#avengers rabble

[olet-lucernam]

A Hollow Promise [20] chapter v, part i

main tags : loki x original character, post-avengers 2012, canon divergence - post-thor: the dark world, canon-typical violence, mentions of torture

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summary: In the aftermath of the Battle of New York, the Avengers need a few days to build a transport device for the Tesseract. With the Helicarrier damaged and surveillance offline, SHIELD sends an asset to guard Loki in the interim: a young woman who sees the truth in all things, and cannot lie.

Even long presumed dead, her memories lost to her, Loki would know her anywhere.

And this changes things.

Some things last beyond infinity. And the universe is in love with chaos.

(Loki was never looking for redemption. It came as an unexpected side-effect.)

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chapter summary : despite his chains, loki begins gathering his pieces on the board. astrid works on escaping her own confines, and mitigating the damage of disasters to come.

recommended listening : no place like home, todrick hall

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The solitary cell was deep underground, far below expansive cerulean skies and the firelit gold of the palace halls, in deepest wing of the dungeons.

Loki supposed he ought to be flattered.

It had long since fallen into obsolescence, disuse, and disrepair, contrasted against the cells shelved several staircases above it- a well-lit, refitted sector of the dungeons that Loki himself had headed the redesigns for, only a few centuries ago.

Oh, the irony, he had acknowledged with a smirk as the Einherjar escorted him past the bright rows, smooth-cornered and minimalist and cold as carved ice within a hallway of black stone. Each chamber was faced with the slow-rippling sheen of a containment field, the weft of it as tight as a seine net, its meticulous smooth-locked gears bearing Loki’s signature style, obvious to any mage skilled enough to realise that there was a difference.

Time and age may have begun to dull the Allfather’s edge at last, but Odin was still too proud and too cautious to store Loki, untried, on display amongst the common rabble- and least of all in a prison that was reliant upon magic that Loki had custom-engineered. Not only could he easily escape, he might unleash the other inmates as a distraction, or just for the fun of the ensuing chaos.

Loki could admit that the thought was deeply tempting.

It would take time, for Odin to decide his strategy and settle upon the sentence pre-emptive to the trial- using supposed exceptional circumstance and royal authority to override that of Glintir, Asgard’s delegated halls of justice- and more to strip down and renovate one of the cells to contain him. A few months, at the barest minimum. Perhaps less, if his mother was involved in the process; perhaps more, if Odin was in a particularly paranoid or vindictive humour.

In the interim, his current lodgings were the one place best equipped to contain him.

Despite surface appearance, the stone walls and oaken doors and rusted iron fittings were steeped in old magic- old protections- drawing from the core of Asgard itself to keep itself strong despite the physical decay. The unevenly-hewn cells had been hollowed out near the very roots of the realm, cloistered against ley lines and veins of unstable ore, the stagnant air thick with wild mana; it set Loki’s nerves sparking, its taste similar to the thrum of the Bifrost, but unfiltered, flowing directionlessly like water swirled in a pail, knocking against the sides and swilling back into itself.

Beyond it-

Loki ran his thumb across the valley of his palm.

The maelstrom of mana was like the wash of daylight over the stars- rinsing out any lesser source of power like bleach. It was part of the reason, he assumed, as to why Odin had ordered to have him thrown in such scarcely used accommodations, using the cell’s unique conditions to overwhelm his carefully honed sense of ambient magic, and prevent him from perceiving or tampering with anything that laid beyond his cell.

Yet, the logic only applied to lesser sources of power.

Even the might of Asgard was nothing to an Infinity Stone, even one disguised and sealed in a lesser form.

Clear as a beacon, singing through him and lingering like the soft metallic ring of a struck tuning fork, Loki could feel the sheer potential energy of the Tesseract even as the gaol door was bolted behind him. In fact- turning his head towards the ceiling, a few degrees above and across from the cell door- Loki was almost certain that he could guess its precise location within the Vault.

He would not have thought much of it, were it not for the fact that he could feel it reaching into the cell, intangible currents swirling in to greet him. Since returning to Asgard, it had become a constant presence, a companion in the dark.

His eyebrows twitched contemplatively, as he wound the Tesseract’s energy around his fingers, and sent a shimmer of his mana brushing against its edges.

The Tesseract glimmered back against him amiably, playing into their wordless game of call-and-response as it drifted, omnipresent and aimless and eldritch in the manner of gravity wells and hydrogen clouds.

Odd. It was odd.

The Tesseract wanted to help me- wanted me to find you- and it responded to you, when you asked it to open the way to Earth –

Astrid was right, as ever.

Even at the time, and more recently with the benefits of a clearer head and the absence of the Black Order monitoring his every thought, Loki could appreciate how unnaturally easy it had been to open the portal. When he had reached out through the Sceptre, hooking into Selvig as an established conduit, experimentally tapping at the Tesseract, Loki had felt its attention swing towards him- effortlessly piercing past and through Selvig’s flesh and the lightyears of space to alight upon him, considering him with what felt akin to mild disinterest.

Then it rippled, as though in reaction to him- and spat a mouthful of energy from within its titanium cradle, setting the PEGASUS scientists scattering into coordinated action, searching for the root of the anomaly.

Loki hadn’t questioned it. Only the naïve and the omnipotent refused the advantage. And besides which, it was a fool’s errand to attempt to understand why the Tesseract had behaved, as Selvig had so elegantly phrased it. It was not quite sentience in the way that most sapient lifeforms would comprehend it but- from experience, Loki knew that the greater an artifact’s age, the more likely it was to possess opinions; and the greater its power, the more unknowable those opinions tended to be, and hence its behaviour more unpredictable.

Applying that same logic to an Infinity Stone- a remnant of the universe’s creation, a concentrated ingot of one of the essential, esoteric forces that underpinned the very fabric of existence, an extant piece of the demiurge itself- and Loki had quickly concluded that there was nothing to be gained from wondering why.

And yet.

I suppose you must not be overeager to be in Thanos’ grasp, he mused in its direction. Or perhaps you’re simply fond of Astrid. Either way, I can entirely sympathise.

The Tesseract sheened back at him.

Loki quirked a slight smile.

He had, however, noticed something odd.

A tendril of the Tesseract’s power steadily tapered downwards- several layers of strata below his cell, to where there should be nothing but inert bedrock.

With nothing else to occupy his time and increasingly restless mind, Loki had begun whittling at a method to borrow and coast on the Tesseract’s power, imbuing it with his own magic until he could glimpse through it. In theory, the restrictions of space should be nothing to the Space Stone itself- and after investigating what had attracted it to one of the least interesting sectors of Asgard’s foundations, it would be useful for his other schemes amongst the Nine in the coming months.

It could have been worse, Loki supposed. He had experienced worse. And the quiet gave him space to think.

Loki held fast to the thought, keeping a firm grip. Staring at the dark walls of his cell, he could almost taste the buzz of the silence in his teeth, a held breath like the artificial hush of a theatre as the drama played out onstage. It sat within him as though he had swallowed a bulb of glass, and was left waiting to see if it would break under the pressure of his throat.

Fine. It was fine. He had free reign of his magic within his cell, and the vague favour of the Tesseract, and the freedom to think, even if he could feel the jagged pieces of himself shifting against each other, disjointed, his mind still split and frayed at the edges despite Astrid driving out the lingering influenced and dosing him with her own mana to give him time to heal, it was fine, he wasn’t there anymore, he needed to be hale and whole in order to drive off what was coming, everything was fine and even if it wasn’t he would never let them see it-

Loki felt a warmth bloom against his spine, just behind his heart.

He startled, like the whip of a livewire sparking off, instinctively careening back and lashing out against other, other, not again-

The slow press of a presence seeped through the spell embroidered into him, warming him through like an orchestra tuning before a symphony- resolving from blank heat into pattern and form, detailed as lacework.

It was golden- the very essence of gold, bright as hot metal, alive in the manner of hydrogen clouds- rippling into satin lustre, dissolving into powder-fine glitter, coalescing into smooth candlelight, diffusing into dappled daylight.

It hit him like sunshine striking through a glacier, shattering kaleidoscopic against his insides.

Oh.

The connection was weak, wavering. Through it, Loki could only discern a watercolour haze of emotion and surface thoughts, like the flit of shadows behind a curtain of finely-spun gauze- the link too new, nothing more than a single hastily-anchored thread, stretched too thin by the immense physical distance and the decomposing magic contaminating her, to convey anything more coherent.

Still, Loki felt the relief melt through him, the intimate press of another mind against his both foreign and familiar, a welcome anathema, a guest rather than an invasion.

With a practiced twist of his wrist, Loki threw up a screen against Heimdall’s gaze.

“Hello, darling,” he murmured into the cell’s quiet. “Have you missed me terribly?”

The warmth stilled.

Loki could sense a current of realisation within it, gently whorling together and condensing.

A solar-flare burst of mana surged within the connection- slamming against its limitations, pouring in power, attempting to pry the connection open- and Loki winced against the shock.

“Steady, dove,” he grunted out quietly, letting the words taper into a fond laugh. “The link isn’t strong enough just yet, and there is no forcing it along- have a little patience, darling. It will strengthen, with time.”

It had stilled at his entreaty, reluctantly withdrawing, but Loki could discern the hesitation-frustration-question-impatience-want lingering in it.

He smiled faintly, massaging the aftershock-ache out of his chest.

“You must have known its purpose, when I wove it. I had to have a way to find you again,” he explained in a murmur. “As a side effect- while you sleep, your mind will come to me. And when I sleep, I will dream in you.”

The warmth rippled faintly, tentatively pressing a few degrees closer, pausing at the tremulous point before it overstressed the fragile link.

Loki had the simultaneous sensation of staring out at a mist-shrouded figure on the other end of a long, treacherously narrow rope bridge, suspended above the sheer drop of the abyss- and of someone gently resting their chin on his shoulder from behind, reading something over his shoulder, a slight weight leaning in against the backrest of his chair.

The nebulous gesture haemorrhaged affection, and casual determination.

Loki laughed into the dark, his dark head lifting.

It tasted of revenge, only sweeter.

Yes. Everything would be fine.

-

“I have a question.”

“Mn.”

The noise of acknowledgement that Alethia made was unenthused, but Barton either didn’t notice or didn’t take it as sufficient dissent.

Striding back into the dim, windowless VERITAS testing room with what apparently passed as lunch- an armful of vending machine junk food- Barton let his haul drop to the table in a cascade of technicolour plastic wrappers, plucking a bottle of Mountain Dew from a utility pocket and cracking it open with a firm twist.

If not for the sleeveless, matte-black SHIELD jumpsuit and cinched gun harness, the former assassin, marksman, and one half of STRIKE Team Delta, codename Hawkeye- brass-blond and stocky, square-featured and almost generically Midwestern- would have looked like nothing more than an overgrown burnout frat boy.

Several seats away, Alethia remained reclined in her chair, clean-soled boots propped atop the desk, crossed at the ankles. Her eyes were closed, mouth soft, ash-blonde hair pinned up at the back of her head, one arm draping from the armrest.

By direct contrast, if not for her own jumpsuit, Alethia would have resembled something fae, pretty and still in a way that was not quite natural or human.

As he swung back into his seat, spinning into place, Barton tossed one of the packets in her direction with characteristic flawless aim.

The bag of sour candies struck her boots, falling to the table with a crinkle of plastic. Alethia lifted her lashes just enough to eye the sugar-loaded projectile- then proceeded to ignore it, settling back again.

On the other side of the room, supervising the automated collation of results from their latest testing session, Dr Abigail Brand watched the exchange- observing and unobserved, the blue light of the screen reflected in the curve of her dark irises.

As the de facto head of Project VERITAS, and another of SHIELD’s externally sourced, fixed-term hires- headhunted from AIM several months ago, for her unique expertise in improving AI recognition and classification of human response data and biofeedback- Abigail saw more of Alethia than most.

Privately, she would argue that this was both in the literal and figurative sense.

As a consultant, Abigail was aware that her every interaction within SHIELD and its agents was glossed with a tepid distance, like a layer of clear, flexible resin. As an outsourced asset, Alethia was choked into near immobility, even when her collar slackened under Romanoff’s watch, constantly monitored and quarantined by a closed circle of operatives.

Abigail wasn’t ignorant as to which of them had it worse.

SHIELD had asked one of them nicely for their cooperation. However, Abigail strongly suspected that she wasn’t the only one savvy enough to say yes, given the same opportunity.

Abigail was good at recognising those like her. It was a necessary survival skill.

Within sealed rooms and months of ten-hour days, she had formed a rough sketch of who Alethia was, and they had charted out enough common ground to stand comfortable with each other.

In the wake of the Incident- jeez, are they really calling it that- she had recognised a shift.

Alethia had seemed- for want of a better word- happier. She was less guarded, less opaque, her smiles coming easier and her moods milder.

Judging by her response, Romanoff had interpreted Alethia’s mellowing as an opportunity- as signs of a burgeoning sense of comradery. There was a glimmer of optimism and increased warmth in her handling, and in the less falsely casual tone that Romanoff and Barton had taken with her- pressing their thumbs onto the scale of her conversion from risky asset to invaluable agent. Fury did not seem like the type to refuse an advantage, or fail to capitalise on potential value, and so had likely sanctioned her recruitment, if possible.

Abigail didn’t really think that anyone at SHIELD was stupid, but sometimes they did a very convincing impression of it.

If there was anything that she had learned, however, from spending few more years in academia and research than was strictly good for anyone’s mental health, it was that the sharpest and most highly regarded people in any given field were typically the ones most fixed in their outlook.

Looking at Alethia, all she could see was someone who had finally gotten what she wanted, and was now content to wait out the remainder of her sentence, and even be cordial for its duration.

Which begged the question: what had she wanted? And when, and how, did she get it?

“Alright, so, we’ve encountered gods now,” Barton was saying, splitting open a bag and popping a few Cheetos into his mouth with a crunch, “as in- real, literal, fell-out-of-the-sky Norse gods.”

“We have.” Alethia agreed idly.

“And we’ve got proof of aliens in HD. A lot of corpses too.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Alright, so- how many of the stories are true? How many myths, fairytales, religions, whatever- how many of them are real, or based on something real? Is the History Channel gonna start looking like National Geographic? How many clowns do we have to add to the circus? We’ve got aliens, demigods, whatever the hell the Nazis were doing back then- should we start looking out for vampires? Werewolves? Mermaids? I mean, why not, right? How many are we talking, here? I mean, how much weirder is the world going to get?”

There was a long moment of expectant silence, punctuated by the quiet crunch of corn puffs.

Then Alethia opened her eyes and straightened slightly, her hair mussed as she turned towards Barton.

“Oh, were you asking me?”

“Yeah, I’m asking you!”

“Oh. How should I know?”

“Y- wait, you don’t know?”

Alethia shrugged one shoulder, settling back with a flick of her wrist.

“Bring me your gods, and I’ll tell you if they’re real.”

Abigail grimaced, taking a hasty draught of her cooling coffee to hide it.

Fuck, give me an existential crisis, why don’t you.

She could almost hear Alethia laughing, warm as a heartbeat, unmalicious.

Alethia had remarked, once, that Abigail had never asked her anything outside of the testing sessions. According to her, most people gave into the temptation eventually; Fury was a notable exception, for which Alethia appeared to have a grudging respect, but Romanoff had been delicately circumventive in her attempt, while Barton had been unabashedly obvious in his.

Operating on too little sleep and too many hours of coding, Abigail had answered with a touch more blunt honesty that she probably should have.

I’m not stupid, she had muttered, you’re like some fucked-up genie, or that fairground thing from that weird-ass Tom Hanks movie. I’m not going poking that psychological hornet’s nest. If I gotta ask, I deserve the monkey-paw treatment.

Pft-!

Alethia had barely stifled her startled giggle behind her fingers, clear hazel eyes creased at the corners and glittering delightedly.

Abigail had frozen, mortified- what the fuck, Brand, why would you say that- until Alethia had spoken again in a faintly strangled tone.

It was Big.

… What?

The, ah- title of the weird-ass Tom Hanks film. It was Big.

Abigail had thawed, nodding slowly. The awkwardness ebbed just enough to let her mouth and scientific curiosity run away with her impulse-control again.

Why do they always ask you something?

Alethia had hummed quietly, cocking her head, open as the skies.

As a general rule?

Sure, yeah.

She had lifted her shoulder in a wry half-shrug. Curiosity. Hubris. People either want to witness the party trick, or prove it false. There are few who like to think that their deepest secrets are available to a perfect stranger, prima facia. But also- some of them just want the bragging rights. Of being the one to beat the living lie-detector. Alethia exhaled quietly. Spies. They’re the equal of surgeons, when it comes to ego.

Abigail had frowned, nose crinkling sceptically.

But- hold up. Their deepest secrets wouldn’t be available if they just kept their mouths shut, she argued. You need something to go off, right? You’re not psychic. All they gotta do is shut up and believe you halfway about your whole- truth- thing. Err on the side of caution.

Alethia had smiled, the motion as precise and conscious as the unfurling of a wing, half-hidden beneath the lingering skim of her fingers.

As you said, Dr Brand. You’re not stupid.

Abigail shivered at the memory, teeth clinking against the ceramic rim of her cup.

The words had been spoken casually enough, but there was a knowing in Alethia’s face that had rattled Abigail’s nerves.

It was nothing.

She’s not psychic.

Barton frowned in consternation, the Cheetos bag rattling in his lap.

“So you have no idea which stories are true? Even after hearing them?”

“Stories are stories. Their intent is different. They contain truth,” Alethia said, “even if they are not true.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No it is not.”

“Because they really kinda sound like the same thing.”

“And yet it’s not.”

“Okay, so what’s the difference?”

Alethia exhaled, deep and quiet- then levered herself upright with a press of her palms into the arms of her chair.

“Thor and Loki were born approximately a year apart. Around 1150CE.”

“Were they?” Barton swallowed thickly, fingers already stained to the third knuckle with orange powder. “Hang on, how do you know that?”

“He told me. Except Norse mythology originates from the old Norse religion- which is thought to have been at the peak of active worship between 500BCE, and 1000CE. Do you see the dilemma?”

Several seconds late, Abigail registered the implication of who he was.

Barton gave no sign that he had noticed. But Abigail knew better than to underestimate those who had Fury’s favour.

“Oh. Yeah, okay. How is it possible that there are myths about Thor and Loki that are that old,” Barton said slowly, “when they hadn’t been born yet?”

His tone was one of statement and deduction, rather than question.

“I don’t know,” Alethia admitted with startling ease, almost laughingly, turning her head to meet Barton’s gaze with a pleased glint in her eyes. “Therein lies the mystery. Barring an anomaly in space-time, it’s impossible for Norse mythology to be a factual record of events. Yet it still has some correlation to the truth, as the planet is now aware. The myth is true; the mythology is not.”

“Huh.”

Tearing open a candy bar and breaking off a chunk, Barton mulled over Alethia’s statement.

“Okay, so- basically, a bunch of myths could turn out to be referencing something real, but,” he popped the bite into his mouth, speaking around it, “the folklore might not actually be that useful, in practice.”

“In essence, yes.”

“Huh.” Barton sucked nougat from between his teeth with an obnoxious smack. “Do you think we’ll be seeing more of this weirdness? Like, out in the open?”

“Mm, most likely,” Alethia said lightly, lifting her eyes back to the ceiling with a blink, “now that SHIELD can no longer swallow it back into the darkness.”

Barton paused, stilling like an animal sensing danger.

“You make it sound pretty sinister.”

“SHIELD has a list of enhanced people called the Index, constantly track their movements regardless of what they have or haven’t done, and threaten them into keeping their abilities hidden from the general public,” she said dryly. “You quite literally disappeared me.”

“Come on,” Barton rolled his head back in his chair exasperatedly, “that’s unfair and you know it. Even you have to admit that SHIELD’s mission is to protect people-”

“Which ones, and from what?”

Her tone was lacklustre, almost vacant, as though this conversation was one that she had with him many times before, and had little hope of it progressing any differently this time.

Abigail wondered what it said that she had to say it again- but also that she begun to anyway.

“Most of them- these myths in hiding- are in hiding from things like SHIELD. You are not the heroes in their stories. You don’t know about them because they don’t want you to. They masquerade as baseline humans and lie to your face and never think twice about it, because they are protecting themselves. They could be right here, in this room, and you would never know. And who could blame them?”

Abigail’s stomach dipped in terror.

The door opened.

“I got lunch,” Romanoff announced.

“I got lunch,” Clint protested, rattling a bag of pretzels in her direction, quickly switching gears into the distraction.

“You’ve got a future heart attack and type-two diabetes.” Dressed more casually than her partner, her dark-rinse jeans and scoop-neck sweater still relatively professional, Romanoff lifted a brown paper bag into the air. “I bought something with nutritional value.”

“If you went to the sandwich bar on the second floor, I seriously doubt that. Unless, you know, nutritional value is interchangeable with salmonella-”

“Shut up and eat your fibre, Clint.”

Sweeping across the room, Romanoff placed an oblong package on Abigail’s desk, wrapped in white deli paper: crab meat in mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles, and a dash of hot sauce on French baguette, in a somewhat inauthentic, New York approximation of a Louisiana po’boy.

Romanoff had a memory for such things.

Offering Abigail a brief smile, Romanoff turned to Alethia with a skim of chin-length cherry curls. “Ali. Caprese on focaccia, right?”

Ali? Abigail wondered with a twist of her mouth, as Romanoff tossed Alethia her sandwich with a low underarm throw. That’s new.

“I had them hold the pesto, add aioli, rocket, and red onion,” Romanoff added as Alethia caught the package with one upturned palm.

“What did you get me?” Barton asked expectantly.

“Salmonella.”

“Nat.”

“Did you save me some Oreos?”

“Please. I’m not a monster, Natasha.”

“Roast beef on wholewheat.”

“Hm. I’ll allow it.”

“Seriously, it’s a miracle you don’t have a nutritional deficiency-”

“Look, I keep telling you, peanut butter is a source of protein-”

Shrouded by the smooth-flowing banter between the agents, Abigail made the mistake of stealing a glance at Alethia.

She was looking directly at her.

Abigail’s blood seemed to drain directly to her vital organs.

Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.

Her gaze was unworldly, frighteningly intense, like staring into the core of the sun. Abigail had the sensation of being an insect trapped in amber, paralysed at the mercy of a being that could carve her soul open and leave it to bleed, if she stood in her way.

After a moment, a faint, knowing smile softened at Alethia’s mouth- as though greeting Abigail for the first time.

Without comment, Alethia strained forward to drop her wrapped sandwich on the desk, and kicked off sharply- swivelling her chair, catching her boot against the table behind her to halt herself.

With the slant of her torso, her new position effectively left her with her back to Romanoff and Barton.

The message was clear.

Abigail forced herself to relax, unwrapping her imitation po’boy with trembling fingers and refusing to look back at Alethia, who was now humming a soft, romantic refrain.

She just had to reach the end of her contract. That was all. Once Project VERITAS entered its final phase, she could begin looking for another position. SHIELD would provide her with a mostly accurate reference from a credibly falsified employer, avoiding a damning void in her work history, so she could head back out and-

And then what?

It wasn’t an unfamiliar question.

After completing her studies, she had quietly left her school, declining to enter the graduate program. It wasn’t for her, she had decided, and to his credit, the head professor had been understanding, sending her off with his good will and a glowing reference.

But the world had been wilder, then, and smaller. Their conflict had been fought in shadows, both sides of the schism tacitly agreeing that obscurity was the best source of protection, for now.

But now the light had flooded across the globe, and there were fewer shadows to hide within, and-

What now?

What now, Brand?

Sooner or later, it seemed she would have to make the trip back to Westchester.

-

Later, when she had the time to think about it, Abigail asked Barton what Alethia had been humming.

Ironically, despite being mostly deaf without his hearing aids, Hawkeye had an excellent ear for music; even from Abigail’s tone-deaf attempt at replication, he had quickly identified the piece.

It was opera, apparently, one of those recognisable classical pieces that had filtered into common knowledge without anyone knowing actual title.

The song was an aria, from La traviata.

Sempre libera.

It was clever, and biting, and exactly what she could expect of Alethia, and it should have been enough of an answer just to hear the title.

Except Abigail had gotten curious, and listened to the aria, and looked up the lyrics, because scientific curiosity should not be sated by the first answer it encountered.

Alethia had not been humming the defiantly carefree, fluttering refrain- free and aimless I frolic, from joy to joy- sung by the opera’s protagonist, Violetta. Instead, she had been humming the lines of Violetta’s lover, Alfredo, as he sang offstage.

Love is the heartbeat of the entire universe, they read, the melody drawn out in gently sloping notes, mysterious, altering, the torment and delight of my heart…

-

The shackles, Loki decided, were a little excessive.

Chains as thick as a femur looped between his wrists and ankles, connected by a third to the collar resting against his clavicle, which locked into a fourth wrapped around his waist, from which two more were linked and leashed in the grip of a set of helmed Einherjar- Loki had wanted to roll his eyes at that alone, but he hadn’t been able to resist the low huff of laughter when he was met with no less than ten figures in golden armour outside his cell, dispatched to escort him to Valaskijálf Hall.

At least it would appear that Odin was finally taking him seriously.

The thought was bracing, allowing him to pull forth all the practiced, aloof insouciance of an Asgardian prince.

Odin was paying attention- it was only right that Loki give him a show.

He could already feel the discomfort twisting into the guards, like thumbscrews, in the face of his calm irreverence. They were the ideal test audience- Loki had manipulated enough of the Einherjar over the years that their thoughts were all but cellophane to him.

Admittedly, it was far easier to play the unrepentant monster when she was with him- emerging into consciousness like the break of dawn, burning and righteous and steadying, like a weapon warming his palm.

Over the weeks, their link had stabilised, enough that it could finally convey more than echoes of emotion.

He could feel the moment that she snapped awake in his mind, the breath of a spectre.

Where-?

Loki let his gaze drift briefly, letting her see his surroundings.

His eyes glazed a subtle circuit over dark, mirror-gloss floors, inset with knotwork motifs of amber marble, opulently engraved gold pillars bearing the weight of the high ceiling and its delicately detailed fresco. Fires burned in braziers thrice his height, contrasting the clear natural daylight streaming from the breezeways at his back. Through him, Astrid could no doubt hear the gentle clink and rattle of the chains against his leathers, and the smooth scrape of the Einherjar’s laminar armour as they kept in pace with him, in a parody of an honour guard. Loki could smell mist from the waterways, and sunshine, and the crisp opening knell of autumn- contrasting the heat of early summer that Astrid was currently experiencing in New York, from the trap of SHIELD’s air-conditioned base of operations.

It all tasted traitorously of home.

Trial, he explained to her simply.

Ah. Palace?

Yes.

She paused. Hm.

After a moment of consideration, Astrid sent him a breeze of blasé contempt, and a flash of a memory- of what he recognised as a casino lobby, somewhere on Midgard-

Loki almost choked.

Astra!

The Hall of Valaskijálf, the magnificent heart of the Palace of Asgard and the seat of its power, was being compared to the Bellagio on the Las Vegas strip.

Loki had to forcefully remind himself that dissolving into delighted, scandalised laughter would, at this juncture, be a bad idea.

Against his mind, Astrid preened, irreverently.

Sheath, she murmured with a tint of melancholy, curling around him, setting a little of her mana through their connection to press warm against his heart.

Shoulders relaxing minutely, Loki sent her every ounce of fierce, violent affection that was welling in his chest.

Dagger, he whispered back tenderly, his magic twining into hers like laced fingers.

Even despite the solidified connection, it was still like comparing the glint of a distant star to the heat of the sun, or hearing strains of music just beyond coherency. Loki would have wondered if he had not unconsciously chosen it as a masochistic punishment, if not for the fear that it was affecting her the same way.

“Loki.”

His heart stopped briefly.

“Hello, Mother.”

Loki whipped his head to meet the sight of her, blasé and unmoved.

Astrid tensed in his veins, wary and curious.

Queen Consort Frigga of Asgard was not dressed for court, devoid of the finer trappings of her station. Rather than an elaborately braided, sleekly curled coiffeur, brocaded chrysalis silks, and waterfall sheets of jewels, her gown was one of her simpler garments- a relatively subtle teal satin, with a seafoam-silver shawl draped over her arms. Her only item of jewellery was a set of turquoise pendant earrings, handcrafted in a simple Vanir design, waves of copper-blonde hair left unbound to her waist.

She looked- tired, anxious. Loki could see it in the lines around her eyes, in the tight downturn of her mouth. Her fingers were laced together, one thumb pressing at the opposite palm unconsciously.

Crushing an acute lurch of guilt, and the momentary embittered wish that he could have hated her for all that she had- or, more accurately, hadn’t- done, Loki steepled his eyebrows sardonically at her, his voice soft as velvet.

“Have I made you proud?”

“Please,” Frigga implored quietly, her eyes wide and unblinking, intent and quietly afraid, “don’t make this worse.”

“Define worse.” Loki riposted dryly.

“Enough.”

The king’s voice echoed throughout the throne room.

Loki consciously resisted the reflex to straighten his spine. He felt Astrid coil in response, her attention diverted from Frigga.

Loki turned towards the throne.

Set upon the raised dais, at the summit of three flights of curved steps, was the high seat of Hlidskijalf.

The seat itself was nothing so magnificent- a square of gold, hemmed by broad, rectangular blocks at either side to serve as arms, and a low back- but its silhouette was made imposing by the heavily ornamented wings of solid gold that curved from either side. Bevelled at the edges like a great axe blade, their gentle upward arch framed its occupant, like the centre of a set of inverted scales.

The Allfather sat comfortably upon it, as ever.

His armour was darker than when last Loki had stood in his presence, compared to his burnished silver-steel war plate, or the ceremonial armour that he had worn for Thor’s almost-coronation.

By contrast, the pitch leathers and aged gold plate looked almost tarnished.

Knowing his father, it was undoubtedly a message.

Loki met Odin’s gaze, finding one piercing blue eye gazing down at him dispassionately.

He refused to blink.

“I will speak to the prisoner alone.”

Odin spoke with a calm, almost reasonable authority.

Instinctively, a pit formed in Loki’s stomach, even his jaw worked with defiance.

A thousand years of conditioning- of loyalty, deference, and respect instilled towards his father, his commander, his sovereign- was not so easily broken.

Meanwhile, he could feel Astrid assessing and dissecting the Allfather like a lancet, merciless and unawed.

Whatever it was that she saw, Loki could already feel her dislike forming.

Frigga glanced towards her husband, settling one last unreadable look upon Loki- and turned on her heel, departing with a swirl of heavy skirts and quick steps, accepting her dismissal with dignity.

Loki watched her leave, before swinging his attention back to Odin.

So, Astrid stated, her presence cloaked across Loki’s shoulders like draped arms and mantled wings.

So, Loki agreed, leaning back into her support.

He drew closer to the steps with three slow, measured steps, and snapped his heels together in a sarcastic salute, the crisp clank of his shackles echoing out into the empty hall.

Provocateur, Astrid teased, like lips against his cheek.

This time, Loki left himself exhale a laugh, swaying forwards slightly.

“I really don’t know what all the fuss is about,” he said with a rehearsed air of callous, flippant levity, palms splayed as much as they could within the chains.

“Do you truly not understand the gravity of your crimes?”

Rich, Astrid commented dryly from across their link.

Loki sent back something that evoked a huff of agreement. Of all those involved, Odin had the barest understanding of his actions- even in his ignorance, Thor had at least witnessed the destruction for himself and had almost hit upon the correct question to ask.

“Wherever you go,” Odin proclaimed, almost blandly, “there is war, ruin- and death.”

Astrid stilled dangerously.

Dove, Loki calmed her, his expression sobering.

“I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god.” Loki allowed a soft, taunting smile break through, unable to resist the accusation that welled. “Just like you.”

“We are not gods,” Odin said sagely, all but ignoring his closing barb. “We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do.”

Hypocrite, Loki shared with Astrid, receiving her dry agreement in reply, before shrugging.

“Give or take five thousand years,” he corrected with a flat-lipped, sardonic smile.

“All this,” the Allfather mused, a hint of scorn finally bleeding through, “because Loki desires a throne.”

“It is my birthright!” Loki snapped, unable to withstand the insult, as though Odin had not told him that he was born to be a king, as though he could not have known what he was implying through the lens of that lie, as though the Norns-damned throne was all it was ever about-

“Your birthright-!” Odin bellowed in reply, leaning forward in his seat, as though to swiftly crush the insolence shown to him. “Was to die!”

Silence reigned for a moment.

In the ringing quiet- and the detached shock that, even now, there was still something left in him to hurt at a truth he had already known- Loki felt it.

Pure, clean, unadulterated rage, the emotion borrowed and possessive and selfish, swathed him.

It tasted like destruction on his tongue, like intent on the edge of his nerves, borne in the currents of something heart-deep that threatened to obliterate anything before it. Her mana burned bright in his nerves, crackling behind his retinas, threatening to radiate out of him and contaminating his own magic.

And if Odin caught the traces of a foreign mana in him, active and alive-

Loki reached for Astrid with thoughts like cool water and nepenthe, gathering her wild mana into his core, hastily absorbing and reforming it before Odin could notice.

There was only so much that his own magical core, and the mana-supressing runes in his shackles, could do to mask her presence. Ironically, it was fortunate that the connection was yet to develop to its full strength, muting her.

Given the strength of her rage, however, an intensity so heady that he could overdose on it-

Bastard. Her thoughts were incandescent, tumbling through his own and breaking through to a fresh level of coherency. Bastard. How dare he-

Beloved, please, calm- for me-

“- as a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in,” the corner of Odin’s mouth lifted, almost a jeer, “you would not be here now to hate me.”

Abruptly, Astrid’s mood crystallised, bright and clear, giving Loki space to breathe again.

No, Loki heard her decide, no, better- wait and sic Daddy on him-

He took a sharp stride forward, back into more pressing problems.

“If I am for the axe, then for mercy’s sake, just swing it,” Loki challenged Odin in reply, sotto voce and almost obliging. If he seemed preoccupied, if Odin was given cause to suspect anything, if he found out about Astrid-

He felt the sharp knife of instinctive fear, sick in his stomach.

In this respect, Odin remained exponentially more dangerous than Thanos.

Astrid offered a flicker of conviction in comfort, her temper still cooling.

“It’s not that I don’t love our little talks, it’s just-” Loki paused pointedly, as though considering his phrasing. “I don’t love them.”

Odin didn’t respond to his insolence, as though it mattered so little to him that it was unworthy of a reaction.

“Frigga is the only reason that you are still alive, and you will never see her again.” His announcement was perfunctory, prelude to dismissal.

Ah.

Well. The Allfather knew how to mete out cruelty with the political precision of an autocrat.

“You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeon,” Odin concluded softly.

As though choreographed, the guards gave a short tug on Loki’s chains, drawing him back a step from the throne.

He should have been prepared for it.

He had been prepared for it, intellectually, had predicted the most likely ruling and Odin’s pretence at a measure of mercy, had expected to be kept in cold storage indefinitely lest Odin ever encounter a better use for him, or a quandary that Thor’s brawn could not resolve- even while he knew that the sentence would never be carried out. Between the Tesseract’s power and Astrid’s sheer will and wit, all Loki would have to do was ask.

But this was the ruling, the mock trial that was all that Loki was worth. Odin had not even deigned to ask why. He had assumed, and accepted the lie in confirmation of it.

Alderliefest, she gentled him, her mind as unclouded and radiant within his.

She strained for him like an outstretched hand, fingers flared and trembling.

Ah, Loki realised ruefully, so I really am being cruel to both of us.

Gripping onto her lifeline, winding the necessity around his fist to ground himself, Loki spoke numbly.

“And what of Thor? You’ll make that witless oaf king, while I rot in chains?”

“Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done,” Odin spoke sharply. “He will bring order to the Nine Realms, and then-”

The Einherjar behind him clamped leather-gloved hands down on his shoulders, prepared to haul him away.

“Yes. He will be king.”

Internally, Loki dissolved into triumphant laughter.

He felt Astrid’s flutter of curious confusion- and her sting of pleasure at being surprised.

Later, he vowed, darkly heated, already in anticipation of witnessing her reaction.

What Odin had meant as a parting volley- as salt ground into an open wound- was a precious piece of intelligence that Loki would have otherwise been hard pressed to obtain.

The Nine was in chaos, then. The damage you have done could only refer to the destruction of the Bifrost, only recently repaired and restored to functionality, with the assistance of the Tesseract.

Without the Rainbow Bridge, Asgard had limited means of interstellar travel. Their spaceworthy fleet had atrophied over the centuries of relative peace, the great warships considered obsolete upon the construction of the Bifrost, the streamlined technology left to fall behind the other galactic powers. Almost no one knew of the secret passageways that Loki had discovered, let alone mapped them, and there were few his equal in the kenning arts who could locate, stabilise, and manipulate the few that could accommodate passage of a large volume of troops.

Without the Bridge, Asgard had been cut off from the other eight realms.

And without Asgard’s presence as a deterrent, every world within the Yggdrasil complex would have been overrun with opportunists for months, if not close to years.

It was a cold necessity- a nasty shock to the established system, both for those who had relied upon Asgardian arms for the safety of their realm, and for Asgard itself at being so simply and effectively hamstrung for almost two years.

Thor would do what he did best, of course, and battle his way through the marauders, trussing them up and tossing them into the dungeons to rot beside Loki- but the damage would already be done.

The seeds would be planted, and people would start to think.

And when people started to think, they would start to talk.

And that, Loki could work to his advantage, like hot metal upon an anvil.

Thank you, Allfather, Loki wanted to say, laughing against the pain as he was led away, for your most gracious cruelty.

With that, the first gears were in motion.

-

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#a hollow promise #cross posted on ao3 #marvel fanfiction #avengers fanfiction #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #loki x original female character #loki x ofc #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #loki friggason #mcu loki #post-avengers 2012 #fix it au #no beta we die like canon by my blade #writing #chapter update #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #ao3 link #right on schedule

[theamazingloki]

@xinchargeofthetvax

"Gods above, surely you can't sincerely think I earnestly desired to rule over humanity." Yes, yes, he had said the complete opposite a short while ago, but when in such an uncertain situation, it was best to maintain a readied lie instead of creating another on the spot, for the purpose of consistency and a quality product. Now... well, he almost liked the agent, so a lie a little closer to the truth was only fair. "They're a fleeting rabble," he put his feet up on Mobius' desk, "whose idea of a decent present to a god is the bloody corpse of some unfortunate barnyard animal. I will have you know that what may have seemed collaboration with that purple oaf was actually an incredibly intricate plan, spun by yours truly. Had not the Avengers interfered, it would have been a masterpiece of deception."

#xinchargeofthetvax #I am trying to find our old threads but in the meantime have a new thing!

[mischiefmaker615]

Monster

Rating: PG 14

Summary: you find yourself snatched and a room unknown, with hungry desires by the god of mischief.

"Return you?" He scoffed, raising an eyebrow at her as he came up to his full height. "To the rabble that restrains you to your work day and night? I do not think so." He shook his head, walking around her, clearly agitated at the thought of even going back to the Stark Tower, his eyes glimmering darkly. "No..This will be your home from now on darling. In time, you will come to like it here."

She almost seemed to shrink at his words, let alone his height as her eyes followed where he stalked. Her arms seemed to cover herself as if to give her some protection from his prying eyes as she took a step back in the strange, unknown room with very little light to see properly. How could he do this? They.. coexisted for the most part in the tower for months, becoming friends she would say but he never shown any sort of interest in that way within that time.. why now?

''i chose that life and like that work, because if occupies me from other things.. what am i supposed to do here? tend to your whim? expect me to say yes sir no sir? You’ve never even shown an interest before-''

Loki paused at her words, green eyes glimmering darkly in the light fr what little they had. "Why do you act as if i am a tyrant my love?" He questioned, stepping to her and cupping her cheeks, making her look up at him, searching her expression for some sign he could read off. "You are the only creature in all the nine realms that looks on me with something other than hatred and distrust, Y/N. There's something different in your eyes when you look at me...There always has been. " Loki mused, brushing his thumb gently against her cheek. "Is it love?" A bit of a sadder smile tinted his lips as his eyes glanced down at her lips briefly before up at her beautiful E/C eyes again ‘’Tell me my dear, am a monster worthy of love?"

A shiver almost ran down her spine at his seductive tone but at the same time her heart hurt on how he saw himself, exactly the reason why she knew he was clearly misunderstood and how the others couldn’t see… regardless of where it brought them both today, he was just.. misguided. Panic seemed to have died down and in replace of it, was the need to help and guide him to what was right, but from here, her words were the only weapon she had for him and she turned her eyes away from him when she saw how he gazed at her. Lusted for her. Longed for her.

‘’everyone is capable of finding love Loki..it’s just the matter of time of finding it.''

Loki chuckled a little, shaking his head as a hand slowly reached out to rest at her waist and she felt her body slightly tense underneath his fingertips. "The whole world of Midgard would very much disagree with you my dear." He sighed, putting his finger under her chin to turn her to face him again. "Please don't turn away from me." He purred, kissing her forehead affectionately, letting his lips linger upon her skin before slowly, ever so slowly, his eyes seemed to change.

The familiar color she knew his to be seemed to now be replaced with a dull gray and with no sign that compassion would come easily by just mere words of her own.. something must have happened, just upon his eyes alone she knew, this wasn’t the Loki she knew and cared for.. what had happened just hours before he had snatched her?

"I swear that I will never lie or trick you, or hurt you. But I promise you, you will be mine. No other man will touch you, the Avengers and Shield will not find you, they will never take you away from me. " Loki's voice had taken on something akin to a low growl, sliding his fingers to the crook of her neck. "In my eyes, you are nothing less than a goddess. As you should be in yours. And you are mine, my darling."

With each step backwards that she took, he took a step forward, a smirk on his lips as he listened to her stuttered words, all of them being tossed aside in his mind.

‘’..The others will find me-‘’

"The Avengers cannot get here, darling." Loki stated bluntly, slamming his hands into the wall on either side of her, pinning her to such a close aspect that it would be near impossible for her to get a proper punch in if she tried. "You will say yes to me-" His hand reached up, grabbing her jaw, looking down at her. "But I am patient, I know better than to force things.. But you might want to be careful love-" He hissed, bringing his lips to her ear, placing a kiss to it. "You stir dark desires within me"

#loki #loki smut #loki x reader #dom loki #Loki Laufeyson #marvel #loki fluff

[fantasticfandral]

"Isn't this just something else?" Fandral's voice was sickly sweet as he pushed his way to the front. Avengers Tower always had a little crowd outside, and he was trying to blend in with the rabble. Just to see, get a sense of the atmosphere around this place. "Is it always this crowded?" he asked aloud, wondering if one of the little mortals would answer him.

#variance.starter #[he's a dick idk] #[enjoy]

[gazelessmenagerie]

𝐭𝐨𝐩  𝟓  𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠  𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬,       share  the  top  songs  in  your  playlist  that  most  inspire / represent  your  muses  the  most.    bonus  points  if  you  include  lyrics  to  go  along  with  it.

1. Lost - Haji’s Kitchen

You see my mind is open wide Hear the sound of my bleeding, I'm needing And try to hold on to just one light I stand up on the wall I'm building

                        You search for my conscience deep inside                          I feel my heart beating, conceding.                          And now my eyes are open wide                          Dove off the wall I was building

2. Pet - A Perfect Circle

Lay your head down child I won't let the boogeyman come Count the bodies like sheep To the rhythm of the war drums Pay no mind to the rabble Pay no mind to the rabble Head down, go to sleep To the rhythm of the war drums

                       I'll be the one to protect you from                        Your enemies and all your demons                         I'll be the one to protect you from                         A will to survive and a voice of reason                         I'll be the one to protect you from                         Your enemies and your choices, son                          One and the same I must isolate you                          Isolate and save you from yourself

3. Why - I.O.N

I life this life every day What did I do wrong? I tried to make you proud What did I do wrong?

                                       Why? You hate me.                                        Why? You beat me.                                                   Why?                                        What did I ever do to you?                                        In your lies you need me, Why?                                        You want me, Why?                                        And I never understand your reason                                                   Why?                                        You love me, Why?                                        You hit me, Why?                                        I really don’t understand you                                        Why do you hate me, I’ll never understand.

4. Bat Country - Avenged Sevenfold

He who makes a beast out of himself Gets rid of the pain of being a man Caught here in a fiery blaze, won't lose my will to stay I tried to drive all through the night The heat stroke ridden weather, the barren empty sights No oasis here to see, the sand is singing deathless words to me

                             Can't you help me as I'm startin' to burn (all alone)                              Too many doses, and I'm starting to get an attraction                              My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone)                              No one can save me, and you know I don't want the attention                              So sorry you're not here                              I've been chained too long, my vision's so unclear                              Now take a trip with me                              But don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem

5. I Stand Alone - Godsmack

I stand alone Feeling your sting down inside me I'm not dying for it I stand alone Everything that I believe is fading I stand alone, inside I stand alone

               And now it's my time (now it's my time)                It's my time to dream (my time to dream)                Dream of the sky (dream of the sky)                Make me believe that this place is isn't plagued by the poison in me                Help me decide if my fire will burn out before you can breathe                Breathe into me

Stolen from: @aceparagon

Tagging: you

#|| Character Study: {Broly} #( what do you mean I can only choose 5 songs? i got a fucking playlist so far with this bastard's vibes ) #( okay now that I could finish it without the dumb site glitching out on me ) #( asdlfj i dont know if I should elaborate more on the lyrics as they pertain to broly or leave em just up for wild guesses )

[asoiafandotherbooks]

TWOIAF/Fire & Blood: The King Who Flew Flies One Last Time, Lodos Reborn, A Vulture King Emerges, and Harren the Red Runs Wild...

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

Aenys has only been king for a few months and he’s already endured a challenge to his authority in the Riverlands. Unfortunately, his tepid response has only encouraged rebellions in other regions.

Aenys returned to King’s Landing only to discover that Lord Ronnel Arryn, The King Who Flew, has been deposed and imprisoned by Jonos Arryn, his younger brother. Jonos then proclaimed himself the “King of the Mountain and the Vale”.

In the Iron Islands, a drowned priest proclaimed himself Lodos the Twice-Drowned, finally returned from visiting the hall of the Drowned God. It’s been 36 years since Lodos drowned himself, so that was quite the visit.

In Dorne, a man calling himself the Vulture King rose in the Red Mountains of Dorne. Princess Deria Martell denounced the Vulture King but thousands flocked to his banner. The siren call of avenging the evils the Targaryens visited on the Dornish was too tempting to resist.

Lord Harmon Dondarrion wrote to Aenys of the Vulture King: “This Vulture King is half-mad, and his followers are a rabble, undisciplined and unwashed. We can smell them coming fifty leagues away”.

The Vulture King must have taken great offense to the question of his personal hygiene as Blackhaven, home of the Dondarrions, became his first target. The Vulture King’s followers stormed the castle and the Vulture King himself sliced off Dondarrion’s nose. His followers then torched Blackhaven and marched away.

Aenys sat befuddled and indecisive in King’s Landing. Grand Maester Gawen stated the King couldn’t understand why this was happening. The small folk loved him, why don’t these rebels? If they had grievances, why not come to court and tell him – he would listen! Aenys would make a decision only to countermand it shortly after. For instance, he ordered Hand of the King Alyn Stokeworth to sail a fleet to the Vale to aid Ronnel Arryn, only to recall the fleet as he was afraid to leave King’s Landing undefended. As if King’s Landing could be undefended with Visenya and Vhagar only a short flight away on Dragonstone. The only concrete decision Aenys made was to send Queen Alyssa and the children to Dragonstone.

Aenys thought the next move should be to hold a grand council to discuss options. Dowager Queen Visenya decided to skip the council and issue orders.

The Rise of the Dragons has a passage not in The World Of Ice And Fire or Fire and Blood: “During Aegon’s reign, Visenya often assumed the daily tasks of ruling while Aegon was off on his royal progresses. Visenya’s role changed when Aenys assumed the throne, and she became more an advisor – and an often unwelcome one – rather than a co-ruler whose decisions had the force of law. It could truthfully be said, however, that Dowager Queen Visenya was still the most influential woman in the realm during Aenys’ reign – even more so than his own queen, Alyssa. But Visenya’s lack of direct power – and her clear preference for his own son, Prince Maegor – would eventually alienate the two entirely.”

First, Alyn Stokeworth accompanied by a few hundred men entered the Riverlands to hunt down Harren the Red. (To be fair to Aenys, he had input into this decision – but only this decision).

Second, Lord Allard Royce of Runstone (on his own initiative) assembled loyal bannermen and demanded the release of Ronnel. Jonos granted that request by throwing Ronnel through the Moon Door. The Eyrie is impregnable to any conventional assaults, but Visenya had a solution to that: sending Prince Maelor astride the recently claimed Balerion the Black Dread, Jonos’ lackeys lost their nerve upon spotting Balerion and threw Jonos through the moon door in an attempt at mercy. Maegor “mercifully” executed the traitors by hanging instead of burning. The World of Ice and Fire notes the traitors all died by Maegor’s hand, so Maegor seems to be a “man who passes sentence must swing the sword” type. Hubert Arryn, a cousin of Ronnel and Jonos, was installed as Lord of the Eyrie. Hubert had six sons by his wife, a Royce of Runestone.

Third, Goren Greyjoy, the Lord Reaper of Pyke, marshalled a hundred longships to descend on Old Wyk and Great Wyk. He put thousands of Lodos’ followers to the sword. Goren then had the head of Lodos prickled in brine and sent to King’s Landing. Aenys was overjoyed by the gift and granted Goren a boon. Goren asked for the right to expel every septa and septon from the Iron Islands, which Aenys reluctantly granted.

Fourth, was the Vulture King. Princess Deria continued to denounce the rebellion but did nothing to stop the Vulture King. Many suspected she was sending the Vulture King men, money, and supplies. The Vulture King had thirty thousand men under his command but made a fatal mistake in splitting his forces in two.

The Vulture King took his force to march west against Nightsong and Horn Hill Lord Walter Wyl, the son of the Widow-Lover, commanded the force sent to besiege Stonehelm, seat of House Swann.

Orys “Orys One-Hand” Baratheon left Storm’s End one final time to defend Stonehelm. He smashed the Dornish forces. Walter Wyl was then delivered to Orys: “Your father took my hand. I claim yours as repayment.” He then proceeded to take Walter’s other hand and both feet as “usury”. Apparently, Lannisters aren’t the only one to pay their debts.

Orys died on the march back to Storn’s End from wounds taken in battle. Davos, Ory’s son, said he died content, smiling at the rotting hand and feet.

By this point, the Vulture King had to abandon the siege of Nightsong. He marched east only to have Lady Caron (of Nightsong) join with a strong force of marchers led by the the noseless Harmon Dondarrion. Then “Savage” Sam Tarly decided to join the party with several thousand knights and archers. Savage Sam personally cut down dozens of Dornishmen with Heartsbane, the Tarly Valyrian sword. The Dornish broke and tried to retreat to the mountains only to be cut down by the marcher lords in the “Vulture Hunt”.

The Vulture King himself was taken alive and tied naked between two posts by Savage Sam, dying up thirst and exposure, his corpse feasted upon by vultures. His death is considered the end of the Second Dornish War but few Dornish Lords actually participated.

Harren the Red was both the first to rebel and the last to be put down. Harren was cornered in a village west of the Gods Eye. Harren slew Lord Alyn Stokeworth before being cut down by Bernarr Brune, Alyn’s squire.

King Aenys knighted Bernarr Brune and granted gold, offices, and honors to Davos Baratheon, Samwell Tarly, No-Nose Dondarrion, Ellyn Caron, Allard Royce, and Goren Greyjoy. Prince Maegor returned to King’s Landing to cheering crowds and proclaimed a hero. Aenys named Maegor as Hand of the King.

Up next, my thoughts on the rebellions.

#asoiaf #game of thrones #house targaryen #aenys targaryen #visenya targaryen #maegor targaryen #harren the red #lodos #vulture king #orys baratheon #twoiaf #fire and blood #ronnel arryn #jonos arryn #hubert oryn #alyn stokeworth #deria martell #dorne #davos baratheon #savage samwell tarly #ellyn caron #allard royce #goren greyjoy #harmon dondarrion #no-nose dondarrion #vulture hunt #savage sam #alyssa velaryon #blackhaven #nightsong

[pipelinelaserraygun]

MUST 👁️👁️ WATCH ❣️

A question of WHEN, NOT IF: 👺👺 One of the things that 🎃🎃 SCARES hell's hordes the MOST is the banding together of Forces for a common good, vs. 👿 evil.

"What makes the Dearborn story different, and especially disturbing (to same-sex advocates), is that it foreshadows the formation of a powerful and dangerous new right-wing coalition.

Rabble at the most recent school board meeting on October 13 was not only a predictable cohort of Evangelicals wearing crosses and red caps. Standing at their side, screaming anti-gay remarks, and waving their fists in the air, were hundreds of conservative Muslims."

SUBSCRIBE ‼️ Preservation, 🆚 "Intolerance", some would argue. Side WITH 🕎 God's 📖 established guidelines.

Referenced up 🔝: ⚾ There comes a time for leaders to shine.

Machado last night: single, double, home run, and TWO defensive gems.

American 👑👰 Beulah 🗳️ needs to come together, at the polls. Midterm elections are less than 3 weeks away.

TEAM-🦸building exercise.

Avengers, 🗳️ ASSEMBLE‼️

[wonderswritings]

Healing in Time 6/?

Summary: Your life has revolved around his, the Winter Soldier. Now you're trying to live a life outside of Hydra, outside of him but he’s here too, trying to live a life outside of Hydra as well. Your therapist wants you both to work together but how can you do that when he’s the bane of your existence?

Warnings: Angst, PTSD Flashbacks, Blood and Gore, Love/Hate Relationship, Friends with Feelings, Enemies to Friends/Lovers, Nsfw-ish, Slow Burn

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader, Winter Soldier x Shadow

We were created to strip lungs of their breath. To destroy pretty little things and burn them to the ground. To bring the world to its knees and hear our name spoken only in fearful whispers. We were made to be a monster.

Healing in Time Master-list

Italics are flashbacks and/or thoughts!

So I decided to rewrite part six. I had posted it prematurely because I feel like it didn’t really make that much sense. So I decided to rewrite it. Plus I was finally able to order a new laptop and it’s supposed to get here within a week, hopefully.

Also I’m sorry there haven’t been any updates for this series! When my computer said screw you, everything was deleted including this story which I had finished. Now that I’m having to rewrite it, I’m having trouble trying to move the story along the right way. That and my niece starts homeschooling soon and my sister needs my help with her other kids so I’ll be staying with them for a while and they don’t have a computer for me to use. So updates might still be scarce.

There’s a time skip between part five and this part just so I can get the story rolling.

The light was blinding, the heat coming off of the light a small comfort as they pulled the velcro straps over my ankles and wrists, making sure they were tight enough where I couldn’t move. I watched them as they pulled a velcro strap over my head and neck, testing the tightness of it before they moved, no longer in my line of sight.

“We’ll begin the injection shortly.”

“She’ll be out?”

“She should. This way we will be able to perform more of our procedures.”

They nodded, stepping up beside the bed, looking down at me, grinning.

“And we have many procedures to perform.”

They started to turn blurry as they injected my arm with something, causing me to scream, feeling something hot running along my veins before I passed out.

✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪

Sitting up, my chest heaved as I looked around the room, sighing. I’d been here for a month now, and Sarah was adamant about meeting with me everyday. The hour I’d spend with her was in silence from my end, but she’d talk, expecting me to answer her but I never did. I got up, seeing it was still dark outside. With a huff I left my room, walking down the hallway and to the gym. Sarah had said that I was allowed to roam the grounds of the compound, but I needed to stay within the compound grounds. But I never went outside. I went from my room, to Sarah’s office, and the gym. The lights to the gym automatically cut on once I had pushed the door open, illuminating the room. I walked to the back where the punching bags were, walking around it and getting into position, throwing a punch.

✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪

Bucky groaned as his alarm went off, reaching over and slamming his hand onto the alarm, shutting it off. He changed into his workout clothes, pulling his hair up out of his face as he walked into the gym. Had he been more awake, he would’ve noticed that he wasn’t alone in the gym.

✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪

I was standing on the bar when I heard footsteps walking down the hall outside the doors. I stopped, turning towards the door, listening as I lowered myself so I was squatting on top of the bar. The footsteps got louder as a figure appeared in front of the gym doors. I watched as the door opened, my blood running cold as my heart stopped. The winter soldier. He didn’t seem to notice me as he walked towards the weights, which was subtently near me. I watched him from my perch, glaring at him.

“Today we’ll be testing your abilities.”

I wasn’t given a chance to respond before something hit me from behind, tackling me to the ground. I started to struggle, working my way so I was on my back, my eyes slowly looking up at the figure above me. His hair was covering most of his face, but I could still see his eyes, his eyes which were empty, empty and cold. Before I could even blink his arm shot forward, wrapping around my neck. It was cold, cold and hard as he applied pressure.

I shook my head, closing my eyes as I tried to calm down.

“They’d do well together.” “She’s weak.” “But with him by her side, they’re unstoppable.” “Train them again, if she wins, then we shall pair them together.” “And if she fails?” “Kill her.”

My breathing was getting heavier as I clenched my hands into fists.

I lasted longer than I did the first time we had fought. This time I was prepared, but even then it wasn’t enough, not really. Sure, I was able to keep up with him, but he still held the upper hand. It took some time, but once again his hand was wrapped around my neck, lifting me off the floor as he slammed me into the wall, the wall cracking from the force. My hands reached for his, trying to pry his hand off of my neck. Black spots had started to form, and I tried to kick him away, but he had just swatted my legs away like a bug. I started to feel faint, my grip on his hand loosening. My head rolled to the side as my breathing became labored.

“And if she fails?” “Kill her.”

I snapped my eyes open, wrapping one leg around him, the other kicking him as I slammed my hand up under his chin, forcing his head up. He let me go, falling backwards as I slid down the wall, coughing.

The noise he was making became silent, everything falling into nothing as I watched him. The gym changed into a cell, the soldier’s clothes changing into the uniform, his arm glistening. Everything happened so fast. One minute I was squatting on the bar, the next I was on his shoulders, my legs wrapped around him, a knife to his throat.

✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪

“Bucky is fine. He’s already up and walking again. There’s no hard feelings. In fact, he’d like to talk to you if you’d be okay with that.”

Sarah sighed, lowering her clipboard.

“YN, what happened wasn’t your fault. It was unfair to you for us to not tell you about Bucky. But he’s just like you, he’s trying to move on. From Hydra, and everything they did, the same as you.”

“He’s just like me?”

I didn’t have to look up to know that Sarah was shocked. We’d been meeting for a month, an hour for each day, and I had yet to say anything.

“Yes, he’s just like you. He was kidnapped, tortured, used. The same as you. He’s like you.”

Like me? He didn’t seem like me back then. Not when he would come into my cell everyday and beat me, leaving me for dead each time. He didn’t seem like me when he’d pull the trigger, killing the target. He didn’t seem like me when I’d hesitate before I’d strike, or how he listened to every order he was given. He didn’t seem like me.

“You both are more alike than you realize. Think about it.”

With that Sarah left my room. I looked out the window, huffing.

“I’ve already thought about it.”

Healing Taglist:

@wintersoldierissucharide​

@oceanmermaidwitch​

@psycho-on-thephone​

@sebastianstansqueen​

Permanent:

@katsav17​

@elizzeysnow13

@babypink224221​

@laneygthememequeen​

Marvel:

@socie

@tanelle83​

@llama2264​

@queenoftheunderdark​

Bucky Barnes Tags:

@bitterstar88

@assembleimaginess​

#healing in time #bucky barnes x reader #winter solider x reader #avengers x reader #marvel x reader #bucky barnes oneshot #winter soldier oneshot #avengers oneshot #marvel oneshot #bucky barnes imagine #winter soldier imagine #avengers imagine #marvel imagine #bucky barnes drabble #winter soldier drabble #avengers rabble #marvel drabble #bucky barnes #winter soldier #avengers #marvel

[mcgrathandwives]

Someone To Lean On.

Request: 🏳️‍🌈HAPPY MONTH!🏳️‍🌈 I was wondering if it's possible for you to write a coming out piece? With the Avengers? Perhaps your family found out and it wasn't exactly the best so you had Nat or Wanda take you back to the compound and you tell everyone what happend? The Avengers being like your second family and they shower you in support? Include Carol, Nebula and Gamora too please?

A/n: reader's in their 20s. They don't live with their parents but visit every weekend or every month when they have time off. Low-key based on my coming out, but obviously it's changed up a little for the benefit of the fact my coming out was angsty af.

I DONT OWN MARVEL OR ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS.

Word count: 3,399

Pairing: The Avengers x Reader.

--

The sun setting crept its way through the window, Natasha leaned against your doorframe as you finished packing your bag. "You ready kid?" She offered to drop you off before making her way out to meet Maria for drinks. Slinging your bag over your shoulder, you squeezed by the assassin. "Y'know I'm far from a kid, Romanoff!"

Quickly you bid the others goodbye, Carol pulled you into a quick hug, whispering "Good luck." She knew how tough your family can be after a mission. Luckily you weren't too banged up this week, but that didn't mean there wasn't fresh wounds.

The drive to your childhood home was mostly quiet, Natasha did sing along to a few songs on the radio just to cheer you up a little. She's always without a doubt brought a smile to your face, at first it started as a crush- only on your part of course, she is the Black Widow after all.

But still, she took you under her wing, she became your mentor and then watched you get flustered around Wanda. Nat's been your number one since you joined the team, she really treats you like family.

Pulling up outside the house, she offers you a small smile, reaching over to hug you. "If you need anything I'm just a call away, kid."

"Thanks Nat. Don't flirt with Hill too much now." You left the car giggling at her face. It's really not a secret to you that Natasha has a thing for Maria so to make up for her teasing you about Wanda you gotta give her a little taste of her own medicine.

You did learn from the best, after all.

---

Laughter echoed around the house the second you opened the door, the smile on your face never leaving. You made your way to greet everyone and let your mom scan over your injuries, it killed you know how upset they made her but she was proud of you for doing your job, even if she didn't agree with it. You retired to your bedroom an hour or so after getting home.

The next day you woke up to a few texts from Wanda, she was wondering if you'd be interested in attending the pride parade with her and the other Avengers. Naturally you said yes, with the parade being on Monday you didn't have to cancel any family plans and it would be the first time you attended the parade since coming out so it brought a new excitement to the event.

Later in the day you helped your mom with some grocery shopping and stopped for a few photos with different people and the drive back was full of laughter as you both sang along to whatever playlist your siblings made.

You helped your dad prep for dinner as your siblings did some chores around the house. "Any plans this week Y/n?"

You were hesitant to mention going to pride with the others, you weren't exactly out and proud around your family. That's not to say all of your family didn't know, after all, the Avengers knew and they've never been more supportive, Tony and Steve have spent many an hour trying to help you work out how to 'come out' to your family.

Wanda and Carol were there for every failed attempt. Bucky, Sam and Clint were more than happy to lend you a shoulder to cry on every time you freaked out about coming out.

Nebula and Gamora had also spent a good bit of time with you, Nebula understood where you were coming from the most, she knew disappointment better than anyone. Gamora however didn't understand why you didn't just tell them like you did with her.

Thor, however, he was always willing to pretend to be your boyfriend for as long as you needed, he joked about it a lot. He was there on one occasion listening to way your dad spoke about the LGBT+ community. He understood your apprehension and did try his hardest to help you, that even mean introducing you to Brunnhilde. She didn't quite grasp the difficulty of it since she wasn't fully up-to-date on Earth's prejudices. Nevertheless, she offered her best advice as well as her time- she's one of the few people you knew that was actually out and didn't care what anyone had to say.

Natasha though?

She's been there for every second of it, from being the first person you came out to, holding your hand through every other moment of coming out to the team. She's been there for every heartbreak and she's held your hand through it all, she knew how nervous you were about being judged based on your sexuality. She knew all the stories from your school days to actually hearing first hand your family's opinion on some members of the LGBT+ community.

The team is incredibly supportive and proud of you and they made sure you knew it.

Being partly out and in the closet at the same time brings enough challenges, you're a big believer in only coming out when you, and you alone, decide when it's time.

"Em, not much actually. We have a few missions here and there and the pride parade."

Your dad stopped for a second before shaking his head, "Well, we'll have to discuss that after dinner. I can't have you getting hurt out there." His comment wasn't exactly harsh nor was it comforting, you weren't sure if he was talking about your missions or the parade but you brushed it to the side, focusing on peeling the veggies.

---

After dinner you offered to do the washing up, seeing it as an opportunity to build yourself up. To give you that final push, to come out to your parents. Half way through your inner pep talk your dad walked in, your mom following. "So pride huh?" The conversation barely started and already it struck a hint of anxiety through you.

"Yup!" You could feel the confidence drain from you quickly, "You and the Avengers?"

"Uh huh. It was Tony's idea that we be there." Your stomach was knotted with every word, heat rushing all over you. "For protection?" Your mom was quick to jump in, "Y'know for the gays? Instead of cops?"

Your arm reached behind your head, scratching at your neck, "Well partly but mostly to just celebrate. Since some of us-" Before you could finish, your dad cut you off.

"What do you have to celebrate? I don't understand why you'd be there if it's not for protection? It's not like you're going to show support for any of your friends, they clearly aren't going for your support either. I just don't understand why you'd be there."

All you could hear was your heartbeat increasing, to the point you were convinced that they could hear it too before you could process what your dad was saying you just blurted it out.

"I'M GAY!"

At that moment you watched your dad lose all self-control he had, his nostrils flared as his face went red. "How could you even know that?", "You haven't even lived your life enough to know that!", "Is it a phase? Is one your little Avenger buddies gay too?", "You don't have enough life experience to even consider being gay!" He was firing questions and statements left and right, each one getting louder.

You weren't sure if you were hurt or angry but either way, tears threatened to fall. Your back straightened, you were in flight or fight mode now and you've never backed down from a fight. "How can you even ask me that? How can you even say that!"

Your mom inched herself closer to you. "It's not a fucking phase! I've known for years! And yeah actually I do have 'enough' life experience to know my own fucking self!" By now you’d both gotten in each other's faces, flashbacks of past arguments swirled through your head as tears brimmed your eyes, this was it. "You're not gay. You can't be."

Tears started to fall freely, that it seemed to only anger your dad more, "Why are you crying? What is this not what you wanted? Not what you expected? Did you think we weren't going to have an adult conversation about this? You're too fucking young to know Y/n!" The tears fell faster now as your chest started to burn.

‘How could he be like this?’

‘What happened to I'll always support you without judgment?'

"Welcome to the real world! Not everyone is just going to take what you have to say and not question it! I'm in my given right to ask this! Stop! Fucking! Crying!"

Anger bubbled its way through you, "FUCK YOU!" Your mom froze, she'd be in many arguments with you and your dad before but never once had you really spoke to him like this, no bratty attitude, not snide comments just a firm tone. "I WAS FUCKING SCARED TO COME OUT! BECAUSE I KNEW. I KNEW YOU'D REACT LIKE THIS!" Admittedly his scoff hurt more than his words. "You and your generation, you all think you're entitled to have the flags out, and everyone claps for every little achievement you've made! I knew! I already knew! But here you have to announce it like it's news! Grow the fuck up!" Your mom managed to make her way between the pair of you, creating enough distance, she knew neither of you would try anything now. She had created a gap for you to get out of the room.

You couldn't take anymore, the shouting mixed with your panic attack burned your throat. Your chest felt like it was on fire and no matter how hard you wiped your eyes the tears wouldn't stop. Making a break for your room, you grabbed your phone, dialing the first number you could.

----

"Hello? Y/n?" Wanda's voice was laced with worry, panic washed over the other Avenger as you choked on a sob. "I-I need you to come, get me." She knew you could hear the muffled movements just like she could hear your dad shouting, Wanda stayed on the call with you, hearing everything your dad was saying, she refused to hang up when your mom came in and everything had gone quiet.

Whilst listening to your conversation, she ran to Natasha's room, banging on the door. The redhead answered with messy hair and a glare that could kill. "This better be an emergency Wanda."

"It's, Y/n, they need us. Now." The minute Natasha heard your name she was grabbing sweatpants and her keys, "C’mon then!"

By the time they got to your house, they could hear more shouting, "IF YOU WALK OUT THAT DOOR YOU'RE DONE!" The wooden door swung open, revealing you in a fit of tears, barely able to walk in a straight line due to your blurry vision. Wanda rushed to your side, whilst Natasha made her way in front of your dad. "Move an inch and see what happens!" Her tone, cold, she left once Wanda had you in the car.

The ride back was silent, apart from your sniffles and worried glances they'd thrown in your direction. You finally passed out in the back once you passed the old tower. When you arrived back at the compound, Wanda carried your bag, as Natasha pulled you into her arms, carrying you to her room.

After assuring Wanda that you'd be okay with her, Nat finally crawled in beside you. "I know you're awake Y/n." Rolling yourself into her, you let the sobs free. May spent the next two hours running her fingers through your hair, whispering little nothings to calm you down.

"I- I came out and they- he didn't like it." The assassins arms tightened around you. "We don't have to talk about it until tomorrow okay? Right now let's just try getting some sleep."

---

The next morning Natasha woke up with a numb arm, your body clung to her like your life depended on it. It killed her seeing you like this, tear tracks stained your face, your hair in a million knots, you never passed out until 3ish and Nat, well she was up and down for the next hour with you. Slowly she untangled you from her. Pulling the larger blanket over you, she decided to make you something for breakfast and call the others.

Shortly after Nat left, you woke up. Hoping last night was one horrible dream, the lack of photos on the wall however, only confirmed that you were definitely not at your parents. Your head was pounding, violently, the events still playing in your head. Tears blurred your vision again, and you tightly grabbed the blanket that was given. It smelled faintly like Natasha, calming you down a bit. You just needed a minute to collect yourself before explaining the colossal fuck up of events that took place last night.

Admittedly you weren't sure what you were more scared of, the reactions of the others to finding out what happened or the fact that your dad had finally managed to cut you deeper than any blade ever could, whilst your mom just stood there.

That sinking feeling you've felt all your life had grown, leaving you feeling heavier than ever.

---

As Y/n was still trying to build up the confidence to leave Natasha's room, the Avengers had all huddled around the island in the kitchen. All of them worried for you, "They finally did it and it went worse than they thought it would." Bucky and Peter were the first on their feet, making their way to the door. They were greeted by Nebula and Gamora, both of them wearing a threatening glare, with a flick of her finger Nebula had both of them turn back towards the group.

"So what do we do?" Steve wasn't all too familiar with this situation, but he cared for you deeply, he saw you as family and he only wanted to help. Everyone broke into conversation about a cheer up plan.

----

After an hour everyone had agreed the best way to help you was for you to tell them what you needed. Instead of them firing in all of these different ideas, it was a madhouse at the best of times but with grown adults shouting about movie days or theme parks, then of course Peter piping in with ice cream and Groot contributed beautifully by leaving because it was too loud for him- it took Natasha being picked up by Carol for everyone to shut up. So they all found themselves going about their own business waiting for you to come to them.

Another hour passed before you emerged from Natasha's room, wearing sweats and a borrowed sweater from Tony, your hair was still damp from the shower and everyone could see how exhausted you were but you knew if you didn't come out then they'd crowd you in the bedroom. You didn't need any more anxiety so you braved it.

Before you could greet anyone Gamora made her way over to you, pulling you into a hug. Nebula copied her sister's actions and soon so did everyone else, Brunnhilde snuck her way in closer to as Wanda's arms tightened around your waist. Tears fell freely from you, the group hug was admittedly a little claustrophobic but definitely needed.

Once everyone had untangled themselves from you, you found yourself being pulled into the strong arms of Thor. Each of the team, spent the next 10 minutes, pulling you into individual hugs, trying to remind you that they've got you- without overwhelming you with the same sentence. Peter held you a little longer than the others, once he pulled back he flashed you an awkward smile, the both of you were the youngest of the team and had a close sibling-like relationship. He held your wrists before saying, "Consider it from Aunt May too." He let out a small "Oof" when you pulled him back into you.

Carol dragged you over to the couch before throwing herself down beside Wanda, she pulled you down between them, cuddling into you. The room fell into a comfortable silence, the others retired to their rooms after a few movies and once you reassured them you'd be okay, you stayed between the heroes, barely paying attention to the movie.

Your thoughts were consumed with every interaction you've had in the last 24 hours. From the argument, you had with your parents to the comforting embrace of Carol Danvers. In the moment you realized that it didn't matter what you'd have to deal with in your life as long as you had the Avengers you'd be okay.

You'd have someone to lean on.

Someone to be there to pick you up when you're down.

You'd have someone in your corner. In this case, it turned out you had the world's and well technically the universe's strongest beings in your corner.

Wanda listened to your thoughts with a small smile on her face, she wasn't trying to invade your personal space- she was worried and rightfully so. She adored you, so much so, that she'd do anything to help you. She had a bit of a crush of course she did. How could she not? But you didn't need someone like that in your life right now. You need support, unconditional love and she was more than ready to throw every ounce of it she had at you.

---

Monday rolled around quicker than you thought, everyone was getting ready for the parade when you walked out sporting the rainbow design on your suit. Natasha offered to paint one on your face but you declined since your suit was basically a walking flag. Carol, Thor, Steve, and Bucky were all sporting their flags as their suits, Brunnhilde swapper her blue cape for her new cape designed to look like the Bi flag- Bruce finished it this morning, whilst everyone else wrapped flags over their shoulders or painted their faces. Hill walked in making a direct B-line to you, pulling you into her, it'd been a while since you'd seen each other. She apologized for not being here with you sooner and promised a proper catch up after the parade.

Everyone was ready to leave, you were just waiting on Tony, Pepper, and Wanda. Wanda walked out smiling sporting a rainbow jacket, instead of her red leather one, Tony and Pepper wore their suits which were covered in stickers.

The parade went spectacularly and the after party at the compound- courtesy of the Avengers LGBTQ+ charity, Pepper and Maria set up: 'to fund shelters, safe houses and more for all LGBTQ+ beings across the globe', was in full swing. Everyone was laughing, joking and enjoying themselves. There was all sorts going on, photobooths, photoshoots with the different Avengers, a dance party, food and drinks, face painting, etc. Everyone was just enjoying their day, celebrating everything they've fought for in their lives to be who they are, being out and proud about their story and their own history. It was inspiring.

It was beautiful.

It was hopeful.

It was loud too and you needed a second to yourself.

Excusing yourself from the group, making your way out to the balcony. Watching the sun setting in the distance, casting a golden-pinkish glow over the city. The birds chirped a little louder and the soft wind ghosted over the trees. You finally released your breath, the events of the weekend once again playing in your head. Your family should be here, they should be but they weren't and it hurt, your dad hadn't once reached out to you, your mom barely spoke to you when she did and your siblings, well they called and promised they'd visit after the parade- you're getting lunch with them tomorrow. It still stung that you couldn't share this experience with them.

But everyone in there, everyone that stood by you today, they made it all that bit easier. The fact that you have this whole other chosen family, people and beings that just want you around because you are, who you are.

Because you're being yourself. They're all the support you need. All the love you could ever want.

It'll all feel easier in time, you knew that. It'll hurt less in time.

#avengers x reader #pride prompt #im a little drunk ngl so im sorry for the messy format #this is a week over due #but its here #this is based on my coming out but obviously the avengers didn't come to my pride #i wish they did ngl] #im rabbling in the tags now #im gonna stop

[prokopetz]

The weirdest thing about the Flash is that under many writers, his rogue’s gallery are basically what fanfic writers keep trying to turn the Avengers or the Justice League into. More and more, the big superhero teams are written as a bunch of high-powered pricks who are allied out of common interest but don’t particularly like or even respect one another, and then over in the Flash comics there’s just a random rabble of flamboyant B-list supervillains being depicted hanging out in their free time and doing stupid shit together for fun and even occasionally having functional relationships with each other.

#media #comics #dc #flash #rogue's gallery #swearing

[anubislover]

Flevance and Law’s Goals

If I may offer a possible in-character justification for why Law would fixate more on avenging Cora over, say, his family and Flevance, it’s the fact that taking down Doffy is a goal he feels he can actually achieve. Murdering one man/taking down his kingdom and organization is a lot easier than bringing down the entire World Government who covered up the truth. Sure, he could try to expose the truth, but he’s one man with pretty limited proof. It would be easy for the WG to sweep any claims under the rug, and since everyone thinks the people of Flevance are all dead, it’s easy for them to say this is just some rabble-rouser spreading falsehoods.

In comparison, while Law’s plans for Doflamingo and Dressrosa were elaborate and suicidal, they were at least doable. He had enough contingencies where even if he failed to kill Doffy himself, he’d have screwed up his SMILE making operation enough to send Kaido’s wrath after him.

As for him holding Cora up to some lofty standard, of course I will never think he took the place of Law’s dad in his heart. But I can see why a traumatized 13 year old would cling to his sacrifice and put him on a pedestal. Cora was probably the closest thing to a father-figure Law had at the time, and most importantly, he was the first person in a long time who seemed to care about his well-being. Cora showed him genuine kindness and was willing to go to the ends of the earth to save him. He was the embodiment of what that nun told him. “A merciful hand will always reach out.”

And then Cora died saving him. Cora was that spark of hope he’d had when his life was dark and full of despair. Law had joined Doffy planning to kill as many people as he could before he died of Amber Lead. That was his way of avenging Flevance. It was small and ultimately meaningless but that was all a dying kid could really do.

Now Cora is dead, and Law’s no longer dying once he’s able to use his new powers to cut the Amber Lead out of his liver. And he still can’t avenge Flevance. Even with his epic new powers, there’s no amount of killing he could do to properly avenge them. But he CAN kill Doflamingo. He CAN avenge the man who saved his life by fulfilling his mission to take down his brother.

As for why Law’s now interested on the Will of D,. I think it’s still related to Flevance in its own way. He might want to know if it was fated that all that terrible stuff happened to him. But he also knows it’s something that the WG doesn’t want people to know about. That people that bore that initial, like himself, were considered the natural enemies of the Celestial Dragons. And the Celestial Dragons are a major part of the World Government.

For the first time, he might actually have a way to take down the World Government and avenge Flevance.

#one piece #one piece analysis #trafalgar d. water law #trafalgar law #Flevance #will of d #donquixote doflamingo #corazon #also you can pry the idea that the Rocky Port Incident was him murdering the Flevance royal family from my cold dead hands #amber lead

[opheliadawnwalker3]

The Watching

Author’s Note: This is for @darkficsyouneveraskedfor’s fic swap. I picked @sherrybaby14​ :) Hope you like it hun and Merry Christmas!!

Synopsis: Reader has been dating Thor for about a year and is celebrating her first Yuletide on Asgard. But she’s unprepared for certain traditions that are expected of her. Or that these traditions also involve Thor and his companions.

Contains: strong sexual content, cunnilinguous, penetration, threesome, voyeurism, some audience participation, fluffy holiday cheer

Wacchinsrinn- Old Norse means “The Watching”

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You stand in the elaborately decorated banquet hall, carefully nursing another full goblet of Asgard’s famous honeyed wine. Thor had left you alone, mere moments before, no doubt to personally welcome his people to the Yule celebration. In the corner, several Asgardian citizens play musical instruments and the rest are either drunkenly dancing, feasting on delicious foods or laughing uproariously. Eager faces are painted with intricate symbols and there is much joy and carefree energy in the air. Normally, you’re not such a wall flower, but being surrounded by Thor’s fiercely lively people is a whole new experience for you. You had already witnessed the burning of the wooden Yule wreath earlier and had cheered with the others when it was sent hurtling down the hill and fell among the stars. In the corner of the vast hall stands the Yule tree, decorated not with the colored glass balls you were accustomed to, but small statues of previous kings and mythical creatures. After seeing the God of Thunder for over a year, you were overjoyed to hear him say that he wanted to finally bring you back to his world. His kingdom. 

It happened to be close to Christmas, but other than the typical mandatory bland office party and receiving a few Christmas cards, you really had no other plans. Why on Earth would you ever pass that up? The chance to not only see the place he grew up in, but to be among his people and culture. His friends and-

“Well, well...don’t we look fetching this evening?” A sly familiar voice utters behind you, erupting a subtle heat across the back of your neck. Turning, you see Loki, sharply donned with tailored green silks and a gray pelt clasped around his shoulders. Instead of his usual absurdly large golden horns, a delicate golden crown balances at his temple. 

You raise your goblet to him. “You clean up rather nicely yourself.”

Loki tilts his head, keen emerald eyes slowly trailing down your body and you could almost swear he could see right through the crimson silk of your gown. His lips curl into a devious smile and your heart flutters against your will. “Do enjoy the festivities...mind the honeyed wines. They are much stronger than the tepid liquors served on Midgard.”

You roll your eyes as you defiantly take another sip. You would be lying if you said, you weren’t already feeling buzzed. The warmth that spreads across your cheeks, that familiar light headed feeling. You would have to pace yourself. You can’t make a fool out of yourself at your first Asgardian Yuletide. And you were here with Thor for God’s sake. You didn’t want to humiliate him or yourself.

A loud clang sounds near you and your attention is momentarily drawn to Volstagg, one of Thor’s infamous Warrior’s Three, laughing boisterously as he picks up his dropped axe. No doubt, in the middle of a drunken retelling of old battle stories. 

Lips brush the shell of your ear and you automatically tense up. Your breath hitches as slender fingers ghost over your bare shoulders.

“I look forward, to seeing much more of you later.” Loki purrs huskily into your ear and you are rooted to the spot. His alluring voice holds dark promises. Your brows furrow in confusion and before you are able to ask just what he means by that, Thor’s voice cuts across the room. You look over to see him cross the room with jovial presence. His bright blue eyes crinkle with happiness at the sight of you.

Loki withdraws from you completely and you let out a sigh of relief. The wine...it must have been the wine. You would have to drink water to spread it out.

Seemingly unbothered at Loki’s closeness, Thor smiles warmly as he slips his arms around your waist and pulls you in for a kiss. You sigh, relishing the comforting feeling of his lips and presence as you pull him in closer. For the past year, Thor had been a beacon of light in your boring, mundane life. He would entertain you for hours with tales of his childhood, battles and stories about his time with the Avengers. He made you feel exciting just by being in his presence. Feel incredibly safe just by being in his strong embrace. He never left you wanting whether physically, mentally or emotionally. You only hoped you did the same for him. 

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Thor’s deep voice rumbles against your mouth.

“I am. I just wish we could-”

“Ah there’s the lovely couple. Starting Wacchinsrinn a bit early are we not?” You recognize Fandral’s charming voice sounding next to you. You pull back from Thor slightly with a raised brow.

“Wacchinsrinn? What’s that?”

Before the smaller roguish blonde can answer you, Thor laughs and quickly begins to lead you away from the two men. Confused, you look back to see Fandral and Loki exchange knowing smiles.

“What on earth was that about?” You ask, setting your now empty goblet down on one of the long wooden tables. Funny, you hadn’t even remembered drinking it all.

“Just Fandral with one of his jokes. Pay the scoundrel no mind,” Thor replies playfully before spinning you around wildly among the other dancing patrons. You wish to press him further but a mixture of the otherworldly alcohol and contagious euphoria around you, causes your curiosity to melt away and you gather your skirts to join the dance. 

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About an hour later, Thor leads you down the hall by the hand. You stumble a bit and giggle with tipsy merriment as he turns the corner to open a pair of grand ornate doors. You tilt your head in confusion as you take in the lavish yet unfamiliar chambers within.

“Hey this isn’t the same room, you showed me earlier. This isn’t yours, right?”

“You’re right, Y/N. This is our room.”

“Ooo our room you say?” You tease as you take in your surroundings, Thor walking in behind you to shut the doors. Inside the chamber was a large king sized bed with a full canopy and intricately carved designs in the wood. The sheets were golden and there was a table set with trays of cheese and fruits and silver pitchers no doubt filled with mead and wine. But that wasn’t what caught your eye. You look back at Thor whose looking down at you with an expression you can’t quite decifer. 

“What’s with all the chairs pointed facing the bed? Kind of an unusual arrangement, isn’t it?”

“It’s for...Wacchinsrinn.”

“There’s that word again. What is it?”

Before Thor can respond, there is a low chuckle and suddenly Loki appears next to you.

“Oh dear, you haven’t told her. How irresponsible and devious of you, brother.”

“Hush, Loki.” Thor looks down at you and brings a massive hand to cup your face. “Please forgive me, Y/N. I didn’t want you to worry or feel pressured to do anything.”

“Although it is an Asgardian tradition. I don’t believe Y/N wants to be the cause of the King’s refusal to uphold a tradition maintained for thousands of years.”

“Not the time, Loki...”

“I disagree. I think it’s the perfect time...”

“No he’s right. I’m not going to stand in the way of you upholding your kingly duties. Whatever you need to do, I’ll support you.” You encourage, placing a hand on Thor’s arm.

“How touching, but your amorous participation is very much required.” Loki interjects with a dangerous smirk and Thor sighs, clearly conflicted. You look back and forth between the pair.

“My what participation?”

Before Loki could reply, Thor raises his hand in front of him.

“Loki, leave us.”

“Oh, I think not. This is all rather entertaining for me.”

“Leave now.” Thor’s tone is tense and clipped and you can’t help feeling a little nervous. What is going on? Why all the secrecy? And what exactly is expected of you?

“So tense, brother. Perhaps you should have her tend to you first and help get those bothersome...kinks out.”

Thor says, nothing, merely glares at Loki, before the latter sighs in reluctant surrender.

“Very well, I suppose I could check on the rest of the rabble and see if they are ready to bear witness.” And with that, Loki disappears, leaving you and Thor alone once more. You look up at the god and cross your arms.

“Thor just tell me. What’s the tradition?” Your eyes widen briefly when you think back to all of the those Viking and Pagan shows you watched in mild preparation for the Yule celebration.

“I won’t have to do an animal sacrifice will I?”

Thor smiles and shakes his head as he brushes his fingers along your jaw. “No animal sacrifices will be required of you, I promise.”

“Okay...then what is expected of me?”

Thor pauses for a moment in quiet contemplation, gathering his thoughts before he eventually sighs. “On Asgard, the act of coupling is a merry and happy occasion. Asgardians do not view such an act with such...modesty as on Midgard.”

You nod, following along and very curious as to where this is going.

“And so...the notion of sharing such a joyous act with others...is considered...a generous gift.”

You eyes widen slightly as the realization begins to wash over you. “And when you say sharing...you mean...??”

Thor gives you an embarrassed smile. “Those closest to us shall bear witness to our union.”

“So...your companions are just going to watch us?”

“If that is agreeable to you. It is not uncommon for them to join in should all participating consent.”

You chew on your bottom lip and cross your arms. “So that’s what everyone has been referring to all night.”

“Yes.”

You contemplate for a few moments more, weighing your options in your head. You should be appalled that your boyfriend just sprang this on you, royalty or not. But you just can’t find yourself to be angry. On the contrary...the idea is intriguing. You’d always been fascinated by the thought of voyeurism. Whether watching someone else or being watched yourself. But you’d never had the courage to explore it. There was even once an incident where Hawkeye accidentally walked into the room while you were riding Thor at Avengers Tower. Instead of being embarrassed...you only clenched tighter around Thor’s cock. Even felt a pang of disappointment when Hawkeye quickly left the room with amused apologies. Maybe this was your chance to finally explore one of your fantasies.

You finally look back up at Thor, his handsome face etched with worry and concern.

“Okay.”

“Yes?”

“Yes. I want to do this. For you, but mostly for me,” You admit, pressing a soft kiss against his lips. You see a flash of green in the corner of your eye and Loki appears next to you, holding two goblets full of wine. He gives you an impish smirk as he holds one out to you.

“How about a little more wine to take the edge off. Perhaps numb your defenses a bit,” Loki drawled as you eagerly accept the wine. A little liquid courage never hurt anyone. Thor watches you carefully as you take several large pulls of the sweet wine, embracing the numbing warmth that pools down your body.

“Are you sure about this ,Y/N?” Thor asks softly, his usual booming voice now quiet with uncertainty. 

You set your now empty goblet on the table next to you and give him a confident smile. Sure, you felt emboldened by the wine, but you also felt very eager for what lays ahead Thor reaches up to cup your jaw with both hands, his bright blue eyes melting any doubts you might have had.

“Because if you’re not, then damn the traditions. I will never ask you to do anything you’re not ready for. We can leave now, go back to Midgard and celebrate your traditional Christmas.”

You feel your heart swell with appreciation and adoration and you turn your head slightly to kiss his fingers. “You would do that for me?”

“Of course I will. You mean more to me that anything.”

“Then I want to do this. I’m happy to do it.”

Thor leans down to press his lips to yours once more in a sweet gentle kiss to which you eagerly reciprocate. Next to you, Loki chuckles as he takes a sip from his goblet.

“Not to break up this touching little moment, but the others are getting restless.”

Thor reluctantly pulls away, brushing your bottom lip with his thumb. 

“Then we shall not keep them waiting.”

 The potent alcohol flows within you, but something else pools within. Excitement and pure unadulterated desire. Loki chuckles and you feel his hands on your hips as he presses in close behind you. Surprised, you look up to Thor for guidance, but he merely stares at the pair of you with a calm unbothered expression.

“And will you allow any of the witnesses to enjoy her as well?” Loki insinuates, his lips brushing the shell of your ear. “I myself, am curious if she tastes as good as she looks.” Your breath hitches and your heart begins to pound harder at his carnal implications. 

Thor smirks and gestures down to you. “That is entirely up to you. If you desire another, then it shall be done.”

You let out a soft gasp, completely taken aback by this turn of events. But certainly not upset at the prospect. You would be lying to yourself if you never thought about how alluringly charming and attractive Loki is. So very different from your Thor, yet enticing all the same. When will you get another opportunity like this? 

“Yes...I...I want you both.”

“Very well, then let them all in and we’ll begin the Wacchinsrinn.”

Loki presses a brief kiss to your neck, before gracefully leaving the room. You feel your nerves beginning to flutter in your gut, battling against your arousal and the tension in the air from the possibilities.

Thor steps up to you and carefully traces his hand down your front. Your nipples harden through the thin silk and you lick your lips. 

“Who...who will be watching us?”

“The Warriors Three, Lady Sif, Loki and Heimdall will watch from the Rainbow Bridge since he cannot personally attend. But do not be nervous. You are perfection. This is a gift not only for my companions but us as well.”

You take a deep breath, heartbeat speeding up when you hear approaching footsteps and the large ornate doors open.

Fandral walks in first, his eyes drinking you in. “Ahh lovely, Y/N...you look ready for your first Wacchinsrinn. Tell me, has Thor prepared you properly? Because if not, I offer you my services. I’m told I’m quite talented in such matters.”

“Oh do settle down, Fandral. She has already chosen me to help...alleviate the tension. Do enjoy your seat, though.” Loki retorts playfully as he unclasps the fur from around his shoulders. 

Fandral winks at you as he gracefully drops in his seat. “Well I suppose that silver tongue has its uses after all.” 

The combination of alcohol, nerves, and your excitement for things to come, make your skin tingle with anticipation.

Lady Sif follows close behind, dressed elegantly in a fitted gown of midnight blue. Her usually tied up long hair, hangs down her back in loose curls. She takes her place in the middle seat and crosses her legs expectantly as she gives you a small encouraging smile. She gives a side eye to Volstagg, who decided to bring a large turkey leg to the ceremony, as he sits next to her.

“Honestly...must you eat even while we bear witness?”

Volstagg lets out a good humored laugh as he takes a bite of the roasted meat. “What is the point of enjoying such stimulating entertainment without filling my gullet? No point in doing things half way, I say.”

Hogun silently joins the group and crosses his arms, his stoic face betraying nothing. Thor stands tall and acknowledges all who are present.

“Now that we are all here, its time to begin. We thank those closest to us in sharing this moment. May this gift offer you many blessings and good omens on and off the battlefield.” 

“And what a gift it is,” Exclaims Fandral, holding up his own pint of mead.

“Hear, hear!” Volstagg agrees excitedly. Sif and Hogun remain silent, but their subtle expressions hold a keen interest.

The Warriors cheer and you can’t help but smile at the almost absurd nature of it all. 

“My desired and I shall drink from the cup and then proceed with Wacchinsrinn,” Thor exclaims as he holds out another goblet will only half full. The both of you drink from it and Loki takes the empty goblet away. Thor wastes no time undressing with unwavering confidence and leans down to capture your lips in a hungry kiss.

“It is time to be worshipped, like the goddess you are,” Thor purrs in a husky voice against your lips as his hands trail down your waist. His pretty words and deep tone makes your thighs clench together as your pussy throbs.

You feel Loki press in close behind you and he carefully pushes your hair off your neck. Their closeness is intoxicating. “But first you must bare yourself to us,” Loki whispers lowly in your ear as dexterous fingers make swift work of the clasps on your shoulders. The top slips down revealing your breasts and you gasp when Thor’s hands begin caressing with eager, calloused hands. Loki grips your hips as his mouth traces a tantalizing path up your neck.

Your fingers tangle in Thor’s blonde locks when he lowers himself to capture a pebbled nipple in his mouth. His mouth is hot and he licks and nibbles your breasts. You’re suddenly feeling very flushed, your skin scorching under their ministrations. 

You feel Loki’s teeth against your throat and he chuckles into your ear. “You should think yourself fortunate. Our great grandfather would often bend his women over the table in the banquet hall during Wacchinsrinn. For all of Asgard to see. This way is far more...intimate.” With that he grabs your chin and kisses you greedily.

After a few moments, the two men lead you to the bed. Thor sits down first and pulls you back between his spread legs. His cock full and hard against your back. His kisses you once more and you feel his hands slide up your thighs, taking the crimson silk of your skirts with it. You lean back against his thick muscled body and stare up at Loki, who remains at the foot of the bed fixed with an expectant sneer.

“Would you like Loki to taste you? Allow him to thoroughly ready your body for me?” Thor questions as his fingers reach your eager cunt beneath the silk. You moan, your hips raising slightly to feel every caress of his fingers. He chuckles arrogantly and you hear the lewd sounds of his fingers easily slipping inside you.

“Well...it seems she’s already quite ready. We may not need your services after all, Loki,” Thor exclaims playfully, displaying his fingertips already soaked in your arousal.

“That may be brother, though I should like to hear it from her lips that she does not desire my mouth on her delectable quim.” Loki replies as he slowly pulls the green tunic over his head with smug ease, revealing his pale yet toned upper body. Both men know you’re not saying no at this point. In fact, no, is the farthest thing from your mind.

You give him a mischievous grin as you beckon him with just the crook of your finger and Loki obliges, crawling up between your spread thighs with a dangerous smile. He looks as though he may just devour you whole. 

When his mouth meets your cunt, you immediately relax back against Thor, enjoying every sensation as Loki unravels you. His tongue glides along your slit with expert ease, rolling and flicking over your throbbing clit. Thor’s beard tickles your bare shoulder as he nips the skin and caresses your breasts. You felt trapped between the two brothers in the most heavenly way.

“How does she taste, Loki?” You hear Volstagg call out and your eyes snap open. You had almost forgotten you were being watched. You bite back a whine when Loki raises up slightly, your cunt already missing his mouth.

“Better than the finest of delicacies on Asgard. She truly is a delicious well of vanilla and honey.” Loki brags and your breath hitches when his lips immediately return to you, wrapping around your clit and gently sucking.

“I knew it. Pay up Fandral,” you hear Volstagg boast and Fandral sighs as he drops a few coins in his companions outstretched hand.

Beneath you, Thor undulates his hips into you and your cunt clenches tightly, wanting to be filled. 

“I can feel Heimdall’s ever watchful eyes upon us. He is thoroughly enjoying the sights as well. He wonders if you would like my cock deep inside you with my brother’s mouth still upon you.” Thor whispers softly into your ear as he pinches a nipple.

Between Loki’s adept mouth and Thor’s touches and carnal words, you can barely form words of your own. But you manage just the same.

“God yes. Please, Thor...” You mewl pathetically as your thighs twitch around Loki’s shoulders. His fingers massage and squeeze your spread thighs.

With that, Thor raises your hips and lines your soaked entrance with his tip. Loki raises his head slightly to follow your cunt. His piercing green eyes staring up hungrily at you. Being worshipped by these men...feeling several pairs of eyes on you at once...its all very intoxicating.

“Lower yourself upon me. Let me feel you clench desperately around me.” Thor commands softly against your temple, his hands gripping your hips and holding you above him. You nod eagerly and you sink down onto him completely. Your pussy is dripping and more than ready, yet Thor’s thick shaft still stretches you slightly and the pair of you moan loudly. Loki chuckles against your flesh, sending vibrations over your clit and making your cunt tighten around Thor.

“By the gods...your grip is always so exceptional. I could just feel you squeeze me all day, though I’d be fighting the urge to drive into you with everything I have.”

“Move her skirts. We would like to see too,” Lady Sif commands from her seat. You briefly raise your eyes to meet hers and her expression is heated and very much satisfied.

“As the lady commands,” Thor agrees as he rips the silk away, baring the rest of you to the room.

You mewl loudly as Loki begins to speed up his tongue, sucking at your clit a little harder. Your fingers reach up to tangle in his dark tresses as he brings your body closer and closer. Your hips roll atop Thor and you continue to mercilessly squeeze his cock sheathed inside you. That familiar icy hot numbing sensation spreads over you as your body climbs higher and higher towards the peak.

“She’s definitely close. Such a sweet thing, they’ve barely had to touch her,” Fandral observes smugly.

“True, but I still bet that she will last through the night.” Lady Sif replies with subtle arrogance.

“Ah, shall we bet on it then, Lady Sif?”

“You have nothing I want, Fandral.”

“How about if I polish your armor for a full moon?”

“What, and let you leave spots all over my-”

“Will you two stop your incessant blathering? She’s about to fall and I would like to enjoy it in its entirety,” Hogun finally quips in with a surprisingly gruff voice. 

You cry out as Loki’s mouth unravels you, causing your cunt to pulsate tightly around Thor. He grips you atop him as he hisses into your ear.

After a few more languid licks of your slit, Loki finally sits up from between your thighs and pulls you into a deep kiss. Your inner walls tighten around Thor yet again when you taste your own juices on Loki’s lips.

The room erupts in applause as the Warriors clap and cheer wholeheartedly.

“A good first round, I’d say!” Volstagg exclaimed as he slams his empty goblet upon the floor in celebration. 

“I agree. I think Y/N is fully warmed up now. We’re going to need much more wine and mead before we proceed forward.”

“And more bread!” Volstagg adds, tossing an empty turkey leg upon his plate.

“I wonder if Y/N, will allow Loki to continue to tend to her,” Lady Sif muses aloud.

At that, Loki finally pulls away from you, licking your bottom lip with an imperious smirk. “I will of course, perform as such, should she require it of me.”

Thor laughs, clamping a hand on Loki’s bare shoulder. “Well down, brother. But I should like you to sit this next one out for now. I wish to ravage her myself this time.”

“Such a bore...but I will concede for now.” Loki sighs snidely before lightly touching your jaw and leaving the bed. 

With Thor’s cock still buried inside you, you look up at him with an impish expression. “So, there’s more to Wacchinsrinn? We’re not finished yet?”

He brushes his lips against your temple as his hands tighten on your hips. “Oh no, my love. We go until you cannot go any longer. When you have had enough, then we will stop. But I know you and....I know you have several more hours in you.”

As he thrusts up into you again accompanied by the supportive cheers of his companians, you smile, truly feeling full filled for the first time in a long time.

From his post on the Rainbow Bridge, the ever watchful Heimdall smiles at the glorious sights before him.

Taglist: @sherrybaby14​ @darkficsyouneveraskedfor​ @lucifers-trash-stash​ @cherienymphe​ @imanuglywombat​ @threeminutesoflife​ @charmed-asylum​ @thefangirllife​ @justagirlinafandomworld​ @queenoftheworldisdead​ @searchforanotherway​ @sapphirescrolls​ @hurricanerin​ @cockslut-padalecki​ @different-type-of-hell​ @darkandinvitingfics​ @buckybarnesplumwhore​ @oneoftheprettynerds​

#thor x reader au #thor x reader smut #dark! thor x reader #thor oneshot #thor odinson #thor x you #thor x y/n #thor smut #smut fic #loki x reader #loki smut #loki x you #loki x y/n

[fuchsiagrasshopper]

Contending the Flame XI

Author’s note: This chapter kept going on for a while so I had to cut it off somewhere which means next chapter will have Hvitserk and Ivar in Vestfold. This chapter progresses readers part a lot though and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. I’ve also reached 200 followers so I’m considering making a writing challenge for fun. Thanks to all of you who have made this happen!

Masterlist

Pairing: Ivar x Reader

Word Count: 2716

Warnings: The usual

After many days and nights at the open water, you came to land by notice of a raven. The birds were intelligent creatures and held a deeper context in their religion. You were beginning to feel the early traces of curiosity rearing. When the longboat had slipped into silent spells, you would try to listen to pieces of conversations and make sense of the strange fables and gods. By the time you were passing into the fjord, you were struck with the guilt that a day had passed and you had forgotten to pray to God.

The sight of the foreign city had you leaping up and hanging over the ledge of the boat to catch a better glimpse. The idea of different lands always seemed so fantastical to the point of myth, yet here you were pulling into a dock. It was a dark and cold place, besieged by tall cliffs of iron rock. The sun was already low, and it wasn't even midday yet. 

For all of its murky preface, you still couldn't shake your excitement at arriving in Kattegat. It appeared you were the only one wearing a smile. The rest of your shipmates were stricken with sullen faces, and Ubbe was addressing the warriors.

"Lagertha's watch will already know we're here, so be prepared for questioning when we tie-up," He said. "Remember, we aren't here to start a war, or to win back Kattegat. We're looking for answers about the spy sent into our army."

"But Lagertha is your enemy," One of the men piped up. "Aren't you going to fight her regardless of that matter?"

Ubbe appeared frustrated. "Only when all of the sons of Ragnar have come to an agreement will we fight."

There was more chatter and bickering in hushed whispers as Ubbe tried to reign in the rabble. You watched on, wanting to help the eldest brother, but you knew your powerlessness. Audhild was beside you observing as well, and she made a harsh noise in her throat that resembled a laugh.

"Ubbe doesn't care to avenge his mother," She said offhandedly.

You paused a moment, not knowing if she wanted you to answer or if it was just her way of airing her outrage. "What do you mean?"

"Lagertha was the one who murdered Queen Aslaug. Some say to win back Kattegat, while others would have you believe it was revenge on her luring Ragnar away."

Ivar had spoken briefly about his mother, but you weren't aware of the entire history until this moment. "And what do you believe?"

"I believe Aslaug wanted to die and bewitched Lagertha into being the one to do it. She was a sad woman, made empty by the disappointing King Ragnar. There's no question that Lagertha is the better Queen, but reasoning won't reach slighted loved ones. Ivar will never allow Lagertha peace."

You looked into the healer's eyes and saw the truth of what she spoke. It was tragic. "How will you Northmen ever triumph over the Saxons, when you're too busy killing each other?"

Audhild barked out a brisk chuckle. "Smarter leaders than you or I have said much the same, yet here we are plotting to steal back Kattegat while Harald Finehair plans to launch an assault to win him rule over all of Norway. These are bold choices, and actions worthy of Valhalla. There's much you don't understand, nun."

"I wish I did," You murmured, feeling foolish. 

Audhild studied you and seemed to determine you were genuine. "Perhaps you will, now that you're here. I don't think you'll see England again."

The mention of that didn't alarm you as much as it should have. You felt a pang of sadness, but not for the loss of England. That place had never felt like home. Nowhere ever had, and that was the root of your melancholy. You didn't have a place to belong, just a series of unfamiliar destinations had come and gone.

As the ship slowly coasted up to the wharf, there weren't many onlookers, and you chalked that up to being that these people witnessed boats coming and going at all times. One ship wasn't enough to warrant too much attention. If anyone took a second glance, it was because of Ubbe. Those sons of Ragnar drew attention wherever they went, and it must have been unusual for him to be seen without the others present. 

When the boat docked, the crew immediately leapt to unloading the few provisions that had been packed aboard. You kept close to Audhild, unsure where your usefulness lied. You wanted to go and have a gander at the city, but you knew you couldn't just spring out on your own.

"Ólaug," Ubbe called, and your head snapped up at attention. "I want you to remain with Audhild for now. I'll likely be called to meet with Lagertha. I can see some of her shieldmaidens have been sent to treat with us."

You stared over his shoulder to the three women approaching. They were dressed in boiled leather and metal and armed with swords and bows, not unlike the maidens you had seen serving in the army.

"Ólaug? Did Ivar tell you to call me that?"

Ubbe flustered as if it had escaped him unnoticed that little slip-up. "He might have mentioned it, and I don't know your real name."

You sighed, but more from contentment than anger. The name had stuck, and it was something else to remind you about Ivar. "It's alright. I will try to keep out of trouble to make things easier for you."

"Good," He nodded in relief.

Ubbe was the first to hoist his way onto the dock, and you followed close behind him with Audhild and a group of warriors. By then the three shieldmaidens had made their way down to the water, and a golden blonde with intense eyes ringed in kohl stepped forward.

"You're missing something, Ubbe," She started, gathering a look at the rest of his party. "Where are your brothers?"

"Not missing, just separated. What I thought was best for the army no longer aligned with where Ivar and Hvitserk wanted to take it."

The warrior woman appeared unconvinced. "So you thought you'd return here, after threatening to overthrow Lagertha with Ivar the last time."

You tried to contain your surprise at that. Apparently, the feud between the sons and this Lagertha ran deeper than you could comprehend.

"I wished to return home, and to my wife. The ones who came with me sought the same," Ubbe explained. "Please, Torvi. I will give my share of the raids to Lagertha if that's what she wants, but I did not come here for title or glory."

The woman, Torvi, pondered over his words. "I would be less inclined to believe you if Ivar were present, but our scouts reported that you were the only ship to cross the fjord. Perhaps I can have Lagertha grant you a private meeting, but just with you, not even Margrethe would attend."

"I accept that," He agreed. "Do we have permission to disembark? My crew are tired and thirsty."

Torvi took another glance at all of you, and you found it difficult to meet her eyes when they fell upon you.

"You may, and have all of your gold brought to the Queen."

That was where the negotiations ended at least for the time being. You didn't know what task had been entrusted to Ubbe by Ivar, and you thought it better if you didn't know. Torvi led her two companions away back through the streets of Kattegat, and all while Ubbe watched her depart.

"I'm sure others are watching," He commented. "Don't mention Ivar or Hvitserk while out in public."

There was a collective agreement that reverberated from the group, and Audhild took a step forward.

"If Torvi is here, does that mean Bjorn is still in Kattegat?"

Ubbe shook his head. "I'm sure he made for the Mediterranean as he wanted to. Besides, even before we made for England, there were whispers of their marriage failing. Torvi serves his mother now."

As more names were idly tossed in the air, you began to grow more confused and out of place. The Northmen had as many struggles in their leadership as the Saxons, and you wondered if there was a place in this world that wasn't rife with betrayal. 

"Come, Ólaug," Audhild's voice broke through your internal fretting. "There's something I must tell you, and it shouldn't be done with so many eyes around."

You frowned in confusion, but when you looked to Ubbe he gave Audhild a swift nod of dismissal. Whatever it was regarding, he knew about it. 

You departed the dock, leaving the others to unload the heavy boxes of gold and treasures. Some of it you knew was from the ransacked church in York, but it didn't bother you to see it brought back into foreign lands. What Ivar had said before about the church hoarding wealth was true. Better it to be distributed among this trading post than in the hands of old men who preached righteousness but committed avarice. 

You had been anticipating with some excitement to walk through the market stalls of Kattegat, but Audhild was not leading you to the city. She was headed in the direction of a path through the woods, and you weren't sure if you should feel nervous. The sounds of the crowd were growing distant, and you wondered if you should be preparing to run. Audhild may have been a healer, but she was thick in the shoulders and could still likely beat you in a fight.

"Where are we going?" You asked, and your voice shook.

Audhild tossed a glance your way and let out a laugh. "Don't look so nervous, Christian. Do you think I'd kill you now when I could have disposed of you all those times we worked alone back in York?"

It sounded silly out loud, and you ran a hand through your growing hair. "Sorry, I guess the forest made me nervous."

"You are paranoid, but I suppose it's better to be cautious. I would hold onto those instincts if I were you," She said while stepping over brush and deadfall. "And we're headed to my home. Ubbe and I agreed it would be better to keep you out of Kattegat until you've adjusted more. Some might not take to another Christian among us, not after Athelstan."

That was Ragnar's monk friend. Ivar had only mentioned him in passing, and it seemed he was not held in high regard. You supposed if the situation were reversed, and it was a heathen among Saxons, they would feel much the same.

Audhild continued to lead you along this long and difficult path, and the more the forest twisted, the less certain you were of your wayfinding skills. If you had to find the docks again, you didn't think you'd be able to. The dense trees provided decent shelter from the winds, however, and you had lost the prickly feeling on your skin that came from the cold. 

"It's not much further now. I don't think I'll have much in the way of food, but I can provide drink and get a fire going," said Audhild.

You were used to going long bouts without a meal, but the fire sounded like heaven. Sleeping on a boat in constant motion wasn't the same as a bed or even a solid floor, and your aching back would welcome either.

The trees were beginning to thin until you found yourself in a small clearing in the woods. The ground was sun-dappled and leaf-covered, and a small house sat vacant in the center. You let out a small gasp, unable to describe what you were feeling at the sight of it.

"I know it isn't much, but it's all I've ever needed. I have no children, and I left for raids more than I was here."

"I think it's wonderful," You admitted. "But I've never had my own home before, and I gave up the need for one when I joined the abbey."

"Strange custom. What's a woman without a home?"

Had you not been a nun, it was likely you would not have had your own property anyway. It would have belonged to the man you would have chosen as a husband. You didn't bother to mention that to Audhild though. She was already looking at you as if you were the most peculiar creature. 

"Can we go inside?" You asked, a sudden longing to be sheltered. 

"In a moment," Audhild replied while holding you back. "I want to finish what I have to tell you now. Ivar wanted me to do this when we reached Kattegat and not a moment earlier."

At the mention of Ivar, your heart fluttered in both anticipation and concern. "What did he want you to do?"

Audhild took your hands, and she let the gruff expression on her face ease. "You are now made a free woman."

You blinked. If it wasn't for her strong grip on your hands, you were certain your arms would have fallen limp at your sides like dead meat on hooks. The words held much meaning, and you were afraid for whatever came next. You would have to fight the fear if you wanted to be seen as anything more than a coward. "I'm no longer a slave?"

"Yes, you stupid girl," Audhild said, letting go of you before you caught on to how soft she could be. "To be free amongst us gives you certain privileges and ensures you should be kept safer."

You didn't know what privileges she was speaking of, but the bit about being safe put you into a state of ease. "Why did he not free me himself before sending me here?"

"Can you not think of the reason?"

Shame perhaps? No, you banished the thought. Ivar was nothing if not prideful and likely would have wanted to free you himself if he could. You forced yourself to think of the circumstances of why he sent you away to be free, and then…

"If he freed me in York, I could have refused to come here," You spoke aloud and Audhild gave a resounding nod. "He thought I would refuse to stay with him."

"I'm not well acquainted with the Prince, but everyone in Kattegat knows of how he has been abandoned and lost those he cares for. I guess he wouldn't risk the same of you."

You felt guilty, but you didn't know why. As for whether or not you would have chosen to come to Kattegat yourself, you knew in your heart your answer. When you met Ivar again, you would have to make him understand how you felt. You wished he was beside you again, but you knew he had something more important to deal with and you refused to be a burden.

"What do I do now?"

"You come inside to warm up," Audhild said as she started for the door of her home. "And afterwards, we'll have to make sure you start to behave like a proper free woman because for the moment you look as lost as a fish on dry land."

You wanted to be insulted, but you knew the healer was right. You were far from home, and with a tenuous grasp of the language. What did it mean to be free, and among such strange folk as these Northmen whose religion you didn't fully understand? 

You gathered the skirts of your slave frock and hurried after her. Perhaps to start you could buy new clothes. You also had not a coin to your name, and though you were capable with a needle and thread you couldn't make an entire new wardrobe with such paltry efforts. It seemed you would have to rely on the kindness of strangers for the time being, though the thought of that felt like charity. You would do what you could to assist Audhild in place of proper payment. She was calling for you again, for Ólaug. Only this time you didn’t spurn from the name, you ran towards it and the new freedom that Ivar the Boneless had gifted to you.

Taglist

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@peachyboneless

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#ivar x reader #ivar x you #ivar the boneless x reader #ivar the boneless #ivar ragnarsson #history vikings #vikings #vikings ivar #ivar lothbrok #ivar x y/n

[doctor-rainbowfoxey]

Renegades Chapter 4 Part 4 The Wheel Part 2

Link to Previous Part HERE

“Uncle Sparky!! Golly, I am just stoked to see you,” the auburn-haired musician put forth, not sounding super excited despite his words stating otherwise. The feral mutant looked at his cellmate with mild concern, having observed his change in demeanor.

Some part of the colorful musician had hoped it had been another man on the other side, a man who had once been like a father to him but alas he was not surprised to be disappointed. Starks assistance was not unwelcome but he it didn't come guilt free. He would have to put up with the pressure and the sales pitch now.

Tony turned to the rookie cop “open it,” he ordered. The young man squeaked and fumbled to comply. As soon as the door opened Stark strode in and to Cyclop's surprise, the Avenger immediately hugged the other Scott. After a minute held him at a distance looked him up and down, inspecting him for injuries and not liking what he saw. He glared at Scott’s feral cellmate accusingly. Logan was quick to step back, hands up in the universal gesture of innocence. Gently the hippie extracted himself from the older inventor’s embrace.

“Christ Scotty, what did they do to you?”

“It wasn't him, Sparky,” objected the paisley hippie ardently. He continued to assure the elder hero, “You know that. It was the long arm of the law that you love promoting.”

“I know. I saw,” ground out the gold suited Avenger wearily with a grimace still looking over warily at Logan.

“Let's go, let's talk about this somewhere without prying eyes,” prompted the avenger attempting to gain command of the situation.

“Right, about that Uncle Sparky,” chimed in the colorful hippie. “I need you to wire funds to pay for my friend here’s release as well,” stated the auburn-haired man matter of factly.

“Him? You barely know the man,” the Avenger exclaimed incredulously. “He could be some kind of ax murdering hooligan!!”

The musician turned to his feral companion, with mock seriousness he beseeched the other, “are you an ax murdering hooligan, Logan?”

“Nooo….?” the shorter mutant slowly mildly offended by the whole affair.

“See? It's fine Sparky,” assured the younger man with a shrug. “I got a good feeling about this guy…”

“But…..fine,” started the richly attired man only to quickly relent when it became clear the other was not going to give in on the matter. Upon seeing his young charge again preoccupied with the pain in his head the older man fumbled to retrieve something from his pocket.

“Here take these. I saw your other pair.. broke,” said Tony gruffly.

The force beamed burdened mutant carefully to the glasses from the other man putting them on with a sigh.

With fond paternalism, the elder Avenger comforted, “That’s much better huh son?”

“Yeah...yeah, it is” demurred the scarlet-eyed mutant, as his headache eased but with a tinge of resentment at the burden.

Stark grumbled, “here’s your jacket and your shoes. Put them on quickly. I feel claustrophobic and I’ve only been in here for 5 minutes. I’d like to leave this hell hole already.”

“Sounds like you should look into criminal justice reform,” commented the hippie as he slipped on his corduroy jacket and sat to put on his shoes.

Cyclops, not wanting to be separated from his counterpart in this universe, dared to jump into the other Scott’s pocket.

Stark stammered uncomfortably, “We can talk about that later Scotty.”

From inside the pocket, Cyclops could hear them talking but he dared not peek out of the pocket lest he risks discovery.

“Here’s his personal effects,” announced one of the police officers to Stark, in a much more respectful tone than he had used before.

“Gaia!” Sighed the passionate man and Cyclops could hear the sound of latches being carefully opened.

“Oh thank god. She’s alright,” breathed the lanky fellow, clearly relieved.

“You still play that old thing?”Asked Tony, mildly surprised.

“Not as much on stage as I used to, but she does perfectly well on the road and among friends,” explained the musician. Cyclops heard the sound of a door closing, he felt the warmth of the sun through the pocket and could smell flowers on the breeze that tickled his whiskers when he dared to sneak a look at the world outside.

“You can’t keep doing this Scotty,” Stark reprimanded sternly.

“Doing what exactly?” replied the younger man with feigned obliviousness.

“These protests and rabble rousing. The sex, drugs, the rock and roll. Take your place back on the team Scotty,” insisted Stark. Cyclops with his mouse senses could tell he was close to the man from the smell of his expensive cologne.

“I’m an adult and not an Avenger anymore. I left that life, objected Scott, with icy controlled coolness as he stepped back from the other man.

“You think you can stop it? That you’re some kind of martyr or something? This has been going on for 10000 years. I’ve tried my best to slow it from the inside but I can’t stop the wheel. This is bigger than us,” argued the greying inventor. Inside his mind, a peaceful man could hear a great wheel turning.

The lanky ex-avenger sighed, “you’re right this is far bigger than us. The peace movement is far more than me alone. If it bothers you that I find I have more luck reaching people with my music than my fists then I’m afraid you’ll just have to let that be Mr. Stark,” stated the peaceful musician calmly and firmly with a tone that broached no query of debate. Cyclops could tell his counterpart was annoyed by over trod on circular arguments that had been rehashed between the two. The pressure of a legacy he could and never fulfill that ground his soul beneath it’s will like a millstone pulverized grain.

The elder hero fretted, “what happened to you on that shield mission overseas?! Ever since then you’ve changed and you won’t talk to any of us about it! If you can’t tell us than please talk to Steve. He’s been worried sick and you owe him that much!” Confided Stark clearly upset and desperate for answers, but in response Cyke could feel his counterpart stiffen.

“Thank you Mr. Stark, for greasing the wheels politically. I’ll wire funds to repay you.” promised the flamboyant musician, his voice sounding hollow and rehearsed robotically as one gets when constantly fending questions you do not wish to answer. Questions that take your mind to places you never wished to return.

“Scott please, at least call and tell him you are alright! Pleaded the seasoned Avenger.

“Fine Sparky I will call him. Will you give it a rest now, you’re being a drag,” remarked the paisley fellow. With effort the hippie willed memories that threatened to break free from their leashes with gnashing teeth and dripping saliva like the feel of hands stained red with blood that could never be washed clean.

“Fine but this is going to be the death of you, mark my words...also is that a rodent in your pocket,” spluttered Stark incredulously.

Suddenly the seasoned mutant hero now in the body of a mouse, felt gentle hands lifting him from his safe space in the pocket. His borrowed body’s instincts urged him to bite but he refused them. Biting alternate Scotts was off the table unless they deserved it.

“Hey little guy. You’re not something I would expect to be in my pocket,” murmured Cyclop’s alternate counterpart amazement. It was a strange sensation looking into the face of someone who looked so much like yourself yet was not you at all.

With a disgusted scowl, Stark commanded, “put that rat down. It’s probably diseased or something,” he elaborated

“It’s a dormouse, Sparky, don’t blow a fuse. I’ll just let him down here in the grass,” assured the lanky man.

Cyke felt himself being lowered to sit on soft moss amongst grasses. Abruptly he realized he should put on a good show of doing mouse things because he was supposed to be a mouse now. Apparently. He ran off deeper into the grass.

“See. It ran away. It’s fine,” replied Scott with confidence. By the time Cyclops had snuck back to where he could watch without being spotted, anything Stark had to say in response had been cut off by the sound of a motorcycle approaching..

“Hey kid, I’m heading down to Cali. You wanna ride?” offered the feral mutant who looked like the picture of the man in black in his long black coat, dark motorcycle. The other Scott Summers in many ways is the polar opposite of this man but they seem to be on the same wavelength as is pulled by the same gravity.

The colorful musician looked invigorated in response to the offer as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Where before he had felt a beast being herded and caged suddenly he saw him a way out, an escape. With calculated impulsivity would seize such an opportunity as he always had before.

“Do I!! You’re a sight for sore eyes ol’man,” declared the groovy man as he approached Logan, smiling broadly as the sun illuminated highlights amongst his auburn hair. In less than he had his guitar strapped to his back and was climbing on behind the other man while Stark stood gobsmacked.

“Scott Summers get off that bike right now!! What the hell do you think you’re doing!!” barked the stately Avenger beside himself.

“Sorry, Sparky gotta keep truckin’ later!” answered the man in paisley.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark,” called the man in black politely, if too late.

“Summers!! You get back here this instant! Rogers you’re kid is just as stubborn and troublesome as you! The stress of dealing with both of you is going to give me an ulcer. Damn it!! “yelled Stark to the dust and exhaust fumes that were all that remained of the two vagabonds. All the while Cyclops swore he could hear a voice singing mournfully.

I look at the world

And I notice it's turning

While my guitar gently weeps

With every mistake

We must surely be learning

Still my guitar gently weeps

The whole world around Scott seemed to reverberate around the voice, fading in and out, tilting sickeningly until…

****************

Scott opened his eyes. The voice was still singing. Carefully Scott quietly as possible turned his head to see who was singing.

‘I don't know how you were diverted

You were perverted too

I don't know how you were inverted

No one alerted you’

It was the suborn haired man, with the silver bangs and green eyes who reminded Scott so painfully of a perverse caricature of his kind and gentle friend. Held lovingly in his hands was a pair of hexagonal ruby quartz glasses exactly like the ones the Scott from the vision wore.

I look from the wings

At the play you are staging

While my guitar gently weeps

'Cause I'm sitting here

Doing nothing but aging

Still my guitar gently weeps

While Axel strokes the glasses lovingly a single tear fell slowly from the man’s eye as if it the glasses had managed to awaken something long locked away.

“Is that..?” Scott started to ask on impulse, unable to silence his curiosity.

“You!” Hissed Axel with cold fury as if he had intruded in something private and forbidden.

“Back into the depths you go, you poor innocent soul,” the radioactive green-eyed man. Suddenly the darkness was rising thick as London’s fog, and the last thing he saw before all was consumed was the man’s cruel grin dissolving into blank emptiness.

#scott summers #x-men #xmen #scogan #logan howlett #xmen fanfiction

[obscuremarvelmuses]

As much grief as her powers led to due to other people’s reactions to them (the mob coming for her, being indebted to Magneto for saving her from said mob) Wanda doesn’t resent her powers AT ALL in the 60s. In fact, she is PROUD of them. She’s eager to jump in and use them in a fight ( "At last I can help!" - Avengers #17), she boasts openly about what they can do or are about to do, she’s very confident because of them ( "Back, you rabble! Now that my hex power is restored, I fear no man that lives!"- Avengers #24) and when she feels Doom has mocked it in Avengers #25, she proclaims he will do so no longer when she unleashes it against him. Wanda pretty clearly LIKES her abilities. In fact, if anything, I’d say she might put too much stock in them. While she’ll stay quiet if she’s having physical issues and keep pushing herself for the sake of the team, when her powers start waning she immediately dramatically proclaims she must resign because she was of little help in their last fight  and now she feels she's a handicap to the whole team. She was very confident up til now, but it that was shattered by one poor performance on her part.  TL;DR 60s Wanda is very openly proud of her powers and what they can do, and they give her a lot of confidence, bravery, and bravado. When they start to go away, she’s ACTIVELY UPSET and if anything the worth she places on them might be TOO much. 

#wanda canon #wanda hcs #power hcs

[noircisaint]

⠀⠀           ❝ using Avengers to clear the remaining rabble. it is a subpar usage of our skill. however, i suppose we would get this done before anyone else. ❞ @shanaoh​

#shanaoh #|| 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚕𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎