#Eddie Brock/Venom x oc siblings | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blankdblank · 3 years

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Poke

…

Special. One of a kind. That was what your parents called you. Well being special can be dangerous and landed you in this blood soaked room. They took you and killed the parents who dared to tell them no.

All you had done was bring back some extinct flowers for your mother’s garden and manifested some bees and extinct butterflies to pollinate them. You wanted to see her smile after long months of suffering through a lifelong illness worsened since her pregnancy with you. You wanted to make your dad laugh as he did with glee when those glittering wings from colorful mist solidified into impossible shapes of those long lost to this planet and found only in books. America was the dream where your parents’ studies and degrees could build a new life.

These strangers took everything that on paper made you exist, everything that after all they had taught you was merely useful to get you from point A to B without angering big brother. Bloody footprints followed your path to the main office where with a swift kick to a chair gave you a metal brace you used to pry the case open to collect your file.

Just paper, three pieces of jewelry from your parents was left of that former life. And a shower later in fresh clothes used to send you out on what would have been your first field mission out into a blustery day that seemed to brighten the nearer you got to the bus stop and airport after. A rather out of place bright red large goldfish velour purse loaded with cash in two currencies and what changes of clothes could fit was taken, all to fuel your escape. Underneath a bolero hat your raven curls were tucked back in Viking braids tucked under your grey cargo jacket to keep them from your face and a bit less obvious for others to view their change when you used your powers. In every action more than creating a single sprout or insect those stubborn raven curls, solid brows and bright purple eyes of yours turned to a bright yellow wafting sea of yellow mist.

Customs to the exit terminal of New York’s finest airport out you strolled with a Space Invaders themed graphic t shirt visible between shifts of your baggy cargo jacket that swung like the straps for the decorative braided cloth belt that held up your irritatingly high waisted red jeans. Steps one through five were done and now for the most tedious part, papers in hand you waited in line at the fourth government building of your day.

A bank was step one, post office two that attained you an address to receive mail at, three got you a burner sidekick phone and four had the maze of office after office that won you with bright yellow glow of your gaze manipulating those within your view to stamp and authorize citizenship and right after emancipation. Legally, you were free after almost two days of paperwork now added to the file of who you once were and now could be. To celebrate while you waited for your burger and fries to a sip of the chocolate milkshake across the open classified page of the newspaper you had bought in the airport your eyes and a complimentary pen from the bank danced.

The job was easy, four part time gigs over the summer were made possible in the suitably named city of Queens. An apartment came next, or an excuse for one that had you free from the motel you had been renting by the week. Just one room but on the fire escape you had a mini garden or rare flowers.

School would surely come next as your eyes lifted from the foil wrapped burrito in your hands for your lunch break on one of your jobs when reminded by a trio of teenage boys who daily came to try and talk to you on their summer break. Each time only losing their tries to ‘teach’ you English as you pretended to only speak Swedish and told you of the team they played for in said schools to start again soon.

School came with exams and with it the hopes for the best to get to the dream degrees you hoped to earn to match the dreams your parents had for you to keep at least something of that life alive. And the best Queens had to offer was Midtown School of Science and Technology, which with a single mention of your parents’ names on the forms even if they were gone had a legacy they couldn’t refuse to help out with a scholarship and any supplies you might need. And of course with the end of summer came understanding bosses who accepted the lower hours you could work or agreed to let you go entirely and hire you again when summer came back around.

Glee for this next successful step diminished as you read across the front pages yet again of another story of a famous face who would surely get off from brutalizing his girlfriend spread across every front page and internet news link both factual and gossip. From a sex ring to crime family boss deaths the headlines had been brutal to bear all summer as you scoured one psychology book after another to try and get yourself to an even keel and to keep from murdering every person who should have seen you flinch when they came close or at an angle other than head on.

Patience had worn thin however and after months of practice focused your abilities new headlines scoured the globe as those in prison throughout the country for crimes against women and children were found dead in their cells. Coated with poisonous plants while others located through the sex offenders list and through the database you had made compiling public records of crimes both completed to arrest, conviction and added to the body count. Hundreds of thousands of people were found dead thanks to the tiny electromagnetic wasps you sent through the phone and electrical lines that helped to locate each and every one of them.

Panic read loud and clear and an eerie silence fell through the world of crime and every law organization who hoped and failed to find an answer of who or what was behind this. ‘The worst among us’ was scrawled everywhere to explain away a need for an explanation and in the aftermath of that explosion was when you snapped.

Two months into school and when you should be picking out a dress for the dance coming up in the dead of the night to the sound of a distant scream inside your closet you tugged on the least revealing clothes you had. A ridiculously yellow denim jacket was eased on over your pale golden high necked sweater and grey washed jeans that hung over the tops of your black boots. Fingerless gloves with Kevlar lined knuckles matched the hockey pad like hidden layers hidden by your bright layers you had used some of your bugs to get the bad guys in town to help you get what you needed to get your hands on tech to craft it yourself to fit your needs. Along with it came a plethora of metal batons and for emergencies metal grappling braces and wasp shaped throwing knives.

Crime didn’t pay, and criminals one by one took heed that there was a tiny yellow glowing baddie here to keep them in line. Where cops fell short swarms of bees and monstrous vines couldn’t be stopped, not even by Iron Man, War Machine and the Agents of SHIELD who couldn’t even seem to catch sight of the masked woman putting them all to shame on domestic with a kill list to lure in the worst of them to tempt fate.

“Misique,” the name that was whispered in every dark alley and praised by the people of this borough who felt afraid for so long was hissed by a creature who landed right behind you.

From the crouched position you were in to watch your next target your body followed your head in its path to watch the towering figure of the black fanged creature with long tongue extended as it stated, “We are Venom. We have been searching for you.”

Around you mist rippled in the brightening of the yellow glowing sea of glitter in your eyes and braids as you said, “Take a number, I have my target for tonight. My dance card is free on Thursday.”

“We have found another door for better access.” Your head tilted and he said with a widening grin, “We are always hungry.”

Timidly a duo was formed and not a moment too soon as even Stark had to guide War Machine to help restrain the dregs of every baddie with a bit of impressive tech. All revealing a newly revealed ability of yours to the public, bee formed clouds that you could use to run and slide around through the air between leaps and unnatural crawls up the sides of buildings you protected from the explosions the crime fighting duo set off.

… 15 …

Somewhere in the middle you found yourself, pretending each neck you snapped, swarm or vine crushing death you dished out was somehow on those who killed your parents and the little girl you used to be. Every one worsening the tremble of your knees and hands and scores of tears that blocked your vision.

Tonight worse than ever causing a blast to send you flying and then crashing and tumbling across a street in the aftermath of the biggest blast yet you barely saved the apartment building behind you from collapse with a shield too far left to keep you from the force. Every single slam into the asphalt doled out another layer of pain that in the droop of your eyes to the scared creep of onlookers from their hideouts behind cars and stoops to urge you up again the metal encased heroes watched the source of the heart wrenching shriek come to a sloppy stop. Clearly severing their focus from the next wave they had yet to see from a series of mini gliders still powering up.

Straddling your tangled unconscious self Venom landed and ever so gently lifted his tiny masked friend he cradled close to his chest and sprung off anywhere but here. They would be fighting for hours more and destroy a huge corner of the city by the day’s end luring SHEILD out to patch things up with the public and try to cast the blame back were it belonged, on Misique. Or Missy Q, Queenie and Little Bee to Stark’s unending banter and smart remarks you had little patience for both in and out of the media when he happened to catch up to you or Venom.

So nice and safe inside of Eddie Brock’s townhouse Venom lowered his bruised and bloody tiny friend onto Eddie’s bed stating, “The heart beat is strong, Eddie. Little One does not seem badly wounded, her armor is strong.”

In the retraction of Venom’s face to float beside his Eddie sighed while saying, “She could have internal bleeding, a concussion in the least.” A grumble from your body had his brows arch up and to the blind lift of the hand laid beside your hand in a half conscious check of bodily control had him say, “Whoa, that was fast.”

“Mmm,” you groaned and in a lift of your shoulder on the opposite side after a confusing soft comforter your hand had touched and now slid across your eyes cracked open for the duo of heads to tilt at the pitch black hair and purple eyes that sparked yellow in a sudden tear panicked jolt.

“No, no!” Eddie said in the extension of his hand to grab the foot on the leg that swung up to collide with his thigh he pulled back out of reach. “It’s me and Venom! We’re not going to hurt you!” Backwards to the wall in a pained squirm you drug yourself and he said in a crouch down, “You’re hurt, we brought you here to rest.” A muffled explosion had him sigh and say, “Those morons are going to level half the city. I’m Eddie, Brock, you know Venom. This is our home, you’re safe here.”

Venom said, “We have pizza, you are hungry.”

Eddie said, “I’m gonna heat up the oven and draw you a bath,” your head shook and he said again with his hands still raised in his inch closer to the edge of the bed, “You’re a kid, you can’t be 18 yet. I’m not gonna do anything but help patch you up and then get you safely home. You don’t even have to tell me your real name and you can keep your mask on if you like.” He paused and to your shaky exhale and tear that fell down over your 3d printed metal mask scuffed to ruin the yellow coat of paint you would have to redo yet again like every time you crossed paths with Iron Man. “I’m gonna start the oven and the tub. You take a few minutes and I’ll figure out where I left my towels.”

You had a choice, remain alone and hidden or try and trust as your giant friend had. So after the brief bath to the sound of the oven timer you climbed out and dried off pulling on the baggy sweats and t shirt over your same slightly blood stained underwear from the few gashes and scrapes you had. Through your curls your trembling fingers eased and out you walked without the mask from the steamy bathroom to the open kitchen where you spied your now shorter friend hissing at the burn he received in pulling the second of the first round of pizzas off the pans and onto the wooden cutting boards he lifted and turned to carry to the table.

At the sight of your real self, bright purple eyes and mess of black curls that hung half over your face and down your chest he gave you a widening grin. “Hi, you look clean.” His head tilted at the next bead of blood from a scrape near your hairline that had him say, “And still bleeding. I have a kit for that.” He said hurrying to set the boards on the table near to the first aid kit he opened and ushered you nearer to so you could sit on the wooden bench in front of him.

To the tear of an alcohol swatch he said, “Worst part first.” And lifted it to tap to the scrape he was more worried at your lack of a flinch and the tear that dropped in the press of it to the wound he wiped the blood from. “How old are you, Misique?” He asked.

And you answered, “Fifteen, at midnight.” Which had his eyes meet yours to the quiver of your lip and glance away in a shuddering inhale preceding your saying, “Pluto Pear.”

“Your name,” he muttered in realization when your eyes met his again, “Very pretty, I love Pluto, favorite planet, no matter what those eggheads say about its size. Any more bad scrapes?”

“They’ll heal by morning. No need to waste your supplies.”

“I have seventy nine kits, you will be doing me the favor.” He said and you reluctantly lifted the baggy sleeve to show the already scabbed cut that should have needed stitches half an hour earlier he brought another swab out to dab around it. “I take it you don’t have a structured guardian at home?”

“Just me.” That had his eyes on you again wider in shock, “They killed my parents,” you said to another tear falling, “I was special, one of a kind. They took me, and I did what they said,” you said to a crack in your voice, “And then they put me in that machine, and I listened again, until they said I had one more step, to being perfect.”

“Who took you, what step?” he said to Venom’s protective snarling growl in a hover above Eddie’s head ready to cover him and hunt them down.

“They wanted my ovaries. To be the best, you can’t have babies, weaknesses. I couldn’t stop myself, and I couldn’t be their White Dove.”

“Wait,” he said with a hand just grazing your shoulder in a timid try to both get the story and be supportive of your boundaries, “White Dove, what do you mean? Who took you?”

“You know who Captain America is?” you asked and his eyes narrowed.

“Yes,” he answered reluctantly in confusion.

“There are others who have the serum they gave him. They gave it to me. Said they couldn’t after, if they had taken my ovaries first, they could have grown back. So they waited.”

“Who did this to you?”

“I killed them,” you whispered to another tear falling, “And I came here, like my parents dreamed we would.”

“Who looks after you?” he managed to stammer out finally after you wiped away your tears from your cheeks. “You can’t be here alone.”

“I have my papers. I have jobs, an apartment, I’m a citizen now, and I have school tomorrow.” Your voice cracked and faded off as you looked to Venom’s head in its stretch to ease closer to your face to press against your cheek in a kind nuzzle of support.

Venom, “We will watch you now.”

Eddie said, “You know me now, I’m a reporter down at the Daily Bugle.”

“No wonder you can afford this place, I’ve been feeding you ample headlines lately.”

He barely managed an exhale where you had let out a breathy try for a chuckle, “You have, and I had to get close to you to see what truly was going on seeing you were just a kid.”

“I can’t stop now.”

“No,” he said to another muffled explosion, “No we can’t. I am not the one who likes to eat people, but I can’t stand you out there alone even more. I’m keeping an eye on you, anything you need consider me your new big brother. I’ve seen you, at the market, you work there on the weekends right?”

You nodded and said, “I live behind you.” You said causing his brow to tick up, “I thought you were just a drunk racing around in your boxers all panicked all the time talking to yourself.”

“I don’t drink, well, try not to, Venom hates it when I do. We’re gonna take care of you.”

“Are you sure I didn’t kill your Soulmate too?” You said as over the muted news reel his head turned to follow your gaze as it replayed a story on the outcry of those whose Soulmates had been lost to your attacks, now with the initial hundreds of thousands assumed to belong to your kill count as well angering even more. “I’m beyond forgiveness according to them. Even if they were the worst of the worst.”

“My Soulmate dumped me, moved on. I ruined things. You are not beyond forgiveness. You haven’t even received your Soulmate box yet. Which would you choose, a poke or a tickle to let them know you are there?”

“I don’t know.”

“I boldly chose tickle, my Mate hates to be tickled. Didn’t want to speak to me half a year when I finally found her. Three years, plenty of time to think of what you want.”

“Who is ever going to be happy being bonded to me?” You asked in a whisper.

“Whoever it is has to get through me to get to hurt you. Do you have a boyfriend?” His brows twitched a moment asking, “Girlfriend?”

“No, I got asked to the dance on Friday though. He helped me build a mister for the teacher’s pet fern who he always forgets to water. He’s nice, and he gets this look on his face.”

“Nice smile, good quality.”

“No, like he’s about to pass out.”

“Ah, well you would be the prettiest girl in school I bet he got partnered with. Way to go, give the nerd a shot, he could have a heart of gold and just need a boost of confidence.”

He kept his word and helped you home after you had been fed and talked as much as you wished to. Trading numbers for emergencies and random texts or calls when you needed someone to talk to. Something added on to when he brought a good psychiatrist friend of his who had been helping him with his own changes since bonding with Venom. One who wouldn’t share what you said for the world after having seen the fear in your eyes and protective gaze from Eddie. That confirmed for him that you were better under his watch than in another terrible system after you had won your own freedom here. With further proof you were pulling excellent marks in school even if socially you had fallen flat after being stood up for that dance when the boy’s dream girl he used you to get jealous demanded he go with her.

… 17 …

Poke or Tickle. From the box everyone received from some mysterious source you eyed the card with two boxes to choose for a tick mark to choose with a ticking that came from the box sounding down to the deadline before the box would choose for you. You couldn’t choose, and in a refusal to leave chance up to the box you chose to claim your own bout of chance and the coin you had been easing between your fingers was flipped deciding on Poke.

Summer was coming soon as would be the Mate Box and with it your first tries at college scholarship admission essays you were finishing off. Already you had been granted credits for the classes you sat for in Columbia the two years prior while attending half day classes at Midtown. Now with Black Widow and Captain America in the mix you sat icing your shoulder previously dislocated after kicking the two off a bridge away from the explosion Stark set off that sent cars flying he scrambled to save from being added to his monthly bill to pay for the repairs himself for all the damage he caused. A single tick mark and back into the box the card went for the mysterious carrier to zap away leaving you to your pain and wonder for what you would get up to this summer.

Not quite so alone with a new face tagging along to a few of your later jobs. Spiderman in a homemade suit like your own had found allies in this new world he was trying to find a place in with his new abilities and wish to help people. Only in your first run in did he notice the proof to his assumption that you might not be pure evil as everyone claimed. The familiar voice of a young masked teen tried his best to talk you out of every murder you wished to commit. Small reminders that rang in your ears and gradually the death toll waned as the enemies dwindled to an all time low at the crack down of the government to a near country wide police state for a matter of a season.

More nowadays since the military crackdown you were known to be an environmentalist. Traveling worldwide returning demolished forests and reserves back to their natural states with extinct or near to it, species and plants flooded back to their natural habitat. All inside barriers of your own making that refused to let anyone enter so that the new rainforests and miles of green endless stretches from dumps, plants, mining operations or testing sights for development could not be touched again. Where names of new targets with proof of their crime had been left in your city now letters from people all around the world begged for the aid of Mother Nature’s Revenger. From lands to stretches of ocean now with thriving populations of coral and marine life unable to be hunted it seemed Misique had grown more powerful than ever.

Pt 2

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Loki - @pastelhexmaniac

#soulmates au #Secret Identities #Enemies to friends to lovers #Found Family #Who is the Hero here?#Vengence #Teenage Vigilante #Battles #Trained Assassin #Assumed Villain #Eddie Brock/Venom & OC Siblings #Spiderman & oc Allies #Marvel #Loki x oc soulmates #Loki

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blankdblank · 3 years

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Poke Pt 11 - The Hunt

…

If looks could kill Eddie Brock would have murdered half of Queens when he found your apartment empty and down on the front walk outside a small spot of blood beside the bag you carried to work. And the other half surely would have died when he got a call in his apartment demanding a $10 million ransom for his baby sister.

One person and for one reason was called, Stark, because if he went after these men alone Venom would call the other Symbiotes and that could only spell disaster for this planet.

Groggily across the cool dusty floor of an abandoned warehouse your head lifted for you to be able to blink the room into dim focus. Male voices through the wall had you mutter in Swedish, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Behind your back tape around your wrists had you huff and flex your fingers to shoot the gloves of your suit out over your dusty t shirt and jeans you wore to your shift at the book shop. The layer of Vibranium snapped the tape with ease and to the sound of the argument growing on the other side of the door on how to make use of their prisoner while they waited for their pay off.

From the center of your palm a group of bees you manifested listened to your hushed order to find the nearest phone or internet line to reach Eddie and share with him you were conscious. While in the other palm you brought out the rectangular panic button you had to link to Eddie’s phone you pressed the button on when the way you had been taken flashed back to you.

Hands gripped you from behind and even with chlorophyll held to your mouth and nose a struggle with you had one of their guys unconscious and you being hit over the head with something. Your vision was clear but when you raised your head vertigo set in on the back end of your head injury healing itself. Back into your boot you eased the tracker and lowered your leg pretending to still be tied up when the door opened.

“Look who’s awake,” The shadowy frame snickered in his approach with hand sliding down the front of his shirt, “We’re gonna get to know each other better.”

“Danny!” One of the other men shouted and threw open the door he had closed. Not fast enough as he’d bent to grab your face around the chin.

“Gimme a smile, sweet thing.” The flash of bright glittering yellow in your eyes had his lips part before a ring of yellow shot through his and he promptly released you and stood drawing the handgun from his waistband to shoot his friend and then proceed out of the room to kill the others. Which with the open door sounded a lot bigger and more crowded than you had expected.

Onto your knees you managed to climb only to collapse with a pained gasp at the shot that went through your right bicep and another that went through your collarbone from a semi-automatic riffle. One of the men had died with his finger in a death clench on the trigger and you happened to be in the wrong spot and caught without your suit on. With your eyes closed you focused on your breathing to not panic and bleed out while on the ground you gripped the spaghetti strap tank top under your t shirt. One handed you tore a strip to wind with shaky hands around your bicep wound that painfully was tied for the rest of the shirt to press into the front of your collar bone at the feel that the bullet was just shy of working its way fully out of your back. Just leaving one path for the blood to go and to match the small puddle from the now scabbed cut on your head warmly more spilled down your chest to pool on the ground.

“Oh man,” you heard Peter’s voice echo through the building as he searched it. “Mr Stark, there’s um, a lot of dead guys in here.” Closer he swung into another room as you tried to say something only to feel as if you were slipping through a tunnel in losing so much blood when the agitating tremble of your hand lessened your chance to keep steady pressure on your wound. “Pluto!” His voice sounded in his drop into the doorway and over the first body he raced saying, “Mr Stark, Pluto’s here!” carefully he hunched over you saying, “She’s bleeding, Karen, what do I do?!” Soft instructions guided him to keep pressure on your collar bone as he talked to your unconscious self until the jet arrived and Stark’s medical team had you lifted into the portable emergency room to fly you to Stark Tower as the cops handled the rest of the crime scene.

“Sis,” Eddie murmured behind your head after the latest full body scan had been taken.

“Mild head contusion with a possible concussion, clean shot through the bicep and another lodged in her back. The bullet came out easily enough and she seems to be clotting quick well, just needed some blood, we have her on a bag now.”

Tony asked Bruce beside him, “Didn’t the scan on the jet say skull fracture?” That earned a nod from the equally confused Bruce.

The Head Doctor asked, “Any family history you know of?”

Eddie looked up from your head at the Doctors, Peter, Rhodey and Tony all in their suits from the city wide search they had been carrying out until Eddie alerted them to your signal. “Before she died her Mom had Wilson’s Disease, and Chorea,”

“Oh,” one of the other Doctors said dishearteningly enough to concern Tony at what that might mean.

Eddie, “And her Dad had a kidney disease, not sure which one. We’ve had her scanned, her kidneys are good and her scans have all come back clean for her brain.”

The Head Doctor said, “Well we’ll run some tests on her blood we did draw to be safe and give her a once over when she does regain consciousness. We do think it was just blood loss. Otherwise she would have been awake still when she was found.”

Loki meanwhile had his green mist coated hand easing over the top of your bicep after aiding your shoulder wound along faster with tear stained eyes focused on your slumbering scowl. Peter said, “It look,” he drew in a breath and said, “It looked like she’d just got her hands out of that tape.”

That had Loki’s eyes on him in a silent demand for further explanation. “Behind her back, there was cut tape, bent in half circles, about the size of her wrists.”

Eddie said, “They wouldn’t have gotten her there unless they gave her that head gash first.”

And into the Medical Wing of the Stark Tower Natasha entered with a report on the stain they found on your shirt, “Chlorophyll, found it on the neck of her shirt and back. She put up a hell of a fight to have had to hit her there’s none in her system.”

Thor said as Tony accepted the chemical workup sheet, “Cowards. To try and drug a woman in the dead of night.”

Tony said, “Dead cowards now.”

Eddie asked, “They’re not going to make her testify or anything, are they?”

Tony shook his head, “No,”

Fresh off the phone Pepper entered the room and said with a sigh in a glance your way, “There was a basement in that warehouse, they found the head of a Bourbon Distillery’s niece. She’s not hurt, snatched her yesterday a few hours before they took Pluto. Press wants to talk to you Tony.”

Tony nodded with his eyes still fixed on you and said, “These morons have probably been up to this a while, must not have reported it or our bee friend would have taken them down long ago.”

He left the room nodding for Natasha to come along and Eddie moved to take up his seat back at your side smoothing his hand from your forehead into your hair murmuring, “I know you’re just tired. Soak in all that new blood and just take your time. We’re all here.”

“Spidey?” you murmured in the reach of his fingers to the bruise around the head wound and Peter anxiously moved to the foot of your bed placing his hand on your blanket covered foot.

“Right here Pluto.” He said then continued, “I’m right here.”

“There’s more voices, under the floor.” You let out in an almost whine and faded out of consciousness again.

“We know. We found her.” He said and gave your foot another pat.

Out in the hall Tony told Pepper, “Five minutes and I’ll be right down for the press, Pep.” And he looked to Natasha asking her, “How much of your childhood do you remember pre-Red Room?”

“Um, this really isn’t the time-,”

Tony waved his hands, “She had a skull fracture when we scanned her in the jet, it’s a contusion to the skin now. When she was six after her parents vanish off the planet, her house is burned down and she follows their orders to run here and hide and start over. Her parents, who were brilliant scientists and worked with plant and animal dna. But it’s seven years until she got here alone. There is nothing, no paper, no school records anywhere for seven years.”

Pepper, “Tony,”

Tony said, “Why would they or anyone want her family dead, for one, and her dead enough to make her flee the country?”

Natasha said, “Tony, Red Room didn’t take her, she would be in the system.”

Tony said, “And if I used Chlorophyll on you?”

Natasha shook her head, “It wouldn’t work for more than a few seconds.” Her eyes narrowed, “It was spilled on her, and they had to bludgeon her to knock her out.”

Tony, “I’m not saying she’s a trained killer, but she’s brilliant and had a skull fracture less than two hours ago. Maybe her parents were making some medicine, for her mom for whatever Wilson’s Disease and Chorea is. Maybe a sort of inoculation to prevent it for her and gave her super healing. All her blood work is astonishing for someone who has been shot twice and passed out with a bullet still in her from blood loss and a skull fracture. The Super Serum would show up in her blood, the variation you were given shows up in yours. Someone took her parents and we have to help her find out why, even if we can’t ever find them, maybe she knows something is wrong and she won’t talk about it. Maybe that’s why she kept her space from me at first. SHIELD would want to know and she doesn’t want attention and she doesn’t want handouts to owe anyone anything they can use against her. Something’s wrong. At best, she was given some medicine we can never replicate without her help, at worst, maybe she’s some alien species like the Princes and that’s why her parents got snatched.”

Natasha said, “If it’s not in her blood then we have no way of testing what she was given.”

Tony said, “No we can’t, but Bucky was up in arms for days about not being able to eat mushrooms, nuts or bananas anymore since the serum. Gets violently ill, three foods she avoids at the parties we’ve invited her to.”

Pepper said, “Those are common allergies though.”

Tony, “Including lavender.”

Natasha said, “I did think that was odd, even in my variation I have sensitivity to lavender without the others.”

Tony said, “There’s a way, something subtle, something we won’t have to cut her open or stab her for. We just have to find it. Misique said she got the serum but she knows about it, maybe that’s why she and Venom look after her, maybe Misique’s the one who helped to get her here safely. Found her in that seven year blip. She knew about Bucky and other agents in Hydra infiltrating our system, even some birthday for you not matching the one in your file. Maybe she can’t unlock Pluto’s memory or won’t.”

Natasha said, “To protect her from something.”

Tony said, “We’re gonna find a way to see what’s happened so we might know who if anyone will try to come after her again. She’s been here four years and known us for just a few months and she’s gotten shot twice already.”

Natasha sighed saying, “Tony, we didn’t get her shot.”

Tony said on his stroll to go sate the press, “I made her go to Vegas. Might as well have shot her myself.”

Natasha said to Pepper in a stroke of her arm, “He’s projecting and exhausted. Get some rest Pepper.” She nodded and sighed to head for a nap after the early waking and sleepless night for everyone in the hunt for you.

Another hour and two full body scans later while Tony was in the throws of a research dig into just how debilitating the conditions your parents might have handed down to you genetically. More worries that were enough to have another of his aspirations named to the press soon would be to add more research into Neurological conditions both debilitating and degenerative for mobility and mental capacity. Just in case. Just in case his new young friend of his protégé had one day drawn up a red flag on one of the symptoms. Already the police bullet expert had a map of the bullet paths had the ex-soldiers on the team confirming it must have been a death tug of the trigger that got lucky hitting you when you were on your knees. Not anything to make them more comfortable as it meant you had just freed yourself and possibly Peter could have found you and gotten you out safely.

Comfy in flannels and a tank top cut low on the sides from an old shirt you reclined in the propped up bed speaking with Eddie and Loki to calm the duo until the Doctors returned and gave you a basic workup praising Loki on his efforts to help your healing along faster. Everyone on the team came in to check on you and guided you to the meal you ate one handed thanks to the sling forced on you to rest your shoulder. Yet when Tony managed to find some time alone with you and found you out of bed staring out over the city right after sunrise the next day he said, “Let’s go look at some houses.”

“That won’t get you out of wedding planning, you know.”

“Oh I know, I’ve got Vision on a few things between his checks on the twins. Had some breakthroughs on our newest members. Still hate me, but then again, long line. Hungry?”

“I’m always hungry,” you said making him chuckle and gesture to guide you to the breakfast Loki was making you.

“Usually I’m the one who can’t sleep. Friday says you haven’t slept since you woke up.”

“I miss my bed.” You said glancing at him, “No offense, creature of habit. Hard to sleep out of my boat.” Your good hand rose to your chest and you said, “They haven’t found my locket?”

Tony said, “The clasp was broken, Thor had one of his Asgardian buddies take it to one of their forges. Said it’d be back today. Special tricks to the trade I imagine.” At the door he opened for you he said, “That was some ping box you have for Eddie.”

“He insisted. It also warns him when my heart rate slows too much, or shows sign of serious injury. He worries.”

“We all worry, part of why we need to get you somewhere safe on your own feet. Found some nice options for you in Queens. Shouldn’t be too stressful on you.”

“You know you’ve been abducted too, need I remind you. So if I’m a damsel you are too.”

“Yes but when I go missing Pepper doesn’t have a mind control hold on the wonder twins to tear apart the worst part of Brooklyn and Queens to find you. If Loki didn’t have a sort of rapport with Queen Bee I’d say she’d have attacked him for it, but he did break up some killer drug warehouses and black market rings all on his own. Press is having a field day on it.”

“Press is always having a field day. What they do. Love fields, go crazy like puppies over them.” Making him chuckle to himself in a glance your way noticing the restrained flex you gave to your shoulder and hold of a pained grimace for the struggle your body gave against the motion.

Between Loki and Stark you sat in the back of the car Happy was driving with Bucky up front in his aim to keep spare watch on any supposed flaws the Realtor would try to get by you. Over the top of your lap Loki’s hand tangled with your free hand careful not to disturb the arm in the sling he helped you in each move to straighten your sweater that it made shift in the climb into the car. Jeans were a must to cover the spots for bruises you no longer had and at the start of a brightly colored block of houses your eyes scanned over the Victorian style of them until you stopped at the only one for sale that happened to be purple.

“Purple, fitting.” You said watching the pink mustang outside the home on the street open to free a bouncy full figured red headed woman in a tight red and black pinstriped suit who flashed a proud grin at the sight of Tony upon his exit.

“Mr Stark, I am so glad to be working with you again,” she said taking her hand then readied to take yours only to pause at the sight of you outside the car with Loki’s hands on your waist in his climb out behind you and a sling to keep her cautious on shaking even your free hand. “Miss Pear, I watched your championship win. Congratulations. Hell of a poker face if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Thank you,” you said as her eyes dipped to your sling. “Don’t worry, all the science shows bullet wounds aren’t contagious.”

Softly she chuckled and gave you a playful grin that melted as she said, “Yes, I also did read about your abduction by those thugs as well. Glad to see you up and about so soon.”

“Yes, Mr Stark has me house hunting in a means to keep me safer.”

“Well this is a great neighborhood,” she delved more into the details on the house guiding you all up inside as you smirked through Loki and Bucky’s hushed commentary on certain details.

Though as she went to answer a call inside a hidden room the size of a crawl space your eyes flinched wider and you crept back out whispering to Tony, “There’s an altar in the crawl space.”

That had him and Bucky creep in to eye the space dedicated to some deity you had no clue what it was that had Bucky, who had his years in mass several times weekly in his Irish Catholic roots, tingling at something to not be messed with that bumped this house entirely off the list.

A blue shingled Victorian home was followed by a grey one, both with more damage than they let on that would probably cost double to repair them to perfect condition again in the style you loved. The blue one would have been perfect otherwise and had you a bit downcast on the whole process as the next home was a bit of a drive but now was the only time to meet with the builder to get the keys to the model home in a new gated development by the water.

Brown bricks almost orange in the sun encased this three floored contracted home similar to the other homes you could have finished off to your preference. Tony said as the car pulled up, “This one has more options for you to build off of if you wanted custom.”

Bucky said from the front seat reading off the info seat, “It’s three mil more expensive Stark.”

Tony said, “Like I said, options.”

You sighed and followed him out of the car to be led up into this home the builder huffed his way through and then as you asked, “So would it be possible to rearrange the bathroom fixtures?”

“Just tell Stark what nozzles and handles you want and we’ll make sure they’re installed, okay?” he said then huffed to the Realtor, “I’ll be outside, let me know if anyone has any serious questions.”

Bucky readied to throttle him until you said, “Hey prick.” His head turned and you continued. “The tub is 4 foot by 5 because some idiot decided to park that boxy thing lengthwise in the smallest end of the room to give more room for that hideous built in that no doubt will tear half the wall down with it when the humidity soaks the nails out because it’s not mounted in the studs.” His eyes scanned from one end of the bathroom to the other, “Now, is it possible to have the plumbing fixtures rearranged or is that too complex a question for you?”

“No, we don’t do that, we could build you a cabinet or put up some shelves. Rearranging the plumbing would require removing the poured floors.”

You glanced to the impressed Realtor and said, “Maybe the yard might be an improving factor, you said it had a deck?” She nodded and you didn’t stay long after and she understandably led you onto the next brick home.

Though this one in white and a bit too oddly shaped for your liking with too many unexplained slanted ceiling sections and no internal ac or heating for how modern inside it played itself to be. While the Realtor stayed outside in the next house of tan bricks and three stories that seemed a bit off putting somehow in a way you couldn’t place you asked, “What’s off about this place?”

Bucky said as Loki did, “Floor’s slanted.”

And your eyes dropped to the floor, “Huh, you would think they would have fixed that.” And at another tiny alcove in a wall that had already had three in its endless curve to meet up with an open kitchen had you ask, “And, what is the crime against walls? These clam designed pillars are just dangerous for night time. I’d see shadows everywhere.”

Loki stated, “It does not seem to fit your personality. I could not see you living within this home.”

Bucky said in a glance out the window, “And you could steal your neighbor’s pie.”

Upstairs when you knew you would be out of earshot from the Realtor you asked at Tony’s next glance at your injured shoulder, “Does the Super Serum show up in blood tests?”

Tony’s lips parted in Loki’s glance your way from the pitiful closet he was inspecting after your trip inside and Tony answered, “It would.”

You nodded and said, “I’ve broken my hand about 20 times at least. That never show up on any of my scans. After I met Venom I had eight herniated disks in my upper back, couple weeks of pain later and none of my scanners showed anything.”

“You think you’ve been given the serum?” Loki heard Tony’s questioning of your having the serum on a trip of his double to fetch you more blankets and pillows and had to contain his smirk and move closer in a consoling way. To bring you against his side and chest to aid in the illusion of this ploy of cover on your alias until Stark could be trusted or learn it on his own to change how this new friendship would grow.

“It would make sense with what little I know about how Bucky and Natasha have been injured before. Steve was frozen a while so he’s not really the prime case, and whatever it was I was given wouldn’t have been from SHIELD.”

Tony inhaled and said, “You had a skull fracture when we found you, two hours later, it was just a skin contusion. Every scan showed improvement, they found Chlorophyll on your shirt,”

You nodded, “We’ve used it in school to inspect animals safely without needing injections. But it didn’t do anything but make me a bit nauseous.”

“We checked your blood, there’s no trace of the Serum in it, so either it’s a new strain, or maybe your parents were working on a way to keep you from getting Wilson’s Disease and found their own mixture they gave you an inoculation of before you fled. We’re gonna make sure no one takes you.”

“We’re damsels Tony, you and me. You can’t promise that. Next time, I’ll work more on my alert signal for when people sneak up on me.”

“Alert signal?” Bucky asked.

“It’s sort of a force field. Rebounds them back with a sort of wind chime sound to go off. Thought it might help with Vets who are jumpy, think people are sneaking up on them, maybe help with paranoia victims as well. But it keeps honking at me when I turn it on, not like a car but a goose. Very odd.”

Tony chuckled saying, “You’ll get there eventually.”

You nodded and said, “I think she’s kicking herself on not finding the perfect fit already.”

Bucky chuckled, “Takes time. Still got another today to see.”

“Oh this one’s nice,” you said to the Tudor style home that by numbers alone for New York came off more like a mini mansion than anything else.

The Realtor already parked when you joined her on the front walk said, “I know this one is a bit different than the others but it’s been on the market forever and I always have to give hope a run that someone might love it. 11,776 square foot lot, 5,000 for the house and two garages. Six bed, four full bath and one half bath.”

“Wow, and it’s haunted right? To be on the market a while?”

Her lips parted and then closed in a clamp of her eyes to a whistle from the house next door that its chimney almost touched the side of the far wall by your view at this angle but was actually roughly six feet away. Out on the front covered porch near to the door an salt and pepper mustached man in wheelchair called out, “Let’s see what bit of riff raff we got to look at the place today!”

“I am so sorry,” she whispered to you.

And you said to her with a grin, “As long as he doesn’t shoot at me I can handle insults.” You said and she led you inside the stone lined entrance in the hedge fence lining the sidewalk for a natural border to keep people out.

When you were on the other side of it the elderly man with a bowler hat who asked you, “What country you from, Ma’am, last two were from the Eastern Block. I won’t have commies on my block.”

“I’m from Stolkholm,” you replied.

“Hmm,” he said, “Swedes aren’t half bad. Still not,” his eyes however shifted to Bucky who looked him over once through the gate behind Stark. “Look, you brought a dead man.”

Bucky asked, “Dum Dum?” and crossed the lawn at the elderly man’s laugh to clasp hands and hug him. “Dum Dum Dugan, what are you doing up North?”

Dugan’s hand swatted the air and he gestured over his shoulder, “Little girl is a Shrink. Moved up here, grandkids are driving me crazy. You moving in next door?”

Bucky shook his head, “No, our friend Pluto is looking at the place. Just won a poker tournament.”

Dugan snapped his fingers and pointed at you, “Purple eyes, knew I knew you. Good job showing them Hell.”

“Thank you,” you said.

“What happened to her arm?” he asked lowly.

“She got abducted for ransom. We found her yesterday, Stark wants her out of her apartment, somewhere safer.”

Dugan chuckled and said, “You take the place I’ll have some of my guys’ kids who teched up my girl’s place before I moved in drop by and get you some fancy gizmos. Though I advise against the motion detector lights, we got some raccoons and hawks who hit those at night to help find small critters to eat.”

“I will remember that,” you giggled out, “I have interior monitoring tech, exterior is a whole new field for me. Always a debate between interfering with the critters or not. Thank you, Mr Dugan.”

He said after a groan at his daughter’s call to come inside for medicine and a snack, “I swear, I take any more fish oil I’m gonna sprout gills. Enjoy your tour, you get the place my grandson’ll mow your lawn too if you get busy at work and even wash your car when you need it.”

“Oh, I don’t have a car. I might have to get a bike though.”

He gave a pointed glance at Bucky who chuckled and said, “We’ll get her some safe wheels. Me and Steve’ll drop by tomorrow if you like?”

Dugan pointed to him in the turn of his chair to the controller in his grip on its handle, “I’m holding you to that. Off for my gills.” He said with a mock salute to the Realtor who gave a slightly uncertain sigh.

And with a giggle you said, “So far, long as there’s no ghosts or slanted floors we have a major contender. If not Bucky and Steve might join in the antics if they can’t buy the place themselves.” Making the soldier smirk following as she led the way to the door with a growing bout of hope that this might be the place for you.

“You don’t have a car?” she asked unlocking the door.

“Cars are expensive and work was always close by to the subway. Not very far now, but maybe for the gate and the neighbor I might have to pick something.”

Right inside the door you noticed the half wooden paneled walls with grey and white patterned paper on top, two closets were in nooks on either side of the door, and a navy blue dresser was right across from the door seated underneath a sun shaped mirror with chairs on wither side of it. “Oh, these floors are nice.” Parquet style tile in alternating shades of grey aimed both towards and away from the door and guided you in to the slightly raised section of both rooms the entryway led to that had dark wood floors.

What you might describe as modern regal style furniture filled the sitting room on the left with a fireplace in a nook and reading chair at the windows peering out to the yard. The walls here a full cheerier pale yellow with the same white molding and square crossing beam accents on the ceiling dividing it into squares with buried circular light mounts inside. A second smaller sitting room was opposite with similar styled room and furniture in a square around a glass table, though accenting the window bench that ran under the four windows there you opened to find hidden storage there. At the covered floor outlet you said to yourself, “Hmm, floor outlets might get tricky with spills.”

An open archway fed hall lured you onwards past a small room that might be a chess nook with a small end table and two leather green chairs in it. Mostly high windows that stopped halfway down and a long thin window lit this room around the huge fireplace that took up 80% of the back wall.

A dark cherry wood paneled room topped with a deep blue papered panel across the top was for the dining room. A glass door outside next to another large chimney also in dark wood made the place cozy, while another window bench accented wall of windows, milky at the top with diamond pattern bars above rectangular ones helped the chandelier to light the cherry wood ten seated table on the rug in the center of the room. Around the table you strolled eyeing each detail asking at the portrait of the ship on the mantle, “The owners left their art too?”

Realtor, “It’s staged furniture. They cleared out years ago. We keep the place tidy until someone buys it. Switch up the furniture to try different styles too every so often to see what fits the best.”

The kitchen through the doorway on the wall of cherry built ins you entered the mint and crème kitchen with white marble counters. “Full marble counters, brand new stainless steel hood vent and a six burner stove in the robins egg blue wooden island.” On one side underneath the half wall of windows was the sink, dish washer and mini wine cooler. Though the high arch of the sink with an extendable head for the spray feature had you frozen there a few moments to shift it around side to side making Tony smirk at another small task you chose to test the place. In the wall of crème colored cabinets across the island for the stove she confirmed was electric she said, “And, large fridge,” opening the cabinet masked fridge that came close to hitting the stools at the breakfast bar behind you. The pantry behind the cabinets in an angled entrance was amply spacious and led you onwards into another sitting area that clearly led to the back yard and the hidden stairs opposite an open set behind the door you had just come through.

Ignoring the stairs to the basement you found a cherry wood paneled wall welcomed you into another room decorated as an office in a more modern style with checkered tan and brown marble tiled flooring and teal panels of paper on the back three walls both halfway and around the glass doors to a back yard facing balcony. Lit by a circular chandelier with crystal panels around the round rims. The half bath across from it had the same tiled floors and white fixtures with crème paper decorated with black scenes across it.

Upstairs came next for the barrage of bedrooms. Odd clover shaped silver framed light fixtures were on the ceiling and a soft grey paint was on the walls to counter the dark wood floors. Simple and open the first had a vanity in the mini hall on the way into it aiming for the bathroom and closet a sunlit nook of a tower accent had a built in seat to read beside a white marble fireplace. “I think we found your room,” Bucky said to the spacious walk in his and hers closets around the white paint and marble themed bathroom accented by large mirrors, a milky glass window and glass walk in shower.

Realtor, “I love this bathroom, steam and high pressure water fixtures with easy chance to swap for most features except a mounted rain shower effect, for that it would need a remodel.”

“Looks nice, might have to paint the toilet nook,” you said to the ugly wall paper on the walls there she agreed to.

A pale blue nursery came next you took a quick glance at mainly for the chandelier. Then moved onto its bathroom with half white subway tile walls, half pale grey walls in the small bath with white marble counters accented by odd floral designed tiles reminding you of Chinese Checkers boards on the dark cherry counter that matched the cherry lined built in medicine cabinet.

A crème painted bedroom came next with ample room and a simple design and the same dark wooden floors. The office next door housed a side closet underneath a crawlspace area above that area with a rolling ladder to access the opening above the doorway inside. Possibly for a kids play space where the parent could work. Another bathroom, arguably your least favorite with a white subway tiled in tub beside a standalone sink podium under a clover shaped mirror had it simple and hard to miss its function. Outside that by the second set of stairs you used to get to the third floor had a whole wall of half windows and led to a living room with a spacious blue velour couch opposite a dark wooden table and a big leather chair. Mismatched end tables with bulky lamps had you mentally trying to redecorate this place as Loki pointed out the A shaped arches above you had to admire its crafting and how it framed the triangular top to the wall of the alcove behind it used for built in shelves, drawers and a window bench.

Grey beams were spaced every few feet on the barn like ceiling that reached to the far wall of a small bedroom finishing the look with nailed on wooden designs around the window and side walls. A ceiling fan countered mounted lamps for a cute hotel like bedroom with matching chairs and end table under the triple windows that didn’t match the folding tan one by the bed.

A yellow painted bedroom also barn shaped, but without the wooden frame accents, came next with an odd yellow and coral plaid chair, a plushy made up bed with simple medium wooden tables and a modern mounted flat screen. The poor staging had the Realtor saying, “Our new stager got some practice in this room, she just started, we didn’t have time to show her how to fix it.”

“It’s not, awful. I mean I wouldn’t pick it.” You said to Bucky’s amused grin in a plop into the chair. “But the chair is Bucky approved.” You said making her chuckle while Loki inched closer at your reach to tangle your fingers with his to again let him feel just how nervous you were about this.

Between them a yellow paint and white tiled bathroom had an open white shower and jet tub similar to one on commercials for the elderly with jets inside the sides wrapped by hung shower curtains in white. A crawl space closet here had been converted to a mini towel and supply closet conveniently right next to the sink.

Back down near to the kitchen you went and followed those steps to the basement. Down there the laundry room and a small home gym were found in the basement between the twin garages this home had. Though a surprisingly bright film room with wood paneled cabinets around a mounted tv opposite a leather wrap around couch beside a muffin shaped foot rest welcomed you. The lighter tan wood floor paired with the crème paint lightened the room. After all that the yard came last and had a main section off the stone wall wrapped patio area then rose higher for a second stretch of lawn all contained with tall tree and deep grey wooden fences. A small slice of the suburbs with a small lake not far away inside a protective gate that gave it a sense of prestige for being on the more affordable side of the mini mansion with a yard package in this state not too far from your closest job at the bookstore or the subway for the candle and soap shop.

Loki in the higher section of the yard eased closer to your side asking after a press of his lips to your forehead. “Do you want it?”

“It’s a great house, I’d make a few changes, we’ve seen the basement, comes with a well which explains that fake rock, unless it’s the septic.” Tony looked you over and you asked, “How cool am I supposed to play this for the buying part?”

Tony chuckled answering, “If you like it you can say, be excited if you want.”

“I mean I can’t think of anything not to take it, and if the neighbor gets too rowdy I can always call for you or Steve to come over,” making Bucky smirk. “You did check the attic?”

Bucky nodded, “Yup, all clear, smells a bit like candy canes somehow but all clear and it’s got wooden flooring as well so no worries on falling through your ceiling.”

With another nod you said, “I really don’t know anything much about chimneys and I would want to get solar panels, ones I’ve tried to make heat up too much still. Are those expensive?”

Tony said, “I can send a team over to install panels and check and clean the chimneys, just to be safe.”

“I do like the bedroom I would want but would it cost a lot to get carpet to swap for the wood?”

Tony, “Depending on the style you want can go from 8 bucks to 30 a square foot, install could be a hundred, shouldn’t take more than three hours to swap it, all the bedrooms or just yours?”

“Just mine. My parents had this really plushy carpet in our house, deep blue, used to look like the sea when I would hide under their bed. One of the planks creeks anyway I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t tear it up myself, it’s not fake wood is it?”

Bucky, “Real wood, must have had a space heater there and it warped the plank. Carpet would be a nice change I like it in my apartment we had terribly cold floors when I was growing up, then again we couldn’t always afford to keep the gas heater on so the floors were freezing. Though you have a new central system up in the attic and the water heater and water pump are good. I would probably have the roof checked before you install panels.”

Tony said, “My team can swap the roof to be safe before the install. How many more months do you have on your lease?”

“Two months, which I guess I could use to get the place ready for a gradual move and it will give him time to re-rent when I give notice.”

Loki said, “Fair plan. Very considerate to all involved. How expensive could furnishing a home be on this planet?”

Tony, “Do you liked the staged furniture?”

“Some of it, the rugs are kind of wild to my taste, and that one office downstairs is awful for the space, and those chairs are way too close to the fireplace for my liking.”

Tony, “Well we can hash it out, get an inventory of what you like and if the stager won’t let you buy it then they can tell us where they got it so we can order you one.”

You nodded and said, “I suppose we should let her take a breath, and let her spread the news of a possibly impossible sale.”

Tony, “Oh she will love that.” Leading the group back to the patio where she gave you a hopeful grin.

“I have a few questions.” She nodded and you asked, “That fake rock is for the well right?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“And where’s the septic tank?”

“On the other side of the house on the other side of the fence for easier access when the crews come in to do maintenance.”

You nodded and asked, “Is there a list of filter sizes and light bulbs used in the house, or would it be a hunt and note scribbling adventure?”

She chuckled saying, “We have a list of all we have replaced in our maintenance on the property between stagings.” Her eyes scanned over you, “You like it?”

“Ya, it’s incredible, it’s just under three, right?”

“Yes,” she said excitedly, “And we did the math just over 17 grand for taxes. Do you have any more questions?”

“What’s the policy on the staged furniture?”

“A good bit of it we own, the rest is on rental but we can obviously share where we got it from. We’ve had clients buy everything but the lampshades before so this isn’t something new.”

Tony said to her glance his way, “Those shades were hideous.”

In a glance at the door she said, “We can do an inventory of what you like before we head to the office.”

“That would be good.” You said and walked with her inside.

“The patio furniture is the owner’s and they said it can go with the place.” After a moment she asked, “Do you have a rough estimate on how much you have to deposit and the amount of a mortgage?”

“I’m paying it in full. Not giving a bank any chance to take it from me for any reason if they can’t cover their end of business.” Making her smirk at a similar answer to one Tony had given before in one of their times working together.

Room by room detailed notes of what pieces you liked were written down and with a wave to your new neighbor the drive to the Realtor’s office where it seemed everyone had to take their chance to see just who was buying up this impossible property that had been around for years now.

“I think lunch is in order.” Tony said with a smile on your way out of the office to the car, a meal over which with a notepad Loki charmed for you he took notes of all that you would be getting in order. Tony made his own arrangements to have the renovations on the property within the next couple weeks in the best order after the staging crew would drop in the next day to remove their furniture, pretty much making it all but the dining room tables, and the large couches in the film and living room upstairs.

Instead of staying at the tower you headed back to your apartment building, Loki refused to leave you alone and waited outside with a double on its way to the market as you went to speak to your landlord. Shock from a tenant actually giving notice for once had him glad that he could start readying the process to find a new tenant. His excitement was evident as you recalled the other times you had been in this office hearing of neighbors who for one reason or another had problems with your mini garden for insect attraction or animals that seemed to linger around your fire escape on occasion. Back out in the hall your fingers found the keys from your new home added to the ones from your apartment and Loki asked, “Everything alright, Pluto?”

“Yeah,” you said leaning into his extended arm, “He seems happy for the advanced warning, some of my neighbors don’t like my garden or animals that hang out in it. Even though I try to be nice to them, can’t win them all over.”

“All fools,” he said guiding you to the stairs to head up to your apartment. “You have a fair bit of furniture and we could browse for more to your liking.”

“I bought a house today,” you sighed and he grinned to himself.

“You did, and quite a grand one at that. Roughly the same size of a cottage we would have chosen for you on Asgard.”

“That’s not a cottage, that’s a mini mansion. 6 bed, 5 bath, 4 rooms they had for chairs, an everyday and a formal dining room, two offices.” At the door you unlocked it and stepped inside for him to shut it behind you as you let out a soft sniffle. Fully he faced you at the first fall of tears down your cheeks, and in a squeak you said, “I bought a house, and I keep seeing our home,” to the scrunch of your face he lovingly folded you into his chest. Firmly he held you into his chest through this battle of loss resurging up in the memories of your parents and childhood home you had stolen from you until he lifted you in his arms to move you to the couch so he could drape you in his arms against his chest.

“They would be so proud of you. I will have Heimdall scour Hel for their location, for a proper goodbye at least. Hear what their plans were for you.”

“I don’t think I could say goodbye again,” you whispered.

“This would not be a goodbye. Once we find them you may visit as often as you wish. Aside from Thor my family is on another realm as well, just a trip through our Bifrost and a calm saunter through Hel.”

After another sniffle you said, “I suppose that could solve a whole world of problems, a calm saunter through Hel.” Making him chuckle and on his chest your head shifted to glance up at him allowing him to wipe your cheek. “What’s your apartment like? Compared to Asgard, I picture a lot of gold and mounds of furs and impossible to cut leather couches and chairs, with an obnoxious amount of goat plushies on the bed.”

He chuckled and conjured up an image of his room from the palm he removed from your back, “This is my apartment in Asgard, compared to here would be a mini mansion of my own. Whatever you do, do not allow Stark to decorate. The supposed modern decorating style is appallingly uncomfortable to live with.”

“I’m gonna have to research how to use my new shower, had to have the landlord show me how to use this one.”

“Seemed fairly simple.”

“It has two handles and there’s no tub attached to make reason for the second handle.”

“Perhaps one for temperature and the other to switch it on and gauge water pressure.”

“Maybe.”

You nodded and in a curious glance up at him as his double entered the apartment to start putting everything on the counter to start cooking for you both. “And I promise, no matter the amount of bedrooms your home may have, I shall not invite myself over as I have here whilst you were ill or injured.”

“Are we a couple?” His eyes shifted from his double to yours again, “Outside of Mates?” Sweetly along your cheek his fingers stroked, “Have I foolishly forgotten to ask permission to court you properly?”

“I just, didn’t know,”

“I would treasure nothing more than the chance to court and be kept by you. If you would accept me as your personal pillow at any time you need one?”

“You do make a nice pillow, and a mean stew. How could I not?” Lowly he chuckled and closed the distance to kiss you sweetly on the lips.

Pt 12

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Loki - @pastelhexmaniac

#Loki x oc #Abducted #Freed #Healing #Stark Tower ER #Buy a House #House Hunting #Tony Stark #Bucky Barnes #Loki #Dum Dum Dugan #I bought a house #Cuddles #Eddie Brock/Venom & OC Siblings #Natasha Romanoff #Realtor Bucky

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blankdblank · 3 years

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Poke Pt 16 - Nine

“Stark asked me to watch the kid,” Bucky said barely an hour ago and now had taken hold of the potted flowers you had hoped to plant around your parent’s grave. And almost painfully your path through your hometown drew more attention than you had expected. A tap on your shoulder however lured your attention to the missing poster of a picture of you between your parents. Instead of an old face in town you were a living breathing ghost story and even though you had been in magazines and on tv they left the signs up until you could return one day.

All together the town from the rubble of your burned home had agreed to turn the land into a garden that paid homage to your culture around a plaque that had your parents’ names on it followed by an inscription. ‘This garden is in honor of two who loved this planet and its many wonders and their daughter who wished for nothing more than to make the world smile.’ Tucked within the cobbled pathways and benches on the small plot of land were still bunches of the impossible flowers you had created that had been saved by fire fighters and the butterflies brought back from the extinction list to live quite at peace here.

Old friends and neighbors with copies of pictures of your parents or yourself as a child gathered them. In pre-made albums and shoe boxes you were gifted small pieces of your past when nothing from your home had been able to be saved by the combustibles used aside from a warped old safe large enough for you to have fit inside the police had been holding onto for you. Some papers had to be signed to hand that over and with a trip back to the ship it was settled with your things and just with the flowers back through town you strolled to get to the other side to enter the forest there.

Bucky said in a glance at the trees around your group as you accepted Loki’s help over a small drop your legs couldn’t reach down to prevent a painful hop to disturb your injuries. “Nice forest.” You glanced up at him and he said, “One thing I appreciated about the war was a chance to see some amazing forests. All I’d seen for trees were so scrawny aside from Central Park. But even then they were still small at the time, people lived there in the 20’s so it took time to change it for public use and kick all the poor people out.”

“Well you’ll get a good view of it, about another half hour in to the proper coordinates.” You said drawing out the pager sized locator you had made that showed you where to go to reach said coordinates.

“I don’t mind. Just glad to get out of that Tower. Didn’t think it best to let me or the new girls head after the loose agents.” He said and looked your way at your hushed giggle.

“I think they’re just stunned to have it all thrown at them at once they’re forgetting where their hands are.” He smirked and you said, “My dad tried to teach me to juggle, and I would always get hit in the head, sort of like that. He used to say sometimes you get so overwhelmed your brain forgets to tell you to lift your hands.”

Peter said, “Very smart man. Would have been nice to have heard that when my dad tried to teach me to play fetch. Broke my nose once,” he said with a chuckle, “Should have heard my mom scream.” He glanced at Loki asking, “Anything like that happen when you were little?”

Loki answered, “No, other than my brother most of the injuries I sustained exploring. Mother was increasingly frightened when I fell from a second story observatory banister in her rose garden. Broke my arm in four places.”

“How does that work?” Bucky asked turning his head, “Do you have like instant repair machines on your planet?”

“Not exactly, it took half a month for my bones to fully mend. Our technology is more advanced, however the scanners that Pluto has developed are quite similar. Perhaps her inventions might improve things on this planet.”

“How does that work?” Bucky asked you making you giggle, “You just, know things from other planets. That is, it’s so far from what Tony can do. And he’s done a lot, but you have a farther reach.”

“I listen.” He glanced at you and you said, “Even with just a garden on my fire escape you get some earth and you learn to listen. Trees communicate, planets too. Asgard might be far but through Yggdrasil we can hear things. Even see things on occasion, best inventors take inspiration from others, I do the same when I get blips, work the basic idea into something more focused. Just have to be open to hearing what the world is willing to share, might not understand it at first, but with enough attention usually it gets clearer.”

Bucky sighed, “Don’t get it, but then again never thought I’d have a metal arm. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

Warning beeps from your navigator had you focus attention on that and winding through the larger trees until between the overgrown roots a pile of rocks. That under the tall grass and weeds that were pulled back revealed a tear worthy slab with the words in Russian burned in by acid, ‘To those who object, refuse and stand against the coming tide only shall earn their grave.’

Bucky read the words and Loki blasted the stone to bits that was replaced by a proper headstone with their names on it with Yggdrasil etched into the polished marble between their names. By the time it had been finished you had bent to draw back the stones laid there carelessly to make a border around the joint grave with room to keep it from flooding. Gently into the warm earth you tucked the flowers you had brought resting a hand on top of the root of the tree closest to you as you wiped your cheek on your shoulder. Hearing from the tree that she would continue to look after your parents’ bodies as she had all these years.

There was nothing you could think to say or have be said after this resting place had been changed and the flowers shifted to more comfortable positions on the gentle breeze that lured distant bees to come and tend to their pollination. So all you asked was, “Where do you want to go now?”

Peter after Loki had rested against your side to press a kiss to your temple said, “That new mega LegoLand is opening today in Japan if you wanted to go?”

You grinned and said, “LegoLand it is.” Turning after another pat on the root to head back out of the forest to bring out your ship and fly to Japan. After a stop there you flew Peter back to the top of his apartment building so it was a quick jump down to call Ned to show off what he’d bought and then off to StarkTower you flew.

“Aerial craft inbound.” The words had Tony turn around from the bar he was making a smoothie at while the rest of the team there after a long day of hunting in wait for the dinner being delivered turned to see nothing there.

Thor said, “Miss Pear must be returning my brother and Bucky.”

Tony said, “Friday, there’s no one there.”

However when the ship landed and the hatch opened he sighed and shook his head to Bucky’s stroll out of the ship after giving you a kind hug goodbye. Near to the open hatch Loki stole his own chance to claim his own hug and said after a sweet kiss on your lips, “You can come eat if you wished.”

“Tony said I wasn’t allowed in the Tower.”

Loki scoffed and claimed your hand. Lifting your satchel on the way out you shouldered when handed to you and glanced back to seal the hatch by means of a bee you had left inside just incase. He watched Tony look you over to the nervous fidget of the sleeve of your open flannel shirt and tank top to settle over the waistband of your jeans again. While your eyes shifted to Dr Strange and Wong inside who both looked you over as you approached the glass doors he charmed open so you could walk through to hear Tony ask, “Misique is loaning you her ship now?” Then answered his own question, “I suppose you loaned her your rings it would be fair. We have dinner on the way, ordered plenty to spare. Been a hell of a day.”

Food did come and the conversation shifted with the group eventually leaving the table to conference over the various screens Tony popped up to go over his next plan for the next group of located agents except for Loki and Jane Foster. When you had cleared a spot at your seat from your satchel you brought out the note filled notepads you had been plotting everything to do with the trip to Pluto. Widely Loki smiled reading your notes on the supplies you had gathered for the trip while you watched the projected display of the solar system in motion so you could try and line up the best path to get to Pluto.

Across the table as you made another calculation from the possible flight path you would take Jane inched closer to the table trying to get a better look at your notes, a move that had Bruce sneaking away to go and see if he could join in on spying on what you had planned. “You planned enough supplies for three months, you do realize this?”

“I plan,”

“For chaos,” he finished your sentence with pure adoration in his voice making you give him a playful glare then look back to your notes. “You have planned well. Should we face the worst we shall not want for much.”

Bruce asked when he eased into the chair across from you, “What are you working on? Planetary alignment for locating something?”

Up to his eyes yours snapped and with a tap of the lid on the butt of your pen onto the paper you said, “Flight plan to Pluto. Way I figure it we leave tomorrow by noon and we can make it there in 19 hours.”

He scoffed, “You couldn’t make it to Pluto in 19 years.”

“It’s a Kree ship. Loki and Ronan took Misique to the moon within ten minutes,” his lips parted, “And that’s at a crawl compared to what the ship could do. Peter said he wants to make a stop at Mars after we explore the Kuiper Belt a bit.”

Jane asked, “I’m all for space exploration, but why start at the end of the solar system?”

“We got the first clear pictures of Pluto a couple years ago and they stripped the title of planet from Pluto on what they assume to be there.”

She smirked as you looked to Bruce in his scoff, “You can’t make them change their mind by going at getting clearer pictures.”

“I’m going because I want to see Pluto and its moon Charon waltz in person. A great deal more than what any telescope or satellite that took almost two decades to get there. They want to pretend they know what’s really out there and call the shots on size alone fine. I don’t expect you to get it.”

Bruce, “They’re not going to take anything you find as concrete unless they send a trained astronaut out there with you.”

“I don’t care what they think. People still doubt the lunar landing, we’re not going for anyone but ourselves.”

Bruce, “You can’t just go gallivanting around space. People train for decades to have that right.”

Jane asked, “Why does she need permission from anyone? It’s their ship they can go where they want. That would be like me telling you you’re not allowed to drive to different states in your vehicle because I said so.”

Bruce, “You know no one is going to take what they find serious.”

You simply rolled your eyes and closed your book collecting that and the projector you added to your bag as their argument grew loud enough to lure Thor over to see what was wrong. Soon bringing everyone over into the argument until Wong said in a glaring standoff, “You do realize the young woman left twenty minutes ago?”

Everyone looked around only to find Loki who was mixing himself a drink through his mental plans on the final things he would pack and glanced at Tony as he said, “Loki, I know you agree with us and that Bruce is out of line. She can’t hand the ship over to NASA and their cronies. No telling what they’d do with it.”

Loki said, “There is only one thing I will say about this trip, we are not asking permission,” Bruce opened his mouth and Loki continued, “Nor do we care what the supposed officials state to be the laws of space. The Kree granted Misique possession of a ship capable of intergalactic travel because they count her a great asset too necessary to be grounded on such an infantile planet. They believe in her, and she believes in the mysteries of the planet Pluto.”

Bruce said, “Dwarf Planet.”

“There is life on smaller planets than that of those within this solar system, size is irrelevant Banner, no matter what your puny telescopes have given hint of.” Thor stated.

Tony said, “See, girls are going on a vacation with Loki and Peter. They’re going to Pluto, we couldn’t see the ship landing here what would NASA be able to do if they get a boatload of evidence on what that belt is really like.”

Loki simply strolled to his apartment, “I am going to finish packing.” Bruce scoffed only to watch Loki vanish into a green mist to teleport into his apartment that he sealed the door so no one could open it.

“Now, I know most of you are wondering, ‘Hey Spidey, how can you just fly off at a time like this?’ well to that I have to say, because we are going on a Space-cation. No, you did not hear me wrong, break it down, we’re going on vacation, in SPACE! Myself and Prince Loki have been invited onto Misique and Venom’s space glider Ronan the Accuser gave her after she brought down one of the biggest alien baddies we have faced yet back in Africa after we all took out Ultron in his try to take over the world and decimate the human race. And I know you’re wondering where in space, well we’re starting with the best stop first, Pluto! All the way at the end of our solar system that NASA felt they had the right to kick out of its status all on its size. Well you can just ask Prince Thor that there’s planets smaller than Pluto that have life on them and if we were able to ask Pluto I’m sure she’d say the people who tried to oust her wouldn’t be welcome in her solar system based on their small minded thinking. Boom! We’re going to Pluto! Then hanging back a stop on Mars on the way back, but we are so out of here!”

An explosion turned his head and he groaned, “Aww, no, no, no, we’re gonna miss our window.”

“No we’re not,” you said turning his head with a grin urging him to shift the phone he was recording on to see you in your armor and mask. “Just a basic car chase on our way. Won’t block the plans.”

“Space-cation here we go!” he said lifting his bag to hurry into the open hatch as Venom landed with a duffel bag on his back he added to the storage room on the main level and closed the hatch behind them with view of Loki confirming his own supply list with yours on the walk to the seats.

Excitedly he shared the task of strapping himself in and aimed the camera to watch the screen as you lifted off aiming the ship from the roof of his building towards the chaos of the chase. Atop which when the pair of cars on the run split traffic the wrong way you muttered, “Ah, this one,” you said. Tapping a button on the console beside you that fired a beam lifting the car from the road you put down sideways between two concrete barriers well away from the people that the cops were able to surround within moments. After a flicker of the shield on the ship to calm where the beam had come from off past a nearby bridge you flew just leaving people to gossip until the video would be posted on Peter’s account that the world would explode over.

Out over the water the ship turned and you said, “Now just aim a bit to the East and we should be just lined up perfectly.” Stealing a glance at the planetary projector you had settled on the console beside you.

“Is that a plane?” he asked peering at the sonar like screen showing a blip moving right in your path.

“Yes, right on time, should be out of the way in a moment. If it wasn’t taking its sweet time,” you said easing back on your speed until it was clear.

Loki consulted the notes saying, “There are no flights scheduled for this quadrant at this time on any airline.”

“Looks military, they don’t broadcast their flight plans.”

Loki replied, “Nonsense. Ours do how else would the public remain out of their path otherwise?”

“I would assume they just radio to say get out of the way if they have to cross paths, but most military crafts are a good 10 to 20,000 feet higher than commercial flights.”

He closed his notebook stating, “Still nonsense.”

“Oh man, here we go. I’m gonna have to post now before we get fully into space no telling what reception will be like but we will be recording our whole trip, well maybe not our whole trip it’s 19 hours to Pluto, but the good bits with cool stuff along the way. Promise. Bye guys see you when we get back!” And with a wave he cut off the video and smiled posting it and lowered his phone seeing there was a like already and a view by the time that outside of the atmosphere was reached soon to explode onto the news as it caught like wildfire going viral.

“When we get beyond the gravitational pull of the earth we should be able to lock this in autopilot a bit and take in the sights.” You looked at your projector and asked Venom, “This can’t be right, Venom, how am I overshooting the planet already?”

He looked down and said, “The satellite pulse is interfering with your projection,” he pointed to the ship’s navigational system charting your course, “We are on course, perfect angle, go beyond the gravitational pull then even out and we should hit it straight on.”

“Could have sworn I configured the projector to not be bothered by the satellites.” You muttered to yourself.

Loki stated, “Do not fault your technology, fault theirs they pollute this circle so pitifully with radio waves even the most sturdy of machinery could find difficulty in retaining level readings with that to contend with.”

Peter, “Maybe there’s a way to fix that, the output of the planet I mean. I’m sure your work is amazing.”

“Well everything has its limits, just made it seem like the planet jumped while we were in the air.” You said making him chuckle.

“Almost clear, then we can hit the translucency feature for the ride.” Venom said turning your head.

“For the ceiling, right?”

“Yes,” he said with a grin your way.

Loki said to Peter, “Almost the entire top level goes translucent for our viewing pleasure.”

Peter asked, “Do we sleep in the chairs?”

Loki smirked saying, “The barrel shaped wall on the lower level is where the sleeping pods are located.”

You added, “They’re more comfortable than they sound, I’ve tried the barrel beds out before the trip. When you slide the door open a ladder comes down to climb in them.”

Peter, “Like pod hotels in Japan, they always sounded like fun.”

“I don’t quite get the water heating and the stove quite yet for the kitchen area but we can figure that out between us.”

Loki said as you shifted your angle just a tad when you had gotten out of the pull zone and noticed the projection was back to normal again saying you were on course still and hit the control that Venom pointed out to you, “Should be fairly simple. The kitchens on our ships are rather complex, Kree prefer a simpler design when it comes to nourishment.” His eyes shifted to the bees now rested on your dash with eyes green, “Are your bees recording?”

“Yes, for when Pete needs a break on his phone and we can have a full record of everything we might miss when we head to sleep. They’re just filming what’s around us and will blur out our faces and not record what we say and especially bleep our names if we do talk to each other out of our suits. And when we go on the planets they can circle us and take readings for our own records of the planet.”

When the autopilot was switched on and you stood Peter popped up excited to ease back his suit as you did the same to get a chance to see different angles of what’s around the ship. Tours of the barrels for Peter who settled his blanket and pillow in the one he wanted and in the kitchen Loki showed you how to work the oven and sink worked then caught Peter’s amused grin at taking in the fact that Venom was latched onto your brother. “Fitting, you’d be the one Venom latched onto. How are you working this with your job?”

“I got time off, plus I said I would have a story for them about something big for Venom and Misique. We’ll have plenty of notes for it, gonna have to add Pluto into the story. Let it slip I was bringing her with me so we’ll have to make a photo with Venom in her suit, he can last a good while on his own and if need be I’m sure there’s some sweat tucked in there for him if we need him to fake some of her powers.”

Peter asked, “So you plan on going on surface without your suit?”

“We have the Kree surface suits.”

Loki said, “They have shielded facial covers unless we shift the translucency of them. It will morph to fit our bodies, or suit.” He looked to you, “And if need be I could always make a double of your suit.”

Venom said, “A double would be best for me to use, I would not have our Sister unprotected.”

Loki nodded and from his detailed memory on your suit he made a double that Venom leapt into and took a stroll around the ship and came back with the mask folded back to say with a wide grin in a voice eerily close to your disguised one, “This shall be perfect for protecting our Sister. I have perfected her voice as well.”

“Thank you Venom,” you giggled and he smiled in his path to settle the suit beside the barrels then crawl his way like a giant happy slug to settle into the seat Eddie had been in.

Peter said, “Well that’s good, we got your identities covered, and I can keep my mask on. I’ve told some people that I’m on a trip to Colorado for a convention or something Stark was sending me to.” He added after a moment, “Except for Ned, he knows.”

You giggled out, “I’m sure he’ll love hearing about this.”

“He just about exploded.” Down to his phone he looked and said, “Hey, I’m invited to a wifi network?”

“Oh those are my bees. Figured out a way to link a connection between my house and the ship. There will be a delay I’m sure,”

“This is so cool! Just like in Dr Who with the super-soniced cell phone. I’m gonna send my aunt a picture of the moon and earth!”

Pt 17

#Eddie Brock/Venom & OC Siblings #Loki x OC #Peter Parker #Bucky Barnes #Trip to Sweeden #Grave & Memorial Garden #Off to Space #Space-Cation #Marvel

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blankdblank · 3 years

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Poke Pt 10 - Poker Face

…

All in swift succession a wedding and a baby on the way on the top floor of a casino in the perfect setting for the celebration that Pepper had dreamed of the plans were shared for a ceremony in India for a certain level of privacy in renting an estate there. As linked as Loki’s plus one you were granted your own invitation and to follow the dress code would wear your white gown sleeveless gown coated with golden branches that stemmed from the waist out. Because you were upstairs Peter was allowed to attend as long as he didn’t head down to the casino and when the party had dipped into the second half and a clear need for privacy when Stark gave his usual hint you and the other guests gave them some space. Loki regrettably accepted your peck on his cheek and sighed at his inability to join you down in the casino and entertainment avenues floors below.

However under strict watch of four sleuths working for the casino watched you at your seat at the blackjack table in the figure hugging golden number with accents to frame your curves perfectly on the thick strapped wonder with another low dipping cleavage cut. Enough to distract many, and to Eddie’s glee as he camped out keeping watch on Hippy McGee, Big Ears was in your view a couple tables over and kept noticing the hushed comments of said paid shadows who had watched you go from setting down your grand in chips to eight grand in less than an hour.

Suspicious himself the dealer waited until the signal then flashed you a grin stating, “I apologize, however my time at this table is expended.”

“Oh, do you accept tips? Or is that just a film thing?”

Weakly he chuckled and said, “We do accept tips.” And he accepted the chip you offered him, “Thank you.”

“Sorry,” you giggled out, “I’d have offered sooner. First casino trip, mainly play online no tips involved.”

He chuckled and said, “Understandable, good luck.”

“Thank you,” you said then smiled to the new dealer who greeted you in return and got to watch you amp up your winnings to fifteen thousand that had the second dealer who looked you over as you said, “I think that’s enough for now. Only needed ten really,”

His brows arched up asking, “For the tournament?”

You nodded, “Little likely to win, but any spare funds for college is helpful, so if I lose at least I have four to walk away with over my original grand.”

Relief washed over the guards as the news that you were pooling those funds into the buy in on the tournament that you noticed Big Ears was headed for. And with 260 bodies in filling the allotted seats you were among those who hadn’t paid ahead and filled up a stunningly small group of amateurs amongst the flocks of professionals who were out for a championship free boost to their pocket books before the big game in a few weeks down in Vegas.

Basic chips were allotted for starting bet pools while your clutch rested in the secured drawer above your lap after having been checked and locked there like the other players in each table for their personal items to prevent cheating. Lost to the flow from the four other people around you the 52 tables steadily emptied in each depletion of chips. And with each empty table from the final player in each belongings were freed to move groups of five players filled the second round of the tournament. Guards again were present and in Big Ear’s view you were clearly being watched as whispers began to spread that you weren’t losing hands. Bluffs or clear victories were now casting second and third glances towards the remaining amateur in their midst on your way to the approved bathroom break without your still locked up clutch.

The third round began and in the empty of more shows or dinners at the choice of eateries inside this palace of greed and impulse the viewing room that had a growing audience to watch the wall of flat screens displaying the action. Yet you and the others had no clue in the sealed off hall to keep things running smooth without spare bodies in the way or chance for outward influence. Rows were split off and the next group of winners would simply move to the next row to meet their new opponents with clear crates of chips in tow to make ease of the moves. Some wouldn’t find comfort in a tournament like this, so many were used to sitting in one place for a time and as the you hit two and a half hours you didn’t know it but a relieved exit of the top floor had Sam and the Super Soldiers in the viewing room and Sam easing his phone out of his pocket to call Tony who was still upstairs. “Hey, um,”

“Poker tournament over already?” Tony asked pouring himself a drink.

“You’re not going to believe who’s in the final round.”

“Try me. I would wager Big Ears is down there, he’s been boasting on it all month. Him and Flay, they have a sort of thing back and forth for years.”

“Pluto.”

“Pluto what?” he asked lifting the glass already feeling Loki’s eyes on him for saying your name.

“Pluto’s at the table.”

Tony chuckled, “She did not have ten grand to enter the tournament, stop joking, who’s at the table.”

“Pluto, and she’s 800 grand up. She’s bluffing with threes.”

Tony paused and snapped his fingers, “Three minutes,” he hung up and the whole group was down to catch the back end of that hand for his scoff to the clear ease of the final ten grand from Flay who demanded to see your two down cards before he would leave. This for one of the few at this table to have a monster hand and the still amused unreadable expressions that none of the guys at the table seemed to be able to read. Eddie in the audience having completed his task an hour ago and was concerned at the lack of an answer to his texts found himself grinning widely to the sight of a shift in your seat to alleviate the numbness in your hip for the annoying seam in the back of your skirt you tried to avoid with a slightly irritating angle had Big Ears smirking widely and in his turn to bet shoving all his chips into the pot.

You didn’t lose and his try to bluff you out of your seat had him out of his own and cursing his way from the room for the Pro on his right to smirk watching your mini mountain of chips grow even more almost to match his own at 7 million for the largest pool at the table. Loki asked lowly, “What is the motivation behind this game?”

Which Natasha answered, “A battle of deception. Best liar wins the biggest pot.”

Tony asked, “Why did she get in the tournament in the first place?” he asked to Peter’s slip into the room behind a bigger adult’s back to hide between Thor and Loki.

Eddie answered, “I asked her to help me with causing a diversion.” Tony raised a brow his way and he said, “Can’t explain.”

Thor asked, “If she wins, how much does she get?”

Sam, “Depends on how many are at the table. If she’s the last one she wins 25 million, before taxes.”

Peter asked, “How much are the taxes?”

To which Tony said, “25%, so she’d have shy of 19 left.”

Pepper with an amused grin said, “Either way being in the last eight, she cleans up her accounts well enough.”

Bucky asked, “How long has she been playing poker?”

Eddie said, “Taught her to play after we met when she was stuck in bed healing. Started online poker on her birthday.”

Steve, “And in casinos?”

Eddie answered shocking them, “First time in one.” Deepening Loki and Natasha’s smirks as you smoothly deceived every single person at the table able to swing another win on a lucky three of a kind over all the other players’ single pairs. There was no taps, no signs of any cheating involved and still it was stunning how the mountains of chips soon gravitated their ways to your corner and another person was escorted away.

By the final player however as the men traded hand shakes and the third place finalist removed his enforced tie at the classy dress code enforced for this to be broadcast for a Bond themed event to line up with the next film coming out that the actual actor who played James Bond himself was amongst the judges watching the game up close curious of who would win out and if your win streak would continue. “So, when you come in second what are your plans for the 20 mil?” he asked cockily adjusting his own dwindling collection of chips.

“College mostly. Degrees are expensive.”

“Let me guess, Communications and Interior Decorating?” He joked with a sneer to the chuckling judges.

And with the same unflinching smile you answered, “Underwater basket weaving actually.”

He pointed at you, “Funny.” Cards were dished out and after two winning hands and eyes that refused to leave your casual smile in the small allowed crowd for any hint of a way to tell what you were up to this hand for the round bet your opponent was almost cleaned out by and had grown twitchy, uncertain of what to think as you stole your usual only glance at the card.

He could win it all and at your ease of four stacks into the middle to up his ante and chance of continuing this game for much longer and higher nail biting ratings and yet to the shift of his eyes and try at a calming exhale that trembled like his sweaty hands he shook his head. The two cards he had left were tossed in the center of the table and stunned silence for a few moments as he said, “Fuck it, second is good enough to get away from this table.”

It was just a flinch wider your smile twitched and he had snapped and to the claps and muttered congratulations no one but the actor in their midst with awe in his hand shake and comments on your success was broken by your opponent’s lift of your still uncovered cards that had the room explode with noise after he said, “You bluffed me with a pair of twos?!”

And to muffled giggles you accepted your clutch and welcomed the chance to get a picture with the actor who walked you to the win station where you were given your check post tax cut of a voice wavering amount of 18.75 million you tucked into your clutch. And to Tony’s side as he bled into questions you asked one of your own that stunned him, “What bank do I take this to? I don’t think mine would be able to deposit this much.”

Tony said, “I’ll take you to mine.” The others moved onto the dessert bar stop as he drove you to his bank to help guide you into the exclusive place that was more than eager to get ahold of your meager funds compared to his fortune to keep one of their best customers happy. One was kept in a separate fund account while the rest was put in a savings account to match the one that Eddie for his own laugh worthy bet on the winner of you for first place deposited his 5 million dollar nest egg that would keep you both from ever being homeless if the worst came about and you were named to the public and had to run for it. Choices the Billionaire had to respect for the sums collected by the pair of you in a matter of stunning hours.

Stolen glances and whispers your way didn’t stop his continued urge to see you safely back to the group as now your face would be out there as one of the largest female poker tournament winner for raking in a 25 million pot. Surely you had Eddie to check in but taking you back to that apartment in Queens didn’t fully sit right with him as you were young and alone and now visibly richer than most peers of your age who didn’t inherit their funds. He knew how people were vultures when the smell of gold was in the air and now you were known to have a whole hoard of it. Although the thing to really ruffle his feathers was in your return when the press had already ran online stories on the second place winner’s comments that he just wanted to let a young girl pay for her education so he folded and let her have the few extra million in the larger pot next to his. A statement that in Stark’s agitation had him enter the dining room of the eatery of your choice inside the casino to celebrate saying, “You’re going to WSOP next week in Vegas.”

He settled into his seat flashing Pepper a smile as you finished chewing and asked, “Excuse me?”

“Sort of slipped out. He said he let you win and no woman has won the main event let alone reached the final table, one has gotten a chair away, next week, I’ll pay your buy in since I put you into this and then we can skip this whole thing like it never happened.”

After a glance at Eddie you said, “Fine, I’ll see where we can book a room.”

“No need, I got a penthouse with enough for all of us who want to go, we can take my jet and I’ll even set you up with a spa day if you like.”

“I don’t go to spas, most of them have nothing but lavender and I can’t breathe around lavender. Not even mentioning their obsession with nuts.” You said closing your menu and flashing a grin to the wide eyed waitress in charge of your table who came to take your orders.

Irritation somehow for the discovery that the glass and utensils Mesique had used being clean of any sign of use was short lived as Tony readied the plans for the trip to Vegas and let the entire press world this young poker protégé was going to have her butt in one of those final nine seats. All the way from the pitch black arrival to the stroll up through the lush hotel flashes of light recorded the elite entourage you arrived with and the Prince who kept tight hold of your hand and waist. The plushy bed was just what you needed and for the hour until buy in time was begun you stared at it longingly over the shoulder of the woman summoned to the room to give you a manicure. At least the focus of which you could choose and from her limited supply of choices you picked a glittery teal base with black octopus stickers to be clear coat on top to have something unique for the cameras since thanks to Tony there would be people watching to see where the kid placed.

This was gonna be twelve hours so along with your jean shorts a baggy maroon sweater was a must. With the sleeves bunched at your elbow you left your hair down and slung over a shoulder, adding your bolero hat on the way out to go and buy your seat. Flashes again captured everything from your maroon wedges Steve had bought you and everything else to be picked apart to see what you might have bought since your big win last week. Arguably amongst the hoards of hoodies and sunglass wearing masses you stood out a bit and in line you waited chatting with Tony in his try to help sharing lowly about the poker pros who were on the other end of the sign up hall that all stole glances with you and the famous face at your side reminding them of just where this new kid would be. Already in the elevator he’d passed you a bundle of hundreds that you handed over and filled out the information card and accepted your entry sticker you added to your shoulder and turned for the spot you were meeting the others at for breakfast.

“Pluto Pear,” you heard turning your head to the man you beat the week prior who bought his own seat a bit ago, “You really went with Pluto again, huh?”

At Tony you glanced asking, “Was I supposed to pick an alias? I can call myself Orion and buy a fake mustache if that makes you feel better.”

The guy looked you over as Tony said, “It’s her birth name not a nickname.”

“Man that must suck,” he said on his stroll away.

“I’m a cosmic force of rebirth and riches unlike your glorified boyfriend moniker, Beau.” You said strolling past him turning him to glance back at your back while Tony fought not to chortle.

Tony, “Always bad sign to mock the name of the God of the Underworld, planet hasn’t been the same since they started commenting on his planet’s size either.”

“I’ll pay you back from my winnings.”

“Don’t you worry about that, this is all my fault you’re here. I tend to bump people into things lately.”

“Like a certain impending baby bump, congrats again. Can’t wait to see the flying stroller you invent.”

“Pepper would launch me at the sun,” he said making you chuckle as he did for how wound up she was and how nervous he was. “I fought aliens, and this is a baby, somehow way more terrifying.”

“You could talk to Clint on how he handles it.”

You said and Tony looked at you, “Handles what?”

“He’s got kids.”

“He what?! This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“Ah, he mentioned watching the Kung Fu Panda films with his kids and they loved it. Might have slipped out by accident. But I’m sure it’s mainly nerves at this point you’ll both calm down or scream your way on this terrifying rollercoaster of the next two decades.”

He chuckled again and into the eatery you strolled finding the table as Loki stood to ease out your seat beside his with a kind grin, accepting your peck on his cheek he followed with one of his own while Tony asked Clint, “So Clint, how are the Wife and Kids?” After his open mouthed stare Tony said, “Spill your secrets.”

Loki chuckled staking his own seat asking, “Did the sign up go well?”

“The guy I beat last time, or well, who came in second thought Pluto was a fake name.”

“His name is Beau, he has no grounds to debate the superior name.”

You shrugged, “He can say what he likes, Pluto fights back with a vengeance.” You said making him chuckle again and steal a pat of his hand on your lower thigh closer to your knee.

“You will be fantastic.”

Natasha said from her seat on your other side, “More than fantastic, today you are going to be historic.”

You giggled and said, “Just have to get through 7990 people to get to that historic spot, and 9 more to do the unthinkable.”

Thor said, “They are no match for your deceptive skills. Only the best could be bonded to my brother.”

Sam, “You got a poker face from a whole other planet. Nobody could figure out your ticks even our super spies here.”

Loki said, “I am certain your brother will be watching you if you are feeling nervous.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m glad he’s actually making some headway with his story.”

The belly filling spread was a good start to the day as soon enough the start of the 12 hour stretch of the first day of the Main Event kicked off. Every hand stirring up more gossip as one by one the other women in the pool of players got bumped off leaving just you on the cusp of what could be history. And while other women had won some of the smaller events this was so much bigger, and you had to celebrate this round with food.

“Ooh, sliders, and potato skins, and pizza.” Two tables worth of food was rolled up and had you all sampling the variety you craved after twelve hours that broke into your usual snack schedule that Loki smiled through his learning more of this new wave of cuisine you favored.

“Is she like a secret body builder that none of us know about? She eats more than Thor does.” Tony whispered to Sam who was already noticing how Bucky and Steve had tapped out in their silent try to eat more than your petite self.

Sam, “I don’t know. Maybe she’s fueling up a growth spurt? I had a cousin that ate like that as a kid and just one summer he shot up like a foot.”

Tony said, “Maybe she’s just a snacker, every few hours and twelve hours without food and she is just, eating a whole buffalo.”

Sam said, “Glad to see a girl with a healthy appetite. My sister has a hard time making friends with girls who can’t knock back a few burgers.”

Tony said, “Must have been fun having a sister,” making Sam look at him in another glance around the group, “Always thought about having a sister.”

To which Sam replied, “It’s a lot like your relationship with Misique,” making Tony look up at him, “You kinda wanna kill them, but then someone makes them cry and then it’s like how you cat with Pluto. You hate them, love them, can’t stand them, but you’d blow up the world to keep them safe to fight with another day.” He paused then said, “You could ask her to be your sister. Pluto’s got to be the second richest person in this room and smart to boot, could even give you a run for your money if she had the chance.”

Tony nodded and said, “She’s made some good choices, got a fund for school set up and the rest of the money went to savings. Maybe with this money she wins she’ll buy herself a safer place to live. Her place is tiny, it’s got these windows without bars on them. Not safe.”

Sam chuckled, “Ooh, you’re gradually adopting yourself a baby sister, big man.” Patting him on the back.

Twelve hours and as the final woman standing with a scoop of the Dealer’s hands your pot grew collecting the last of the chips from another poker giant who fell to what he assumed to be a bluff only to slam face first into a gasp worthy full house of clubs. Claps and cheers sounded as you exhaled and took a glance at the other tables still going strong. Lowly to the watchman near your table you whispered and were guided to a bathroom break after having finished off another bottle of water. An approved pack of cheese crackers from the table of snacks were opened and eaten with the wrapper thrown away by the time the final table was ready for you to even look at let alone make the walk to the chair with your last name on a sheet of paper taped to the back of it.

Amongst the final ten seats from the tray your fingers eased the chips you had collected into neat piles and gave a subtle adjustment of your hat over your curls as the rolled up sleeve on your open flannel from Eddie shifted in the cross of your legs. Stares were common in each opening of the front of the borrowed shirt revealing the tight black t shirt you had on underneath to keep from having your cleavage on all the press shots of you as distant shots from the crowd the day prior had captured just about every moment of your bared legs. Though with a third seat emptied to a convincing bluff from the pros who tried to both defend their record of having won here already many times before with the bracelets on to prove it they took to adjusting in self soothing motions as if to remember that they were professionals even if your chip hoard was growing and the 12 million pot was becoming more attainable with every hand dealt.

While the latest guy was escorted from his seat the man to your left asked, “How long have you been playing poker?”

“For money, not long. Normally play online until last week.”

“One week? You’re kidding me.” Another of the guys replied.

You shrugged and said, “Not that hard to learn when playing against people.”

Another of the men chortled to the deal of the next round, saying, “Not easier at all. Learning to tell who’s bluffing or not.”

“Not that hard.” His eyes shifted back to you as you said, “I can hear your heart beat from here.” A faked laugh was your reply and to your cards you reached to lay them in place for the camera under the ridge to show the commentators what you had. Though it made little difference when another man bumped himself out of his own seat. Gradually the table emptied as they became bolder in aims to empty your seat, something you rarely risked by betting more chips than necessary to egg them on.

And across from the final player in your way everyone with baited breath watched as the bets were finally laid out and to two Aces already on the table he said over his empty chip section to match your motion in a bold motion. “You aren’t bluffing me out of my seat. Three Kings!” he said with a grin you mirrored and raised a brow mid shoulder pop lifting the cards you had you flipped over and fanned out making him cover his face as he heard the dealer say, “Four Aces. Miss Pear wins.”

Press from their booth came over as the head of the tournament still in disbelief at handing over the diamond and ruby bracelet shaped like a championship belt boxers or wrestlers win. WSOP was on the front underneath the year, and in each square section of the diamond accented golden band were ruby and onyx accented hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. Behind the stack of the 12 million in bundled bills like a tiny fortress you stood with your winning hand on display for the smile filled pictures. After which you were glad to shrink back into your group and let the guys have their usual stops into the game recaps with the former champions for guy talk on all of their favorites to pretend that this year just hadn’t happened. Eight more million after taxes were added to a new checking account for spending in the new bank Tony took you to once again to secure those winnings safely.

Alone in the back seat of his car on the way there he said to break the silence, “You ever think of a house?” You glanced his way and he said, “I know a realtor, we could look in Queens if you like.”

“I have twelve pieces of furniture.”

“You can always buy more you know.”

“What would I even do with a house?”

“Whatever you want. Even have villains target it with missiles like my old place on the coast. My neighbors don’t like me much.” He said stealing a glance at the necklace your fingers stole a stroke of as you glanced outside the window in the startled squeal of two friends running into each other after a long time apart. “Your parents would want you to have a nice place,” he said turning your head again. “Doesn’t hurt to look.” He said in a drop of his gaze to his phone while you blinked away the brewing tears at all you imagined your parents anticipated for you now light years away.

Pt 11

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Loki - @pastelhexmaniac

#Plots and Planning #Poker Tournaments #Loki x OC #Eddie Brock/Venom & OC Siblings #Howard Stark #Sam #Bucky Barnes #Marvel

15 notes · View notes

blankdblank · 3 years

Text

Poke Pt 17 - Pluto

Several hours, a convenient nap in the empty stretch of space and a lunch later and for the last couple you took notice of what you could see of Neptune and its 14 moons. All of which you documented including a scan of the planet, “You can scan for life forms from here.” Loki said and you looked up at him.

“We can?” You asked and he nodded showing you the control for that, across the front screen of the ship Peter filmed the readout as you said, “This says there’s life forms, something about microbials? What does microbials mean?”

Venom said, “Microscopic organisms, Kree term.”

“Ah.”

Venom, “They do not find them worthy of attention. Generally avoid those planets.”

Loki said, “Mostly because they landed on one with a parasitic breed who devoured everything and every creature who set foot on their planet’s surface. Can be quite deadly. There are safe ways to inspect those planets if you send a flare down first and gauge their reaction.”

“Wouldn’t that be kind of hostile for first contact?”

Venom, “Lights can be taken as quite a friendly greeting to some races. Some even use them for mating reasons.”

Peter chuckled saying, “Maybe next trip. What is the atmosphere like?”

Loki said, “For that we can send a probe, we could instruct it to scan the surface of the planet and its moons and return to us on our way back from Pluto.” And over your shoulder he showed you the controls and used the Kree dialect keyboard that popped out to issue the command for the boomerang shaped probe that fired out of the front of the ship.

“How many languages do you know?” You asked Loki making him smirk at you to Peter’s saying, “Bye Probey, fly safe!” Filming it on his phone in a step farther to your side now getting Eddie, yourself and Loki in the shot.

Loki answered you lowly, “With our language Allspeak I can speak, understand and decipher any and all languages and everyone can understand me no matter what language they speak.”

Peter asked, “Do they have names for all these stars?” With a flick of your hand the projection on your navigator grew to fill the ship’s top layer with little name bubbles and joining lines for any possible constellations or groupings for the rest of the time until excitedly you and Peter squeaked at the first sign of Pluto’s farthest moon. Back down to the lower level to Eddie’s low chuckle and path after you as to the filming of the bees Venom faked his ease from around the spare Misique suit’s neck. To pretend he was riding along with her so that Eddie could be seen on his own in his suit as Peter’s suit popped out to hide his identity.

Post bathroom break from the cubbies the harness like contraptions with ovals to rest in the center of your backs and chests black suits rippled out covering your bodies and blended seamlessly to the neck of the helmets that were reminiscent of paintball helmets with screens that darkened as soon as the seal was locked.

“Oh this is nice,” you said wiggling your fingers and rotating your shoulders and legs in the suit as Peter did the same as the others finished sealing theirs off.

Eddie said, “Not so bad,” lifting both of his legs while Loki brushed his hair back before adding his helmet.

Peter asked, “How much air does this thing have?”

Loki said, “The harness is an atmospheric adjustment system it will convert the atmosphere to perfectly suit our needs while moderating the climate.”

Peter, “And just in case, what happens if we have to go to the bathroom again?”

Loki, “The suit leeches toxins from your body negating the need to do so whilst retaining hydration, or dehydration of the wearer to their needs. Only thing we should need is rest and breaks for food should we be on planet a good while and we will be carrying the ship with us so that should cut down on the travel back should hunger strike us at once.”

“That’s good,” you said leading the way back to the seats where you asked at the ship’s pilot seat, “What is that?”

Eddie said, “They have found some small planets behind Pluto, right?”

“Yes, eight, but I mean that,” you said shifting your fingers to shift the reading to show a large planet the size of Saturn with rings and several moons.”

Peter said, “Whoa, is that a planet? It’s got to have six moons!”

Eddie said, “There’s no name in the system, right? No name bubble is on your projection,” he said expanding your solar system projector that ended after the final tiny 8th planet behind Pluto.

Loki said, “I do believe that means you get to name it, does it not, by your planet’s standards of space exploration?”

And with a creeping grin you said, “Your mother doesn’t have a son named Balder in real life,” you said making him grin, “That’s one of my favorite tales with you and her, she saved my ancestor, I’m here because of that. I say we call it Balder.”

Loki teased, “I always wanted a planet for a baby brother.” Then chuckled saying to a stroke of his hand across your back, “Mother would be honored by the gesture.”

And Peter said, “You hear that NASA, Balder, right out of the legends. We’re going there next, right?”

“Oh ya,” Eddie chuckled with you as you all took in Pluto the closer you got until you had to buckle in to go in for the path around the planet and full scans of the moons with probes you sent off with well wishes and then finished the scan of Pluto. “Off you go, one for Charon, Hydra, Kerberos, Nix and Styx, safe travels.” You muttered.

Eddie said, “That moon is huge, that one’s Charon, right?”

You nodded, “So beautiful, they orbit each other like a waltz, closest we have to a double planet in our system.”

“There’s biological signs.” Venom said in Misique’s voice.

Peter said, “My notes said Pluto was -378 to -396 degrees F, maybe they are cold blooded?”

“Maybe, possibly nocturnal to an extent, a year on Pluto is 248 Earth years, their days are six of ours and those can’t be as often as ours.”

Venom said, “Going down to the surface.” He said angling the ship down that from the muffled crackle of the atmosphere on the surface that he angled it to land inside of what seemed to be a frozen tundra under the oddly silvery blue snow.

“Well wrong fact number one NASA, the snow isn’t red. Sky is blueish green. They got the mountain range height close, atmosphere, wrong again, low nitrogen, no methane or carbon monoxide, wow there is oxygen, too high for what we can stand, but something is letting off air.”

Steadily from a hover you watched the ship blow away a circle of the snow to reveal what seemed to be a layer of pink ice that had Venom say, “Ice is twenty feet thick, safe for us to land on.”

Loki said with a glance at the mountain range with blue stone and veins of red and silver in it, “Much steadier than those ridges.”

Down it settled and you powered down the ship saying, “Here we go. We’ve landed on Pluto.” That was the final word that Peter captured on his video he uploaded to his page that would be sent off to explode across earth, which was enthralled with the trip video so far and had people wonder at the odd mixture of the group chosen and had people mainly wondering at your and Eddie’s places there. Surely he was there to write about the trip, known to be buddies with Misique and Venom for his numerous stories on them, while your connection was imagined to be just as his sister not wanted to be left alone and Loki’s girlfriend. Clips of your graduation demonstration had been shared but transporter ring creator still didn’t give many of the people back home a clue to the alternative as for why you had been picked to go beyond companionship.

Belts were undone and in a circle of your bees that came in to latch onto your suits in case of any wind that might blow them away. You watched the hatch open and instantly felt the suit start to adjust to the first burst of cold air that engulfed the interior of the ship and molded around your bodies in the steps down to the ice. Timid at first taps of toes were made on the ice, even though the ship hundreds if not thousands of times your weight was perfectly fine, and then out you stepped for a bone chilling fact that you were the first ones here. More than enough to have you reach out for Venom’s suit’s hand as he was the closest to you. When you got a few steps away the hatch closed and the ship shrank to be put in the pocket on your suit and in the lack of wind the bees floated timidly out around you all to take in the area in which you had landed.

After a sweep of your eyes around the mountains surrounding your landing zone your gaze dropped to the ice at what you thought was seeing something move. The shadow you saw underneath the ice had you pat Loki’s arm turning his gaze to you then down, “There’s something under the ice.”

Peter said excitedly as your hand was released by Venom’s to let him circle the group to check for what he could sense himself while you watched the twelve foot shadow vanish under the edge of the circle of cleared ice. “There’s life on Pluto!”

You giggled and looked up to give Loki’s bicep a squeeze with both hands as Eddie came over to hug your back then you shushed the group to the start of a muffled wail sound. Just over the ridge of the mountains to a flicker of what would be the start of a sunrise on the planet wailing songs of creatures beneath the now darkening pink ice covering what looked to be blood red waters below had you all gasp and squeak as light washed over the tundra you were in. Several minutes you basked in the sound until another shadow came up and had you glance down to the thunk you felt from a collision with the surface you were standing on. Instinctually you took hold of the shrunken ship asking, “All in favor of getting back in the ship?”

“Aye!” Everyone said and you tossed the ship that as the hatch opened you all raced inside and Venom led the charge to fire up the ship to the beginnings of heart skipping cracks resulted from more thuds. Like whale plumes from between broken shards of ice when you lifted off clouds of red particles filled the air meshing with the snow making Eddie say, “Guess that’s where the assumed red snow comes from.”

“What is that?” You muttered only to squeak at the scale coated otter that was measured to be twenty feet long that leapt into the air to snap its jaws at the now red snow. “Is that an otter?!” You squeaked only to squeak again at what looked to be a scaled platypus three feet longer than the otter a good distance behind the otter that burst up into the air.

Peter, “Flying platypus!” All through the ice as the ship swerved to avoid collisions more creatures came out and your eyes swiveled to the changes in the tundra.

Eddie said, “Are those flowers?” Pointing to the snowy mountain side, the red and silver veins in the snow seemed to wiggle out into anemone like flowers in spectrums of color that changed when more red snow hit it. And when the animals had broken the ice completely dropping more snow into the water that muddled to a ombre lilac to plum the farther it sank they floated over to the mountains to sample from the new plant life that broke free from the snow.

Across the channel that fed into what seemed to be an ocean of freed animals you looked until Loki reminded you, “This ship could survive a trip under the surface if you wished to see their nests.”

“We, yes.” You said and Venom chuckled guiding the ship to dive into the water where nests in the roots of the mountains revealed nests that one of every mated pair watched the eggs and accepted what their mates brought back for them. Tree like plants were scanned and filmed in your hushed comments and exclamations as Loki behind you held you steady in your lean over the back of your former seat now holding your helmets when the warning for internal stabilization was given. More details were taken on this glimpse of their lives as they circled the ship that as Venom kept it shielded did not frighten them at all.

“So they all live underwater, and maybe the plants above the ice help with their hatchlings. But how do they stabilize the population?” You seemed to summon danger as just when the ship surfaced again after the two hours under and turned to head over the mountain range. Sharply you shrieked to the men’s exclamations and group jump at the giant lynx like creature with what seemed to be what seemed to be a crystal outer layer to its otherwise furry body that leapt from a ridge to catch a platypus between its jaws.

Tight in Loki’s frightened grip you stood wide eyed holding Peter who all but leapt onto your chest and shoulders as Eddie froze wide eyed then muttered, “I think we got your answer.”

“Oh ya,” you muttered then watched the lynx drag the kill back to the ridge where you saw two spiky adorably grumpy looking cubs up there waiting on their first solid meal after being born presumably in the dark. Rocky and crystal coated variations of arctic foxes and foxes, all from six feet to nineteen who popped out to get the new food or to bask in the sunlight with their babies had you all in awe as Venom steered through the surface of the planet to see the environments here.

Eddie said, “So they have babies around daylight, must be a food related cycle. Hibernating animals stay on land, and somehow these otters and platypi don’t need air, or have air pockets in the mountains somewhere.”

More and more as you had hit the four hour mark on the surface the animals seemed to grow more frantic now that the fair hunting was on and Peter said, “Maybe we should let them settle down, daytime lasts 6 days, maybe we could leave a probe?”

“We are out of probes,” Loki said, “However I could leave something better.” He said charming a pillar atop the tallest ridge with spinning crystals throughout the four legged horned design common for Asgardian monitoring tech that had you giggle at the words seen on the crystals as they spun, ‘Pluto Eterna Novem.’ “That should keep watch over the planet while we are away. Monitoring tech from home.”

“Thank you. I love the sign.”

“The Mortals do love their Latin.”

“The tower won’t bother them?”

“No, hourly it will send out probes to scan the surface and for the levels under the surface it tracks vibrations, unlike sonar that sends out vibrations it simply listens. The structure will not interfere with their daily lives, merely observe.”

“Okay, Venom, then lets head off to Balder.” Venom said to himself with Misique’s voice making you smirk and keep hold of the seat in the group motion to grab your helmets and take your seats for the next ascent to space again. Once out again you let out a breath and said, “Looks like it’s two hours to Balder.”

Every probe on the way from the moons around Pluto returned to download the information into your memory banks then flew off again eagerly to scan the planets, Haumea, Sedna, Orcus, Eris, Quaoar, Varuna, Makemake and their moons as you reached their paths. Dinner was fixed up and as you relaxed out of your suits over the information you poured relishing the discovery of the creatures on the planet you were named after.

The alarm of a planet approaching had you all wiggle back into your suits and with hold of your helmets took your seats watching the details of the scans. “Life forms shown on Balder.”

A trilling alarm had Venom say, “That is a message,” his fingers guided the garbled static to play and he said, “I cannot repair the message. The machine must be damaged.”

Peter asked, “Like an SOS?”

Loki said, “Possibly.”

Eddie smirked your way saying, “Exploration mission grows to a rescue mission. Fun times.”

Loki stated firmly, “No matter who is on that planet the name will not be changed,” earning a glance back at him that he replied to, “I am perfectly serious, no one changes that name.”

Peter, “I second that,” he added proudly widening your grin that dimmed to the closer view of the lime and teal colored planet that seemed to have glittering forest green clouds that rippled and swayed over a third of the planet’s surface with odd glimpses of brown patches mirroring the four rings around the planet. The six moons circled their chosen rings in dancing pairs that orbited each other and had given a stunning view for Peter’s next video he uploaded after commenting on how many hits his last video had gotten and that his comment box was exploding with questions of details. “I don’t know if they’re official or not but the top twenty comments are supposedly from NASA Scientists asking questions about Pluto for you to check when you got there.

Eddie said, “They can wait,” to the scan of the planet for where the life on the planet was centered that made nearly the whole surface light up. “Wow, there’s living things everywhere.”

Down into the atmosphere after taking note of a second sun for this planet the ship dove taking in the rainforest areas opposing barren stretches with rushing orange hued water form the orange soil. Sharply you gasped to the fifty foot long Deinosuchus like creatures that sprung from the waters to snap at the odd winged serpents who burrowed there or took to the sky to escape being eaten. Four foot insects like none you could compare them to in whole for how many bits seemed to be like so many insects you knew of were next to spring out of the ground to be sport for the herd of 80 foot tall Godzilla like creatures who swatted them away nearer to the paths of ten foot tall frogs.

Massive buzzards and wolves had you mutter, “All we need now is King Kong in those trees,” to yourself making Peter chortle and lean forward to get a better view of the bush encircled small clearing on the edge of the endless forest with over 200 foot tall trees of solid forest green from root to canopy.

Eddie said as soon as you touched down to break the silence of you all listening to the loud planet you’d landed on, “Alright, let’s go say hello to Balder.”

Out of the ship you stepped and cautiously shrunk the ship to carry in with you as you neared the giant bushes that had you smirk after Venom’s Misique read the possible direction of the transmission origin. Over to the tree line you moved with Venom in his copied suit pretending to tangle himself in the fake glittering braided hair of fake Misique in the lead. “It’s mistletoe,” you said amusingly at the bushes near to the forest edge.

Eddie said, “See, even the planet likes the name, meant to be.” The others kept close while your bees hovered around the group capturing all the details possible, every frightening sound and cross of large creatures you ducked and wove around the overgrown roots of the trees to keep hidden.

Hushedly Peter whispered, “Should we be worried it’s been two hours and we can’t find the signal yet?”

Loki said, “Perhaps they chose the spot with the highest altitude, which would be in the center of the forest. Or near to it if my knowledge of tree behavior pertains to this planet’s foliage that is.”

Peter said in a timid glance upwards, “I just ask, because it’s getting dark.”

Eddie said, “We have been up a long while, once we get to that little creek ahead we can make camp and start again in the morning.”

Peter glanced your way and you let out a giggle, “Don’t worry, I’m starting to get hungry anyways. Whoever is here can wait till we have rested and eaten. No use to helping anyone tired and hungry.”

And he asked, “So if there’s enough oxygen in the air why can’t we take our helmets off?”

“The reading said it was too thin outside of the forest.”

Loki looked at your projection navigator he had borrowed and shifted the settings saying, “This says it is a safer level for your lungs, though delirium is still a probability for the percentage. Perhaps when we cross that creek, the foliage grows thicker the deeper we get.”

Eddie said, “This planet isn’t so bad, reminds me of our trips to the Amazon, right Pluto? Except for the giant animals and insects.”

On the small opening between the trees near to the creek the ship was brought out and once inside you all sighed as it sealed and you removed your helmets once the interior was stabilized. Dinner was fixed as you and Peter edited the footage from Pluto’s surface and posted that to his page.

Next he added another quick message from Balder’s forest with a view of a giant chipmunk larger than the ship scurrying around for food while you sat in your shielded fortress readying to bunk in for the night as the ship sent out another pulse of a message to rebound off that looped garbled message to scan the surrounding area. A goal distance was at least hoped for but with how broken the message was as it grew weaker with every loop it seemed to have little chance of granting you a clear distance let alone definitive direction to work towards.

Noises from the daytime only grew louder to the point that Eddie turned on his stereo he brought for some familiar white noise he fell asleep to easily while inside the door of your barrel shaped sleeping pod you sat dangling your legs with hands over your eyes in a hunch forward. Unable to sleep at the unbearably loud noise the sheer amount of foliage around the ship was all but screaming at the new visitors. If it were quieter you could focus on where they could lead you, always they shared the best spots to rest or find edible things or water. Even predators could be warned of to an extent by what grows where to give smaller creatures locations to build safe dens or nests.

“Pst,” Loki’s whisper had you lift and turn your head to his higher barrel that his head had stuck out of and to his nod you eased out of your barrel and moved past Venom’s closed barrel and climbed up the ladder to slide past his smiling self. Against the wall he eased to grant you room to crawl in and shift your legs under the blanket he lifted to lay against his side as he moved back to lay down again relaxing at your settle into his side. Humming lowly, “Too loud?”

You nodded, “Everything keeps talking.”

“Everything is talking?”

In a prop of your chin on his shoulder you answered, “From the grass to the trees and everything in between even the insects, they all know there’s strangers here and they keep trying to share where danger is, food, water, the change in the air, all at once. It gets so loud. I get fuzzy like this when it rains back on earth, everything seems to want to talk at once and get ready for rain.”

“I didn’t realize.”

You shook your head, “The suit helps, I think it’s the stabilizer. I’ll be okay.” You said leaning in for a kiss he gladly met you halfway for then wrapped around you in your cuddle closer to lay partly against his chest. “The forest will calm down eventually.”

“Hopefully my company will help you sleep, my Darling Starlight.”

“You get some sleep too, Sunshine.” You mumbled into his chest with your eyes closing to match his try to sleep as much as possible.

Soft chimes and the shutter of a camera snapping a picture opened your eyes to Loki’s deep inhale. In a groggy look to the doorway of the barrel you saw Eddie with a grin lowering his camera to say, “Look’s like the scan is done. We can look over it through breakfast.”

To a nod you climbed to your knees accepting his hand down the ladder where you yawned mid stretch and turned adjusting the waistline of the sweats you fell asleep in and the bottom of your t shirt that had wrinkled up over your abdomen. “Hey Peter.” You said eyeing the frozen stew he was heating up for you all as frozen rolls in the mini oven cooked. “You didn’t have to make breakfast.”

He let out a chuckle, “My aunt messaged me, woke me up early. Bit of a lag but she’s glad we’re still alive and safe, and she said you’re on the news, you and Eddie, first humans on Pluto. For Spidey, Venom and Misique they aren’t sure if we’re human or not and Asgardians space travel all the time so sadly it seems they’re acting like Loki is our tour guide or something.”

Loki chuckled, “Well I do enjoy the authority of the title. Are you upset Peter?”

He shook his head, “No, one thing I’ve seen from Mr Stark is I’m not ready for the world to know I’m Spider-Man yet.”

With a grin you helped to ready the washed bowls and spoons as Loki gathered juice pouches to hand out as Venom brought over the projector disk he lit up to expand the rough diagram of what could be gathered from the absorbed pulses of the now silenced message. “Okay, so we’re closer to where the message was coming from, maybe a couple hours till we find it if the path isn’t too far from this layout. No hidden ravines or sudden waterfalls or giant wolves to tear us apart.”

Peter asked, “What if the wolves were the ones with the signal? What if they can talk?”

Eddie said, “Possible.”

Venom responded, “We have crossed paths with them yesterday, should they be the ones requiring help surely they would have approached us. Unless they are merely attempting to gauge our intelligence first.”

Loki, “Or our intentions here, should we intend harm or not.” He glanced at the progress bars of the probes on the monitor on the wall, “Good news, the probes seem to be working well on their way through the smaller planets and their moons.”

“I like those probes,” you said widening his grin, “Seem to get better readings than anything NASA could come up with.”

Loki chuckled, “These are Kree probes, much more advanced than most races, they have deeper reasoning in scanning planets. Most of the times for finding suitable races to breed with since their race is still recovering from several generations of slavery by more than one race.”

“They really do like their breeding don’t they?” You joked making him chuckle.

“Most races I have encountered who do not reproduce asexually do tend to be more carefree with their baser forms of pleasure. However a majority of them unlike humans to not transmit diseases within the act or have qualms with the occurrence of children when pregnancies result from said moments. Most species find it appealing to mix and mingle when it comes to breeding to expand the horizons of their race to guarantee their survival. And for a good many races the number of children produced and nourished to adulthood is a beacon of their prowess.”

“Sure you don’t want to cop to those four babies from the legends then?” you teased gaining a playful gaze your way.

“I am certain. Falsifying children is seen as the most cowardly of lies to tell. Even on the edge of death and begging for life you do not invent children to gain pity, they are that sacred.”

Across the ship towards the path that could see a portion of the ship’s front screen you followed Peter’s glance at the brightening view around the ship. Through the night every tree cast an iridescent pattern from root to tip to light the world beneath the canopy with flowering vines and bushes now apparently closing and removing their ethereal glow from the equation as the second sun began to rise. “Looks like the sun is rising, well, the second blue one. I looked at the footage and the smaller sun was up for an hour when we were asleep, pretty odd.”

Eddie, “Like an eclipse situation?” he asked. And you went to fetch your solar system projector that had been recording the new movements of the planets that played back the night before showing the several moons around this planet always seem to block this planet from light of the second sun except for a small interval each ‘night’ cast by the rotation away from the larger sun.

“Looks like it. And the color would make it a Supergiant Star, like Rigel in Orion’s Belt, pretty odd to have the yellow sun have more light here.”

Peter, “Maybe it would roast the planet if it had more light from the blue. Maybe a scan of the moons would give a better hint of what sort of effect the light has on the planet if they were out of the way.”

“Ya. Doesn’t look like we can go much further though. Even scans from here show other than asteroids it would be another maybe 12 hour flight to the next Dwarf Star with planets around it.”

Loki said, “I believe examining your solar system’s outer belt and working our way back in is rather admirable for a first exploration mission.”

Eddie chuckled, “Plus I think his Aunt would flip her wig knowing we were taking her boy another solar system away. No telling how long that would stretch our trip. We’ve told her two weeks, three at the most for rough times.”

Peter asked Loki, “What’s the longest you’ve been traveling in space? I know Venom said he rode a comet to earth that took months.”

Loki, “We did a three month tour once when I was a child, to the fourteen planets surrounding our dimensional portal Asgard is located within. We don’t necessarily have a solar system of our own in our pocket world.”

Peter’s face broke into an awkward grin, “So you and Thor really are from a golden castle on a cloud with a bridge of rainbows. No wonder Fury had a hard time believing it to be true.”

Loki smiled saying, “Well after Thor and I have brought Pluto and Miss Foster to Asgard then we could grant other guests to travel with us on the following journeys there.”

Peter said, “That’s gonna be so awesome. I’m gonna fill like ten disposable cameras on the trip no matter how short it is.”

Loki, “Well we certainly would not just invite you for a day if it could be helped.”

To the final flickers of shadows in the rising sun the ship was shrunken again and with a sharp exhale to the improving signs of the air quality the path was continued deeper into the trees. A point beyond a waterfall and river Venom tossed you all across then leapt over himself with no sign of another way. The cloud of mist from the falls however fogged up your masks and had Eddie at a cautionary check of the air quality lead you all in removing your face masks that strapped to your legs. Onwards with timed checks of the quality lulled a sense of safety for at least the forest air and let you see a tiny bit better until the mist cleared.

Lost to a chuckle filled conversation to pass the time your head turned to something that moved behind a bush that had Peter slam into your side when he noticed it too. “What is that?”

“I don’t know.”

Eddie said, “Loki, how would we nicely announce ourselves?”

Loki chuckled and called out, “We picked up a distress beacon, are you in need of assistance?” Over the trees his eyes swept until his lips parted at seeing a creature he believed to be dead, “Lord Trouge?”

“I am Trouge, Loki.” the guttural voice responded in its exit from its hiding place. The walking tree of an eight foot creature cloaked in flowering vines in a soft shade of coral from tiny sprouts across his chest and legs that showed hints of a burn who held his arm at his side with palm exposed then bent his arm to a 90 degree angle and swung his arm in to press his hand to his rib.

“Have you been here all this time?” He asked repeating the gesture in his walk closer while you and the others flashed timid waves to the other tree guards who came out at their Lord’s grunt for safety. The Lord offered his palm to the Prince who laid his hand face up on top of the offered hand that seemed to gain a smile from the Lord.

“Tolkien would be so happy here,” you squeaked to yourself making Eddie chuckle and clear his throat to not laugh out loud as you all moved closer to Loki at his glance back your way.

“This is Lord Trouge, Ambassador of the planet Taluhnia for the race of Flora Colussus, my Father said their ship was reported as crashed some 870 years ago, our trade deals have not been the same since.” Loki shared with you.

“I am Trouge,” he repeated and you flashed him a grin to his introduction of you all in which he offered you his palm face up for how Loki had placed his hand on your back in stating your name.

“Hello, I’m Pluto,” you said laying your hand face up as Loki had widening his grin at your side and gaining one from the creature as well whose flowers bloomed a bit more in the contact. “Which he told you.”

Unlike what the others heard you heard him clearly say in the lock of your eyes, “Might we ask what is the name of this planet we have landed on? We seem to be the only sentient beings dwelling here.”

“Oh,” you said cutting of Loki in his means to translate furrowing is brows a moment hearing you answer, “Well we actually are from the solar system this is on the edge of.” You said pulling out your projector that had their group gather to know exactly where they had been stranded, “We are from this planet, Earth, and we traveled to this planet, which I’m named after, Pluto, and we saw that beyond eight other small planets this one hadn’t been discovered by our planet yet. So naturally we had to check it out and we heard the garbled message you had been sending out. No wonder it’s faded for having been here so long. But we’ve named the planet Balder.”

The name had him and his group grin and repeat the name only for the others naming each of them in how their tongue for non fluent creatures in their appreciation for having a name to this planet that had protected them for so long. He spoke again, “Forgive my condition, we had a small fire of a setback in repairing our transporter, all of our efforts so far have been fruitless in repairing our communicator in hopes of communicating with our home planet.”

“You might be a bit singed but your flowers are a lovely shade. No need to apologize.” You said making him chuckle and nod as your hands crossed at your middle to loop your fingers together.

Loki asked, “If I may, how many of you are here?”

“We have had seven generations sprout within these forests. We would not request transport, merely aid in communicating with our families and King on Taluhnia of our status and the expanse of our lines.”

“Well we could try and give it a look.” You said and Loki smiled at your offer to their gleeful turns to guide you to their city just a bit farther on. In a glance back at the others you shared what they had said and Peter let out a puff of air at the amount of years they had been trapped here.

Peter asked lowly, “Did they say what type of communicator it was?” And you shook your head, “Fixing some tech we’ve never seen before, should be fun. Found an entire civilization on this new planet too, so cool.”

Loki stated in a glide of his hand on your back in his step closer to your side, “Discovered an ally to go with that. Earth will surely be named amongst the friends of their race for your offer. The communicator should not be too overwhelming to open and inspect for damages, from my last visit to their ships it seemed to be a child of a computer, grandfather clock and a piano.” That had you giggle and he chuckled out, “Far simpler to harness than it sounds.”

“Oh wow,” you said to the vines of flowers that formed walls to a city gate that was opened revealing leveled structures built around the trunks of the trees in open pathways and balconies of stone layered in flowers and vines. All shaped into blossom designs themselves to mirror the cobbled patterns of the pathways around gardens and patches seemingly out of random where sprouts of trees had been growing when they had built the pathways that seemed to be the newest additions to this place. From every opening it seemed more living trees walked out in varying shapes for breeds they stemmed from and sizes to show their ages who all had a gleam about them for joy in who was announced to have arrived to this planet and the name of their surprise home.

Past the winding maze of a city you passed the covered open garage with jet ski looking contraptions surely taken from the ship what you imagined to be the size of the Titanic at first glance. Broken into halves that pieces had been removed in clear tries to repair the outer hull a crew who was working on it exited the opening to the approach of an excited group of children spreading the word. Not far from the path that led there was a break off to what seemed to be a courtyard with a dip on the side of the crater. Surely where the ten foot brown mahogany simulating metallic column was propped upright within a set of metal pipe braces the bulb at the top like a closed flower had a series of colored crystal gears behind a clear screen. All showing from the outside to be a grandfather clock in shape with openings between the four metal supporting posts around the cylindrical center post where the mechanics were all rested on a solid base without legs.

“This is it?” You asked and Loki nodded luring you to circle the communicator. “Hmm,” you said and took a closer look at the center cylinder where you found a groove on each side and managed to grip both sides and wiggle the wedged door off of it impressing the Lord and his family now around him. Years they’d been unable to get that door off no matter what they did and one of the other guards from his group came to claim the door he laid to the side for you to let out a puff of air. Here was where the computer and piano parts came into play. Stacked like a spinal column of working parts to get the whole thing going each heavy chunk seemed to be caked in dirt and at just the face view there was no sign at all of anything to have wrong with it as it was just layered blocks with cutouts revealing hints of crystal parts inside.

Eddie nodded at your glance his way and reached into your pocket taking the ship, “I will get the trunks.”

“We’re gonna need the table too.” Peter smirked following you to the stunning Kree ship that Loki calmed the onlookers that you had befriended a Kree Warrior who gifted you the ship in the killing of a Titan that earned you their respect and when they heard you had no ship of your own. They weren’t particularly at odds with the Kree but to have the Asgardian Prince bonded to one would have been shock enough. But gladly they accepted that truth and shared with him more on what they knew of the planet between his smiling glances at the folded table you brought out and set up as Peter and Eddie started to bring out the five trunks of repair supplies you had packed. Across the table soon you had taken the five by five foot high chunk of the communicator that you brought over to the table and peered at with Peter and Eddie. Both who agreed to help you brush the dirt out for two bees you conjured in front of Venom’s Misique suit to scan and make a model you could dissect without breaking the real thing in trying.

So many bits and pieces formed chunks that would make the whole and like an accordion you timidly expanded it across the table and started with guiding Peter to help solder and swap some wires out while you worked on another part. In a swap with Eddie Loki came over to your first hiss and recoil of your hand in removing a burnt out wire that stung your finger and smirked in his inspection of your trunks. “I plan-,”

“For chaos, and we are very grateful. They are impressed you got the door open. And I am impressed you can understand them.” Loki stated with an adoring smile.

“I talk to living creatures, including planets, Sunshine.” You said with a giggle making him chuckle.

He followed your gaze to Eddie and said, “Eddie, Venom and Misique have accepted the tour of the ship to see if Venom could find something to help them out, keeps bursting into flames apparently.”

Softly Peter asked, “What happens if we can’t fix it?”

Loki chuckled saying, “The effort and contact with us is more than enough to bolster their hopes. If anything with our return I could contact my father who could send word on himself to their people.”

“So we help till my planning falls short then we call in for the big guns.” You said making him chuckle.

“You are the big guns. We would be more like the hounds called when the game is cornered.”

“We’re hunting this thing now apparently,” you said making Peter chuckle and look as you did back to the sections.

When that section seemed to be done you folded it back together and slid it back into its slot now making it pulse dimly. With a blow of your bangs from off your nose the next chunk came out. Several hours bled on and halfway through it you got before the whole city gathered to guide you to a celebration of sorts of the company. Including a feast that Loki confirmed had no foods you would have a reaction to in it and a show of their music and dancing you all chuckled gladly in accepting a lesson from their children before the elders all insisted you get some sleep before night fell again and the temperature would drop.

“I think that went well,” Eddie chuckled making you all chuckle again.

Loki said, “It went splendidly. I do believe I will try to contact my Mother, however we are a bit out of Heimdall’s hearing.”

You asked, “Why would you say that?”

“It is rather far from our link to Earth.”

He replied then looked you over at your purse lipped expression in a stroll past him to your barrel bed, “Hmm.”

“What does hmm mean?”

Eddie chuckled as you shook your head, “Just hmm.”

He looked to Eddie who whispered, “Never just hmm.” Then spun a finger by his head, “Gears are turning.”

“Ah,” Loki said then glanced at your back again with brows furrowed taking in your tug on your sneakers to drop beside the ladder to just climb up into your pod without changing out of your jeans or shirt.

“What does hmm mean?” he asked in his peer in on you as you laid out awake still.

Back your head tilted and you said, “You really can’t hear the roots? Because I’m starting to think I’m going a bit out of my mind.”

“Roots?” His brows furrowed a moment and you sighed rolling over to bury your face in your pillow. “Yggdrasil? Their roots?” You only grumbled and he said, “I am not so fortunate to hear those roots, do you hear them on this planet?”

You nodded and lifted your head to look at him, “Very distinct whispers.”

He wet his lips, “Perhaps Heimdall can reach Thor, since he refuses to accept a phone from Stark.” He sighed, “Though then the only thing he could do would be to ship goods to Earth then we have to ferry them here. But there is something, there must be something to be done.”

You sighed again, “I don’t even know what I’m looking at, what it does, we’re just repairing burnt out wires and cleaning the compartments. What happens if there’s something like a bomb part that will explode if mishandled inside the device I set off and everyone and Balder gets blown to bits?”

He grinned and leaned in to kiss your nose sweetly, “I highly doubt if there was anything that unstable Balder would not have been here when we arrived on Pluto. They have waited almost 900 years and finally they have help, they will be patient there is progress now. They are setting themselves aflame trying to fix their own ship that lies in half, the fact you have only shocked yourself four times,”

“Seven,”

“Seven,” he added in a smiling pause, “Times, is quite a feat for a novice to this highly advanced piece of machinery. Why I would bet we would have to send messengers to Hel for aid from our Scientists to repair it if my people had arrived alone.”

“I just don’t want to spoil things. They seem so nice.”

“And they feel the same about brilliant you and our group. I have not stated we are experts but we are a funnel for assistance. Their race is eternal they are irritatingly patient and for the most part positive, spare for when injured.” He paused then asked in a near puppy dog stare, “Now can we cuddle? The frogs songs are troubling me.”

You smirked and said, “Your barrel or mine?”

“I do believe I can fit in yours,” he said and you covered your mouth to keep from giggling at his crawl and awkward turn in to ease around you like a great dane trying to fit into a tiny little armchair meant for a Scottish Terrier around said Terrier.

“Okay,” you sighed two hours into the second compartment of the day, this one with a box encasing the wires and crystals you crouched to stare at its sides while turning it in a circle to see if there was a groove to pull it apart to get to the parts inside without any way to get to them. Already small adjustments were made of the geared sections around this one and those layered underneath it, just leaving this box which clearly was the source of the power for this layer as nothing had started to glow as the others had. Eddie came over and you said, “I can’t flip it over because the lid has those fragile feeler things on top, and there’s no groove or switch to open it, and somehow I have to get inside.”

Peter asked, “Maybe it’s like a lid? Pops off?”

“But what if I break it?” you asked, “And it won’t go back together?”

Eddie lowly said, “It’s already technically broken, Sis.”

“True,” you said and rose up lifting it to rest it in Eddie’s offered palms to rest your fingers around the ridge on the top of the cutout decorated infuriating engine box. Just a pausing breath in and out later and you gave it a tug only to sigh and fold your fingers and palms around the ridges to give it a sharp twist that had you freeze in the pop that sounded. Timidly you tried to lift the lid that underneath showed grooves and prongs there to lock into the corners you had twisted off as intended earning a relieved puff of air that it wasn’t broken. Propped up carefully on the side you settled the lid to not break it then you took a peak inside the labyrinth of crystal gears, rods that laid out between the same wood like metal rods and intricately cutout little pedestals for sections as long washers between levels of sectioned rods dividing compartments. “Oh yay, now the easy part,” you muttered making Peter chuckle in his cleaning of gears from another compartment to Loki’s switch of a wire.

Layer by layer you removed and inspected what you could handing to Eddie that he set in organized piles while the scanned diagram floated to show proof of order later on if needed. A hiss later and a shake of your fingers came with the drop of the charred wire that had come off its proper secured spot across the pedestal you had tried to remove. “Can’t use pliers cuz it’ll zap me, use my fingers and it still zaps me. Needs to make up its mind.” You muttered as you adjusted the wire you secured safely out of the way to continue easing the section out to clean until you were seen scowling in focus at the dead crystal part you had just removed out of the next layer of entirely dead crystals, most of which were broken or cracked.

Loki asked, “Is that crystal the culprit who stung you?”

Your eyes switched to him and you asked, “Do you know where to get these?”

“Nidavellir for the pastel ones, and the darker ones are from the coast of Vanaheim,” he nodded and watched you turn to head to your trunks. “I assure you there is nothing in the trunks to replace those.”

“I have an idea. We need a door.”

His brow popped up asking as you dug through one of the trunks, “Door?”

“More like a phone if this won’t work how I hope, ah ha.” You said pulling out one of your rings that had his lips part in your rise and turn to hurry to the nearest patch of dirt around a sapling you dropped to your side in a somehow smooth way to press your ear to the ground. A move that had the children playing nearby giggle and hurry over while the Elders closed their eyes to hear what you might be hearing, and to yourself you whispered in Swedish, “Where are you?” Just a faint whisper sounded over the forest around you and up you popped to rush into the forest behind the courtyard with Loki and Eddie racing behind you. Both who watched you stop to listen against several trunks of trees until you came to a small clearing that you made circles in the tall grass until with a grin you switched on your ring and expanded it. Unseen into the base roots from Yggdrasil latched onto the ring securing it in place.

First it shone a bright blue and then to the press of your hand against the side of the ring you asked, “Mr Heimdall, can you hear me?” Then the ring in a rainbow hue glowed brilliantly and Loki let out a disbelieving chuckle to the golden gown wearing Vanir Scientist with two Asgardian female Scientists in peach gowns who looked to be sisters and a trio of Dwarves from Nidavellir, all who turned to Loki and bowed their heads.

The oldest of the Dwarves stated, “Prince Loki, Heimdall has sent word that you required these special crystals, they are unshapen however it shall be simple work to shape them to size as needed.”

To a nip at your lip one of the younger Dwarves said, “We thank you, Shieldmaiden Pluto for aiding in this portal. My kin finds your intellect unrivaled for creation within a craft whose Masters are long dead.”

And the third Dwarf said with a chuckle, “At the rate Prince Thor is going it would be best to have a portal Master around to spare trips to Hel every time the Prince breaks Bifrost.”

Softly you chuckled. Then glanced at the sister Asgardians who nodded their heads to you with the elder who said, “Queen Frigga in gratitude for your dedication of the naming of this planet to a tale in her honor has sent for the Masters and parts to build a bridge here will be delivered within the hour should you permit us free use of your portal?”

You nodded, “Of course.” You turned as the portal shut off as Heimdall broke the link and said, “I’ll show you the communicator.” Once there compliments on the work you had done so far ended and Peter excitedly greeted the Scientists who cleared his own work they and the Dwarves helped the Vanir Scientist to start shaping the crystals.

A muffled squeak to the task of replacing that pesky wire you had to feed the new one through a small slot was what you handled through their shaping of the first crystal. With the skilled help of the Scientists at least you got to learn about the parts to the communicator and how they all worked together. The new arrivals and supplies with group of Masters fully packed to remain for the months it would take to replace your ring bolstered the Flora Colussus into joyful song at soon having a portal of their own to guard as the Regent Race on your discovered planet. Another day’s work and late into the afternoon regrettably at the end of your work as they readied a celebration for their first successful message sent to their home planet you stood across from Lord Trouge smiling up at him. “I am so sorry we can’t stay longer. But I do promise we will be visiting again as soon as we can.”

To you he nodded his head and offered his palm that you laid your hand on face up for him to say, “You owe us no apology here. We thank you and shall protect the realm which you have claimed. Balder shall remain plentiful and free under our charge in your stead.”

Before you could say anything to ask what he meant his youngest grandchild stood as tall as he could with a seed in his palm you crouched to accept along with a group hug from him and his cousins to Loki’s turn for a farewell. Peter excitedly hugged the Lord after Eddie, Venom and Misique’s respectful goodbye making him chuckle and hug him back and smile through his rambling goodbye. Your ring was the last thing packed away when the portal crew had been settled into their guest quarters. And on the verge of tears you took your seat in the ship saying, “Alright, let’s round up our probes, check out these moons and pop by Pluto on our way back to head for Mars.”

Peter sighed saying, “I’m gonna miss Balder. I don’t think Mars can top it.”

Eddie, “I don’t think I could handle finding life on Mars too. Might piss too many people off for having missed it for so long.”

Peter said, “I am glad to not be pinched or bitten any more by that communicator. How are your fingers doing Pluto?”

“I will let you know when I get the feeling back in them.” You said making the others chuckle in the break of the ship from the atmosphere to head for the closest moon.

Pt 18

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Loki - @pastelhexmaniac

#Eddie Brock/Venom & OC Siblings #Loki x OC #Peter Parker #Trip to Pluto #Discovering Balder #Rescue Mission #Fauna Colossus #Life in the Kuiper Belt

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blankdblank · 3 years

Text

Poke Pt 18 - Mars

“Hey Mr Stark,” Peter was heard saying on a face call when you had come close enough for a cross by Saturn’s path. “We’re so close to Saturn! These probes are really coming in handy for more details than what are out there already.”

“So, I got a call from NASA, well, several, actually. Since I am the only known public contact for Loki and Pluto, after the slew of explosive comments on her and Eddie being the first humans on Pluto and discovering a new planet far beyond it capable of sustaining human life, which is profound. They want me to ask you guys if on your way back you could check on a meteor, according to our readings it’s another extinction level size, blah, blah, blah. Every time before they never hit the planet but they wanted to see what could be done far away from the planet if possible.”

“Ya, we, we can add that to the list when we get done with our stop on Mars.”

“Mars, what do you plan on doing on Mars?”

“Well, according to the scans Earth has gotten not much to do on Mars but that doesn’t mean we can’t check in on the rovers. We heard NASA was having some trouble with Curiosity lately. Or we’ll just take a scan of the place with our probes to see what else we can get, maybe take a stroll. Plant a flag or something that says ‘Planet 4 of 9’ something like that.”

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle, “I think if you do that they’ll send a probe up just to knock the sign down. Things are getting that petty. You should have heard Thor all but declaring war if anyone tries to take Misique’s ship and planet away from her.” He paused then asked, “Scale of one to twenty, how terrifying is it out there?”

“About a two, but that was mainly for how loud it got at nights on Balder, the animals are so loud we had to play a stereo to get some familiar noise to block it out. Other than that it’s super cool out here between the long spaces of empty space. They really causing a good deal of trouble?”

“More hurt pride than anything. Don’t you worry about it. You all have big allies in new places, enough to scare them off.”

“Did you like the footage?”

“Got one of those Pluto Otters nest as my background on my computer. The world loves the footage. You kids keep up the good work. I gotta head out, I’ll let you get back to your space-cation. See you when you get back.”

“Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I’m sorry. See you when we get back, Mr Stark.” The sign off similar to others that had him worry based on sci-fi films and shows he had flash into his head each time they were said only making him worry about his protégé until more video footage had been released to prove he was alive and well.

Back to the sitting area on the lower level he joined you and the others saying, “Maybe Mars is a bad idea. Mr Stark says NASA’s got a bug about us out here in your ship. Even said Thor threatened war against anyone who tries to take it or your planet.”

“It’s not my planet,” you said making Eddie chuckle and Loki smirk.

Loki replied, “You did discover it and reconnect that race with their homeland and established an alliance within your own solar system. Once they fix that ship you will have generation after generation of backup. And a planet to build your own castle on if you tire of Earth.” Making you giggle behind the hands you raised to cover your face.

Eddie said, “Your planet. And I say we go to Mars anyways, least for a flyover.”

“We’re going to Mars. I hope we find life there, something super adorable too, like six headed cats or something.” That had Eddie pinch his nose to keep his drink from coming back out of his nose in a fight with his bubbling laughter.

Peter pointed at you, “Baby seals, something with adorable huge eyes and pudgy bodies.”

Venom said, “Reindeer, children love reindeer.”

You giggled to the others chuckling and said, “Reindeer would be adorable. And we could make a joke that Santa wanted a vacation home and put it on Mars.”

“Neighborhood Spiderman here, on the tail end of our Space-cation, just one planet away from Earth, that is right, we are coming up on Mars. I’m gonna take a selfie with the Curiosity Rover. We thought at first to do a flyover, but figured hey what the heck, let’s just go down and see what this has got going on. Also as usual like the other planets we’ve passed gonna get some detailed scans of the surface and see what we can find.”

Loki was heard then seen as he read the life scan results, “There’s life signs.”

And Peter let out an excited squeak, “Oh ya, this is gonna be fun. I’m gonna buckle up for landing and we’ll send back the footage when we’re taking off again. Have fun guys, bye bye.” He shut off the video and posted it on his page and smirked to the thumbs up numbers rise along with hits the closer to the atmosphere.

“I take it this one is not breathable at all?” Eddie asked.

To which Venom as Misique replied with a giggle mimicking yours and replied, “Not at all,” then gave you a wink with his faked glowing eyes when he felt you smirk his way as he gave another bit of fake proof that you couldn’t be the same person you just had oddly similar laughs.

“Wonder where the life is hiding, I think the farthest a drone got was just under 40 miles.”

Eddie, “And we’re spending billions on those probes, damn. At least sports cars you get bang for your buck.”

Into the grayish yellow atmosphere just beneath the hazy layer rocky plains with distant jagged peaks in the distance the glider dipped. Across a good distance you traveled passing the Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity rovers in their respective dusty graves to land on the other end of the open stretch across from the Curiosity Rover. Of course on the other side of that camera’s live feed heads popped up in Mission Control in Huston where NASA officials had gathered to look at today’s picture. A ship in front of the rover had phones ringing and people racing in to the rock solid proof for them the trip was absolutely not a hoax.

When you got out of the ship just a look out at the ground had your heart pumping faster for this dream feat for the space travel centered world. Just three steps in however to the shut of the hatch behind you and the ship shrinking to be pocketed for what might be found out here, a probe meanwhile scanned the whole surface of the planet that gave off a whoosh that faded in the distance and stirred a reaction that couldn’t be missed. Small puffs of dirt lowered everyone’s eyes to the ground in the circle around all of you making Peter say, “Maybe I shouldn’t have made that egg laying joke.”

“Are those tunnels?” you asked creeping closer to the one that was a few steps from you where you crouched confusing the crowd in Houston wondering what there was to draw attention. Gently your fingers brushed along the dirt to reveal a honeycomb design across a panel about the size of the top of a large can of baked beans that glimmered in the sunlight, “It’s a door,” you giggled and said, “Someone’s home.”

Eddie chuckled taking his turn of inspecting the panel you didn’t know to be see through for the guard below who sent word the visitors moved on from his gateway to the others alerted of a craft landing on the surface. “Well let’s not try to find the doorbell. See if they want to be neighborly and say hello.”

Peter said, “Good idea,” and stepped closer to his side as he continued the path to the rover curious of where he stepped to avoid any other possible doorways if he could.

Venom stated as his head retracted from fake Misique’s neck of the Kree suit, “Very smart, these panels seem to be charged with explosives in defense.”

Loki chuckled saying, “Creatures after your own heart Pluto, however instead of trap doors for traveling salesmen they blast theirs into space.”

That had you giggle and say, “I wonder if they live off of minerals or if there’s some sort of insect colony here. Most burrowing creatures eat insects, or maybe there’s some hidden layer of water channels and they have something close to fish or aquatic based organisms.” Loki’s grin spread to your amusing try to figure this planet out on the minute clues from the surface alone.

“Whoa, this thing is huge,” he said approaching the rover whose camera swiveled to see what you were all up to.

Peter pulled out his phone and said, “My picture,”

“Ooh, Buster’s got it,” fake Misique said and he gladly handed over his phone that your bee Buster picked up to carry a distance away to capture your group in a picture around the front of the rover. And with a wide smile he accepted his phone back and said, “I am posting this.” And for the slow wait of a couple minutes he waited for his picture to load on his social page that instantly racked up and right away had him say as you took a wider circle around the rover to look for something that might be of interest on the planet. “I got some comments from NASA, asking what the ground feels like. Should I tell them about the door?” He asked in a poll and you all shrugged and he said excitedly, “I’m gonna tell them. Ooh, there’s one here, I’ll post a picture too.” He said lowering to snap a picture of a formerly hidden door and adding the caption that they are made with explosive charges so to be careful of where they might be drilling or the rover will be blasted off of Mars by accident.

A bump against your foot had your eyes lower to the rock your boot had bumped against the rock creature’s try to avoid contact. “Oh,” you said watching the rocky red dome tipped over revealing a midnight blue and silver feathered belly and bird like feet that curled up and tucked into the belly. Instantly you crouched and to the focus of Venom and fake Misique you were seen to gingerly take hold of the rock and up it back upright again and softly said, “Sorry,” up again you stood and stepped over the rocky creature saying, “Careful of the rocks. Not rocks.”

Peter squeaked, “First contact, so awesome!” and hurried around a grouping of rocks that when he stepped over, him, Eddie and Loki noticed their turn and inch after him to the side of the creature you had tipped over.

Loki to his own glance down took notice of a rock that shifted around the side of his foot to join the others. Smoothly he made his way to your side stating, “I do believe you have made an impression.” And it seemed the small conference broke and from their huddle their spiraled circle they broke to a layered arrow formation that moved closer to you. Peter snapped pictures and captured the moment the rocky outer layer popped apart to reveal they were bundles of rocky scales grouped together covering the silver and midnight blue feathery bodies of what appeared to be silver eyed burrowing owls with blue beaks.

In a voice eerily like Morgan Freeman the one in front stated in their own baritone hum of a language, “We humbly welcome you curious travelers to our home. From where do you hail?”

Loki answered for you all, “I am Prince Loki, of Asgard, this is my intended, Pluto Pear, her brother Eddie Brock, Misique of Earth who is currently housing the Symbiote Venom of Klyntar, and Spider-Man, also of Earth the third planet in this solar system.”

Wide eyed the group puffed up their feathers and the lead said, “You are a Prince! You should come meet our Leader!”

“That would be magnificent, thank you, that was far more than we anticipated. The scientists of Earth have been exploring sections of this planet for over a decade now and they have come up with nil.”

A second creature asked, “You are not in consensus with the scientists of Earth to travel here? Our view of your ship was not of human capabilities.”

“No, Misique and Venom were gifted this ship from the Kree. In a sort of alliance to grant them the capability to travel to space if required to aid others throughout the universe. The humans who send their rovers here such as that one are quite envious of our voyage through the solar system.”

Another said, “Yes, we are able to monitor the Earth through broadcasts on what they call the internet.”

The first said, “We shall show you to our largest entrance built for the anticipation of guests, you are the first to have traveled here in person.” He went to turn then said in a sharp turn back, “We humbly ask you do not record our path there or inside our civilization.”

Loki nodded, “Of course, we shall respect your wishes.” He said then relayed what was said making Peter pocket his phone as your bees went into sleep mode and were placed in your pocket.

And with a smile Loki smoothed his gloved fingers around your palm in the shadowing of the quick steps of the rocky owl creatures who led you all to a mound that had to be just over three feet tall and across. All together they lined up to scan their feet raised to the hidden door that rippled from mirroring rock to the honeycomb design on twin doors that rippled like slide doors and retracted. The small size alone had you all bite your lips to wonder how far the cramped tunnel would go and if the civilization would be as cramped as it to have you on your bellies the entire time. The owl creatures gave an excited shift of their feathers and led the way making Loki say, “I shall go first.”

As he bent to lean forward on all fours to creep inside and Eddie smoothed a hand over the belly of his suit saying lowly to you, “Let’s hope this suit doesn’t just look slimming on me.” And you giggled in his nudge saying, “You go next. Then Pete. Me and Venom will bring up the rear.”

Down you crouched at the doors and as Loki’s feet vanished into the shadowed doorway that with his belly nearly to the polished midnight floor in the otherwise silver downward angled tunnel, on hands and the toes of his feet barely able to plant his knees to adorably wiggle his lower half to keep moving. Softly you let out a breath and on your hands leaned forward to start for you what would be a slightly less awkward crawl similar to Peter and fake Misique who insisted to go behind Eddie practically in a stomach top wiggle. A long time you crawled to the point your arms began to ache and your shoulders felt as if they’d be locked in this position.

Loki in front to the end of the tunnel looked up at the ten foot high hall with walls and ceilings decorated with imprints of flowers in what seemed to be the midnight crystal surfaces. Hastily he gave his shoulders a rotation at their stiffness, partly wishing if he had not the need for the suit to breathe he could have transformed himself into something smaller to make the trip easier.

On his knees however to the feel of your hand on his ankle still in the way he smirked and offered you a hand to come to a painful crouch. As you rotated your shoulders he rose and kept hold of your hand to help you up and did the same for Peter afterwards. Eddie took help from you and Loki to wiggle his way free and chuckled at your soft giggle and turned to confirm Venom had made it after him from the now shut tunnel.

Again focus turned to the guards who led you all beyond the start of the pillars shaped like stacks of eggs in the downward stepping levels to the floor in long spirals of stairs with open upper halves to crystal formed walls that faded from clear to glittering silver shaped like feathers. All enabling glimpses of what seemed to be hundreds of layers to this civilization that spread in every direction, and every level grew taller than the stairway.

Your hand on Loki’s back kept you from running into his back when the guards did stop to peer up at the four foot tall pair that eyed you all and greeted Prince Loki then turned to finish leading the way from the stairs onto a level that fed into more rooms until inside what could only be taken as a library a crowd of the creatures grew. Smallest in front leading up to a trio of twelve foot tall owls who looked you all over and in the same voice as the smaller creatures the far left one spoke in English, “Welcome travelers. We welcome you to our home, we are the Haiku, formerly of another name, however from our explorations of Earth we have chosen this new name as it suits our preference of prose. And namely welcome, Prince Loki of Asgard, we do hope you find our home and people hospitable for your visit.”

Loki smiled and said, “We are all honored to have been invited within your home and to have met your people. Lovely falls utterly short of its splendor.”

Their Leader seemed to smile by the shift of the feathers on his face and replied, “Thank you, as well, Spider-Man and the mechanical creatures we know to be modeled after bees for honoring our request to not record this visit.”

Peter said, “Oh, it’s no problem, and if you wanted I could delete the pictures I captured of the guards on the surface.”

In a ruffle of feathers the trio shook their heads and the one on the left spoke, “You are welcome to keep what you capture from the surface.”

And the third asked, “Do you intend to bring more from Earth here?”

“Not if you would not wish for visitors, just us, unless you would not want us to return again.” you answered.

The Leader spoke again, “This group seems to be honorable. We have been watching the voyage footage that has been sent back to Earth. However we are confused how among you Misique and the Venom Symbiote are said to be two creatures by your Prince.”

Loki gave you a timid glance and you stated, “I am Misique, Venom is aiding in granting us false proof for Earth that I am simply Pluto, and not Misique as well. A great deal of people still wish me dead and by keeping separate identities myself and my family and friends are safer.”

Peter added, “And I’m Peter Parker as well, behind the Spider-Man suit.”

The Leader said, “Yes, we have seen the hatred for Misique’s past actions, although how one could not be admired for reverting the depletion of the atmospheric safety by increasing the agricultural integrity of the surface of the planet humans have been destroying for centuries, we cannot understand. We thank you for entrusting us with these names, never would the Haiku betray them. Visitors outside of this group kindly would not be permitted. Too long have we dwelled under the threat of invasion from Earth. Should more outside of this group touch our surface we will devour them. Generations we have explored your planet to gain intelligence upon intentions to attack us. Most thankfully amongst the population deem the trip to be impossible, a fool’s errand, one had dubbed.”

Eddie said in their silence, “I’m a reporter, when I get back I am expected to write about our voyage. I will tell them any more to travel here will not be allowed and taken as a declaration of war. Our planet was invaded not long ago, twice now this year, we have few to no defenses as you have seen. Our planet would not want a war with yours.”

“The only reason that talk of trips to Mars came up to humans is because there have been dreams to have colonies on other planets, to explore the universe. But only ones uninhabited by anything sentient, I’m sure. And only in case our planet would die, but it’s gotten better now and we will tell them, we swear.”

Venom chuckled, “The humans do not believe this planet to be occupied by any forms of life, their infantile satellites barely were able to find traces of a hidden glacier miles under its surface.”

The trio smiled again as did the crowd and the leader said, “Come, we have prepared a display of our history and voyage here from our former home devoured by a Titan named Thanos.”

Peter instantly said, “Pluto killed Thanos,” that turned their heads around to look you over.

And Loki stated, “Amongst his try to invade Earth within a great battle in the continent of Africa we fought off his forces, it was in that battle a Kree warrior Ronan the Accuser gifted Pluto as Misique the ship as a gift.”

Again they smiled, though wider this time and the Leader stated, “A great warrior of honor indeed to have allied to our defense against the humans.” Sharply their heads turned around and you followed deeper into the library to a projection room and sat beside Loki and the others inside the nest shaped cushions to watch a rather heartbreaking destruction of their home. Tightly Loki kept hold of your trembling hand and joined in on the shedding of tears with more to blink away at their haggard arrival here just over 500 years ago and the skilled crafting of their home a mirror image of the one they had lost. A home formerly known to have held a great expanse of knowledge from every race to have existed, all thankfully spared of the destruction with their evacuation plans sound for generations prior to Thanos’ try to destroy that hub of knowledge and keep it for himself.

Sharing of their culture and a glimpse of some of their own agricultural capabilities came next keeping you in awe of how they had rebuilt their world in so small a time. And an alarm from the surface when their limit to what had been agreed to be shared had been reached that had them respectfully showing you to a platform that would raise you all to the surface before an atmospheric storm would hit the surface they estimated would take weeks to cease. Time for a return visit was told to be delivered to you upon their reflection on how the Earth’s population would take the news of their anticipation of an invasion of the Haiku.

And once back inside the ship again and you were out of your suits across your lips your hand laid to more tears flooding your eyes that had Eddie lift you up and carry you to his seat to hold you through the stunning turn to this visit with a new race. Peter asked Loki softly to Venom’s departure from his outer suit to take the helm, “Do I post about their warning?”

Loki said in a calming pat on his shoulder, “I believe it is best we leave that news to Eddie in his paper. The format of sharing such information surely would hold more profound weight than over social media. Surely news of these new races and life on more planets could cease attempts to colonize on Mars. They have stated NASA is welcome to keep their rover there and explore what they can of the surface as long as they do not attempt to break beneath it.” He shifted on his feet stating, “Do not trouble yourself with this news, should the humans try to infiltrate Mars anyways my people will step in. We have given our word to aid them.” Peter nodded and turned to head for their seats.

Venom stated, “We shall scan for this asteroid Stark has warned of.”

Not far away from this planet the supposed threat of a meteorite was found and with aid from Loki on the communicator found to be a ship of scavengers actually hauling a grouping of asteroids from around the moon away to sell you parted with causally and turned for Earth.

“What is that?” You asked returning mid wash of dishes after supper to the pilot’s seat to an alarm of inbound object that as the others joined you the glider’s system zoomed in on the object to a gasp worthy sight of an astronaut broken free of its tether. To the right dial your hand moved to flip the switch in the center to lock onto the astronaut with frantic results on the heartbeat reading. Behind you as Peter urged his suit out over himself the thud of the suited visitor behind you had you all group up at a safe distance from the frightened man who with wide eyes looked you all over.

“Spider-Man?” His head turned, “Misique, Venom, you’re in space?”

Peter answered, “Yes, just back on a trip out to Pluto. You ok? You’re out here alone?”

“I was at the space station, one of the fins turned and sliced my safety tether.” He replied.

“Well we can take you back, easy,” you said with a grin and went back to your seat asking, “I’m guessing your station is back the way we found you?”

“Yes,” he said taking up a seat as Loki kept hold of the back of yours while the astronaut guided you on the right path and watched as you pulled up to the side of the shuttle, “If you could just get me back to the exit hatch I would be so grateful. I have to get those repairs done.”

“Not a problem,” you said and to his shock backed the ship into place where he said he was working. Everyone went down to add their suits again so you could open the hatch for Venom to shoot a web to the ship your stunned passenger eyed and you said, “You can use it to hold onto, if your jets aren’t working.”

He nodded and said, “Thank you guys. Really, I owe you one.”

Peter said, “Oh we’re going too, I couldn’t live with my friends hearing that I got this close to the station without touching it.”

The astronaut chuckled and after a slip away Venom disposed of his fake Misique suit to fill up his Kree suit to follow you after your suit rippled over your body to the ignite of your hair and eyes in a race across the line of webbing to the side of the station. With help of a magical green mist from Loki the astronaut made it back to his former spot and with his instructions you and Peter helped him get the parts Venom collected from their float away after another fin swing had knocked them loose.

The help greatly shortened the time of the repair and stunned his crew who sent word to NASA on the change of status on their presumed lost crew member that with grips from you and Peter was led back to the exit hatch. His eyes were fixed on your boots that stuck to the side of the ship just like climbing buildings and other things back home in amusement for imaginations for a superhero crew being sent on missions one day. Easily he let himself back inside and once out of his suit he joined the others who waved and grouped up for a picture Peter took of them before you turned to head back for the ship Loki had maneuvered to a small leap away that sealed to let you alter your projection to line up the best path to get to Stark Tower.

“Aerial craft inbound.”

The announcement had heads turn and Tony said to the clear sky, “About time they got back.” Closing the tablet cover on the invention diagram he was tweaking he set aside to stand and cross the room to greet the returning group. Peter and Loki both had hold of their bags and exited with you behind them after a hug to Eddie who was off to head to your place and unpack before driving on his bike back to his place once Venom was bonded to him again and the ship was safe in your garage.

Once inside the glass doors Tony asked as you all took in Fury’s presence amongst the team, “How did the trip go, let’s start from Mars and work our way out, shall we?”

Fury added not a moment later, “Got a call, NASA said that you found some doors on Mars and you all looked at something then walked off somewhere then vanished. Any details on that?”

Peter said, “Well we found these blue owl creatures with rocky scales on their bodies they use to look like rocks on the surface. They call themselves the Haiku.”

Fury’s brow arched up, “Haiku?”

“They had a different name before,” you said, “But 500 years ago Thanos destroyed their home world. They managed to save their library and ended up on Mars they turned into their new home. Apparently they’ve been investigating Earth and through their link to our internet have read about our histories and intentions to invade their planet to colonize.”

Steve muttered, “That can’t be good.”

“In their research they’ve concluded that human’s can’t be trusted since we’ve had several genocides surrounding the integration of cultures when a new territory is found. So they asked us to share that we are allowed to scan the surface as much as we like but any try to drill or infiltrate their city will be taken as a declaration of war and they will devour us.”

The group stood silent a few moments until Fury asked, “Are they actual owls or could they be like Flerken with a whole hell of a lot of tentacles that shoot out of their beaks?”

Loki’s brows furrowed a moment, “We did not discuss their anatomy, however it would not be impossible for them to have some similarities to a Flerken.”

Thor asked, “When did you come across a Flerken?”

Fury answered, “We had a Skrull problem in the 80’s. Met one, hit it off for a bit. Then my friend Carol took him off with her into space.”

Loki said, “Well a Flerken most definitely would assist with that problem.”

Fury said, “Well I’ll let them know about the Haiku’s terms that they want us to abandon plans for Mars. They’re heavily armed?”

Peter, “The doors are charged for explosions so if they were to drill into one by mistake they would be blasted off the planet. We’re allowed to go back though, they said we seem trustworthy. Said after they see how Earth takes the news they’ll let us know when our group can visit again.”

Rhodey, “So you can go back,”

“Most of the planet seems to be a library, they’ve collected knowledge from every corner of the galaxy, that was why Thanos attacked them, he wanted that knowledge for himself. I don’t think it’s a forever ban, maybe after a few centuries when we stop killing each other and big businesses stop trying to kill our planet that might change. Just, with our history, we can’t be trusted to come visit without an invitation.”

Rhodey said, “That’s promising, future talks are possible, not a forever ban.”

Fury nodded, “Not a locked door just a come back later sign. It’ll help a good deal with the government officials. I’ll let them know and they can ease NASA down from their plans for a setup there and I suppose your brother is off writing up a story about it?”

You nodded, “Wanted to get an early start.”

Peter said, “And they all sound like Morgan Freeman!” Lifting brows and you lifted the bee from your shoulder that flew to the nearest tv to settle and replay the entire recorded blip on the surface of Mars.

Fury, “Well paint my face and call me Sally. They didn’t make you delete this?”

Peter shook his head, “Nope, said we could keep what we got on the surface. The ones inside, their three Leaders sound more like him when they speak in English.”

Thor stated, “Our kin will honor your word to defend the Haiku against invasion from Earth.”

Rhodey, “I heard you saved one of the Space Station Engineers too.”

“Well he floated into our path.” Loki answered, “He was rather stunned we were there to assist him back to the station and to mend the repairs he was sent to handle.”

Jane asked, “What was Pluto like? I’ve watched the footage a dozen times, but what was it really like?”

You grinned and the group delved into the details while Fury excused himself for a phone call that by his expression didn’t go over well. And Tony kept ignoring the pop up windows on his tablet of visitors leaving messages at the front desk for word on when you all might be returning so the press could come and hound you all for interviews. A dinner was called up and while you waited through your backup of messages through your trip you answered as many as you could including a few smirk worthy ones from Eddie. Already his Editor was calling about his first edition and from his packed notes in notebooks he had filled during the trip there was ample to write out beginning with the message from Mars.

All across the front pages would be a spread on the statement that a formerly devastated race with hopes to have a bright future including their younger neighbors to share their surplus of knowledge gathered from all of the universes and races known now feared said neighbor would leave them in danger once again. A plea to Earth to not continue the act of colonization and genocide to simply expand into the stars, or else. All around a marvelous piece to make people think on if the money they had spent so far into Mars would be motivation to keep pressing and spell the annihilation of the human race or if they could step aside and be patient and gain trust as tech caught up to the task of planet shopping if the worst should arise. For the rest however a surplus of publishers was willing to offer deals on his writing a book on the entire voyage to the Kuiper Belt, something he said he would only accept if it could be a co-author situation with his sister to fill in the parts he would miss.

“So, Pluto, how’d you know how to fix that communicator?” Bruce asked and you looked up from your phone telling Eddie you’d help him with the book if he wanted to do a co-author situation on it.

“Well, we opened it and it was basically clean the dirt out and scrub what we could, then just checking wires and replacing some that were worn.”

“How did you know it was the proper metal for the wire?” he asked, “Could have damaged it more if they didn’t match.”

Loki said, “We matched the wires before installation.”

Bruce, “How? You didn’t have a manual on it. I don’t-,”

“By the smell.” You said cutting him off with a flinch of a grin. “Different metals when they burn have a unique scent. You could smell what type of wire it was.”

He sat open mouthed and Bucky said, “And good work on that portal from your ring.”

Sam asked, “What were you listening for? You had your Aragon Orc hunting moment.”

“Yggdrasil, clearly,” Thor answered for you and you nodded, “Shieldmaiden Pear must have heard one of the roots calling to her to aid our new allies on Misique’s new realm of Balder.”

Jane asked, “And it’s her new planet? Like an actual Queen or something.”

Bucky smirked to your glance away and subtle eye roll at the title and Loki stated, “The title is yet to be defined, however it is her realm as it was her ship to bring us there to aid Lord Trouge and his people.”

Jane, “It just, works like that?”

Thor, “For Lord Trouge and his people they would not lay claim over the planet but take part of the structure of it until the true ruler of the realm could be located.”

Rhodey, “Don’t they have a planet they rule over?”

Thor, “They have the planet they were created on, they do not rule it, they are a structure within that world. Their rule is over one another not the planet they dwell on.”

Steve asked, “Where’d Misique fly off to?”

“To unpack and help Eddie. Apparently someone’s offering him a book deal but he’s saying it’d have to be a co-authored one between the both of us.”

Natasha, “How would that work out?”

“Most likely he would cover the grander aspect of the events to draw people into the story and I would keep up with the details most likely. Usually with his big stories he runs them by me first anyways to tweak a few things.”

Bruce, “Surely you could do more than tweak things. I mean you could give the whole female view to discovering new planets.” Your eyes narrowed at him in a wonder for what he meant and he said, “I mean men go places to conquer, what would the mindset be for someone who’s built to be more nurturing. Have to be a whole new way to look at bonding with new races, especially those who might be ruled by a matriarchy.” He glanced at Tony saying, “Help me out here.”

“You’ve got two shovels you are doing just fine, Buddy.” Sam said to Tony’s shake of his head.

Bruce sighed and said, “There are different ways to bond is all I meant. Seemed from the footage Lord Trouge took to you the best, aside from age gender is a main dividing factor between everyone in the group.”

“I’m also impossibly hard to not find adorable or intriguing,” you quipped back, “And I spend time talking to plants and animals. I think a race of sentient tree based races could be perfectly up my alley to bond with the Flora Colossus.”

Loki stated, “And though they are matriarchal gender is the least of their concerns in meeting new people, it’s their souls, inner essences. If they are kind or not.”

Bruce, “And they somehow got along with Venom too?”

You smirked saying, “Just because you don’t get along with your Other does not make him cruel or vicious. Symbiotes were bred out of a dark force created by Knull. They have no control over that and often take on the history and culture of their hosts, which can lead to some bad habits outside of their obvious carnal lust for blood. Venom isn’t evil, he’s carnivorous, there’s a difference. Hulk was born of radiation experimentation, painful way to die and it’s a painful way to be born.”

Thor nodded, “She speaks the truth.”

Bruce, “You can’t be serious.”

Thor, “The Hulk’s rage stems from pain, born out of an experiment and bonded to a man who refuses to listen to him. He protects you and you speak of him with such a bite of poison to your words.”

Loki spoke silencing Bruce, “He can hear you, try listening. You are his family, the longer he feels your revulsion the longer his rage will linger.”

Bruce, “We’re talking about space.”

You nodded and lifted one of the dead crystals you had been allowed to keep that had Bruce’s arms on the table clench in Hulk’s try to see what you had. “Only thing I didn’t have in my case was the crystals to replace the dead or broken ones. I have no clue what they do or what most of the parts did but I can take things apart and clean them and swap wires and then just cross your fingers to see if it works. Didn’t feel like I was helping very much until I got the portal ring to link to Asgard and called in the experts.”

Loki said, “Ignorance of the language does not mean you lack intelligence for the context. All technology is a language.”

Thor nodded his head, “Even Heimdall has shared that our Scientists could not decipher the workings of their ship. Their people would have to contact their home world. I have seen the scans of it, and I am no expert, but even the steering is quite foreign to me, and I have piloted an abundance of crafts to aid Loki in his thievery in our youth.”

Loki gave him a purse lipped gaze, “My thievery? I can recall ten ships you yourself stole and then I took the blame for it, even the one where I was not even in that dimension at that time.”

Thor, “That, was after four barrels of mead. I am not responsible for what I do when I am inebriated, you know that brother.”

Loki scoffed and turned his gaze to you at your try to bite back a giggle that urged his body to lean a bit more onto the arm of his chair blocking him from drawing you into his side. “You knew exactly what you were doing.”

Natasha asked, “They let you keep the crystal?”

You nodded, “It doesn’t power anything now, isn’t giving off anything detectable and doesn’t even hum anymore like the fully charged ones.”

Natasha asked, “What are you going to do with it?”

You shrugged, “Don’t know yet. I’ll figure it out.”

Pepper asked, “When is the next trip out?”

“Don’t know. The Kuiper Belt was fun to explore. But there’s your wedding and the rest of my summer break to figure out which University I’m going to. Eddie said I have a stack of packets from Universities in my back up of mail. Got an email from Columbia and they said something about wanting me to speak about the trip to students when the year starts and several of the Science Professors said they would save me a slot in their research plans for the year if I was interested. One of the Mathematics clubs also sent me an application form.”

Sam asked, “That a good thing?”

“Well they only gain members by invite alone, but I heard they have a sort of initiation thing and I’d rather not have to deal with that no matter what prestige it might fluff up my resume with.”

Bucky asked, “What sort of initiation?”

“Well last year charges got pulled against a first year when they called for a group dinner at an upscale place then ditched him with the bill. Almost got kicked out of the school after the owner of the place roughed him up saying he was the one to be unruly first when another diner called the cops.”

Sam, “Oh we did worse than that in the Fraternity I was in.”

“That’s what the cops got called on, not their full initiation. I never needed any sort of clubs that require humiliation in a faked means to instill trust.”

Tony said, “I wasn’t much for clubs in MIT either. No trouble in being a lone wolf to keep up your own pace and not be drug back down by people coasting on your coat tails.”

Pepper said, “Well Tony can give you a lift home when you’re ready so you can miss the press.”

“I should be okay getting home on my own. I’m sure you’ve been put out enough since we were gone.”

Loki said, “Press is nothing for my mist. I can easily transport my car closer to Pluto’s home.”

Pepper, “For now just focus on food, I can’t imagine eating in space had much variety.”

Peter said, “Well we packed three months of food, tons to choose from.”

Bucky chuckled out, “Never hurts to be prepared.”

Jane smirked saying, “I do like that phrase you used, you pack for chaos. I need to start doing that. Always run short of things on research trips.”

“Well you have your basic list and then you have your chaos list with the optional weather and damage kit.”

“You packed an actual table,” Steve said.

“Never know when you need a table.” Natasha said.

“Or a wheelbarrow,” Sam said, “Can’t tell you how often we could’ve used one overseas.”

“Packed one, it’s collapsible.” you said making him smirk.

Pt 19

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Loki - @pastelhexmaniac

#Mars #The Haiku #Mars Invasion crushed #Meteor Check #Space Station #Back to Earth #Loki x OC #Eddie Brock/Venom & OC Siblings #Peter Parker #Spider-Man #Marvel

11 notes · View notes

blankdblank · 3 years

Text

Poke Pt 9 - Recovery

“Where am I?” Tony asked again and proceeded to badger the Warriors inside the ship until the hangar had his jaw drop in awe at the hidden kingdom and he said, “Huh, so this is what a third world country looks like.”

After a pat on his arm you said, “Don’t feel bad. Google lies to us all every now and again.”

Down a cobbled street you followed the path to a post battle bathhouse where a group of women smiled in their approach of you, with the tallest of them stating, “Let us see how badly you are bleeding this time.”

Warm water from buckets were used to pour over your suit that by means of a collection of cloths was wiped clean for your next step. A stool was brought over and hunched forward in the drop of the neck of your suit to your collar bone a second bucket was brought over to rinse your hair one of the women controlled her disgust for the scent to unbraid your curls. And in the draw of a screen to block off sight to your area in the delivery of new clothes to change into in your sizes where you retracted your mask accepting their help to get every drop of the blood off of your scalp and exposed skin. Making certain to wash your hair with the zesty scented shampoo you chose twice to replace the lingering sour scent.

They then used a handheld drier to help dry your hair that was braided back and had the length of the dangling bit in a long bit of patterned silk in yellow and black to help cover most of the curls they used to wind up into a flower like bun. Each of them careful to not fully look at your face they used a folded wash cloth to help hide your identity no matter how much trust you had in them. Over your face your scrubbed mask by a close eyed Doctor was returned and the suit around your body retracted revealing your bloody short shorts and baggy tank top you had been sleeping in and were called to battle opposing the different colored socks and leather boots they gathered as you slipped out of it.

Careful squirts of cleaning solutions were used on the split welts across your back and thighs that had long trails of blood from them that had pooled into your boots and socks. Which made for a wet bloody step out of them to be rinsed and gently washed around the already scabbed gashes and slits on the welts within the sea of bruises much like the one across the side of your neck from an opportune club swing from one of the rock guys.

“Almost done,” the Doctors stated in a press of their fingers around the welts and heavily bruised right side of your ribs from the Symbiotes being hurled at you and the bodies you crashed into afterwards.

“Oh you take your time,” you grumbled out, “I’m having fun with this.” Making the ladies chuckle.

New underwear came next with the black sweats and t shirt to follow with enough material to poke out in front of you and disguise your figure and yet not be a tent around your body. The bandages across your body had you stiff a moment and relax into movement that would not bother them after you’d slipped on the socks and slippers also provided and paired with a baggy cardigan you smiled in adding on the way out.

Others already were changed as well and the group including the twins near you in your conversation with Shuri and Queen Ramonda. The pair of whom you introduced as well as Okoye and Nakia who came to sit amongst you and your Symbiotes who had eaten their fills and simply chatted amongst themselves and you.

Still in the bathhouse when he managed to sneak a drone into your empty section to bathe, change and be healed in Tony held a small baggy of bloody bandages used to blot beneath the wounds they healed. And the whole meal as you joked with your friends in a safe distance from the others and enjoyed your helping that was offered the team took a vote on what to do with the captive twins Loki had full control of. And when the shock had worn off of the city and Pepper sat giddily planning the new nursery and everything ahead after her ultrasound in Wakanda up in her seat on the upper deck. Meanwhile you were leaned back asleep with your hood over your head to shield your now black hair and brows against Venom’s chest as he swung contently on a hammock of his making.

Up floors above you however Fury eyed the baggy Tony had slipped him with evidence of your true identity. And for all the curiosity in the world he could have ordered you followed or done deeper searches in the past to follow those breadcrumbs. But to steal a blood sample after you had gotten injured saving the world not for just the first time but for the second from one of the biggest baddies out there his free hand opened the trash incinerator door and closed it again behind the baggy he tossed inside. Muttering lowly, “Not this way, Stark.” He meant to ask, he did, he could see ties forming and for Natasha and Bucky’s sister in arms he would have an offer.

Peter still a bit on edge from his laugh worthy accidental shooting of one of the male guards on his return at the mask he had on in a means to terrify the jumpy teen was the first to greet you at the breakfast mid flight back to New York. “Morning Bumble.” His eyes shifted to Venom he also greeted who was still stretching and asked you, “Everything okay? There were some, noises, last night.”

Vision stated, “I would have classified them as wails of agony.”

“Oh, the hive had a vote.” All eyes shifted to you as the few Asgardian troops still amongst you stirred from their beds across the floor on the other end of the room to the wafting scent of food. “They executed Carnage.”

Bruce, “I thought Carnage was on our side. Why would they kill him?”

Loki’s eyes shifted to you from his toast he spread jam across, “He made a joke he wanted slit my throat while I slept. They voted on the matter and he was executed.”

Natasha asked with a protective tone in her voice, “They voted if they would kill you or him?!”

“No, just the Carnage Symbiote or his host as well.”

Tony, “So they voted to kill the innocent guy that alien latched onto and has been riding around in?!”

“Wasn’t aware you were a fan of Cletus Kasidy.” You said dropping his jaw and stirring up the urge for him to get sick at the name of the serial killer the thing had latched onto. “They killed both. Kasidy was still a harm to me if separated.”

Loki inquired, “I take it this move was more to protect you from Knull their King due to their hive mind?”

Venom stated, “We would not have any other Symbiote corrupted to endangering Little One.”

Tony barked out, “How did you not kill him in the sweep?!”

“Carnage had bonded. Matters of the Hive are beyond my control. I strike at the Hive Knull comes to earth.”

Thor said, “You do not want that. His army of Symbiotes is innumerable and he has the ability to manifest more at his whims.”

Tony, “I don’t get that, you demand control over the killers on our planet except for that one-!”

“I could visit Asgard but I wouldn’t be able to walk up to Odin and demand they move tax days to Tuesdays.”

Sif at the end of the table stated, “That would be a simple demand it already is on Tuesday.”

“It, was a hypothetical,” you sighed and said to Tony, “Venom confers with the Hive, he’s adopted me but that doesn’t give me any power at all.”

Tony, “Bit biased.”

Loki, “Misique means that she lacks a Symbiote to access their hive mind which they conference through galaxies with. To their race you cannot join the argument if you lack the ability to speak.”

Ronan from his spot at the window approached the table stating, “This cannot be your usual transport. It has such little impression of any notion of a Symbiote worthy vessel.”

His eyes on you had you say, “It’s not mine. They asked for my help. I have a car not a jet.”

Ronan stated, “I shall grant you command of one of my smaller pods until a proper glider can be forged for your requirements to transport you, your brothers and Hive.”

Tony, “You can’t give her a flying anything she doesn’t have a pilot’s license!”

“Actually I do,” you said dropping his jaw, “So does my brother, just not in this name.” You glanced to Ronan stating, “I don’t however have a place to store a ship.”

Making him answer, “I shall add the requirement of a minimization setting for when it is not in use. We shall get started on the model and shall contact you when the designs are completed and delivery is possible.” Over to you he moved with a snail shell like communicator on hand he folded into your offered palm and cradled a moment stating, “I shall be in contact with the initial diagrams within a fortnight of your planet’s time.”

“Thank you,” was all you could say and in his release of your hand he tapped a button on the controller strapped to his wrist that teleported him to his own ship and you glanced at Loki saying, “He gave me a snail thing. Building me a glider. Nice guy.” That had Loki chuckle and lean in as Stark started to argue with Fury on his apparently being fine with you getting a ship of your own to share the controls on the communicator.

Sam asked, “So where do you live?” Your eyes shifted to him and he said, “You said you don’t have room to have a jet.”

“I have an apartment.”

“Aw, man, and here I thought you might have some cool super lair like people do in cartoons.”

“Only the ones who inherit billions,” you said pointing around your grip on your glass to Stark making Sam smirk.

Tony however anticipating being able to lift prints from that glass later said, “I have doubled what I inherited thank you very much. I did not just inherit everything I have.”

“But you did inherit billions,” you said and he huffed waiting to have that glass in his reach to check it himself when you were gone.

Clint said, “Well you keep it up and you’ll be making bank soon enough for saving the world. Much more than we make.”

“I don’t get paid for this. And I doubt anyone would pay me.”

Fury said, “I’ll do what I can on that front.”

“This isn’t a job. I have jobs.”

You said making the others look your way and then to Venom who said, “Money leaves foot prints and is anchored by expectations. We are free agents.”

Clint, “Free agents actually do get paid in sports.”

Venom’s eyes widened then shrank in his glance your way then said, “This is not for sport either.”

Thor joined in after chewing and swallowing the last of his large mouthful of food, “Surely there must be some compensation the pair of you would accept.”

“Not trying to kill me would be a nice start. But that may prove too much a task for some people.”

Bucky said, “She might have been talking about me. I’ve been doing good so far. Up till miss Teen Mind Clouder over there tried to blast me with her red smoke. What are we doing with them anyways? Are they like Loki’s pets now? They just follow him around it’s kind of creepy.”

Loki said, “I’ll free them eventually. When Stark can figure out who they were most likely then we can work from blackmail upwards.”

Tony, “Blackmail on what? He’s in a track suit and she’s went to battle in a mini skirt! I doubt they have much brains let alone background to be useful to press for anything.”

Peter said, “Wouldn’t you have to contact their family? They would miss them, or it would be kidnapping.”

Natasha said, “Kid if Ultron had them they probably don’t have family.”

Peter, “Then you’ll make sure they’re taken care of, right and Fury?”

Practically in the state of a human sized puppy Fury sighed saying, “Tony, when we land, after you and Pepper settle things find what you can on them. I’ll have to deal with the council and their fuss over our new colorful allies.” He glanced your way saying, “I’m guessing this would involve inviting you to the fold.”

Tony, “What?!”

Fury, “She’s the reason the Kree stopped attacking our allies, and has a connection to our alarming amount of Symbiotes.”

“They’re mostly fine. Except Phage, got a bit of a fire bug but we’re working them into forest fire preventative burns. We’ll figure it out.”

Fury gave you a cautious nod and said, “Keep me posted on that.”

“His other’s a fire fighter. So there a bit of a hero complex with that too but it evens out.”

Steve, “I don’t think that helps...”

“Not really, but it’s better than Riot, used to be hooked on making cyanide but I got them into competitive baking. Starting to turn around, least till they stab someone for using their knives, but that’s not too out of touch for famous chefs anyways. They’ll just have a reputation.”

Pepper said mid list making, “And we’ll need a baker, we have to throw a party. And cake, a big one and ooh, maybe some of those individual molten donut volcanos with the dipping sauce in the center.” She gasped, “We could have a tropical theme! Then you’ll have to take off a while for the renovations on our place for the nursery since I can’t cover it for the dust and fumes.”

“Pepper, I can’t step away-,” she gave him a look halfway between betrayal and tears for spoiling her anxiety induced planning mood that had her on her tenth page of plans already. “For long,” he added and she flashed him a smile and rubbed her hand lovingly on his shoulder and he gave Fury a concerned glance.

Fury said, “I think you’ll find our country is in safe hands while you focus on your nest, Tony. That’s why we have the team.”

Rhodey late to the table said offering a print out to Tony, “There’s a story across the front pages, they passed the bill cutting teacher wages and now the Congress paychecks have been docked to minimum wage with the rest donated to every school in their states. There’s two messages being posted on their social pages, one for those who voted in favor saying they were greedy and now will be docked until the bill is removed. And another for those who didn’t saying in support of teachers they cannot rightly live in such affluence while others are suffering from undue pain and suffering from this one sided bill and that they ran for office to serve the people and will continue to do so.”

Tony said reading on himself, “With all they have in their capabilities to do so.” He glanced your way, “This, is actually sort of masterful, almost like the time you docked the wages of the former Presidents and Military Officials until they restructured the VA medical care programs and requirements on therapy.”

Rhodey said, “Thank you for that. Finally got my gallbladder surgery I needed last year because of that.”

“They’re the ones being morons. All you have to do is wave their wallets over heads to get anything done before we all turn to fossil fuels.”

Tony’s brows furrowed, “What’s this about catfish? It’s cut off at the bottom.”

Rhodey, “You’re out of paper.”

Tony sighed, “I just filled it, damn paper eating printer.”

“Catfish who scam people, mainly elders just followed the trails of reported money scams and got their money back. Part of the plus of going to Wakanda got their go ahead to target the money farms in Nigeria.”

Tony asked, “Money farms?”

Pepper said, “They have episodes on them on Dr Phil all the time.”

Vision floated into the room stating, “Agent Mariah asked me to inform you all that we are approaching our descent course.” He paused and said, “I have a notion that I might have bothered her with my questions. Her tone was slightly elevated as if in distress.”

“You’re doing fine Vision, if you ever get bored of avoided questions I’ll send you a translated holograph copy of the Library of Alexandria.”

Clint said, “Wasn’t that destroyed?”

And as you stood with fork in hand with the last of your food you said, “Sure. Phage and Riot most certainly didn’t steal it off the Skrulls who copied it and lit the fire as cover to have the only copy.” Eating the food to leave the fork on your plate.

Peter stood as you started to walk away from the table to warn the others downstairs, “Wait, you really have a copy of the library?”

Around your mouthful you said, “Not really as important as everyone says. Mostly just tax documents and daily notes of their meetings in the palace.”

Peter buried around the table asking, “Can I borrow it sometime?”

“Sure. Mi bibliotheca es tu bibliotheca.” You said widening his smile.

Venom said on his stroll behind you, “Thought about making it public anyways just to thumb it at the British who won’t give back those marbles. Debating taking those next.” Loki curious of what he was missing excused himself and went to join the both of you and see if there was any way he could gauge how much pain you might be in to adjust his reunion with his Mate upon the arrival to your apartment later to not harm you in his faked ignorance of what you had been up to while he was away from you.

“Don’t think for a minute just because you saved my life there’s some sort of debt.” Natasha said on your way out of the open hatch after the Symbiotes had sprung out to head their own secret ways home again except for Venom who was instructing Peter on how to tap into the library on his phone.

And with a smirk you said in passing, “I’ll send an envelope with a date, time and location for you to head to.” She let out a breath and you’d said, “Oh you’ll have fun. You are overdue for a mani/pedi spa day I bet.”

“You’re sending me to a salon?” She asked with an amused tone.

“Don’t seen so pleased. There’ll be a gift card for frozen yogurt after with a list of flavor choices and toppings you have to get.”

She faked a gasp saying, “Villain.”

“What else are little sisters for? Happy birthday, Natasha.” Her lips parted as people glanced at her and she looked at her watch reading the date that it was her birthday, not the fake one in her file in SHIELD but her real birthday. And along with the others she watched you reach into a pocket and toss the shrunken car that expanded stirring jealous gasps from the guys at the sporty coupe in black and yellow you strolled around as Venom climbed into the passenger seat.

“Where did you get that?” Sam asked.

And you replied holding back your giggle at the sight of Tony with the bagged glass and fork you had used he tucked behind his back. “Came with the suit.” Inside you eased now very aware of every inch of your body that burned and ached to the extreme exhaustion and hunger you felt from the enormously taxing battle the day before.

Nice and smooth once inside the car the drive went on the long way around to avoid traffic and being followed easily to park and get out to change from the spare bag in the trunk and unmask yourself for the train ride back to your apartment. Trying to ignore the ever growing pain in walking while also ignoring the shrunken car inside of your pocket that could greatly improve this task in its use. “So, all I have to do is just get into the casino and get someone to distract Big Ears while I check out Hippy McGee.”

His pleading gaze had you chuckle and say, “I wouldn’t suppose you would prefer a poker player to do the distracting?”

“You’ve won seven grand so far since your 18th birthday on online poker, you could easily get in there and stir things up for me to have enough time to check on Hippy.”

You sighed and said, “I suppose I could break into my emergency dresses and heels for a night.”

And he gently wrapped his arms around you loosely for a careful hug he kissed your forehead and said, “Thank you so much! And it’ll be the usual 20% cut of my earnings for a distraction fee!”

You sighed in his pull back saying, “Might be nice to have some people to play against for a change. Other than Mr Clark in the park with his magician background and you I don’t really get much play time with other people.”

“I’ll keep you posted on the time.”

A buzz from his phone had you nudge him in his inch on his seat to a tip, “Go on. I’ll be at mine. Probably sleep rest of the day.”

“Love you,” he said kissing your forehead to spring up and dart out the open door in its beginning to close and the old lady across from you eyed you suspiciously at the view of the bruise on your face, neck, side and bandages on your back through your tank top with cutouts on the sides and back.

Flashing her a grin you said, “Run in with some cyclists in Central Park. Think just cuz they have stretchy pants on they get the whole walkway.”

“I would have given them hell if I was your age again.” Making you chuckle and listen as she made good use of the company as others in the train relaxed at the reasoning behind the badly injured young lady in their midst. And with a helping hand up from a guy back from his trumpet time in the park for some spare change you were up onto your feet and took the trek up the steps to your apartment in stride for every challenge it placed between you and your goal.

It didn’t take long when you did return however to record what happened in your alien adventure journal that spurred on a panic attack for how the Prince would react if he knew it was you who had gone to the battle when he was so adamant to keep you far from harm with his messages beforehand. And as if you had hit a button summoning him through the peephole of your door you eyed the Prince whose lips parted at your slightly flushed and clammy looking self. “Pluto.” He murmured to the sight of you unable to think of what to say.

“Hey, sorry, bit of a mess. Stomach bug. Been a hell of a night.”

Past you he moved stating, “I shall make you some stew.” Only to glance at your injuries he hoped the armor would have prevented, exclaiming, “You’re injured!”

“Scuffle with some cyclists in the park other day. Just a couple bruises and some injured pride. Nothing serious.”

He sighed knowing the truth and ushered you inside to your boat shaped bed, “You rest. I shall make soup and tell you all about my trip.”

“Soup and top secret story time. You spoil me,” you said and he sweetly kissed you on the cheek when you were nestled into your bed.

“I shall always strive to do so.” Quite animatedly while he prepped the stew and left it alone in the stove covered to cook so he could sit beside your legs sharing about the battle with magicked reenactments. All of which emphasized the prowess and awe striking aura, skill and endurance of the mysterious Misique in his try to make you blush or hint in some subtle way he was flattering you.

A feat he accomplished with a faint blush across your cheeks now free of the earlier frightening mild fever he felt on you in tucking you in from your body’s repairing the fractured ribs and herniated spinal sections damaged in the battle that made it so hard to move. The motions were a tad easier to do so now those had healed but were now simply swollen and heavily bruised still. “If I didn’t know any better I would think you were trying to make me jealous by issuing so much praise on Misique.”

Sharply he drew in a breath faking a gasp, murmuring, “Mischief possibly, but never would I strive for jealousy,” and leaned in to cup your cheek adoringly and brush his nose against yours in the beginning of a lingering melt of his lips against yours. A bold second kiss was stolen to prelude the tap of his forehead to yours when he murmured, “Your fever has broken at last.”

“Thank you for noticing,” you said and stole a kiss on the tip of his nose to his low chuckle.

“Are you feeling perfectly miserable? Mother did promise she would have guards keep an eye on you while I was gone.”

You drew in a breath and even in the bold lie that followed he couldn’t but help to smile at your drowsy pain laced smile up at him, “I really wouldn’t know. I wasn’t exactly at all here myself.”

“Well I am profoundly proud to nurse you back to health myself.” He said claiming another gentle kiss upon your lips followed by his turn and wiggle to stretch out stating, “Is there a staple source of entertainment you wish to eat and fall asleep to? I shall not judge Thor demands Fire Troll Throat Singing recordings to be played when he is ill.”

“Have you seen Galavant?”

“No.” he hummed reaching over to adjust your blanket a bit higher on the shoulder you tried to inch higher with a twitch of your arm in a try to ignore the unbearably painful throb of your back in its gradual healing process.

“Buster, play Galavant, please.” And with a grin he eyed the small bee in its dock above the screen on the wall whose eyes lit up in a pleased chirp at being able to play something for you knowing that you were injured. The few bees you kept around the place had their own roles, one to scan your body when you set off the injured protocols and another to monitor your temperature and to zap you if needed when you didn’t keep to fluid or food intake standards while dropping protein bars and water bottles on you. All by their buzzing proved to be pleased with the progress already and confirmed that your mild fever had in fact dropped. Next to his side you rested with a smile matching his own curious grin at the unique show until the timer went off to signal his kiss to your cheek and pop up to fetch you a bowl.

And when you had eaten a comforting three helpings to sate his unspoken nerves to have fed you enough he laid down again and relaxed on top of the blankets with his arm around your back to smile to himself at your cuddle against his side. Randomly between episodes he would smile and rest his forehead against the top of yours at each pained grumble and tighten of fingers clutching to the front of his sweater now tucked carelessly halfway into the waistband of his jeans. Over the back of your hand his fingertips would glide to eventually boldly take hold of that hand. Flights of the bees however had him whisper softly, “How is she?” able to tell they were scanning your body and with a pleased grin he would eye the holographic results of scans that showed gradual progress and readouts. Always followed by a soft, “Thank you,” answered by their happy chirps and flights back to their docks luring him to gently nestle you closer to him in his gradual slip to sleep himself.

To avoid focus on your own pain you had asked about his, which was much less intense than yours. Frighteningly close to his own endurance and strength you were beyond impossible to decipher from a Goddess on the battlefield and yet without the flow of adrenaline and anxiety to defeat a losing battle he could see where the mortality came in to play. Gradually your body would recover from this in a rate close to his own healing, but he surely wished you wouldn’t have to.

You had shared doubts on how long you could live due to the serum before he had known what you meant and rightly so as you had stated having been given the serum as a child there was chance that it would react differently than it had in Steve and Bucky. The latter without having been frozen in the Arctic and showed only minute signs of having aged in the 70 years since having been taken captive in the war. In having aged with the stronger serum compared to the minute biotechnological advancements the Black Widow Program issued upon their girls even the Super Soldiers couldn’t match your results. And even at eighteen and clearly an adult there was something youthful, something inhuman, ethereal and infuriating for him more evidence to his proof you were a Goddess fighting its way from mortal flesh.

There was no telling what would happen in your lifetimes, or how long you might have which had him planning already how to bring you back from Hel as something more than you could aspire to be even now. Possibly even stronger than any born of Asgardian blood, and he couldn’t wait to share this lifetime together to see how the second would progress afterwards in new and exciting ways somehow different and impossibly better than the first.

Breakfast would come at an alarm and groggily from bed he would ease out leaving you to continue resting while he readied food. A buzz from his pocket had him bring out the phone Stark had given to him and he answered the call lifting it to his ear, “Good Morning, Stark.”

Through the line he heard Tony ask, “Where are you? Thor will not leave my bedroom until you are found.”

“I went to check on Miss Pear.”

Tony sighed, “She’s barely an adult, Loki.”

“Whilst recovering from a scuffle with cyclists in the park that had her heavily bruised on her back, face, neck and side while we were gone had what she called a stomach bug and still had a fever when I arrived. I made her some stew and ensured she got rest. Her fever has broken and her pain has subsided.”

“Fever, did you say scuffle with cyclists? She report it?”

“Doubtful. She did not even mention the injury to me, I noticed it, her shirt has openings in the back and side.”

“Well she’s not the only one Pepper did say she heard from one of the girls in the office there’s some decathalon coming up and she has to be careful exiting her own stoop. I’ll keep an ear out. And come back soon, I’ll send one of my Docs to keep an eye on her if you don’t think she should be alone.”

Pepper could be heard, “Pluto’s sick? No, no, Loki can’t come back then till she’s better. I’m pregnant, what if I get sick?!”

Tony groaned and rolled his eyes when her back was turned on a way to fetch her hand cream to finish her morning routine Thor had interrupted. “I’m sending Thunder Boy your way then with some of your things, get her back up on her feet soon, maybe the company will perk her up.” Loki rolled his eyes at the call ending and soon enough his brother did arrive with a stuffed shark and a pot of baby bluebells to hand over to the invalid he now was ready to aid in any task to help your recovery. Though mainly for his amusement he accepted that Loki had been helping your healing along and enjoyed the chance to get to know his brother’s Mate even more in the few days that followed until they calmed Pepper down that you were not contagious and they were not infected with anything serious after a full medical work over for the understanding brothers to calm the first time mother.

Pt 10

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Loki - @pastelhexmaniac

#Healing #Feast and Flight Home #Gifted Glider #Cover Story #Cuddles and Comfort #Tony Stark #Ronan the Accuser #Wakanda #Symbiotes #Eddie Brock/Venom & OC Siblings #Loki x oc #Thor #Pepper Potts Baby Fever

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blankdblank · 3 years

Text

Brother Dearest Pt 66

With a huff Victor dropped the paper he was reading onto the table, “They’re saying you simply helped apply pressure and gave reassuring words to Mark until the Ambulance arrived. That’s the Daily News, the Times is now delving into your entire medical degree and has some trash on how their dig into your Military history is redacted so there’s no telling who you are or what is the truth for how you even ‘possibly’ got the requirements to be a Nurse let alone Medic. Even with mentioning quotes Stark apparently gave to them. Which, admittedly is an improvement on their prior stories. I do think you got to them with your comment. Still, ‘Baroness Bamboozler’ across the front page, they’re getting flack for that.”

Eddie smiled saying, “Bugle loved the scoop on the injury and we got a full two pages from the Paramedics and Doctors with Mark’s family’s permission. Even if they keep twisting what happens there’s variety now.” He said with a lift of the final paper he had brought in, “Plus the Sun has a full picture of you and the full belly with a few doctor assumptions that you’re having twins and they have a few polls and possible betting pool on gender and letters for names you might choose. Still haven’t apologized yet.”

“The Sun wasn’t that rough on me before this. Did have that one paper on asking Med Students what they would do with those results and said it was most common to have just run the test again since any sample taken from me couldn’t possibly have enough metal to kill a frog. And they did hint that I’m not dead so there was a chance the other papers were wrong.”

“Eternal optimist,” he fired back playfully you smirked back at. “You know I love you, Pipsqueak for that, you deserve better and you know it.”

“I love you too, Kitty. They’ll get tired of me eventually.”

James chuckled in the back of his throat as he chewed his mouthful of food that made you glance his way and shake your head, Dawn smiled saying, “Doubtful. Even through this in the Sun and the Times they had to admit the fact that you are close to being a millionaire thanks to your comics and book. One heck of an achievement for the town you came from to brag on one of their own.”

“I can’t even imagine hitting a million, 500k was shocking enough. I don’t know how you two did for so long.”

James chuckled saying, “We buried a good chunk of it and tried to forget it.”

Victor said, “Let’s just hope that the confusion on headlines makes the public snap the papers out of their nonsense.”

Over the top of the napkin laid over top of your belly your hand shifted in the fold that occurred when you shifted in your seat to fix the napkin to protect the mint colored blouse with three black buttons down the front and three quarter sleeves tucked into your forest green overall shorts secured by metal buttons topped with smoothed crystals that shifted colors in varied types of light. “Things will be fine.” You said and he had to chuckle as you said, “Or there will be a series of opportune fires in New York,” loading up your fork to continue eating your breakfast.

Where crowds and confusion had given chance to have missed your belly the helpful hand from James and clear lack of a jacket to your feet from the telling maroon car that had a crowd of cameramen there to capture your parting kiss and stroll inside. Beyond the stunned to silence crowd with full view of your figure as your arm with your bag handles rested in the bend of your arm also kept the cardigan draped across the top of it from falling so you could add it when and if you got chilly in class. Open and honest with your condition through the Barnard Campus English wing you strolled through the smiling crowds who took in your pleasant mood against the business with the papers. Stories and when you’d passed in another assignment on the way to your usual seat the English class was easy to delve into with the next tale to be dissected for impact details of the author had hidden inside of it.

Trig came next after crossing paths with the cameras again between the Barnard and Columbia campuses. Notes were taken and you could almost see the new stories being dredged up from the smoking cogs in their brains that shifted in your silence. “Congratulations, saving a life, spy and pregnant all at once,” your Professor said making you giggle in your entrance to his classroom.

“Well I do have to practice multi tasking,” you joked on the way to your usual seat.

“Yes you do. How is your back holding up?”

“Good so far until I lie down then it’s a wrestling match of wills.”

That had him chuckle and say, “The spare chair is open should you need it.”

You nodded and said, “Maybe when I grow a few more inches and can’t squeeze in the desk anymore.” You said and went to your desk to sit down and lure more than a few glances by those on their way to their own seat with the view of your bare legs from the mid thigh down on display on this humid day. While the upper two thirds of your body had puffed up at its own necessity and whims your legs at least, disregarding the sometimes swollen ankles and feet, showed hints of reminders of the pre-pregnancy body you hoped to get back no matter how hard you had to push to do so. Demonstrations at the board for a recap were given. Including one by you in means of a spare handheld chalk tablet the Professor smirked in handing over and carrying to the board to copy your work and explain how you had gotten the equations right step by step as he usually did for the hardest ones he assigned you for checks that you were still ahead of the others in your studies. An exam however filled the last chunk of the class which gave you a chance after having turned the exam in at his desk to bring out the example screenplay that you began to use to draft out the detailed map of your story stretched out to a nearly two hour film.

Calculus when the final exam was handed in called and after another exam you were back to the same task that spread a grin on the Professor’s face in an assumed ploy to keep getting ahead to complete this semester early. Chemistry was a welcome change to have an actual lesson that you could sit in on, before yet another exam, albeit smaller, but an exam none the less.

Psychology bled into Literature somehow and before you knew it while your mind rambled on in tries to perfect how a complicated scene was to be played out in a longer sense than it was already written off to the meeting of the paper you went. With more doodles in hand to hand over for the next requested comic that the Editor asked you to make to swap out one that the usual comic artist had to miss making for a family event that took her out of town. Soon to be joined with another set that you had tucked in your things in case she missed another week and for the weeks when you would be gone to not leave them in a lurch for an artist for the paper each of them subtly urged you to rejoin next semester as well should you choose to return to Barnard.

“You know, I wonder how we are related sometimes,” you heard in the midst of a verbal battle between the twins inside of Professor Randolph’s classroom that you entered to find your former Professor who looked up when you came into view.

Across his face a relieved grin at the living life raft he was being thrown to distract the duo from their argument. “Bunny,” the name turned their heads and had the brothers smile and drop the argument. “How are you feeling?”

“Good, your day good?”

Jeff and Beau both nodded their heads to the other and said, “Oh we’re fine.”

And Elliot let out a puff of air, “Just finished reading through another of the stories available in print.”

You nodded and asked the brothers, “You two warring over me?”

“No,” they both said and Beau said, “Old argument over the siege of Troy. Spurred by a stray thought on the Times’ comment on Nursing history through various wars in the past.”

“I thought women who practiced medicine were thought to be witches back then, or close to it.”

“Oh they were,” Jeff said, “Which sort of negates their point that women haven’t been very successful in medicine when most men learned of medicines by witch doctors who knew the lands and effects of plants better than men in the city.” He shook his head, “It’s complicated, we should walk you out.”

A buzz that seemed to grow through the campus and lot outside had you turn your head with brows furrowed only to step inside the door that shut behind you as Elliot moved to his radio he called from his office. While he turned his radio on you accepted the chair Beau rolled over to settle into while in the lot James parked and looked around at the bodies rushing to the cars with passengers in it to hear the broadcast he turned on to end his silent reflection time for how to make your evening better when he got you home.

‘Again we repeat this is a recorded statement from the President of the United States at his public appearance at the opening of a new Veteran’s Hospital in Virginia today. “Today I had hoped to celebrate some of our nobler Veterans who fought and were injured in the line of duty today at this event when I find the morning marred by the disgraceful attacks upon another Veteran of our Allied Forces.

Months now while I have been touring the country I have heard lie after lie printed about Baroness Bunny Pear Howlett who is a retired Corporal Medic in the Canadian Armed Forces and an active consulting Specialist Officer, Corporal Medic in the United States Armed Forces for months now regarding her health. And now a select bit of press has the audacity to infer that her Military History is a matter of falsehood when all the public knows has been released by the United States Military for the public to be made aware of.

While I have entrusted that Mrs Pear Howlett has been the best judge on when to announce her news on this troubling pregnancy that has her unable to work in the field as she once did I will not allow lies on her allegiance and patriotism in defense of the citizens of this country and our allies. Amongst consulting on a handful of cases that involved individual threats to our freedoms and aid in chemical counters to discovered cloaking technology used by said individuals now captured Our Corporal has been at work on new prosthetic designs for our injured boys who came home while so many others didn’t. One which shows great promise in recovery to normal range of function.

While there is secured in the First Amendment the Freedom of the Press while one of our sisters in arms has been hard at work and sworn to silence on said projects and circumstances requiring of her intellect to counter on our behalf I will not allow lies to be printed on our fellow Americans unable to retaliate in their own defense. Hidden within our shores threats do linger in this unsettling Cold War we find ourselves in great need of such allies as Our Corporal to whom even the former President Roosevelt spoke of great promise much like her fallen brother Steve who up until his final days fought for our freedoms.” The message skillfully broke back to the hospital and the injured men who fought for this country, among whom had hopes for help with prosthetics in the future is possible to improve upon the wooden models available.

Elliot shut off the radio as the trio looked to you as you broke the stunned silent puckering stare you had aimed at the radio to say, “I thought I was retired, fully retired. Not retried in Canada but active here instead. How does that even work?”

Jeff said after a flinch of his tongue over his lower lip he had been biting through the segment, “Perhaps the consulting role is the extent of the active duty.”

You sighed and said, “Truman did say he wouldn’t stay silent forever, and I suppose Chief Sousa did have to say something about my help on his case for the invisible ship.”

Elliot sighed and stated, “Well, if he does try to enforce something more than consulting we can step in on that.”

Beau, “There’s always the thought that he is lying to shut the papers up.”

Again you sighed and leaned your head back feeling the long braid your hair was pulled into that squished behind your back and bunched up against the back of your neck. “First the new hero they got to replace Steve and now I’m active duty again.”

Elliot, “At the worst it’s a ploy to keep other countries from assuming some random citizen is behind helping the government with problems.”

“Better be a technicality,” you muttered and turned the chair that hastened them around the chair to help you up to your feet again to stroll out to the car where James sat with furrowed brows mentally replaying the statement. “Now I have to pee again,” you muttered widening their smiles for an agreed stop at the nearest bathroom before your walk out to the car. On the other side of the door accepting the bag and cardigan the guys held for you their grins spread excitedly as you said, “I remembered something. I had a dream about Ammit who was spouting limericks to a dead frog faced Pharaoh and the hippo pulling his boat in the river Styx. Don’t get it, but two of them weren’t very flattering on the pair of you,” you said to the twins who chuckled.

Elliot said, “Not a bad dream. Normally our mothers nearest to us in our lives have wilder dreams.”

“Oh they get plenty wild. First one that went back to Egyptian afterlife though.”

Beau said, “Must be something important if Ammit has come up in your dream.”

In a stammered glance up at him you asked, “Ammit is a physical being or just the symbol of Ammit?”

Jeff, “She is real, prefers that name over others, however she rarely speaks in our dreams.” He said with brows furrowed curiously.

Elliot asked, “Have you sketched this dream?”

You nodded and reached into your bag and brought out a folded bit of notebook pages you passed him, “Even wrote the limericks out. There is a word I didn’t know how to spell it, but I wrote how it sounded and underlined it.” After a moment you asked, “Is it something bad for her to talk to me?”

“No,” Jeff said and Beau continued, “Were it bad she would have approached Erich to return to you himself. Or perhaps she misses you, she did visit our kingdom often to spend time with you.”

Jeff, “It was always fun when she would come to visit. We would have the best fairs and tournaments to celebrate, and then when she required aid we would be off afterwards.”

Elliot said after reading through the limericks, “Oh, she’s sent you a gift.” Your head turned, “She’s given your Mr Whiskers reincarnation so you won’t be parted from him and he can spend the rest of eternity with you and your family. Though she apologizes that she could not grant the same to your puppies, cats are within her ability to grant this to him and yourself.”

“That’s so sweet,” you said trying not to cry thinking of when you would lose him and the day not soon after when Pepper would be the next to be lost at the end of her elderly days. “Little bittersweet too. But I suppose it comes with the territory.”

James upon the shift of the doors popped out of the car and hurried over to claim your bag asking to your odd expression in place of the smile he hoped to see, “Sore or tired?”

“Did you hear the radio?” You asked as he eased the bag to his elbow and leaned in to give you a sweet kiss.

“Yes. Apparently you’re active duty still somehow.”

You nodded and said, “Ya, that’s where I’m stuck myself. Maybe Vic will have a message from Truman when we get home.” To the car you were led and the trio headed back to Elliot’s place to continue to focus on the translations while you shared the assumed meaning of your dream.

“Hey Pipsqueak,” you heard from the living room where your nest was being adjusted for your comfort. “Prince Loki showed up and you have a message.”

“Message,” you asked in the doorway and waved to Loki who flashed you a grin upon your approach in the chair closest to your nest. “Hello Loki.”

Down into the chair you settled and accepted the letter he passed to you, “Came by personal delivery an hour ago after Jimmy left or I’d have sent him with it.”

James glanced around at the quiet floor asking, “Take it Mamma Brock has the babies?”

Victor nodded, “Yes, Ambrose had her false alarm and thy called the babies over to distract everyone.”

In your hand you turned over the envelope with the seal you broke to bring out the letter that shared that you were considered active duty in consultation grounds. A share of a recount of Eddie’s having crossed paths on an investigation with Chief Sousa’s and your aid in his report of the capture of the perp behind the vanishing tech was detailed for how he had learned of the news. Mention of word trickled from Chief Thompson on the gifted leg as well was mentioned before his chosen reveal of the information on the SSR, a supposed unknown agency in this country that would explain why the case Sousa had worked on would not be in the papers like usual police work. Included was a sort of welcome of aid from you when possible to help those threatening cases to the freedoms of this country and allies.

To James in his curious stare you passed him the letter, “I have been officially informed of the SSR and my assistance on cases when possible as I have already is welcomed. Apparently Daniel said that Eddie happened across his case and I helped them with half the facts apparently.”

Victor chuckled taking his seat while you reached for your tea, “And the active duty part?”

“Consultation only, according to the letter,” after a sip you lowered the cup and said, “Not bad I suppose, I doubt they come across things like Kree technology often.”

That had Loki look you over, “Kree technology?”

You nodded and shared about the Kree prisoner who your father took somewhere else for his sentence who had taken a cruise ship of workers to do his bidding. And after a look over him you asked, “How are things on your planet?”

“Fairly well, Father has taken Thor on another of their tours of an allied kingdom for a sit in of their annual trade talks.”

“Ooh, fun times, and he just leaves you at home?” You asked in notice of a bowl of caramel candies that Eddie had brought home from his latest night of making use of the elderly woman’s balcony to spy on others she treats Venom to keep up his energy while she chats with him. From the bowl you accepted one of the candies and unwrapped it to slip between your lips while the brothers stood to go and fetch a fuller spread of snacks for you. In his second glance at the bowl you lifted a second candy and offered it to him, “You want one?”

Between you and the candy his eyes flinched and he asked, “Is it medicine?”

“It’s a caramel candy,” you said accepting the candy that by means of a recently discovered ability to sneak him snacks after Teddy had offered him some cheese cubes the week prior.

“Thank you,” he said and mimicking your actions he twisted the wrapper to unfold it and he eased it between his lips for an almost instant pop of his eyes wider. Cautiously around his mouth he moved the squishy block of caramel that he timidly gave a couple presses of his teeth into the caramel treat that he asked around, “What is this?”

“Caramel candy. You don’t like it?”

“I do, it is delicious, I’ve never tasted anything like it.”

James asked in an amused hum in his return with tray of food in hand while Victor brought out a coke for himself with the sandwich he made himself earlier and forgot to bring out earlier. “You don’t have caramel on Asgard?”

Loki shook his head, “No, even just, the, zing is not the right word.”

“The sweetness?” you asked and his brows furrowed slightly, “Do you have candy on your planet?”

“What is candy?”

Victor said, “Treats made of mostly sugar, occasionally with chocolate toppings.”

Loki shook his head slightly in another chew of the candy, “I, don’t believe we have sugar. Our usual treats are nuts or grapes.”

“Wow, then what do you make cakes or pies with? They must be bland without sugar.”

“We have fruit pies with savory crusts or fillings and our cakes are mostly comprised of fruit and rum or vanilla topped with fruit.” Loki answered as his eyes scanned over your face.

James, “Savory, so you have salt and pepper and other seasonings?”

Loki nodded, “Yes.”

Victor, “Well sugar looks like salt it just instead of leaning towards savory it fills the opposite end of the taste spectrum for sweet flavors. Fruit does have natural sugars in it, although in smaller quantities.”

“And you’ve never heard of it?” you asked with brows furrowed in confusion and that brought on a slew of tasting of a few more candies and even a brownie from today’s dessert to give him a taste of both chocolate and sugar. “How have you not heard of sugar you’ve been to this planet before?”

He shrugged and enjoyed the rest of the break until he had to return home again with a small baggy of candy and the rest of a second brownie in a napkin he nibbled on through the stroll back through the palace. “There you are, My Love.” Frigga stated with a widening smile in exit of the latest usual hiding place of her younger son. Down to the napkin wrapped treat her eyes dipped and she asked, “What are you eating?”

“A brownie, Mother has shared some of the treats native to her planet.” Her brow twitched at his asking, “Why do we not have sugar on this planet?” Her expression dropped and he asked, “What did I say?”

Horns sounded announcing the return of Odin and Thor and she said, “Do not speak of sugar around your father.”

“Why?” he asked in her hand that rested on his arm to guide him to his room to hide his treats.

“Because Odin has forbidden it.”

And like a giant toddler he again repeated, “Why?”

“Loki,” she sighed and caught her gaze, “I need you to promise me you won’t mention it, any of it.”

“Mother?” his voice cracked out and her hand rose to cup his cheek.

“Promise me.”

“I promise,” he muttered half heartedly and in the drop of her hand walked with her to his room where he finished his treat alone even against her continued glances to it and his offer of a nibble she outright refused. Her smile flinched wider and she urged him to finish his teat and hide the bag and ready to meet his father and brother in their return to hear of how it all went then left to buy the Prince some time to do all of that.

Word was given and upheld, although an enchanted pocket with the candies only he could retrieve allowed him on strolls between lessons pops of caramels between his lips in private moments he would suck on and savor as long as they could last until he could go back to your home and receive more treats. Suddenly his private moment was disturbed in the arrival of his blonde brother who smirked in sight of the clenched fist behind his younger brother’s back. “Hello brother, what are you hiding?”

“Nothing,” did nothing to dissuade him and in a bout of tussling Thor smirked in a gloating pop of the treat between his lips without notice of what it was knowing Loki was the one who knew where te best grapes were usually hidden.

“Mmm,” he said and Loki now huffing and in a fix of his shirt locked eyes on Thor’s with lips parted at the dilation of the pupils on the blonde who said, “How do you always find the best treats?” A call to bring Thor to his next lesson turned him around and Loki’s eyes narrowed for the confusing reaction and four glances back at himself. And when alone again he reached into his pocket to bring out a treat for the rest of his walk to his next lesson to the mental shift of his rationing of the remainder he now would be more careful of surroundings in savoring.

It didn’t take two hours for Thor to be back and be found grinning stupidly at his brother who said, “Grim will not take well to your skipping out on your topography lessons.”

“Topography is fruitless, Brother.”

Loki glanced his way in the shift of his hand to collect a bar of colored glass with the Smith tutor he had to master his hobby of glass blowing he’d picked up recently since notice of glass figures in your home and the Palace in England had been inspected and of interest to him to learn how to make them. “Do not dredge me to the punishment you are aching for. Go to your lessons Thor. Father was in poor mood on your role in the meeting. Do not worsen things for everyone.”

Without the argument expected Thor stood and obeyed the order and by the next afternoon notice was clearly taken of the drop from free willed person to puppy dog the blonde Prince had been left to with reminders from Loki on what to do next to fit his usual pattern through the day. An hour after supper however Frigga’s walk straight into his room to where he was lounged and reading had him snap his book shut and inch up to give her room to sit where his feet just were. “Hello Mother.”

“What did you give to your brother?” she asked curtly.

“I didn’t give him anything.”

“Loki, you promised me to hide what you were given and now Thor is-,” sharply she huffed and drew in a breath to draw back her frightened rage, “Loki you cannot go around slipping sugar treats to our people.”

“I did not give him anything. Thor took one of the candies from me,” her brow arched up, “Wrestled it form my hand and ate it without a glance. I did not give him anything, now he’s-,”

“Now he’s in a trance and I have to keep your father from noticing while you ensure Thor attends each of his lessons!”

“Is there no way to break it?” Loki asked.

“Aside from time no. And you must ensure that he finds no more of your treats.”

She moved to get up and Loki asked, “Mother,” which had her halt the motion, “I have eaten near to a score of these treats and I am perfectly within control of my faculties.”

Something was hidden in her eyes as she said, “The mortals learned of our weakness some centuries ago and since then Odin has forbidden a cross of our goods and strict dietary limits for those who do travel to Midgard. Not all fall prey to this, enough do however to justify the limitations.”

“Then why not speak of it? Surely ignorance is no safer when the threat has no name.”

“Because to know a treat is forbidden draws allure to it all the more, and those who have tasted sugar have been known to slay their closest kin to get back to the source of said treats. A good many of our cells were filled by those who had fallen prey to it until they came to their senses.”

Loki reached out to clutch her hands, “Mother, why did you not tell me? What else have we not learned? What else has father hidden from us?”

“You are so brave, My Love. Open to travels, even found Mother herself and befriended her. There is no telling what you could achieve in the name of our people at your brother’s side. There is so much I wish I could share with you.”

“Then tell me. I will not shout it to the populace, but how can we take up your mantles without full disclosure?”

“I gave my word, given vows,” her voice faded off to tears in her eyes that had him lean in and rest his forehead to hers in realization that it was Odin behind all of these secrets and this barrier his mother had to enforce between them that allowed secrets like sugar and its effects to fester in silence. He gave his word and held his word to keep watch of Thor and the remainder of his treats for the three weeks that Thor had been absurdly peaceful between sly orders from Loki to have him cause a ruckus and throw off suspicion to distract why he wasn’t with his normal trio of friends or about his usual nonsense.

And the snap back was not delicate as Loki and the servants and guards could hear his shouts and crashes of furniture inside of his room that Frigga stood outside to ensure no one entered until the hour of silence that signaled her slip inside to find him in an exhausted slumber in the middle of the debris filled room her and Loki magicked back together. Locked away with sleeping draughts slipped between his lips Thor was coaxed through the following four days of telling rage in a mock illness that Odin accepted his rage as a fevered outburst until the groggy and grumpy Prince ‘returned to health’ plopped into his breakfast seat and made everyone clear of his frustration. Especially Loki, to whom he flocked hourly to pester for more snacks, and in the acceptance of a handful of nuts or grapes he growled his way between bites on to his next stop on his schedule until his Warriors Three were out of their own daily chores to go and have a mock adventure to bolster his mood.

And in the relief of this ordeal being over Loki now across the rainbow bridge entered the golden dome of the BiFrost and approached to golden armored warrior. Aloofly saying, “Apparently sugar is quite debilitating.”

Heimdall smirked and said, “That it is. One of the benefits of Mother’s bond, we bear little influence from the substance.”

Loki looked to his gaze already on him, “Is that why I bore little change?”

“No, you would know it if you were bonded.”

“Could you try answering my question a bit more vague, the details are quite confounding.” He fired back sarcastically making Heimdall chuckle.

Heimdall turned and gestured the Prince to another opening that looked out into the stars and asked him, “What do you hear?”

“There is no sound in the void outside of our protective sphere.” Heimdall smirked and nodded making Loki ask, “There is? What do you hear?”

“When the bond is formed, you will know.” Gaining a huff from Loki in return, “For now be proud that you have been born in a time of Mother’s return.”

“She will be safe there won’t she? There was a letter today were she is still counted as a soldier in their masses.”

“They will release her from those bonds soon enough. Do not be concerned, we have brothers in arms ready at notice to attend to her concerns or nerves should the worse arise.”

“Surrounded by fools, I still do not hold high hopes for safety amongst the mortals.”

“Give it time,” that had the Prince huff and him smirk again, “The mortals are growing.”

From his pocket Loki brought out two treats and drew a hushed thanks from the golden guard in the silent share of forbidden treats in view of the open space viewed between the borders of the opening.

Pt 67

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Marvel-Cast - @himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @changlingkhat

Brother Dearest - @thorinanddwalinsdwarrowdam, @swoopswishsward

#James Howlett x OC #Victor Creed x Norma Jeane #Eddie Brock x OC #Venom #Sibling Bonding #School Day #Surprise Guest #Announcement From the President #News To Me #Loki #Asgardian Sugar Ban #Back on Asgard #Thor #Frigga #Odin's Secrets #Heimdall

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blankdblank · 3 years

Text

Brother Dearest Pt 64

Warm and cozy even in the early morning before sunrise you sat in the passenger seat of the car with hold of Teddy in place stretched out with his pillow and blanket to get another nap in on the drive to the Brooklyn Bugle. Marigold however grumbled and refused to leave Olive’s side so James chuckled and took control of her to give Dawn her weekly day to rest and enjoy herself however she wished. “They’re going to love the story.” Eddie said earning a grin his way.

“Thank you. Just be interesting to see how the other papers will turn this. It would be kind of fun to have a story that we’re hiring babies to play mine. Even James agrees.”

That had him chuckle and say, “Either way no more punches held if they retaliate with more lies. They don’t get to hurt you anymore. I don’t care if I end up pulled to the courts for what I print if they try anything.”

“You don’t have to do that. They’ve seemed to have been at the end of their rope for material. You can only stretch a dead frog so far and by the way they try to describe me I’m a living blueberry, all body, head and feet rolling around from class to class.”

“Not funny, you’re trying to make me laugh about it. Even if you were dying constant pegs at weight is just unkind and terrible thing for a journalist to stoop to.”

You smirked in the final turns to the garage where he found his usual spot, when at that time Teddy had stirred and was at his side on his feet looking around at where you were. “Come on, Little Bear.” He hummed and lifted the boy he tucked inside of the front flap of his coat in the palming of the keys to climb out through the door his other hand opened. Around the car he hurried with a bump of the door shut to ease a hand out to help you up to your feet in the growing drizzle blown at you by the wind that once you shut the door you both crossed the garage to the front entrance to get out of it. Reasonably dry you stood in the front entrance and took in the lobby while Teddy waved to the woman behind the desk who stood to say, “Is that your latest source?”

Eddie chuckled and said, “Brought my Teddy Bear to work today, and my sister.” Her eyes flinched to you and you gave her a quick wave after having eyed the suction cup hung thermostat on the door you’d passed through with the mercury rising on the back end of this storm that was blowing in the warm weather and away the rain.

“Hi,” you said to her silent wave back while you stepped with Eddie to continue the walk in through another set of doors and a hall to where he guided you in his arm up the first small flight of twelve steps then around the curved landing to get up the next twelve to his floor.

“And it’s just down here to the left,” he said when you had reached the top and had caused a duo of wide eyed fact checkers to freeze in place then dart off when your backs were turned to spread the word that you were here. Barely conscious more than half of the usual guys in at this hour were aimed for more coffee at the station along the wall or on their feet with hands in hold of the back of their necks or on top of their heads reading their stories softly aloud to themselves mid edit of their first drafts.

“Wow it’s warm, and that’s with the fans turning.”

Eddie chuckled stating, “Almost like a hot air balloon at times just expect it to shoot off the ground one day. My desk is here,” he said in a careful shrug of his outer jacket and inner coat he laid over the back of his chair where he made certain to not move Teddy in his place with both feet on his belt to be tall enough to see everything. “We can go in the conference room, better fans in there, you can tour my cubicle later.”

“I’d hate to disturb anything I know how the little one tried to file your things at the home office hate to unleash that here.”

That made him chuckle and open the glass barrier to a room that upon standing Teddy on the table he hurried to switch the fans on that were propped up in the corners of the room that helped to get some air flow at least. Smiling at Teddy you ignored the rush of bodies, both from the garage in notice of Eddie’s car and others from other floors to catch a glimpse of the illustrious sister here to talk to the Chief. Button by button your thick jacket was undone and even through the glass doors you could hear the shocked murmurs and whispered curses to the revealing shrug that had your belly on full display. Comfortably you had chosen some mid thigh level overall shorts in a clean white material that sat over a pale yellow sleeveless blouse that would flow out forgivingly around your belly under the simple band that sat under your again inflated bust that had grown irritatingly yet again and had little help of disguise from the patch of layered folds across the front of that section of the shirt around the black buttons.

Down into the leather wheeled chair you eased out you settled while Eddie held it steady from behind saying, “I’ll go fetch the Chief.”

“That’s got to be twins,” one of the men outside murmured to the man he’d raced in with to the news. “My mom was big like that for my younger brothers. Not round but pointed like her belly.”

While the other said, “Damn, she’s just been pregnant and hiding in coats all this time?”

“Oh, here he comes,” a couple of the guys said nudging others with their elbows to alert them to shut up and grin in greeting their fellow Journalist who exited the room with a smirk.

“Hey fellas,” he said and turned his head to spot the Chief already in his doorway on the floor above having been warned by another who was here. His eyes scanned over the room and then he glanced back at his sister who brushed her long braid back over her back with a widening smile in settling into the chair.

Across the table from the bag brought paper and colors were laid out for the grinning boy to sit cross legged to your offer of, “Why don’t we draw some things for your daddy’s desk he can show off?”

To himself Eddie smiled and turned back to the faceless question of, “You couldn’t just say she was pregnant?”

“Nope. Wanted to let it out when she was ready. Other papers haven’t been making it easier everyone at her school reads the damn things she can’t get away from them.” That sank the mood a few moments until the Chief came into view with a final adjust of his tie he always removed upon arrival over his hastily tucked in sheet that still stuck out a tiny bit under the ends of his vest. “Hey Chief.”

“How is she? Good day, bad day?”

“Fairly good day, hope you don’t mind we brought Teddy too, to give my lady the day off from the munchkins. Shouldn’t bother much beyond offering you a drawing for your desk.”

The Chief turned his head expecting a sickly woman only to gawk in silence open mouthed then turn his head to Eddie whose smile had spread, “We figure she’s either pregnant or this is the first case of toxic metal poisoning where the metal has its own heartbeats and loves to kick.” He teased and nodded his head, “Wait till you read what she wrote it’s brilliant.”

“All these months-,” he sighed out in the step with Eddie after his head nod to join you at the table. And once through the door he eyed your legs with feet unable to meet the wheel covers in a gentle swing that halted in notice of the company. “Hello, Mrs Bunny. How are you feeling?”

“Good,” you answered offering your hand in response to his he shook gladly with relief that you were healthy and clearly not dying. “Good. Girls are behaving so far.”

“Girls, so twins?”

“Triplets,” you replied with a grin that had him let out a puff of air in a plop into the seat behind him.

“If you don’t mind, how far gone are you?”

“I’m due around late May or June depending on how eager the girls are. Triplets tend to come a couple weeks early.”

“Wow, so you’re roughly seven months then, and you’re still up and about.”

You let out a giggle cutting him off and said, “And still not done growing, some more inches to go yet. If it keeps raining I might have to use some of Eddie’s old coats for school. Close to risking my buttons as it is. Hard staying dry when you’re a puffer fish like me.” He chuckled and you said after you drew a breath in, “Thank you for this. I know from Eddie how your standards are for posted stories.”

“Least we could do. For your service alone you in no lifetime deserve to be thrashed in the press like this. And on top of your title you’ve got to be a saint to not have burned down the news stands for what’s been printed so far.”

“Far as I know they don’t let people with body counts like mine into the saints list.” You shifted to reach into your bag and brought out the folded pages he gladly accepted. “It’s a bit long winded by the feel but Eddie says it’s up to par and eye catching to be worth the urge to pick it up.”

Quietly the impatient crowd of men who crept into the room to hear him read the draft or at least part of it gathered around along the wall and into what chairs were open. In a chuckle the Chief read aloud, “Farewell To My Feet. An expose from Baroness Bunny Pear Howlett on the near debilitating prognosis that forever will change my life and those I hold dear.”

“Eddie came up with the second line.” You stated to Eddie’s smile spreading at the grins already from the Head and byline.

Your statement made the Chief chuckle again then delve into the story that vaguely began to flesh out the beginning signs back around October that something was happening and up to the test that made the world of print explode. More and more he read unaware of the rise of his tempo to simply read faster into the story that would not let go even though he knew the prognosis. Painfully it expressed how the constant barrage of baseless rumors in the press had not aided in stress that only compounded your symptoms. Until he had reached the point where the readers would have to turn the page to continue and he saw the paper clipped picture of you seated beside the block castle that had him grin at the choice and peaceful smile on your face in it that stirred some sense of calm in his chest to continue on. This was when the mention of a specialist came after stating that like your mother a difficult pregnancy was in the books for you and extra care would be required.

The story began to wind down with promise that your condition had been stable and improving, while no less stressful upon you to a line that discredited the supposed proven fact that that dead frog had you labeled as barren and at death’s door. A twinge of humor that other mothers would certainly connect to was thrown in concerning the first heartbeats and the steady growth of the babies. All which would have had you beside yourself on how to handle it without sisters who have been through this before. One whom was due around the same time as yourself, and a certain Princess who was some months behind you but no less the confidant to endure this process you quipped only elephants with year long gestations could come close to empathizing over the pains and often blush worthy side effects of bringing more lives onto this planet. Including at this stage some unsettling or tear inducing dreams from laughter at how absurdly vivid and illogical as they could possibly be.

All of which had the guys chuckle even if not entirely understanding of the depth to the topics you touched on to not have men turn away from reading at that point. And as it reached the final line that at the end of all this one Wolverine and a Bunny will be ecstatic to meet their little Hons to come.

“Hon, h-o-n, is that a typo?”

Eddie answered, “Children of Barons are called Hons. King George made it clear that they would be officially announced with titles and all the frills, whatever that entails.”

“You’re sure in the title?”

You smiled at him after a glance at Teddy helping him to reach a color that rolled away and you say, “Everyone keeps saying my feet still there but I’m beginning to doubt. I can only see them when I sit down and being able to reach them is almost impossible.”

That makes him chuckle and he held out the pages, “Get this to the printers. Front page as much space as it needs and the picture on the second page.”

A nod was traded and a pair of guys raced out to get it there to be transferred on the draft to be printed on time. His eyes shifted back to you and he asked, “You aren’t adding the triplets part?”

You shook your head, “Nope, because when I have them Eddie’s going to call you guys with the details.” Spreading the grins around the room for not just one great scoop but two ahead of the other papers. “My brother Steve might have sold comics to the Times and the Daily News but they can wait in line for not bothering to ask us first about that frog. Our town Doctor was mortified with the betrayal of the break of custody of information.”

The Chief smiled as you did in watching Teddy slide a picture his way he said, “Thank you, young man. I will hang this masterpiece up on my wall.”

Teddy giggled and you said, “I don’t mean to rant.”

He chuckled out, “Rant away. Lord knows we’ve shouted enough in here about them. Have you seen a printing press before?” You shook your head and he said, “You can come watch your story come to life if you like?”

You nodded and Eddie helped you up after a pop up to his own feet with a grin at your first scoot forward to the edge of the seat to touch the ground and then to stand up in hold of the arms of the chair. “Might just invent a hand crank jack to help pregnant women up by the time I hit the final few weeks. Or a very small crane.” That lured more chuckles and Eddie lifted Teddy into his side at the boy’s reach for him to come too.

And step by step from the men making the actual print to be copied onto the speeding rolls of paper in the bustling machines to the actual cutting and folding machines that bound and then dropped them to be loaded onto the trucks for distribution. And as soon as the final print was done the paper began to come to life, with the first of the pile handed to you that back in the conference room your family and it were photographed with it to hang up in the office later.

Growling stomachs from Eddie and Teddy came to call you home again for a brunch after your small early breakfast with kind goodbyes and well wishes for your days off from everyone who in your absence exploded with all they had been holding back for this scoop that phones soon began to ring upon their delivery. Just the front page had caused a bit of gridlock on the sidewalks at the sight of your name on the cover of the Bugle with people who waited to buy their own copy.

And as usual those phone calls came from the other papers after their spies had been waiting to join those lines to bring a copy of the latest Bunny news to twist for their own papers that had them still in silent rooms lost on how to recover their ground now that they had been proven so utterly wrong. Eat crow or dig in were the two options most would face while others would state these new facts and not apologize as if jumping wagons would be enough of a move to be forgiven. And soon enough from the press to the radio waves much like overseas in England who had been mailed their own copy all the radio stations had blasted the news straight from the Baroness herself that only led to more paper sales to get a hard copy to check for themselves.

“New York Brought To A Halt!” Over the radio the voice rang out across the floor of every building thanks to those who rushed in by others from outside to share the news of the story that was being replayed for those who had missed the first few minutes. “All through the city straight from the hand of Baroness Bunny herself out of the Brooklyn Bugle has announced she is pregnant and has been since back around October.”

Various details from station to station swept across the state and out farther through the country thanks to those calling relatives who then spread the news to other stations that left phones ringing near to off the hook for those who wished to fact check this. All of which had many of your friends and fellow students tickled by the exploding city with elation at the positive news contradicting the contrasted front pages of other papers.

“Marilyn!” the name was shouted by a group of reporters on the street who caught Norma and Victor on her way from a photo shoot after a clothing fitting for her next bout of filming set to begin in a couple months.

“Hello,” she said with a smile to the crowd and said playfully, “I take it you all have read the papers?”

“Bunny’s really pregnant?”

“Very pregnant, and rather patient considering all that’s been printed over the months.” She answered.

Another reporter asked, “Why talk now if she’s been able to keep it quiet all these months?”

Marilyn said with a smirk, “Us gals needs to keep fellas on their toes. Had you all been nice about it you would have the full story by now.” Victor chuckled in her playful turn and strut to his side at their car he helped her into accepting her umbrella she was holding he folded and carried around the car with him while the crowd grouped up to gossip and brainstorm on what else you might be hiding on top of the basic pregnancy announcement. He climbed in and chuckled with her on their drive home joking about what they would print about next before talks of her next role that would have her off again soon enough. “Do you think Bunny would mind if I had to fly off rather soon after her birth?”

“Not at all, you know that we all support your dreams. She wants you to keep going, you’re the trio’s aunt no matter what. Bound to have years of watching them grow up between your filming breaks. Besides she loves hearing stories about your jobs. We all do.”

“She was around the clock for when Leanora was born.” She said in a remorseful sigh.

At the next light he leaned over to kiss her cheek that brought out her smile again, “Sweetheart, the girls will not be going anywhere. So you go and spread your wings and remember every detail you can bring back and share. You know she feels bad herself only having stories on her books to share back our way.”

“I love hearing about her classes. She gets to learn so much. Even her lessons on Literature are amazing and she has so many books to share, what I learn from her gives me foot ahead of my classmates sometimes. Even some of my coaches couldn’t get to the depth of analysis into the books they’ve seen me carrying.”

“See, proof right there. Always there to help you with your career as best she can. Anything to help you get ahead. And I think if you wanted she could probably head out to an event when your next premier comes out for some press if you felt you wanted a boost in the headlines.”

“I think she’d like Ladies of the Chorus, and it opens in New York too, so we could just pop by after what she has planned for that day and we can get back to the girls afterwards. I think she might like a night on the town after everything and give her a night to get dressed up. And we could have another shopping trip like before that first dinner we went to.”

“Bunny is due another shopping trip.” He said with a smirk, “Lord knows she rarely spoils herself and it would be to support you so she’d be more likely to take up the task to shop for something stunning and ignore the price. For now, why don’t you share about that new script you got?” That had her smile split widely to delve into her latest offered script she hoped to audition for soon before the big move back to Canada for the summer until she left to film again.

“I have this weird bruise on my back,” you said to Herc in his move to ready his bag with a comfortable grin upon another clear sign that your body was readying for the final stage of growth. And in a release of the straps on your pants that slid over your shoulders when you had settled comfortably sideways on the couch so he could help you lift the back of your blouse. “I didn’t fall or bump anything.”

With ease it was pulled up while Ambrose kept her hand on your curled leg in front of you James watched from a chair off to the side and eyed the patch of silver that spread along the back of your hips and along the lower strip of your spine that appeared over night. “Ah, yes, this is common among our mothers for triplets or higher. A bit early, normally it is a few more weeks before this appears, however it could be for the angle of seats in school and also your girls are respectably above weight for mortals at this point however right on track for our little ones.”

“So this will go away?”

“Oh yes, in a couple days or so. Every muscle in your lower back is readying for that extra weight that your girls are going to gain in small bursts every week until they arrive. Last week they were already at four pounds each and along our rates should be born at six or seven.”

Ambrose, “How big would a single baby be then if triplets could be up to seven? Mrs Maisey’s triplets are always under four or five pounds.”

Herc grinned and answered while his hands felt around your lower back in blind checks your muscles were not under greater strain than expected, “Seven to nine roughly, we do not birth under five pounds.”

Eddie asked, “Even, if there was, heaven forbid, an accident?”

“Our mothers have a sort of reflexive cocoon of energy, part of the early months. We have no early labor and we monitor diligently to prevent chance of miscarriage. Part of that cocoon is a sort of hive connection, were a mother to be in a dangerous situation any and all of our kin on the planet would appear to defend and in needed grant aid in recovery to the mother and child. And as unbelievably as it sounds had you not gone to Columbia we would have made it a point to enter ourselves in your social circle to support any possible birth.” Gently his hand eased behind your neck and shoulder when he moved to your side to help support you in laying back so he could feel around your hips and belly.

“Would you say Beserker births are easier for you than human ones?” You asked and he gave you a smirking glance.

“I miss our births. Our brothers had been resting a long time. I am quite pleased birth medicine has advanced how it has through the centuries and amply pleased to have, if you are unaware, to have the honor to aid in your birth and the birth of your daughters.”

James chuckled to himself in a smile and asked, “You helped Sarah?”

“Yes, Erich insisted that she not miss a moment of aid. We ground the proper herbs for her daily teas in place of pears as they would have harmed her, she has always been strong a trait that you have inherited.”

“Thank you,” you said a bit tearfully trying to blink away the tears his comments brewed up while he continued to feel around the girls who shifted making it hard for your lungs to expand fully in this position. “Is that why you stayed in New York? I don’t remember seeing you when I was little.”

“Sarah took you after you were five to a doctor in the hospital she worked in, there was a dental office there all in the same building. And by the time Erich’s physical form diminished when you were nine you rarely needed a doctor. I used to pop by the clinic in town and would catch sight of you. I am sorry that we could not legally claim you, and had Steve been fruitful in his try to adopt you out we would have stepped in to bring you home with us.”

His hands formed around the top of your belly above and below your puffed out belly button and you replied, “I can’t imagine how much different my life would have been, I wouldn’t have met James, Eddie would have gone alone, and Venom,”

Venom popped his head out of Eddie’s neck to say, “We would have bonded still. I aimed for Eddie for his bond to you in this lifetime and before. And we would have drug James and Victor home with us.” Making you giggle to yourself.

James smirked and hummed, “That would have been worth the dragging part to find you.” In a lean forward he pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead and stroked the top of your head knowing this position flat on your back was hard to be comfortable in.

Your belly was covered again and Herc moved down your legs that were propped up over Ambrose’s lap commenting on each detail that showed promise for not showing strain with continued classes daily. “Any tingling in your legs or unanticipated soreness?”

“No.”

“That is good, your flat soled shoes are doing wonders on your endurance and swelling is minimal.”

James, “We do our best, Norma even has a usual foot soak with her and Dawn a couple times a week between the usual court days.”

Herc helped you up again and to secure the straps of your short overalls back over your blouse and to face him fully so he could do the usual checks to your neck and facial features, a set that had you ask finally. “What are the neck and facial checks for?”

His fingers trailed from around your jaw to your cheeks and continued upwards, “In rare occasion there can be tiny pockets of metallic fluid that can warn of a need for some diet changes. Normally in rougher climates than this planet offers.”

“Oh, did dad tell you about the Kree Venom found behind Chief Sousa’s investigation?”

“Yes, he did share that news. Quite surprising a Kree could survive here so long without the Nitrogen levels in the air that their bodies require. Hala, their home planet, has a higher level of gravity as well so they are quite unmatched to mortals on planets similar to this one.”

“So if they would be stronger than humans how would this be a prison, exactly? Seems more like a fox in an egg factory if you ask me.”

“More a removal from any tech that could aid in attacking more planets or Kree again.” He chuckled and continued, “Not a good plan in our view however from comparison to Hala this would be a torturously irritating realm.”

“So when the others get here does that mean we can start dropping off some of our undesirables off on Hala then and return the favor?” You joked making him chuckle along with James and Eddie.

“They would be due a few drop ins. Though perhaps you might prefer a stop yourself, I know a good supply of planets already who would be eager to welcome you and your family.”

“That would be interesting,” you said in his retrieval of his stethoscope from his neck, “To beat the rest of the planet off earth.” You fell quiet while he listened to your heart and lungs and then asked, “What do our ships look like?”

“Bumblebees actually. Although our brothers are arriving in the honeycomb shaped carriers to build our own continent on this planet when they arrive. All of which are beyond any chance of discovery by the mortals within the next millennia.”

You nodded and then asked, “I had a weird, thought, there are people who can do things here like we can, but aren’t like us. Norma has a connection to plants. Are there?”

Herc said, “There are. There is a great deal of races who have left their offspring here which have separated a different breed of the mortals who have always been hunted or abused as weapons. Do you recall our link to them?”

“Are they ours?” you asked, “Related to us?”

“Not related, no. However if you are concerned of their suffering we shall offer protection to them shall they face harm should the mortals discover a means to search the way to differentiate between their races.”

Around your belly he eased the girdle he brought out and you said, “I’m not sure how they might take that.”

Venom, “The fleshlings will fall into line on both sides of the line you draw.”

Herc, “Both sides will feel safer with rules.”

Venom, “And a slow agonizing death to those who fail to honor that line.”

“I love family time,” Ambrose said that made you giggle with her as she reached over to pat her hand on top of the girdle with glee at her nieces that wiggled excitedly through the scan as if they knew their family was there to see them once again.

“Tell me I didn’t miss our girls!” Victor said in his trot inside making Norma chuckle in the doorway from the garage removing her heels she carried in to come and join the family in hr usual seat beside where Leanora was seated upright playing with one of her toys and giggled in seeing her mother back home.

“Hello Sunshine,” she said in a stroke of the girl’s back she rested her crossed feet against to help keep her from falling back.

Victor chuckled and in a point at one of the girls who was wiggling her fingers as if to wave at him leaned to say something only to glance at Teddy with a smile at his stating again, “Poof!” To the flicker of the lights that Marigold said with him only making him giggle with her afterwards in a repeat of her first word she’d mastered now with so much practice with her big brother who was happy to have the girls learning to talk now.

And before he could announce the thunder that followed Victor squeaked in hearing his baby girl say loudly, “Boo!”

Teddy gasped in your giggle to Victor’s slide over on his knees to Norma’s side while she lifted their girl to her lap excitedly, “Petal said Boo!”

Norma said tearily, “You said Boo?”

Kisses were peppered across her head and face and Teddy and Marigold announced the next flicker of light to the lightning, “Poof!”

And the boy bounced on his feet when the next roll of thunder came and the little girl said “Boo!” to Teddy’s “Boom!”

Her parents chuckled along with the rest of the group and Victor’s head looked around to find the camera already finding Eddie filming with the video camera and you with your camera widening his smile at your joint, “Already on it.”

This moment would in Norma’s excited rush to get some snacks to the growl of the girl’s stomach and her own delve into a tug of war with words where Teddy would repeat, “Boom.” To be answered every time to her “Boo,” until his look to his mom behind him who chuckled and said, “She will learn the M, Teddy Bear. You remember Marigold kept saying oof for a while?”

He nodded and joined Victor in the move to look at your scan again he peered at with a giggle to the stretch of one of them that had you shift a bit on your seat luring Victor’s eyes to you and his free hand to your lap at the next call of his girl. “You okay Pipsqueak?”

You nodded, “They’re stretching more often is all. Apparently I’m due for 6-7 pounds each.” Parting his lips, “Oh ya, I can hear the printing press and doubts now, or jokes on my blood.”

Eddie said, “Strong Irish blood is nothing to scoff at. Or Canadian,” he added with a smirk to James. “Three strong healthy girls will be nothing to joke about aside from us being overrun by little ones and James needing another arm.”

Victor said, “Anyone makes fun of your blood they’re free game in my book. Babies come in all sizes and the bigger they are the healthier you worked to keep them.”

“Boo,” you said along with his little girl to the next roll of thunder widening his smile again. Then you turned your head and said to Herc, “I think we should give my niece her turn for the light show.” Making Herc and Ambrose smile in his move to transfer the girdle to her so she could get another confirmation her daughter’s heart was healed still.

Pt 65

All –

@sherala007, @mariannetora, @jesgisborne, @knitastically, @catthefearless, @theincaprincess, ggbbhehe4455, @lilith15000, @alishlieb,

Not nsfw(smut) - @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

X Marvel-Cast - @himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @changlingkhat

Brother Dearest - @thorinanddwalinsdwarrowdam, @swoopswishsward

#James Howlett x OC #Eddie Brock x OC #Venom #Teddy Brock #Victor Creed x Norma Jeane #The Daily Bugle #Talks to the Press #Marilyn Monroe #Sibling Bonding #Check up

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