#because by not opening up Tony is keeping us from seeing how people would actually react

[canirove]

Friends, lovers… and an orange | Chapter 6

Previous chapter | Next chapter (coming out on Tuesday)

Masterlist

"I'm seriously moving to the North Pole."

"What?" Jourdan laughed.

"I'm sure paparazzis would not find me there."

"Don't underestimate them."

"I just... How did they find us in Paris? How did they know?"

"It was fashion week, there were photographers everywhere."

"Urgh" Adele grunted, sinking a bit lower on the sofa.

The day after the Dior photoshoot, she had woken up to her and Mason all over the internet. A paparazzi had caught them during their walk and then while having lunch, and there were what felt like hundreds of articles talking about it, most of them saying the same: that things were ok between them after she had been seen getting cosy with Nico at that party. 

"You do look like an actual couple, tho. Again."

"Jourdan... Not you, please. I already have enough with my mum, Toni, and our brothers. You should see our family group chat, I had to silence it."

"That bad it is?" she chuckled.

"Worse. They keep saying that they believe we are just friends as we tell them, but that if something else is happening or will happen, we have their support."

"That's cute."

"That's... I don't know what it is. But nothing is happening."

"I disagree, Adele. Because something is happening: you and Mason are getting closer. You may not be dating or falling in love, but you are slowly becoming the type of friends everyone expected you to be since you were born."

"Yeah... I guess. I just wish they would leave us alone for five minutes."

And after those Paris photos, it looked like they had finally left them alone. Each day there were less photographers outside Adele's house and less often, and people online had also relaxed. Though it probably was just because there was a new scandal surrounding the royal family. Either way, she was glad her mundane life was back. Kind of. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Mum, please, stop!" Luca complained.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I've missed you so much!" Elizabeth said.

"I know. But if you keep squeezing me like that, you will miss me forever."

"Luca! Don't say that!" she scolded him. 

"Sorry” he said, trying to shrug. “But please let me go. I'm sure dad also wants a hug."

"I'm fine" he chuckled.

"Addie?"

"Mase just arrived, gotta go open the door for him. Sorry" she smiled.

"Yes! Run to your boyfriend instead of helping your dying little brother!" 

"Whatever" Adele said, rolling her eyes. 

That year they had decided to spend the holidays all together in Switzerland, having some proper white Christmas as when they were kids. And, of course, the Mounts were joining them. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"If I hit Luca in the back of his head with a snowball... What do I get in return?"

"Another one?" Adele laughed. It was Christmas Eve, and they were going back to the resort where they were staying after having lunch in town.

"Boring" Mason said, rolling his eyes. 

"Sorry for being realistic" she shrugged.

"What the fuck!" Luca screamed. "Who hit me?"

"Your sister!" Mason said, pointing at Adele.

"What? It was... Fuck!" she complained. "Luca! That hurt!"

"So did mine!" he replied.

"I think they are having a snowball fight without us" Adele's dad said. "Should we join them?"

"Darling..." Elizabeth started. But it was too late. Everyone was already throwing snowballs, screaming and laughing. 

"Mase, no. No!" Adele laughed while trying to run away from him.

"Come here, Addie!"

"No!" she laughed again, running as fast as she could without slipping.

"Oh, you've made such a big mistake, Miss Turlington."

"Shit" she whispered when she realized she had run into a dead end. "Mase, please... I didn't mean to hit you in the face, I'm sorry."

"I made a living out of it, you know?"

"I know, and I'm very sorry."

"It's too late for that now" Mason smirked.

"But that snowball is huge! Mine fitted in my hand, and that one is bigger than your head!"

"I have a small head."

"You do" she snorted. "Wait, I'm sorry. Mase... Mason."

"Too late, Adele. Time to face your destiny" he said, lifting the big ball and throwing it against her. Throwing it... And missing.

"Oh my God" she laughed. "That was so bad! You hit the wall!"

"Addie..."

"You better not have that bad aim with everything."

"Addie... Adele!" Mason said, quickly grabbing her by the arm and pulling her against him.

"Holy shit" she whispered after a big chunk of snow fell where she had been standing just a moment ago. 

"That was close."

"So close" she said, suddenly realising how close she was to Mason. To his face. From that distance, she was able to perfectly count the freckles on his nose.

"We should join the others." Four, five, six... "Addie, did you hear me?" Ten, eleven... "Adele!" Mason chuckled.

"Damn it" she said under her breath, losing count. 

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just... Just a bit chilly. We should go back."

"Are you sure you are ok? You looked... Distracted."

"It was the shock of the snow falling, nothing else."

"Ok..."

"Hey, what are you two doing there?" Luca said behind them. "Making out?"

"You are so funny" Adele said, rolling her eyes.

"I mean, you are hugging and way too close to each other. If I was a pap and saw you like that, that's what I would think" he shrugged.

"And you would be wrong" Adele said, letting go of Mason. She hadn't realized she had her arms around him. "Not let's go, I'm getting cold."

"Then ask Mason to keep hugging you" Luca smirked.

"Fuck you" she said while walking away, trying not to think too much about what had just happened, or what she had felt.

#mason mount #mason mount fanfic #mason mount imagine #football fanfic #football imagine

[daydreamerdrew]

Iron Man (1968) #50

#oh I always love the dramatics of Tony slowly crawling to an electrical outlet as he’s dying #and then the fact that he’s dealing with this all alone #and is purposefully keeping the severity of his issues a secret #outside of the specific context of when he uses them to say he can’t possibly be Iron Man #which he articulates here as a ‘matter of pride’ #and that he wants to deal with his issues ‘unhindered- or unaided- by anyone else!’ #interesting that he would put ‘unhindered’ first #he’s talked before about the fear of becoming a dependent and bedridden person #and the specific fear that he would become that by force if people learned the severity of his heart issues #and then stopped him from living his life the way he wanted to #which would be to stop him from doing the dangerous thing that repeatedly puts his life in danger as it did here of being a superhero #and he’s more recently talked about his fear of being pitied #it seems that it really is on the forefront of his mind all of the negative consequences he expects from opening up to people #and asking for help #rather than anything positive that might come of it #I do think he has a right to live his life the way he wants but also I think the way he wants is influenced by his fears #though I can’t really speak to how much those fears are unwarranted #because by not opening up Tony is keeping us from seeing how people would actually react #marvel #tony stark #edwin jarvis #my posts #comic panels

[ultralightpoe]

Copy Cap - Steve Rogers

Authors Note: HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Word Count: 1,601

Warnings: slutty is used A LOT

Description: Small halloween blurb.

This is a part of my Halloween event, stay tuned for a new story every hour!

Happy Halloween!

“What on earth is that?” The sound of Steve Rogers honest to god shocked voice draws your attention from the halloween decorations you had been sent out to get. You find him standing towards the end of the aisle where the kids' costumes started. 

Tony was throwing a halloween party within the tower, and he said that each Avenger HAD to be there. He sent a text out reminding each and everyone of you of a threat on what would happen if you did not attend ‘Starkoween’. And as much as you hated Tony’s parties you truly did not want him sending out the falls and mistakes that Jarvis has caught on tape over the years. The public did not need to see you running into the glass windows thinking it was open.

But not only had you been invited, no, you had been given a task from Tony. 

He apparently was out of lights, and he had also found out that you were short of a costume so he gave you his card and sent you on your way to complete his shopping and on your way out he pawned the super soldier off on you. 

It’s not that you hated Steve, the exact opposite actually. You had a huge crush on him, the kind that reduced you to very few words whenever he was near. Your heart beating through your chest and the need to impress him filling your bones. 

But he was the exact opposite, he liked to ignore you, and when he did actually talk to you it was always about work. He truly just could not be bothered by you. 

So it was odd, so freaking odd, when Steve agreed to ride with you to pick up his own costume. 

Which leads you to this moment, walking up behind Steve to where he is now glaring at a costume. A laugh threatens to escape you as you see what has his so irritated, your eyes catching on the slutty cap costume. 

The woman wore a very skimpy one piece that plunged down and barely covered her ass. It was placed together with male versions and kid versions, and you couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. 

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just….. You look like a mom-” A cackle finally falls from your lips and he whirls on you with a shocked face, the hands on his hips just making it worse. 

“A mom?”

“YES!” “Do you realize how vulgar this costume is?” 

“It looks great, she looks great.” You sigh, finally beginning to calm down. “Not the best spot for it, but still a great costume.”

“It’s completely inappropriate.” He snaps out, snatching a random costume from the shelf and storming off. 

“I didn’t mean to make you mad!” You call after him, seeing his head shake as he keeps storming off. 

That stings, and just like every other conversation you have had with the man you are left feeling stupid. And that wasn’t fair because you were always trying. He NEVER tried. And honestly, you were sick of it. So you shoved the pumpkin and bat lights in the cart before grabbing your own costume and making your way to checkout. 

- 

“You don’t understand, Nat.” Steve can do nothing but sigh out, one hand clenched around a beer bottle as he watches everyone pass around him. The beer was honestly just for show, truthfully he thought they tasted disgusting and the super soldier serum didn’t allow him to get drunk so he pretended to drink to blend in. Not that it truly mattered since he was hiding by Nat and Sam all night. “It was so embarrassing.”

“What about a slutty costume is embarrassing?” His friend laughs, sipping slowly on some weird cocktail that had gummy eyeballs floating through it. It was the first time he had seen her drink anything but a martini or beer. “I don’t think-”

“What does Y/n think of me?” 

“That…… you’re slutty?”

“Yes! Or just… it’s embarrassing that she might view me like a joke. I mean if people can dress me that way then what do they think of me? What does SHE think of me?”

“I think that you are overthinking this whole thinking thing.” Sam sighs, rubbing his eyelids. “I seriously doubt that costume made Y/n think of you in a bad way, everything can be turned into a slutty costume these days. A nun can be-”

“What about nuns?” Bucky asks, walking up with another round of drinks balanced in his hand. 

“Slutty nuns on Halloween. I was telling Steve that anything can be slutty on halloween. Hell I’ve seen girls dress as slutty corn-” Sam starts. 

“Slutty teacher.” Tony cuts in.

“Don’t forget slutty michael myers.” Wanda supplies, fixing the pirate hat she wore. 

“Or slutty pirate!” Nat points and Wanda looks completely shocked. “Says the slutty mouse!”

“You guys are saying slutty wayyyyy too much.” Bruce sighs before Bucky smiles from ear to ear. 

“How about slutty Y/n?” He blurts and Steve’s head whips towards him, anger coursing through his blood as Bucky looks back to him. “Watch yourself James.”

“No, look at your girlfriend.” Bucky teases, pointing in your direction. Steve finds you in an instant, coming down the steps from the living quarters with a wide smile on your own face. Your walk is smooth, and Steve cannot pull his eyes away from you in the slutty cap costume he had seen at the store. 

You had paired it with thigh high red heels and red lipstick, the mask covered half your face but it was very easy to recognize you. 

The beer bottle in his hand shatters and multiple turn to see the commotion, party goers spotting all the Avengers and suddenly move forward to greet the group. But Steve is already moving through them to get to you, not even bothering to apologize when he bumped into people. 

“Y/n.” He calls, face heated as he tries to catch your attention. “Hey-”

“Eyyy, It’s lady liberty over here-” A drunken voice catches his attention, filling his vision before he could get to you. And the second he sees the drunk abe lincoln heading towards you a wave of jealousy fills him.

  It’s not really fair, he knows this. He avoids talking to you because he doesn’t want to look like a fool but he hates when other people talk to you. A never ending game. 

“Y/n! Hey-” He calls again, feeling his chest lighten when you finally glance over at him. 

“Captain America!” Drunken Abe calls, reaching a hand out for a high five. “Hate to say it but she wore it better-”

“Don’t I know it.” Steve blushes, finally within arms reach of you.

“I’m not changing.” You snap, crossing your arms. “And before you start you should just be thankful that I didn’t buy the little shield.”

“I wasn’t gonna say you should change, you look…… you look great.”

“Oh? Not too vulgar?” You glare and his fight or flight begins to kick in. Landing on flight.

“Did I…. have I made you mad?” He asks, rubbing at his chest, trying not to blush too much. He probably looked insane, standing in a turtle costume while you are here looking like an actual goddess. 

“Did you make me mad? You were mad earlier!”

“I… what?”

“You snapped earlier and stormed off.”

“Because I looked like an idiot!”

“Oh whatever-” You go to walk off and he finds himself following you. 

“Wait, just hold on-”

“You realize this is like the third actual conversation we have had that lasts more than two sentences?”

“I do.” Entirely his fault, he could never seem to figure out what to say. 

“And you always act like an ass-”

“I don’t mean to. Wait just let me explain, okay?”

You squint, watching him for a moment before sighing and nodding. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” He sighs, leading you to a quieter side of the room, the lights around you both flashing bright. “I just… okay here goes nothing-”

“You’re wasting my time.”

“I know, it’s just I don’t know what to say.”

“How about the truth?”

“The truth? Okay. You make me feel like an idiot. Not on purpose but you do. It’s been nearly 100 years under the ice, 100 years since I talked to a woman and I was still unpracticed before I went under. And then I come out and I am living with this absolute gorgeous gal who is just…. perfect . I am so under prepared for anything, I know nothing of the new world and I think everything I say is wrong.”

You're watching him with such intense eyes he might die. 

“And then today, I finally talk myself into trying to talk to you and before I get a chance I saw the costume and I just felt…”

“Stupid?”

“Yes. Embarrassed and like I was the butt of a joke. Truth is I really like you, and here you are wearing a copycat of my costume while I am dressed up as a Ninja teenage mutant turtle-” Before he can finish his sentence your mouth his on his own, and he can’t breathe. 

Kissing back deeply and falling into a trance as his hands move up to hold the sides of your head. By the time you both pull back the red lipstick is covering half your chin. “I don’t think you’re stupid and I love the costume.” You smile and before he knows it he is reaching down to kiss you again.

#steve rogers #steve #rogers #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers smut #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers angst #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x you #captain america #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fandom #marvel #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #marvel x reader #halloween #happy halloweeeeeeen

[supercap2319]

Y/N was getting really bad at keeping his secret fuckings with Parker a secret. He's already been caught twice by two of his uncles and he wasn't waiting for more of them to find out. Especially his dad. Apparently, the universe or the fates or whatever you believe in hated him. Like God opening up the clouds and saying: 'I hate you, Y/N.'

Whatever or whoever was working against him had his uncle Thor stumble drunkenly upstairs to find him. While Y/N and Parker were fucking in his room upstairs, his dad, his uncles, his aunts, and some very important people were downstairs at a party. His father was the host, so, he had Y/N stay upstairs until it was over. Last time he let him join his party, Y/N ended up drunk and running naked through the streets of New York.

His dad had basically paid Parker to hangout with him tonight, but he actually hired him to babysit and keep an eye on him. Report to him if Y/N messed up, or tried to sneak out. The fucking prick. As soon as he walked in with that smug look on his face; Y/N attacked his lips with his own as they could be as loud and rough as they wanted because nobody was upstairs that could hear them. More importantly, disturb them. Or so he thought.

Thor had gotten drunk and was asking Tony about his young nephew. "Ah, Stark. Where is thy son? Mine nephew?" Thor slurred.

Tony looks away from an important investor. "Upstairs, buddy." He then turned back to the investor.

Thor stumbled across the room and rode the elevator to the upstairs bedrooms as he walked until he found Y/N's room. He broke down the door with a mighty pound of his fist as he grinned amongst the wooden debris in the air. "Rejoice, nephew! Thy uncle Thor wants you to come downstairs and have a drink—what in Odin's beard is going on in here?!"

Parker stopped thrusting into Y/N's tight hole as they both froze at the sudden appearance of Y/N's uncle Thor. His eyes were wide and big as he locked eyes with Thor's blue ones. He swallowed. "Uncle Thor, I can explain. You see Puh-Puh-Parker and I were—"

"Huzzah! Thy father's intern is your epic bed conquest? I am most proud of you, dear Y/N. I shall tell your father of your epic love story." And with that, he ran out of the room.

Y/N quickly pushed Parker off him as he chased after his drunken uncle, butt naked. "No! Uncle Thor wait!" He called out as the elevator doors closed on his face. He had to think fast. He ran and took the stairs, trying not to fall as his dick flapped in the wind.

He made it just before Thor entered the party as he saw Y/N and his naked body and smiled. "Thou wishes to tell thy father in person? How noble. Come." He began to push him towards the doors of the party, but Y/N stopped him. "Uncle Thor, wait! You can't tell my dad about Parker and me."

Thor frowned. His eyes were unfocused. "Why not? Do you not wish to have thy father's blessing?"

"You can't tell him. He'll fire Parker and ground me forever. Please don't tell." Y/N begged. He hated Parker, but he would never forgive himself if he got him fired. He needed the money to help his aunt May with the rent.

He must have been using his puppy dog because Thor nods and smiles. "I swear on Mjölnir and Storm breaker that I shall not tell Stark. This is an Asgardian promise." That's when he passed out and fell to the floor. Y/N sighed and walked towards the elevators as his dad came into the room. "Son? Why are you naked and why is Thor passed out?"

Y/N tried not to blush as he looked at his dad. "I'm drunk and was watching porn?"

#x male reader #male reader insert #male x male #peter parker #Peter parker x male reader #enemies to lovers #spiderman #spiderman x male reader #tom holland #Tom Holland x male reader #marvel mcu #tony stark #robert downey jr #chris hemsworth #thor odinson

[ronearoundblindly]

how would Steve try and describe human relationships to mermaid reader? and what would her reaction be?

also I love the fact that she has her own “room”.

Miss G?

Steve Rogers x deep sea mermaid!Reader from Sun, Salt, and Shield

Headcanon below the cut! (It got soooooo rambly, but is very cute.)

Well, only Steve calls you 'Doll,' and though Tony will not stop calling you 'Grariel,' eventually you're called 'Miss G' instead--added bonus that you roll around on your Segway with Hollywood-huge sunglasses.

'Miss G' sounds like a celebrity and fancy. You don't understand that distinction yet, but Tony and Steve like it.

Oof, does Steve know how to describe relationships to humans? He's so awkward. He would start with simple things: couples enjoy doing activities together, spending time with each other and other couples or people, often times they touch casually (tricky to explain that word in limited english), and they...kiss.

Important things Steve would mention is that your teeth are very sharp (and numerous) compared to humans. Respectfully, he teaches you to smile without opening your mouth, and does warn that, though he's a fast healer and tougher than most, he will bleed if your teeth catch any part of him ::cough::.

Tony sank a pressure chamber into the bottom of the pool, so you can sleep there comfortably. Rarely, he'll let Steve take one of the Divers and camp out on the ocean floor where you live. Sometimes that makes Steve a little sick for a day or two after, but he never mentions that to you.

This is sorta dumb, and Steve thought it was downright offensive at first, but Tony left all the pool toys in the corner of the room and slowly teaches you to play with all of them. You're quite dense, so you need like ten foam noodles to 'float' you on the surface, but it's very fun.

You find the beach ball is endlessly entertaining, mainly because you swim so fast and can hit it so hard that the ball ricochets off the ceiling like a higher level of Pong. You've popped nearly a dozen of them, but Tony just buys them in bulk.

So, back to relationship and Steve's explanation.

The most heart-warming thing Steve teaches you is the hug. So simple. So reminiscent of your first meeting. If you lay your head on his chest, your face can remain underwater to breathe and hold onto Steve indefinitely, and he's tried. The longest he's gone is five straight hours of just you two holding each other, brushing his thumb over your cheek, giving you soft back rubs, getting gentle back scratches from you, and loving every second.

Sometimes he just talks to you, even when he knows you can't understand most of the words. It's shocking how much gets across by emotion and intonation alone. You squeeze him a little tighter when he's telling you a sad story, and you rub your forehead into his sternum when he laughs at something.

Turns out, Tony used F.R.I.D.A.Y. to compile 'essential human visuals' into a slide-show, and Steve will explain pictures like prompts. That's helped a great deal because it gives him somewhere to start a conversation and lets him see how interested you are in what's happening on the screen. The light of the projector took some adjusting for your eyes, and then was too low for Steve to make out very much, so he now has his own special glasses, like Tony's, that show him an enhanced version of the slides.

Okay, okay, but I gotta say, the absolute most random and best thing ever was you trying to find Steve's room in the compound on your own. Tony gave you the room number--which you don't actually know how numbers work yet, but you go by memorizing the shapes--and then got engrossed by some other work. You hopped up onto your Segway, shades on, Atlantian breathing mask on to keep your mouth and throat in salt water, and you zoomed right through those double doors and past you 'guard.' They aren't there to keep you in, after all, but you did scare the shit out of them.

Off you fly down the main hall, back the other way, straight into the elevator, and you wait patiently, listening to horribly boring music and flicking your fin rapidly with nerves.

The buttons are confusing.

So. You press all of them.

Zippity doo-dah, round and round the halls you go, smiling (with your lips together) at the multiple people you almost run over, getting waylaid by the view of distant mountains from one window, and diligently starting to understand that the shapes Tony showed you repeat everywhere. You're looking for the correct order to them.

It takes over 45 minutes of going between 0 and 20 miles per hour to find the right combination on a little plaque, and it takes only the very tip of your nail to depress the squishy button below the plaque.

You're growing quite fond of the squishy buttons. Some of them are hard but light up. The surface is fun.

Steve is wiping white foam from a fresh shave off his jaw when the door swings open, and you do a spin on your wheels, spreading your fingers like the showy jazz-hands in one of the pictures about stage plays--musicals, they're called--better than elevators, you hope.

You get the ten cent tour of his little apartment and sit on a couch for the first time. Very exciting. Fabric is delightfully strange.

There's talk of a beach vacation, one where you and Steve might get to race along the shore, you in the surf and him on the sand.

You aren't sure whether you'll let him win or not.

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

a/n: yeah...i don't even know, gang.

#ro answers #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #mermaid!reader #mermaid au #deep sea mermaid #steve rogers fluff

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

lady and the tramp spaghetti kiss but with deuce’s mom and lilia 🫣

I'm yoinking this idea for the unofficial blog event 🤡

(Quick clarification: Mrs. Spade being an ex-delinquent is a headcanon! I just thought it’d be an interesting concept, so I incorporated it into her character.)

Curiouser and Curiouser...

When Lilia mentions to his son that he's planning on cooking for the "lady friend" he's seeing, Silver steps in to stop his dad from poisoning the poor woman. "You should try a restaurant, get to know one another better before volunteering to share your... talent with her," Silver advises as lightly as he can. Thankfully for him (and for his dad's date), Lilia relents.

He decides to take his date to Tony's, a laid-back family friendly pizza and pasta joint in town. Lilia brings along his own candle—blessed with Malleus’s almost apocalyptic green fire (imagine that, a horned fairy godmother in pitch black robes)—to decorate their table, as well as a crystal vase with a single red rose (provided from the Heartslabyul Gardens by Cater, wanting to support his fellow Light Music Club member. “Knock’m dead with your charm, Lils!”)

Kalim had wanted to contribute something to Lilia’s date night, but unfortunately a huge parade of animals, while impressive, wouldn’t squeeze into Tony’s. Instead, Kalim went shopping with Lilia to help him get all dripped out for the occasion! “I’ll pay for whatever you want, so have at it!” (It was Jamil who had to limit Lilia’s spending and stopped him from buying medieval battle armor. “Why would you wear this to a date?! Are you trying to kill them? Just wear something practical and casual!”)

Lilia thought he’d be the first at the venue, but he's actually been beaten to the punch. She's easy to spot because of her hair--a bob, striped blonde and dark blue--and her spade earring. Lips painted, eyes done up. Her leather jacket is open to reveal a cute white rabbit logo (most likely a freebie T-shirt from work), paired with jeans (ripped at the knees) and ankle boots.

"You're early, Dylla," he remarks, slipping into the seat across from her and placing the candle and vase on the table. She smiles and says, "I'd never be late for a very important date."

Lilia asks if Dylla was waiting for long. According to her, she was at the restaurant over 15 minutes ago but "not to worry" because she was just talking to her son over the phone to pass the time. Dylla mentions that her son can be such a worrywart sometimes. "He was reminding me to stay safe and to let you know that he'll be on your ass if you make me sad," Dylla says with a laugh. "Oh my, I'd better not let your smile waver then," Lilia replies easily.

While they're looking over the menus, Lilia mentions his own "prodigious" cooking. (According to him, his son Silver just can't get enough of it!! Once, Silver took one bite and immediately passed out from how "good" it was.) "It's a required skill for single parents," Dylla agrees. "I can cook myself, but mainly simple dishes. My Deuce enjoys eggs, so I usually make things with those. It helps that they're cheap and keep for a long time too." (She says that she'd love to try his food, and in return she'll make something for him too! They make a promise to get to it someday.)

They settle on ordering the same item: Starry Night Spaghetti, a plate of spaghetti with meatballs. (There’s a story that two dogs once had the same dish under the stars, and became closer than ever as a result!) “A shame we aren’t eating outside—then we’d be bonded just like the canine couple,” Lilia says.

During the wait for their food, they exchange crazy stories about their lives. Lilia shocks Dylla with tales of his travels and of his past as a war veteran (although he's a little vague about the details), and Dylla tells him all about her days as an ex-delinquent and biker chick. "Kufufu, looks can be quite deceiving," Lilia chuckles. "No one would dare suspect such sweet-faced people like us to be so troublesome~"

Of course, they also share stories about their sons! Who can forget when Deuce used to wear all those rabbit-themed clothes as a kid? How about the time Silver fought a family of bears and came out of the battle with three new friends?

Lilia scootches his seat closer so he can show off some pictures of him and Silver on his phone! Dylla's shoulder presses against Lilia’s as she leans in to look, squishing the two into their own personal bubble, seemingly putting them in a world far away from the noisy pizzeria.

They decide to take pics together to commemorate the date! Dylla learns a lot of things from Lilia (like flipping the camera lenses to take better selfies, how to use the timing feature, and what filters do). They take a normal picture, then one with silly faces (Lilia’s suggestion) and a third with silly poses (also Lilia’s suggestion).

He busts out his bagpipes at some point to romance her with a romantic (?) serenade. Lilia does a little jig with it—something he threw together on the spot with knowledge of different styles of dancing from various cultures. The other customers mistake him for a paid performer and start clapping along and cheering—and Dylla joins in, clapping and cheering the loudest of them all.

Lilia starts to ask if they’d like an encore, if and so, which instrument? Mandolin or accordion? He can play them all! A member of the wait staff comes over to gently ask that Lilia put away his instruments, so then Lilia tries to sing without any musical accompaniment: “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, thaaat’s amoreeeeee 🎵”

He gets shut down a second time because, “Sir, your screeching is making the children at the next table over cry.” (Dylla gets a real kick out of Lilia’s enthusiasm though! “I can’t remember the last time a man was passionate enough to sing his heart out, consequences be damned!”)

When the food finally arrives, they realize that the chef must have made a mistake—there’s one plate of spaghetti, as though both of their orders were combined onto a single massive serving. But hey, Lilia’s willing to roll with it and just eat off the same plate. “What do you know, it’s family style!” he jokes. “In the Land of Crimson Long, it’s common for restaurants to serve food this way. You just pick out the portion you want to serve yourself.”

So that’s just what they do—stabbing their forks into the spaghetti at opposite ends and eating from that. Lilia’s appetite is healthy (he’s getting sauce on his mouth and is sucking up the noodles with such speed that a stray one slaps him in the face), but Dylla's got something on her mind.

She keeps winding her spaghetti around and around on her fork, lost in thought and doubts. Dylla wonders about a great deal of things. When is the right time to introduce this man to Deuce? How would he take it, especially when he’s gone without a father for his whole life? Was she even deserving of another husband, and someone as wonderful as Lilia?

Dylla absentmindedly brings the noodles to her mouth. There’s a slight tug at the other end (a stubborn clump, maybe?) but she pays it no mind, far too fixated on her thoughts. She doesn’t realize what’s happening until she feels something on her lips—and finds Lilia’s wide-eyed stare trained on her.

They hurriedly pull back from one another, and from the spaghetti-stained kiss. Dylla's slightly panicked and profusely apologetic, but Lilia reassures her that it’s fine, neither of them were anticipating it—and if anything, the guilt is split 50-50! “Guess we’ll both have to be sentenced for our grave crime!”

“… Oh, one moment. You have something here.” Lilia runs a thumb along the margins of Dylla's lower lip. It’s just some stray spaghetti sauce and lipstick smudges, but the gesture, however small, feels very tender and intimate, even moreso than the kiss. His hand lingers for maybe a second longer than it should have, but he, at last, retreats with a playful grin. “There you are, good as new.”

They fistfight to be the first one to the bill (their reasoning being, “it must be hard for you as a fellow single parent, let ME foot the full thing!”). Being fae, Lilia has the advantage with superior strength and speed, but Dylla gives him a good run for his money. They fight ends with Lilia headlocking his date and seizing the check in his mouth, puncturing the paper with his fangs.

Before any wallets can be opened, their (deeply exasperated) waiter asks them to “please just leave”, not even caring if they pay or not. (He doesn’t get paid enough to deal with shenanigans like this 💦)

They exit Tony’s and enter the night. There’s a full moon out to illuminate their way as they walk to Dylla's waiting magical wheel. As she produces her keys, Lilia tucks the red rose that had been with them at heir dining table behind her left ear. “May the Night guide you,” he says cryptically. Dylla isn’t sure what it means, but it makes the heat rise to her cheeks anyway. He sure knows how to sweet talk, his way into someone’s heart.

She asks Lilia where his ride is and he nonchalantly says that he “flew in”, which just leaves her slack jawed (until he cracks yet another classic Dad Joke with, “and boy, are my arms tired!”). “Well, if you’re up for it, I’d love to give you a lift home,” Dylla offers. “There’s plenty of room for another person.”

“If you could take me to Silver’s dorm, that would be great—but how scandalous! We disturb the public peace, don’t pay for our meal, then make a quick getaway on a motor vehicle?” Lilia climbs aboard, looping his arms around his date. “I think we’re shaping up to be quite the criminal couple.”

Dylla revs up her magical wheel, which lets out a monstrous groan. They peel off and merge into the road, racing the stars and sky that housed them, their peals of laughter filling the night. It was definitely one to remember.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland headcanons #twst headcanons #Lilia Vanrouge #Dylla Spade #Deuce Spade #Silver #disney twisted wonderland #unofficial blog event #yes I am sticking to this name #twst imagines #twst scenarios #twisted wonderland scenarios #twisted wonderland imagines #curiouser and curiouser #not me pushing the Lilia x Mrs. Spade agenda for the shitpost/j #Malleus Draconia #Cater Diamond #Kalim Al-Asim #Jamil Viper #Scarabia

[axailslink]

I'm fucking Ironheart

Riri Williams/ Ironheart x poc FEM reader

Summary: your girlfriend tolerates your absolute obsession with what she calls a glossified power ranger until you walk in on said glossified power ranger mid dressed.

You're scrolling through your blog when Riri walks in and grabs you by the legs pulling you to her. You're quick to get up and plant a soft kiss on her lips "where the hell were you?" She smiles "I had a exam to take what are you doing here?" You shrug "I missed you and your dorm is better than mine. Riri glances at her laptop which is covered in photos of Ironheart and she laughs and shakes her head. "I should have known you were using my laptop again?" You laugh as she picks it up and scrolls through the pictures herself "yeah what do you think about these? I took them when I caught sight of her around Christmas" Riri nods and kisses down your neck "I think you're my favorite little journalist" you can't help the smile that spreads across your face as you lock the door and let your hand slide to her waist. "Oh shit wait wait I told them I'd post tonight" Riri sighs "so you just gone kiss me and-" you nod as you pick her laptop up and scroll through the photos posting the best one. Riri admires how you obsess over Ironheart most people wouldn't be as welcoming to it but Riri doesn't mind it unless she needs to do work.

When you update your blog you close her laptop and turn your attention back to her "sorry now where were we?" Riri smiles as you push the laptop out of the way and she straddles your lap both knees resting by your sides. "I think we were a little somewhere like right here" she pulls off her shirt and you can't help but smile Riri is always forward with what she wants but it still leaves you flustered sometimes. "I feel like we skipped a few chapters but sure this is totally where we were" you laugh and Riri nods "exactly where we were."

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

You rarely go into Riri's dorm without her knowledge but tonight you just can't help yourself you possess some amazing footage from a fight with Ironheart and you just can't help yourself.

So what are you doing in front of Riri's dorm past curfew? Obviously sneaking in like most people she locks her door but you know how to get in without a key. You carefully use your identification card and open the door locking it back behind you you're sneaking in and pause when you see a five foot nine suit of armor in front of you. "Riri?" You whisper looking at her empty bed "babe" you grab a bat she keeps nestled in the corner and raise it but when Ironheart turns around you're shocked to see Riri in said body of armor. "Hold on I'm not high enough for this tonight. I'm seriously not" you flip the light on and let your eyes glance over her figure "okay that's doing a bit much you can see me."

You blink for a moment and then look at the window. "You be flying in through the window? You're the smartest yet dumbest person I know. I should be shocked but honestly I'm pissed you're tony Stark's fucking successor and you didn't tell me? Actually I would have hated it if you told me. Oh my God you know about my blog and what I say about you on a daily basis not just that but you're like 5'9 in this armor and it's kind of hot. I'm really having a moment because my girlfriend has been keeping secrets from me. I thought you were just slowly distancing yourself and preparing to break up with me but you're not you're just too busy being a fucking superhero or are you a vigilante? I don't know but it's a lot" Riri grabs your shoulders carefully "stop before you send yourself into a panic attack." You shake your head and take deep breaths you hear clanking as you turn towards the wall and grab it for support. Riri stands in front of you out of her suit she grabs you by your face centering your attention on her "hey hey breathe with me in and out slow those breaths down and breathe with me" you do as instructed as she follows with.

When you've finally calmed down your laying on Riri's bed glancing at her suit then her "I'm fucking Ironheart. I'm trying to be more sensible and mature about the situation but truth be told I can't that's all I can think about. I'm fucking Ironheart how do you go about telling one why your girlfriend can't make it to the family dinner? "oh well I'm sorry mom she's a superhero" I need to lay down I must have smoked too many blunts or something because this feels like a fever dream." Riri watches with clear caution carefully caressing your leg. "I like the old suit better" you mumble and she's quick to look at you "what?" You shrug "I mean that one's alright but Riri Williams isn't some dolled up power ranger you're real and raw." Riri smiles seeing as you're finally level headed. "You do know if we break up I have to kill you?" You look her up and down and scoff "you think you're getting rid of me? That's good that's funny as hell actually applaud I applaud you." You claim sarcastically laughing because why would she even say such a thing? Leave? Ever? You've cooked for her family on Thanksgiving you're locked in for life whether she likes it or not because her mom loves you.

A/n: very unedited I didn't even look it over I'm just trying to post something for y'all before I sleep I have to wake up early again.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Taglist:

@verachii

@mocha-aya

@shuriszn

@lolas-bunny

@louderfortheback

@lucillele

@shuri-lover

@quintessencewrites

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@atssukoo

@shuri-my-love

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@rxcently

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@mxyx-rx444

@kiwidreamersstuff

@secretgyals

@awarm-sundaynight

@shurisnewbabymomma

@shurisbigtoe

@darkangelchronicles

@writesbyriri

#riri x fem reader #riri imagine #riri x reader #riri williams x reader #dominique thorne riri williams #riri williams #riri x black!reader #riri x you #riri x oc #riri williams x black!fem!reader #riri williams x fem!reader #riri williams x black!reader #riri williams x you #riri williams imagine #riri williams black panther #riri wiliams x reader #riri williams fluff #riri williams fanfic #riri williams smut #mcu riri williams #riri williams mcu #marvel fluff #marvel imagine #marvel #black panther wakanda forever #black panther imagine #black panther x reader #black panther #black panther fics #dominique thorne

[aurumacadicus]

Hmmmm need more Tony picking up skinny!Steve at the bar because he’s cute and awkward and he likes that in a man only to be fucked within an inch of his life. He is in love with Steve by the end of the night because of his immaculate dick game and the praise Steve whispers into his ear as he coaxes him through yet another orgasm and the way Steve carefully wipes him clean instead of just leaving him to sleep in their mess not that Tony would have actually minded. Steve is gone in the morning and Tony is despondent because he wanted to return the favor and wake Steve up with his mouth and maybe ride him until Steve was just as ruined for everyone else as Tony was and this was why he preferred to be the first to leave in the morning. :(

JARVIS tells him that Steve let a note and Tony scrambles for it and about faints when he reads “got a business meeting with you today so don’t let your ceo know I fucked you stupid.” Oh god. The meeting with the top advertising agency that they’d been trying to get for months and hadn’t managed until the owner had seen they’d started destroying the weapons they’d recollected from illicit sources. Pepper was going to kill him.

(It’s fine, they get the contract, Steve doesn’t even look like he remembers their night of debauchery and Tony is too impressed by his team’s mock-ups to be upset about it, even if he is sad that he can’t ogle Steve in his beautifully tailored suit without Pepper stabbing him with a pen under the table.

They finish up the meeting and everyone’s feeling pretty good about it, Pepper leads them out and Tony is tidying up the conference room until she comes back so they can touch base before he heads down to R&D for a surprise inspection (he likes seeing everyone scramble to hide how many coffee cups they have at their tables) when he hears the door open and close again, and he’s about to babble on about how great the mock-ups were so that Pepper can’t tell he wanted to crawl under the table and suck Steve’s dick when a hand lands on his bruised ass and squeezes until he whimpers.

“Let’s have dinner,” Steve says, and Tony is nodding before it registers that it’s an order and not a request, and it lights up something inside him. “I know this really great diner. Very casual. Dress down. I’ll pick you up at six.”

“Okay,” Tony squeaks, flushing, and then watches as Steve pulls his phone out of his pocket, turns to the door as it opens again and Pepper steps in, asking if he found it.

“Right on the table,” Steve lies casually, gives Tony and Pepper a smile like he didn’t just grab Tony by the ass and ask him out to eat, and breezes out with a cheerful wave.

I’m in trouble, Tony thinks, hoping that Pepper doesn’t notice how flustered he is.)

((“Hey so uuuh, what the fuck?” Tony splutters when Steve shows up to pick him up for dinner. “You were awkward at the bar, not this… tiny, controlling Dom or whatever. What gives.”

“I’m really bad at picking up signals on whether people are making fun of me or if they really want me,” Steve says with a shrug. “Figured you were earnest when we actually made it to your bed. So of course I didn’t hold back when I realized you liked it when I was bossy.”

“I did not,” Tony lies, and Steve just slants him a fond smirk and roll of his eyes. “You are being mean to me. I’m going back up to my penthouse.”

“You liked when I was mean to you last night,” Steve purrs, reaching out to tuck his hand into Tony’s back pocket, and he can’t help the little yelp that escapes his lips as Steve takes the handful of his ass and squeezes, using the grip to lead him over to the doors. “Hope you don’t have any early morning meetings tomorrow. I cleared my schedule.”

It wrankles Tony something terrible, because he’s a brat at heart and he wants Steve to know it. On the other hand, he’s so horny at this point he doesn’t really care, so long as Steve keeps his hands on him. It’s all very confusing.

On the bright side, Tony gets to wake Steve up with his mouth the next day.))

#ideas #stony #lemon

[confusedfoam]

I am very concerned about this plot thru line that Normal desperately wants to help and is also a complete failure at it. Just some of his greatest hits (though he definitely wasn't the only one involved in some of these fuck ups)

thought he could fix hermie, actually opened the door for him to get horribly physically scarred and having the identity crisis of the century

Going to try and save his dad and uncle and ending up on the complete opposite end of an intense ethical debate

Definitely made Pepperoni Tony's marriage way worse before. not that it mattered in the end ig

Bringing Brad back to life only for him to be a miserable shell who resents every moment spent on earth

and the latest, trusts link to help him resolve the love anchor with empathy only to get the rug out from under him Again

So. Yeah time and time again Normal tried to do the empathic thing, tries to help people, and just Can't. And I'm very worried (read: excited but sad for him) about the direction this is setting for the rest of the season specifically as it relates to Normal and the Doodler.

It's growing increasingly likely that Normal fails to help it. I don't know what's going to actually happen, I don't think the cast knows what's going to actually happen, as long as Anthony was telling the truth about it being a dice roll. But either he fails or he nearly does we'll have to wait and see. Whatever happens I think this particular part of Normal's story (These are actually all themes of the podcast at large but i am going to mostly focus on normal and the doodler here barbecue otherwise this would be extra obnoxiously long.) touches on a few things.

-Agency

For Normal, so many of these failures (especially the anchor related ones) result after his agency and control of the situation has superseded. Pepperoni Tony's death was entirely outside of his control. he trusted his friends to help him with the anchors and they violate that trust and act in direct opposition to his interests while he is powerless to stop them.

The Doodler too, in spite of being a eldritch god of massive power, is lacking agency. It was hauled into reality without it's consent, was an unwilling passenger of the Oak family for generations, hell it's own summoning at the end of season one was not a result of its own actions. Other people's desire to use it's power or to prove their worth against it etc etc paved the way for all of that. It didn't tell the twins the prophecy. It didn't tell Lark who the Unsung Hero was.

-Projecting, the limits of support, and putting your own mask on first., whatever you want to call it.

There is this idea that you have to get your shit together before you're ready to help other people, and its true to a degree but its also not how life works. You have to be willing and able to keep working on yourself with the support of other people while also supporting them to do the same. I think one of the chronic problems of 90% of the cast is they are fucking up this balance one way or another. Normal's problem is layered. He really believes that its either one or the other and it you cant help yourself and someone else at the same time. So hes using it as an excuse to say Nope hes good actually he's done his growing his mask is totally all the way on and its time to Help People. because his family is selfless and self-sacrificial to the point it swings back around and is selfish again. He can't help anyone effectively because its a two way street and he's closed his side down.

-Cycles

small scale cycles, in the repeated breaking for Normal's trust. (Of intra-party trust in general which I could go off about some other time.) His trust in his father and his uncle has been under fire from pretty much every angle. Every time Normal trusts his friends they screw him over.

the obvious cycle of the burden of the Doodler in the Oak family, Normal and Lark both sitting on the throne. I mean what more can I say. And my personal favorite. The cycle of reaching out and failing. It haunts the Oak family. Hildy reached out to her son as he got lost to the call of power and failed. Barry reached out to try and mold Henry into his shape and failed. Henry tried to reach out to everyone around him and continuously came up short and his sons turned out all the worse for it. Sparrow reaches out to express his overbearing concern with his son and blunders it entirely. Normal reaches out to his friends and the slap his hand away, he reaches out to The Doodler and is steadily falling short of actually helping it in any meaningful way.

.

.

But Uhhh anyway those were some disjointed thoughts that needed to get out of my head after the end of last episode. Not all of them make total sense but thats what happens when you brain dump across two sessions and type things in no particular order. These fucking kids man. These fucking kids.

#I need an outlet for all my thoughts and unfortunately for you all it is right here #so so so normal about this show and the cyclical themes and the generation trauma #i could make 80 more posts about it all #normal oak #the doodler #dungeons and daddies #dndads #dndads s2 spoilers #brain dump garbage thoughts

[matchbookarmy]

The War is Over and We Are... by Hecate

Rating: Teen

Summary: After they beat Thanos, Steve and Tony muddle through what is left of their relationship.

Ending: Open/Ambiguous but hopeful with a hint of Happy for Now.

Why I'm Reccing: So, I'm not sure why this one comes up at the beginning of the alphabet. Maybe there's a space in the title or something, I don't know. But I am so so so pleased that this was the first fic I read upon returning to Stony fic.

I actually almost didn't click on it, and I waffled back and forth for a bit, because while this takes place after Endgame (edit: this was actually published *before* Endgame came out, but after Infinity War, but for me, it still works just fine with canon if we just ignore the last 15-ish minutes of the movie -- which I do!) , it is ultimately a Civil War fix-it. And I'm always so nervous with those, because a lot of them tend to paint Steve as being completely in the wrong and that's just very far from my own take.

But this fic doesn't do that! Steve feels guilt for the role that he played in Civil War, and everything that came after it, feels guilt about not trusting Tony more at the time -- but he also still has his own feelings about the things that Tony did (including in Age of Ultron). Not a lot of CW fix-its focus on the fact that it happened in the wake of AoU, and I'm glad that this one did, because I think it provides another necessary layer and nuance. Not that this dwells on Ultron, but it does come up as Steve is contemplating how they started to fall apart, and what he wants his relationship with Tony to look like in the future.

Y'all, this fic.... I haven't even finished reading it yet, but I had to start typing this up because I knew it was going to be my first rec. It is just an amazing character portrait of Steve (and also Tony, in a way, through Steve's thoughts about Tony) that feels incredibly in character for Steve in a way that stays true to who he is in canon, while also adding more depth to his character.

Since this is ultimately a reconciliation(ish) fic, it kinda gives those early 2012 post-Avengers getting to know one another vibes in parts of the fic (though everything is tinged with heartache and grief -- even the "happy" moments). Which I actually think is sort of a nice bookend to their relationship. And while this fic is short (only 4.5k) and so never actually gives us a complete reconciliation, we are left with hope that they will find their way back into one another's hearts, that they will work through their guilt, and their trust issues, and find a way to make it work this time.

I don't know. It just feels like a very realistic portrayal of where they would be post-Thanos. And the thing that I really like about this fic is that, in staying true to Steve's canonical characterization, we can feel him holding himself back from Tony, keeping his emotions close to his chest, and just how much it's hurting him to do that. In fact, we see a lot of Steve's recklessness in this fic, the way he's almost careless with himself. Steve is not a perfect character, he is flawed, and I wouldn't want him any other way, and this fic hits his flaws perfectly.

And look, I just need to add something. This fic is, in my opinion, extremely underrated. It only has 146 kudos, but whatever. I've read some truly atrocious fics with thousands of kudos, so kudos aren't everything. But when I went into the comments, the very first comments were from people complaining about the fic, about how Steve didn't do enough for Tony in the fic, and frankly being outright argumentative with the author (this argument made up the bulk of the fic's 18 comments), and that.... that really sucks. Cause this was a truly beautiful fic, and the author didn't deserve that. No author does, but it was especially shitty to see it on such a brilliant character study of Steve.

Anyway, if you give the fic a chance, and I really hope you do, especially if you are a Steve fan, please show the author some love.

~.~.~

Follow me on my journey as I make my way alphabetically through every Stony fic on AO3.

#stony fic rec #stony #civil war fix it #getting back together #ish #steve character portrait #post endgame #ambiguous ending

[banannabethchase]

KrisRuby with alien Kris (how you interpret that is up to you). Ruby is napping on a couch in the locker room and wakes up to find Kris kneeling over her, studying her intently.

Kiss is Cosmic - also on AO3

~

Ruby wakes up to Kris staring at her sleep, and finally figures out what's so intriguing about her.

~

Title from Katy Perry's ET. For the bingo square I4 Crack. Which is obvious.

~

Ruby has the sense somebody is staring down at her as she drags herself from the tendrils of sleep. She hadn’t meant to pass out on a locker room couch, but Saraya had kept her up until 3am going over outfit options and ranting about Toni and she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

It takes a minute to realize that she’s not making it up, that she really is being stared at, and she slowly blinks her eyes open to see somebody unreasonably close to her.

“Holy fuck,” Ruby says, scrambling to sit on the couch. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Examining you.” Kris says it like it’s normal, like they’re discussing the weather. “I’m curious.”

“Cur – about what?”

Kris blinks at her, almost clinically. “The human body, when faced with trauma or adverse experiences, has multiple coping mechanisms. On observation, I’ve noted that your most frequent coping mechanism is falling asleep in random places at venues.” She smiles at Ruby. “You’ve been doing so more lately, so I wanted to see how intensely the coping mechanism locks into your psyche or if it was easily disturbed.”

“I am definitely easily disturbed when somebody watches me fucking sleep,” Ruby grumbles, rubbing at her eyes. “And coping – what the hell? Why are you watching me like that?”

Kris shrugs. “I think you’re interesting.”

“Are you hitting on me or something?”

Kris blinks her pretty eyes, unfazed. “Would you like me to hit on you?” She looks a little confused. “Generally my scientific requirements prefer me to be outside of the research, but I could reconsider. I have in the past.”

“Human subjects,” Ruby scoffs. “You say that like you’re not human.”

“I’m not,” Kris says. “We’ve been over this, like, a million times.”

“You dropped the alien gimmick over a year ago,” Ruby replies.

Kris tilts her head, and her inquisitive little smile is both intriguing and terrifying. “Gimmick?” she asks. “No, I didn’t drop anything. I’m more than a woman because, in my species, gender is optional and entirely separate from reproduction.”

It’s Ruby’s turn to blink, confused. “Excuse me?”

“Generally, on Earth,” Kris continues, “I present like this,” she gestures to herself, and Ruby can’t keep herself from scanning Kris’ body. She’s always told herself not to look. She’s never let herself look before. But here’s the invitation. “I enjoy this body. It provides fascinating reactions.”

Ruby feels her cheeks heat up without her permission. “Uh. Are you trying to tell me you’re literally an alien?”

“I don’t know why everyone doubts me,” Kris says, and she finally looks something other than clinical. “I’ve told people since day one. I’m from the Andromeda galaxy, and I’m the galaxy’s greatest alien. That last part is a personal claim, of course, but it added some flair to my identity.”

“You thought being an actual alien wasn’t flair enough?”

“Clearly it wasn’t, because no one believes me!” She throws her hands in the air. “I was sent here to do research, but all you humans are so sweet and charming. It’s almost impossible to avoid it. And then people like you come along, and you’re just so interesting, and you don’t even let me talk to you without trying to kill me.” She slumps down on the couch next to Ruby. “I love my belt, I do, but it would be nice to get somebody’s attention without it.”

Ruby scoots closer next to Kris. “You have my attention.”

“Only because I used you as a subject in my anthropological research,” Kris says, and she looks so sad Ruby has no choice but to put her hand on Kris’ thigh.

Kris turns to her. “I’m not doing that, by the way.”

“Doing what?” Ruby asks.

“Making you – nice,” Kris says, frowning like she wasn’t sold on her word choice. “I don’t have powers like that. All I’m good for is scientific research.”

“And wrestling,” Ruby says. “You’re very good at that.”

Kris blushes and tilts her head down. “Thank you.”

Ruby bumps her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re not putting any weird spells on me?”

Kris turns to her, and they’re so close their noses bump. “Promise.”

Ruby can’t be blamed what happens next. The day has been weird enough. She’s just following the pattern.

Ruby leans in and kisses Kris, the softest press of lips she could have imagined. It’s quick, sweet, but it makes Ruby wonder if she should do more about it than sweet.

When she pulls away, Kris is blinking at her. Her eyes settle on wide confusion. “You kissed me,” she murmurs.

“Yeah,” Ruby says, laughing. She rubs her hand at the back of her neck. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Either I have misread may cues, or that – meant something.” Kris frowns. “Unless some of your kind kiss people without reason?”

“I mean, some do,” Ruby says, shrugging. “But, uh. No, I think it might have meant something.” She’s not used to feeling this off guard around Kris, this entranced. “Oh, my god, I think I’m into the alien deal.”

“The alien deal?” Kris repeats. The confusion slowly blurs to something next to hurt. “Oh, I understand. The novelty is what intrigues you.” She smiles, but it’s the tiniest bit sad. “That often occurs with my scientific research. I grow attached and tell the person, but when they learn I’m an alien their interest peaks and wanes. It makes sense. Humans crave new experiences.”

Ruby opens her mouth. “I mean, I might be interested in a new experience with you because you’re Kris Statlander the whole time. The alien bit just made it…obvious.”

Kris tilts her head, her smile shifting. “Made what obvious?”

Ruby huffs. “Aren’t you a human expert or something? You know.”

“True, but I’d rather have it confirmed.” Her face lights up. “I’d never want my academic biases to overtake empirical evidence.”

“Why does that make you hotter?” Ruby mutters. “Fine. I think – I like you. I have for a while, but I’ve been ignoring it. Everything with the Outcasts, and losing to you for the title.” She closes her eyes. “And you being all –” She pauses. “All you about it made me think about it, and now here we are. On a couch, with you making me talk.”

Kris’ smile grows. “You can kiss me again, if you’d like.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Ruby mutters. But she leans in anyway, tasting the smile on Kris’ alien lips.

~

Mini playlist: ET - Katy Perry Here (In Your Arms) - Hellogoodbye She Blinded Me with Science -Thomas Dolby Future Starts Now - Kim Petras

#KrisRuby #here have some fluff a dentist would love #because it'll give you cavities #in which Sara writes #sarahcakes613 #For some reason this fic was super hard to write

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

Thoughts from planes with Zee (an unhinged and incomplete list) Part 2

Hey friends! I traveled again, which means I wrote down every unhinged thought I had. Part 1 of this post is from August and you can find it here. And if you haven't heard my insane travel story yet, you can find it here.

Some of these are headcanons, some are random thoughts, some are responses to posts I saw while I was travelling. I wouldn't say any of these are particularly controversial, but I can see where people could disagree with me so everyone know that almost everything is a joke and should be taken with a grain of salt. Love you.

Do you think Wille went straight to Felice after the ball and was all giddy and telling her about the kiss? I think about this every day. Did he teenage freak out over it with his best friend? Does Felice know? 

Of all the random shit I put into Screwed about Erik, I think the funniest might be: Erik not being able to say anything other than “he’s pretty” when he meets Simon for the first time, and Erik’s least favorite month ironically being November. 

Wilhelm wears sweatpants on planes so he has pockets and Simon wears pajama pants, making Wilhelm hold everything for him. 

Just saw a post that said “Edvin looks at Omar like he’s in love with him” and after I’ve finished cringing, my response to that is: everyone looks at Omar that way. It’s Omar. 

Simon listens to the Beatles, but he does it in secret. Wilhelm only knows because he found the records in his room. Wilhelm, to this day, is the only person who knows.  

Thinking about how Henry didn’t think to knock on Wilhelm’s door because he probably knew after the locker room interruption just how heartbroken Wille was and therefore assume Wilhelm wouldn’t have anyone in his room. Henry didn't knock because Henry understood everything about Simon without being told.

Stella screams at airline representatives while Fredrika cries about plans being ruined. 

Wilhelm loves the rain 

Concept: season 3 opens with another dream like season 2 did, but this time it’s August and Sara. (Prompted by the song love, or the lack thereof by Isaac Dunbar) 

I truly and utterly appreciate Young Royals for showing what it is actually like for a teenager with anxiety to be forced into therapy. Like you don’t want to be there. For a while you do just sit in silence. But slowly you open up. It isn’t just "lay on the couch and share all your feelings" and then you’re suddenly better. It’s a process. It takes time. ESPECIALLY when you don’t want to be there. Just… god I’m crying about it again. 

Nils gives Tony Award worthy performances in his kitchen with a wooden spoon as a microphone. Change my mind. You can’t. 

Maddie is the first person in their year to get a license, but no one will get in a car with her behind the wheel. 

I feel like Walter is a Billie Eilish fan, but won’t admit it. 

Fredrika can sing every Hanna Ferm song from memory 

Stella sucks on lollipops because people got annoyed with her chewing gum. 

The entire Hillerska student body teases Wilhelm about not knowing Simon’s song was about him. They tease him for years. The administrators catch onto the teasing too and it’s mentioned subtly in their graduation address. None of the parents can understand why the entire student body started laughing at the headmistress’ speech, and they don’t understand why the crown prince is annoyed when he starts his own speech. 

Felice started learning Russian as a joke and now she actually speaks Russian and uses it often even though no one can understand her. 

Somewhat off topic, woke up rn to an Omar song, and was nice. 

Every rumor at Hillerska can be traced back to either Walter or Fredrika. They didn’t mean to, they just literally cannot keep their mouth shut. 

Henry watches ice age when he’s sick 

Moulin Rouge AU 

Thinking about ✨that✨ scene again 

If any of them were going to be a greyhound runaway, it would be Sara 

Follow up to that one^: Would like to see a fic where August is a greyhound runaway. Like canon still happens, but after s2 he just decides to run from his problems. 

Somewhere in Hillerska Erik graffitied his name

Off topic again, but noise canceling earbuds are a god send 

Felice+Adele. Send tweet. 

Want something to fuck you up? Actor for Nils is older than actor for Erik. 

Breaking up with my gf was such a good idea knowing what I know now💀

Madison loves flying. In comparison, Nils would rather die 

Omar songs + sunrise part 2 

I have never been more convinced that Vincent listens to fallout boy unironically 

Simon drinks peppermint Mochas 

Rowing team blamed their loss on “karma” 

Wilhelm has a crippling fear of being forgotten, but more so he has a debilitating fear of Erik being forgotten.  

Things I have now done: had a panic attack at 30,000ft (twice)

Felice makes sure everyone else eats and then forgets to eat 

Nils and night drives 

Carefully by Ben Platt is Wilhelm season 2 

Jag hatar mannen bredvid mig.  han gjorde ingenting.  Jag är bara arg på hela världen.

If Dani and I started a podcast, would people listen to it? 

I hope Henry knows the names of Simon’s fish. Like maybe not right now in the canon story, but at some point. I feel like he’d appreciate the fish having names .

I wrote the beginning of a fic and I think it’s like kinda good but I did write it at 2am so maybe I’m just tired 

Is It Just Me? By Emily Burns is about to become the most painful Wilmon edit. Try me. One like and I’ll do it. 

Sara can’t swim 

Was thinking about a 1950s AU and then realized I have no reason for them to be in the 50s. Like why do they need to be in the 50s? Poodle skirts? That’s literally it. 

Growing Sideways by Noah Kahan is a Hangman Song. This is a top gun thing. Specifically Aftershocks fic by @the-navistar-carol. 

How… how are people gonna watch a show in which Edvin plays a queer character, and makes out with another man, and then accuse him of being homophobic? How do you even-? 

Sometime in the future August gets sober and people more mature than him begin to forgive him. Not because he deserves it, but because they don’t want to put the energy into being angry anymore. 

I want Omar to start yelling at people. Like he has to want to yell at people at this point. I think he should. 

Ayub 100% knows every detail of Wilmon. He is a walking Wilmon dictionary. Simon told him everything. Like he could tell you where Wilhelm’s least favorite freckle was or some shit even though he’s never asked Wilhelm about it, nor has he seen the freckle. 

Vincent’s guilty pleasure movie is Chicago and his ringtone for August is “cell block tango” aka "he had it coming."

Paparazzi catch Wille teary eyed, and it becomes a big “Boys DO Cry” Moment but really he just saw a really cute dog or some shit 

Wilhelm asks “would you still love me if I was a worm” and Simon replies “yes” without hesitation 

And that's every thought I felt like writing down. I hope it was delightfully unhinged. Much love to all of you.

#unhinged zee hours #zee travels and zee's brain consumes them #young royals #young royals headcanons

[no-gorms]

I loved your Destiel “childhood friends becoming more” fics. We’re you to Steve/Tony that scenario, how would you do it? Powers, no powers? MCU, AvAc, etc? I can see them having a llloooonnnggg wait till they get together, lol. Does Steve enlist? Is Tony an eventual celebrity? We’re they schoolmates or something else like Steve's family worked for Tony's, etc? Modern times or a fun historical AU? Anywho, thanks!

-----

OKAY SO, let’s make it a mundane AU, no powers. But instead of just Steve and Tony, let’s have the whole crew be an evolving friends group that gathers numbers when families move and schools change. Maybe the group is based in a particular neighborhood, and Steve and Bucky are best friends from kindergarten, Tony and Rhodey are best friends from a different kindergarten, and Natasha and Clint are from a street a little further away but Tony knows Natasha and Steve knows Clint, and Thor is the new kid who just moved nearby, and Bruce is a kid who kept to himself most of the time until he gets into some afterschool program with Tony who drags him into the group.

So it’s an evolving friends group with some combinations being tighter than others, but they’re solidly a group and have each other’s backs. Steve and Tony in particular, they get along fine when they’re inside the thick of the group and will pick fights against outsiders to defend each other without a second thought, but they also argue ALL. THE. TIME.

Okay, not all the time, but a lot of the time there’s snark and sarcasm thrown each other’s way (the more when they get older and through elementary to middle school) but it flip-flops between friendly snarking and aggressive snarking, and it usually takes the rest of the group to keep it from ever escalating too much. Sometimes it does, though, like Tony will make a joke that hits too close to home, or Steve says something without thinking, and the other will get offended or hurt, but they always make it right afterward sheepishly and are like, Why are we like This? And they laugh about it, but… it keeps happening anyway.

Somewhere in middle school, when the jokes and hormones start taking a more mature slant, the teasing from the rest of the group starts. Maybe Thor’s to blame, or Bucky, or Bruce? But anyway someone makes an offhand remark about Slap Slap Kiss, and it quickly evolves into a running joke that, Hahah Steve and Tony keep fighting all the time, maybe they actually want to kiss instead?

Steve and Tony, though? They hate this turn of events. They HATE it. Of course they don’t want to kiss, that’s stupid! They just have strong opinions, that’s all! And their friends can immediately tell that Steve and Tony hate the teasing, so naturally that means they can use the teasing to STOP Steve and Tony from arguing so much.

As soon as Steve raises his voice at Tony, Natasha pipes up with, “Just smooch him, no need to make a big deal out of it!” When Tony says something about how Steve just doesn’t know how to have fun, Rhodey says, “We all know what kind of fun YOU want to have with Steve, amirite.”

Steve and Tony come to a mutual ceasefire. “They need to shut up,” Tony mumbles. “You’re great, Steve, but I don’t like you THAT way, no offense.”

“Absolutely none taken,” Steve says, relieved. “It’s so annoying.”

“I guess it is dumb,” Tony admits. “I don’t know why I keep saying those things about you. I’ll stop.”

“I’ll try to keep an open mind, too,” Steve says. “Sorry about that.”

“And let’s swear to never ever be into each other that way, let alone date,” Tony says, making a face. “If only because they’ll be insufferable if it ever happens.”

Steve nods solemnly. “I’ll swear to that. Shake on it?”

And they do.

Time passes. Middle school to highschool. Steve and Tony actually grow up a little and don’t fight as much anymore (and even if they do, they’re careful to never take it too far or do it in front of the others if they can help it). Tony dates some people, Steve dates other people. The teasing tapers off to almost nothing, distracted as the group are by other more up-to-date running jokes about each other.

At some point Tony glances Steve’s way and is like Hey, Steve’s actually kinda hot and really nice, haha, thank goodness we swore to never date each other so I can just look safely. And the crush passes. At another point Steve glances Tony’s way and is like, Tony’s really smart and handsome, I’m glad to be his friend but also thank goodness we made it clear we’d never be into each other that way so I can just look at him a little.

Highschool to college! The group’s still tight, despite Thor moving away. Sam joins them. The network stretches a little, but their online groupchat stays strong and active.

At some point, for Reasons, Steve and Tony become roommates. Maybe they happen to be going to colleges near each other and Tony can afford a place but he’d prefer a roommate.

It’s a little awkward at first because it’s never been just the two of them without the padding of the rest of the group, but they’re adults now, with bigger priorities. They’ll make it work, and they do. They have each other’s backs in a new way, and since they’re living together get more of those late night heart-to-hearts, confessing deeper worries and uncertainties that they’d rather not bring up in daylight.

When they disagree, it’s purposeful and never hurtful, unlike the petty nothing squabbles of when they were kids. They look back on that time fondly and with some embarrassment.

Tony: You know it’s funny, I actually had a crush on you for a bit in middle school.

Steve: Oh that is funny! I had a crush on you for a while in highschool.

Tony: No way! Such a relief we agreed not to date, yeah.

Steve: Yeah.

Tony: >.>

Steve: <.<

Tony & Steve (in their hearts, as they look at each other): But what if… we do… anyway. And not tell the others?

#scaramouche answers asks #anonymous #superhusbands

[rogerswifesblog]

Ok but keeping his gf/ partner secret is actually clever. It's not just the bad guys who will try to get to him through them. Could you imagine the absolut shit storm from press and fans? Everyone would have something to say about them and I don't think Steve would take that without being offended they're trying to hurt his special someone

That’s true. It’s exactly what celebrities do; keeping their relationships secret because of people.

And I think especially for Steve it could be a big thing if people would find out about his relationship after the big story with Peggy. People would probably compare his current girlfriend, with Peggy or maybe say the relationship is only because of him being famous or smth.

Like-

You want to leave your house, but as soon as you opened the door, photographers started taking pictures. You knew what it meant-the people knew about your relationship with Steve.

Slamming the door closed you called Steve, telling him what’s happening. After he picked you up, the two of you drove to the tower, where you’d be save.

Within a few hours the whole world knew about your existence-about your college experiences, about your old relationships, about your awful taste in style in Highschool, about your drunk mistakes, about…god, even baby pictures you didn’t know existed were on the internet. What. The. Hell.

Steve noticed how upset you were in the evening, trying to cheer you up with your favourite snacks.

“I don’t wanna eat. They say I should be skinnier and prettier if I’m Captain America’s girlfriend”, you mumbled into your pillow, making Steve sigh quietly. Gently he put his arms around you, giving you a gentle kiss on your shoulder. “But your not Captain America’s girlfriend. Youre my girlfriend, Steve’s. And I like you the way you are. There is not one woman on the planet that is prettier than you”, he whispered against your ear.

You smiled slightly, looking up at him. “Are you sure? They say really mean stuff about us-about me”, Steve’s heart ached seeing the sadness in your eyes. “I’ll ask Tony if he can do something about you. These people are just jealous that I have such an amazing girlfriend to love”, he kissed the shell of your ear, hugging you gently and pulling closer against him.

“Don’t listen to them. The only thing that matters is our love”, you sighed against his chest. Steve was right. That’s the only thing that should matter in your relationship. You felt a bit silly, thinking about the opinions of people you didn’t even know. Most of them were probably just jealous that YOU were the one, Steve was with and not them.

#steve rogers #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #flood my inbox #inbox asks #ask me things #blurb #steve rogers blurb

[neothing]

Yes the daily/weekly prize pools will change. Considering they've already thrown in stamps and PBs and MPs, doubt it'll be any different going forward. They will rerelease some expensive items. Will it exclusively be items that everybody needs to complete specific stamp albums? No. Keep dreaming.

Yes. In the future.

No. Dom will bring it up to their spiffy new security consultants and this problem will be tossed into the void. They've never seen the letters FC Botter put together in that specific order.

They're not planning to address it. See previous answer^

To the people shouting add captcha to purchase page; when was the last time you looked at someone's UL? Damn is it fucking annoying.

Why would you repost the ONLY question TNT is DEFFINETLY going to answer? Who the fuck are these 23 people that voted for this.

No. It would take a very long time to do/make for an individual anyway. It also needs to be linked into neopets on the backend and TNT won't accept that. Also things like intellectual property rights etc will make it difficult so the simple answer is no.

Fuck! There's another one!

"Sharing an IP address with cheaters". Nothing is being done to prevent cheaters from being frozen if they are on a known IP address of cheaters. (I do think TNT should make appeals open for people in these cases. Are people sure the IP thing is what got them frozen?)

Coconut shy works with ruffle extension. So does Expellibox. The rest are slowly being worked on but are currently not a priority in comparison to NCUC release, NeoPass, the AMAs, and the plot.

Are you cheating? Yes, you might be frozen. But as a normal user? No. TNT wants more people to move to using neopets on mobile.

No. Alice W is. Dom is Tony P. Obviously.

Because they like how busy he makes the website look. stfu. Also, they probably don't know how. :) His dirty little fingers are in everybody else's pie. You wanna be frozen from buying his illicit gains? And if they wipe out his whole schtick you bet you ass you'll never be seeing some of those "its too expensive please RR it" items.

That's the point of an event. Participate for the final prize. Have you not seen the prizes in the last two years? Also, there's always a paintbrush and stamps too. Your challenge of the week is to hit cap.

Who the fuck is Lamp?

Bet big, lose big is the balance. There is a cap of 1mil payout per bet. It would be a bad decision to tank FC just to hinder FC Botter. Not when there's more profitable things like daily/weakly quest log prizes that don't have age restrictions.

No. god forbid they get caught up in another item gen scandal.

Actively? No. It's on the backburner.

No. Restock them. Good luck. Even if they released them, the bots will just get them anyway. Look at SAP.

Paint a snow kad blue. It will go back to it's original form. Same thing for a lot of other petpets. (Not blue, their original 'shade'. Check JN)

It already kind of is. You think TNT actually read your full ticket?

That's sad. You should adopt it. Give it the loving home it deserves.

#neopets #FAQ #tnt #long post #i thought i was making a dent but jesus christ im not even half way down the page lol

[stewardofningishzida]

Stephen Strange Meta-Fic Sequel Chapter 4: Old Friends, New Friends

WHOO! Continuing the show! Say hello to our universe’s Thor, everyone! TRIGGER WARNING: Language

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*The smoke keeps getting worse all around us. The smell is an assault on our senses and lungs, but we still linger by the opened doors of the SUV as we watch the Avengers assess the situation. Ant-Man leans over to say something to Stephen, and it is impossible to miss how suddenly all the heroes turn to look in our direction.*

PrettyWitch (excitedly noticing Ant-Man): It’s Scott! He brought Scott Lang with him, too!

Me (high on adrenaline):  WHOO!  AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! 

Trix: HEY STEPHEN! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ACTUALLY LOOKED AT YOUR PHONE!  *Flails at Stephen wildly because she is happy that finally something seems to be going right.*

*For a second, Stephen looks relieved, but his expression soon turns serious again as he turns back to talk to his teammates. Captain America nods before visibly taking over, right hand shooting to point in different directions as he gives indications to the others. With amazing synchronicity, the Avengers split into action, underscored by the surprisingly familiar whine of Iron Man’s repulsors boosting him into the sky.*

*Stephen dashes across the sidewalk and front yard toward us, well aware that time is of the essence.*

Trix (relieved as she sees Stephen coming towards us): Oh, thank god!

Tear: Stephen!

*I look like I want to hug him right there on the spot, but stay focused on the issue at hand.*

Stephen (quickly checking on us):  Okay.  You’re all in one piece.  Good.  We have some things to discuss after the team and I get this mess cleaned up.  You girls head to the high school parking lot a few blocks west of here to get a safe distance from the fire.  Captain America and Spider-Man are helping other civilians out of this area and if you four could help keep an eye on them, it would be incredibly helpful.

*I salute with a morbid smirk*  

Me (dutiful):  Yes, Sir! 

Tony (to Stephen’s earpiece): Hey, Doc, can we save the tearful reunions for later? I’ve got my sights on your burning chicken. How do I extinguish it? I need your go, no go.

*Stephen gives us a nod goodbye before turning to look up at the skies. Levi flies him back over to the blaze.* 

Stephen (replying through the earpiece): I’ll contain the bird.  You blast some firebreaks to stop the spread of the flames.

Tony (through their comms): You always get the fun assignments… FRIDAY, disengage. Let’s keep that fire from reaching the houses.

*The moment Stephen leaves, we all clamber into the car. I get all of us to the high school parking lot to help anyone who gets rounded up over here by Steve and Peter.*

*Captain America starts directing civilians to the evacuation route, watching for anyone who may need additional help.  He keeps things orderly and running efficiently to ensure everybody gets out safely.*

*Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Ant-Man run back to inspect every house to ensure all the civilians have evacuated. Their abilities come in handy to navigate the more difficult spots to reach the people who got trapped or were otherwise unable to leave their homes on such short notice.*

*High up in the sky, Stephen finally encases the phoenix in some sort of transparent, crystalline bubble. With the threat contained and unable to spread more flames, he conjures a heavy rainstorm that helps put out the fire.  It takes a couple of minutes, but his magic soon extinguishes the roaring blaze until not even a spark is left. Mercifully, the Avengers managed to stop the fire from burning down the neighborhood.*

*After the fire is extinguished, the Avengers regroup to check on the civilians and us in the high school parking lot.  A few children notice Spider-Man and start pointing and getting excited.*

Kid (ecstatic):  Mom!  MOM!  Spider-Man came to save us!  LOOK!

*Other kids flock over to their other favorite heroes.  Tony finds himself swarmed by a small mob of boys and girls, and he quickly lets his helmet dissolve back into his armor.  Some of the parents get protective and refuse to let their kids near the strangely-dressed people.*

*Some of the adults are highly confused.  A few don’t really seem to care anymore.  Most are stunned and questioning how much more weirdness is going to happen.  There’s a lot of tension.  It’s clear that most people have mixed emotions and either don’t want to believe it or are scared of something even worse coming by.*

Steve (trying to diffuse the tension):  All right, ladies and gentlemen.  The fire has been extinguished.  As soon as we know that everything is safe, we’ll let you all go back to your homes.  Thank you for being cooperative.

*The teens seem to just be recording everything they possibly can with their phones and trying to get closer without seeming to be too lame.*

*Our little group has been making sure everyone stays put while the heroes manage the fire.  We’re covered in ash and look thinner than when we last saw Stephen.  Also, we appear to be beyond exhausted, as though something far more dire has been happening.  It’s clear that none of us have really gotten much rest for a long time.  Stephen takes care to land out of view of the other civilians to avoid spooking them further and walks over to us.*

Stephen (concerned, but keeping his voice down so only we can hear him):  I’m sorry we didn’t arrive sooner.  What else happened here?  You need to tell us everything so we can figure out a plan before this situation turns more catastrophic.

Trix: Hell. Hell happened. *still slightly delirious from aching migraine and smoke* Hi Stephen! *her eyes are trying to focus but after everything else today she is close to shutting down*

Tear: They’ve been a tough couple of months… *I avoid Stephen’s gaze to instead send Trix a worried look, ready to help if her condition worsened. Her nerves had been shot since our encounter with the Chupacabra, and this surprise fire had pushed us all to our limits. In fact, Steward’s and PrettyWitch’s problems had only worsened in the previous weeks as well, so I had been stretching myself thin to take care of everyone as much as I could. Being the only one not suffering of any magical changes left me feeling slightly guilty and responsible for the others’ wellbeing.*

Me (the adrenaline high is still there, but rapidly fading):  *Speaking rapidly and barely taking a breath between words*  Trix can understand and speak every language now, PrettyWitch is having visions, I keep seeing ghosts, all sorts of cryptids and monsters are coming out of the woodwork, and THIS ONE WON’T LEAVE ME ALONE!  *Practically shrieking the last part as I point a shaking finger at the clingy ghost from earlier, my eyes wide and almost manic.  I seem about ready to collapse.  Meanwhile, Stephen can see the man’s ghost look at me and then right back at him before giving a casual wave “hi”.*

PrettyWitch: I knew it! I knew something was up with you.

*Around a dozen other people turn to give me a scared look after they hear my manic shrieking rant.  Thankfully, Ant-Man has returned and gives Captain America a “thumbs-up” to indicate that the neighborhood is safe.  Steve quickly gives the “all clear” signal to the civilians and starts gently ushering people back to their homes.  When everybody else leaves, he motions for Tony, Peter, and Scott to wait where they are before he rejoins us.*

Steve (calmly, to avoid triggering us further):  It seems like all of you have had a very rough time.  Would you girls care to fill us in on everything back at one of your homes?  We want to be able to help you as best we can.

*While Captain America does his thing and then speaks to us, I take a few deep, slow breaths to compose myself.  Though I then have a rather nasty coughing fit due to the smoke.  I’m calm again afterwards, at least.  The adrenaline has worn off and my limbs all feel like they’re made of wet cement.*

Me:  Okay…Lemme get us to my place again since my car has all of our stuff in it.  *I go over to open the doors so we can get back in, my frame sagging slightly from fatigue.*

Stephen (worried):  Are you sure you’re okay to drive?  

Me:  Gotta get this thing there somehow.  You guys have already helped a lot with the fire.  *I’m back to my stubborn self, trying to keep the facade despite exhaustion overwhelming my mind and body.  I ache in places that I’ve never even felt before.*

Trix: *finally starting to break* Just humor him. Cars are a sensitive subject plus you could have an Avenger driving your car…And we can have our nervous breakdowns in the back. *slumps down to the ground and sprawls out on her back*

*I blink slowly, my brain beginning to stop working.*

Me (slurring slightly):  Mm’kay…*I stare at Trix, seemingly bewildered by what just happened.  My body wants to give out, but I still just stand there, looking almost like a confused drunk as I hold the keys.*

Tear: *I stare down at Trix, and my quiet guilt and worry twinge in my chest. I turn to Steward and hold my hand out in offer* Here, I’ll drive the car back. You guys can all portal back, and Steve can help Trix through. The faster Stephen can start helping you guys, the better.

Scott: Actually…(Scott holds his hand out.) I think I better drive, you look like you need a breather, too.

*After I’ve fully processed Tear and Ant-Man’s words, I numbly pass him the car keys.  Steve carefully helps Trix up, and Stephen portals our group to my house to wait for Scott to arrive with my car. I emerge from the portal, shaking even worse than ever as I check my house.  Thankfully, since my property is surrounded by brick walls, the worst damage it got was some singeing on the plants in the garden and ash accumulated all over the property.  I look relieved about the status of my home and almost like I’m about to burst into tears, but suppress it.  Clearly, there’s more to the story than I let on.  My friends look at me, knowingly.*

*When Scott arrives, Steve and Peter help unload the stuff we took from the house. Once inside my home, I’m about to pass out, but am actively fighting it, knowing we need to fill the heroes in. Stephen conjures the group some nice herbal tea with a little honey.  The other heroes also get more comfortable now that they are away from prying eyes. Tony taps his nanobot armor back into his storage unit, and he’s standing casually in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Peter retracts his mask but keeps his suit on for now, as do Steve and Scott with their helmets. The shock has fully worn off and I stumble over to my chair in the living room.*

Me (slurring):  I’mjussgonsitdownforamo—*I practically fall face-first onto the chair and am unconscious in seconds, having finally passed out from the strain of everything.*

*Steve goes over and carefully shakes my shoulder, concerned.  I stir back to life, albeit in very bad shape.  I watch the group silently and weakly accept the tea as we get ready to debrief the Avengers.*

Steve (gently):  Okay, now let’s go through what happened between the time that Stephen went back home and just now.  Can you ladies tell us everything?  We need to know all of the details besides what was in the text messages so we know more about what we’re dealing with.

*We explain the events leading up to this moment with as much detail as possible.  Though some moments are incredibly rough to relive.  So, we occasionally take turns speaking for one another or help by comforting each other through it.  The Avengers listen patiently, asking a few questions for clarification.

*When we get to the part about the internet and cell service being taken out, Tony seems to perk up attentively and he lifts a hand as if to physically halt our explanation.*

Tony: Yes, I couldn’t help but notice that cell signal was down, but there’s no internet service either. You guys don’t have a universal internet service set up in satellites? You can’t be telling me this Mothman creature of yours can go to space, too.

*Peter turns to squint up at him, most probably weirded out by his theory.*

Peter: Mothman can’t go to space. He’s half moth, half man. It’s in the name! *He turns his confused stare to Stephen* Right?

*Tony breathes in deeply and closes his eyes, seemingly asking for patience.*

Me:  Unfortunately, no satellite internet or cell service.  There was an attempt, but it was run by an incompetent businessman who used shoddy equipment and ran out of funding less than a couple hundred satellites in.  Now, they’re just borderline space junk floating up there.  We’re stuck with antennas peppered throughout the countryside and cities for cell service.  Internet-wise; cables, modems, and short-range wifi.  Something took out the undersea cables and it brought down everything.

Trix: At this point, I don’t even think we want to know what could have possibly taken it out.

Me:  From what we know, there ARE megalodons back from extinction and sharks do like chewing on cables because of the electric signals going through them.  Attracts them because it’s similar to the electrical signals they detect from prey.  So, that’s my personal theory.

Peter: Wait, like dinosaurs? *His excitement soon turns to a stubborn frown before he turns to Stephen again* You said their Jurassic Park movies had been fake. What gives?

Tony: *He puts a kind hand on Peter’s shoulder* Gotta try to focus, kid, remember?

Me:  For now, it just seems like a few extinct species that had persistent rumors about them still being alive.  Conspiracy theories people believed in.  It was to the point they were basically cryptids by being “secret pockets” of supposedly extinct animals.  So, thylacines, megalodon, and possibly megalania.  People HAVE been disappearing more in the Australian bush lately.  If it was by a giant, extinct monitor lizard, at this point we wouldn’t be surprised.

Tony: *His attention zeroes in on Steward again, attention piqued* So you’re saying that what people believe in is becoming reality. Could bring us some serious trouble, but it could also give us an advantage to stay on top of things. *He gives Steve a pointed stare*

*Steve looks back at Tony, both pondering something and trying to figure out if Tony is sassing him again somehow.*

Me:  *Nods*  That’s what it looks like.  There have been news stories about various creatures and beings from urban legends, conspiracy theories, AND our mythologies coming to life.  Not to mention figures from our current religions.  If this is truly the case, you guys can look through my library.  I have a section of mythology books, as well as a few on cryptids and our various theologies.  That could help us figure something out.  *I point at one of the many bookshelves in the house.*

Stephen:  I’ll take a look and see if we can compare our various pantheons and beliefs.  That way, we have some usable reference points.  

*The sorcerer grabs a few of the books.  Steve organizes them on the table so the Avengers can all start checking things out. Tony quickly steps forward and takes out a pair of sunglasses from one of his jeans’ pockets.*

Tony: Yeah, I’m not spending hours turning book pages. But you’re welcome to stay in the middle ages if you want to, Doc. FRIDAY? Be a darling and start scanning these. Then cross reference them with their counterparts in our universe. Peter, I need Spider Buddy. *He snaps his fingers in the universal way to ask for haste, but he looks rightfully chastised when all the Avengers flinch or wince at the action.* Sorry… *His voice drops to a mumble, and he quickly drops his hand.*

Peter: *He shakes himself of the unwanted memories and taps at the black spider on his chest.* His name is Spider-Bro…

*The spider pops out of his suit, revealing it to be a miniature drone. Peter places it on the table and Spider-Bro makes its way to the books Stephen has selected.*

*Stephen returns the “middle ages” remark with a small, venomous glare before stepping back.  He also cringes at the snap, but composes himself quickly.  Then, he looks at me for a second.  I’m about to pass out again, looking exhausted to the point of illness.*

Stephen (concerned):  One more thing and then you can rest.  I remember your collection of occult books.  Are they still in your room?  Those could be dangerous.

*I nod weakly.*

Me (mumbling at this point):  Yeth…Be careful.  Also, stay away from my crystal collection.  They were close to the demonology books and have become…well…“Strange”.  

*I laugh almost drunkenly at the last sentence before flopping back limply in my chair, finally out cold.  The last dregs of my energy are completely gone.  The former surgeon sighs deeply, checks my vitals, and makes a satisfied noise.  Then, he goes to get the occult books.*

Tear: *I sigh and get up from the couch* I better take her upstairs to rest before she gets a crick in the neck. Trix, how are you holding up? Maybe you should rest too.

Trix: *is basically flopped over an armchair and is still barely awake but gives a weak thumbs up without looking*

Steve (walking over):  I’ll do it.  You need rest too, Miss.  You all should take some time to recover.  

Tear: *I give him a small smile, but I’m not really convinced by him* What I need is a shower. I can’t believe I’m standing covered in soot in front of freaking Captain America.

PrettyWitch: Oh, you look fine!

Steve:  It’s all right.  You’re still just as brave and pretty.  *He gives Tear a kind smile.*  Though seriously.  I see that you do a lot to help everyone.  We all respect that and it’s often a thankless task.  So, please rest for now.  It’s been a long time and you don’t have to worry as much about your friends now, all right?  We’ve got your backs.  Go ahead and get yourself situated and then get some sleep.  We’ll still be here when you all wake up.  *He reassures Tear.*

Tear: *I shake my head and rub my hand down my face, smearing the soot even further* It’s not… I don’t care about any of that, they are my friends. And lately I’ve been the only one still standing by the end of the day. *I motion around at the living room, where the others are nearly slumbering where they sit* You can’t just turn that off like a switch. If I don’t take care of them, then… *I throw my hands up, annoyed by the lump in my throat cutting all of my ideas off. It’s pretty obvious we are the only ones in the house, so it is safe to assume we’ve been doing this on our own for a while now*

Steve (gently placing a comforting hand on her shoulder):  All the more reason to take care of yourself too, Miss.  They need you and if you run yourself ragged, then you won’t be able to help anyone.  You’re important to the team.  We’ll be here for as long as you all need us too.  I know it has been a lot and I can’t imagine how terrible those experiences were for you and your friends.  So, that’s why we’re here to help.  *He hopes that Tear will accept this offer of comfort and aid.*

Tear: *I stubbornly hold Steve’s gaze for a moment before giving in with a sigh. It’s foolish to engage in a battle of wills with freaking Captain America. Besides, I’m not about to admit to him that the lack of magical exhaustion means it is harder for me to actually fall asleep without nightmares and unpleasant memories. I turn to look back at the other Avengers, hoping that at least one of them would offer a different option.*

Tony: *He puts his hands up quickly, staying out of the argument* Don’t look at me. I’m only here as a babysitter. To him. *He points over to Peter*

Peter: *He lowers Tony’s hand, flustered* No, he’s not because I don’t need a babysitter. Anyway, I wouldn’t listen to him. His lab binges are not all fictional, I promise.

Tony: Hey! Who’s the adult here?

Stephen (sarcastic):  Clearly neither of you…

Tony: *He flinches, startled by Stephen’s sudden reappearance* Jesus…! Stop doing that!

Scott: (Smirks) Maybe you need a beeper, Stark. I think Hank’s still got some lying around.

Tony: Yeah? How about we tie a bell around Stephen’s neck instead?

Tear: *I chuckle, finally feeling that knot loosening in my throat* Alright. You win. Let’s at least get them comfortable first though. *I motion and my friends as I stare up at Steve expectantly, hoping the compromise is good enough for him*

Steve (small smile):  Deal.  *He picks me up and carries me upstairs to rest in my room.*

Peter: I can help too. If…that’s alright with you, of course. *He approaches Prettywitch and offers his elbow to her*

PrettyWitch: Awe! Thank you, sweetie! (I take his elbow and he helps me upstairs.)

*Trix is already unconscious and the Cloak floats over to carry her to the guest bedroom gently.*

*Stephen comes over and looks at Tear.*

Stephen:  …Would you like me to cast the Mists of Morpheus?  It will help you get a restful sleep without nightmares.  *He gives her a knowing glance, as though he can see the evidence of her terrible dreams in plain sight.*

Tear: *My eyes suddenly sting with the urge to cry, but I quickly compose myself with a hard blink and give Stephen a warm smile* I remember that spell. Thank you, Stephen.

*He returns the smile and lets Tear clean herself up and get comfortable before casting the spell so she can rest peacefully.*

*While the Avengers run the comparison of mythological entities and start to strategize, there’s a heavy knock at the door.  It practically shakes the frame.  Mercifully, the group of women are far too exhausted to respond at all.  So, Scott goes to answer.  When he opens the door, he’s greeted by an imposing, red-haired mountain of a man who practically takes up the entire doorway.  The man has shoulder-length hair, a scraggly beard, Old Norse tattoos, and a sizable gut.  Also, he wears a thick, leather belt with a loop that holds a rather familiar-looking hammer.  Not to mention the scrappy bits of leather armor over his clothes.  Despite the gut, one could tell that the man is quite muscular and his demeanor shows that he is confident in his power.  He has a stern, but inquisitive look on his face at the moment.*

Man:  May I enter?  I have several questions about what has recently occurred here and this house gives a strange energy.  

*He has a thick, Norse accent.*

Scott: (Looks him up and down.) Well, that depends…who are you? You look familiar- (Once he closely inspects the tattoo, he recognizes it to be Norse from some books he’d read to Cassie.) Wait…you’re not Asgardian, are you?

*The man studies Scott for a moment before he decides to speak.*

Man:  I am from Asgard, yes.  I am Thor Odinsson, God of Thunder, Killer of the Jotnar, Defender of Asgard, and Protector of Midgard.  Which one of you conjured that peculiar storm?  *He peers over Scott’s head into the living room where the other Avengers are.*

Scott: (He’s still confused by this, especially since this Thor looks nothing like the one he knows and…well, you can never be too careful. Plus, they’ve got the girls to think about.) Huh…?  That’s a good question. I’m gonna go consult someone first. Just… (He holds his finger up to Thor.) hold that thought. (He turns his head to his team.) Hey, guys? This guy’s claiming to be Thor. Should we let him in or not? 

Tony: Um…? Abso-fucking-lutely not? How can a guy claim to be Thor yet not be recognized by you? We just barged into this universe and now he just coincidentally knocks on our door? *His hand hovers nervously over his storage unit, ready to suit up at the very hint of an ambush*

Steve:  Does the data show anything about their Thor?

Stephen:  *Looking at the data and one of the Norse mythology books quickly and then back at the mountain of a man standing in the doorway behind Scott.*  …It appears to be him, yes.  We should probably let him in.  *He shifts slightly with a slightly nervous look.  Thor, in the meantime raises an eyebrow and is beginning to look irritated.*

Thor (getting impatient):  Well?

Scott: Yup. You’re cool. Come on in. I’m Scott Lang, by the way. (Holds out his hand for Thor to shake it.)

*Thor seems slightly suspicious of the entire group, but goes ahead and shakes Scott’s hand.  Though his hand practically envelops Scott’s and even while holding back considerably, his handshake gives Scott’s entire body a decent shake.  There’s a slight sort of staticy feeling while touching the god’s hand as well.  Like the deity’s entire body is practically buzzing with energy.  Thor enters the house, looking around carefully.  He has to duck slightly to get in.*

Scott: (He’s a little out of it once the handshake ends, but he goes to talk to Thor.) Boy, you got…one hell of a handshake.

*Thor chuckles, amused.*

Thor:  You people say that a lot.  It’s funny.  *He grins for a moment before homing in on the other Avengers.* Who are you?  It seems you mortals are not from this realm, nor are you from any of the others on Yggdrasill.  *It appears that deities here can sense whether or not other entities are from their designated universe.*

Stephen:  *Treading carefully, but being direct*  I’m Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth-616.  You’re right about us not being from this universe.  There was an accident involving your realm and ours.  So, we, the Avengers, came here to help fix the problem.

Steve (respectfully, but cautious):  I’m Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America.  I’m part of this team.  

Peter: *He eagerly lifts a hand, staring at Thor in awe* I’m Spider-Man.

*Tony rolls his eyes at Peter but makes no effort to introduce himself. He stands close to Peter, stance wide and arms crossed over his chest with a defensive aura.*

Thor (politely):  Well met, Sorcerer Supreme, Captain America, and Spider-Man.  *Though he gives Tony an annoyed glare for his perceived rudeness before looking back at Scott.*  What is your part in this, Scott Lang?  Do you have any other titles? 

Scott: Well, unless you count World’s Greatest Grandma, no.

*Thor looks confused for a bit, the joke going right over his head.*

Thor:  …More to the point, I shall ask once more:  Who amongst you conjured that storm?  That is typically my job.

Stephen (stepping forward):  I did.  The fire was magical in origin and spreading quickly.  So, I had to act fast.  

*Thor scowls at him, looking both suspicious and a bit annoyed.*

Thor:  I suppose you did what needed to be done, but mind your place, sorcerer.  

Stephen:  You’re not the only storm god here, Thor.  We all know that.  We aren’t here to usurp you.  We’re here to help our friends.  *He says icily.*

*Thor gives him a look, clearly seething, but holding himself back for now.*

Steve (calmly):  Thor, we understand that your position is important.  We’re only doing this mission to help Stephen’s friends.  They helped him while he was stranded here 6 months ago and now he’s returning the favor.  It’s the honorable thing to do, right?  

*The deity huffs and nods reluctantly.*

Thor:  Indeed.  I am not comfortable with such different brands of magic and illusions, but provided your sorcerer companion and the rest of these mortals do not use such powers to endanger my realm further, I suppose I can allow this to slide.

Steve (polite):  Thank you.  

*Thor notices some of the futuristic tech being used by the Avengers.*

Thor:  What are these things?  *He walks over to check everything out.  Intrigued by the fact that it has bright lights coming from it, he goes to pick up FRIDAY’s scanner.*

Tony: Hey hey hey hey! *He quickly swoops in to stand in-between Thor and the table where his glasses and Spider-Bro lie. He hovers a hand over his storage unit again while he holds the other in front of him, establishing distance between him and this strange Thor* You touch my toys and I won’t hesitate to blast you to the opposite side of town. You don’t see me getting all grabby with your hammer. *Tony has seen first hand how destructive his Thor can be whenever he fails to restrain his strength. He is not risking FRIDAY or Peter’s little buddy for this unknown version of his friend.*

*Thor glares down at Tony, towering over the other man.  Scott thankfully breaks the tension by quickly stepping in and explaining what the device is to Thor before the god can lose his temper.*

Scott: Oh, that’s Tony’s robot AI, FRIDAY. It scans for things and processes data. Helps him find what he’s looking for faster.

Thor (confused):  Robot…AI…?  *Scott has already lost him on multiple points.*  What in the Nine Realms are you babbling about?

Tony: Nothing you must concern yourself with, that’s for sure. *His posture remains tense, not at all intimidated by their impressive size difference. He has trained with his Thor for years, and he improved his armor even more after they managed to defeat Thanos. He’s confident he can give as good as he gets*

*Peter inches closer to Tony to help Scott create more of a barrier between the two of them. He has a friendly enough smile on his face, but his own posture is a bit defensive as well. He might be even smaller than Tony, but he won’t hesitate to use his enhanced strength to protect his mentor.*

Peter: It’s just Midgardian technology, albeit slightly more advanced than what you can currently find in the market. But we won’t bore you with the details. I’d much prefer to hear about you! You’re by far my favorite Asgardian god. Is that really Mjolnir with you? Can it really tell who is worthy of wielding it?

*Thor is displeased at first.  He definitely doesn’t seem to like Tony very much.  However, he listens to Scott and Peter.  He smirks at the teenager as he starts to flatter him.*

Thor (his lip slightly curled):  Your favorite, eh?  Heh.  Yes, boy.  This is indeed Mjolnir.  *He pats the hammer at his side, heartily.*  Worthy of wielding it?  HA!  There is no test for worthiness, Spider-Man.  Only strength and magic.  My enchanted belt and gloves enable me to wield Mjolnir as easily as you please.  They are but tools for a warrior.  *He says simply.*

Peter: What? That’s so cool! *His eyes grow brighter with genuine awe*

*Tony rubs his eyes tiredly with his left hand behind Peter’s back, mentally berating the teenager for socializing with strangers so eagerly, definitely not jealous or keeping track of Peter’s faves as if it was a competition. Definitely.*

Steve (polite):  It was an honor meeting with you, Thor.  However, it’s getting late.  *He’s hoping that Thor will take the hint.*

Thor:  Eh?  So soon?

Steve:  We’ll still be around for a while, but it’s been a long day with plenty of action.  

Thor:  OH!  Yes.  You should rest, mortals.  I occasionally forget how much extra care you must take of yourselves.  I shall take leave of you for now.  Good night!  *He evidently lacks an indoor voice, but gives them a wave and lets himself out.  They see him climb into a chariot with 2 huge goats hitched to it and with a holler and quick snap of their reins, he’s off into the night sky.*

*The Avengers heave a collective sigh of relief when Thor is finally gone.*

Tony: Tell me I didn’t hallucinate those horse-sized goats…

Stephen (matter-of-factly):  You did not.  *He’s still staring out the door as well, processing everything that just happened.*

Tony: *He groans and runs his fingers through his short hair* I hate universe travel… *He turns and walks back to the table where all their research is. He slips his glasses back on* Fri? Any progress yet? How are we doing?

FRIDAY: Spider-Bro is handling all the remaining scanning. I am 53% done analyzing the information, but so far I’ve encountered 175 matches between our universes.

Tony: Oh joy.

Peter: *Turns to Stephen* Is everything else in this world going to be slightly off like Thor? 

Stephen:  Pretty much, yes.  Even down to their song lyrics.

Peter: *He scrunches his nose, suddenly weirded out by that of all things* Really? That’s going to be so weird. I’ll be waiting for the song to say something, and then it will…what, mess up its rhythm?

Stephen:  It’s subtle most of the time.  Either the lyrics, key, or time signature will differ.  Maybe all three.  Though you can still recognize the song itself.

Scott: Really…? (He starts to wonder how the “La Cucharacha” song differs between his world and theirs.) 

Steve:  Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen, but we should probably attempt to get some rest ourselves, provided we can place some strategic surveillance to ensure our safety.  Judging by the past few hours, we’re going to need all of the energy we can get if we plan on helping these people.

Stephen:  I’ll cast some protective and security wards around the property.  *He nods and goes off to do just that.*

Tony: *He removes his glasses and once more rubs at his tired eyes* Yeah, that’s not really gonna help me sleep so peacefully tonight. I’ll head out too and drop a few sentry drones around the perimeter. They should warn me if there’s anything odd going on. Spikes of energies or temperature…How did my life become a ghost hunting gig?

Peter: I’ll come with you!

Tony: *Points a finger straight at Peter’s nose, almost touching him* Nope, you’re staying with Cap and doing exactly as he tells you to. Also, *He hands Peter his glasses, acting nonchalant regardless of how huge that show of trust is* keep Friday company. Your little spider should be done scanning the last books soon.

Peter: *He looks down at the glasses with wide eyes. His mouth has dropped open, and he can barely react when Tony pats his shoulder and exits the house* Yeah, yes! Don’t worry, Mr. Stark! I’ll make sure everything is ready!

*After the Avengers set up camp in my living room, they rest for the night.  Around 9 or 10 in the morning, the women finally begin to show signs of life again.  PrettyWitch wakes up to the Cloak of Levitation gently snuggled on top of her like a sentient blanket.*

PrettyWitch: Wait…Wha…? (Sees the Cloak snuggled atop her and goes starry-eyed.)

*The Cloak notices and, seeing PrettyWitch is awake, waits till she sits up before placing itself atop her shoulders.  Its collar lightly brushes her face to let her know that it’s okay.*

*I’m the next to stir and wake up.  Things are still aching quite a bit and I’m hungry.  So, I try to remember what happened last evening as I get dressed.  I recall that my friends are here.  Also, the Avengers?  Yeah.  I think so.  After the fire, everything was a blur.  I head downstairs once I have some acceptable clothing on and look around, noticing the Avengers camped out in my living room.  Some are awake already and others are still either asleep or in the process of waking up.  I wave awkwardly.*

Me:  Good morning…?  *Slightly shy and anxious smile.*

*Stephen returns the greeting with a small, awkward wave of his own.*

Steve:  Good morning, Steward.  I hope that you slept well.  Two of your friends are awake and in the breakfast nook if you want to join them.

*I nod politely at him and head through the hallway.  I see Trix and PrettyWitch awake in the breakfast nook just as Captain America said.*

Me:  Hey, guys…You feeling okay?  Yesterday was one hell of a day.

Trix: I think I finally know what being drunk is like. But more painful. *rests head in hands*

*The Cloak of Levitation goes over from PrettyWitch to gently massage Trix’s shoulders.*

Trix: *begins to grin but with a slight wince* Cloak! You’re okay! We missed you!!! Thank you so much!

PrettyWitch: I know! Right!? It’s a miracle!

*I notice the Cloak soothing Trix.*

Me:  Whoa!  Hi, Levi!  It’s nice to see you again.  I’m glad you’re better!  *I smile at it.  It swoops over and hugs me gently.  I pat it affectionately.*

Me:  …I’ll make us all some coffee and tea.  I think we’ll need it.  Ow.  You have a headache too huh, Trix?  Ergh…The aspirin’s in the medicine cabinet.

Trix: Honestly, I haven’t stopped having one since before The Incident. *makes a face and gestures mimicking the Chupacabra we faced before*

Me:  Eugh…I’m sorry.  If you want an ice pack, check the freezer.

Trix: I’ve been trying to take my migraine medicine but nothing helps anymore. Stupid google translate brain. 

Me:  *I shake my head empathetically.*  Still got my clinger.  *Points behind me to seemingly nothing, indicating that the ghost is still there.*

PrettyWitch: I don’t think I had any visions the other night. I even read my fortune for today and so far, things seem okay.

Me:  That’s good, at least.  No news is good news as far as that’s concerned, I think.

*I go to put the kettle on for tea and then turn on the coffee machine to brew a full pot for anyone who wants it.*

*Stephen walks in to check on us since we’re awake and talking amongst ourselves.  He peers at us and his eyes drift to the ghost.  It seems he sees it.  The sorcerer then approaches the trio of women as the Cloak goes back onto his shoulders.*

Stephen:  I’m going to check each of you, all right?  It won’t hurt.  I just need to know all of the symptoms and effects that your bodies are going through.  Trix, you seem the worst for wear at the moment.  Come here.

Trix: *gets up and hobbles over to Stephen* Give me freedom from this migraine or give me the sweet release of death and I’ll fill in the ghost role.

*He looks her over carefully and gently, checking her vitals and reflexes, asking her about her symptoms and when they first appeared.  He also asks about any discovered triggers and performs some diagnostic spells.  When he’s satisfied with the information, he lets her sit down.*

Stephen:  Okay…Like your friends, your inherent abilities are beginning to manifest.  This can cause a lot of mental and physical strain, not to mention you’re beginning to experience magical fatigue.  Sorcerers can sustain their abilities through ambient environmental energy, but it seriously limits their ability to continuously use magic.  Ideally, a sorcerer consumes foods that contain magical energy so they have reserves in their system to use for effective casting and to fuel inherent abilities.  As you adjust to your abilities, the pain should fade and only come back when you overexert yourself.  The same goes for the rest of you.  *He nods at us.*  

Trix: So how are we going to do that in our world?

Stephen:  Seeing as your world’s reality is shifting and magical energy is becoming active here, the ambient source isn’t the problem anymore.  Wong should be able to help you with the bit about magic-laced food.  He can teach you ladies what and how to harvest magical foods from other dimensions.  For now, the best thing for you should be introducing you to your first interdimensional food.  It’ll provide you with the correct energy, which will alleviate the pain.

Trix: *slightly hesitant* What kind of food?

Stephen:  Admittedly, it won’t be anything that you’re used to.  First, let me check on your friends and make sure they’re relatively okay.  Then, we’ll address the food issue.

*He checks PrettyWitch and me thoroughly before going to check on Tear since she hasn’t woken up yet.*

Stephen (concerned):  Tear, are you okay?  *He gently nudges her awake.*

Tear: *I startle awake, untangling myself from the bedsheets before my brain can come fully back online* I’m awake! What’s wrong?

Stephen:  Nothing.  I just wanted to make sure you were okay.  The others are already awake.  Do you mind if I give you a quick check-up?

Tear: The others are…? I slept in? *I brush back my tangled hair and look down at the time on my phone. It’s been weeks since the last time I had such a long and dreamless sleep* Wait, the others! Are they okay?

Stephen:  A bit.  It’s okay!  Really.  You needed the rest.  The world’s still in one piece and nobody’s hurt.  *He gives her a gentle smile.  The Cloak emerges from behind him and gently tousles her hair to reassure her.*

Tear: *I grin widely at the Cloak and reach out to do the equivalent of shaking hands with it* Hey! You’re okay!

*It shakes her hand and wriggles affirmatively.*

Tear: *I giggle and once more attempt to tame my hair. Now more awake, I make sense of what Stephen asked me earlier and shift over to sit up on the edge of the bed* You are welcome to do a check-up, although you don’t have to worry about me about wayward powers. Nothing has manifested for me at all, and I’ve certainly haven’t had any sort of unusual energy drain like the others. I think the universe just decided to skip me this time around. *I shrug nonchalantly*

*He carefully checks her the same way he looked the other ladies over earlier.*

Stephen:  You seem like you’ll be okay.  Yeah…Oddly, no signs of magical fatigue on you.  It might manifest later or not at all.  You can still learn sorcery regardless if you wish.  *He tells her this gently so that she knows she won’t be excluded.*  The others were affected, though.  I’m going to treat them for it in a few minutes.  Care to join us in the breakfast nook?  *He’s puzzled about her, but for now, he’s relieved that at least one of us isn’t in as bad a state.*

Tear: *I give him a small smile* Sure, breakfast sounds nice. Although I’m not sure Steward has enough to feed the others’ enhanced metabolisms… *I wince, looking to the general area where I know the other Avengers are still probably gathered*

Stephen (amused):  That’s where magic comes in handy.  *He smirks.*

Tear: Right. *My grin grows wider before I stand up and let Stephen return to the others. I make myself presentable again before going downstairs to the living area again*

Me (seeing Tear come over):  Good morning, Tear.

*The group looks slightly better than yesterday evening.  We’re all still rather worse for wear, but having a decent rest helped a bit.  Meanwhile Stephen opens a small portal and reaches through, grabbing…something…The bowl of…stuff…appears to be constantly moving and-is that an eyeball?  Whatever this is, it’s indescribable to us.  I’m trying to conceal my horror and be polite.  Though I’m definitely not pleased with this situation.*

Trix: I would like a refund please on this magic. I can’t even handle regular sushi.

Stephen:  I would if I could, ladies.  *He looks genuinely apologetic.*  Please, at least try it.  It should help reduce the pain and fatigue you’re experiencing.  

*He ensnares a small portion of whatever it is and puts it in a small bowl, passing it to Trix.*

Trix: *is actively trying not to look down at it* Can we, like, hide it in actual food like having a dog take a pill? *getting slightly desperate*

Stephen:  We can…Provided it doesn’t escape.  Let me see what I can do to make this easier…*He fiddles with it for a short moment.*

Trix: *turns to the others and mouths ‘escape?!’ with wide eyes while he’s working on it*

*I have a thousand-yard stare as I take slow, deep breaths to try and accept this calmly.*

*Stephen turns back around and it seems he has managed to make it at least resemble normal food…to an extent.  The color’s still a bit off.*  

Trix: *points at Stephen* The deal here is that you do not tell me what is in here and I will be the guinea pig.

Stephen:  Deal.  *He’s hoping this helps.*

Trix: *still trying not to look at it much* Welp, I did say freedom from migraine or death and this is the most literal interpretation of it. *eats the food as fast as possible without choking to try and not focus on what’s in it*

Me:  So…?  Erm…How was it?  *I’m morbidly curious*

Trix: *trying not to make a face* We need to workshop it, but dear god I think I might like migraines more 

PrettyWitch: (sighs) I should’ve known magic would work like it does in Jason Aaron’s run…

*I give Stephen a look of silent resignation.*

Me:  Okay…I’ll try it next.

*He gives me a serving.  I wolf it down quickly to try and avoid tasting it and then wash the rest down with my coffee as I shudder involuntarily from the experience.*

*PrettyWitch is the last one to try it.*

PrettyWitch: (Looks down at the bowl uneasy. Then she turns to Stephen.) Do I have to!? 

Stephen:  It’s the only way to fully get your energy back to normal levels since your abilities started manifesting.  If there was another way, we would have done it.  *He coaxes her.*

PrettyWitch: (Looks at the bowl again…and breathes a sigh of defeat.) Alright, you win, Strange. (I take a fork full and munch on it quickly. I’m practically trying not to gag as I feel it slither down my throat. Once I’m done, I see Stephen rolling his eyes. I pout.) What!? Don’t judge me! You probably had a similar reaction, too! 

Stephen (lip curled):  I did.  Though I quickly got used to it.  *He’s as stubborn as ever, but at least he shows that he cares about us.*

Prettywitch: Oh…(I look down at my hands in embarrassment.) Sorry…

Stephen:  It’s fine.  That was a natural reaction.  Though you did need the energy and will continue to need it.  I’m sorry, but unfortunately that’s part of the price of magic.

Prettywitch: (I nod my head.) Right.

Tear: *I smirk and lean back on a counter* I can’t say I envy you guys right now.

*After a few minutes of our systems starting to process whatever that…stuff…was, Trix does start to feel better.  I do have a little bit of energy back as well.  I’m not sure if it was the caffeine, that abomination Stephen called “food”, or a combination of both.  PrettyWitch also looks like she’s doing slightly better.*

Trix: I have to admit that it worked, but I would honestly rather face down the Chupacabra again.

Tony (watching in horror and disgust from the kitchen door): Strange, I hope you know you are hereby banned from the Compound’s shared kitchen. And any other kitchens in our private floors too, for good measure.

*Steve is just silently watching this unfold, too polite to speak about Stephen’s remedy, but also too disgusted to look away.*

Peter: It’s like watching a horror movie… *His voice has gone quiet in his horror*

Scott: Well, let’s just hope a chest burster doesn’t come out of one of them.

Trix: Just saying it now, we are officially braver than the Avengers because if I focus on everything going on lately, I’m gonna cry and laugh hysterically.

Me (morbid smirk):  Admittedly, each of us has had multiple nervous breakdowns these past 6 months.  I’m personally just trying not to think about it too much beyond helping to keep us safe since we can’t really control any of this.  One crisis at a time, y’know?  See problem, think of solution, fix, move along.  It’s all we’ve been able to do.

Stephen:  We’ll work on this together, ladies.  I promise.  *He tries to reassure us.  Deep down, Stephen feels immensely guilty about all of this.  Sure, it was an accident, but if he had just paid better attention during that initial fight that sent him on a trip through the multiverse, our reality wouldn’t be breaking down like this.*

Steve:  It’s our job, after all.  *He gives us a comforting look.*

Scott: Yeah. (He beats his hand to his chest.) We’re the Avengers.

Tony: *Flippantly waves a hand* After you’ve saved an entire universe, what’s adding one more copy of the Earth to the list?

Peter: Not that we wouldn’t try to save other planets in this universe if they needed help too.

Tony: Don’t push it, kid. I already have enough white hairs as is.

PrettyWitch: (She muffles her laughter, trying not to giggle at Tony babying Peter.)

Me (sincere):  We really appreciate your help, guys.  I don’t think any of us could have predicted this mess beforehand.  So, thank you in advance.  

Trix: Yeah, thank you all so much. After all of the nonsense going on the past few years at least our version of an apocalypse involves the multiverse and awesome superheroes. *tries to joke but after everything going on, even before Stephen got here the first time, it’s starting to take its toll*

*I gently rub Trix’s back when I see her starting to flash back to try and comfort her.*

Tear: We do appreciate it but…how are we even supposed to start? I know you all have done some brilliant achievements, but…Honestly? The world has never felt as big and overwhelming as it does now.

PrettyWitch: Any ideas?

Stephen:  …With everything going on here and the effects on you all, I think it might be wise to temporarily relocate your group to our universe for treatment and training.  We have better resources for dealing with these situations and a safer environment for you to learn.  That way, you four can learn how to protect and maintain yourselves at least.

Steve:  That makes sense.  Some of us can stay behind here to do damage control and repair or replace damaged infrastructure.  Tony, can you muster your automated tech and send some of it here to help?

Tony: *He gives a considering tilt of his head* It should be relatively simple. The work Peter, Bruce, Stephen, and I did should help me ensure our tech works in this universe. We’ll need a lot of political strategy though. Something tells me this Earth’s governments won’t be too happy when I shoot new satellites up to their atmosphere. Last thing we want is to trigger a nuclear war.

Scott: Yeah, they’re probably not gonna be happy about my tech either. Hell, Hank’s not gonna be happy, either.

Steve:  Tony and I will take a minute to plan this better while the four of you get packed.  So far, I’m going to stay here and do damage control.

Stephen:  I’ll let you ladies make your preparations.  Meet me in the backyard when you’re ready.  

Trix: *is trying not to visibly freak out in a good way* I take it back, the horrifying concoction is a worthy price to jump universes.

PrettyWitch: Fuck yeah it is!

Me:  Okay…Just one thing.  Tony, when the network here gets turned back on, could you let us know so we can talk to our families and make sure they’re all okay?

Tony: You got it, kid.

Me (grateful):  Thanks…We’ve all been worried sick.  On my end, my folks retired recently and were on a world tour.  I just hope they’re okay.  Last I heard from them, they were in Greece.  That was about a couple of weeks ago right before the internet and cell networks went down.

Steve:  We’ll do our best to make sure as many people are safe as possible, including your families.  *He reassures us.*

Trix: I’ll be right back then! I know we had our go-bags but now that we actually know where we’re going, kinda, I have a few more things I wanna bring! *stumbles slightly getting up because the mental and physical fatigue are still there, but she rights herself eventually and heads for the door to walk to her house*

Tear: I assume we won’t need much where we’re going, so I’m fine with what I had packed for emergencies. I do want to use the time to run over to the bakery and check on my family though. They might appreciate an update before I travel to a whole different universe…

PrettyWitch: Yeah…(Gets up.) I’m gonna go check on my parents, too. Lord knows, my mom’s probably having a panic attack right now so I should probably let her know I’m okay.

Stephen:  Hold on.  With the current situation and more mystical entities showing up here every 5 minutes, it’s not exactly safe to go out.  Here.  Let me help.  *He opens a portal to the bakery.*  Come back when you’re done.

Tear: Thank you, Stephen! We’ll be quick about it, promise.

Prettywitch: Stephen? Would you mind terribly if you opened a portal to my place, too? I just need to pack some things and…you know, let my folks know I’m going to another dimension for awhile.

Stephen:  Hm?  Okay.  Though I’ll need the most recent picture of it so I can open a portal there.  Maybe describe some of the finer details to me as well.  It’ll ensure the location’s accuracy.  I’ll transport you after Tear so that Scott can keep an eye on each of you.

PrettyWitch: Okay. Thank you. (She gives Stephen a quick peck on the cheek like last time.)

*Stephen turns slightly red.*

Scott: (He just stands there for a minute, surprised.) Wow! Wong wasn’t kidding when he said you have a fan club here.

*Stephen gives Scott a look, but keeps his mouth shut.  He’s still trying to keep up appearances.  Although he secretly appreciated the affection.  He had missed it.*

*Ant-Man goes with Tear and PrettyWitch to make sure they get to and from their locations safely.*

Me:  I’ll grab my suitcases.  Shouldn’t take long.

*Stephen nods and waits for us.  Meanwhile, the other Avengers talk strategy.*

Steve:  So, besides me, who else should stay here and who should leave with the girls?

Scott: I’m thinking I should head home. I could probably be of more help in our universe.   

Tony: As much as I’d rather swallow my teeth than say it, there’s nothing much that can be done here without someone knowledgeable in all of this bibbidy bobbidy boo. I sure as hell haven’t found a way to turn mice into horses yet.

Stephen (giving Tony a withering glare at the remark):  I need to at least see the girls off.  Once Wong has them with him, I’ll come back here and start working on the mystical side of the problem.

Tony: Perfect. *He claps his hands, completely unbothered by Stephen’s glare* Then that only leaves the whole politics and happy trigger fingers problem then.

Steve:  I’ll ask Bruce to forward the information about this situation to SHIELD and the office of Matt Murdoch.  Their liaisons and his legal prowess should help sort that out.  Tony, could you stay here with us and help out?  I have a feeling that this mess is far bigger than what two Avengers can handle.  Plus, you’re better with tech in case something needs troubleshooting.

Tony: I’m the best in tech. As if that was ever in question. *He sighs, not exactly pleased with the situation. He was well aware it was needed though, and he didn’t exactly have any other ideas* Alright, fine. I’ll play house with you. Peter, I’m going to need you back home then.

Peter: But Mr. Stark, I can help you here!

Tony: What, you think I’ll be sending you on a summer break? I need you to start working on those SI satellites, fix them up so that they can work here. I’ll be needing stuff from my private lab too, and you’re the only one with clearance to go in. Aside from Pepper and Rhodey, of course.

Peter: I– I am? *He stands straighter, face glowing at all the subtle praise he was getting. Tony merely lifts an eyebrow at him, and Peter quickly snaps back into business* I-I mean, of course. You can count on me, Mr. Stark. I won’t let you down.

Steve:  I suppose that settles it, then.  *He looks relieved that the discussion went fairly smoothly.*

*I make sure to hide my swords properly, put the family valuables in the fireproof safe, check the stove, etc.  After two or three checks to make sure that everything is okay and safe, I walk over to the backyard and sit on the bench out there, waiting for my friends.*

Trix: *walking back with a larger suitcase and is actively recording using a DSLR camera* I am ready!

Stephen (raising an eyebrow):  What’s with the video camera?

Trix: One, I went to school originally for broadcasting so it is in my blood at this point. Two, we are about to be the first people from our universe to go into a different one and we need to record it for posterity. Three, I have never gotten to do  ‘roadtrip’ with friends and this absolutely counts so I’m documenting it because it’s gonna be awesome.

*He shakes his head slightly, but lets it be.*

Trix: *slightly grinning* Come on Stephen, you know me enough by now. This rates low on the crazy scale. *she pauses recording and turns off the camera* But seriously, people are going to want to know what happened and even if people will call it fake, because they absolutely will, we should document this for a significant moment when our universe changed and we began to adapt as a species. *is actually getting serious for once*

Stephen:  That’s actually some sound reasoning.  All right.  Just turn it off and pack it somewhere else whenever we’re discussing anything confidential.

Trix: *salutes*

*PrettyWitch and Tear return with Scott, both fully packed.*

Me:  Looks like we’re ready.  We all good, guys?  Last chance before we leave.

Trix: Let’s get off this hellhole! I downloaded a training playlist and everything! *grinning* OH! *she digs in her pocket and pulls out her house keys and throws them at Steve* It occurs to me that you all don’t have ID’s or money that would be accepted here in our universe so you can crash at my place! Food is still stocked and everything and I do have a credit card stashed in my office when you need it!

Me:  My place is open too.  So, if one place runs out of supplies, just hop to the next one.

Tear: You will always be welcome at my bakery. I’ve already talked to my family. It goes without saying that you guys won’t have to pay for anything there.

PrettyWitch: Feel free to pop into my house, too; my mom could probably use some assurance I’m gonna be okay. Plus, my pup will love that he’s meeting new people.

Steve (grateful):  Thank you, girls.  Do your best and stay safe out there!  Tony, Stephen, and I will stay put to help keep a damper on the panic over here.  *He’s politely cheering us on.*

Tony: Free lodgings and free pastries. I could get used to camping out in this universe. *He pulls Peter in for a side hug before giving him a few encouraging pats on the back* You be good, Spiderling. And if I see a single screw out of place in my lab, you’ll be spending an entire week at DUM-E’s timeout corner.

Peter: *He darts in quickly to give Tony a short hug, and he’s already backing away to Stephen’s side before Tony can even complain* Take care, Mr. Stark! I’ll keep in touch.

Scott: We’ll keep in touch, too.

Stephen:  Okay.  If everyone’s ready, go through.  *He conjures a large portal and gestures for us to step through.*

***To be continued***

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