you wished you didn’t have to.

“Sure can boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied.

You slipped a robe over your athletic wear and headed onto your balcony. You leaned on the edge, and looked out onto the moonlit park with a sigh. Dropping your head to your hands once more, and gently rubbing your temples.

Leaning back up onto your elbows, you took in a deep breath.

“I know you’re there Peter.” You spoke softly, turning your head slightly but keeping your body facing out over the ledge.

And your next action surprised both of you: you invited him in.

- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - --

Taglist in the reblog.

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in-tua-deep · 5 years

Note

Honestly God and five and siblings goals. Also do you have any more info on that au??

(about the late addition/universe child au here ;3c)

adsfSDFGH are you kidding they would be the most insufferable kind of siblings where God and Five are consistently bothering each other and getting on one another’s nerves because they both are strong personalities that clash but at the same time if you even THINK about being mean to the other they will kill you without mercy

of course there’s being protective AND being irritating to multitask which God considers her job as a big sister clearly??

at some point Five figures out how to shift the academy like two inches to the left dimensionally speaking so that it sort of becomes something almost like how the Commission HQ was out of time but not quite?? it’s the house that when you enter you kind of feel like you’re entering a liminal space because it’s not quite in the dimension but it’s also not not in the dimension?

which is a longwinded way of saying that Five figures out how to squirm right through a loophole so God can come to their family dinners sometimes, when she wants to come

absolutely no one is sure what to do with,, you know,, God as their,,,, what? step-sibling? Like,, yeah the universe didn’t marry Reginald or whatever but she’s five’s sister and five is their brother so??

klaus just rolls with it and teams up with god to irritate five while also taking her side on genuinely everything because she gave Dave and Ben back

(“That was actually me??” Five protests loudly, because he was the one who had to fucking jump into an active warzone after Klaus ditched and grab a big old adult corpse and lug it home like does no one have ANY respect for the effort he makes?)

Five only brings up being ‘older’ than God exactly one (1) time because she immediately turns him into a 3-year-old until he manages to contact their mother to set it right (and even then she made him stay that way for a couple of days for “teasing his sister” before returning him to age 13)

“Hey how come you can change Five’s age but he can’t?” Allison asks over breakfast. No one touches the coffee pot because God made it, and it’s like black sludge. Well, Five drinks it - but he hardly counts.

She takes a sip of her tar. “Eventually he’ll be able to do it, but he’s too young right now.”

“HEY you know the conversion rates, right?” Klaus interjects, “How old is Five in universe years?”

God just kind of shrugs. “I spent my first few hundred years cradled in our mother’s arms as she spoke galaxies into being. I was probably a few hundred thousand years old when I made my first planet, and then a few hundred thousand more than that when I figured out life.”

Five is also drinking sludge tar coffee and carefully not commenting.

“Is Five a baby?” Luther asks incredulously, and he absolutely deserves the mug that is thrown at his head. He’s only fortunate Allison yanked him out of the way so it shattered on the wall instead of his thick skull, and that Vanya immediately moved to restrain Five from lunging across the table.

God, for her part, simply shrugs. “It’s a bit difficult to say. We aren’t the same as other people. We aren’t even the same as each other. One day, when we’re old enough, we’re supposed to leave our mother and become universes unto ourselves - but that’s so far into the future as to be eternity.”

Mollified, Five sits back and nods his head, because it isn’t fair to judge his age by human standards or by universe standards really.

Except then God smirks and says, “But he’s definitely younger than me and being not even a hundred definitely makes him a baby.”

They end up just having to cut God’s visit short that day before they manage to completely destroy the kitchen. As it stands they’re going to have to entirely replace the flatware. Diego ended up just bear hugging Five to his chest and walking out of the room at one point, which Five quickly escaped and jumped back in. Klaus told Diego it was a bad idea, and so the black eye is Diego’s own fault.

honestly just the knowledge that your brother is kind of ?? a god? or a demi-god? they’re all somewhat unclear on everything

“I think I’m having a crisis of faith.” Klaus wheezes from the floor when Five finally ends up trying to explain after he does his thing so he can have God over at the house. “Are we religious? Are we supposed to be religious now? Are angels real?”

“You’ve been calling Dave your angel for literal months, Klaus.” Five points out, unimpressed.

Klaus rolls over to prop himself up on his elbows and give his littlest brother the stink eye. “YEAH. But like, in a GAY way not a CELESTIAL way thank you.”

“Important clarification.” God deadpans from where she’s sitting on the couch inspecting her nails. Allison is painting her other hand in confident strokes that only faltered a little upon finding the exact identity of the little girl in front of her.

“Does no one care about my crisis?” Klaus howls mournfully to the ceiling.

“I finished the tea.” Dave announces, coming into the room and just looking at Klaus on the floor with fondness instead of the general exasperation that’s sitting on every other sibling’s face. That’s how they know it’s love.

“That’s why he’s an angel.” Klaus sighs dreamily, accepting the cup and reaching up to pull Dave down to cuddle while Five makes a face at the blatant PDA going on in the house

honestly just Dave being super calm and just very very calmly turning to Klaus upon finding all this out and being like “Klaus, love of my life, I know you told me your family was weird but what the actual fuck.”

And he’s from like, the old days when fuck was a really really bad word so you know it’s bad

(someone: i have questions about religion -

god: actually i’m agnostic

someone: …

god: …

someone: but aren’t you goD -)

now i’m picturing claire coming over and having a tea party with her uncle five and also oh, god

(patrick, frantically, in the background after being filled in on all of this: what the fuck allison what the fuck)

but basically five in this au is like,, a very weak god?? because he’s a baby in terms of years and their power is supposed to grow with their years (which probably means that the universe absolutely could have interfered but it would have been a little like using a nuclear bomb to get rid of a spider in the house)

Five can: part the fabric of the universe to travel - both spatially and temporally, do some quick and dirty magic tricks like swapping two items or jumping an item to his hand instead of going to it, and speak the language of the universe - which is how he contacts his mother (it’s a little bit like yelling for your parent from across the house and hoping they’ll come closer to hear you)

God can do a whole heck of a lot more than that but she binds herself with a lot of personal rules - the chief of which is not to interfere too badly in mortal affairs because she’s a big believe in free will. And also if she tries to help one person, where does she draw the line?

(God likes Allison because she gets what it’s like to be capable of overriding someone’s free will and then choosing to not do that - even when it’s the easiest option available)

“So like, do I get my own planet?” Five asks, idly spreading peanut butter on bread as he prepares his favorite snack.

“Maybe when you’re older.” God says, just that side of condescending as she loudly clicks buttons on a gaming system she stole directly out of Ben’s hands not even ten minutes ago. He just let her have it and sat down at the table with a book and a deep sigh.

“I’ll kill you.” Five says mildly, like he’s commenting on the weather. “I’ll kill you, and no jury would convict me.”

“On no.” God deadpans, not even looking up from her game. It may or may not be pokemon. “Whatever will I do. I wonder where people go when they die. Surely it isn’t my own home dimension. Oh, the horror.”

“Don’t bring me into this.” Ben mutters, loudly flipping a page and making Five snort in laughter.

honestly i’m just picturing a whole lot of shenanigans tbh,, like not even connected series of flashes of just sort of a slice of life comedy

(“Some big sisters teach their little brothers to ride bikes.” Diego mutters, rubbing at the side of his head where his entire goddamn ear vanished a moment ago when he’d be volunteered for God to try and demonstrate something on him, “Just harmless bike riding. Not vanishing people’s fucking ears. The nerve. See if I hang around you two again.”)

Just Diego at the police station getting really frustrated with a case and being like “Hold up Eudora -” (“Don’t call me that.”) “I’m gonna call home and see if god is in, see if she knows that the hell is going on here. If not we might have to talk with Klaus, ugh.” (“Diego what the FUCK.”)

technically god has a name but it’s in like,, universe language?? it’s in starsong and not really,, applicable to human ears? the universe has a starsong name as well, and technically so does Five, which is probably why this au five was so resistant to getting a ‘name’ - he already had one

(Luther, horrified: wait when you said about being the four horsemen were you being literal

Five: don’t be silly Luther, if my sister wanted to cause the apocalypse she’d come down here and do it herself, not outsource

Luther: i am not comforted by that)

even after their first somewhat interesting meeting, god actually does get along with klaus very well - partially because his powers most directly relate with her ‘dimension’ so to speak, the one she calls home most of the time

i’m currently picturing a team up between god, claire, and five and it’s horrifying and wonderful and i’m sure causes more than one stress ulcer in the house goodness

but yes needless to say i do have a lot of thoughts about this au lmao

#late addition au #universe's son au #universe child five au #universe child au #tua #The Umbrella Academy #five hargreeves #number five #tua god #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves

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momentofmemory · 4 years

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fictober - day thirty-one

Prompt #31: “Scared, me?”

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe (Spider-Man/Tom Holland Films, Captain America)

Characters: Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Michelle Jones (mention)

Words: 2917

Author’s Note: i have been patiently waiting for an opportunity to pair these two all month, and today i happened to see a still from ffh that showed art supplies in peter’s room and just. bam. practically 3k. having also done inktober this month, this serves neatly to combine the two. oh—and this occurs about 4-5 months post endgame.

>>Brooklyn & Queens (don’t throw shade, draw it)

Signing up for Ms. Hart’s Drawing I class is the most singularly idiotic thing Peter’s ever done, and considering he accidentally hitched a ride into space four months ago, that’s saying a lot.

It all started when he found Ben’s old film camera in the storage boxes they’d gotten post-Blip. He’d showed it to MJ—it’s artsy and it’s old, so she was sure to know what to do with it—and she’d looked at him with her usual level of curiosity disguised as ambivalence.

“You know Midtown’s offering a Darkroom Photography class next Fall, right?”

Peter didn’t know that, but once he did it was all he could think about.

He brings it up to his guidance counselor, and while she’s surprised by his interest, she tells him he can fit it into his schedule—but only if he takes the spring semester drawing class to meet the prerequisites.

It’s that fateful decision that leads to him sitting in Yellowstone Park for two hours straight, trying and failing to translate the still life from this morning’s class onto the paper in front of him.

He holds his pencil at arm’s length and tilts it to the side, one eye closed. He’s not entirely sure how that’s supposed to help, but it’s what all the artists in the movies do, so he figures it’s worth a shot.

The image looks just as small and useless as it did before.

(Although to be fair, that might be because it’s a photograph on a 4.7 inch phone screen, and not an actual, full-sized object.)

Peter wishes MJ were here—he’d initially picked the park because MJ said she’d help him figure out lighting, but she’d gotten caught up in some kind of decathlon prep right as they were leaving school. He hasn’t heard a word from her since, so he’s honestly given up on the idea of her coming at this point.

Peter groans and flops back onto the grass, notebook falling onto his chest and arm across his eyes.

“I should have stayed Blipped.”

He’s fully intending on lying there until nature takes over and he’s turned into ant food, when he’s interrupted by an elderly gentleman’s voice.

“You all right there, son?”

“Only questioning my own mortality for want of a stable light source—” Peter halts mid sentence, realizing the voice sounded weirdly familiar.

Peter lowers his arm from his face and finds himself staring into the eyes of none other than Captain Steven G. Rogers himself.

“Holy shi—” Peter nearly punches a hole in the ground with the amount of force he exerts in leaping to his feet. “—shingles. Holy shingles. Sir.”

He only just remembered that one story Mr. Stark used to tell about the language thing, but Captain Rogers just seems amused by his slip up.

“Sorry if I scared you there, Queens.”

There’s a twinkle in his eye that makes Peter wonder if he didn’t do it on purpose, but he feels the need to defend himself either way. “Scared? Me? No no no no, I was just… cold.”

It’s seventy-five degrees in the shade, and Peter’s been sitting directly in the sun since he got here.

He shoves his notebook behind him with his foot and brushes non-existent grass off his jeans. “Um, anyway, what’re you—what’re you doing out here? I mean, not that you need a reason, since it’s a public park and you’re part of the public I guess, I mean you’re like half of the reason the public is even still here, so, uh—”

Cap looks like he’s trying not to laugh, and Peter wishes the ground would swallow him whole if only to get him to stop talking. “—what I mean is that I uh, I didn’t realize you were still hanging around in New York, Captain Rogers. America. Sir.”

He’s not entirely sure what the ex-super soldier’s official designation is these days, but Cap just starts to sit down on the grass, gesturing for Peter to do the same.

“Just Steve is fine,” he says, legs folded cross-legged under him. “Pretty sure Sam’ll kill us both if he hears you referring to anyone but him as Captain America now. He’s pretty taken with the new title.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Peter crosses his own legs and twiddles his thumbs. The politics of legacy heroes must be wild. He makes a note to never let anyone go by Spider-Man except himself.

“So can I… help you?”

Even as Peter asks, he can feel his throat seizing up at the thought. Before Thanos, he’d have given anything to team up with Captain America, but now…

Now, his heart’s accelerating from than just hero worship.

“No, no. Nothing like that.” Steve’s looking at him closely, eyes strangely sharp for the hundred plus year old body they’re staring out of. “Actually, Tony asked me to keep an eye on you.”

Peter looks up in surprise. “Mr. Stark said that?”

“The words he used were a bit stronger, but yes,” Steve says. “Not that he needed to. Even if you’re from a trashy borough like Queens, you’re still a New York boy.”

Peter gasps in horror, tensions forgotten. “You’re literally from Brooklyn! That’s like, infinitely worse!”

“Not according to ExtraSpace.com, which ranks it as the best borough for housing.”

“Whoever taught you how to use the internet should be criminalized, sir.”

“Steve,” he repeats.

“Right. Steve.” The name still feels weighty on Peter’s tongue. “…If I’m Queens, can we make it even and I call you Brooklyn?”

Cap laughs, and Peter barely has time to think oh my god Captain America laughed at one of my jokes before he realizes the man’s nodding towards Peter’s sketchpad. “Tell you what, you can call me Brooklyn so long as you tell me what’s got you longing for death this evening.”

“Uh…” Peter flounders, trying to find a cooler way to say homework. “Just some bottles.”

Not cooler, Peter. Very, very not cooler.

Steve raises his eyebrows.

“By which I mean drawing bottles! Glass, still-life bottles. Totally kosher ones. Not like, alcohol ones.” Peter scrambles for his notebook. “I’m not legal yet.”

To his surprise, though, Steve holds out an open hand. “May I see?”

Peter turns red enough that if he looked in the mirror, he’d probably think he had his costume on. “…Sure?”

Steve takes the notebook from him and starts paging through it, lingering every so often to trace over his lines. Peter watches the other man’s gnarled hand to avoid thinking about the fact that Captain America was looking at his high school level, B graded sketchpad.

What even is his life.

The only benefit from Steve looking at his drawings is that it meant the other man’s eyes weren’t directly on him, and that lends Peter the courage to ask the question that’s been in the back of his mind ever since he first saw Steve’s white hair.

“…Did you really go back?”

Steve’s hand stills over a poorly done rendition of an onion skin. “By go back, I assume you mean ‘stay.’”

Peter’s not sure he hasn’t just walked into a dangerous topic, but he’s never been good at knowing when to stop. “Yeah.”

Steve nods in a way that makes Peter think he’s probably a lot like that, too. “Then yes.”

A young couple walk by a few yards away, but pay them no mind—Peter’s not in his costume, and the general public doesn’t know what happened to Steve. They could easily pass as just an average grandfather and grandson, enjoying a day in the park. Peter’s eyes follow them until he’s sure they’re out of earshot, anyway, then he turns his attention back to Steve.

“So that makes you like…” Peter pauses, quickly running the numbers in his head. “…A hundred and ten? A hundred and eighty if you count the ice?”

The corner of Steve’s mouth twitches up. “Something like that.”

There’s a glint in Steve’s eyes that makes Peter think he might have wildly missed the mark; he stows that tidbit away for later. “Huh. Wow.”

Steve turns another page. “Does your professor know you’re drawing from photographs?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess?” Peter frowns, wondering how Steve could tell. “Does it matter?”

Steve hums, his brow furrowed in thought. “Camera lens aren’t the same as an eye—flattens the shapes differently. It can throw off the lighting, too.”

Peter tilts his head, then looks at his phone, still lying abandoned on the ground. “Oh.”

“Don’t worry.” Steve turns the page. “It’s a disadvantage when drawing, but it’s also the main advantage of actual photography. You can distort the world to fit the message you’re trying to tell.”

“Isn’t that lying?”

“All of art is a lie if you think it’s a direct interpretation of reality, Peter. The truth of art isn’t in always in what it depicts. It’s in how it depicts.”

Even though they’re his own drawings, Peter cranes his neck over Steve’s shoulder to look at his sketchbook. To him, they just look like the average still life.

He wonders what Steve sees.

“How’d you know so much about art?”

“I was planning on being an art major, before the war,” Steve says. “And then I became one in 1957.”

Peter starts, eyes widening as Steve turns the page and finally reaches the sketches he’d been working on that afternoon. “You…”

He trails off, unsure of how to pursue that without offending the older super. Steve, for his part, says nothing further and just flips back and forth between Peter’s second and fourth failed attempt at the three-bottle composition.

Peter clears his throat. “When you—when you decided to go back. Was it hard?”

“Dr. Mortyn’s decision to grade on the curve was infuriating.”

Peter scowls; frustrated at what he can only assume is Steve being deliberately obtuse. “No, I mean—not being able to… change things.”

If Peter’s honest with himself, he’s both a little confused by and a little jealous of Steve’s decision. Confused, because he can’t imagine walking away from the fight when there’s still so much work to be done, can’t imagine going backwards in time when all he ever wants to do is move forward. But also jealous, because…

Because Peter’s tired, and he’s only been doing this for two years—if he’s tired now, then he can’t imagine how he’ll feel once he’s been doing this for as long as Cap did (if he makes it that long). Because Peter’s watched superheroes fight and die and sacrifice everything, and the memorials he passes in the street make him feel so small and insignificant that when he goes out on patrol, it makes him wonder if anything he’s doing really matters. Because he feels like he’s doing nothing right now but he’s terrified he’s going to be called on to do everything one day, and he’s just not sure he’s enough.

Steve finally reaches the last sketch in the notebook—the one Peter’d been working on before he’d given up on the whole thing. Steve looks at the forms for a long moment, then flips to the back of the book and carefully tears out a blank page.

“Where’s your pencil, Queens?”

“My—” Peter’s not entirely sure Steve isn’t just changing the subject on him, but he scrambles for the writing utensil regardless. He finds it and two more laying a few feet away, and gently blows an ant off the tip of the black one before offering it to Steve.

Steve accepts it, and starts sketching an outline of the composition.

“Your grasp of form is good,” he says, shapes quickly coming to life under his deft fingers. “Your proportions are mostly correct; there’s not too much difficulty on perspective. The composition is already set for you, so that’s no issue.”

He finishes the draft, still unshaded, and hands the sketchpad back to Peter. “So why do you keep redoing the same drawing?”

Peter looks between the sketched lines in Cap’s drawing and his own iterations. “Because they’re not the same?”

“The outlines are. Does the rest matter?”

“Well, yeah. Once you add in the shading…”

Peter flips through all the sketches he’d made today—one, two, five, seven; hundreds of eraser marks on all of them. They’re all wrong, but they’re all wrong just a little differently. One has light sources that seem to defy all the laws of physics, jumping in every which direction. Another has marks that were supposed to be highlights, but wound up being darker than the actual shadows. Still another has values that are so close together the shadows make the image look flatter than even Steve’s quick sketch.

He looks up at Steve. “It makes the final thing totally different.”

Steve smiles in response, and starts filling in his own sketch.

“Local colour is your biggest problem,” he says. “You’re trying to match everything to the colour your eye thinks it’s seeing in the photo—like in this one, where your darkest shadow on the white bottle is still brighter than the lightest highlight on the black bottle.”

“And that’s bad?” Peter frowns, catching his lip between his teeth, and starts his eighth version of the image while Cap continues.

“Not necessarily.” Steve runs the pencil over the edge of one of the bottles, darkening its side. “Shading is always a tricky thing. There’s a lot of things to pay attention to—shadows, highlights, halftones. Local colour. One of the most important rules is making sure your lightest dark is still darker than the darkest light.”

“Is that last one supposed to be a metaphor?”

“It wasn’t intended, but you can certainly take it that way.”

Peter hums in response, and moves on to outlining the second bottle. “So in my drawing, do I just ignore the colour?”

“The original context always matters,” Steve replies. He pauses to point out a discrepancy in one of Peter’s lines before continuing. “Your white bottle is always going to be whiter than the black one overall. But if you’ve got a highlight on both—that highlight’s the same. And if you’ve got a dark shadow on something, don’t be afraid to make it as dark as it needs to be to provide contrast.”

Peter nods, and after a few minutes, finishes his outline and starts shading. Steve offers pointers every so often, and he’s barely a quarter of the way through the first bottle before he can see a marked difference between this sketch and his last one.

“So,” Peter says eventually. “When I asked how you handled not being able to change things…”

Steve pauses, his pencil hovering above the page, and waits for Peter to finish.

Peter looks down at his drawing and thinks about how it’s exactly the same as all the others, and yet totally different, too.

“…The answer is that you did.”

Steve smiles, the edges of his eyes crinkling, and turns his attention back to his sketch. It’s all the confirmation Peter needs.

The scritch-scratch of pencil on paper fills Peter’s ears as he thinks about that revelation. Whatever Steve did, it can’t have been major—not in the universe-shaping, blatantly obvious kind of way he’s used to Avengers working. He wonders if it was enough.

Peter erases a shadow on the middle bottle he’s decided has gotten too dark, and then glances at Steve, who’s started adding all kinds of textures and details to his own drawing.

It’s clearly the same picture, but the art is something else entirely.

It’s enough.

Peter’s certain Steve has better things to do, but the retired soldier stays with him for another hour, either telling him stories about the Avengers or old school New York, or gently correcting something about his art form. By the time Peter’s done, the sketch isn’t great, per se, but it’s at least good. Steve helps Peter pack his things back up, and then hoists Peter to his feet with a strength that belies his older body.

Steve then hands Peter the drawing he’d made, and Peter almost refuses until he flips it over and sees that Steve’s written a phone number on the back.

“Let me know if you ever need anything, Queens. Including, but not limited to, more art lessons.”

Peter grins from ear to ear. “Thanks, Brooklyn. You too.”

The next morning, Peter turns in a drawing that still looks a little wonky, but it’s so dramatically improved from last time that MJ gives him a halfway impressed thumbs up, and it’s enough to make him take back every disparaging thing he’s said about the class.

That evening, Spider-Man heads out onto the streets with more excitement than he’s had in a long time.

He doesn’t do anything of a particularly groundbreaking nature—nothing that will change the outlines. There’re no aliens, no world-ending weapons, no last minute, jaw dropping rescues.

But there is Mr. Delmar, who needs help repainting the store sign that’s too high for him to reach. There’s a sixth grader, who’s putting up posters for her lost dog until he finds it eleven blocks away. There’s a would-be mugger, who’s had one too many bad days but Spider-Man listens to them all, and then helps him register at a homeless shelter.

It’s nothing so grand as saving the universe. It won’t get him shrines in the streets, or murals on skyscrapers, or even a mention in the paper.

But it’s something: a few more highlights, a little more definition, a bit more right in a world where there’s so much wrong.

And that, Peter decides, is not nothing.

#fictober19 #peter parker fic #steve rogers fic #mcu fanfic #peter parker #steve rogers #fanfiction #spiderman #memsfic

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jess-the-vampire · 5 years

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Sky And The Forces Of The Multiverse, Chapter 27

Previous / Next

The Next few days were weird. But not the kinda weird Sky had been expecting after going on a mission to possible save the lives of the princess, her family, and literally her own army. She wasn't surprised at the higher restrictions, the curfew, the increased security, though she was thankful the butterfly and lucitor family decided not to tail the kids with guards anymore, hoping their new system would work without them. No, none of this was surprising unfortunately considering what had happened. What was is the fact Nora and Angel were still here.

They had seemingly....temporally moved in until further notice when it came to their parents, angel refused to leave his mother in her state, and considering he had lessons here anyway his father didn't mind as long as they were both kept under management and taken cared for, and nora's parents, despite not entirely ok with letting their daughter out of their sight under these circumstances, seemed to feel a little bit safe under star's roof then their own after their own fiasco. Yeah, they knew her broke into butterfly castle once, but at least here they had magic shields and protection charms that might help ward off any potential evil, even if that meant keeping nora out of their eyes 24/7. Nora was rather happy about this change though, getting to see the garden more often then ever, not to mention getting to spend time with her new friends. It almost made up for losing her research and spending so long by herself during the crisis. Almost. Angel was much more of a mixed bag, even if sky was starting to feel at least a little better about him sticking around and even if star herself was starting to stop treating him as a nuisance herself. He either wouldn't leave his mother's bed side, or tag alongside sky and judas as much as loki used to. Loki had done it mostly because he was bored, wanted to spy, or literally had nothing better to do with his time since he lacked a ton of friends and was terrible at makings ones but angel did it cause he literally only seemed to find the least bit of comfort around judas and sky. He only left his mother for lessons or because the people in the hospital wing asked him to and his first instinct was to find sky and it was rather.....unusual. Angel was one of those guys who tried to seem respectable most of the time, trying to at least somewhat look good talking in a princely matter, but over time his usually seemingly prince attitude wavered and his angsty teen side seemed to pop out more. He probably spent so much time pressuring himself to "Fix" everything for his people and protest about adult issues and deal with his own parental issues he'd really never gotten a chance to be a teen. So sky now was stuck with moody teen angel, going through a lot of clear emotional issues. Not that it was surprising, she'd probably be freaking out as well. He wasn't the worst company to have around, loki was far more annoying because he got more heavily into her business and made more uncomfortable remarks. But it was hard to do a lot with a spider prince following you around awkwardly so much of the time. Judas however, seemed to kinda feel delighted they were getting along better, the situation oddly enough allowing them to hang out like they had promised, even if it wasn't under the circumstances in which they pitched. No doubt to sky, angel really did care about judas, asking about his arm more often then he probably needed to. He kept trying to be cool around him, though was having a harder time maintaining it. Angel was not very social and talked formally most of the time, so he was already an oddball to be hanging around a bunch of royal teens who wore chokers and snuck out of the castle to get cornshakes at night. Though he seemed to be trying to appease judas and sky as much as possible so he wasn't on their bad side anymore, though if he was doing a good job at that with his tripping over his words and constant cluelessness he had no idea. Judas was just happy he was even allowed to see his friends at all, thank god for his parents caring about that so much, he could see nora, angel was starting to open up better, and he and landon were on...better terms. Landon himself had been trying to pull him aside for conversation but it felt like whatever he wanted to talk about, he wanted to talk about in private, and the addition of nora and angel now made that even harder. Though he had a feeling landon was also distracted with his earth friend as well. At this point in time, sky and judas were walking alongside each other, the team off handling other things and leaving them some time to speak. "I wish i could've seen galexia and sunny's performance, it sounds....incredibly if what my parents said was anything to consider....artistic?", he smiled to himself, thinking back on sunny's love of acting. "Honestly i think it suits her....it sure seems to make her happy.". His companion could only shrug, "At least it came in handy...though you think she'll do another?". "I'd watch it.". "What was it about?". "About a princess wanting to make a name for herself and a prince wishing he was in the shadows more....i think she spends too much time with us...though i heard she and lexi played all the roles so i have to watch for that alone.", to be honest the thought of sunny wearing a mustache to pretend to be a prince and then immediately removing it to be a completely different character did seem rather hilarious. The two friends playfully bumping into each other with their shoulders. "You sure it was a good idea to tell luna.....everything?". "Well...". "Well what?". "There's one thing i'm iffy on telling her, ....galexia...."., he was rubbing the back of his head, "Sunny hasn't given us updates on anything worrisome in particular of course, but i'm still worried what would happen if we told her about lexi's uh....gift? I want us to fully be able to trust each other but she makes me anxious sometimes, i don't know how she'd react to lexi knowing the future.", he had a fair point, especially since luna seemed to not be honest about herself as well. "The one cheek mark glowing thing? Creepy...", he kinda had to agree, that was a rather uncomfortable thing to know she could do, it was certainly not a thing most queens could do which gave him the feeling when luna said they shared a lot in common, she was not saying it to get him on her side, she was actually serious. Though maybe instead of being too freaked out they should be more relieved they hadn't gotten killed thanks to her help. Though he still wasn't sure about telling her. Luna herself got even more praised for being a savoir and closer to her mom of this universe a little bit more then ever, honestly this entire situation makes it harder to keep themselves in the shadows , but on the plus side there were benefits to being friends with someone so close to the leader of the knights and was seen as a hero. Luna herself however, was mixed, on the other hand she could do more things without it being suspicious, on another hand....it was harder to get others to leave her alone. So much happened in one day and it now reshaped almost everything to the point in which everyone was more anxious. "Let's just hope luna doesn't do anything....more creepy...i'm still paranoid about her wiping nora's memory while she's here, i mean i don't want to think luna would do something like that but then again I can't claim to know luna well, she's very closed off. I know i said i don't think it's smart to focus too much on the other timelines, but-". "You want to at least try and get her to be open about herself instead of being a pushover? Yeah i get it...", she turned her head and shoved her hands inside her pockets, "She got so mad she freaked, I guess whoever that ash guy was, she's used to being mad at him...". At least that seemed to be the assumption since her rampage clearly came out of force of habit, sky had to give the guy props if he put up with luna for as long as he seemed to probably have. "Brother? Boyfriend? Her maybe crush?", judas began suggesting off the top of his head, "Well actually if they were dating, they sound a little dysfunctional...no offense..". His partner's guess was as good as his, "Well, at least we know she has someone back home waiting for her besides her moms, that's kinda interesting, she kinda made it always out like she wanted to get back just to be back and not because she had a lot of people back home she missed...she's not a people person...". "Oh? And we are?", that made him chuckle, "Maybe we're being too nosy, we kinda wanna be open and friendly and i guess luna just really isn't the type to open up like that unless she's comfortable, she's not all bad, even if she does have things to work out for herself...". Sky seemed to soften at that, the two walking in silence a little longer as sky glanced over to see judas rubbing at his arm, feeling the shock band he was wearing under his jacket anxiously. "Hey....you sure you're doing ok with your arm?", she mumbled, "Like, I know the whole situation really freaked you out...I hope you're not mad i didn't y'know....shock you? The thing kinda went on it's own rampage and-", but he interrupted her, trying to calm her down about his situation, "No no, it's ok, i'll be ok....it was kinda a stressful situation....and we were fine, we all made it out and it didn't end up hurting anyone....hopefully, so...you're good...". "What about your family-?". "You know i can't report this back to them without explaining what happened, and my dad still hasn't come up to speak to me about my arm. My Granddad especially might flip if he found out, he likes to keep finding new ways to help and this would put more stress on him, which puts more stress on my parents...and it's like a domino effect of more problems". His granddad was a sweet guy but he knew if he ever found out his arm did....that, there's a good chance judas might be forced to deal with worse then his grumpy brother and mysterious enemy. "Jude, you look stressed, like...REALLY stressed, maybe you should take a break? I mean, i can go talk to nora if you want and get updates on whatever and maybe you can talk to your brothers or angel or something...", he did have to talk to landon about whatever it was he needed to speak about, and maybe he needed to take some time to recover. It felt like he really hadn't, despite it only having happened a few days ago, there had been so much chaos it was hard to fully take a break. Maybe he just needed a day to chill, let someone else take the reigns and handle the current situation. He must've looked nervous still because he could feel sky trying to comfort him, "Dude, it'll be ok, go spend time with your bro or something, we can call you if something freaks...i mean, you're the one who deserves a proper break more then anyone...". He genuinely smiled from that, pulling sky into a hug and kissing the top of her head sweetly before ruffling her hair, "Thanks sky...". He then took a few leaps forward, looking back at her, "I'm gonna go find landon....and hey....maybe in the meanwhile....you should go speak to luna while you're at it....I know you're kinda mad at her cause of what happened, but for the record, I think what you did was pretty awesome...". He headed off, and sky sighed, it was awesome, she just wished her saving a princess wasn't added to the long list of attributes that were already taken by others. She wandered along the halls , heading to the knight training area on her own, though as she reached the hall she spotted a face she wasn't expecting, Katrina was lying against the walls. Her face brightened at the sight of sky and she was quickly pulled into a tight hug from the frog monster, "Blue bell! Tis good to see you again! How's life holding you up?". By the looks on sky's face, not very well, and katrina sighed as she playfully poked sky's hat. "You know i had to tell em about the possession thing, no way i could let that one slide....", though the princess got it, honestly if it mean less chances of her friends ending up the same way it was fine with her overall, and at least they could tell who was possessed by appearance. "It's not a big deal, i heard from mom loki's kinda being being chained to his mom kinda though? like i get not wanting him to go out again, but that's pretty cruel punishment, even for him..". "For now, just worry about yourself, lucky they hadn't forced you to do anything under their control yet...". Sky sure hoped so, but there was no denying she was paranoid about it. "What are you doing here anyway?". "Me? Oh well, i wanted to have a talk with Miss Jackie's new gifted student, name's luna? She's the girl who apparently helped rescue poor princess spiderbite and found everyone missing from some enchanted sleeping spell, I just want to know a little bit about what happened....or....you could tell me?". Right, she was a master spy after all, sky wasn't even gonna try to lie her way outta this one, crossing her arms, "Don't...tell anyone, you know-". "They'd be mad? No kidding blue girl, i lost track of seeing you three in the woods, but i know you had something to do with it...". "We just wanted to help...". Katrina was still smiling, "and you did good, but one of these days you're going to get caught by someone other then me, and it won't be pretty.". She looked around the hallway, making sure no one was listening before leaning close and whispering, "For the record though, if you're going to sneak around, you need to learn to be more like me and my dad. We are family of spies, mostly, then you might have easier time not getting caught by me.". "you literally made me a charm to wear on my HAT to find you...". "And how many other people would be smart enough to know to use it that way?" She had a point. "your uh...partner filling in for you today?". "Yep, what about your other half?", sky simply shrugged and leaned against the wall next to her, trying to make herself comfortable, "He needed a break so he's taking one, i hope, he's kinda a little overworked so....I'm gonna try and handle some other things...". There was a moment of silence still sky looked up to see the frog smiling at her, making her grumble, "You're a good friend princess butterfly, he's lucky to have friend like you watching his back...". "I dunno, i've been kinda dumb....we did have a fight and i kinda got mad at him and yeah...", katrina slapped her on the back, showing off her monster strength and laughing, "You aren't a bad friend for having a fight blue girl , fights happen, the best friends recover from them. Don't call yourself a bad friend because you both had a fight, you two clearly care about each other, you are like family to each other. You are like true best friends". Sky nodded, "Yeah, i guess so, I just hope he's ok...". "He is strong boy, he'll be ok....". "Yeah....he is." The door suddenly opened, and Jackie, Kelly, and Luna stepped out, prompting Katrina to stand up and pull Luna to the side before sky could even get a word in with her, though jackie and kelly seemed rather happy to take her place, immediately greeting sky with hugs and head pats, "Skyler, good to see you sweetheart, we haven't gotten to hang out much since i got back from my mission, though i bet you heard about the mess i got into recently?". Kelly snickered, "I can't believe you fell asleep, i was hoping when you came back you had spent so long fighting a dragon or something!". Jackie hit her armored shoulder and snorted, "Oh i wish! But hey, luna took care of it! That girl is a miracle....you found her, right sky? Gotta say, good job.....i've never had a better recruit in my entire life...she's incredibly gifted, a true strategist, she was made for this job....she'll be a perfect replacement for me whence i eventually retire...". Wait....wait?! "Whu?', was all she could managed as jackie snorted. "Don't worry, she won't do that right away, but you know me, i eventually wanna settle down for a bit, take a rest from getting new scars. If she keeps it up at this rate she could very much take over, she's got all the skills needed and she's improving fast.". Well, maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing if luna was stuck in this timeline forever, but she clearly wasn't planning to live out the rest of her life being a knight and taking the place of her mom from another universe. "Uh well, have you uh...asked her yet? Maybe she'd prefer another position?", she needed to carefully divert this in another direction, "I mean, luna's REALLY into fighting but she's also like....into other things too and what if she wanted to give another job a shot like uh....maybe a teacher? Or a curator, she...likes the history of the queens". Jackie blinked at that, but mush to sky's surprise she seemed to be very interested in her claims, "Wow, she sounds incredibly knowledgeable and smart then! Maybe we could expand her position a bit to allow for teaching as well!". Facepalm "Anyways, i appreciate it sky, and it's wonderful to see you after so long properly, you're so grown up!". She patted her head and smiled softly, reflecting, "I remember when you and judas were so tiny i could carry you both everywhere together, and now he's taller then me, and you're too grown up for rides on my shoulders.". Oh yeah, they did used to do that back in the day didn't they? Feels like forever ago, especially since Jackie got more occupied as time went on. "Eh, he gets it from his dad's side of the family, it does become a pain with doors sometimes", they all laughed together and sky got back on track, "So yeah, uh, don't start pushing luna into anything right away...i mean, she's still young.". The adults seemed to consider that a fair point though kelly butted in, "Though honestly, it'd be a huge honor to work for the royal family, it's a missed opportunity if she does choose to say no to it, but you're right it's too soon, and we need to handle this masked thief issue first and foremost.". "Gotten anywhere close?". "We-", they looked at each other before going back to sky, their cheerful tone starting to vanish, "Aren't allowed to disclose that information with you actually, we're limited in what we're allowed to tell any of you kids for that matter, no offense to you....but your parents are worried you'll start getting yourself into situations they would rather you didn't if you were more aware of the situation at hand. They care for your safety more then anything.". Too late for that. "How are we gonna be safe if we don't know what's going on though? When judas becomes king is he not gonna be allowed to know about this stuff still? He's like my best friend, he's not gonna stand for that if you tell him he can't talk to me....", which was true, judas tended to hate seeing sky or anyone feel left out of unfairly treated, like were they gonna make him take an oath? Keep an eye on him so he would'nt spill? As king would he just not be involved in this matter entirely? They didn't seem to have a god answer for sky, patting her shoulder and trying to change the subject, "You better have a talk with your mother then....anyways, it's time for our lunch break, you both be safe alright?". The two headed off, arms around the other's shoulders and sky noticed during the session luna and katrina were gone, great, just what she needed. She had to go do something else till both of them came back then, she placed her hands in her pockets and started to move when. "SKY!" "AH GALEXIA I SWEAR!!". She pushed herself against the wall in her panic, the smiling as always older girl giggling excitably, "I'm glad i found you! I want your help on something cause sunny went all poof to do something else so I wanted to ask you for some help!". Sunny had been Galexia's go-to since she got here for any help she needed, so no one was nearly as familar with what lexi did most of the time that required her help, outside of asking judas to help her find more art supplies. For a moment sky considered saying no, but then again she had nothing to lose she supposed. "Oh fine....what's up?". "You're super creative! I want you to help me design a get well card for angel's mom! Sunny wanted to do it but i think she's busy so....", oh yeah, i guess that wouldn't be too surprising considering sunny would most likely want to do something nice for angel since she had grown an attachment to wanting him to be happy. She shrugged but nodded, she honestly had no reason to say no, galexia jumped up and down before grabbing onto her hands and running to another part of the castle. Slamming the door behind them sky saw the room around them was an art room, there were rooms for everything in this castle so i guess she shouldn't be surprised though she hadn't been here herself. There were a few mewmans hanging around but no one paid lexi much mind as she pulled out a giant piece of paper from the storage closet and placed it in front of sky, opening up her jacket and letting what almost felt like hundreds of markers fly out and onto the table as well. She sure hoped she didn't steal all of them. "Wow, you really are dedicated.....i guess while he's here with us we might as well....uh....how many people do you plan to have sign it?", galexia's eyes were practically sparking, "How many people do you know? Get EVERYONE! ", she was so joyful it was almost ridiculous as she shook sky's entire body, "We want to make her feel super duper better so the more the merrier, you know everyone around here right? You should be able to ask loads of people!". "Well-". Then she looked galeixa in the eyes and knew she couldn't say no. "I'll give it a shot...". "THANK YOU!", she was pulled into a big hug and sky kinda felt herself start to smile, galexia was a little odd but she certainly had a way of bringing a smile to everyone's face. The girl started on the cover, designing and picking out the colors she needed as sky worked with her. Sky tended to plan a little more with design, since her hat ideas didn't come outta nowhere, they usually took some pre-sketching. But galexia seemed to work on impulse, drawing whatever came to her head and not even stopping. and it looked amazing, the dark background, the forest, she captured the queen beautifully despite never seeing her so lively since she arrived. Sky's smile turned sour and her contribution of flowers and stars decreased slightly, "I wish this drawing was a prediction, not having any idea what'll happen with her is kinda scary...i mean, what if she really doesn't make it? I get mad with my mom a lot but i can't imagine having her die or something...". "Not everyone is lucky enough to have good parents, is angel loves her so much she must really be important to him..", galexia hummed, reminding sky of her condition back home, "Y'know, do you really want to go back, since your parents are kinda-? I mean, here you seem happy with hanging out with the rest of us and you get special attention because you're a guest and....well...i mean, wouldn't going back feel worse with your family situation?". "I like being here...but i also like my friends back home, and my eclipsa, and my lucitors....they all care about me and we have so many memories together, I don't want them to be sad forever without me....the older man with the giant spider legs doesn't want angel to be sad forever either, and that's why he wanted you two to be friends, angel would be more sad if he had no one left....". She made a good point and sky grumbled, "You'd go back to that dimension just to be with the people who really do care no matter what huh? That's pretty cool of you...". "You wouldn't leave here for judas would you?". She didn't have to think hard on that one, "Nah....you're right, i wouldn't. He wouldn't ditch me and i wouldn't ditch him, honestly there's no way i'd adjust to your crazy worlds anyway, i'm having a hard time just being comfortable in this one. Though, you seem really comfortable, ever since you got here you've seemed mostly fine....sunny openly talks about how much she misses home, luna is distant and never talks about how she feels, celeste throws attitude, but you.....you seem like you don't feel upset at all..". "I just like spending time with the rest of you! I'm always having fun and drawing and it's hard to be too sad when i have so many new friends here! When i get home I'm gonna talk about you LOTS!", she was so enthusiastic, and sky decided to change the subject, she didn't need to make the situation depressing when they were trying to do something fun together. She couldn't recall anytime she had hung out with galeixa since she arrived, at least not one on one. This was kind refreshing considering all the drama surrounding luna and celeste mostly. "So.....you and sunny kinda really get along...", the brunette nodded along, she seemed to almost pay attention more when she was occupied then when she wasn't. "Sunny is so nice and fun and she really likes my artwork, we really click! Luna and Celeste don't really talk to me so i like to hang out with her instead! Judas is nice too, and his younger brother....Sunny, me and him play dungeons and dragons all the time when we're bored down there.". "I didn't know you where into geeky stuff like that, that's kinda neat.". She beamed. They finally finished up the card, lexi of course sprinkling it with glitter before declaring it to be perfect, as lexi shoved it into sky's arms, "Let's go get signatures!". Sky was dragged out of the room almost as quickly as she had been dragged into it, galexia excitably approaching every staff member, citizen, and knight they walked past for them to sign. Carrying the card was a little annoying, not because it was heavy, but because sky couldn't see squat and carrying giant floppy paper everywhere risked poking a hole through it or it slipping easily. Lexi really should've gotten stronger paper but eh... Honestly she wasn't sure if the people who signed really wanted to or were either persuaded by how adorable the older girl was, or maybe her intense personality creeped them into it. Sky had no idea since she could barely see anything until eventually she decided maybe it was better to lean the paper against the wall for signatures instead of risking ruining the paper. Though they really couldn't just do a bunch of random people, they needed to find their friends as well. Well, judas was most likely in the underworld still, luna was...somewhere...maybe they were better off looking for celeste first? Or Nora. Maybe nora, celeste resided in the underworld after all. Galexia seemed to have come to the same conclusion and next thing sky knew, she was in the garden, by the rose bushes. Nora was sitting by herself, taking notes on a small school notebook and she looked the happiest they'd ever seen her despite the situation. Less painful schedules, more freedom to move around the castle thanks to the queen, and less badgering from her parents because her folks had the big problem of their terrified kingdom to worry about now. She looked up in glee at the sight of the duo and seemed bemused by sky's situation. "Sky! And....galexia I believe? Sorry, i haven't seen you much since the slumber party....", she got a good look at the card and beamed, "A card? That's very sweet of you...she's going to love it i'm sure..", she fought the need to hide in her hair and tried to look at the dark haired girls in the eyes, though she was cutting in and out rather fast. Galexia immediately handed her a marker and prompted her to sign as sky got a look at what she was writing. "I thought angel made you uncomfortable?". She signed quickly and pressed the notebook to her chest, embarrassed and red-faced, which almost looked odd with her greenish skin. "Oh? Uh....well, spending time in the hospital wing together helped me conquer my fear a little more and uh....well it's good he doesn't hate me or anything....". Sky gave her a look and raised an eyebrow, "Uh well....we've just been talking and....I wanna help...with his mom, please don't be mad i wanna help judas too I-". "What? No, i'm not mad, just surprised, I thought-". "I didn't want to help because i wasn't comfortable? Yeah....It's just....he's gonna lose his mom and even with everything with my parents, almost losing them....it really broke me...I don't think i can...handle....watching him lose her...", she went silent before sighing, "The only problem is, without my book the only way we can try and help are...well...getting my parents involved, and they are so hard to get to think out of their ways....they like monsters...but..they're worried for my safety and they know his kingdom hates ours and they know angel has a history of being a pest...". She mumbled under her breath, "I wasn't even sure about telling you since you and angel....fight...a lot.". Right, Judas had been the one who wanted to try and work things with angel, sky really hadn't until recently and nora had no reason to think they were under better terms. "Well, not anymore, we're actually...getting along? He started to stop being a pain and he kinda broke and....it's a little complicated but we're on sorta better terms. I'm about....25% less mad with him then i used to be....". This seemed to reassure the girl, "Angel doesn't speak much to me, but....he seemed happy when i said i could help...". "do you even know what to do?". "Not entirely...but..it's not magic based it seems so it might be feasible, we can't be sure we'll save her but if anyone can find a way to help, it's us....". Sky wasn't entirely sure about finding a cure for a disease that caused a monster to have a hard time noticing things around them, was mostly paralyzed, and had a hard time eating was really possible but then again she'd seen weirder so might as well be hopeful if possible. Galexia, who had been surprisingly quiet during the whole exchange was now mesmerized by nora's sketches, smiling widely and acting incredibly giddy which was half making nora happy and half making her anxious. "You're so GOOD!". "You think so?". "YESSSSS!". She beamed. "So where is angel anyway? He's not with you, judas...or me....is he with his mom still?". The slimey girl only could shrug, "I'm not sure, he might be....he doesn't seem to know what to do with himself when he's not with his mom...". That was true enough, sky just hoped he was in the bathroom of lounging around the kitchens, she really hoped he wasn't up to something. Or, i guess if she really thought about it, he could be with eclipsa, since those two had been oddly buddy buddy lately. As if on cue, galexia piped in. "We should see eclipsa! She'll sign!". Which was a pretty good idea since her tower was already in the garden, sky got ahold of the card and looked to nora with a sigh, "Good luck ok? I guess if you need help well.....you're surrounded by it now...". Nora nodded happily, "Of course, yeah! I...It's nice being here....even if it's temporary...you're lucky sky, you get to see all these beautiful flowers every day, to go wherever you want...". "Not that lucky....at least it's cool that you have a passion for medicine and it makes you stand out....my passion is mostly...i dunno, making hats?", but nora had to disagree, shaking her hair and playing with her hair, "You stand out to me, your super creative...you like to think outside of the box, judas likes to do things traditional, he's the one who handles things the most logical way, but you're the one to do the most unexpected things to help...". "I dunno...". "He wanted to simply contact me to hang out, you broke into my room to speak to me...". "That's....true.", sky had to admit, she hadn't really considered that very much, even when people told her this kinda stuff, she was the type to break into a girl's room to tell her she wanted to hang out like some sorta rebel. "You kick butt!", she squeaked before closing her mouth as if she said something awful, she blushed and held herself, "I like the hats too...". Sky nodded, keeping the card safe in her arms, "I'll finish your hat real soon ok? I'll see you around nora...". She smiled and sky felt lexi drag her along to approach eclipsa's guarded tower, and after galexia used her puppy dog eyes to convince both guards to sign the girls knocked and made their way up. Angel was nowhere in sight, but Eclipsa certainly was, this time with a little globgor on her shoulder. She froze at the sight of the girls but immediately went all smiles at the card and gave them a smug smile, "If you're looking for him he's on the roof, though i'm not sure this is the prime way to make him feel much better.". Sky grumbled, "Well, i mean, it was technically galexia and sunny's idea and i kinda helped, it was to do something nice...". "I'm sure she'll love it, the art is beautiful!". Galexia stepped forward, jumping up and down and almost immediately going into the detail on it and asking her to sign, globgor jumping off eclipsa's shoulder to make his way to sky and speak to her more quietly and update her on his finds, "The figure, there are rumors of her hanging around the Arachford kingdom, it could be a rather large monster but we are worried about the possibility that it is her....problem is, it could very well be a coincidence...in terms of the silk? No idea where they got the spell back, something like that could only have been kept in-". "The archives..", she finished. It's not like there were many other known places where people kept secret information like that at. Especially not stuff as important as that, she had even heard from her moms that they kept a lot of dangerous and horrible stuff down there that wasn't allowed to be seen by anyone except the most elite of individuals. Then again her moms also said having food that tells you how you'll die was a totally ok thing and not life ruining at all, so whatever. Globgor hadn't really gotten back to her since he told her he'd investigate so at least he was now updating her on the matter after awhile. "Exactly...queen solaria could've kept some there, but that place got destroyed some time ago". "But....it was destroyed...unless...that's why Her was there in the first place....", her heart dropped, "But we can't even be sure of that without more evidence.....but....if it's true....that would mean....". Globgor sighed, You should just keep an eye on that boy...just in case...there's something shady going on behind the scenes over there though whether he's involved directly or not...". He hoped off sky's shoulder as lexi and eclipsa finished speaking. Sky wasn't paying much attention, her focus now being if angel was actually truthful in wanting to stop his antics or if he suddenly learned how to lie really good to her. She didn't notice galexia wave her hands in front of her and the thing that snapped her out of it was a slap to the shoulder. She felt embarrassed but it didn't last long, as her attention was drawn to eclipsa's outfit, something she had been too distracted to notice, she was wearing a black and purple evening gown with long gloves and heels. and of course she had a large hat to match. Her stare caught eclipsa's attention as she prompted globgor to sign the card as well, "It's date night sweetie, we're heading out, you kids are more restricted around this time but we aren't....plus we have a little business outside of the castle anyway tonight...". When she mentioned "Business" sky sure hoped she meant actual important business and not.....ugh. Nope Nope, just let it be about her or meteora or something other then that, please. "oh....well uh...have fun i guess? Uh...you aren't gonna do anything...dangerous are you?", she shifted her eyes which got a laugh out of the couple, globgor becoming slightly bigger and eclipsa taking his arm, "We'll be fine darling, we can handle ourselves just fine...in the meantime...I suggest you make yourself at home, feel free to make some tea if you'd girls like..maybe bring one to the prince on the roof while you're at it. We'll be out for a few hours.", she patted sky on the head as the two started heading out, "See you girls later!". Galexia waved rather rapidly as the door closed behind the couple, leaving just them in the room together with her card as she sat on the couch, "You wanna hand the card over to angel?", she excitably giggled as she relaxed. Sky's face was kinda iffy, angel on this subject was a little unpredictable, he was just a little sensitive to the situation and maybe the card would be a little ignorant to give to him, but on another hand he might appreciate it and the support. "I dunno...maybe we should do him later or something...we still gotta do my moms and who knows when we might get a chance with judas and his brothers...". "OOO, i know! I'll go get sunny and celeste and his bros in the underworld to sign and when i get back, then we can get him to sign!" Sky wasn't even allowed much of a world in before galexia grabbed the card and ran out in a flash. Welp, guess it was decided for her then as she looked up at the roof, groaning before making a pot of tea on the stove soon filling a couple cups and using her batty cloudy to get to the rooftop, angel just sitting there and looking over the hills. He didn't even turn around, he could smell her after all and his pointed ears twitched. "Hello princess butterfly...". He sounded distant, but also somber. "You.....ok?". Maybe that was a bad question to be asking considering his situation, he didn't answer though, still looking out to the horizon as she made her way over. "Hey uh...be careful with this teacup, if you drop it from this height no guarantee i'll be able to save it on time....and uh....i dunno how eclipsa feels about me breaking her stuff...". He carefully took the cup from her and she felt herself start to sweat next to him, unsure of where his motivations truly lied right now. Maybe a month ago she's be like "Yeah, of course he's up to something". But now? She kinda sure hoped he wasn't and there was something here she was missing. Angel wasn't paying much attention to her though, and he still looked a little rough around the edges, he clearly had a hard time sleeping these last few nights and despite the offer to be given his own room he wanted to stay in the wing, which only made it harder to sleep. So his sleep loss was a direct result of his current emotional issues with his mother. Maybe that was why he seemed to look like a mess as well, his clothes more like he had slept in them and his hair more messy then usual. He also looked like he most likely cried and blew his nose into his outfit which prompted sky to scoot a little further away from him as she sipped her tea to herself. "I uh....heard you and nora have been speaking to each other....how did you...i mean, i mean i thought it'd be harder to get you two to really talk...". Angel didn't even turn to face her, mumbling, "We're not friends, she just...offered to help and i didn't turn it down.". Welp, i guess it would be a stretch to assume they were suddenly buddy buddy because nora wanted to help save his mom's life, but it was at least a step in the right direction. Angel and Nora really never talked before now, so this was better then before by far, though this at least made sky tap her fingers and ask a new odd question. "Are we friends?". That came out weirder then it needed to be, probably considering who she was asking it to. Even angel seemed a little taken aback and not sure what to say about it, giving it some thought before trying to come up with an answer, "Well....i suppose so...I think....I'm not sure...". Way to make the situation more painfully awkward then it already was angelus, fantastic. Still, he gave an answer, he didn't stick his nose up at the world and go all "I'm too busy to have friends.". "Well...i guess that's fair, we don't hang out like normal friends, but we still kinda hang out...and talk to each other sorta...", he mumbled and turned his head further, "You and prince lucitor hang out all the time, you are almost always together when you can be and like to speak to each other....". He wasn't wrong but she still tried to ration it out, "Yeah, he's my best friend, kinda grew up together, but i have other friends...even if we don't hang out like me and judas do...mel is in another dimension and we're pen pals, nora's kinda a friend too...". "What are you saying?". "I'm saying friends aren't always like me and judas....we can be friends without all the crazy hanging out and stuff, i mean...if you want i guess...unless you still think it's weird for us to be friends still", angel paused and actually turned to her, "I'm not even sure why you'd want to be friends with me after everything....you've been mad with me for a very long time, you and lucitor both. You feel like you don't even want me around all that much.". "What? No! We're not upset with you...I mean, well, what you did got on our nerves but judas always thought you had good intentions and uh....we can kinda put it behind us if we sorta work things out and make up for them.". The boy didn't entirely seem to be buying it though, his legs hanging off the roof as he avoided eye contact once again, "You make that sound so easy...as if everything is different now or you simply like me now despite everything you felt before....". "Well, i mean...it's not easy per say, it's not like mom sorta bring monsters into the community fixed all the horrible people who now attack me or judas for being different, i think it's just one of those things you have to work towards...i'm sorry if we haven't been trying enough with you....we just have a lot on our plate as well...". He grumbled, and turned his head away completely, "I don't know if we're friends skyler....and I don't know if we should be either....". She was quiet, the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of nature and the sipping of tea, their hair starting to blow in the mild wind. Sky found herself lost in thought, wondering what to say if she should say anything right now, she wasn't amazing with advice or anything so no telling if it'd work. But the boy looked so...upset, and it was hard for her to stay in this miserable silence like this, she shuffled in her seat and tried to spit something out. 'Well, no one's really perfect, we all do kinda dumb things.....but forgiveness and figuring things out is kinda apart of it too...", she thought back to what katrina talked to her about, "I mean, judas and i fight but we still are friends and we forgive and figure it out together...I mean, yeah you screwed up but....that doesn't mean we couldn't be friends i guess....no pressure though, i know it's not something you're used to...but you still can if you want to....you don't gotta be alone...". He was thinking, and they stopped speaking for a minute as sky looked over the beautiful view of the forest and landscape, it was rather peaceful up here, no wonder he went up here. It looked like a good place to clear your mind and she took a deep breath before turning back to the prince, "Mind if i stay here a little while? I kinda need a break as well...". He was silent but he still nodded and the two sat on the roof together and looked over the horizon, lost in thought. - "Dad....look, for one night? Please.....I know you're stressed and grandma and grandpa are sorta flipping out but Bernard's my friend and i just want him to come over for one night. Judas gets to invite sky over all the time...and I know i'm kinda asking a lot from you...but...can it really hurt?", Landon awkwardly stumbled at his father's desk, geez hours of practicing in front of a mirror and this was the best he could do for something like this? He probably looked pathetic, trying to explain his reasoning as to why this place was safe enough to bring his friend over, but he'd be dumber for not trying to give it a shot at least. His mom was on his side mostly but he needed both parents to help approve and his dad could be a bigger challenge sometimes. Landon as per usual, wasn't typically a very good social person, bad with eye contact, bad with figuring out what to say most of the time, and stumbling and his words quieting down more often....this was too important to fail and he still seemed to be struggling. Though Tom didn't seem upset with his attempts, in fact he looked amused and a little impressed, "Oh trust me, you mother talked to me about this beforehand, she knows how much this means to you...rest assured we are looking into it but it's complicated, it's hard enough worrying for you and your brothers and all the citizens who live here....not to mention the girls who now are temporarily staying here, adding another kid on top of that might only make us more anxious about him getting hurt then we already were...". "Yeah but i mean-". "We get it, but it's hard thinking about pleasantries when so much else is going down...we're worried...". "I'll watch him myself....he'll be my responsibility..."., he argued, "I can totally keep an eye on him, he's my friend anyway, he'll stick with me. He's not the type to go wandering around the castle or anything...I promise, I'd just like to have him over for dinner one night...". Tom placed his feet up on the table and thought for a moment, leaving landon more frustrated then he already was. "Me and your mother still are going to have to talk about it i'm afraid....it's something we'll have to plan...and make sure we don't have any further problem...maybe we can convince heka to turn off portaling in out area somehow?". "Can you at least try to do it sooner? "Looking into it" doesn't feel like a total..."yes"", he rambled on, sounding more and more frustrated, "Look, I just don't feel like i can wait on this, bernard's moved like...7 times...SEVEN, what if he moves again and we....he stops wanting to hang out with me...? Because he has more present friends he likes better...?", his voice got sadder and his shoulders sagged at the thought, "I just want a chance..". Tom was about to say more when another knock was heard on the door, judas stepping in shorty after and only making landon more uncomfortable with this situation. Tom looked happy to see his older son, standing up and ushering him over, "Judas! Oh good....I've been wanting to see you...". He stopped, and ushered to his brother, "Well dad, I actually was looking for landon, I heard he was here so....am i interrupting something important? Cause i can wait if you both-". "No no, it's fine, we're about finished anyway....landon, we'll work on it, I promise....we'll let you know as soon as possible....". Landon huffed and stood up, "Fine, i guess i'll be on my way then, i'll see you later judas since you need to talk to dad nor or something..". Judas was about to say something but he left in a huff, tom's hand resting on the boy's shoulder, "It's ok, give him some space....you can talk to him later tonight when he's a little better...". 'What-". "He wanted to invite bernard over...". "Ohh.....lemme guess, it was complicated because of-?" "yeah..". There was silence for a moment before tom turned his attention back to the thing he'd been waiting all day to do. Judas could tell he was antsy, for a moment worried the news was something incredibly horrible until tom's face became softer and a little sadder as a result. The panic judas had reduced as the demon worked himself up to say what he wanted to saw, coughing and calming himself down to keep himself from panicking or backing out. "Judas...I finally am ready....to talk about what happened the night I created you...". The boy froze, his body tensing and a chill running down his spine, though as he looked at his father he softened, Tom looking as though he might cry here and there. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long but I think we gotta talk about it, with everything going on right now and no telling what could happen it's best i probably fess up...shouldn't i?" Judas on instinct rubbed his arm and sighed, maybe he shouldn't have pushed his dad into this, did he even want to know? Of course he did, but would he regret it? "Dad...I-". "No.....I'm going to tell you...I thought about what you said and i'm going to do it.....I've been stalling it for too long at this point and I know you've been wanting answers or at least...me to tell you the whole story about your creation. Jude, I'm sorry i held off talking about it for so long, it's just....it's not an easy thing for me to really talk about...". Jude silenced himself, understanding, guess landon would have to wait till after they got this off their chests. He stepped forward. Then with a snap of his fingers, his bookshelves in the corner parted, an entrance behind them that judas hadn't seen before as his father ushered him to follow. Of course his father had a secret room from his office, why wouldn't he? It was a pretty dark tunnel though, Tom holding a flame in his hand as the bookshelf closed behind them, The underworld was well know to be rather creepy and dark but this was a whole level of unsettling as tom lead him down the corridor and some stairs. "Back when your mom wanted a baby, we....well we were originally going to adopt...we made plans and everything.....only to find out....the underworld wanted us to have a blood-related child to take over the throne....they wanted us...me specifically...to produce a biological heir first...", he sighed as they walked together, judas listening closely, he was well aware of at least knowing his parents were going to adopt first, but not much of the reasons why they didn't. "For people who wanted a biological heir their feelings sure seem mixed how i came out...". "Eh, the demons don't mind as much, i think they're anxious about you doing something so awful it ruins the whole kingdom, but they worried i would do the same thing so it's typical of them....the mewmans and everyone above us are much more anxious, i guess the underworld is more numb to it then they are.".. He patted judas on the back to comfort him, "I'm half mewman, the underworld was just as anxious about me on the throne between my anger issues and if me being part mewman would make me too soft....and i guess they were right in that mindset...i was softer then most other kings...". "Grandpa always said him being king was a pain but you and grandma made it all worth it...", tom smiled, "Yeah, he had it a little rough too, honestly he fought his way to make sure i was born in the first place...between the demons being anxious about it and the fact they didn't know if i'd exist at all....it wasn't easy for him...and your mom, they fought for the adopting thing but unfortunately that was one battle we couldn't win in, not even with your grandparents backing our choice up....". Then he gulped, closing his eyes and stopping in his tracks, "I....I know it's common for the royals to well....find someone else to have a child with if their partner becomes infertile, or are overall just unable to have children with, and yeah...sky managed to be born from butterfly magic but that spell was still a new revelation, tricky to process, and was entirely suited for her species....demons don't entirely work the same way...you make a mewman, you use mewman magic...you make a demon...you need to use demon magic...". "And this is where great grandma Judith came in right? You always said i was named after the woman who created the spell i ended up made from...", Tom had to commend him for remembering so much about his creation throughout the years, even if it were bits and pieces of it. "She was a bit of an eccentric, but she was also at a point of war with a bunch of invaders and as a result she would come up with new ways to help the kingdom improve for the sake of protection. She.....ended up helping..". "Well....yeah....I refused to be with anyone but your mother...some royals were comfortable with it, i just wasn't one of them...so i did some looking of my own...relicor helped though honestly he was a little grumpy i choose not to mate with someone else but....whatever. So i did a little digging and it turns out our great grandmother Judith had a buried spell down there....though....there was good reason they buried it down there apparently....since...it was used...for armies...", he kept walking with judas following close behind and the boy could tell his father was getting sadder. "She had created the spell to create soldiers, to help fight our battles and protect our land without risking the lives of our actual citizens....the spell however, was imperfect as all the demon soldiers knew was war and were too dangerous to keep around when they went rouge...though in retrospect, taking jobs away from our people and possibly leading to overpopulation with creatures who seemed to have no humanity was most likely a really bad idea...", he paused as he came to a door, "But...it was the only spell i had to work with in your creation...". "You couldn't create your own?". "I tried, but i'm not very good at creating my own spells as much as learning them...so i decided, maybe there was a chance i could take this mess of a spell and change it, modify it into maybe making well...a baby, into you.". Tom leaned his head against the door now, his hand running down it softly, "I planned it so well, i got help from the queen of mewni, from family members, from any magic professional i could and overall it was so much better then i could've expected...i could make a real child, create life from magic...". He was crying, turning to look at judas, "I wanted to surprise marco with you...you were so perfect when you came out, just the most beautiful thing i had ever seen in my life...". The man was smiling through his tears and he tried to wiped them away, smearing his usual fancy eyeliner as he tried to compose himself and get through the hardest part, "But i...I still managed to screw up a few details, it...it didn't matter much at first of course, i mean, different type of horn? That's fine, i have older family members with those, perhaps your looks and colors leaning too much one way or another? Who cares...you were amazing regardless of that to me...but....then I found out when i did the spell...something came along with it...". "The monster arm...". "Yeah...". There was silence. "I could've stopped it if i had tried harder, if i had worked out the kinks, or just gave it and had a child with someone else like they all wanted me too...I just....i really wanted to make marco happy and wanted to do this and...I ended up hurting you...And i can't take it back either...". He shook his head, "It was a nightmare worrying about you, you were one of the most important things i ever had and i was the one that had also ruined your future and make people afraid of you..". Judas was silent, still trying to process everything currently being explained and trying not to ball up into tears despite his eyes and emotions fighting him on that front. "I was so worried if i told you...you'd hate me...you'd....you'd never forgive me for the pain your went through....they lacked up your arm, they wanted to cut it off, my own parents keep trying to help only reminding me i failed...and...It just is something i haven't been able to shake off for years....", he sniffled, holding onto the door handle, "With your brothers i made sure there was no chance of it happening again but for awhile i was afraid to even do it again, your mother was the one who helped me through it....but...there was nothing we could do for you...". "Dad.." "Your brothers and you are so used to you looking up to us, for advice, for encouragement....you always know how much we kick butt and protect you and what were you going to say when you found out your father, the person who is determined to protect you....also gave you something that has terrified you your entire life...". He opened the door to show his private study, it looked much like a dungeon and was full of forbidden books scattered around. The place was practically like a witch's home, with cauldrons, and potion materials scattered around, his father was an everyday mad magical scientist apparently. "Wow...". "You were born...er....made here....". "You haven't been down here since mason was made...have you?". "No....I haven't....and hopefully that trip was the last time anyone was down here as well..."., The torches of the dark room suddenly all lit up, giving judas a better view of the place as he took a look around, the place was dusty alright, hadn't been touched in forever. Considering mason was 13, this place had enough time to collect more then enough dust and judas sneezed a couple times wandering around it, his father walking behind him slowly. Judas stopped in front of a particularly old cauldron and placed his hand on it, "You made me here....right? It feels familiar....". Tom nodded and leaned against a pillar nearby, watching the flames around him flicker and his ears twitching at small noises of rats scurrying around the mostly silent room. "Yeah....it was used....pretty old pot honestly....but i guess i'm a little soft for it since it helped me bring you boys into this world despite it's age...". Judas ran his hand across it, dust coating his hand as he looked over it, "Y'know, despite knowing that I was made...it can still be hard to process it....seeing this though...it does help....". The king understood, crossing his arms and trying to compose himself better as he dried his tears, "Y-you're taking this better then i thought you would....I....I was expecting the worst...". The boy turned around and looked at his father, brows furrowed, "What did you think would happen....?". "That you wouldn't forgive me for your curse...I know i haven't, even your mom who blamed themselves because they had no idea that maybe the curse was still lingering inside of them but i couldn't blame them for that, even star tried to take blame for giving that curse to marco in the first place and her being the reason it even existed but it's no one's fault but mine...that arm thing happened so long ago and i should've been the one to prevent it happening to you...", he had stopped crying though the sadness still lingered as he stepped away to look at his dusty old papers scrawled on some of his work desks, all the stuff he did in planning the spell. "I spent so long trying to get it to work, i created rats as prototypes and they worked out fine but i should've tested more...i got too eager to have kids and surprise marco and it's been haunting me for too long....look i just....i knew the arm situation hurt you so much and it lead to so many problems so i just....I got worried telling you it was my fault would.....make you and your brothers hate me...", he leaned against the dusty desk now, looking over his old scrawl and failed notes as judas came up next to him. "I...I'm not good with....hurting people, especially not people I care about...I-I knew i had to tell you someday....but....I wasn't sure when...". "I don't hate you...", judas started, only to be quickly interrupted. "But you are mad with me....you don't have to lie to protect my feelings, i know you are...i would be too in your shoes....you're a nice boy judas but i know you're not truly forgiving of my mistake, it's hard to forgive someone who gave you something like that....", he sighed and leaned on the desk next to his dad, "Grandpa thinks you and mom have given up trying to help me....I guess another reason you didn't want to do much else was-". "We didn't want to hurt you any further? Yeah...". "Do you think i can be cured?", it was probably a wasted question, and he wasn't sure his father would have a real answer for him, but it was better then nothing right now. "I don't know....we tried a lot of different ideas but to no avail...", his eyes closed as he listed off whatever he could, "We tried the spell, we've tried healing potions, we've even been crazy enough to take you to the magic dimension, hoping it'd cure you like it does for most corrupt magic...but i guess it being fused into your dna makes it a whole different case, it's not a separate entity to this stuff so it doesn't see it as something to cure like other cases...". Silence once again, though at this point it became expected during a serious conversation like this, trying to talk about it was hard enough as is, especially since it took them so long to go into it before now. The demons looked between each other, nothing but silence in a dusty old room as the pair were lost in thought. Tom seemed to be hate being here, the lingering emotions still fresh on him as he pressed his head against the desk in shame. But then he felt a hand on his shoulder, judas was starting to smile, it wasn't an entirely happy smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. "Thanks for taking me here and telling me...I really do appreciate you letting me know...". He took another look around the room and stood up fully, "Y'know....maybe we should clean this place up...get all your notes together, dust it, put it back in working condition....you've put it the dust for so long and I get why but...maybe the place just needs a change for the better, it's where me, landon and mason were made after all....and...I think we should well...stop trying to hide it and bury it forever? It's not all bad if it gave you us is it?". Tom snorted, "No....nothing can be that bad if it gave us you.....". Tom reached over and kissed his son's forehead, and pulled him into a hug, "I'm sorry beyond belief, and i don't think i'll truly get over it.....but...maybe you're right...it's like the times i kept repressing my anger and even marco hated when i did that, said it wasn't healthy for me....or my anger management...". He happily tussled's judas hair, making him laugh naturally and tom smile, "I'm glad we talked about this though....It's....almost like a relief...". He straightened himself and took a deep breath, "I'll send someone to...actually i'll take the research papers myself and lock them away somewhere safe....but i will get some people to help clean tomorrow and perhaps we can turn this space into well....maybe a place for me to actually work on spells again.....if I can get myself back into it...". Judas seemed to like that idea, "We can help if you'd like, maybe it could get our family to do something together for a bit...". Speaking of which. "I suppose we better head up...landon's been wanting to speak with me and-". Tom sighed, "Oh yeah, we better take care of that....", he sounded a little dismal to have to stop talking to his son but he couldn't keep him here forever, they'd have to talk about this more in detail, some other time it seemed. The two started heading back up, tom shutting the door behind him and following his son back up, "I'm just glad now we don't have anymore secrets between us, maybe we'll be able to move past this and maybe truly help find a cure..". "Yeah...", judas mumbled, shoulders sagging, his smile fading away as he felt guilt now well up inside of him. He knew why they couldn't tell their parents, but not his father had poured his heart out to him and he had to go back to doing stuff behind his back, not to mention the research he'd need for nora. He could feel his father patting his back on the way up, feeling a lot better and admiring his son as the relief of judas not being extremely mad at him softened, the boy hiding his fast behind his hood and closing his eyes. "No more secrets...".

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #svstfoe #sky and the forces of the multiverse #eclipsa butterfly #globgor #janstar bby #tomco bby #jackie lynn thomas #spiderslime #tom the demon #tom lucitor #my art #fanfic #kelly

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lunarity2013 · 5 years

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OC Details: Lucy Stone

So, I figured it was high time I told you guys about my Hogwarts Mystery OC! I got most of these questions on here from @thewasp1995 (Go check out his OC David, btw, it’s super detailed and so cool!) I really hope you guys enjoy!

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Name: Lucille Maria Stone

DOB: October 16, 1972 (turned 12 during her first year)

Parents: Candace and Sean Stone

Siblings: Nathan Samson Stone (oldest, 9-year age difference, Ravenclaw), Casey Andrew Stone (youngest, 6-year age difference, muggle)

Nationality: Irish

Ancestry: Muggleborn

House: Hufflepuff

Height: as of Year 4, she's 5'1". She doesn't get much taller until after graduation, stopping at about 5’3” by age 25

Eyes: large, round, dark brown

Hair: waist length, light brown, wavy

Sexuality: Demisexual, hetero-leaning

Likes: reading, writing, singing, helping others, cheering her friends on, card games, charms, astronomy, ancient runes, nifflers, cats

Dislikes: being the center of attention, hurting people, fighting, doctor’s offices, spiders, clowns, being betrayed, baking (she’s bad at it)

Friends: Rowan (best friend), Ben (best friend), Penny (surrogate sister), Charlie (competitive best friend), Bill (surrogate brother), Tonks (good friend), Barnaby (crush), Tulip (good friend), Andre (friend)

Enemies: Merula (formerly), Ismelda (thinks her constant threats are a big red flag), Rakepick (evil), Snape (his decision), Nathan (depending on the game's ending)

Neutral: Skye (she helps tutor her), Talbott (more Penny’s friend, but she enjoys seeing him), Merula (after finding Nathan), Liz (Barnaby and Charlie's good friend), Murphy (he's cool)

*Badeea, Jae, Diego, and others to be decided at a later date, after I actually meet them in-game*

Love Interest: Barnaby Lee

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Strengths/Weaknesses/Hobbies:

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What’s their personal philosophy? Do they even have one?

For much of the earlier portion of her life, Lucy’s motto would be “do unto others and you would have them do unto you”. Up until about the time Rakepick shows up, and Ben’s secret-keeping, and just the all-around mess that her life becomes when the Vaults come into question, this is what she lives by. After about Year 4? It shifts a bit, focusing her own values and energy towards protecting her loved ones and innocent people from those who would cause harm, and doing whatever necessary to stop them. And after finding Nathan, she begins to include him in the latter.

How do they feel about their status and reputation as the curse-breaker in the school?

Lucy was never one for the spotlight, even as a little kid. She was content for years to simply look up to her older brother in his successes, and then later to help her parents with her baby brother, showering him with love and attention. Actively searching for the Vaults, and subsequently breaking the curses within, was only part of her plan to try and find some closure as to her brother’s disappearance (something she has convinced herself he was merely a victim of and not an active participant, to save herself grief of her brother not being what she thought). She doesn’t like having so many eyes on her, especially for something she knows is dangerous and putting herself and her friends in harm’s way. But every time she tries to back out and leave it be, she gets dragged back in.

Did they get sorted into the Hogwarts House they expected to? Did the Sorting Hat have any problems sorting them? Or did it not even have to touch their head?

Before Nathan’s disappearance, she would have loved to consider herself lucky enough to be a witch, let alone be sorted into her brother’s house. After his disappearance, however, she had mixed feelings about the idea of sharing his crest and colors, and possibly having more eyes on her than before. Her values lined up differently than his, however, and the Sorting Hat gave her an out in the form of Hufflepuff house. She was still a little disappointed by being so far from her brother’s life there, but years later, she’d swear up and down that being put in the house of fairness, honesty, and loyalty is where she truly belonged.

What’s their personal style?

Lucy wears a lot of early Autumn colors, usually. Lots of oranges, yellows, browns, and olive greens are kind of signature to her style. She typically wears things that make her feel cute and kind of kid-like, so over-large sweaters with skirts or overall shorts and dresses with print tops (floral or stripes, typically). She usually pairs both with comfortable boots and long socks. She wears her hair down most of the time, except when actively exploring the Vaults and when studying for final exams.When it gets cold, she’ll sometimes “borrow” sweaters from her friends to stay warm (usually Bill and Barnaby).

What are their coping strategies for dealing with everything (the Vaults, Jacob, etc.), if they have any?

Lucy has terrible coping mechanisms for her problems, unfortunately. She convinced herself early on that her brother had probably been killed by the Cursed Vaults while trying to help protect others from the curses, and is thus even more broken up when she eventually does find him and sees what kind of person he’s really become. She tries at the start of every year to ignore the signs of another Vault opening, just trying to live a normal, Hogwarts-student life, only to be dragged into it when people have already been attacked or hurt. After the incident with the dragon and Rakepick, she tries to close herself off, thinking it’s because they’re so close to her that her friends keep getting hurt. It doesn’t work, and her friends end up finding her and hugging her as she cries about everything that seems to go wrong with her life.

What electives do they take throughout their time at Hogwarts?

If she could, she would take every class available because it was so hard to choose just a few! In the end, however, she settled on Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Ancient Runes, because Alchemy was only for 7th years, and Arithmancy was “just magic math”. Muggle Studies was almost chosen instead of Divination, but Luc decided she wanted something a little more challenging. (She didn’t realize her patience was what would be tested lol).

Are they in any clubs or extracurricular activities? What about Quidditch?

It’s really hard to find time to do extracurriculars when you’re trying to protect people from being frozen in ice blocks or sleep-walking into an acromantula nest. She did join the Frog Choir after third year, though unfortunately drops out between 5th-6th year to focus on her studies (and the Vaults). She occasionally goes to the music club, though is not an official member. Unfortunately, Lucy may be a decent flyer, but isn’t quite cut out for Quidditch. Besides, she’d rather be in the stands (huddled and warm) while watching her friends play instead. Sometimes she’ll help Madame Pomfrey with healing students in the Hospital Wing, but the smell of the potions and medicines reminds her of the doctor’s office, so she wouldn’t ever do it for a living.

How studious are they? What kind of studying strategies do they use? Do they have any study groups with their friends?

Lucy is a stickler for good note-taking, bringing a bunch of spiral notebooks and colored gel pens and highlighters with her every year to take “proper” notes to share with her friends during their weekly study sessions. She and Rowan usually lead for most classes, though Penny takes charge for Potions, Ben (and Rowan and Bill, sometimes) lead for Charms, and Charlie and Barnaby for Care of Magical Creatures. Lucy, Rowan, and Bill sometimes help some of the younger students set up study groups as well, and often let the younger Weasley siblings and Cedric join their sessions, too. Liz doesn’t always study with them, but will when she needs to, Tulip and Tonks only show up when forced or bribed, and Skye was wrangled into coming once, but got everyone off task getting into a trash-talk showdown with Andre over the Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw game the following day; everyone else either has a different group to study with or refuses to do so entirely.

How willing are they when it comes to breaking school rules?

Lucy hates getting in trouble, since it’s being put under a spotlight in a more negative context for her. The first three years of school, she tries whatever she can to avoid breaking the rules when possible. After the Fear Vault is closed, however, she starts loosening up a little bit. She still doesn’t like to break the rules, but she’ll do it with less coercing, and gets even sneakier to get away with it.

Do they hang out with any of their friends over breaks? If so, which one(s) and what do they do?

Living all the way out in Ireland, just outside of Dublin, it’s a bit harder to get to visit her friends before she heads into London for her school shopping at the end of summer holiday. Charlie and Bill make use of the fireplace to invite her over for dinner a few times during the break, flooing her there and back without much hassle. She makes time to spend with Rowan specifically during the summer, inviting her over to spend a week or so every year, and Rowan inviting her for the same amount at her house right after. She gets an owl (a cooky brown owl that her little brother named Bernard) for her family to send her mail during the year, and uses him herself to keep in touch with the rest of her friends until September rolls around again.

After they graduate, do they fall off the map and keep a low profile? Or do they continue to exist in the public eye?

After deciding very early on that she didn’t much care for being the center of attention, once she had the opportunity to fade into obscurity, she took it. She eventually married Barnaby and moved with him to Romania, where he and Charlie work together with dragons. Lucy decides a little later on to document some of her childhood, but feeling awkward about writing her own life story down, changes the names and some of the details to instead create a fictional book series for kids. It later gets published under a pseudonym and achieves moderate success in both the muggle and magical worlds.

How does their career path differ from what they thought they’d be doing? Or does it differ at all?

It took Lucy her entire life to figure out what she wanted to do. At Hogwarts, when asked what career path she wanted to pursue, she was so shocked that she asked if she could “just go back to bed”. She decided to take whatever classes could be most broadly considered for a number of professions, and even then wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do once she left Hogwarts. She decided to handle her personal life first, cheering her friends on as they found their paths, and then going with Barnaby so he could achieve his dream. It was only later, after beginning to just write things down, that she realized how much she enjoyed doing it.

Do they have any hobbies? What about any talents or aptitudes?

She loves taking some time to just goof off with her friends, playing Gobstones or getting some Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. She’ll spend some gloomy weekends curled up in a big armchair in the library, quietly reading to herself (and later, helping Barnaby with his dyslexia). She’s also a major card shark, winning almost every muggle card game she’s ever played and often tricking her friends into playing with her and losing anything from candy to wizard cards to even money, on occasion. She’s particularly good in Charms class, as well as Astronomy and Ancient Runes.

Do they have any favorite spells?

She likes spells that can used to help others, like Episkey or Protego. She has a certain fondness for Expecto Patronum, of course. She also likes using Lumos, to light up her bed behind the curtains after a bad nightmare.

What’s one thing they did or thought as a child that they later look back and cringe about?

Long after she and Barnaby finally get together, they both end up hearing about the bets their friends placed on their relationship and how lovesick they apparently acted before asking each other out. Tonks and Tulip will sometimes act out their mutual pining at lunch or at the Three Broomsticks, leaving both of them flustered and cringing over just how insufferable they must've been before they realized their feelings were returned. If she could go back and do it over, she might almost be tempted to have just kissed Barnaby at the Celestial Ball and avoided the whole mess. Almost.

If they could travel anywhere at all in the world—money, time, and language not being an issue—where would they go and who would they take with them?

It's a tough choice between some very good options, travelling to historical landmarks across the globe with Rowan, getting tasty food in Paris with Penny, or taking her family for a nice, normal vacation to Disney in the States. But eventually, she'd probably decide on travelling the world looking for various beasts and creatures with Barnaby, and writing about their adventures.

If they’re an Animagus, how easy was becoming one for them? Were they happy with their Animagus form? Or did they want it to be something different?

Lucy studied up on being an animagus with Talbott while at Hogwarts, but couldn't bring herself to actually become one until after graduation. She remains an unregistered sparrow animagus even after Voldemort is finally defeated. She would've liked to be maybe some kind of cat, but can't deny that being so small and being able to fly are some great advantages when the second war rolls around.

Do they like what they see in the mirror?

Had it not been for her magical abilities making themselves known as she grew up, she might've gone through all of primary school unnoticed. As it was, kids often ostracized and ridiculed her for being weird and different until she finally went to Hogwarts. Between that and the guilt she carries for everyone that gets hurt by the Vaults, it takes her a very long time to come to terms with herself and her self-worth.

How good are they at taking compliments?

Lucy is pretty decent at taking compliments, so long as it's not a bunch all at one time; she gets anxious when too many people try and talk to her at once. When Barnaby compliments her, though, she gets flustered and stumbles over her words while blushing really bright, almost blocking out her freckles.

How much do they trust their friends?

Lucy trusts those she keeps close to an almost impossible degree. It can sometimes lead her to trouble, such as leaving her vulnerable to pranks by Tonks or Tulip.

Are they pretty self-reliant? Or do they like to go to their friends for help?

At first, she's much more willing to do things as a group, having her friends' backs as much as they have hers. Later on, however, she begins closing herself off, trying to take on everything herself to avoid her friends getting hurt because of her. It doesn't last very long, however, as they all work better as a team.

Who is their favorite Weasley? Or can they not choose?

Ginny and Ron are just too cute, from what little she's seen of them. Bill is like another older brother, and she loves him dearly. She and Charlie are great friends, but anything and everything becomes a competition with them, starting with a "who knows more about dragons" contest that she actually won in their 2nd year. They could almost have been considered rivals up until later on in Year 4. Percy is alright, she Guesses, but even she thinks he needs to loosen up a bit. And she spends most of her time trying to just keep the twins separated from Tonks and Tulip, if only to avoid the Apocalypse.

What’s the thing they like least about themselves?

She's a little stuffy about rules, she worries too much, her actions and choices keep putting people in danger, and FFS, she faced a DRAGON and still can't kill one measly little spider??

What’s the thing they like most about themselves?

She cares about her friends and family, she would never go out of her way to betray them or to hurt others. She takes pride in the lives she's helped and saved.

How bad is their temper? Do they tend to lash out at others or themselves?

Her temper only gets really out of hand when someone she cares about gets hurt. She can usually handle someone hurting her with nothing more than a few years, but attack the people she cares about? That'll be the last thing you ever do.

What’s their biggest regret in life, if they have any?

She blames herself for far too many things. She wishes Ben hadn't been hurt and controlled by Rakepick, she thinks she could've done more to help and support him. She feels like if she had been more observant as a kid, she might've seen something going on with Nathan and could've stopped his disappearance. She's terrified about how the two of them being so involved in the Cursed Vaults with effect Casey as he grows up, and if he'll end up inheriting their legacy or not, if it might get him killed.

What kind of first impression do they tend to leave on others?

Lucy is sweet, doe-eyed, and a little naïve. A pretty face, very smart, but very open and trusting. Would apologize to you if you poured soup into her lap. Most would either want to protect the sweet, innocent child or absolutely take advantage of her trusting and kind nature.

What is the achievement they’re most proud of?

She once managed to eat an entire tin of her mom's homemade butter cookies without vomiting (her mom isn't a very good cook, and definitely can't bake). But now she's expected to eat at least some every time her mom bakes them when she's home. (Just another advantage to being away at a boarding school most of the year).

Do they like having photos taken of themselves?

She's a little camera shy, depending on who she's with; any groups larger than maybe 5 and she'll try to duck around and take the picture herself instead. But small groups, she can handle it. And she'll take any photo with Tonks, so long as she changes something about her appearance to take the main attention off of her.

What’s one big way that your MC differs from the in-game canon?

Lucy does not like searching for the Vaults. She would have been content with maybe a few of his journals and an official, personal explanation from Dumbledore. Sh didn't need this. She doesn't want to be the one fixing this, but apparently no one else knows how or cares to try, so she feels responsible. She's also not in the same house as her brother.

If they’re an Animagus, why did you choose the form for them that you did?

Lucy becomes an animagus much later than in canon. She becomes one right before the 2nd war, in order to evade detection. She becomes a little sparrow bird, small and common enough to escape notice. I chose it because of its relation to the second Fable game, whose protagonist is named "Sparrow".

--------------------------------------------------

So, I hope ya’ll enjoyed! Let me know if any of you have any more questions!

(Edit: I am so sorry about the picture formatting, I know its hideous, but I have somehow lost the ability to use my mobile app to fix it (no fucking signal, my ass) but I promise I will try again tomorrow, when I am far away from the lack of signal at my house.)

#hphm #hphm mc #hphm oc #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery oc #jacob's sibling #oc details

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ariadenassau · 4 years

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AMERICANA TASK 001

LAYER ONE : THE OUTSIDE (OOC)

name: Ariadne Marie de Nassau

meaning of name: Ariadne is a Greek name, meaning “chaste” or “most holy”. Marie is a French version of Mary, and the meaning is debated, but can mean “sea of sorrow” or “rebellion”. Her last name, de Nassau, is literally “of Nassau” — she is a part of the House of Nassau.

aliases: Aria is her nickname from childhood and her preferred name.

place of birth: Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

race: Caucasian

nationality: Dual citizenship with France and the United States.

gender: Cis-female

sexuality: Mostly heterosexual

profession: A freelance journalist

eye color: Dark brown

hair style/color: Straight, chestnut brown hair to her shoulders, usually partly braided or in a plait.

height: 5’4” (164 cm)

clothing style: Simple, tailored, and clean-cut, Aria dresses in neutrals and soft materials. She's partial to creamy ivories and tans as opposed to bright colors, with the occasional baby pinks. The only jewelry she wears is a simple gold pendant and a sapphire ring, her birthstone.

best physical feature: Her eyes — both soft and piercing at the same time, the eyes are truly the window to Aria’s soul.

appearance: Very soft and muted, yet luxurious. Aria is from wealth, which shows, but she never flaunts it. She doesn’t wear much makeup and avoids showing too much skin. She looks professional and pretty, but not someone you’d turn around and look at twice in New York.

weight: 110 lbs (50 kg)

complexion: Fair during the winter, slightly tanner during the summer, as Aria darkens easily under the sun.

build: Slight and petite, she is quite skinny and small, without very many curves.

voice: Gentle, she rarely speaks over a shout. She doesn’t like to yell and upturns the ends of her sentences, as if she’s always a bit unsure of herself. She has a slight British/European accent from her upbringing abroad.

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE (OOC)

fears: Spiders, roller-coasters, and disappointing her parents — although she is working on that last one,

guilty pleasure: The Bachelor. Aria will never admit to watching them, as she finds the entire idea trashy and degrading, but somehow, she turns it on every week when its airing with popcorn and a glass of wine.

biggest pet peeve: People who chew on their food loudly (bad table manners in general, really.)

ambition for the future: To find out who was behind Abby’s killing and write an entire expose on it.

one bad habit: Popping her pimples and skin blemishes.

one good habit: Washing the dishes immediately after she uses them.

one habit they can’t break: Her daily iced coffee (or two) from Starbucks.

one they’ve broken: Chewing on her nails.

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS (OOC)

first thoughts waking up: “I need coffee.”

what they think about the most: Deep-set anxieties about her future and identity as an individual person.

what they think about before bed: All the errands and things she needs to accomplish tomorrow.

what they think their best quality is: Intelligence and writing ability.

what they think would completely break them: Finding love, and then losing it.

what they think was the best thing in their life: Discovering that she had a long-lost sister, and getting to reconnect with her.

what they think was the worst thing in their life: Losing that long-lost sister.

what seemingly insignificant memories stuck with them: Her childhood piano teacher smacking her fingers when she’d play the wrong notes.

LAYER FOUR: WHAT’S BETTER? (OOC)

single or group dates: Neither — Aria hates dates.

to be loved or respected: Respected.

beauty or brains: Brains.

dogs or cats: Dogs.

coffee or tea: Coffee.

showering in the day or night: Showering at night.

taking baths or taking showers: Taking showers.

tv or movies: Movies.

writing or reading: Writing.

platonic or romantic love: Platonic.

iced tea or lemonade: Iced tea.

ice cream or smoothies: Smoothies.

cupcakes or cake: Cupcakes.

beach or mountains: Mountains.

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU? (IC)

lie: “Yes — it’s a way to get information that I want out of people. But I never lie to hurt anyone.”

believe in yourself: “I hope that I do. I think that I do. Maybe not.”

believe in love: “I think love is out there, but I don’t know how to find it or if it even exists for me.”

want someone: “Maybe.”

work so that you can support your hobbies or use your hobbies as a way of filling up the time you aren’t working: “Well — neither. Writing is both my work and my hobby. So I guess I lucked out.”

have something you’re reluctant to tell people: “My ‘royal’ status. It doesn’t mean anything.”

have an opinion about sex: “It’s something lovely that can make two people’s bonds stronger, but... I don’t know. I don’t think I have a strong opinion either way.”

have many friends: “I have many acquaintances from work and school, but close friends? Probably not.”

have as many friends as you want: “Yes. I’m a bit of a loner, you see.”

have something to make a scene in public about: “God, I hope not.”

have something to give your life for: “A hundred percent — my career, my writing, and figuring out what the hell happened to Abby.”

have major flaws: “I… get too attached to people. It goes along with having such little close friends. The friends I do have, I keep very close to my heart, which means when I lose them… well, my world falls apart.”

have something you pretend or try to care about: “Um — politics?”

have an image you project: “I think I try to come off as more self-confident than I am. I’m also very polite to most people, even if I don’t particularly think the person is deserving of it.”

have something you’re afraid of: “Isn’t everyone afraid of something?”

think you’re polite or rude: “Definitely polite.”

LAYER SIX: FAVORITES (IC)

favorite color: “Hm. I love baby pink, but I also love cream and ivory as well.”

favorite animal: “Polar bears. They’re so majestic!”

favorite movie: “Lost in Translation. It was such a beautifully shot movie!”

favorite game: “I don’t play very many games.”

sound: “Oh! — the sound of sunny winter mornings back when I was in school in Gstaad. You can hear it when you open a window; the chilly breeze, the sound of snow underneath people’s feet… I miss it.”

song: “It changes, really, but I can always listen to anything by Frank Sinatra.”

band: “Is it cliche if I say The Beatles?”

outfit: “Well, it certainly depends on the season, but for the fall and winter, I love my tan crepe pants, an ivory cashmere turtleneck, and my Acne leather boots.”

place: “Switzerland. I spent most of my years there, and the landscapes are so beautiful.”

memory: “I think the first time I met Abby — I was so nervous, and I just saw her, and we talked for hours in her room afterwards. Her parents made hot cocoa, and we just sat there, laughing, crying… it was so wonderful, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

person: “Abby. Or my mentor back at Harvard. She was the one who helped me curate my writing to what it is now.”

show: “I don’t watch much television.”

LAYER SEVEN: AGE (OOC/IC)

age: 29

date of birth: September 2nd, 1990

day your next birthday will be: Thursday.

zodiac sign: Virgo.

age you lost your virginity: 18.

does age matter: “Age certainly matters if you’re younger, but once you pass twenty-five or so… who am I to judge?”

LAYER EIGHT: PERSONALITY (OOC)

moral alignment: Neutral Good.

enneagram: 4 - The Individualist

four temperaments: Melancholic

tropes: the soiled dove, the lost soul, the contrite, the taciturn

archetypes: The Sage/Innocent

tarot cards: Temperance

compassion: yes.

empathy: yes.

creativity: yes.

mental flexibility: at times, no.

passion: yes, for the right things.

stamina: yes.

physical strength: not much.

battle skill: not at all.

agility: a bit.

strategy: she’s always planning for her next move, so yes.

teamwork: yes, but she needs to be the leader.

strength: so much emotional strength.

intelligence: yes.

wisdom: partly, but still trying to find it.

dexterity: none; Aria has a rare muscular dystrophy that degraded the muscles in her hands and fingers.

constitution: a hundred percent.

charisma: only on certain occasions; otherwise, Aria is quite aloof.

LAYER NINE: FINISH THE SENTENCE (IC)

i love: “... good food. Can you blame me?”

i feel: “... lost.”

i hide: “... my feelings, my emotions, my thoughts.”

i miss: “... Abby.”

i wish: “... that I could know where life is taking me.”

i hate: “... people who think they can take advantage of my kindness.”

LAYER TEN: FAMILY (IC)

relationships: “I had a boyfriend. It’s awkward to talk about really, but he dumped me. Quite an awkward situation.”

parents: “My father is Prince Jean Louis, sixteenth in line for the throne in Luxembourg. My mother is Princess Charlotte Julie, formerly Charlotte Julie Vanderbilt.”

siblings: “Just Abby, who was fathered by my father and another woman. She was given up for adoption when she was a baby, which is why I never met her until I grew up.”

children: “No — although, maybe in the future.”

favorite childhood memory: “Oh — my childhood wasn’t that fun. But I guess, early on, my parents did take me out on trips on the boat in lakes in the South of France. Those were always nice.”

favorite childhood toy: “My stuffed bunny Juliette. I still have her.”

embarrassing story: “I fell asleep once in a bowl of yogurt in class. I was so tired staying up studying for an exam, that during it, I was eating my breakfast, and just… fell asleep.”

favorite family member: “Abby. I’m not very close to my parents, or anyone from my family, really.”

#americanatask001 #( there are things no one knows but she keeps them close to her heart | about. )

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forestwater87 · 5 years

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Are you still doing the ship meme? Well, I have a challenge for you: (evil grin) DAVID, DANIEL AND GWEN IN A POLY RELATIONSHIP! :D

Oh, sweet Moses. I normally do these from oldest received to newest out of fairness, but … Christ.

Let’s do it, then:

So here’s the thing: if it includes dan//vid, I tend to be in the “hell no” category. If it has any Gwen whatsoever, the lowest I can possibly give it is “eh” because I love her beyond all reason. So I’m splitting the difference on this one.

and i’ll also tell you who:

proposes

Fucking … how would any of this even happen, though? There is no universe where I can get these three together that makes literally any sense. Fuck. Fucking. Goddamn it.

I mean, obviously it’s David, right? Who else would it be? Gwen isn’t gonna propose to Daniel and risk being humiliated – seriously, the closest I can see between them is some sort of kismeses kinda thing, where they both can’t stand each other but keep falling into bed (at least in part for that very reason). David is the glue that holds them together, if anything could. His heart is very full of love and it can sorta spackle over some of the rougher patches (maybe. Maaaaybe).

shops for groceries

Daniel’s presumably at least in part wanted by the cops, and not even Davey can be trusting enough to let Dan anywhere near food. And Gwen … she probably actually ends up doing it the most, even though I initially assumed it’d be David because he’s such a go-getter. But the thing is, David’s a real go-getter when it comes to things he’s actually interested in, but a lot of the times he leaves the grown-up stuff to Gwen to take care of, and I imagine this would be one of them.

kills the spiders

Daniel, hands-down. Gwen would, absolutely, but Dan gets there first and honestly … he probably wanted it more … Gwen just sorta retreats and thinks for a long, long time about why she’s in this goddamn nightmare of a relationship again.

And then David comes to her room and asks if she’ll say a few words about the dead spider, not really because he has any strong feelings about a dead bug but because it gives him a chance to compliment her talents with words and get her mind off their weird boyfriend-roommate-thing, and she remembers.

comes home drunk at 3am

That’s all of them, undoubtedly. Gwen, because she insists she has to be drunk to make Daniel’s presence bearable; Daniel, because he won’t be outdrunk by Gwen of all people (and if you think they’re gonna have sloppy blackout sex in the bar’s bathroom you’re wrong, but only because David will find them and herd them back to decency); and David, because he’s convinced he has a better tolerance than he does, and always gets distracted by the fruitiness of the drinks he favors and forgets how much alcohol they actually have.

makes breakfast

David. Gwen is still asleep, and while Daniel is awake, he’s probably off skulking around doing something cult-y and doesn’t remember to eat most of the time, anyway, so David has to cajole them both into getting some food in them before they stagger out to do their bullshit camp bullshit. (Dan and Gwen’s words, not David’s. Obviously.)

remembers to feed the fish

David is meticulous about feeding the fish – in theory. He does keep getting swept away by other things, so while he made a very careful and colorful feeding chart, he also usually doesn’t remember until late in the evening, at which point he panics and rushes back to the cabin. Where he finds out that Gwen’s already fed the fish, because she’s the goddamn grownup in this relationship and at the camp and just deserves the world (okay, got off track there, sorry).

I could actually kinda see Daniel picking up the slack with the fish, if Gwen was busy and David was off doing his David things. Very reluctantly, and only because he doesn’t want to have to deal with the guilt-grief David would collapse into if he let the fish die, but I also think Dan’s strict adherence to rules could lend a kinda OCD compulsion to it; like once he starts doing something, he keeps doing it because … well, that’s now a Thing he Does. (Gwen//vid could probably get him into a decent number of good – or at least less-bad – habits in that way, come to think of it.)

decorates the apartment

Oh, David. Gwen has a few items she will not part with, so they become part of the decor (if you think the Werewolf of the Month calendar is going anywhere you got another think coming), and Daniel probably would as well, but those things are cult things and are under no circumstances being displayed anywhere in the homestead. He probably has, like, a shed where he keeps his weird cult shit and David and Gwen try not to think about it.

Their place would be adorable and woodsy and absolutely only suit David’s tastes, but somehow the other two don’t mind. It’s … nice, being surrounded by David-ness all the time. It’s cozy.

initiates duets

Oh god, David and Daniel sing all the time. I refuse to think of it as anything too mushy because that makes me a tiny bit ill, but I feel like any duets would either start out or end up as lowkey competitions, because neither of them has any chill and both want to be the best at everything, ever, all the time.

As much as I love the idea of Daniel and Gwen having some sort of “Better Than You”-style song rivalry, I can’t see Gwen ever being up to singing in public and that makes me sadder than anything in the entire world. Because it’d be so fucking great and I want it so bad.

falls asleep first

Do David or Daniel sleep? Probably not, let’s be real. So Gwen falls asleep first by default, even though she often stays up til like 1am, because she’s the only one who really sleeps. David is too much of an insomniac, and Daniel is powered by cult juices that no longer require him to sleep or something.

(Or he’s a crazy fuck. Also a possibility.)

sends the most selfies

Oh, that’s a close call. Gwen takes selfies when she feels cute, David takes them when he remembers to actually be in the frame of whatever he’s taking a picture of/with, and Daniel avoids the camera at all costs because the last picture taken of him was a mug shot and he doesn’t need any updated documentation of his appearance, thank you.

So basically Gwen//vid are a normal couple and also Daniel’s there, Gollum-ing around in the background.

Kinda a good summary of how I see this poly ship working out, actually.

makes the first move

There are a couple interesting ways this could go – because I’m still stuck on the “how the fuck did we get here?” side of things. Gonna toss out some ideas as they occur to me, in no particular order. Pick your favorite:

David and Gwen were already a couple when Dan showed up, and David was having some Complicated Feelings™ about being attracted to their coworker (and some panic; I don’t feel like David would normally feel conflicted about his sexuality, but if he was already in a relationship it’d absolutely feel like cheating). He finally talks to Gwen – especially if Daniel’s flirting with him, which Daniel would because Daniel’s a dick – and she’s okay with letting him explore that side of himself (though she kinda wishes he’d picked someone who’s less the Absolute Fucking Worst; is he a cult serial killer in this version of events? I don’t know; I’m deliberately not thinking very hard about it because no Daniel-centric ship really works if you think about it). So it becomes something of a V with David in the middle, until at some point I imagine Gwen and Daniel get hammered, into a screaming argument, or both, and then do something they both regret and suddenly they’re kinda all a thing and neither Dan or Gwen are quite sure how to feel about it.

Gwen//vid aren’t together, but one or both of them has had feelings for a while; Daniel swans his way into camp and is all charming and a douchebag and a murdering piece of shit, like he is, and … I think David would be more easily won over, because he’s just so sweet and trusting, and so the two of them start something … I imagine David would keep it secret from Gwen, because he knows she’d disapprove, and it turns out she does but whoops she’s also kinda totally jealous as well because she knew him for way longer and he just … swooped in … And then it all comes out and they realize they’re in Love but hey, Daniel, and again I think the V makes the most sense until something triggers Gwen and Daniel to hook up, at which point it kinda closes into something resembling a triangle.

None of them are in a relationship, someone does something stupid and they end up in a weird “friends/frenemies with benefits” situation but David is too soft for that life so Dan//wen just kinda grit their teeth and get along because they both love David too much to let this go, even though they’d really prefer their current relationship of “hating each other (with occasional and regretted benefits,” which was much more their speed.

I half want to find a version of all this that is happier and fluffier but … I just can’t get there from here. David is maybe sweet enough to forgive Daniel for all the child-murdering stuff (again, don’t think too hard about it or it falls apart), but I think Gwen would see right through Dan’s crap and never reach a point of liking or trusting him, and Daniel would feel the same distaste because he really prefers people who fall for his shenanigans and feels unsafe around someone who so clearly isn’t buying any of what he’s selling.

plans spontaneous trips

Where the fuck are they going to go? Who is going to be in charge of that? How on earth do we get there from here?

Seriously, this ship makes no goddamn sense and I do not know what to do with any of this noise. How dare you, Anon.

How so very dare you?

#campcamp #camp camp roosterteeth #what the fuck even would this ship name be?#danvidwen #i guess it's danvidwen #ask forest #ship meme #oh my god kill me #this was insanely difficult and i hate all of it #i mean i will always love daniel and gwen sniping at each other because that's classic ddau fun #but adding romance to it?#and i made david wayyyy too sweet and sunshiny here but he'd have to be basically a saint to ever forgive daniel enough to date him #and since i don't think he's a 'sex without feelings' sort i don't see a kismeses thing working out for him #so it's gotta be genuine romance #which only works if david is kind and forgiving to the point of seeming brain damage #and you don't think too hard about all the heinous crimes daniel's committed #really it's just a very 'don't think about it' ship all around #so like #don't think about it #Anonymous

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kiruuuuu · 5 years

Text

Blitz/Spectre oneshot in which she and Blitz get a little closer. (Rating T, fluff, ~2.5k words) - written for @ruaniamh! Thank you again for commissioning me and I’m glad you’re happy with this piece ♥♥ You can find out all about Quinn “Spectre” Roach here! My commission info is over here :)

In a – as Spectre finds – deliciously ironic twist of fate, Blitz fails to react to her approaching due to the blinding light of the afternoon sun.

She’s crouched behind the low wall marking the beginning of the bridge’s balustrade and waiting for her next victim: Mira’s heavy boots gave her away earlier and allowed the Canadian to catch her off-guard, and even Smoke’s lighter steps proved insufficient as Spectre swiftly climbed a tree when she caught a glimpse of him nearing her position. She’s keen on racking up a few more ‘kills’, her competitive spirit awakened by Bandit’s boisterous claims of ending up as the winner and nurtured by the crisp October air.

Ultimately, it’s a child’s game they’re playing, a more advanced tag – they were all given a piece of fabric and told to tuck it into their trousers’ waistbands on their backs, a little like a bright red tail now trailing after them and marking them as potential targets. If someone manages to snatch it from someone else for safekeeping, that someone is out and has to return to base and whoever has collected the most pieces at the end wins. Simple enough, though Sledge claimed it’d serve to test their senses and spatial awareness, challenge their manoeuvring skills and showcase how well they work on their own for once. Spectre, however, suspects that the mild temperature and unimpeded sunshine played a not insignificant role in this decision to allow Rainbow to roam the fields outside of the base freely.

In any case, she’s not complaining, instead she relishes the fresh air and warming rays on her skin, has always liked this mixture as it keeps her focused and cheerful whereas the sweltering summer sun often leaves her content yet tired. Proof of this are the four stripes of cloth in her pocket, courtesy of a lot of stalking around and observing carefully. Some of the others declined the opportunity to swarm out in order to find a suitable starting spot away from everyone else, and instead tackled each other head on right outside the gate like children playing football for the very first time, all clumped up and shouting. Spectre managed to grab Maestro’s fabric before he even joined the fray and was already halfway over the hill before he noticed her demonic cackling was directed at him.

Right now, she’s listening to the gurgling of the small stream next to her and to footfalls probably wishing they were quieter. A quick peek lets her catch a glance of fair hair, golden in this light, sharp cheekbones, a compact silhouette – she doesn’t need more than a fraction of a second to be sure of who it is. She’d recognise him by the sound of his laugh, the adorable cow lick on the back of his head, the unusually shaped birth mark on his wrist.

Don’t turn around, she instructs him silently and almost kicks herself for doing so. They might be impressively in tune for most of the time, but they haven’t figured out telepathy yet. Slowly, she creeps around the solid stone railing, follows him as he steps down the river bank, probably to check for anyone below the bridge. Anticipation is making her giddy, she’s looking forward to the dumb expression on his face when he’ll realise what’s happened, and so she makes a mistake, produces a noise, causes him to turn around. But the sun saves her.

In the moment of confusion, the second he blinks and squints, she shoots up and reaches around him to get a hold of her prize, yet the sudden movement makes her lose her footing and crash into the solid body; now they’re both flailing (and was that a squeak from Blitz?), an arm wraps around her waist to regain balance where she has none to give – and the next thing she knows is the horizon tilting and ice cold water enveloping both of them.

“Of all the things I wanted to achieve today, a bath in the river was not among them”, Blitz chides jokingly as soon as he’s emerged from the dressing room wearing his spare clothes and a grin which tells Spectre that he doesn’t mind. His hair is sticking up in all twenty cardinal directions simultaneously and she ponders whether to comment on it, eventually deciding against it. She doesn’t want to seem like she’s paying too much attention to his appearance.

“Not like you couldn’t use one”, she shoots back good-naturedly while they make their way towards a well-deserved lunch break.

“What, are you referring to the information retrieval again?”

“You call it intelligence gathering, I call it dumpster diving. Now which of these is a euphemism, hm? Didn’t you have to wade through sewage in Sevilla too?”

“I’ll have you know that both of those missions ended up successful and not everyone can be as limber as you. You probably would’ve climbed along the walls like a spider instead of stepping into that muck.”

Their playful back-and-forth is as familiar as it is comfortable, one of the constants in Spectre’s everyday life she looks forward to the most. Both of them enjoy poking fun at anything and everything, including themselves and each other – which is one of the reasons why they became fast friends. A sunny disposition in their job isn’t that common, usually it entails a much darker, morbid kind of humour. “I definitely wouldn’t have used an entire can of Lynx to get rid of the smell at least. That’s one way to keep the ladies off of you.”

As soon as the comment has left her mouth, she once again feels the impulse to kick herself. Because while Blitz laughs, it sounds oddly hollow to her ears. She shouldn’t have gone there, she knows he’s been wanting someone by his side for a while. She knows he even has someone in mind, overheard Jäger mention it to someone else. Felt strangely betrayed that Blitz would entrust him with this detail and not her, felt a stab of jealousy because who does Blitz call in the early morning after a bad dream? Whom does he send drunk texts which are as illegible as they are hilarious? Not Jäger, that’s for sure. She knows he doesn’t message anyone else, he never does so when they’re out together. She would like to see herself as his best friend but after that she’s had her doubts. If he kept this from her, what else did he keep?

Going down this path is futile and depressing, so she does her best to snap out of it but it takes a few minutes until her smile stops hurting.

A hiss is what finally distracts her mid-chew: “You are a fucking cat, young lady!”

Both she and Blitz snort at Mira’s accusation. “Did she sneak up on you too?”, he asks, amused.

“Please tell me who eliminated you so I can thank them for avenging my honour. You gave me the worst fright I’ve had in a while.”

While Spectre just grins proudly, the German opposite her replies: “More on accident, but we got each other.”

Mira lifts a brow and suddenly, it’s imperative Spectre doesn’t blush so she doesn’t give herself away. All the jokes and questioning glances whenever they playfight or feed each other unhealthy food to create the most disgusting combination are more than enough already. Still. It sounds nice: we got each other. “Is that why you’re looking like a drowned rat?”

“Watch out or you might hit someone in the face with all that charm you’re throwing around”, Spectre grins. Her mauve hair is still damp and probably hanging down sadly, so Mira might not actually be far from the truth – but she finds that she doesn’t mind, no, not at all. She can still feel Blitz’ loose embrace, hears his laughter bubbling up as they dragged themselves out of the stream, shaking the water off like a pair of dogs.

The Spaniard leaves them to their meals, still mock-grumbling, but gets replaced by Jäger immediately. “Can I interrupt you guys for a moment?”, he asks and Spectre idly wonders whether there’ll ever be anything he’d interrupt.

“I don’t know, can you?”, she replies and fights down a giggle when she realises Blitz just uttered exactly the same thing. They exchange a glance and a grin when he lightly kicks her under the table.

For a moment, she’s worried Jäger is going to hurt himself with how dramatically his eyes roll skywards. “Bunch of nerds”, he mutters. “All I wanted to know is whether you’re ready for tomorrow.”

“Of course! Tomorrow is a very special day.”

Blitz’ answer comes so fast that Spectre’s heart skips a beat. Did he – did he remember? She let it slip before, more than half a year ago, didn’t think he paid it any heed, didn’t think he’d care enough. He’s awful with remembering dates, only remembers Sledge’s birthday because it’s the same as his own, and his friends usually remind him of everyone else’s. But could he have -

“Yeah, I know how much you love Halloween.” Jäger earns a nod from Blitz and oh, that’s right. Of course that’s what he means. “You’re coming to Julien’s party too, right, Quinn?”

“Yes”, she replies curtly and contributes no more to the chatter about the Germans’ plans. She’s not hungry anymore.

The next afternoon, Spectre is in a rotten mood and hates herself for it. She adores Halloween, even decided to go all out this year and whip up a full-fledged zombie costume, ordered liquid latex for fake injuries, white contact lenses to max out the creepy and went so far as to buy blood capsules. Her plan was to dramatically announce her insatiable hunger for human flesh at some point during the party, and then gurgle crimson – Rook made the mistake of letting everyone know there’d be prizes for the best costumes and she’s determined to make it to the top three.

Well, was determined.

It’s silly and she knows it, yet this changes nothing. She received the usual greetings and best wishes from her family and friends, had Buck and Frost congratulate her inconspicuously, the two shoving candies and other important Canadian foodstuffs they know she misses into her pockets, and it’s how her birthday normally goes. She refuses to make a big deal of it, keeps it secret so people rather worry about enjoying Halloween than to procure impersonal gifts or, even worse, sing for her, and still -

Part of her had hoped she’d be important enough for Blitz to remember, yet she hasn’t even seen him all day. And the fact that this is what brings her down makes her feel even sillier.

No, she’s going to have a good time regardless. It’s not the end of the world. She’s going to freak everyone out by groaning and reaching out when they walk past, she’s going to unsettlingly stare at people and it’s going to be glorious. Rook hates zombies and she’ll have a whale of a time chasing him around his apartment.

Just as she’s made this decision, her doorbell rings unexpectedly.

For some reason, Blitz is holding a mug with the logo of a local wildlife resort in his hand, looking sheepish and apologetic at the same time. “There’s still time before we have to leave for the party, right?” He sounds out of breath, cheeks as red as his ears from the cold and looks adorable.

“Sure, more than an hour. I’m just starting to get ready.” Frowning, Spectre peers into the mug. “Did you bring… compressed dirt? You’re missing a few tentacles for your Davy Jones costume, I’m afraid.”

Blitz just laughs and enters the place where they’ve spent countless hours together, her kicking his ass at her favourite video games, them attempting to bake together, coming down after intense training or when they’ve just returned after a mission. He prefers visiting her, he’s said as much, thinks her flat is more inviting and homely and she secretly agrees. He toes off his shoes, hangs up his jacket and rummages in his pockets for a few more objects before herding her into the living room, taking his usual spot on the couch next to her.

Nothing gets clearer even as he sets the cup on the low coffee table and places an unassuming envelope next to it.

“What are you doing?”

The genuine confusion in her voice seems to amuse him for some reason. “You’re an idiot, Quinn. Did you think I’d forget? Happy birthday.” And with this, he conjures up a small candle and pushes it into the soft mass inside the ceramic. This is when it clicks.

“Is this – a mug cake?” She can’t believe it.

Blitz shrugs with an embarrassed smile. “I’ve destroyed your kitchen often enough that you know how bad I am at baking. This is all I could -”

A hug cuts him off and he seems happy to reciprocate it instead of talking. His strong arms pull her closer, squeeze her reassuringly and her heart sings. She can only imagine how long he must’ve agonised over what to gift her – because she also knows how bad he is at choosing presents. “Thank you”, she whispers and means so much more, but for now it should suffice. Another squeeze. She could get used to this.

And then the quiet, serene atmosphere vanishes as soon as she opens the envelope. Blitz watches her bounce and flail and cheer for a solid minute before he points out: “There are two tickets. I figured you might not want to go alone.”

“Two tickets to fucking Gamescom?”, Spectre squeaks ecstatically.

“And the flights, and a hotel room.” He seems extremely pleased with how excitedly his gift is being accepted – and this is the best thing Spectre could’ve hoped for, it’s the largest video game convention in the entire world. She’ll get to try out upcoming titles herself, collect all the swag, stroll around among like-minded people and this is amazing. “You can take whoever you like.”

In her exhilaration she misses his tone of voice but doesn’t miss his surprised expression when she punches him in the arm. “You hoser, of course you’re coming with me.”

“Really? I – I mean, I can probably be useful since it’s in Germany, so -”

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go with me even if it was in France, or Canada, or wherever.”

And now she notices his blush still hasn’t disappeared despite his breathing long having calmed down. …maybe the cold wasn’t really its cause. Maybe, just maybe -

“I’d love to go with you”, he says and oh, he’s not really that interested in gaming normally, and he said a hotel room, and maybe, just maybe, he told Jäger instead of her because…

It clicks. And suddenly, she knows with vicious clarity that this is going to be the best birthday of her life. “Elias”, she murmurs and waits until he finally gathers the courage to meet her fond, helpless, hopeful gaze, “do you like me?”

And the bright red colouring Blitz’ face only deepens.

Seems like she won’t be using the blood capsules today after all, not when she’s pretty sure her mouth will be occupied otherwise for the majority of the party.

And only mere minutes later, she starts considering ditching her zombie costume entirely because there’s no doubt they’re going to be late anyway. Now they really, finally, eventually got each other.

#rainbow six siege #blitz #spectre #blitz/spectre #fanfic #commissions #blitz is a dork but that's why we love him #let's hope the cake doesn't taste how it looks

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