#don’t worry about that last tag its purely hypothetical

[skyeoak]

The main difference between Archives and Protocol so far is that the Magnus Institute was a tea workplace and the OIAR is a coffee workplace

What makes a person a monster? Tea

What makes a monster a person? Coffee

[maladaptive-ninja-returns]

It’s The Avengers (03x10)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 3 Episode 10: Safehouse

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline   Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: soft moments

Word Count: It is an achievement to get this chapter out. Imma celebrate it. Oh fanfic Gods! Give me the power!

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

The camera only had space made up with the galactic beauty swirling in deepest green that can put the stars to shame. The black hole seemed to become bigger as the camera has decided to use a snail's pace to zoom out, giving the audience quite the treat into the pool seems to disappear and reappear under the pale lids with unsurprisingly long lashes. Those veritable brows are wrinkled- enough to make one concerned but not enough to force someone to come and sit next to him with an ice-cream sundae as Peter did once- as if wondering something under their hypothetical breaths. The camera panned out more to show those thin lips going thinner, almost into one nearly invisible line. A long breath is drawn in and those long white fingers are made to rest on his chin as he looks up into an endless void and even Javier- who is being recorded by the other tiny drone- is thinking some stuff. The camera panned out further to show him half lying on the pilot seat while his legs rested on the cargo box behind, away from the controls. A true piece of art.

Javier: *signs as he points to his tablet with Loki's live feed* this God could be a fucking model. *fans himself*

It wasn't long before his voice broke the silence. "Maybe it is the food," he contemplates for the room where his only audience is a busy fur-baby licking his nethers. "Or maybe it was the people on Knowhere. Or it was just that...dingy old-" Loki's casually furry brows were now carrying a full frown- "lair. I don't know." The sigh the left his lungs was loud enough to reach to the back while he lifted his legs to ground himself and droop into his own lap, running his hands through his nearly greasy hair. When was the last time he washed them? "Why is she mad, Lulu?" Loki groans, trying to massage his head to get something out of it. Lulu, on the other hand, decided this was the best time to lie upside down and play with the one blue firefly that got stuck in their ship while they were leaving Knowhere. "Why has she locked herself back there?" He raised his head and asked some invisible force before looking at Javier's camera.

Loki: I'm not concerned for her *pretends to shrug* I just *blinks* don't want my ship to be flooded with her tears. Humans just have the tendency to go all out with their hurt and pain unlike some of us. *camera zooms in to his face* *resting bitch face on* Tell a word about this to her and I will cut you.

A click of something in the back immediately heightened Loki's senses to make his elbow slip from the chair, making him look for support long enough to pose in the chair with the nearest piece of reading material like a man lost in a completely different world, doing an award-worthy job of pretending to not see you come in. "Do we have some sort of digestive tablets on board?" Your hoarse voice asked while barely looking around the space. "I feel bloated. It's fucking disgusting." The groan you let out made Lulu sit up and tilt his head in your direction with his fur standing straight on his back. Loki tsked, still not looking up from the catalogue of the best sex robots on the market in Knowhere. "I told you not to eat those Cheese Puffs on Know-" "OH MY FUCKING GOD!!" Your rage-filled outburst caught the god by surprise, making him jolt up enough to be caught by the camera for the amusement of a certain group of people hungry for entertainment. "THosE FUckING chEEse puFFs wOn'T do me as much damage as your BICKERING!!!" The painful frustration that left your lungs made Javier's eyes go wide. Loki turned to look at the camera in pure confusion.

Loki: *a glorious frown on his face* *arms crossed* *bites lower lip* *inhales* *raises finger* maybe she is sexually frustrated? Space can no human touch can do that to you. And she clearly hasn't watched porn since we teleported *scoffs lightly* *rolls eyes* thank Valhalla for that. I no longer have to hear those filthy noises from across the wa- *stops mid-sentence when a mug comes flying to hit him in the head* "Pervert," you call from out of the frame while Loki ruffles his hair to remove the shards of ceramic caught in there. Loki: Okay *stares at the camera* maybe she's not sexually frustrated. *pauses with his lips still apart* *camera pans in* unless this tantrum is a human way of getting my atten- *another mug comes flying*

"Okay," Loki spun around in his chair to put the ship in full throttle for a destination only he knew about, "that's it. I did not want it to come to this but we are landing here." The camera spun to you and your crinkled brows. "We are supposed to get back your juice, man. Stop making unwanted pit-stops." Lulu's camera caught the disgust on Loki's face as he closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. "Stop saying that." "What?" You crossed your arms across your chest, narrowing your eyes while glaring at the back of his head. "Your juice?" "It's my essence." "But it is your juice. You took it out and now you want to put it back in." "The essence was extracted out of me and I need to consume it-" "You know that sounds worse, right?" "..." "Don't worry, baby, we'll get your bad bitch juice." "It's NOT a ju-why am I even arguing." "Because it's a turn on," you muttered under your breath before sitting down with Lulu in your lap and tying your seat belt. "What?" Loki turned his head around. "Nothing." Innocent as ever.

Loki: I think she's forgetting I have good ears. *narrows eyes and puckers his lips*

You: Oh I know he has super-hearing. That's why I leave my laptop on a decent volume with some classic porno on whenever I'm mad at him. *shrugs and leans back in the chair* *camera pans in on your smirk*

On a Planet Unknown The cameras took in the expanse of the barren planet the group had landed on. The ground seemed to have been hit with a drought. There were small hills in the distance and a few craters scattered all over. The star of this solar system shone too far, bright with pink hues on its tails, making everything drown in a tinge of blush. It was hard to miss this strange sentiment on Loki's face. A mixture of nostalgia with a side of something sour. He breathed in this atmosphere, closing his eyes to reminisce something the others did not have a clue about. A serene smile painted on his lips while his skin reflected the baby pink hues with delicate softness. Javier, talented with his work, used his hovering little drone cam to slowly and cautiously pan in on Loki's face, being really patient on the controls in his hands. "So this is where your juice is?" The zooming in stopped as Loki's eyes opened, blinked twice and sighed some of his internal frustration out. "My-" you could see the boiling lines of frustration on his face while Javier caught the suppressed delight on yours- "juice...is not here." "Then why are we here?" "To get rid of you-" You whipped your head faster than he could finish. "-r grey clouds."  Suspicion fresh on your face, you waited for him to continue. "When I'd fallen into the wormhole after my... alleged demise, this was the first place I discovered after a series of misfortunes," Loki exhaled, looking at clean nothingness in front of them. It was not much but Javier zoomed in your face that did a slow shift from the barren view to the sharp face that reflected nothing but a painful softness in those melodramatic hues. "This-" your voice was softer than you wanted it to be- "was your...safehouse?" Loki inhaled and turned to give you a thoughtful look. "In some ways, yes." The hints of smile that were on Loki's face seemed to question the expression on your face as your lips parted in slight horror before he was witnessing you jump away from something and right into his arms with a scream. "Something touched my foot!!!" No one really told Javier to focus on a specific genre yet there he was, letting his camera do a slow-mo on the way Loki's arm came to the rescue of your waist, holding you steady. And close to him. Javier neither missed the frantic grasp of Loki's black shirt under his overcoat by your hands as you turned around to watch what menace had bothered to make you their next victim.

Javier: *signing* I do not know how to activate Lulu's stomach music otherwise I would have added a cheesy track too. *smiles* *somewhere on Earth a boy forgets to breathe*

"Relax," Loki soothed you as he looked down at the familiar purple and pink light crawling up through the cracks in the ground, "here. Look." He did not push you away, in fact, he held you just as he did while you followed his gaze to look at seedling sprouting through the ground and growing leaves and a bud right in front of you in real-time; the bonus being the glow-in-the-dark veins and petals that shone purple and pink. A muted 'Woah' left your lungs while Lulu examined the little plant, tapping at it with his paw to be amused by the ripple he created in the bioluminescent flora.  Loki leaned a little closer to your ear while you were still gawking at the plant next to your feet. "Look up," he whispered. "Huh?" Your eyes instantly went away from the plant towards the field that now had an abundance of these flowers while trees grew at a distance carrying the same effect in their leaves- with purple fire trapped inside them. "What the hell is this place?!" You could barely breathe. Loki, on the other hand, was having a gala time at the expense of your expressions. "There was once a...lets say a conscious planet that went by the name Ego. Ego created an ecosystem that would survive in the absence of a star and when in the presence of it, it would camouflage itself to keep the biome intact, because, you know, greedy neighbours, bad rocks, invading aliens, yada yada." You look at the camera to shake your head. "What you are standing on right now is a chunk of that ecosystem." You looked around once again. "So, this thing was bigger than what it is now?" Loki was delighted by your interest. "Yes. It was ten times the size of the earth. And-" he added with such a gush of stress that you were scared he was going to burst any moment- "it had dinosaurs."

You: *guffaws* Haha! Nerd!

Loki: *suspiciously stared at the camera* What. I have interests too, you judgy clots. *somewhere outside the frame you softly shout 'It's thots!'* Yes. *does not waver his gaze from the camera* That.

"Damn! I could live in this place forever!" Loki narrowed his eyes in slight discomfort. "Weeeellll-" The camera cut to you looking like you saw a ghost. "EGO WAS PETER QUILL'S DAD????!!!!!" You shout right into the frame before your body freezes and the shock disappears into a blank slate. "Wait a second..." The camera was already turning to Loki who was shaking his head and whispering to himself, "She went there."

You: *confusion level: the white guy who went to India instead of Indiana* How did Quill's parent even have sex?!! *camera pans in on the gasp that escapes you* Tentacles! *the camera pans out to show Loki standing next to you with he arms crossed across his chest* Loki: *tired* Pervert.

"This is a dead rock with the remnant prints of Ego," he continued, "Come, let's go inside." Saying that he started to walk in some random direction according to you while bringing his hand for you to take. Your eyes went from those long fingers open and waiting for you before looking at the back of his head. A step more from him and you rushed your hand to take his, wrapping your fingers carefully around his palm. The camera was quick to catch your free hand going for the back of your ear, scratching some itch while silently walking some distance with the God. "Wh-" you cleared the vibrating disturbance in your throat- "where are we going?" "Just a few more steps." And true to his words, a few steps later, Loki stopped, making you pause right next to him. Letting go of your hand- something that made you grip those fingers in the other hand, trying to wring them dry of secrets only you knew- to feel something in the space in front of him with his palm. And when he did, he grabbed the space and yanked it back, revealing the space to give way to a cottage. A small, dark, probably comfy cottage. In the middle of nowhere. Covered in glowing purple moss. While you stood there gaping at the incomprehensible science happening in front of you, Loki undid the padlock on the front door to open and enter first. "Stay outside till I tell you to come in," he ordered, not realising you were too engrossed in the exterior architecture of this little house to listen to him. Javier sent one of his drones inside while waiting outside with you. "Dude!" You exhaled while punching Javier on his arm, "this is heaven!!!" Turning the camera to face him, Javier looked at it and signed 'is it though?'. "Alright, come in," Loki's voice called for you from inside.  "Hiding your porn stash, Loki?" you stated quite rhetorically before the camera found you frozen at the entrance of what looked like a living room. And your eyes stuck on Loki's face softly illuminated by the blue-ish purple flames captured inside a foot long lamp in the shape of a cuboid. You stood there in a ten-second daze, your eyes stuck on the face that worked meticulously with four more similar lamps before turning to look at you, immediately making you throw your gaze at the lamps. "Nice lights," you stated, a little louder than usual, clearly confused by your own pitch. Loki walked around the place, hanging the lamps to help light up the cottage, allowing you, the cameras and Lulu to explore the place more freely. The cottage felt more spacious on the inside. There was a sofa facing a window where you stood, a small but decent workstation behind it next to the wall with small tools stacked by the size and category. The walls were decorated with a league of tools that only Loki knew about. "Is that a Ghili suit?" you had to ask. "Yes," Loki answered without looking from the kitchen, "and no, you cannot try it on." You tsked and Loki smiled. "So-" you clapped your hands and walked around casually, letting your legs stretch with each step- "where the beds at." Loki turned to face you, taking a step towards you, holding his arm up to take the support of the ceiling as he leaned in to get his face close to yours. Javier- clever as ever- zoomed in at the bulge of Loki's bicep wanting to get free of the lone t-shirt that barely got to see the light of the day with that unexplainably fashionable overcoat. There was a split second where the camera looked at Lulu scratching away at the sofa in the living room, drawing his attention with a click and gesturing something out of the frame to make the little furball pause the massacre for a few seconds before pressing his stomach.

Can't Keep My Eyes Off You Lo-Fi version starts playing through Lulu's stomach.

"There are no beds here, darling," Loki cooed with his signature smirk right in your face. "There is only a bed." Your composure might have slipped for a second with his model-like posture but you had seen enough fuckboys in your life to deal with the God's sense of play. "Oh," you stressed sullenly while taking off your jacket and throwing it on the couch over Lulu, "guess we'll have to make do with what we have." You knew your puppy dog eyes won't do much on this creature but that slight distortion in his gaze when he blinked to look down at your sweaty tank top before coming back to your face was worth it all.

You: *chuckling* no matter where they come from they are all horny at some point under it all, aren't they?! *looks away from the lens at Javier* Hmm? *mocking a laugh* What? I was just joking with him. That's how friends joke with each other. *glares at Javier with the smile still smacked on your face* Don't read into it. *camera swerves to show Javier sign* Javier: Will Mr Stark think this as a joke? Just asking? *camera swerves back to the one-eighty your expression does* You: Oh, he'll kill him.

Back On Earth "Ooooh, Tony's gonna murder that punk." Sam's crackling whisper was followed by nods and hums from Peter, Scott and Wanda. Vision was the only one who tilted his head in deep thought. "Is it because Loki held Y/N's hand and holding one's hand shows a sign of affection?" "Yes, our big robot baby," Scott sang while feeding Vision another popcorn.  "But Wanda and Natasha hold hands too. But it seems absurd for me to get mad at that," the AI continued while Wanda chuckled. "Wanda and Natasha holding hands is akin to two sisters holding hands," Scott explained, "and that's the only concept we will go with if we all like our necks intact." All the boys agreed. "Now Loki, on the other hand, is seen as a threat by Tony because Y/N, his daughter, is young and still a baby in his eyes whom he wants to protect at all costs. While Loki- thanks to his chiselled looks and accurately hot manners- seems like the boy no father would want their daughter to date. Because a man like that takes seconds to make a girl fall in love with him. Look at the dude. Look at the bod. And that's when he is wearing clothes on clothes on clothes. No wonder Tony wouldn't want him within a hundred feet of his daughter." Now, everyone was looking at a sighing Scott giving heart eyes to Loki on the screen. The camera turned to show a previously busy-with-her-nails Natasha pausing to look at the Ant-Man and wonder. "You are in love with Loki." "Head over heels, woman," Scott smiled without looking away from the screen.  "Tell me one thing," Peter asked out of curiosity while chewing on the popcorn, "you learned the word 'akin' today, didn't you?" "It was the word of the day on dictionary.com," he replied without missing a beat.

Space Farm Safehouse One of Javier's camera had followed you up the attic, while you went looking for a place to hang your wet clothes. Unlike the eerie space shown in the movies, this one was spacious, had an entire wall with a window and a sofa set in the direction to enjoy the view of the flora sparkling outside.  Putting your clothes on what looked like a wooden chair in the corner, you sat down on the sofa, eyes stuck on the view outside. The camera rotated to capture the wave of purple embers riding the plants and the cracks of the ground. The camera watched you inhale when steps were heard coming up the stairs, a figure out of focus walking behind you, disappearing to let you feel the cushion dip next to you. "Feels one hell of a place hide from the world," you whispered, never blinking for the fear of missing it all. La vie en rose Louis Armstrong but it's raining Loki chuckled. "Who hurt you?" The playful grin on Loki's face turned to ash when he turned and watched you sniffle while huge tears fell from your eyes. The God's face knew a new type of fear when he turned to the camera.

Loki: *raises his hands in defence* I swear upon my own self I meant it as a joke. *looks at the camera* Tony, if you are seeing this, it was a joke. 

"Why does it hurt so much?" You sobbed while your eyes never once stopped the tap that had been set free. "Even after so many years, why do all those old memories hurt so much?" Loki did open his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He brought his hand forward to keep it on your shoulder but stopped short, taking it up to your head before receding his hand back to himself. "W-" "I am having a good day and suddenly I cannot stop thinking about the time my mom ripped all my drawing because she wanted me to do something more 'productive'. It's been, what, twelve years and that stupid memory is fucking me up today." By this time you were ugly crying, trying to stop your snot from coming out of your nose. Loki shuffled where he sat, finally bringing his hand up to let his fingers touch your head. "There, there," he sputtered, the pain of embarrassment bright on his face. "Loki I-uh-I am sooo sorry!" You bawled, clearly confusing the God even more. "You don't have to be s-" "I met Frigga on Knowhere," you stated between your tears and jerks, making him pause where he sat. "And obviously she was supposed to meet you but got stuck with me for some reason. And then before we could come to you, I asked her if she was the good guy, you know. To make sure she was not going to hurt you. And she was super sweet and she smiled at me and then disappeared and I am so sorry you were not able to meet her because of me." It felt like ages passed when Loki blinked and brought himself to the current space and time. His brows furrowed and his iris seemed to open wide in some heavy revelation. "Is that why you have been struggling since we left Knowhere?" You sniffled and took the white rag that came out of frame, making the camera pan out to watch Lulu sitting by your feet ready with another rag for you. No one knew where he got them from. "Is this why you did not talk to me the entire trip?" You nodded before blowing your nose into the rag and tossing it into the basket kept in the corner. Loki sighed. "Y/N." He scooched closer to you, taking your shoulders to turn you towards him."Look at me."  You did. "My mother disappearing on you is not your fault." You whimpered, forcing him to move each of his hand from your shoulder to your face, his fingers running the length, allowing his palm to anchor itself over your jaw. "Frigga was a Witch. And she was no ordinary Witch. If she found a way to meet you even after her death then I am confident that she will find a way to meet me too. Okay?" He waited for an answer. The camera panned in to look at your tear-smeared face nod in between his hands. "Now I want you to tell me something-" he sang soothingly being as gentle with his words as with those hands still stuck on your face- "did these old memories come up after you met her?" That guilty puppy look you gave him confirmed some fear of his. He said something under his breath that sounded like an alien curse. Almost drooping with his eyes closed, he pulled himself back to face you. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Y/N." He let his thumb stroke your cheek, neither of you realising how you leaned into his touch. "I think there is something else that made me go through it," you muttered through your hoarse throat. Loki simply nodded. "I think I'm about to start my-" "Period," Loki finished your sentence, sighing and taking his hands away from your face to let one arm move around your shoulder. "I know. I could hear your uterus howling on the ship." You adjusted yourself on the couch to bring your legs up and rest your head on his shoulder. "That must be quite scary for you, hearing my insides like that." "Ehh," Loki answered, looking at the scenery outside while meteors passed through the sky, lighting up when entering the atmosphere, "not as scary when your intestines growling before you let all the air out of your syste-ow!" "It's gas! It's normal. Get over it, you twat!" The sound of his chuckle reverberated throughout the cottage. Lulu slept at the foot of the couch while the two of you talked some more till sleep took over one and the other found a blanket to cover you and let your rest. "Let's find some cure for this bloody situation in the morning," Loki whispered to your snoring figure; finding himself sitting the foot of the sofa for a few more minutes before letting his hand pat your head a few times. Two pats and he moved his hand away, watching the camera entering the space. "What are you looking at?" he softly threw in Javier's direction, getting up and walking past him. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up just with the first rays."

The Lounge "Oof! These idiots 'bout to fall in love." The camera zoomed out to show Rhodey sipping his morning coffee while Peter and Scott slept over each other on the couch, snoring quite loud while Zuko licked Peter's face while standing on the armrest. Rhodey looked at the duo, judging them and their will to sit there for more than twenty-four hours. "You guys are lucky Tony has another daughter to think about right now." He tsked and turned back to the TV, muttering 'fangirls' under his breath before walking away to get a refill.

[kinetic-elaboration]

100 Days of Writing: Day Ten (Yes, Ten)

Hey, I’m still here for 100 days of writing @the-wip-project. Also tagging @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold, @hopskipaway, and @thelittlefanpire.

Did I forget about this yesterday? No. I remembered, but it was late and I thought sleep was more important

Here’s a belated Day 10:

Tell us about ideas you have floating around. Worldbuilding snippets, or ideas for new stories. Just a few bullet points.

You’d actually think this would be easy for me because I think about hypothetical and future projects a lot and also organize things often but my brain’s just not working. I also... no longer know the lines between what I feel obligated to write, what I want to write, what I can write, and just... vague images/concepts/thoughts that don’t even qualify as “ideas.”

Here are a few I haven’t talked about too much and/or recently.

Polyamory Story: You standard modern au of the cheating Finn story line, except Clarke and Raven initially agree to try out polyamory with him. It goes badly; they ditch him and become monogamous. Then they meet Bellamy, and reconsider the concept. Ideally, me working through Some Stuff from a past relationship.

Bellarke Invents Soulmates: Soulmate & reincarnation AU, the main plot of which takes places on the day the soulmates meet in the present day, while footnotes tell the stories of their past lives. At its best, cool experiment in form. At its worst... unworkable?

Slide (w.t.): No plot, just vibes: pure, hot, white, beachfront summer. Slightly forbidden and messy love. A sense of being unmoored in a no-time. Started this last year, been thinking about it again. A bit worried about really capturing what I want to capture, vibe-wise, but I think it might be a good place to just... play.

[ngame989]

Starco Fic Recs

Disclaimer: This list is largely curated to my own personal preferences (minimal feelings angst, minimal AUs, character development >>> plot) and has a fairly high bar for quality in characterization, etc. There will likely be many popular/beloved fics that I really don’t think highly of at all and therefore don’t make the cut. Feel free to DM me things you think I should consider adding, but I make no promises.

And of course I’d be flattered if you gave my own works a chance - stop by my About Me section for links! Thus far I’m particularly proud of the post-canon series I just started in collaboration with an awesome team, The Greatest Gift.

(Updated 9/26 - I decided to redo the list since people might appreciate seeing it in the tags again. To anyone whose own work is featured here that I haven’t personally responded to - I’m a tough critic with a lot of strong personal preferences so PLEASE do not take my gripes as condemnations of your skills - if they make the list at all, I think they’re worth a read!)

See below for the very thorough list!

Bolded titles indicate must-read.

Italicized titles indicate work is incomplete (in the case of continuous stories).

Asterisks indicate new additions from last update (3 for brand new, 1 for status update).

I’ve VERY loosely organized the categories by personal priority order this time around, but read the descriptions and decide for yourself!

Must-Reads

Forevermore - A Starco wedding story (with a bit of Jantom as well). Simply one of the best fics I’ve read in the fandom. I have no meaningful criticism to give it, and that’s the highest praise I can possibly give something.

Monarchs of Mewni (+ Traditionally Lovingly Yours) - A series of chronologically disconnected oneshots set years after the show. The backstory is very dated given how long ago it started (Jarco was kinda serious for a few years, Tomstar v2 never happened, etc) but overall it’s lovely. Has a bit of plot, a bit of Jantom, a lot of other character interactions, and a boatload of Starco - plus a Starco kid who is a decently developed character but also doesn’t just take over and crowd out Star and Marco themselves! That alone deserves merit.

Ruined - Aftermath of a hypothetical return of Monster Arm. Angst with a happy ending (and one of the few angsty fics that gets my seal of approval), so read this extra early if that’s more your schtick than mine.

study buddies - Y’know what, fuck it, I’m putting this here. It’s a short ball of Starco fluff but it’s one of the sweetest and fluffiest fluffballs I’ve seen in a long time and it’s very emotionally immersive and y’all needa read it.

*When Two Worlds Collide - One of my favorite postcanon series thus far. I admit I’m really not big on “magic returns!” plots in postcanon (which this has), and the sections that focus on that are hit or miss for me, but overall it has some of the funnest and cutest characterization and gags I’ve seen in any SVTFOE fic, ever. Absolutely worth following (and it has a fair amount of art to go along with it!)

***Star Chef - Oneshot (two chapters, so twoshot technically?) set in the same universe as Starlight Justiciar (see below) and is just a day in the life of Star and Marco. Goes absolutely above and beyond at emotional immersion and little nuances and details to bring the world and characters to life, which elevates it to something special to me.

Light of the Sun and Stars - (Promoted to Must-Read!) One of the few heavily divergent AU fics I care for. Marco is an orphan raised by monsters, and meets Star after running away. Just finished its “first season” and I've loved the recent chapters, am very excited to see where it goes.

*Don’t You Let Me Go - Wonderfully fluffy post-Cleaved Starco, one of my favorite oneshot “epilogues”.

i want to tell you (but i don’t know how) - Post season 3 fic detailing the growth of Star and Marco’s relationship. It’s spectacular writing and shows off a lot of the true depth of Starco beyond just being cute.

Adult - NSFW warning, non-explicit (aged-up characters). It’s a story about the journey towards Star and Marco’s first step into adulthood together -  it’s not graphic and way more focused on the emotions involved, but it still is definitely more explicit than your average FFnet rated-T fic. If sexual themes ain’t your thing, I totally respect that, but this is a charming and funny piece of writing.

Lawchan’s various oneshots - There isn’t a great compilation for them right now so the best I can do is give you her tag for it and you can comb through it yourself. I like some more than others here, but they’re all very well-written - my only gripes with some of them are my own tastes in subject matter, so have fun perusing this on your own.

I Will Always Be There For You - A really pure and wholesome Starco oneshot. Very well-written.

Post-Canon Series to Follow

I figured with the show being over, and so many people starting their own series, I should include a lot of them here even if I’m personally not the biggest fan just to help gather them up so people can decide for themselves. Little bit looser on judgment here.

*Life on Earthni A to Z - Non-chronological postcanon slice of life oneshots, Starco and some Globclipsa and Jantom. Overall really good so far, one of my favorites in terms of direction.

*When Dimensions Cleave (sequel - Unforgettable Getaway) - Another postcanon series hellbent on bringing back magic queen lore, but it has some solid Starco fluff still. Credit where it’s due, the “Star constantly freaking out over what a horrible person she was” bit that I called preachy in the prior rec post gets somewhat less preachy and does end up actually going somewhere as part of character development, but I’m left scratching my head at how they all act sometimes. The good parts are certainly good, though, and in terms of quantity of lovey dovey Starco, it really can’t be beat (especially the sequel) and that’s worth something by itself. 

We’re a Miracle - Extra adorkable postcanon fluff. Lighter on the “but ACKSHUALLY MAGIC IS BACK” stuff compared to the others, but it’s there, like almost every postcanon fic in existence.

Star vs the Sands of Time - Heavy politic/lore postcanon fic, not my fav but if that’s more your thing then great. Has some casual Starco too.

Goodbye Isn’t Forever - More POV dives into Cleaved.

Fake Proposal - Some decent jokey but cute fluff

The Stars Above - Some exploration of Earthni

New World - A bit over-the-top meta, but fun fluff

The Starlight Justiciar - Four years after canon, some social change plot stuff and some decent Starco. Not the biggest fan of some of the plot stuff but check it out for yourself!

Starco vs the Forces of Evil - Another collab fic/art thing. Fair warning, I really am not personally a huge fan of a lot of the characterization and plot decisions here (see my notes on Sign of the Moon waaaay down below) but decide for yourself, don’t let my pickiness dictate your own preferences!

Ready For The Future - Technically a oneshot (with some Starco) but sets up some Mina plot, if you’re interested in more give it a follow/review.

Worlds Together - Some Starco and exploration of Earthni.

Epilogue -  Some Starco and exploration of Earthni.

***A Dark Horse - Has a few really nice lovey dovey Starco bits but also lots of superdrama with politics stuff. There’s a lot of fics here that I honestly just windowshop the scene I like for a quick fix of dopamine every now and then and skim at most otherwise, and this is one.

Revolution - end of canon AU where Moon is as anti-monster as Mina, dark as fuck. Only putting it here cuz some of y’all angstlords might like it.

Shorter Works/Oneshot Collections

I’ll Carry Your World - Big ole’ ball of wonderful Starco fluff with an important moment between them (written before end of show so a bit divergent).

***LoveIsTheStrongestKindOfMagic - Very short and basic fluff.

Starco Week 5 (Hugs Included) - Some of it is postcanon Earthni oneshots and others are from the Light of the Sun and Stars AU (see above). Great author, fun as hell writing style.

Fragile - Star worries about keeping her boyfriend Marco safe.

Complete - An older Star reflects on her past and present. Short and sweet.

Knighthood - Simple fluff piece on if Star and Marco got together after Storm the Castle.

Too Hot to Move - Star and Marco try to survive a heat wave on Earthni. Also funny fluff.

Marco Make-out Mayhem - Star really likes kissing Marco. Funny fluff.

Cleaved Together - NSFW warning, non-explicit (aged up) - Star and Marco’s first time. Very very overly focused on the whole purity/sacredness of first time thing, but still pretty cute.

Like Us - Really nice, sweet casual reflection on her life with Marco from a future Star’s POV.Toothpaste Kisses - Short fluff about its title.

A Friend’s Memento - Starco fluff with some reflection on the results of destroying magic

Plum Pie - Some goofy antics and hurt/comfort.

Not Losing You - A little dive into Marco’s POV at the end of Cleaved. Also adds a kiss.

We Belong Together - More speculative slightly angsty comfort/fluff.

Enough - A nice study of the emotions and thoughts during the last scenes of Cleaved, adds some depth to it.

Heartless - A bit of angst over magic going away with some sweet Starco comfort.

Together - Post-Cleaved Starco megafluff.

My Prince - Starco fluff set in a world where they were together before Cornonation.

Dancing with a Star - Starco fluff from alt S4.

Love in the Time of Pancakes - Written hours after my last update of the list, another little ditty based on the pancake promo.

Pancakes - Fluffy S4-promo-based little oneshot.

Hers - Hurt/comfort/confession-y fic, has some really nice moments and shows off a lot of how much they care about each other. Nice to see after such a drought.

Someone to Stay - Another hurt/comfort fic, nice and simple.

A Viola, a Violin, and a Butterfly’s Sword - some nonlinear oneshots about Starco. Some kinda weird directions gone in with the “plot” but it’s pretty good overall.

Falling - One of many, many fics from throughout the fandom’s history about Star and Marco getting together. Short and sweet.

forget about white horses & once upon a time - Drabble collection of various moments scattered throughout Star and Marco’s lives. Cute fluff.

The One Where I Thought I Lost You - Post-BFM fic where Marco realizes his feelings for Star earlier. Very wholesome.

christmases when you were mine - Established relationship fluff.

lightning in your veins, thunder in your heart - Post-season 3 established relationship fluff (slightly divergent, written before 3B).

once upon a december - Established relationship fluff.

Flags - Alternate rendition of the episode “Flags” with Starco.

Spells and Hot Chocolate - Wintry fluff.

5 Ways to Say ‘I Love You’ - Post BFM with some events in Star and Marco’s lives.

You’re My Wish Come True - This is just indulgent Starco trash. I won’t even argue for the characterization/writing quality, this is just a straight-up guilty pleasure.

Wands and Nachos - ^

The Princess and the Safe Kid - ^

A Day in the Life of Starco - ^

A very Starco Xmas - ^

Could It Be -^

All the times Star wore Marco’s hoodie - ^

Protect Me, Squire - ^

Crushed - Star and Marco both get turned down by their respective crushes and find comfort in each other.

Stay - Cuddly fluff. There’s another Stay out there which I frankly can’t stand with will-they-won’t-they melodrama out the wazoo, so don’t get confused.

Longer Series

*The Inescapable Us - Really tropey miscommunication will-they-won’t-they type of thing. Not my fav, especially now that the show is over and finished that leg of Star and Marco’s story once and for all (I’m personally WAY less interested in things that redo something canon already did). However, where it’s at now has some really good Starco moments. Fully admitted that I hella skimmed most of it until the parts I enjoyed, but And if you’re more fine with that type of thing then you’ll probably really like it, it’s well-written otherwise.

Together We Fall - Throwback S2 AU fic where Star and Marco go to the dance together instead and Toffee makes moves earlier. Gets kinda dark but has a lot of nice Starco along the way.

Safer, Sorrier - A recent rewrite of an older fic, Better Safe Than Sorry, where Star has to leave early to become queen and Marco is alone for a few months before they reunite. A very dated premise (post season 1 ish) but quite good.

Sugar and Spice - NSFW warning, non-explicit (NOT aged-up characters). In this fic, Star and Marco have gotten together after BFM, and a spell gone wrong leads to Mewberty relapses with obvious consequences. This fic has adorable Starco moments, but what I love this for above all is the other character interactions (especially Glossaryck and Star’s parents). This is probably a controversial add-on to the list, but I stick by my decision - if the subject matter isn’t your thing, then by all means avoid it.

Beyond Dimensions - Plotfic + established Starco where some ancient sorceress has to trap Star to escape and try to take over Mewni. Maybe y'all are more into plot stuff than me but the Starco that’s there is quite good regardless.

Starfall - NSFW warning, explicit (aged-up characters). Probably the most popular one to make the cut. Star and Marco are forced apart and have to find their way back together. Very old fic, lot of dated stuff here, and the narration and plot itself can get kinda questionable sometimes, but it has a lot of good Starco and some interesting plot elements that make it, in my opinion, worth a read despite a lot of flaws. A few epilogue chapters contain rather explicit sexual content, so be wary of that (and the epilogue itself after Ep 6 kinda transitions into a nextgenverse, so maybe just skip that entirely).

The Star Butterfly Effect - The sole fic on the list that is purely plot-based, with very little actual Starco development whatsoever. I can’t even really explain it, just give it a shot and see what you think; I was rather engrossed by the plot, and that’s rare for me.

The Princess and her Knight, Return of the Empire The former fic in this series is way more character-based, while the latter is very heavy plot stuff. Pretty decent character writing with some fluff. There’s a third that I honestly can’t recommend because I completely dropped it because it was just a nonstop war story.

Experimental - REALLY heavy, dark AU where Star and Marco are tortured and corrupted. It’s pretty decent.

Blood Moon Blitz - Alt BFM fic of Marco going to fight Toffee with Star. unfortunately dropped without completing, but what’s there is pretty solid.

Read at Your Own Risk…

The Sign of the Moon, The Dance of the Stars - Starts post-3A, involves the growth of Star and Marco’s relationship as they take on foes in and out of the castle and learn more about the Blood Moon. This series is rather… melodramatic, and there were some chapters and character interactions I flat out did not enjoy reading. But some people aren’t as strict on character interpretations as I am and would love such a long plot-based Starco fic, so overall I still will at least list it and let you decide for yourself. There might be a third entry in this series now, but I dropped it before then.

Photos - I hesitate to include this one here because the “Tom is a perfect angel who must sacrifice his love for Star” thing pisses me off. But just skip all that (and ignore the random “a part of me will always love Tom” line) and it’s a really nice post-s3 confession fic.

[lettersfromn0where]

Creator Tag

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc!) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2018. Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original!) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I was tagged, appropriately, by my first-ever Tumblr buddy, @disruptedvice - thank you for thinking of me! 

This is a bit tough because every fanwork I’ve ever posted has been written since April. There’s certainly a few stupid oneshots in my repertoire that I’m not proud of, but considering that at the beginning of the year I was petrified of the mere idea of writing and sharing fanfiction, I’m rather pleased with the fact that I managed to do anything at all. So, without further ado, my top five (in order from 5th-1st):

5. remember me, once in a while (please promise me you'll try) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14936669

Short summary: IW missing scene. After Gamora is taken on Knowhere, Peter struggles to accept the reality that she may be gone. There is a letter. It is 100% intentional emotional manipulation, pure and simple, and I’m pretty sure everyone who read this realized that. 

Excerpt: 

The faint trails of tears, yet to evaporate, lingered on Peter’s face for all his attempts to disguise them as he turned the sheet of paper in his hands, reluctant to open it for fear of tainting something so precious. He paid no heed to the ever-shifting starscape racing past the windows, trying not to risk being caught in tears as he thought of the moment, on the way to Knowhere, that Gamora had pressed the letter into his hands.

“In case…” She said, but trailed off, neither wanting to confront the sentence’s inevitable end.

“No,” Peter had protested, voice thick with emotion. “You won’t-“

"It’s just a precaution,” Gamora had tried to reassure him, but even she knew her tone was entirely unconvincing.

Peter had kept the letter with him every moment they’d been apart, hoping desperately he’d never need to open it but unwilling to part from it lest it be lost along with –

No, he told himself, feverishly, with all of the desperation his worry-worn mind could muster.

Commentary: This one was not what I’d consider to be my best-written piece, but it was certainly (from the way people reacted) one of the most emotionally impactful. Any fic that gets you multiple angry comments from people claiming you made them cry has to be at least somewhat of a favorite, right? This one was, oddly enough, based on an anime, “Your Lie in April.” I’m not an anime person, but YLIA is about a violinist, so as a violinist I had to watch it, and it BROKE MY HEART INTO A MILLION TINY PIECES. *Spoiler* one of the key moments in the series comes after the protagonist’s death when she leaves a letter to the boy she was in love with for him to read after she dies, revealing things she couldn’t while she was alive. That idea of the posthumous letter, translated to the GOTG-verse (and the fact that I sobbed my eyes out while rewatching the clip where said boy reads the letter), made its way into my mind and wouldn’t leave. And that is why I had several very angry people cursing at me in the comments. 

And to whoever commented “f*** you”: I’m honored.

4. meet me in this broken place https://archiveofourown.org/works/15646347

Short Summary: post-IW, during the (hypothetical) events of Endgame. My Damaged Babies, Peter and Wanda (Maximoff), both of whom lost significant others during the events of IW, find solace in the fact that they both know the feeling of losing everyone one holds dear. 

Excerpt: 

They don’t want to imagine a world without the ones they love, but – even with their teammates working around the clock, making and discarding endless plans to save them – they realize now that maybe their good fortune had been exhausted by their own returns to life. They are left with no choice but to venture blindly into a bleak future without the ones whose sides they never thought they’d leave.

“What are we going to do?” she asks, too weary to conceal her worry.

“I guess…we just have to keep going,” he says numbly, but it’s plain as day that he doesn’t believe a word out of his own mouth.

“What is there for us in a future without them?” she asks, rhetorically but not entirely so, and plays with the hem of her jacket. It’s frayed with the trauma of the past days, looking about as battered and torn as she feels.

“Don’t know.” He shrugs. “I wish I still knew how to hope that I’d see her again.”

“Isn’t that the problem, though?” she asks, pursing her lips in painful irony. “None of us knows how to hope for the best anymore. We try to fix things, not believing that anything we do is going to work.”

He ponders her statement, turns it over in his mind – it is their problem, he realizes. They are working tirelessly towards an end they all believe to be futile. Yes, they’ve accomplished three-quarters of what they set out to do. But it doesn’t feel like a figure to celebrate when the other quarter of the equation determines the fate of the people they cherish most.

Commentary: this is essentially a super depressing slice-of-life fic. I chose it because A) Wanda Maximoff is the love of my life and I loved writing her, and B) I think the writing in this is just about the best I’ve seen in any of my work. I like the way the prose came out here - the melancholy tone lends itself well to the style in which I write, if that makes any sense, even if at points the excess of run-on sentences and overlong prose becomes rather tired. I was proud of this one. (Not super popular, but it always seems like it’s the super trite stuff I don’t think was good that gets comments while the ones I like are unnoticed. Heh...) 

3. I Guess It’s Half Timing (and the Other Half’s Luck) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14775470/chapters/34172447

Short Summary: high school AU. Peter’s a jock, benched with academic ineligibility until he can get his grades up. Gamora is the type-A star student in charge of the peer tutoring program that may be Peter’s only hope of playing in the State Championships. You can probably predict the ending...

Excerpt: 

“So, let me get this straight. You’re eligible again, but you still wanna spend every single afternoon at tutoring?” Rocket shook his head, sincerely disappointed. “You’ve got it worse than I thought.”

“Yes and no,” Peter vaguely defended himself. “I mean, yeah, she won’t talk to me any other way, but I’ve realized something, too.”

“This oughta be good,” Rocket snickered. “What, do ya suddenly feel called to be a brain surgeon or something?”

Peter fixed him with a nonplussed gaze. “Why would I want to do that? I can’t even get a shot without losing it.”

Rocket rolled his eyes. “I mean, do you think your future depends on your grades all the sudden? Little late for that.”

“No, but now that I’ve realized I can do better, it should start aiming higher-“ he started to explain.

“…because Gamora only dates guys who care about school,” Nebula finished for him, walking up with her usual inopportune timing.

“Dude! How and why are you always sneaking up on me?” Peter shuddered. “It’s creepy!”

Nebula shrugged. “I pride myself on my timing.”

“Oh, so this is what that’s about,” Rocket cackled. “You’re hilarious. You fall for the smartest girl in your class and all the sudden you decide you’re going to be on the honor roll or something?”

“Rocket…”

Commentary: this fic. Ohhhh, boy. It was a bit of a trainwreck, but oh, how I LOVED writing it. It’s a light, fluffy high school rom-com mixing my own relentless fixation on academics with excessive melodrama, a very, VERY OOC Nebula, and a million vague tie-ins to the movies that I’m fairly certain no one noticed. “Half Timing” is not, in my opinion, fantastically written (witty at times, mind-numbingly cheesy at others), but it was endlessly fun to write, and I loved the ending. Plus, it’s the reason I became friends with @disruptedvice, who had MANY feelings about the New Year’s scene. MANY. (She was 37% of the reason this fic was so fun to write.) It spawned three unnecessary sequel oneshots and was a productive start to a summer which I spent primarily writing fanfiction and studying for the SAT. This one’s on here for the nostalgia and the fact that it was so central to everything else I’ve written, not for literary merit, but it is and will always be dear to my heart.

2. So Many Things Unknown https://archiveofourown.org/works/14632275/chapters/33818142

Short Summary: Soul World Mantis feels. A half fix-it.

Excerpt: 

Peter didn’t need to hear his name to know it was him she called to, and exactly who was calling and why and where he was and – He turned. Mantis saw Gamora’s eyes widen, filling with tears, almost beginning to go to him before stopping herself again, for reasons Mantis did not understand. For a while the two simply stood, perhaps thirty feet apart, saying nothing and staring across the distance at each other as if they were not sure of the reliability of their eyesight.

And then she broke into a run, and they were in each other’s arms, and Mantis could not hear everything they were saying, but she knew from the way their shoulders shook that both were crying, and she thought she heard a faint “I love you” and she knew they both said something to the effect of “I thought I’d lost you” and “I’m here” and repeated it until they both finally believed it was really happening, and something inside her felt suddenly warm and whole.

She had seen her share of unfair endings in the last couple of days. Untold numbers of young, gifted, and truly good people had been taken long before their times. Countless others had lost the ones they held dearest, some forced to watch. The future of the universe looked rather bleak; half of her friends were trapped in some sort of afterlife in a rock that had started a war, and the rest were scattered across the cosmos. But she knew, in that moment, that it would not stay this way. They would find a way out of here, and they’d stop this and make everything right again. Mantis was surer of this than she had been of anything before. Optimistic, perhaps, she knew; but she felt this time that her instinct could not be proven wrong.

This, too, would pass.

It had to.

Commentary: my first posted fanfic and the lovely @marypoppinswasmyfatherbitches‘ favorite, I almost didn’t post this. I was deathly afraid of writing fanfiction for years and it took the trauma of IW to make me realize how many stories I had to tell, if I’d only allow myself. I was overly cautious when I wrote this, terrified of writing someone OOC or setting the story at an unrealistically fast pace, and I didn’t think it was much good, but I posted it anyway...and here I am. Some of the sweetest comments I’ve ever received were about this piece and though at time the progression of events is a bit ???, I think it was a decent start. “So Many Things Unknown” was where it all started, and though it’s not my favorite thing I’ve written, I’m proud that I was able to get it out there. 

1. Take What I Took and Give It Back to You 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14986307

Short Summary: Mantis feels, 5+1 style. That is all. 

Excerpt: 

She can’t see it. Mantis has never been an influencer; she’s simply in the background, where she’s always assumed she is meant to be. But perhaps that – sensitivity, a sort of gentleness – is what she brings to the team that it lacked before, she concludes.

She is an empath, after all, and a powerful one. Most of her teammates possess the emotional intelligence of lumps of metal. Mantis thinks, liking the idea more than she admits, that maybe she’s helping to shape those metal lumps.

After all, hearts are malleable, she thinks. They don’t stay the same.

Sitting in the kitchen once again, staring into her beloved mug, chipped with four years of wear, Mantis smiles.

Commentary: and now for my all-time favorite. I rarely think well of my writing, but I was SO incredibly proud of this one. As an ex-homeschooler who grew up relatively isolated and still does not “understand the intricacies of social interaction,” I’ve always connected to Mantis more than any other Guardian; if I had to pick, she’d probably be my favorite character in the entire MCU canon. So I love writing her. It makes me feel as if I can get inside her head in a way I can’t with the other Guardians. In addition, the 5+1 format was a perfectly-suited framing device for the story I wanted to tell, and I’m pretty sure I exhausted a year’s worth of pretty lines on this story. I feel like I risk sounding arrogant, but when you genuinely love your own writing, you have to embrace it - that’s VERY rare. As soon as I saw that I’d been tagged for this, I knew that this would be the story I ranked as my favorite. 

Thank you SO much for the tag, @disruptedvice! Tagging @bevioletskies and @marypoppinswasmyfatherbitches. 

[backtothestart02]

It Didn’t Used to Be Complicated - 1/1

A/N: My first Emron (Aaron/Emily - Designated Survivor) fic. I just felt inspired from the last ep, and while delayed, I hope some of you will be able to check it out before the next ep (1x16).

Synopsis: Post 1x15 - Emily finds herself stewing in her office hours after her meeting, unable to decide how to feel about Aaron Shore. 

*Tagging @designatedtrash b/c she seemed enthusiastic about my writing an Emron fic, even though I’ve never written them before. I’d love to know your thoughts, dear, if you end up reading this.

*And ofc a big thank you to @valeriemperez, my ever faithful beta. Girl is not even caught up on this show and she went the extra mile. As did my bestie @simplylove101 who looked it over to make sure it wasn’t OOC before I posted. I love you both!

Whoever ends up reading this... Enjoy! <3

Hookstraten.

The conversation with Aaron still bothered her two hours after her meeting with State had ended. There she sat, alone in her Chief of Staff office, an untouched half-filled glass of wine sitting on her desk, and nothing on her mind but Aaron Shore.

How could he work for Kimble Hookstraten?

The woman had proven time and again that she was only genuinely helpful when she and Tom’s goals happened to align. That was not overly frequently. And she’d made no secret of maybe running for president herself when Tom’s term was up.

Not that Tom had shown any desire to try to run for another four years following his unexpected insertion into the presidency role. And certainly there were worse people Aaron could have chosen to work for. At least she’d be able to see him on a semi-frequent basis again.

And that thought in particular is what kept her digging her nails into her palms and not quite downing her half-glass of wine.

It had been a good month at least – right? – since the President had asked her to look into any suspicious behavior Aaron might have had before the bombing of the Capitol. The distance she’d had to create between her and Aaron had been torturous, not to mention the gut-wrenching possibility that he actually was a traitor.

It would’ve been easy for her to hate him if this news had been brought up back when they’d both been elected part of the President’s cabinet. She hadn’t been very fond of Aaron then, and he hadn’t been very fond of her either. There would be no love lost between them if he’d been sent packing or maybe worse – if he had faced imprisonment or death. He would deserve it, and she would tell herself she’d known there was something off about him from the start. She would’ve been shocked along with everyone else, and horrified given how close he’d come to advising the President. But she’d have gotten the Chief of Staff position a lot sooner. Despite Aaron’s hypothetical threat to national security, all would be as it should be. The terrorist would be locked away and any future catastrophe averted, at least from that sector.

But it wouldn’t be that simple now, months later, after they’d established a compatible comradery with each other and were on the brink of something more.

The flirtation. That kiss. That almost date that never was.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t dream of those things on the daily, that those memories made the distance between them all the harder to maintain.

It felt like an eternity ago, like it had happened in another life. Every day her heart sank with the possibility he might be guilty. And every day it broke her a little more to see him try to interact with her when she could never genuinely participate. She couldn’t let herself relax. She couldn’t enjoy the experience.

She told herself it was because she didn’t want it to accidentally slip that she was doing research on him, background checks, looking into his whereabouts the days and weeks and months leading up to the bombing.

But also it was because almost being with Aaron Shore – as more than just a co-worker or friend – gave her a light and airy feeling. She was purely and exquisitely happy. She melted when he looked at her, and she couldn’t stop smiling when he spoke or when she even heard someone say his name. She looked forward to every conversation and yearned for breaks between meetings or the end of the day, so she’d have an excuse to stop by his office and see him if she didn’t have enough patience to wait for him to come see her.

She wasn’t in love. She knew that. Maybe borderline infatuated. Okay, infatuated. But really the promise of what was to come was just exciting. She wanted more of that. She didn’t want it to end.

She didn’t want to fall in love with a traitor if it could be avoided.

That was what was really at stake here. Her heart.

Technically speaking though, it no longer was. Aaron had been cleared. He wasn’t a suspect. He wasn’t guilty. There was no reason at all for her to worry about what would happen if she let herself continue to melt under his advances, should he choose to resume them.

So why then had he resigned?

Aaron loved his job. He loved… liked his co-workers. It could no longer be doubted that he was fiercely loyal to Tom.

Taking these facts into consideration, it made no sense for him to resign and even less sense for him to start working for Kimble Hookstraten. What had made him accept her offer of employment? Or maybe he had been the one to put it on the table. That possibility left her feeling even more unsettled.

Something had to have happened before his resignation. Something that made him feel like he had no choice but to resign. It couldn’t have just been her doing a background check on him, because if it had been that alone he’d have resigned weeks ago.

She had no intel on Aaron’s personal conversations with the President, and she had no way of knowing if anyone else had gotten involved in trying to clear him. There was no reason to believe they’d actually found evidence to be suspicious of him because he had been let go.

So why…

She shook her head and finally succumbed to taking a sip of the red wine sitting all by its lonesome on the corner of her desk.

She’d pushed a lot aside in recent weeks when it came to all things Aaron. She didn’t want her heart to break. She wanted to stay professional. And while his most recent decisions didn’t leave her feeling quite as wary and unsettled as the possibility that he was a traitor, it did still stir her curiosity. It was insatiable.

She no longer had any reason to doubt he was telling the truth, that he had nothing to hide and he was doing everything for the right reasons, as far as he could tell. But she still didn’t quite know how to take his I'm looking to redefine the playing field and the party lines don't seem to mean as much as they used to, you know?

Because she did know.

Things were changing in that regard, though not enough to be used as a valid excuse for joining Hookstraten’s team. At least, not as far as she was concerned.

Then again, maybe way deep down Aaron didn’t even know why he was doing it. How could she fault him for doing something that he wasn’t even 100% sure the reason behind it?

The knock on the door served as a much needed reprieve to her heavy, racing thoughts.

“Come in.”

The door opened and in walked Seth, his lips halfway to a smirk but his eyes and eyebrows sporting confusion.

“Did I just see Aaron?” He stuck his thumb out toward the hall.

Emily smiled complacently and nodded once.

“You did.”

“And he’s…?”

“Working for Kimble Hookstraten as her Chief Strategist.”

Seth’s lips twitched as he tried to process the information.

“You’re joking.”

“Dead serious. He told me himself.”

Seth blew out a puff of air and sank into the chair across from hers.

“Well then.”

Emily laughed and took another sip of wine. It was amazing how the beverage called to her when the issues swimming in her mind suddenly were being discussed aloud.

Seth shifted his gaze to Emily who set down the wine bottle and another empty glass in front of him. Without a word, he took advantage of the offer.

“He remembers he’s a Democrat, right?”

Emily nodded, cradled her glass in her lap.

“And that she’s a Republican.”

“She’s not always Kirkman’s biggest fan either. He didn’t forget that, did he?”

Emily sighed and sank back into her seat.

“I honestly have no idea. I had to go… He had to go…” She waved her hand to the side and then let it drop along the side of her chair.

“Was it tense?” he asked.

“Polite,” she murmured into her glass.

“On purpose?”

Emily closed her eyes and decided not to answer the question.

Silence lingered between them as Seth settled into his own chair and sipped his wine. He gently set the empty glass on her desk when he had finished it, then stood to his feet.

“I suppose on the bright side we’ll be seeing him more often.”

Emily nodded, a half-smile tugging on her lips.

Seth turned and headed for the door, pausing and bracing his hand briefly on the doorframe before passing through to leave.

“It hasn’t been quite the same without him here with us every day.”

“No,” she agreed, though the word was so soft she wondered in hindsight if he’d heard it. “It hasn’t.”

Seth’s knowing smile went unseen by her as he stepped out into the hall.

“Goodnight, Emily.”

“Goodnight.”

She sat unmoving as Seth closed the door behind him and presumably went home.

She should go home too. She’d only had one full glass of wine. She could drive. And she didn’t live far away either. The best thing to do was probably to stop thinking so much about this new development and get some sleep instead. Things would probably be clearer in the morning, less muddled, less…complicated. The quiet voice in the back of her head whispered that wasn’t true.

Because there was one aspect of the situation she hadn’t thought about. That she had deliberately avoided thinking about. It irritated her more than anything else because it actually intensified all the other excuses why Aaron’s return to politics ruffled her feathers.

Because when she’d walked down the hall and seen him standing there, one thought existed in her mind.

Did he come to see me?

But no, he had not.

Instead, he had come to get identification to work for the enemy – Kimble Hookstraten.

Not exactly the enemy, Emily, she scolded herself.

But he hadn’t come to see her either, and that wounded her. That kept her pretty smile in place, the scorn in her initial response potent, and her exit quick and meaningful and completely justified. She had a meeting to keep after all.

And it was unrealistic – really – to think he had nothing better to do than to come and visit her. He would know how busy she was too, so she couldn’t possibly set aside time, but—

Another knock at the door, but it opened before she could respond.

“Did you come back for—”

And there he was, causing her jaw to drop and snapping it shut just a second long enough to cause a reaction out of him. An amused grin. And those dazzling, dark eyes of his taking her in. Even from across the room in the somewhat dark she could see the intensity of them. She felt a chill ripple down her back when she should have been feeling irritation from earlier or the need to be brisk and polite, and she knew she was in trouble.

“Aaron.” She smoothed down her skirt and pushed her glass to the side. “I thought you were someone else.”

He raised his eyebrows and came in, sat across from her as if he did this every day and no weird phase of silence and distance had happened between them.

“Oh, yeah? Who?”

“Seth,” she said quickly. Too quickly? “He was just in here a little while ago.”

He nodded. “I just saw him in the hall.”

“Oh.”

She tried not to give away anything with the small sound, but his sudden laugh told her she had not succeeded.

“He as surprised as I was?” She asked, looking away, trying to find something to stare at in the immediate vicinity.

“Just about. He wasn’t quite as eager to leave as you were, though.”

Her eyes flitted up to his.

“I had a meeting to go to,” she defended, though not as harshly as she’d wanted to.

Aaron fought a grin and said nothing, just looked at her like it would be a crime to look anywhere else.

“I hope this doesn’t…change anything between us, Emily.”

She blinked and tilted her head to the side.

“No, of course not. Why would it?”

His teeth shown in this grin, and she blushed.

“Aside from the obvious reasons?”

“Right.” She avoided his stare again. “Besides those.”

Silence lingered again, him staring at her and her avoiding his gaze. The heat from her embarrassment and awkwardness burned the back of her neck until she wanted nothing more than to get out of that room and sleep and prepare to see him again tomorrow.

But he spoke just as she was about to jump out of her seat to leave.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” he said, his eyes traveling from one wall to the next.

Emily followed his gaze and then scrunched her nose.

“I haven’t done anything.”

He grinned, his eyes dazzling when she made the mistake of turning to look at him.

“Which you knew.”

“Only just now,” he assured her.

She fought a smile and failed, this time slowly coming out of her chair and gathering her purse.

“I should probably go. It’s getting late.”

“How did your meeting go?” he asked, standing with her and backing up in the direction of the door as she crossed the room.

“Good.” She nodded, shutting the lights off and the door behind them. “Yours?” she asked, trying not to think about how his arm brushed against hers as they walked down the hall.

“Also good.” He smiled to himself. “Feels good to be back on the inside again.”

“Just on opposite sides,” he pointed out.

He sighed. “Emily—”

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head and waved the comment off. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just…going to take some getting used to.”

He nodded but said nothing. They were silent until they reached the street, each having to part to get to their respective homes.

“I’m this way.” She nudged her head in the other direction.

He smiled. “I’m that.” He stuck his thumb back behind him.

Her smile was forced, and she knew it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then – or, sometime.”

He hesitated as she turned to leave, but then his hand reached out before she made a full 180. She turned to look at his grasp on her elbow.

“I’m still on your side, Emily,” he said, his eyes intense again and earnest, making it impossible for her to look away. “On your side, on Seth’s, on Kirkman’s. If there’s a tough call to be made, I’ll be doing it in the interest of what I think our President would do, not our Congresswoman.”

Emily softened, a weight lifting off of her for the first time all evening.

“Thanks, Aaron. I’m really glad to hear you say that.” She lifted her purse further up her shoulder. “I just hope you stick to it.”

His lips parted, preparing a defense, but then he saw the glint in her eyes and knew she was teasing.

“Goodnight, Aaron,” she said, gazing longer that she’d let herself before. For the briefest of moments her eyes dipped down to his lips.

“Goodnight, Emily,” he said, mirroring her actions and taking immense pleasure in the desire he spotted in her eyes, which she didn’t bother to hide.

Emily smiled to herself when he released her and started the walk home. She could feel his stare on her all the way down the block, figured he was smiling too and relished that fact.

There was no way they could rewind time and just pick up to where they left off. It was inevitable that the tension they’d known early on might return because of where they found themselves when it came to employment.

But the spark was still there. She felt the crackle in every breath of space between them.

*Also available on FFnet and AO3.