#he knows exactly what spiders going through and still treats him like an other and a stray which rubs me the wrong way | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

strangleetomz · 10 months

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family

summary: nothing, just c!sbi

we pretend the lore didnt happen here

c switch!tommy(he/xey/they), switch!revivedbur(he/they), c switch!technoblade(he/him/they) c switch!philza(he/him)

strictly platonic THEY ARE FAMILY. SHIPPERS & N$FW DNI

word count: 4,034

this is my first time writing a fic including techno since june 14 2022

this is ALSO my LONGEST fic ive ever written! After 5 months it is FINALLY HERE🥲

THIS IS THE C! CHARACTERS!! except it isnt really lore based

c!sbi my beloved

Phil could, for the first time in what felt like forever, say he felt at peace.

All three of his children —technically, only one was actually his son, but he treats them all as such— were in the other room, and Phil could vaguely hear what was going on as the door was cracked open. He could hear them messing around and laughing like they were kids again. Phil had been so stressed lately, but his family being together again had wiped it away. There was a small smile on his face, he hadn’t even noticed.

It was a very loud shriek that broke the avian from his thoughts. He quickly rushed to the room, swinging the door open with a look of panic. It was quickly switched with relief as he realized what was happening.

Wilbur had Tommy trapped in his lap, the blonde squirming and kicking relentlessly as his older brother scribbled all over his stomach while Techno gently squeezed up and down his thighs. “GUHUHUYS!”

Phil stood in the doorway, waiting to see if he’d have to step in or if any of them would notice he was there. He watched as the youngest tried, and failed, to push away the hands of his brothers through his pleas.

“Something wrong, Toms?” Wilbur smirked, switching to pinching up and down Tommy’s sides.

“Yeah, you’re laughing an awful lot. Did we say something funny?” Techno’s smirk matched Wilbur’s.

“YOHOU’RE TIHIHICKLING MEHE!” The blonde went limp in Wilbur’s lap, then realizing Phil was in the doorway. “PHIHIL, HEHEHELP!”

And there was his cue. He stepped into the room, spreading his wings to get the attention of the twins. It worked. They both ceased the tickling, looking up at Phil. Tommy just curled up and hid his bright red face behind his hands.

“Oh, hey Phil!” Wilbur grinned innocently, elbowing Techno in the ribs as a silent way of saying to do the same. Which he did, after flinching with a muffled “ow.” He slightly waved to Phil.

“Hello Wilbur, hey Techno,” Phil crossed his arms, looking down at his sons.

“Mind explaining this?” The avian gestured to Tommy, who was still curled in a ball and giggling —assumingly from the ghost tickles.

“Hm? Oh, we were just messin’ with our little brother, ‘s all,” Techno smiled, bringing one hand to prod Tommy’s side which caused xem to flinch and giggle even more.

“Yohou tried to kihihill mehe!” Tommy whined, getting up and speed-walking to stand next to Phil, who wrapped his non-damaged wing around the teen.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Tommy! Besides, we all know you like being tickled anyway.” Wilbur’s innocent smile turned into a smirk when the younger blonde’s face went bright pink. Xey opened their mouth to protest, but they couldn’t seem to find words to say so he just shut his mouth.

“Well, they’re not wrong on that one, mate.” Phil smiled, bringing up his wing to brush along the back of Tommy’s neck for a second. Xey ducked away and went back to sit in between Techno and Wilbur, light giggles pouring from their lips.

“You aren’t exactly safe here, either, Tommy,” Techno spoke flatly, but he had a smirk on his face as he gently spidered across Tommy’s stomach, emitting a squeal from the younger.

“Why ahaham ihi always the taharget!?” He whined, scooting closer to Wilbur and curling in on himself. It took everything in Wilbur’s power to not coo out loud.

“Probably because of how ticklish you are,” Wilbur stated like it was an entirely normal sentence. Tommy sat up straight and immediately started yelling.

“Everyone in this fucking house is ticklish, not just me!” Tommy exclaimed, exaggerating xeir statement by talking with their hands. Phil shrugged, silently saying “fair.” Techno, however, gave a look of disagreement.

“Everyone?” Techno repeated. “I’m not. I don’t even react to it.” Tommy tilted his head like a confused dog.

“Bullshit! Look!” Tommy sprung up and tackled Techno down. The pinkette immediately started fighting back, the two of them rolling on the ground trying to get the upper hand while Wilbur and Phil watched. It ended with Tommy keeping Techno pinned down, holding his wrists away so he couldn’t fight back.

“Tommy, don’t evEN-“ Techno cut himself off, pursing his lips and squirming as Tommy clawed at his upper ribs through his shirt, the fabric doing absolutely nothing for protection. Tommy had a wide grin, Techno’s struggling being very evident.

“Laugh for me, Techno!” Tommy yelled before ducking xeir head down and blowing a raspberry on Techno’s neck. That broke the damn, high pitched huffs of laughter emitting from the pinkette below the teen.

“Tohohohommy! Gehet awahahay!” Techno pressed his arms down more, trying to scrunch up his shoulders but failing with Tommy’s head in the way.

“You really walked right into that one, mate,” Phil commented with a small chuckle, Wilbur giggling at the scene next to him. He snuck a few pokes to Techno’s side every now and then to see him jolt and complain, “Wihilbur!”

Techno free’d his hands, pushed Tommy off and scooting to sit 5 feet away. “That wahas not necessary.”

“It was very necessary, in my humble opinion,” Wilbur grinned and brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around themself. “Seeing the big, tough Technoblade get taken down so easily by tickling will always be amusing.”

“Big talk for someone who screams from a mere poke to their ribs,” Phil piped up, walking over and kneeling next to Wilbur to poke at his upper ribs— to which Wilbur, well, screamed at.

“PHIL! Fuhuck off!” Wilbur backed away, moving closer to Tommy and “hiding” behind xem.

“You think I’ll protect you?” Tommy turned to look at Wilbur. “Hell no! It’s your turn, dickhead!” Tommy quickly turned around and pushed Wilbur down, easily pinning them and digging xeir fingers into his ribs. Wilbur shrieked, grabbing onto Tommy’s wrists and trying to push them away.

“TOHOHOMMY, NOHO!” Wilbur threw his head back, their body jolting when he felt a hand start squeezing at his side. It was Phil.

“I think it’s time you’ve had a turn, yeah? Come on, mate. You were just making fun of Techno for how ticklish he is, but I’d say you’re even worse.” Phil spoke casually, bringing his hand down to pinch and drill his thumb just barely above Wilbur’s hip bone. Wilbur screamed louder than any of the other three boys had ever heard, and again when they felt another hand scribbling under one of his knees.

“NOHOHO! NOHOT AHAHALL OF YOHOHOHOU!” Wilbur covered his face with his hands, trying to hide the growing red hue that spread quickly across his face and muffle their laughter at the same time. “PLEHEHEASE!”

“Aw, Wil, you’ve gone all red!” Tommy exclaimed, which made Wilbur’s face become an even darker red. Xey snuck a hand under Wilbur’s shirt, and lightly traced the scar on the brunette’s stomach. Wilbur squealed, grabbing onto Tommy’s arm and actually getting them to stop. The blonde slightly jumped, suprised that Wilbur actually got him to stop. At the pause, Wilbur quickly turned the tables on Tommy and got xem on the ground. The two started wrestling, both of them fighting for the upper hand as Phil and Techno now watched.

“I’ll bet a stack of emeralds Tommy loses,” Phil muttered. Techno turned to look at the older.

“Deal.”

The two watched as Wilbur and Tommy wrestled, both very dead set on getting the upper hand. It ended with Tommy being pinned down, followed by shrieks of laughter as Wilbur started scribbling all over xeir stomach.

“NOHOHO!” Tommy grabbed Wilbur’s wrists as he threw his head back. “PHIHIHIL! TEHECHNO! HEHEHELP!”

The two men in question looked at each other, back at the scene in front of them, and each other again. They gave each other a look that said “Oh, we’ll help alright.” And then, they both waited a second before pouncing. Techno tackled Wilbur, and Phil went for Tommy. This is not what exactly Tommy had in mind when xey called for help, but at least Wilbur was getting what he deserved at the same time.

Wilbur was caught entirely off guard, landing on the ground next to Tommy with a yelp. “Techno-!? What the fuhuck are you dohoing?”

Techno quickly pinned Wilbur’s hand’s under his knees, but he was careful enough not to hurt them. Techno didn’t speak a word, yet. Phil did the same to Tommy.

“Well, Tommy asked for help. So we’re helping,” Techno deadpanned with a small smirk before vibrating his fingers just above Wilbur’s hip bones, getting a loud shriek out of the brunette.

“I meant both of you go for WilbuhUHUHUR— PHIHIL!” Tommy shrieked at near the same pitch as Wilbur once Phil snuck a hand under Tommy’s shirt, started spidering all over xeir stomach and brushing his wings up and down their sides.

“TEHEHECHNOHO! FUHUCK OHOHOFF, MAHAN!” Wilbur pulled for his hands to be free, but they were weakened from the tickles, therefore failed inevitably.

Techno pretended to think for a moment, as if considering the “request.” “Hmm.. Nah, I think I’ll pass. This is quite adorable, to be honest. Might do continue for a while.”

Wilbur felt the heat rise to his face, he swore it had gone bright pink just then. He whined in embarrassment through his loud laughter.

Tommy was stuck in his own tickly heaven hell. Phil had his wings targeting their neck and ears, which alone would make him melt and giggle away. But Phil also had a finger dipped and wiggling around in Tommy’s navel, the other fingers digging and scritching around it, and his other hand scribbling and squeezing xeir hips. It was torture. Did they love it? Yes. Was he still gonna call it torture? Also yes.

“THIHIHIS IS TOHOHOHORTUHURE!” Tommy tried to free xeir hands, he really did try. But he was weak from the tickles and how hard he was laughing, so he made no progress in freeing them.

“Don’t act like you don’t love it, Toms~!” Phil grinned, bringing a hand to pinch at his ribs for a few seconds before returning to their hips. Tommy’s face was the same shade of pink as Wilbur’s.

Wilbur struggled through shrieks of laughter, trying to free his hands. Techno laughed at him, but then Wilbur actually free’d his hands. They immediately grabbed Techno’s forearms, pushing him off and pinning him down. Well fuck.

“YEHEHES, WIHIHIL! GEHET HIHIHIM- AAHAHAH!” Tommy shouted, shrieking as Phil blew a raspberry directly on xeir navel.

“Let’s see how you like it!” Wilbur exclaimed, vibrating his fingers in the gaps between Techno’s upper ribs.

“WihihIHILBUhur!” Techno whined through laughter. Now, Techno wasn’t insanely ticklish— the least ticklish one out of SBI. But it was still pretty bad, to him.

“TechnoOooO!” Wilbur mimicked, giggling to himself as he suddenly shot his hands to Techno’s underarms, drilling into the hollows to elicit a small scream, small snorts following after.

“That will never get old,” Phil commented, smiling as he noticed Techno’s ears go red. Then he got an idea. “Say, Tommy, do you snort like that?”

He knew the answer; yes. But he wanted to torture the kid.

“NOHOHO!” Tommy lied, trying to get Phil off of xem before he could do anything. Phil raised an eyebrow.

“Really? Alright, so I’ll go ahead and just—“ Phil cut himself off as he wiggled a finger in Tommy’s navel, causing the younger to squeal as snorts peppered through his laughter. Phil grinned, “Jesus, you and Techno really are brothers, aren’t you? So cute, honestly.”

“Shuhuhut uhup, Phihihil!” Techno thrashed around, desperate to get Wilbur off. But now he was more determined— to get Phil for that ‘cute’ comment. He’s Technoblade! He isn’t cute, he’s intimidating! Scary! Mean! Not cute!

“Christ, Techno, I thought you were a pig, not a buhull.” Wilbur laughed, struggling to keep the pinkette pinned down.

Techno reached over, squeezing Phil’s side which caused the eldest to fall off of Tommy out of surprise, giving xem a break.

“Gotcha!” Techno grinned, pushing Wilbur away and tackling Phil before he could escape. “Laugh for the laugh god, old man!” Techno exclaimed before digging his fingers into Phil’s stomach, scribbling and pinching around the spot and smirking as the man fell into a fit of high pitched laughter. Tommy snickered at the sight before him.

“Yeah, how do you like it, bitch!” Tommy exclaimed, leaning over to poke Phil’s side, but xey were pulled back before they could do anything. Damnit.

“Isn’t this nice, Toms? Those two are busy, now I can get some quality time with my little brother!” Wilbur exclaimed over Phil’s cackles before tasering the younger blonde’s sides.

“WIHILBUR! Nohoho!” Tommy attempted to squirm out of Wilbur’s grasp, but was quickly weakened as the brunette blew a raspberry on the back of xeir neck.

“Why not? Does it tickle too much? I’ve barely done anything,” Wilbur teased, sneaking a hand under Tommy’s shirt to scribble at his bare stomach, relishing in the squeal that emitted from his brother.

Phil was having his own “problem” with Techno, desperate to escape this tickly heaven hell, but Techno was stronger than the man and so he was trapped. “TEHEHECHNOHO!”

“Yeah? What’s up old man? Something botherin’ you?” Techno’s voice was monotone as always, but there was a slight tease to his tone as he vibrated his fingers between the gaps of Phil’s ribs.

“YOU KNOHOW WHAHAHAT’S WROHOHONG!” Phil cackled, slight wheezes escaping from how much he’d been laughing.

“Do I?” The pinkette smirked, leaning down to blow a raspberry on Phil’s neck, eliciting a squeal.

“Wihihil! Lehet mehe gohoho!” Tommy whined through giggles as Wilbur traced shapes into the sides of xeir stomach.

“I’m hardly doing anything,” Wilbur chuckled, “But I can do worse. I think I will, actually!” Without warning, Wilbur blew a raspberry onto Tommy’s neck and dug his fingers into xeir stomach, scribbling and spidering around the sensitive skin. Tommy screamed.

“WIHIHIHIL! NOHOHO THIHIS ISN’T FAHAHAIR!” Tommy squirmed, trying to wiggle their way out of Wilbur’s hold, but it was no use. Wilbur was far stronger than xey were, especially right now.

“Are you trying to escape from me?” Wilbur raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so, giggles. You’re trapped in my tickly, tickly grasp~!” Tommy’s voice went bright red, the brunette’s teasing tone was insanely flustering.

Wilbur rested his chin on Tommy’s shoulder, blowing air on the blonde’s ear before whispering, “Tickletickletickle!” Tommy’s ears flushed the same shade of red their face had, letting out a whine at the tease.

Tommy’s arms were trapped, but they could somewhat reach behind him. And he did, latching onto where Wilbur’s back meets their sides, and lightly squeezed the spot as much as he could. Wilbur let go of Tommy to remove xeir hands, and Tommy fell forward. “TOHOMMY!”

Wilbur looked up at Tommy, narrowing his eyes at the younger. “Oh you want to fight? I’ll give you a fight, you little prick!” Wilbur exclaimed before tackling Tommy down, the two of them rolling around on the ground and fighting for the upper hand. Both poking and prodding different spots to attempt to weaken the other, high-pitched giggles emitting from the both of them.

The fight did not end, however, it switched to the two of them tickling each other at the same time. Tommy scribbled over Wilbur’s back, occasionally pinching at the backs and sides of their ribs, and Wilbur was poking and squeezing around Tommy’s stomach and sides. The two shrieked out curses and protests at each other, wide smiles on their flushed faces.

Techno looked over at the two rolling around on the floor together and grinned, “You two are adorable.”

“Ihi wihIHIHILL KIHIHILL YOHohou TOHOHOMMY! Bahastahard!” Wilbur squealed, getting hold of one of Tommy’s wrists and holding xeir arm above their head before using his free hand to vibrate his fingers on Tommy’s underarm. Tommy shrieked, immediately falling defenseless and bringing xeir free hand to push away Wilbur’s— which resulted in Wilbur now having hold of both of Tommy’s hands.

Wilbur quickly pinned Tommy by sitting on xeir legs, holding their arms above their head with one hand. “You messed with the wrong person, Toms~” Wilbur teased, grinning evilly as he saw the teen’s widened eyes and bright red face. “Now you will face my wrath of tickles, you little prick!” He quickly lifted Tommy’s shirt, blowing a long raspberry right in the middle of xeir stomach. Tommy screamed, and Techno paused his torture to Phil to look over.

“Are you trying to murder him?” Techno questioned, a smirk on his face when he saw the state of the demon hybrid below Wilbur.

“I said I would!” Wilbur exclaimed before leaning down to blow another raspberry, directly on Tommy’s navel.

“FUHUHUCK, WIHIHILBUHUR! NOHOHOHO!” Tommy shrieked, squirming left to right and bucking xeir hips as much as possible. It was torturous. He loved it… but torturous.

Phil had practically melted on the floor, being given a break by Techno. He himself was unsure if he could take anymore tickles; he was pretty tired by this point. He noticed the pinkette about to start again.

“Tehechno- nohoho mohore..” Phil was quiet, luckily Techno had very good hearing and he let up, getting off of Phil and sitting next to him. Maybe the good hearing wasn’t very good for Techno himself, given the high pitched screeching coming from Tommy right next to him as Wilbur continued to wreck the youngest of the four.

“PLEHEHEASE WIHIHIL!” Tommy bucked his hips more as Wilbur brought down their hand to pinch and drill his thumbs into both of xeir hips. Tommy started trying to push Wilbur away, so the brunette quickly pinned Tommy’s hands under his knees. He was careful not to hurt Tommy in the process.

“Aww, is it bad?” Wilbur teased, “Thought you were a big man, Tommy! Surely you’re strong enough to handle a little bit of tickling, right~?” Tommy shook his head frantically through shrieky laughter and giggles, kicking his legs as much as he could with Wilbur sitting on them.

Wilbur brought up one hand to dig their fingers into Tommy’s ribs, vibrating his fingers in the gaps and pinching at the bones. His other hand switched between pinching at Tommy’s hips to scribbling over xeir stomach. “THIHIS IHIHISN’T FAHAHAHAIR!”

Wilbur smirked, “It’s not my fault you’re so ticklish.” He leaned down to blow a raspberry on xeir neck before whispering in their ear, “Tktktktk~” The brunette’s smirk turned to a grin as he watched Tommy’s blush spread to his ears and down his neck.

“Flustered, Tommy?” Techno commented from beside the two, gently pinching Tommy’s side and chuckling when xey flinched with a small squeal.

“FUHUCK OHOHOFF!” The youngest shrieked as Wilbur blew another raspberry on their stomach.

“That’s not very nice, Toms. Be nice to your brothers,” Phil spoke up with a small smile on his face. Tommy whined as now everyone in the room was against him.

“THEHEHEY’RE BEHEING DIHIHIHICKS!” Tommy tried to free his hands to bring his arms down. Xey were desperate to defend themself from this torture. Wilbur had his free hand scribbling and digging his fingers into Tommy’s stomach, he wasn’t being too rough so that it wouldn’t hurt, only tickled. Badly.

The demon hybrid squeaked as there was a soft, feathery feeling on his neck— Phil’s wings. The mixture of gentle and rough tickles were almost unbearable. “OHOhoh fohOHOR FUHUCKS SAHAKE! PHIL!”

“You haven’t once said stop, Tommy, we know you love this~” Techno teased lightly, smiling at the flustered state of the younger as he delivered a few pokes to xeir side.

“Look at him, all red and flustered! Awh,” Phil cooed, scribbling his fingers against the side of Tommy’s neck.

“Xey’re so ticklish, it’s just so adorable. I may not be able to handle it, I might explode from the cuteness.” Wilbur joked to Techno and Phil, slowing the tickles as the three of them talked about Tommy as if he wasn’t even there. This flustered Tommy more than it should have.

“Ihihi aham RIHIGHT hehehere!” Tommy giggled out, finally freeing their hands to push Wilbur’s away and cover his face.

“Oh, I’m sorry Tommy. Do you need all of my attention on you? You need more tickles? Is that it? Hmm~?” Wilbur teased, poking at Tommy’s stomach and allowing xem to keep their hands free. Under one condition.

“How about we play a little game,” Wilbur grinned, eyeing Techno and Phil. The two immediately understood what he was about to have Tommy do. Wilbur gently grabbed Tommy’s wrists, focusing back on him as he lifted their arms. “You keep your arms up like this, and you can’t let them down. Or else.” They spoke in a teasing tone, his grin forming more into a smirk when the look on Tommy’s face mixed with panic, excitement, and flusteredness. Xey nodded, already trembling at the sight of Wilbur, Techno, and Phil with their hands in the shapes of claws. He’s so dead. A dead man. Gone.

Wilbur looked at him with a look that said, “Ready?” Tommy nodded again, squeezing his eyes tightly shut and taking in a sharp breath to brace himself, but it wasn’t much help as he immediately shrieked at both of Wilbur’s hands digging into xeir stomach, scribbling and pinching and tasering against the sensitive skin. Techno soon followed, squeezing up and down Tommy’s thighs and occasionally scribbling beneath their knees. Not a good day for Tommy to wear shorts. Phil joined in, his wings brushing against Tommy’s neck and ears while he used his hands to pinch and scribble on xeir sides and ribs. This was entirely TORTURE.

“GUHUHUHUYS!” Tommy screamed, his arms shaking as he struggled to hold them up. How was he expected to do this!? They could have at least made it easier for him!

“THIHIS IHIHIS UHUHUNFAHA- AAHAHA WIHIHILBUHUR! NOHOHOHO!” Tommy shrieked, kicking his legs as best as he could and bringing down their arms to shove at Wilbur’s head as he blew a long raspberry on xeir navel, then taking a breath before going back to nibble on their stomach. Tommy’s laughter fell silent for a second as he threw his head back, immediately screaming again before falling into laughter once again. He could hardly speak, really only making out the words “FUHUHUCK!” and “NOHOHO!”

Wilbur obviously noticed that Tommy brought his arms down, but he also noticed how his laughter had fallen silent for a moment then grew to be raspy as the boy could barely even speak anymore. He wasn’t going to continue, not roughly. He gestured for Phil and Techno to stop as he let Tommy go. Wilbur immediately pulled Tommy to a hug, gently rubbing his back as a gesture of comfort and resting their chin on xeir head. Tommy breathed heavily as he buried his face against Wilbur’s chest, taking in big gulps of air as he began to relax in Wilbur’s hold. Phil cooed out loud at the two.

“Did I, or, we, go too far, Toms?” Wilbur asked, his voice gentle. Tommy shook his head no.

Eventually, Tommy looked up at Wilbur. His face was bright red, dried tears on their face, now with a small smile and still squinted eyes. Wilbur couldn’t help himself;

“Awwh!”

Tommy hid his face again out of embarrassment, yelping as Wilbur stood up and moved Tommy to carry xem bridal style. Techno placed a hand on Wilbur’s shoulder as he got a look at the teen in the brunette’s arms. He smiled fondly.

The four men all silently agreed on just relaxing in the main room of the house. Tommy stayed huddled close to Wilbur, clinging to him like a koala to a tree branch.

He may have been tired —all four of them were, honestly, but Tommy especially—, but that didn’t stop him from delivering a few pokes to the three men he was surrounded by, smiling at the small yelps and muffled giggles from each of them.

He deserved at least a little revenge for all of that, right?

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gaybananabread · 6 months

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TickleTober Day 17 - Interrogation

@hexalianrebel-blackfeathers These ideas are making me so happy Panda I SWEAR! Love these two, they'd get up to so much fun mischief! I apologize for any Hobie-slang slander, I will not claim to fully understand how his speech patterns work (T.T) I tried, I hope you all Enjoy!

Lee: Pavitr

Ler: Hobie

Summary: Pavitr thinks it's a good idea to try and hide his candy stash from his friends, refusing to share. Hobie shows him just how persuasive he can be when it comes to the sweet treats.

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don't like that, scroll away!!

Halloween: the all-around favorite holiday of the spider heroes. One group of teens, specifically, makes it their goal to bring in as much candy as possible. And they never shared with each other. Well, never shared willingly.

Pavitr had pulled quite the haul that year. He had managed to convince Gayatri to go with him, dressing in matching couple costumes. One pair of puppy dog eyes later, the spider teen had at least five pounds worth of candy in each bucket.

Gayatri wasn't really into the sugary stuff, letting him have her bucket. Now, Pav didn't exactly need all that candy; he had plenty of energy and joy to begin with. He'd always had a sweet tooth, however, constantly trying sugary confections and stealing treats from his friends.

Everyone knew about the Indian spider's love for sweets. Everyone knew that he had plenty to spare. He just needed some…persuasion. And nobody knew how to persuade Pavitr better than Hobie.

That year's hiding spot was one of his best; in the hollow pot of a large fake fern in his apartment. He preferred living house plants, but due to his Spider-Man work, Pav just didn't have time to take care of one. For once, his busy life had provided him some luck. Who would think to look in a plant pot?

He had just pulled a few treats from his stash when the loud, whirring sound of a portal interrupted him. The sunny teen stuffed the candy into his pockets just as a figure entered his dimension. Recognition was immediate; the clinking pins, thumping boots and lanky frame were instant tells. Hobie had come for a visit. His timing was awful…

"Oi Pav, how'd the candy run go?" If you knew Pavitr, one thing would be very clear; he was an awful liar. The boy had obvious tells, and almost never sold the bullshit he was trying to feed people. He would bite his lip, almost always crossing his arms when he lied. Just as he was doing then. “Not very well. I did not get as much as I was hoping for, already ate most of it.”

Hobie immediately knew he was lying. The story wasn’t bad, but the delivery was weak as a wet noodle. “Uh-huh, sure. Ey, mind tellin’ the truth? I’m not buyin’ that line a’ bull.” Pav cringed, knowing he was busted. Dishonesty just wasn’t his forte…

Still, he had gotten so much candy that year. He loved Hobie to death, but the sweets were corrupting him. He tried another lie. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, bro. This…this is all I seem to have left.” Pav, still trying his best to sell the obvious fib, pulled the ten or so pieces of candy from his pockets. There were a few hard candies, some chocolates, and even a wrapped piece of kaju barfi from the kindly older woman a few blocks away.

Hobie saw through the clear lie, though his friend’s commitment to the bit was admirable. “That so, yeah? Fine then. You asked for this, bruv.”

Before his spider-sense could warn him, Hobie lunged at Pavitr, picking the teen up and tossing him onto the nearby couch. Pav yelled and smacked at the taller man’s shoulder, but couldn’t really do much. Hobie got the jump on him, and he was already a bit giddy from the obscurity of it all. “Hoho- Hobie! Wait!”

“Nah, don’t think I will.” Pav had already known what was coming; the punk only got that look on his face when he played a certain brand of silliness. In seconds, his arms were webbed above his head, ten bony fingers running up and down the length of his ribs. “NYAHahaha! Hohohobie, noho tihihickles!”

Bubbly giggles quickly lit up Pavitr’s apartment, bringing a bit of life into the homey environment. Ever the tease, Hobie snickered as he continued his tickly attack. “No shit, Pav. That’s the point.”

Surprisingly, the boy could say and hear the t-word without getting flustered. It was teasy compliments that did him in. “Aww, that’s a cute laugh ya got, Pavi.” Hobie sent a few pokes to his armpits, getting a squeal in response. “Gonna tell me where the stash is yet?”

Typically, he’d have his bangles and web shooters to help him out of the mess. But it was a slow day, and Pav took every chance he could get to wear his normal, comfy clothes. The soft, loose shirt did little to protect against Hobie’s evil fingers. “Ihihihi- HEHEY! NOHOT THE TUHUHUMYHY!” He felt his cheeks heat up from the cute tease, both loving and hating the compliment.

“Hmm. Guess not.” Pavitr’s stomach had always been a weak point. He thought he’d grow out of it; over the years, however, it felt like his tum only got more sensitive. The boy drummed his feet on the couch beneath Hobie, trying to distract himself from the ticklish shocks spreading across his belly.

Hobie honestly found it cute. Pav’s careless smile, giddy and happy laughter, slight blush on his tan cheeks; it was perfect. He loved to play around with all his friends, but the shorter spider was definitely a favorite for that sort of affection. Saying he was soft for his loved ones would be spot on. He had no shame admitting that, or abusing the fact that they all loved it.

And abuse it he did. Pavitr could feel himself both melting and going crazy at the tickling. He honestly liked it when Hobie, or any of his friends, played the silly game. There was just something so…freeing in being able to laugh his cares away with a loved one. Especially Hobie. “COHOHOME OHON! IHIHI- WHYHYHY?!” If only he wasn’t being a bit mean to get information.

“Why? I just want a few of my fam’s sweets, but you apparently ain’t sharing. So I’m having a bit a’ fun. Unless, ya know, you wanna tell me where your hidin’ spot is?” He clawed at Pav’s belly, smirking at the adorable reactions. He could practically hear the boy’s thoughts, and they said he was enjoying himself. Nothing wrong with that, but Hobie was looking for info, not the usual cuteness. “Unless…you don’t really want this to stop…”

Two big squeezes to his sides came with the tease, making him squeal. Hobie wasn’t wrong…but no way he was admitting that. The webs pinning his hands were sturdy, he knew they wouldn’t break no matter how hard he tugged. That didn’t stop him from trying, though. “SH-SHUHUHUSH!”

That was when Hobie decided to be evil. The anarchist slipped his hands under Pav’s shirt, his cold rings making the boy squeak on impact. One hand started to squeeze Pavitr’s side, the other spidering its nails across his belly button region. The bubbly boy practically shrieked, a scream and a squeal combining to make one adorably frantic sound.

“HOHOHOBAHART! NOHOHO! DOHOHON’T- IHIT TIHiCKLES!” Hobie gasped dramatically, not stopping the tickles for a second. “Did you just government-name me? Oho, that’s it, ya little shit."

It was time to be very, very mean. Hobie pulled up Pavitr's loose shirt, exposing his toned stomach. Perfect. The punk wiggled his brows before taking a deep breath, blowing the biggest raspberry he could manage on Pav's poor belly. At the same time, he squeezed along the boy's sides, driving him mad with the ticklish combination.

Pav could barely function, the intense tickling immediately finishing him. "NAHAHA! IHIHI- IHI CAHAHAN'T! HOHOBIE PLEHEHEASE!" He bucked and squirmed, to get the Brit's head away from his ticklish tum.

He wasn't quite done yet, though. The punk blew a few smaller raspberries, making sure to shake his head so his lip piercing did a bit of tickling as well. Pavitr was practically in hysterics, thrashing and writhing to try and escape the tickles.

Hobie eventually gave him a breather, sitting up and admiring his work. Pav greedily gulped in air, giggling like mad as he tried to catch his breath. Why did he do this again… oh, right. The candy: he had almost forgotten about the treat stash.

"Al'igh Pavi, ya got one more chance. Where's your stash, mate?" Pavitr got one more poke to the armpit, just because he could. The giggly boy groaned, leaning his head back and scrunching his eyes shut.

He relented, not having any more energy left to resist."F-fihihine! Ihit's- it's ihin Anvi's pohohot. Now noho mohohore!"

That got an eye-roll from the punk. Anvi was the name of Pav's fake fern. Hobie took a small pocket knife from his waistband, cutting the webs and climbing off his friend.

The plant pot looked normal, save for a throw pillow propped on the bottom. Moving the pillow aside, Hobie found a hole in the ceramic. There, right inside, were two big buckets of candy. "Damn, Pav. Cleaned 'em out, didn' ya?"

Taking one of the buckets, Hobie replaced the pillow and walked back over to the couch. At that point, Pavitr was sitting up, his breathing returning to normal. The blush on his cheeks was very visible, but other than that, he seemed to have calmed down.

Cute… Hobie set the bucket between them, grabbing the first chocolate off the top, unwrapping it and popping it in his mouth. Pav followed suit, though he didn't pass up the chance to poke Hobie's side. The punk just chuckled, tossing an empty sweets wrapper at his head.

Totally worth it…

#atsv tickling #lee!pavitr #ler!hobie #ticklish!pavitr #augtickletober 2023 #tickle fic #sfw tickling community #tickle #across the spiderverse tickles #spiderverse tickles #augtickletober #augtickletober2023 #atsv hobie #atsv pavitr #ler!hobart

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jxbsbokuto · 2 years

Text

hello kitty band-aids

pairing: spider-man!iwaizumi x reader

words: 1.7k

summary: your friendly neighborhood spider-man needs your help to treat his wounds

genre: marvel au, fluff, sfw, humor

tw: wounds, blood

You still don’t know how exactly you got involved with him. One day he was your classmate, then you two were assigned to work together on a physics assignment, and the next thing you knew you were keeping Spider-Man's biggest secret, his identity.

Like every other girl in your school, you idolized him - the superhero, not Iwaizumi -. You acted like a fangirl whenever you saw him swinging around the streets or when he showed up on the news after saving people from a fire. Having someone to protect the city made you feel safe because you knew that if you ever needed help, Spider-Man would show up to save you, besides that, not knowing who he was gave him a mysterious and intriguing air. You found yourself awake at night dreaming of who your hero crush was and what he looked like, unbeknownst that he sat only a few desks away from you in class.

At first, you couldn’t comprehend how an eighteen-year-old teenager could be fighting bad guys in the streets when, logically, adults are stronger than him, but after Hajime pulled a truck with his web to save a kid inside it, all your doubts about his powers vanished.

And as much as people think superheroes are untouchable and invincible, even the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has his bad days, which is why he is knocking on your window right now, trying to get you to let him in.

Iwaizumi can hear the loud music blasting inside the room and moves to the edge of the glass to see past the curtains. A soft smile that hurts his busted lips takes over his face as he sees you dancing in front of your bed with a microphone - also known as your hairbrush - in your hands. He chuckles while you jump in your place with your eyes closed, too emerged in the song to focus on anything else. Hajime could stay there for hours, watching how you act when no one else is around. However, the cut on his side is still bleeding and he needs to put some ice on his left wrist.

So he shifts to the side, behind the cloths covering the windows so you won’t be embarrassed that he was watching your concert, and knocks on the glass hard enough to be heard over the music.

Mere seconds later, you open the windows and let out a tiny gasp when you acknowledge the state he is in.

“Oh my God, Iwa, you look awful.”

“Thank you, you sure know how to flatter a man, Y/n.”

“Just get in already.”

You roll your eyes and tug on his wrist, immediately letting it go once a hiss escapes through his gritted teeth. Iwaizumi slips into your room, careful not to knock anything down as he does so. He plops on the floor and leans his back on your bed, his right-hand touches the side of his ribs, and he feels his fingers getting wet.

“Y/n, can you get the first aid kit, please?” He breathes out and rests his head back on the mattress.

Now that he is in a safe place, far from all the danger, the adrenaline in his veins disappears and he feels his body hurting all over. Maybe he should listen to you for once and go to a hospital to take care of all the injuries that most certainly left sequels behind, but why would he when the hospital doesn’t have the Hello Kitty’s band-aid’s you always put on his wounds?

“You know, I should start charging you, I had to buy three new kits during the past two months, my mom even asked if someone was beating me up at school because of all the ointment I’m using.”

Hajime can’t laugh because of the pain in his toráx, so he settles with a smirk instead. You take a mental picture of the sight. Why do men with busted lips and bloody cheeks smirking look so damn attractive? How is that even possible?

You quickly walk to the bathroom to hide your blushed cheeks, take the white box from the cabin and lock the door once you return to your room. There’s no one home besides you and Iwaizumi, but you rather not take any chances of your parents coming home early and finding someone with you.

When you look at Hajime, you wish you had locked yourself outside of the room. Spider-Man has the upper part of his uniform resting around his hips, his muscular torso exposed and his chest rising and falling quickly. You can swear your cheeks are melting from how hot they feel.

Your moment of thirst is cut short when you take notice of the cut on his rib, it’s not bleeding so much anymore due to the pressure Iwaizumi put on it, but it still looks bad.

“Iwa, what happened?”

You kneel beside him and pull everything out of the box so you can treat him.

“Five guys were breaking into a jewelry store, I went down to stop them, but I didn’t see a sixth guy coming closer. He had a knife, and the rest you know.”

“Don’t you have a sixth sense? How could you not see him coming.”

Iwaizumi takes a deep inhale while you drag a cloth wet with alcohol across his wound.

“I had my mind somewhere else.”

“What could you possibly be thinking of while fighting bad guys?”

“Doesn’t matter right now.” He turns his head to the other side, but not before you catch a glimpse of his reddened cheeks.

With the blood out of the way, you can see the injury more clearly. You wonder if it needs a couple of stitches or not, you’re just a high-schooler after all, you’re definitely not the one Hajime should be going to treat his wounds. But knowing the brunette, he is too stubborn to go to a hospital, so you’ll have to take it into your hands to fix him.

You try your best to stay focused on your task, but the hardened ridges of his muscles call out for you. Just a little glance. It won’t hurt. Yes, it will. We’re only inches away, he won’t even notice you looking at us.

You give in to temptation, and as you apply ointment to the cut you let your eyes shift to the center of his abs. So that is what he’s been hiding all this time. Seijoh’s uniform for sure doesn’t make Hajime justice. His six-pack stares back at you in all its handsome glory, his chest makes you want to lay on it, and his shoulders mock you into thinking of how they move when he’s lifting some weight. Oh, if only you could take a glance at his back to see if it is nearly as perfect as his front, it probably is, even the motherfucker's calves are hot.

Panic settles in when you feel something hot under your hand, only then do you realize your fingers are tracing the edges of his muscles — touching Iwaizumi, touching his abs. You look up to him to find olive eyes already staring at you, seeing through your soul.

You pull your hand back as if he was a walking disease and pretend you’re busy organizing the first-aid supplies while he coughs into his hand.

“The injury is fixed.” You say, clasping your hands together.

“Thanks.” He says, avoiding eye contact with you. “Could you put a band-aid on my cheek?”

You nod and reach out to the Hello Kitty stamped card box on your nightstand, always in sight for unexpected moments - like this one - when your hero comes over.

Hajime lays his head back again and you hover over him, face to face. With a gentle touch, you clean the cut with a cotton ball then place the pink band-aid on his skin. Getting out of your focus, you lock eyes with Iwaizumi, who watched you the whole time you treated his face. You gulp.

“My lip is busted.”

“I can see that.”

Silence.

“Will you treat it?”

“Yes.” You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and reach out to the kit, but he stops you before you grab it.

“Why don’t you kiss it better?”

Suddenly, the air seems denser inside your lungs.

“…What?”

Hajime slowly lifts his hand and cups your left cheek as if testing waters. His eyes watch yours for any signs of reluctance and he pulls you closer unhurriedly, to give you enough time to get away in case you change your mind.

Your lips hover over one another, not touching completely, yet you can feel the high point of his upper lip so close to the gap between yours that it almost feels like you’re kissing. But you’re not, and every hair of your body standing up in a goosebump urges for you to close the less than millimetric gap separating you two.

“Y/n! I brought you some manjū! It was fresh out of the oven.” Your mom shouts from the other side of the door, making you jump in your place.

“Shit.” You mumble under your breath.

Iwaizumi quickly gives you a peck and swiftly gets up from the floor while you push all the medical supplies under your bed.

“Y/n?! Are you okay in there?”

“Yeah, just a minute!” You yell, voice wavering from panic.

Hajime struggles with his uniform. Besides the rush, his ribs hurt- correction, his whole body hurts, and as much as he’s trying not to make any sounds, there’s only so much pain one can take. You quickly step in to help and glare at him to be silent.

In record time you dress him up and push him gently towards your window.

“Bye. Thanks.” He whispers rushily and kisses your cheek before swinging away.

“Y/n?!”

You fly across the room and open the door wide.

“Hi, mom.” You smile

“What were you doing?”

“Uh… push-ups!”

She looks at you with a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

“Okay…? Here’s your manjū, Sweetie.”

“Thanks a lot, mom. I’m gonna finish my push-ups now, bye.”

You close the door and collapse on your bed. The recent events were so comic you wanted to laugh. Instead, you sit up and start chewing on the bean-filled sweet, and only then you realize.

Spider-man kissed you.

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lostonehero · 2 months

Text

Ok fuck cannon for both series mech tma au

Also mech Martin as a treat

"W-wait." Jonny stopped holding up his hand before Nastya could set the dimension hop.

"The great Jonny d'Ville stuttering? Never thought I would see the day." Nastya rolls her eyes. "What's wrong? You want to get Martin, right?"

"I..." Jonny sighs and looks at Tim and then back to the rest of the crew and eventually Nastya. He fishes out a pair of glasses from his pocket.

"Smarts Jonny." Ivy raised her brow.

Jonny sighs and crosses his arms. "Tim and I have other versions of ourselves in that universe."

"So?" Raphaella quirks her brow. "Extra parts to experiment with."

"Not exactly." Jonny takes a breath. "Any universe or reality doesn't like copies and to remedy that well... we won't be able to stay here." He starts to motion his hands as his tail starts to lash back and forth. "The reality has a way to correct this, and that is to physically fuse myself with my alter, and the same will happen to Tim. I literally have no idea what that will even do."

Brian tilts his head. "So what you're saying that that there is a chance you'll both dissapear?"

"Not exactly, but kind of." Jonny shrugs, removing his glasses. "Eh, it's whatever just wanted to warn you fucks. Tim and I agreed to go through it. We all were already fucked around with the promise of actual death and waking up before, and who knows Martin's world goes through a literal apocalypse so that will be fun."

Tim nods. "We both have bets going on about how it works. I also get to go to a less advanced version of where I'm from. I really want to see what's that like. Also, I saved Bertie, and he got a long life, so I'm honestly fine with a true death."

Raphaella looks at both of them. "If both of you truly die, can I do an autopsy of your bodies to see what came over?"

"Why the fuck not? I don't give a shit I'll be dead." Jonny hums and raises a brow at Ashes. "What?"

"You'll be human." Ashes motions vaguely to his obvious status as not human.

"Huh." Jonny scratches his stubble. "I'll miss my tail if I remember any of it."

Tim snickers. "I'll be fine."

Ivy smirks. "What if your alternate has short hair?" She pauses. "Also, I want earth books."

"I have a new fear." Tim sighs.

Nastya pauses. "Are you sure?"

TS smiles. "I Think They Already Agreed. Bring Me Back A Earth Cat."

"You heard them let's fucking go." Jonny reached out and grabs Tim's hand. "I ain't living for the rest of time without Blackwood."

"Neither I am." Tim nods. "All speed ahead."

Nastya sighs. "This is a terrible idea, but if both of you still remain, I suppose stopping the apocalypse would please Aurora..... oh hmmmm." She puts the ship full throttle, and in an instant, Jonny and Tim vanish.

......

Martin woke up on his back, which honestly is the weirdest way he could wake up second to the alarm on his... he knew the word for the thing, but he couldn't recall it. He barely fumbled to turn off that obnoxious noise. What was a much more pressing manner was the fact his body was wrong, well correct but that was wrong. He can't recall when he had normal legs and feet... he could, but he would much rather forget the time before the good doctor got her hands on him. He was abnormal for a mechanism since his mechanism was organic in nature his lower half was that of a spider. Of course, he didn't hate it he wanted something different after that.

Ok, at the time, he thought himself a monster and tried to kill himself a multitude of times. He grew out of it. Obviously, it would have been a bleak eternity otherwise. He had a vague feeling of where he was, but the word peaches and worms came to mind. He kind of knew what that meant, but he was more so annoyed that this afterlife was basically before he became a mech. He had to figure out what he was doing.

Maybe if he went too... uh oh right the Magnus Institute, that's when he worked a normal job on earth. This was earth he hoped it wasn't in his head that this was some elaborate death dream because that would be a first. He should try to recall more of this if he is ever going to get through this weird afterlife. He hoped it was an afterlife because if not it meant that he wasn't dead, and he didn't want to do that without Jonny and Gunpowder Tim, and of course, the rest of the crew.

He got showered after figuring out the old-fashioned shower and got dressed in familiar clothes he didn't want to remember. He knew he had to remember, but he really didn't want to. He knew how this world worked. Public transport was easy, and soon, he arrived at the very institute that set everything in motion. What's that saying like a hover bike? Or a bicycle? He will remember what to do and go through the motions.

"You're late." A pretentious pompous voice sneered at Martin.

Martin paused, staring at the man studying him, and he reminded him of Jonny, and a name spilled from his lips. "Jon?"

"Did you hit your head on your way here? Of course I'm Jon." The short man shoved a stack of papers in his arms. "Get through these and try not to fall behind."

Martin frowns and takes the stack of statements. He knew they were statements. Some real some fake, and he had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that this wasn't the afterlife. He sat at his desk and stared at a computer, which he didn't recall the password for, and just started to read. He couldn't think about who he saw by him.

"Geez Marto, you ok?" That was Tim, not gunpowder, but Stoker. He was rubbing his eyes, but it was still him.

Martin knew the moment he saw her not corrupted by a thing that wore her skin poorly he might add he knew he wasn't in the afterlife and his death was a fucking lie. He wanted his final death with the rest of them. Did they also wake up before they became? Before the doctor got a hold of them? He takes a breath and sighs. "I'm fine." He forced himself to say. He noticed Tim was bleeding around his eyes. He chose to get up and wet some napkins to help.

"Tim, you really should see a doctor for that." Sasha frowns.

"I'm fine it's probably from my contacts. I'll wear my glasses, and the problem should clear up." Tim gives finger guns as his eyes water.

Martin sighs. "Tim, you're crying."

"Not emotionally." Tim snickers at his joke. "I'm fine. I probably just need rest and to get new contacts." His eyes stop watering after a moment, but it doesn't stop him from rubbing them like they ached.

Martin wasn't convinced, but he knew better than to push it normally got him shot or someone crying in his arms. He knew that didn't matter here. This place wasn't.... he wasn't home. "I'll make some tea for everyone."

"Thank you, Martin." Tim smiles as he rubs his eyes.

"Amazing as always." Sasha smiles.

Martin nodded and distracted himself with making tea. It didn't last long enough as he gave out the tea. He stepped into Jon's office, and he raised a brow at the scene he walked into. Jon was sitting on his knees in a chair not built for that position. "I made you some tea."

Jon nods, rubbing at his chest. "Right."

Martin paused and decided to push his luck. "Why are you sitting like that?"

Jon scowls and takes his mug of tea, and takes a sip. "My lower back aches, and it is worse if I sit normally. My painkillers haven't kicked in."

"Ah, alright, just be careful, alright." Martin smiles, hoping he was acting enough like he did before.

.....

Tim groans as he stares at the bottle of eye drops the doctor gave him. It did literally nothing. His eyes ached and burned, and no matter what he did, the pain wouldn't go away. It's been two weeks, and it's only gotten worse, and he hasn't been able to do anything to relieve it.

He used the heels of his hand and pressed them into his eyes for any sort of relief that wouldn't come. Doctors couldn't find anything wrong and called him basically crazy because there was nothing wrong with his eyes. He knew something was wrong. He knew something was happening.

Tim was desperate. If the eye pain wasn't enough, he was starting to have weird dreams of a man with mechanical eyes. They would talk, and Gunpowder, the other guy picked that name. Don't ask him why it suited him. The memories... no dreams, he keeps having to correct himself. The dreams Gunpowder tells him are his memories, and he apologizes for them all the time. At one point, these memories became his own, but the only thing it did was make Gunpowder more solid in his mind.

Tim liked Gunpowder he was kind and a bit odd, but he didn't feel alone. He hasn't felt seen or known since his brother. Fuck he really missed Danny.

"You have his memories."

Tim nearly fell backward. That was Gunpowder, but he was awake if the pain was anything to say about that. His eyes scanned the small bathroom, searching for the source of the voice, but he didn't see anything. Maybe he was hearing things. The statements were probably getting to him.

Tim sighs and shuts the lights off, and heads to the couch. He just needed to sleep, that's all. Sleep came quickly these days, and he woke up not in Gunpowder's memories but to a futuristic bedroom. He knew this place from some more steamy memories from Gunpowder. Speaking of him, he was lounging in the bed holding a bottle that no longer had labels.

Gunpowder flicked his mechanical eyes to glance at Tim. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a pair of goggles was around his neck. He held up the bottle. "Shit doesn't do much in here but wants some?"

Tim shook his head as he approached and sat on the edge of the bed. "Did you say something?"

"When you started to spiral? Yeah." Gunpowder sits up, putting the bottle aside. "I'm not as well versed in this theoretical nonesense as Jonny is, but I think it's almost complete." He reached his hand out, and Tim allowed him to grab it. "Soon we'll be together awake and asleep, probably when my eyes finally form. Again, sorry about the pain."

"I don't think I'm able to believe you." Tim had that sinking feeling of dread that he knew Gunpowder was right. "Why?"

"We wanted to save our third to complete us." Gunpowder pulls his hand away. "Eternity isn't great when you're missing someone that helps complete you. We were also promised an apocalypse, and that did sound fun."

"Love is a good reason." Tim wanted to reach out again but refrained. "So would you be able to take over like a ghost?"

Gunpowder laughs. "I ain't no ghost, but maybe again, Jonny knows more about this bullshit than I do."

Tim nods and gets up approaching the door.

"Are you sure?"

"If what you say is true, I might as well know more about you." Tim opened the door and vanished into memories that weren't his own.

Gunpowder picked the bottle up again and sighed. "I wonder if Jonny is having a good time."

.....

Jon felt even worse, he however did not go to the doctor even at Martin insistent, he was acting odd more so than normal, and it made his work even worse. He stripped off his shirt and pants, then finally his binder and groans. The red spot on his lower back right on his tailbone he could pass off as bug bite, now ballooned into a throbbing red mass that was completely solid to the touch.

He really wanted to keep ignoring it, but he felt something move under his skin, and it scared him half to death. Every part of him felt wrong, to his privates they were extra sensitive more so then when he started T to his ears that were bright red and painful, to his head that he can feel growing bumps on his head. The worst of it was his chest, his heart was constantly beating erratically, and he could swear he heard a ticking like a metronome in his chest. Everything was wrong, and yet he just crawled into his bed.

No to Jon, the worst part were these dreams that were nothing but fiction, and this Jonny character was a idiot, a violent obnoxious idiot. Jonny talked to him. He purposely argued with him and teased him. That ass was crude and didn't have a fucking care in the world the complete opposite of himself. He was some vile creature that probably spawned from the statements he read.

Jon bit down on his pillow, he moved wrong, and his sensitive privates sent nerves and sparks through his body. He was asexual he shouldn't have these desires, and he shouldn't be thinking about his coworkers in this matter. Why the fuck was Martin a spider creature it scared him but also thrilled him and he hated these thoughts. Tim was mostly the same, but his hair was long, and his eyes were machines. He blamed Jonny for all of this. But he wasn't real his mind just wanted someone to blame.

That obnoxious crazed laughter rang in Jon's ears. He groaned, spitting out his pillow. "Leave me alone, you annoying hallucination." That only earned him harder laughter. He gave a frustrated yell into his pillow. He refused to listen to the just jerk off from Jonny and grabbed sleeping pills from his draw, and hoped for a dreamless sleep, which he knew was futile. He kept seeing memories that weren't his of some nonesense syfy fan wet dream. Jonny wasn't real, and what he saw wasn't real either.

.......

Sasha moved closer to Tim. "Eyes still bothering you?" She motions to his the dark sunglasses you couldn't see his eyes through.

Tim nods. "Yeah, doctors aren't helping. They feel like they're going to pop." He sighs. "Do you know what's up with boss man?"

Sasha shrugs. "I was going to ask about Martin. He seems more lost than normal, and he seems less jumpy but even more depressed? I don't know he keeps avoiding me every time I try to press."

"I can talk to him if you talk to Jon about his attitude. I watched him yell at Martin first 10 minutes, and Martin just took it with a smile like he didn't care." Tim frowns, rubbing his eyes his vision was getting blurry, and he could feel something wet drip down from his face.

"Eye drops first, you're crying again, and it's not clear." Sasha hands him a tissue. "I'll go talk to Jon."

"You're the best, Sasha." Tim smiles and rushes off to the bathroom. He barely makes it inside when his vision goes dark. He can only whimper in shock as fresh pain blooms where his eyes should be. A wet substance drips down his cheeks, and he barely registers hands on his shoulder, guiding him to sit on the ground.

Soft hands carefully remove the black glasses and a soft curse on his lips from a voice Tim knows, but he can't focus or see who said that. He could feel a wet cloth wipe whatever was on his face.

"Tim, you gotta breathe." That was Gunpowder. He sounded so clear, like he was right next to him. "I know it hurts, but you have to let the machines build themselves. It's actually really neat to watch."

The soft hands were done cleaning his face as he let out a sigh at the loss of touch. And a flash of light burned, and then he heard a soft click like that of a camera and a softer moving of machines like a soft roll. His vision came back way too fast, and suddenly, it was too perfect, and he saw too much. He saw a familiar sweater connected to a man leaning over him. "M-martin?" Of course it was Martin his hands were soft... he didn't know why he thought of them like a cat's paw.

"Blackwood!" Gunpowder gasps.

Martin takes the spoiled hand towel and puts it in his back pocket. "Tim, can you focus on me?"

The soft whirl of machines and Tim was looking at Martin. "What happened?" He could see the hand towel and had a few theories on what the stains were.

Martin smiles softly, and Tim feels calmer.

"Feels safe into the den of the spider." Gunpowder hums. "Do you mind if I just uh..."

Tim barely registered what happened until he was in the spot where Gunpowder was. He saw his body move without him, and he just watched unable to process until it clicked what had happened. "Oh." He watches Martin tilt his head as Gunpowder looks up at him, then he feels a stinging pain as Martin hits them.

Gunpowder holds his cheek and looks to Tim, realizing they both felt it.

Martin takes a breath. "You didn't heed any of my warnings."

Gunpowder smiles staring up at Martin.

Martin falters, and he moves and sits down next to him on the bathroom floor. "Is...?"

"Yeah, Tim's here." Gunpowder hums. "Don't think he made the connection yet."

"That is a given." Martin pulls his knees up. "I haven't.... yaknow, and I'm worried when I do..."

"You won't be able to hide." Gunpowder nods and reaches out to Martin. "Aha, he made the connection."

Martin smiles softly, interlocking his fingers with Tim. "Yeah, a lot of shit happened. Welcome to the madness of it."

"Oh, we're well past madness and circled back round to sanity." Gunpowder chuckles, taking the glasses back. "Talk later?"

Martin nods and watches Tim return to his body. "Are you ok?"

Tim blinks. Well, he thinks he blinks, but he's pretty sure he doesn't have eyelids anymore. "I uh... I think so." He paused. "So where's the spider parts? Don't tell me my shared memories and adult fantasies are a lie."

Martin chuckles. "Oh, you're both horrible. Ask Gunpowder, you ass." He gets up and holds out his hand. "Come on, we have to get back to work before Jon throws another fit."

Tim nods, getting up with Martin's help. "Seriously though, where are the spider bits?"

"I don't actually know, and I don't want to test dying to see if they come back." Martin sighs.

"Ah, fair enough." Tim continues to hold Martin's hand. "I uh...you know what happens..."

Martin frowns. "Tim, for me, it's been well over a few thousand years. My memory isn't perfect. I remember what my mind thinks are the important bits, but I've really tried to forget this happened. The ending isn't a good one." He sighs. "We can talk after work, in the tunnels."

"Tunnels?" Tim raised his brow following Martin, never unlocking their hands.

......

Martin pulled Tim back as emts rushed out with a stretcher. "Who got hurt?"

Sasha rushed over. "I went to check on Jon, and he... he was bleeding, and he was barely breathing. I called the ambulance, and they rushed him to the hospital."

Tim frowns. "Is he ok?"

"I don't know." Sasha gives a soft gasp as Martin pulls her into a hug.

"Hey, you did the right thing. Jon will be fine." Martin smiles softly. "We can visit him after our shift. I'm sure he wouldn't mind visitors."

Sasha hugs him back. "You're right. You're right. He probably knew something was wrong and refused to see a doctor."

Tim sighs. "That does sound like Jon." He paused for a moment. "I, uh yeah, back to work."

Sasha nods, wiping her eyes and pulling away from Martin. "I'm sure he'll appreciate a cleaner archive when he gets back."

Martin nods. "Of course, that sounds great." He grabs Tim's arm. "Tim and I can grab some boxies and start moving things around."

"Oh, that's great." Sasha smiles, watching them leave.

.....

"Why did you grab me?" Tim raised his brow.

"So I think I know what happened to Jon." Martin frowns.

Tim paused, and his demeanor changed, and he sags his shoulders. "Oh, this is not going to be good."

"No, it's not." Martin sighs. "Fuck everything has changed now."

"So, did we do it?" Gunpowder raised his brow.

Martin snickers. "Yeah, not even close. We both know that gods won't take this lying down even if it's Jonny."

"Eh, worth a shot." Gunpowder shrugs. "Blackwood has told me enough to know what Jon ends up as I'll explain later."

.....

Elias adjusts his tie and smiles, looking over his archivist. The unfortunate nature of the Flesh and Stranger working together does have this outcome. Of course, he can pull all the strings needed to have this little incident swept under the rug and tied in a neat bow. He smiles softly, watching him wake up. "Are you alright, Jonathan? You've given us all quite the scare." He stops seeing a scowl that isn't Jon's normal one on his lips.

Jonny's mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and his head was fuzzy, and Jon's nagging didn't exactly help him either. His gaze moved up to the man in a suit. He looked like a prick, an obnoxious wealthy prick. Jon was yelling at him that's his boss and don't fuck this up. Of course he wouldn't fuck this up he knew how to act proper and can copy Jon's boring ass. If he could just focus.

"Jonathan, are you alright? You may have hit your head on the way down. You're on some painkillers." Elias smiles, leaning over him.

Jonny furrows his brows. He hated painkillers and always took the fun out of pain and violence. "...fuzzy..." He managed to mumble. His tolerance to painkillers was null and void due to his affection for actual pain. Couldn't he just get Jon's tolerance and not just the fun new parts to explore. He scowls again at the man above his bed, he wanted to rip that smile off his face.

Elias chuckles softly. "Painkillers will do that, and you're not even on that heavy of a dose. I'm sure your coworkers will be visiting you soon. Hopefully, you'll feel better by then."

Jonny grits his teeth. He had a few choice words for that pompous ass.

"You can't kill him." Jon looked drowsy floating next to him.

At least Jonny wasn't the only one suffering in this cushioned hell. He huffs and turns his head.

Jon chuckles. "Don't be mad. You've got control." He was very out of it. He felt the same effects Jonny was. "What's.... what is uh...." He blinks, unable to form a coherent thought.

Jonny huffs and can't fight the feeling of sleep overtaking him.

......

"So Gunpowder Tim cut a bloody path...." Jonny stops, noticing that his head finally felt clear enough and reciting old ballads of his friends wasn't needed. He looked down at Jon, who was staring at him. He floated down to lay next to Jon. "What's with that look? I already explained our situation to you at nauseum."

Jon scowls, looking away. He then makes a vague motion, unable to explain why he suddenly felt wrong.

Jonny raised his brow. "You've got my dick. Ain't you special."

Jon scoffs, but his face is turning red because he feels that is true. "No..." He huffs.

Jonny paused, watching Jon get frustrated. He didn't feel like sharing in that. He learned early in that they shared emotions, and he had to get used to feeling things that weren't his own. It was honestly worse than Nastya, making him feel Aurora emotions. "I can tell you."

Jon felt himself be pushed out from his body as Jonny took control. He scowls but sighs, watching and feeling Jonny's own emotions. "So? What's wrong with m- us?"

Jonny scowls. "They cut off my fucking tail! It's a fucking bitch to grow that back." He raised his ands and feels around his forehead. "Good, they didn't cut them too short. Actually, I like them short, so this isn't an issue... I'm narrating for you Jon be grateful."

Jon raised his brow. "You can't hear my thoughts?"

"Can you hear mine?" Jonny spits back.

"Fair point." Jon sighs. "Are we ok?"

"Fuck if I know. Everything is new, raw, and sensitive. My dicks never been this fucked before." Jonny growls as he is forced back out by Jon.

"D-Dont do that." Jon pulls the blanket over his body.

Jonny shrugs, not understanding Jon. "Whatever, we just have to adjust." He pauses for a moment, pointing at Jon. "This is earth, right?"

"Yes?" Jon raised his brow.

"Tim and Blackwood always referred to me as a cowboy. What's a cow? I don't think I've ever seen an earth cow."

Jon blinks. "But you have parts like a bull."

"Wait, I thought it was called cows." Jonny returned a confused look.

Jon shakes his head. "Alien, right, you're an alien. You don't know human er earth animals. Cows don't have sharp teeth like you, but uh, bulls are basically male cows, but cows are the general term used."

"Can I see what they look like?" Jonny floated to lay next to Jon.

"Yeah, when I get my phone." Jon paused. "Are you upset I wasn't born a man?"

"Why would I care? You've got my dick now, and I have a new hole to play with. This is a win for me." Jonny shrugs and raised his brow feeling relief pour from Jon.

"Thank you." Jon says quietly.

"Ok?" Jonny shrugs floating to look around the hospital room.

......

Sasha slams on the breaks. "Tim what the fuck."

Tim's eyes clicked and whirled. He was told only he could hear this by Gunpowder. Well, both can hear since they share a body. He reaches for his glasses and realizes he took them off because his ears were bothering him. He could feel the look from Gunpowder and Martin on him. "It's a long story."

Sasha rocketed to a spot to park, and she twisted her body to the back seat. "Tim explain now!"

Martin bites his lip and blurts out. "It's my fault. I'm supposed to be dead, both me and Gunpowder. Promised an end to eternity, and it was a farce and I'm back here like this, and I really tried to forget about this part of my life. I mean for fucks sake you die and get replaced Sasha and none of us notice for a year because of how it worked. Tim dies in an explosion, destroying the circus, and that isn't to mention the fucked up paranoia from Jon and extreme levels of fucked up creatures that I mean now I can look back at and laugh but you can't you're mortal. I mean, these are fear gods, so I mean they will get to you eventually."

Gunpowder grabs Martin's hand. "Martin, that's enough. The only reason Jonny knew about my past was because he was playing soldier and was with me. You don't have to..." He stops as Martin waves him off.

"No, it's fine. Tim and Sasha deserve to know." Martin sighs. "I'll tell you what I can remember it has been a few thousand years since I've been through this."

.....

Sasha swallows. "I believe you."

Martin blinks. "Why?"

"I've had a bad feeling, and I knew Gertrude didn't just go missing." Sasha then points to Tim. "Also look at his fucking eyes Martin that's pretty good evidence."

Gunpowder nods.

Martin gives a nervous smile. "I'm sorry I've gotten used to things over the years. I like Tim's eyes."

"Yeah, yeah, don't boast his ego." Sasha puts her seat belt back on. "So keep your glasses on Tim. We're going to visit Jon if the same thing happened to him like you."

"It's equally as possible. Jon worked himself into a delusional state and just hurt himself." Martin shrugs.

Tim blinks back in control. "That's really dark."

"No, no, Martin has a point." Sasha starts the car again. "Remember that incident in research."

"I tried to forget, but I see your point." Tim sighs, putting his glasses back on.

Martin sighs. "Hopefully that isn't the case."

.....

Jon shifted uncomfortably as he sat up. Jonny wasn't lying. The tail thing was incredibly uncomfortable and annoying. He stared at the hospital food in front of him and was told he couldn't leave till tomorrow. He hated hospital food, and he hated hospitals.

"Stop pouting." Jonny rolls his eyes. "I can feel your emotions and pouting won't get you nowhere."

"Oh, then what can I do? Please enlighten me." Jon scowls taking a bite of his peas.

"For one, actually eat. How the fuck are you in such shit condition? Do you even know what fun is?" Jonny shook his head. "You can't do shit without meat on your bones, and you look half starved. You're a fucking disaster."

Jon continues to scowl, not saying a word.

The door opens to his room.

"Blackwood!" Jonny floats through him, trying to tackle him. "Fuck."

Martin smiles softly as Tim and Sasha follow behind him. "We wanted to make sure you're ok."

"You gave me a scare, Jon." Sasha crosses her arms. "You need to learn how to take a break, or at least see a doctor."

Tim was odd wearing sunglasses that completely hid his eyes, but he knew Tim was having trouble with his eyes. "You look awful."

Jon can't help but give a soft smile. "Just wasn't paying attention and hit my head." He motions to the bandages around his head and ears.

"Don't lie to Blackwood. That man can see through any lie you spit." Jonny crosses his arms. "Besides, I bet you control of my choosing that Gunpowder is in your Tim."

Jon ignores him. "Ah you didn't have to bring me anything."

Martin smiles softly as he pulls out a chocolate slice of cake. "It's just some chocolate cake. I mean, you don't have to have it..." He stops as Jon's demeanor changes in an instant as he pushes his food aside.

Jon was forced out and watched Jonny make grabby hands.

"Give it here, Blackwood." Jonny huffs. "Don't you fucking tempt me."

Martin's expression changed, and Jon could feel a shiver down his back. "You and your sweet tooth." He tisks, placing the slice down.

Jonny grabs the container. "Fuck you." He huffs and has enough decency to use a fork. "Your fucking lucky I have to fix this body or I would end you."

Jon watches Tim snicker. "You lost height!" His snickers turn to giggles.

"Piss off." Jonny scoffs.

Sasha raised her brow. "How did you know the cake would work?"

"d'Ville only has one craving he can't quit, and it ain't cigarettes." Gunpowder smirks, taking off his glasses, revealing his mechanical eyes.

Jonny scowls. "Oh fuck you. I don't deny myself pleasures like you."

"I have manners you lack." Tim spits back.

Martin chuckles and has a glint in his eyes and a sinister smile that again Jon can't tear his eyes from. "Now, both of you, that's enough." He moves closer and leans over Jonny. "How about you behave and finish all of your food, and maybe I'll convince the doctors to let you leave early?"

Jon can feel the tug, no the crashing wave of desire, and just pure love spill from Jonny, and if they had his tail, it would be wagging like a dog.

Jonny, for his part, nods eagerly. "It would be faster if you fed me." He purrs back.

Martin steps back. "Don't push your luck. I'm mad at you."

In a split second, that emotion was gone, replaced with annoyance. Jon had to shake his head from the whiplash.

"We agreed!" Jonny huffs stuffing his face with food. "It's not like you were there with your bleeding heart. You weren't there, I woke up after that bar in that... look, I'm not having this conversation."

Jon could feel a bubble of an emotion, one that he knew should leave unspoken. He remains quiet watching Martin.

Martin gaze didn't break, let alone change. He crosses his arms. "Did you do the same?"

Jonny swallows his final bite. "I can't say I wanted to change it, so I didn't."

Martin's gaze seems to finally soften. "Good, he didn't deserve forgiveness." He reached out and pat Jonny's shoulder. "That's my cowboy." He pauses. "What's with the frown?"

"They cut off my tail." Jonny sounded honest and small.

Jon was taken aback.

"I never said humanity was a kind species." Martin brushes a stray piece of hair out of Jonny's face. "It will grow back."

"Not the point." Jonny sighs. "How's your former mortal." His gaze shifted to Tim.

"Probably better than yours with the adjustment." Gunpowder slides his glasses back on. "You look like shit."

"Not my fault." Jonny mutters.

"Never said it was." Gunpowder muses. "Maybe you shouldn't have asked Martin for his story."

Martin rolls his eyes. "Just because you're bitter doesn't mean you get to drag me into this argument again." He walks by Sasha, grabbing her arm. "Would you like to hear more while they complain?"

Sasha nods. "Sure, why not." She follows Martin out of the room as he shuts the door behind him.

Gunpowder frowns. "Don't give me that look. I already got an earful from him, and to be fair, he warned both of us to wait. Now, why do you think this didn't happen the first time?"

"Aren't you just full of dumb questions." Jonny adjusts his glasses. "They were already dead and gone by the time we crossed the first time. This place was fine. I dunno Blackwood said it's been. I dunno fifty years since it ended and started again." He raised his brow at something Tim couldn't see. "You do know what apocalypse means, right? Right well that happened, and you died before I came here the first time."

Gunpowder waves his hand. "Jonny, stop, we both know what happened in the end. They don't know the full truth yet, neither of them."

Jonny frowns and stares at Tim. "How long do you think it will take till being the good guy gets old?"

"Who knows? We've never tried it." Gunpowder shrugs. "You should hold off on being honest about this world, as much as I know you like your stories and songs. Unless you want to deal with Jon."

Jonny waves him off. "Whatever, it doesn't matter now he'll learn as I will annoyingly to see his memories. Just let me figure this out, and as much as I hate to see you two on good terms compared to my situation. Just wait."

For what, Jon had no idea, but this Gunpodwer did, who nodded.

"Seriously though, figure something out with this Jon. You seriously look worse than when we were starving, as a competition." Gunpowder sighs. "Blackwood..." He looks through the door. "Yeah, he already convinced the doctors and nurses to let you go, and they are on their way. Enjoy your new home, alone." He smirks as he leaves.

Jon was flung back into his body, feeling Jonny fuming, but the other man was uncharacteristic silent. He had to think this over and what this actually meant. So he died the first time, but when and how? Before or after the apocalypse?

.......

He wasn't truly alone, not anymore. Jon sunk into his bed and opened his phone. "How did Martin even convince them to let me leave?"

"He's got a way of trapping people making them do what he wants." Jonny hums. "Now, show me a picture of a cow."

Jon wanted to press, but he quickly learned pleasing Jonny was the best way to get answers. He pulled up a picture of a cow and a bull and held it up.

Jonny was quiet studying the creatures he saw. He broke into a wide grin. "They look cute, don't they. Good cows."

Jon hums and sighs. "You said Martin told you what happens to this world. What happens? Why did he become one of you? What are you guys?"

Jonny frowns. "I rather not feel your stupid emotions." He scratches behind his ear. "You won't let this go. However, Blackwood warned me you were insistent, so I might as well spin you a tale." Suddenly, a harmonica appeared in his hands. "A tragic fate of star-crossed lovers doomed by forces beyond their control, and a man turned to a monster that was left in the ruins."

Jon listened to the haunting story on a soft melody. He learned how his coworkers, no his friends, died. How he roamed the wastelands the fears as the apocalypse he caused reigned, how Martin stayed by his side even though he caused this by being tricked. The story ended in a sharp blade.

Jonny stopped. "And you were no more as the pancoption crumbled the archive now, just a man taking his final breath. An ending driven by a man afraid of death and so willing to please a god who didn't care for him as nothing more than a tool. Blackwood crushed but was not dead. A familiar doctor just happened to be passing by the rubble. She wanted to try something new, just not machines anymore, something animalistic, something new. And so Blackwood became a monster a first of his kind." He stretches. "Immortality such a boring goal, isn't it? You would think you would want something more interesting."

Jon was speechless he couldn't string together thoughts.

Jonny frowns, feeling the rush of emotions. "Look..." He swallows and feels tears drip down his face. He was frustrated that he couldn't stop this. He hated emotions, and he hated being honest to himself, but Jon still viewed himself as mortal, and he won't be raw without his partners. He floated down beside Jon and let him cry. He couldn't stop it. The rush of emotions overwhelmed him.

Jon finally spoke. "How do I stop it?"

"Fuck if I know. I wasn't here. I heard the story from Blackwood." Jonny was purposely looking away from him. "You have to ask him, but we promised to play the good guys this time around, or well, until it gets boring."

"We're going to stop this." Jon tried to muster confidence he didn't have.

Jonny just sighs. "Go to bed. Watch some of my memories. If you don't start trying to fix your body, I will do it by force."

Jon pulls his blanket up and frowns. He falls into an unsteady sleep.

......

Elias raised his brow, watching his archivist return to work. "Jonathan, I did tell you to take time to rest after yesterday." He had a smile and a silver tongue.

Jonny scoffs. "He's worse sober."

Jon smiles nervously. "I'm fine, Elias." He adjusts his hat covering his new sensitive ears. His tail had already started to grow back, and Jonny said it's a side effect of immortality, which Jon didn't believe in. It's supposed to be much longer than a cow's tail and semi prehensile. He wanted to test it but knew better than to try anything in public.

Elias frowns. "Now, Jon, I don't need you working yourself sick again." He knew the effects of the stranger and the flesh it probably hasn't hit the man yet, and he didn't want him breaking down having him explain the truth.

Jon frowns. "I'm fine, Elias. I know how to take care of myself. I'm going to get back to work."

Elias frowns, crossing his arms and watching Jon rush off to the archives . He raises his brow, and seeing the start of a tail, he is informed that it is cut off. It shouldn't be growing back this fast. He had a few connections to pull to get more information. He had no desire to pick another archivist nor start again.

......

"We should kill him." Jonny floats next to Jon, his tail lazily flicking behind him.

"Elias is my boss. I'm not going to kill him." Jon scowls as he hears Tim snickers. "Tim, that's enough."

Tim hums, Jon can see his hair is curling and is getting lighter than the black he has. "I don't think so, bossman. We think it's quite hilarious Jonny's on a leash."

Jon was pushed out as Jonny took control. "Oh go fuck yourself you fucking cunt." Jonny stomps off to Jon's office making it a point to slam the door.

Martin snickers from the entrance and refrains from explaining Elias can see them. Oh, that would be hilarious. Does he know Jon and Jonny are sharing a body, or does he think that the fears changed Jon? Either way, things have changed, and he wants to see Elias... no Jonah squirm with the unpredictability. Martin will force him to realize immortality is not worth it, and death is a gift. He silently walks to his desk and takes a seat.

"Enjoying the show?" Tim smirks. "We are."

"Oh, I'm enjoying something else." Martin smiles back.

"Already knitting a web, I see." Gunpowder nods. "I always enjoy the finished project."

Martin taps his fingers against his desk. "You know I think it's not a Web I rather not get mixed up with that particular fear I think I can recall the avatar is kind of a right bitch."

"Really? You have to explain the fear thing better because some of them just sound fun or fun to kill." Gunpowder smirks.

"Later, and Sasha already made a list." Martin points to Sasha sipping her coffee.

"You two share a body. Did you not pay attention when Tim was reading it?" Sasha raised her brow.

Tim huffs. "I couldn't figure out how to turn off the Xray vision on these damn eyes until like an hour before I slept." He had a slight blush on his cheeks. "Then the damn things wouldn't stop focusing on objects miles away."

Gunpowder took back control. "To be fair, I still have trouble controlling them. Human biology and mechanical parts tend to fight until they get into a rhythm. Also, I have like a million years of experience, and Tim does not."

Sasha frowns. "That sounds actually awful. Does Jonny have these problems?"

Gunpowder shrugs. "He never complains, and if he dislikes something, he's quite vocal. I think he uses the ticking as a metronome."

Martin nods. "As boney as he is, he's very nice to sleep too. The ticking is quite soothing." He sighs. "Granted, I won't be able to enjoy any of that for a long while, I reckon."

"Shit, I remembered that this isn't a desert planet." Gunpowder pauses. "Jonnys going to be a little bitch."

"Why?" Sasha raised her brow.

"Jonny's originally from a mostly desert planet, so his tail ears and horns were basically made to keep him cool. Even the nights were hot, so he doesn't exactly have any defenses against the cold, and he makes his complaints known as Gunpowder said." Martin hums. "Although he loves the snow and rain."

"We never said the man made sense." Gunpowder shrugs, letting Tim back in control.

Sasha tilts her head. "What was the planet like that you're from?"

"Gunpowder is from the earth of a different dimension." Tim taps his pen against his desk and adjusts his glasses. "He did however blow up the moon."

"Now you're just fucking with me." Sasha rolls her eyes and heads back to her desk.

Martin chuckles. "Don't feel bad about it. In this time, we've barely had any people on the moon."

"See, I told you!" Tim huffs. "He wouldn't listen to me or the facts I provided."

"Tim, you have to understand where we're coming from. We lived on a spaceship." Martin hums heading to his desk to start working.

Tim sighs. "Still annoying."

.....

Martin stares at the bloody fingernails in the sink. He knew his luck was running out. His body wasn't going to wait till his first death. He could feel how tight his skin felt and how it was hard to walk to breathe. He wasn't scared to become what he was supposed to be, but it would make this so much harder. He flexed his hand, seeing the black claw nails start to poke through his flesh. He doesn't truly care he made peace ages ago with what the doctor made him.

Elias watched Martin with a curious gaze. He can feel the Beholder use his eyes to watch intently. He had a feeling in his gut something changed something twisted in the mere fabric of reality. He hasn't even checked on Jon since he arrived this morning, and the Beholder agreed that something more interesting was happening. Martin was unassuming and predictable, but this was new, and he wanted to know why. He wasn't an avatar, and that also fueled his curiosity. How is he changing without one of the fears?

Martin rubbed his eyes and sighed. He had time, and he had time to prepare. He wanted Jonny. He just wanted that soft ticking, Gunpowder could soothe his anxieties, but Jonny was a comfort. Sure, the man was brash rude and a devil, but he was his, and that was enough. Gunpowder wouldn't touch him till Tim was fully on board with him, and Martin respected that. Hell he was fucking happy with that. Jonny, however, was a mystery, Jon was tighter lipped, and he knew how long it took for Jon to even understand his emotions, let alone actually relie on others.

Martin gathered his fingernails from the sink and threw them out with a sigh. Maybe he could go to artifact storage to slow things. Well, that has just a likely chance to kill him. He doesn't care. Maybe he could convince Gunpowder and Tim to head to the tunnels properly. He finished washing his hands, not even flinching at the exposed nerves.

Elias's gaze intensified as he watched Tim enter the bathroom. More importantly, he removed his sunglasses, revealing new eyes. When did he get surgery? More importantly, how can he still see? He shut his eyes, and he was seeing from Tim's eyes.

Tim scratched his chin. "Martin, you alright?"

Elias saw a man in the mirror that wasn't Tim.

Martin sighs. "I'm fine." He stretches. "Just a bit achey, what about you?"

"I'm fine." Tim crosses his arms. "Ok, maybe not entirely fine, but I'm getting used to it."

The man in the mirror that wasn't Tim spoke and Elias could hear him.

"I know my scars aren't pretty, and I'm sorry." The not Tim sighs.

Tim shook his head. "Dude, I said it's fine." He turns back to Martin. "I'm more peeved about the hair than I am about the scars, and I still haven't agreed to grow it out."

Not Tim huffs.

Martin chuckles. "The two colors look good together, and if you don't grow it out, what else am I supposed to grab?"

Tim swallows, and Elias sees him in the mirror, and he figured it out that this not Tim was in control.

"Oh, don't tease the man. He doesn't understand the fun a simple act can do. Let alone one with those..." Not Tim stops staring at Martin's hand. "When?"

Martin huffs. "Gunpowder, it's fine. You know how you can't hide what the good doctor does to you. I'm fine. I just feel a bit stiff and uncomfortable, but it will pass."

Not Tim or Gunpowder, ridiculous name if you asked Elias. He smiles softly.

"Fuck the waiting, from what I've seen its going to be brutal and he shouldn't be alone..." Tim was speaking out loud now. "He shouldn't have to go through this by him....self... ah, you ass."

Martin raised his brow with a soft smile. "I appreciate the offer, Tim, but you're not exactly desensitized enough for my liking."

Tim huffs. "Then Gunpowder will watch and be out. You don't deserve to be alone through this. I know you have an issue with that, I uh well, Gunpowder knows, and I saw the memory."

"Fine, if you insist." Martin paused, and Elias shivers with that look. "I've shared things with Gunpowder in secret. I don't want you to share with anyone." He grabs Tim's shirt. "Understand?"

Tim swallows and nods.

Martin smiles again as his features soften. "Good, I'll come by your flat tonight."

Tim watches Martin leave with a shudder. Elias doesn't leave yet.

"I warned you about being caught in Blackwood's web. You're not close enough with him to get comfortable." Gunpowder clicks his tongue. "He's not the man you knew, so please don't underestimate him. I would rather not die before Jonny does. We've got a bet going on."

Tim swallows and slides the dark sunglasses back on, and Elias is shocked to see his vision didn't change in the slightest. "He's still a good person."

"That's... well, none of us are good." Gunpowder responds dryly. "It comes with the territory."

Tim didn't like that answer, but he remained quiet as Elias came back to himself. He had a lot to think about.

......

"At least you know how to tell a story." Jonny responds with a bored tone. "These statements still suck, I still suggest we burn the entire place down."

Jon scowls. "No." He stretches and pulls out the used tape. "Can you think of anything that doesn't involve violence.... or sex." He gives a glare.

"Now you're just plain boring." Jonny raised his brow. "Being serious all the time must be fucking exhausting."

Jon sputters. "Just because I'm not some guy who thinks he's immortal and some sex pest doesn't mean anything."

"I don't care what you think of me." Jonny stares directly at Jon. "We are stuck together for the rest of time, and whatever comes after."

Jon scowls. "I won't devolve to be on your level."

Jonny rolls his eyes. "I don't care."

Jon huffs and leaves his office.

"Jon, you ok?" Sasha smiles softly.

Jon stops and sighs. "I'm fine, just getting used to an unfortunate roommate."

"That's one way to call it." Tim mutters.

"You two should try getting along." Sasha hums. "You'll be stuck together forever, I guess. I think it would suck if you two were stuck together fighting for all of that."

Jon scowls. "Oh, he's a right ass only cares about violence and sex. He's nothing but a pest, and I abhor the fact that I have to share my own body with him."

"Oh piss off." Jonny huffs.

Gunpowder sighs. "His attitude comes with his age. He is the oldest of us besides the doctor, but we don't know about her, though, really." He kicks his feet up. "Jonny, I know you're listening. You should be cautious he's going to see memories that you've forgotten. Funny how the mind works even if we forget they still exist in there, just waiting for a trigger to pull them free."

Jon expected Jonny to kick him out and take control, but he felt fear grip his heart that no longer beat. He swallows the dread that wasn't his and doesn't look at Jonny. "I will keep that in mind for when I sleep."

The conversation dies as Jon leaves as the day has ended, and he doesn't want to linger.

.......

The rusty hinges creaked on the old shack the teen called a home. He made sure he tipped off his shoes before entering, and he saw his father passed out in a drunken stupor. He carefully made his way to the small kitchen connected to the living room. If you would call it, that and stumbled upon a note.

"Jonny boy, I've left to clean up after your father. He pissed off some old doctor at the edge of town. I've left old Bessie for you to make sure she's in better condition when I get back, boy. Now, if I don't come back, I know you won't end up like your father. You're too smart for that. Use your ears to find a target to shoot. We both know your eyes aren't the best use that good hearing of yours. Don't file your horns too short boy they grow for a reason, and I love you forever and always."

Wrapped in leather by the note was a familair old looking revolver, the name Bessie was carved crudely into the handle. The weight would become familair in the teen's hands. He took the note scowled at his father and then headed off to hunt for dinner since that lazy piece of shit won't do anything but gamble.

Jon woke up with a start. He could feel a rush of emotions that weren't his. "I..."

"Don't say a fucking word." Jonny scowls. "Don't go telling nobody about that."

Jon nodded he paused, squinting at the clock that glowed, showing it was 3am. He sighs. "I don't remember my mother, or my father, with died at different times, but I was too young to remember them. My grandmother raised me, bitter she had to raise another child. Never told me that directly, however."

Jonny braces himself and grits his teeth. "I don't remember what my mom looks like either."

"Then we have that in common. Maybe the next dream will be my memory, and you can pick apart that." Jon sighs and curls under his blanket.

Jonny nods. "Just go back to sleep."

......

Martin grits his teeth and groans in pure agony. He could barely register the hand going through his red curls. His legs hurt, and he couldn't move them. His skin felt like it was on fire, and he didn't particularly like burning to death. He was stripped down to his birthday suit, and it didn't help with the fact that he was in pure agony.

Gunpowder continues to run his hands through Martin's hair. "It's alright, you're ok. It will be over soon."

"Just fucking kill me." Martin groans.

"We both know that won't help." Gunpowder sighs. "Would you like to hear my story?"

Martin takes a deep breath. "Please distract me."

Gunpowder nods and begins to narrate his origins.

....

An obnoxious alarm pulled Tim from sleep on the floor. He was laying in something wet and the smell of iron... no blood filled his nose, which caused him to panic and flail completely awake. His eyes lock onto a large spider, half then blood, then flesh and bone. Gunpowder takes over before he can throw up.

"Yikes, I thought the shared emotions wouldn't be this strong. Man, you are super depressed." Gunpowder gets up, smearing the blood off from his body. "You're going to need a stronger stomach." He looked over Martin, who was out cold. "See, he's breathing.... please stop screaming. " he covers his mouth, feeling his stomach sour from the sheer fear and disgust from Tim. He swallows the bile rising in his throat, turns away from the scene, and heads to the bathroom.

Gunpowder barely makes it to the toilet to empty the contents of his stomach. He continues to dry heave for a moment before turning to face Tim. "Are you done?"

Tim was pale, and he finally caught his breath. He was still radiating fear and disgust, but he was stable enough to talk. "Is he still alive?"

Gunpowder wipes his mouth. "Of course he is. What part of we can't die, don't you understand?" He frowns, pulling back his frustration. "Sorry you can't control how you react yet. I didn't realize how much I would share when we feel strong emotions." He sits on his knees and sighs. "I'll clean up, just try not to get sick again, please."

Tim nods and shudders. "I.... I'm not desensitized to this stuff. I'm sorry."

Gunpowder gets up, feeling the soft twists of sadness and self-doubt. "Tim, it's not a bad thing, means you're still human. Don't be too hard on yourself." He pulls out some cleaning supplies from the bathroom cabinet. "Tell me about Danny."

Tim frowns and nods slightly. "He was my younger brother...."

.....

Martin wakes up to someone touching his hand. He furrows his brow, pulling his hand back, and skitters up to be his full height, staring down at Tim. He hissed and then blushed, finally realizing that Tim was, in fact, there, and he wasn't a threat. He covers his face and groans, playing out his legs to be shorter. "I didn't mean to hiss at you."

Tim looked over to Gunpowder giggling, and he felt a laugh bubble in his own throat, and wow, no wonder he got frustrated. He didn't exactly know how he felt about feeling someone else's emotions. He gave a soft smile and reached out again to hold Martin's hand. "Your hands are really like a cat's paw."

Martin smiles and lets Tim take his hand. "Spiders have padded limbs and toe beans if you actually look at them."

"That's actually really cute." Tim blushes slightly. "Oh shit how are we going to get to work?"

Martin shrugs. "Might as well scare Elias first."

"Really?" Tim snickers. "What is he scared of spiders?"

"No, he's scared of what they represent." Martin hums. "We're going to be late, and I need a shirt."

"Right, you brought a spare one, right?" Tim paused and rushed over to a bag Martin brought. "Also, you're going to have to talk to my neighbors because of all the stuff we threw out, and they probably think I'm a serial killer."

Martin snickers. "I think I'll scare them into silence."

"Man, I've seen too much of Gunpowder, and Jonny and you having fun together to remember that I'm supposed to be scared of you because you're a spider centaur." Tim tosses over a sweater.

"I suppose I don't find myself scary either. Honestly, the fear left pretty quickly once I realized how my new body worked." Martin smiles. "This will be obnoxious getting to work. I don't mind walking. You live much closer than I do, but being stared at isn't ideal."

"Maybe a blanket?" Tim stops and covers his face. "That wouldn't work."

Martin chuckles. "I appreciate the concept idea, but Jonny tried that once."

"Wait really?" Tim raised his brow.

"Yeah, ended up in a bar fight." Martin snickers. "Although it was fucking hilarious."

"Huh." Tim crosses his arms. "Just bite the bullet and head out?"

"After you." Martin hums and smiles.

.....

Elias blinks, and the scene doesn't change. What confounds him the most is the fact that this has nothing to do with the web. The Beholder is taking it all in, and he can feel actual confusion from his patron. He clears his throat and approaches. "Martin, I don't believe it's near Halloween unless you've got an event planned."

Martin hums impressed at how well Elias can mask his true emotions. "I don't think a costume would be strong enough to carry someone on." He motions to Tim who waves.

"He insisted that he carry me." Tim smiles.

"Well, yes, but I hope I don't cause you too much trouble." Martin smiles. "Why the surprise this is your institute, and shouldn't you expect the supernatural?" He has a smirk as he walks past a stunned Elias.

Elias doesn't have a response to that. His mind was completely blank, and the Beholder was eerily silent.

Tim was snickering. "Double boss man seems quite stunned."

Martin chuckles. "Oh, this is quite fun."

That thought came crashing down with a terrified scream and wide eyed stares.

Martin felt exposed, and he couldn't remember the last time he felt bad about his body until this moment. He knows Tim can feel him tense. "I..."

"Jon, seriously?" Tim huffs sliding off Martin's back. "It's not his fault he's like this."

Jon was trying really hard to keep his panic and fear in check, and he felt a growing bubble of white hot rage directed at him and feeling it. The feedback loop was really confusing. "I uh..." He was forced out by Jonny.

"Fuck off." Jonny took back control his tail was lashing and puffed out at the end. His ears were pinned back, and the hair on top of his head was puffing out. "Seriously fuck off I don't judge you for who you carnally desire. Blackwood is mine, and you have absolutely no right." He goes o continue his rant, but a tooth falls out. He blinks as confusion fills his features, and he crouched down to poke it.

Martin opens his mouth and closes it. "You know I remember now what he was missing, the teeth."

"The teeth." Gunpowder repeats with a nod.

"I'm sorry Martin, are you ok?" Sasha vaguely motions.

"I mean, it was painful, but it doesn't hurt now." Martin pauses. "I have to figure out how to use my desk."

Tim is getting back control, pulling his eyes away from Jonny, now messing with his teeth. "I mean, you can get rid of the chair and move from there."

"That could work." Martin hums and looks over to Jonny. "Are you ok?"

Jonny holds a handful of his teeth. "What do you think?" He scowls. "Well fuck you too. No, I'm mad at you. That's a stupid fucking question, I don't care about spiders let alone being scared of them."

Three pairs of eyes watch the one sided argument.

.....

A fog seemed to roll into Elias's office out of nowhere, and a tall, muscular man in a captains attire steps inside. The man stops and stares at Elias, who had his head down on his desk. "Elias?"

Elias groans. "Peter."

"Shouldn't you be enjoying your new archivist floundering?" Peter raised his brow.

Elias takes a breath. "Peter, I have called every avatar I ever had contact with to ask if they knew what was going on with my archivist and his assistants. I have no leads, and the Beholder is clueless."

Peter opens his mouth then shuts it with a click.

"Do you have any idea what's happening? Because I don't have a singlaur clue." Elias throws his hands up. "One of the archivist assistants is a half spider centaur, and he's not even aligned with the web. The other has mechanical eyes that still work as eyes. That technology doesn't exist, and the Flesh doesn't bother with machines."

Peter reaches out. "I think you need a vacation."

Elias slams his hands against his desk. "Peter, I'm serious!" He gets up and grabs Peter's arm, and drags him to the archives.

Peter stared stunned.

#the mechanisms #the magnus archives #jonny d'ville #jonathan sims #sasha james #tim stoker #gunpowder tim #martin blackwood

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obsidiancreates · 5 months

Text

Recounting A Long-Expected, Never To Pass party

Part of the There and Back Again (Starting From The End) series

They're not even a day out from Erebor when, after a bit of somber silence at the knowledge of the quest ahead of them, Kili speaks up.

"So, Bilbo," he says. "Uncle tells us you knew two Hobbits who reminded you of us."

Bilbo chuckles merrily, puffing a pipe scrounged from the ruins even as he walks- they're not making much haste yet, still recovering from their journey to the mountain itself- they'd all been terribly pained to leave, but it couldn't be helped. Bilbo isn't sure if he can resist The Ring as Frodo did, and Gandalf agrees it's best to travel with a large band in case they are still yet hunted. Even with Azog gone, dangers roam the wildlands.

Even so, Bilbo drinks in this time with his long-ago companions, family, like a sapling tasting of rain for the first time in many long years among a desolate patch of land. "Going around telling all of my business, Thorin?" he teases.

"They'd asked about what you'd shared with me," Thorin says, a small quick of his lips showing he knew Bilbo's comment was in jest.

"Yes, I did know two hobbits quite like you boys," Bilbo says to Kili, and he hears Kili and Fili murmur to each other in excitement. "Steady now! You won't meet them for some time yet. But I have plenty of stories to share, if you like."

"I think we'd all enjoy a merry tale or two," Balin says, grimmer than the young princes. "We're not likely to see much merry ourselves on this journey."

"Exactly my thinking, Balin. Let's see, where to start... well, one of their grandest muck-abouts was at my own birthday, my hundred-eleventh near sixty years after returning home. Gandalf rode in for the party of course- we always kept a close friendship after the journey- and brought with him his magnificent fireworks."

"You make fireworks?" Bofur said in surprise, looking up at Gandalf.

"Indeed I do. They were the only thing Bilbo recalled about me when I came to his door."

"Yes, well, you brought many for my party, of course. I'd invited half the shire, and the other half had turned up anyway!" He let out a laugh. "And Merry and Pippin- nicknames spoken more often their their full names- they of course got themselves into a spot of trouble. They went and rifled through your cart, so I was told, and pulled out a firework in the visage of a dragon! I imagine you'd intended it as the party-ender show, and a treat for the children who adored my stories."

"You told hobbit children about this quest?" Dwalin looks at Bilbo skeptically.

"Oh, put away that look, Dwalin. I told them uh... approximations, of our journey. Close enough to inspire wonder and teach some valuable lessons, but changed a bit to add some fun. I made up a wonderful song for the incident with the spiders- ha! If only I'd thought of it in the moment and not years later." Bilbo smiles fondly as he talks, his pipe resting in the corner of his mouth and occasionally drawn and puffed from.

"You, singin' a song?" Nori snorts. "Can't imagine it."

"Hobbit sing often! I've come up with a good few myself, even along our quest. I just didn't find it entirely appropriate to sing them. But you're getting me off track! Merry and Pippin stole the dragon firework and lit it- inside one of the tents, Frodo told me they'd later discovered. Burnt and flung into the water by the flight. The dragon swooped down upon us all, and I remember- yes, I remember Frodo grabbing me and telling me there was a dragon, and I told him 'Nonsense! There hadn't been a dragon in these parts in a thousand years!' He pushed me to the ground as it flew overhead, and the whole of Hobbiton watched with baited breath as it flew away before bursting into showers of light! Quite a good show, we all thought, and I later saw the dirty faces of Merry and Pippin washing up the dishes as Gandalf smoked and watched."

Gandalf laughs now. "Perhaps this time around you'll get them to be better behaved."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Bilbo ways with a glint in his eye. "I was just as bad by then."

"Got stuck with the sticky fingers, eh?" Nori grins approvingly.

"Not quite, Nori. But at the same party, oh I made it a night to truly remember. The memory is a bit soured now, knowing the nature of The Ring, but even so it's a good one."

"How did The Ring play into a party?" Ori is throughly confused between his two older brothers.

"Oh, I used it to get into all sorts of mischief over the years. In particular, I was prompted to go and give a speech as the party was reaching a natural high- and of course I'd planned to give one anyway. I got up on one of the ale barrels, and I remember exactly what I said, as I'd planned it for many weeks."

Bilbo clears his throat, and tries to adjust his voice to match his older tones more- a strange sensation to be sure.

"My dear Bagginses and Boffins, Tooks and Brandybucks! Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bolgers! Bracegirdles! And Proudfoots!"

He interrupts his own recreation to shakes his head. "Got that name wrong, but it drew a laugh from the crowd when he corrected me so it hardly ruined the event."

"That's a strange lot of names, laddie," Dwalin says.

"I could say the same about yours. All entirely respectable Hobbit families- well, depending upon who you ask. Now what came next... ah, yes."

"Today is my one-hundreth and eleventith birthday! But alas, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

It draws some surprised barks of laughter from the company, including Gandalf, and Bilbo thinks it might bite the end right off of the pipe if he smiles any harder hearing the laughs of his dear friends- Thorin, Fili, and Kili most of all.

"The looks on their faces! They didn't grasp onto it very well, and the ones who did didn't appreciate it! But I knew it'd bring amusement somewhere, in some day."

"I'm going to use that whenever we have to start sitting in on Court Meetings," Kili snickers.

"You will do no such thing," Thorin warns.

"Let the boys have a bit of fun, Thorin," Bilbo chides. "Life is too short to not, even when it's longer than an age. Otherwise you may end up like Thranduil did- took many years of tense teatimes to soften him up, I tell you. Don't give me that look you lot, there's few others to talk with in those lands and by the time I awake back here I'd spoken to just about every elf many lifetimes over. Now, I went to say- I feigned a bit of nervousness here to sell it, and don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise, purely for show did I stumble on my words and I include them now to give the most accurate impression of the event-"

"I uh, I ha-have things to do. And here I reached into my pocket, and pulled out The Ring so that no-one saw it, and put my hands behind my back. And I went on to mutter a bit to myself- nasty habit I picked up on this very quest- and put my attention on Frodo."

"I regret, to announce, this, is the end. I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell. Goodbye."

The company are all leaning in, enraptured- including Gandalf, though there's a worry to his expression not unlike when he'd heard the speech the first time around.

"And in front of the whole of Hobbiton, I vanished! There one moment, completely gone in the next! The crowd went into an uproar, of course, or as much of one as a party of well-drunk and fed hobbits can be. I raced back up to Bag End and didn't take The Ring off until I got back inside and shut my door."

Bilbo near giggles at the memory. "Oh, the looks on their faces! I got quite a scolding from Gandalf afterwards, as you can imagine. Magic rings are not to be taken lightly, and of course in the moment I couldn't imagine why that was. And then, ah..."

"Well, then it turned to a moment more befitting of the evil The Ring holds. But even then, the memory of that final great prank kept me smiling and laughing for many years!"

"... Well... if it wasn't such an evil ring, I'd ask you to borrow it and do something similar," Kili admits, smiling. "Can you imagine, Fili?"

"And you'd rally us all up into a search party," the eldest brother says with a small smile. "Imagine Nori with an ability like that. None of us would be able to find anything ever again."

"Perhaps," Balin interrupts, "We shouldn't speak so lightly of the powers it gives. Temptation is easily felt, and not so easily dismissed."

Fili and Kili share a look, and then nod.

"We didn't mean anything by it," Fili says.

"Purely admiring our own Bilbo Baggins becoming a mischief maker," Kili adds.

"And I've got plenty more mischief left, once this whole nasty business is done," Bilbo says, head held high and smile bright with amusement.

#the hobbit #bilbo baggins #thorin oakenshield #bagginshield #gandalf #the company of thorin oakenshield #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic

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hawnks · 7 months

Text

Continuation of this

Pietro clutches at her skirts, but reels back obediently when she smacks his desperate hands.

“Please, my sweet,” he begs, trailing after her, resisting the urge to grab her again. “Please talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Kelsi doesn’t deign to look at him, simply storms through the estate — a historic castle that had been rather beautiful before her death — hunting down any scrap of her old life.

Her satchel and carpetbag are still in the downstairs closet, exactly where she left them. Even the contents is untouched, a few crumpled receipts and an expired granola bar buried inside.

She grabs both, and the big, red rain coat. Pietro always used to hide candies in the pockets; she stops herself for checking for one.

When she emerges from the closet, he’s directly behind her, so close she can see the tears budding in his eyes, not yet fallen. She doesn’t soothe him—she won’t.

The kitchen is dilapidated. She can’t find anything edible, only food so spoiled it can hardly be considered food at all, and a staggering amount of coffee grounds. Maybe he’d been surviving on caffeine alone, these past years.

“Please,” he tries again. “Kelsi, please?”

“You know my thoughts, Doctor.” She pushes past him, up the stairs to the second floor. The boards creak miserably under her weight, untreated, in poor condition. “I am very, very, very upset with you.”

Despite the derelict condition of the rest of the castle, her room could almost be considered clean. There’s a fine layer of dust on most of the surfaces, but it’s clear that the bedding has been washed somewhat recently, the curtains beaten to get rid of the worst of the residue buildup.

Her wardrobes contents is different, although not how she would expect. New clothes, garments shes never seen before, are hung amidst the rest. They’re soft to the touch, don’t show the signs of deterioration and rigidity that come with neglect.

Pietro had regularly washed each each of them by hand, ironing them carefully before returning them to their rightful place. He wasn’t sure why. During the first few months, he thought she should be comfortable, when she returns. Soon enough he hardly thought at all. It was more of a ritual, a lower-brain habit, to tend to her things, to hunt for any remnants of her scent among the items, to imagine her, vital and alive in these spaces.

She understands this, somehow, without a word. Another exhibit of the madness that consumed him in her absence. Grimacing, she starts shoving fistfuls of fabric into her bag, indiscriminately.

At the bottom, tucked away in the corner, is a pair of boots. Pretty, but functional, fine, embroidered details and treated leather.

The night before she died, she’d complained about her feet aching. They’d surveyed the entire surrounding woods, an arduous endeavor that left her exhausted, sore. He’d gifted her a warm balm, of his own recipe. Awkward as he placed it into her hands; he’d wanted to rub it into her tender muscles himself, she could see the desire in him. But it was a line neither of them had ever broached, a delicate, tremulous thing.

He’d pulled her out of deadly mires. She’d plucked poison barbs from his skin. They’d both risked their lives and reputations for each other, again and again. They knew one another better than anyone. At times it seemed like they could read each other down to the flickering soul.

And yet, there was another distance impossible to broach. Not due to lack of courage, but careful sensibility. It required investigation, a steady hand. Whatever it was between them, it often felt as fragile as spiders silk.

Now it was snapped, forever.

Kelsi shoves into the boots, swallowing down her distaste. It was this, or go barefoot on her journey. She snaps her bags closed. She’s ready to be gone.

Pietro stands in doorway, preventing this.

His head is bowed, fearful of her gaze, but even hunched his height is imposing. She always thought of his as a sproutish man, lean and lanky, but facing him now she’s not sure she could beat him, physically.

“Can you please—“ he bites his lip. “Can’t you be very, very, very upset with me here? Where you’re safe? Where I can see you?”

Kelsi just breathes for a moment. She’s so incensed her rage has surpassed physical revile; she’s only focused on undoing what’s been done, now. “No,” she tells him.

She takes a step forward. And another. They’re toe to toe, and she can almost feel his heart beating, a rabbit-quick pulse. His cheeks flush.

He presses himself into the doorframe, letting her pass. Yielding.

He falls in stride behind her. “Dearest, please. Things are not as you remember them.”

“I know,” she snaps. “You did that.”

His fingers brush her sleeve, cautious but beseeching. “Where are you going?”

“To get them out. I will extract them. Somehow.”

It takes a moment for her to realize Pietro is no longer right behind her. He’s paused in the center of the lobby, staring at her. His expression is hard to decipher, agony and confusion and something without a name.

“You can’t,” he says. She can barely hear it.

“I’m certain I’ll find a way. If there’s any trace of them left in me, I will pluck it out.”

“You can’t,” he says again, louder. “You’ll die.”

She shakes her head. “I already did.”

The great door was never her first choice for access. It’s twice her size, and so heavy she has to throw her entire weight against the wood to budge it. Pietro is saying something to her, but she can’t make it out, too focused on escaping his madness to try.

Finally, the door rocks open.

On the other side is a giant, bloodwasp.

The creatures, roughly the size of a toddler and infinitely more dangerous, had all but vanished from the estate and its surroundings after Pietro’s carnivorous plants took root. Kelsi hadn’t seen one for years after she moved in.

She’s certainly not prepared to deal with one, now.

In her shock she doesn’t hear the click of the bullet in the chamber, but the sound of it firing her knocks her to the ground.

The wasp falls too, dead, a perfect shot through the eye.

Pietro rushes to the door, shutting it quickly. Beyond him, Kelsi spots the thrumming bodies of at least three more wasps. Who knows what their numbers are, how many lurk outside.

Pietro sinks to his knees at her side, bundling her up with an arm around her shoulders, a look of ardent concern on his face. In his other hand, the revolver is still steaming.

“I meant to tell you that the roads are no longer safe,” he says, “but you wouldn’t listen. Now, let’s talk about this like civilized adults.”

But he makes no move to release her. Simply holds her there, against his chest, reveling in skin that’s warm again.

Weakly, Kelsi asks, “Dr. Pragma, where did a scholar learn to shoot like that?”

#a study in devotion #adoring mad scientist x darling he brought back to life who wants nothing to do with him #spoiler but um….#tw insects #tw wasps #pathetic wet dog of a man pretty handy with a gun actually #he is actually very strong under the tweed #Kelsi will ALWAYS win their fights though because he could never even think of harming her #I love them they’re SO fucked up and insane

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megamindsupremacy · 7 months

Text

I know a common conception of Miles’ Peter Parker is like. If only Peter had survived, he would have understood me. Peter wouldn’t be treating me like these other Spider-men. My Peter would have understood. Which is, of course, an idea I love, because Miles desperately needs more people in his corner after the events of ASTV.

But what if Miles’ Peter wasn’t like that? What if RIPeter came back and he was just like all those other Spider-Men, but different? What if Miles if convinced Peter is going through a “came back but wrong” plotline and Miles just has to find some cure to make Peter magically understand but Peter didn’t come back wrong. He came back exactly where he left off- watching some scared little kid who doesn’t know how to handle his powers get in way over his head. So Peter is handling it exactly like he handles every other problem he faces- confidently, perfectly, because he’s been Spider-Man for the past sixteen years and even though it killed him he’s still good at his job.

What if Peter is also convinced he’s different? He’s not like those other Spider-Men, he’s different, he died and came back, he’s in this kids’ corner even when nobody else is because same-universe Spider-Men have to stick together, right kiddo? And Miles is so desperate for validation and he trusts his Peter implicitly like no other Spider-Man because he’s built him up in his head as a perfect Spider-Man who doesn’t make mistakes. But even if they’re together against the Spider-Society, that doesn’t mean Peter is respecting Miles as Spider-Man in his own right like he needs to. And now Miles can’t acknowledge it either

#mads posts #spiderverse #across the spiderverse #into the spiderverse #peter parker #miles morales #ripeter #spiderman #spider-man #idk im like #we all WISH if peter came back he’d be just as perfect as hes shown to be #hed have miles’ back. he’d do the right thing because this is The Peter Who Does The Right Thing #but like. he’s peter parker. which inherently means he fucks up SO MUCH #he thinks hes doing the right thing but hes stepping all over miles in the process #he still thinks he has to be the leader and mentor for baby newbie Spider-Man to follow #but now miles is LEAGUES ahead of him and he cannot see it because hes blinded by always being right all the time #not maliciously. more like gifted kid syndrome #and this is the ONLY spiderman who can get away with it. because thats MILES’ spiderman #thats miles’ first failure! that’s SPIDERMAN. miles’ spiderman is PERFECT. hes a hero! a role model! he grew up seeing him on TV!#and it throws miles off SO MUCH because this spiderman isnt ever wrong but he is clearly wrong but he cant be wrong #and eventually miles will need to cut him off too. but neither of them know that yet.#im having so many thoughts #i want to write this but i Do Not have time to write this.#if someone sees this and wants to write it Please write this #these tags are so long oml

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dirtytransmasc · 1 year

Note

i’ve been wondering how quaritch the sullys or norm & the others scientists would react if spider actually got brain damage from the machine, like a speech problem or chronic illness and he becomes shaky, also how would spider himself deal with not being able to swing through trees safely anymore?

I've played with a disabled spider before, though I never posted it, so here's my idea of a potential symptom list; tremors/numbness in his hands, auditory processing issues, sensitivity to light and movement, focal seizures, a mild stutter, and fibromyalgia (cause we have to project a little). another thing is, he just drops sometimes, his legs give out from beneath him and he ends up in a pile on the floor, otherwise completely fine. he also gets phantom pains of the connection from the machine (from what I understand, that machine would feel like pulling your spinal cord out the base of your neck and plugging it into a car battery). Add that to his PTSD from the event, and you get one fucked up kid.

now we just apply this to his family.

for neytiri it's one hell of a wake up call; her neglect for the child allowed him to be kidnapped and he is no physically affected, seemingly for the rest of his life. spider was always weary of asking for help, but now that poses a massive threat to his wellbeing, and the mother in her aches at the realization that she did that to him, she made him feel unable to ask for help. its also really difficult to watch him go through his focal seizures after what had happened to kiri. she know's its wrong of her to want to care for him now after years of neglect, but she wants to right the wrongs. the only problem is, is the boy is terrified of her.

jake is forced to realize how spider is a lot like him, and then looking back and realizing he was always like him, he was just too blind and dumb see it the whole time. now his kid, if he even has the right to call him that (he doesn't), is struggling just to function, and he'd been the one to say 'he's a tough kid' and move on. he feels sick every time he looks at the boy, and he ends up avoiding him just like the rest of his problems.

kiri would be furious with her family for leaving spider behind when she had begged to look for him, and now because they left him with those people, he's in constant pain and fear, frustrated because he lacks control over so much of his body. she would be one of his biggest caretakers, as she knows how to go about it without being patronizing, though even then, her constant help makes him antsy.

lo'ak would feel... upset, angry, sad, frustrated. he doesn't have one word to describe it. I've talked about this with a few friends, but lo'ak, while he may not actually have these disabilities, feels very adhd and dyslexic coded in the way that his trauma and neglect/abuse present themselves within the narrative. especially in the sense that he was never accommodated for his own "shortcomings" and now he has a disabled brother and he's torn between his internalized "ableism" (loosely using that word to run with the example) that stems from pushing his needs below the surface and therefore expecting other's to do the same, and his want to take care of his best friend and brother. it's not that he wants spider to hurt himself by not hiding his disability, its just that he doesn't know what else he can do, because for so long he's tried to do exactly that with no help. it also really hurts watching spider go through his day to day life like that, especially in the early days when he and the people around him didn't fully understand what was wrong so he sorta had to suffer through trial and error.

tuk is a good kid, she probably accommodates spider best because things don't change unless they have to. she still plays with him, nags him, spends time with him all the same. she just adapts to his way of life. she doesn't treat him like he's fragile or in need of pity, and I could see her inadvertently putting him through some sense of physical therapy as she gets him up and about, using his hands, and such. she makes him smile even when he feels hopeless she's the best little sister he could ask for.

norm and max feel helpless, every time the offer to help him he shoves them off (cause they treat him like he's 5 years old and made of glass). they see him fading away, looking more and more dull by the day, they know he needs help or the injury won't heal and it will only get worse, they know they should have done more when spider went missing, but they can't do anything now and spider hates them (he doesn't he just doesn't like his brian being rummaged around in anymore then it has, he doesn't want to be fixed, he just wants to be. he's tired of everyone pitying themselves for not looking for him, tired of everyone worrying, he just wants things to be normal again.)

quaritch would hate himself, he had brought spider to ardmore, even if he hadn't known what the machine would do to him, he allowed it to happen, he let spider to get hurt, and now he tries to do everything he can to make it up to him. he took care of him in the field, pulled strings to get him under the table medical care back on base, was even willing to give him up to the sully's when it started getting really bad, cause even if they were and parents, spider would have a stable life with medical attention. he doesn't have any ill feelings towards his son or his disabilities as many would assume he would; he just wants his boy to feel ok, no matter what that means ability-wise. he's also one of the few people spider lets faun after him because he knows it's not out of guilt for abusing and neglecting him for years but for making a mistake that spider can't find within himself to blame him for.

(including the tonowari family, because I can, I love them too much to exclude them)

tonowari and ronal would throw a fit when they found out spider had been knowingly left behind with the RDA, especially because he knew what they were capable of doing firsthand, but also because he was clearly a worse father than the man he claimed to be running from (quaritch getting a redemption arc and being 'adopted' by ronal and tonowari is my favorite thing, sorry, I just can't leave it out). spider accepts treatment from her because its na'vi medicine, it feels right to seek the Great Mother's help in fixing what the Demons did to him. this quickly turns into him getting adopted, cause ronal has taken to this small human child, and tonowari just wants to see this boy happy.

ao'nung tries to throw hands with jake. that it, he treats spider like he would any other kid, any other brother, he just tries to kill jake for letting that happen to him.

tsireya is just a gentle soul to keep him company. she is a rock in the storm, always calm and caring, always asking permission to care for him, never assuming he wants her help. she holds him steady when the world around him is chaos.

now for spider himself? he feels even more useless and like a freak then before. he feels weak for being so screwed up by what he only lets himself think of as 'a flashy spinning machine' as if it wasn't created to break him. he would hate having attention on him because why should it have taken being tortured to receive this sort of attention? was being a kid not enough, he just has to suffer first? pair that with the fact that he is so self sacrificial and quick to defend the sully's he's shameful of his own anger. he's an emotional disaster, so many different though processes mixing and fighting with each other. but most of all he's frustrated, so frustrated, in the span of a few hours he lost the one thing he had, which was trust in his body, his physical capabilities that allowed him to survive on pandora and be a 'tough' kid that burdened no one. now he needs help with basic tasks and constant supervision so he doesn't just fall down and die somewhere.

#the boy has internalized ableism and xenophobia (against himself as a human)#considering how he fits into pandora as a human. those two things go hand in hand #spider socorro #miles socorro #miles spider socorro #quaritch #avatar the way of water #avatar 2 #neytiri #jake sully #ronal #tonowari #miles quaritch #kiri sully #tuk sully #lo'ak sully #I love lo'ak so much #he has so much going through his head #I have so many words #the thought of him trying to wrap his head around spider's disability makes my heart hurt #they're both so used to just adapting to and hiding their “shortcomings” that he almost feels frustrated with spider needing extra help #he knows its wrong #the very thought of it makes him feel sick #it makes him think he's evil or something #love giving my boys internalized issues they have no way of understanding #then having them blame themselves when it was the people around it who caused those mindsets #ao'nung #tsireya #spider te suli tsyeyk'itan #hi'i'tsyil te fkew'weopx tonowari'itan

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hollow-dweller · 19 days

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5-10 🤭

it's always you at the scene of the crime

5. worst discord server and why

the answer to this is actually not in spidey, it's this one klance server i was in back in ye old voltron days that was absolutely horrible to exist in as an Allura lover/Allurance shipper. when she died, and klance didn't become canon (because it was never going to), things got nasty and i will freely admit i am still bitter about it! nothing made me dislike klance faster or more thoroughly than klance fans.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

anyone with a Tony Stark ship, really, though obviously the one I see the most nonsense from is irondad. Tony fans are, 90% of the time, there for Tony, and really focus on him to the exclusion of any of the other characters, including the one that he is partnered/shipped with. as someone who writes for and interacts with irondad because i love both Tony and Peter, who wants to explore them and their extended universes, it fucking sucks to have to wade through post after post that grossly misrepresents or misinterprets Tony, and treats Peter as a prop more than a character.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

having said the above: Tony Stark you will always be famous! none of these people who pretend you're a soft uwu dad who's never done anything wrong could make me hate you, because that's NOT you!

i don't know there are any characters i "hate" per se, but certainly there are ones i will AVOID because the fandom is so terrible. in Spidey, though he's not a Spidey character, that's Harley Keener. i have zero feelings toward his canon character because he was a child and then an easter egg, and basically has no canon character. but i will avoid him at all costs in fic/tumblr tags, because his fans use him to completely supplant and erase actual Spider-Man characters, like Ned and MJ and Flash.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

MJ WATSON WOULD NOT WORSHIP PEPPER POTTS ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

MJ "i want to get a little light protesting in before lunch" Watson, MJ "so really this is all your fault" Watson, MJ "i don't want to tour a building made by slaves" Watson would NOT be falling over herself to talk about how "cool" Pepper Potts is.

fandom loves to drop MJ into interactions with Tony where she's snarky and rude and makes "eat the rich" jokes. but then they'll turn around and also make her look up to Pepper as a girl boss.

and it's because people's aren't representing her as anti-billionaire or anti-establishment as a genuine reflection on her character and how she might behave meeting Tony Stark or Pepper Potts. she's an audience avatar to spout a couple memes and jokes, then is unceremoniously shuffled off stage left so that Tony and Peter can cuddle on the couch or whatever. it's about making Tony look cool and chill for "putting up" with her, and to make Peter embarrassed so that Tony can reassure him.

9. worst part of canon

Far From Home, beloathed. its sins are innumerable but to sum them up in as concise of terms as possible: it represents so much wasted potential. we could have had post-blip meta! we could have had the FOS as more than a joke! we could have had actual development of the petermj relationship! and yes we could have had an actual examination of the impact of Tony Stark and his legacy on Peter and his life!

WE COULD HAVE HAD MAY PARKER

instead we got a kidz bop european road trip movie and only head fakes to anything deeper going on between any of the characters

10. worst part of fanon

here's the thing: the idea of a community of people coming together to collaboratively fill in the blanks of a piece of art is, conceptually, beautiful, and exactly what fandom should be about. doing collaborative, generative creative work is genuinely valuable, and an important part of community building in creative spaces.

but the relationship that people have to fanon, is, frankly, completely fucking whack. modern fandom doesn't use fanon to generate collaborative and creative elaborations, variations, and interpretations of canon: they use it to supplant canon. popular fanon goes beyond being just an idea that a lot of people like; it starts being treated as law. people start interpreting canon through the lens of fanon, and in doing so treat the canonical text not as a work of art that deserves consideration and interpretation, but as a static and authoritative source whose purpose is to be excavated for "proof" of fanon, and anything that exists outside of fanon or in opposition to it is to be dismissed, ignored, and denied.

there are plenty of people who will happily admit they don't pay attention to canon and prefer fanon, and while that isn't my preferred way to engage with art, i have way less of a problem with that. people who engage with the original work through a fanon lens first, in an attempt to "prove" fanon, aren't seeking alternative interpretations or elaborating on the art. they're not even picking and choosing the things they like and the things they don't. what they are doing is working backwards from a foregone conclusion to pretend like art has one fixed, immutable interpretation, and that interpretation is the only correct or acceptable one.

the only proof you need of this tendency is the way people lose their fucking minds when you question popular fanon, or, god forbid, point out how it is directly contradicted or disproven by canon. it's a shitty way to engage with fandom as a community, and it's a shitty way to engage with art, and i have no patience for it.

choose violence ask game

#asks #ask games #hope this is violent enough for you

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desiredcaramellatte · 1 year

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Hello friend! Local Licorice simp here, can I request a Licorice Cookie x reader where they met through Poison Mushroom? Little guy was with Licorice when they wandered off, and Licorice panicked a bit. He found them with reader, who already knew Poison Mushroom before and treats them as a younger sibling. Licorice and reader become friends and he suddenly falls for them, and asks Poison Mushroom to send them gifts from him whenever they visit reader.

We all love Poison Mushroom haiidwjudne little braindead child just adopted someone new into the family lol

Pats Poison Mushroom gently

Licorice x reader (ft. PM)

~| Lil' mushroom is smarter than they look. They knew exactly what they were doing when they wondered away from Licorice. Your place wasn't too far from where they were exploring, and Poison Mushroom wanted their friend to meet their other friend!

~| So they left an easy trail of broken sticks, spores, and shroomies for Licorice to follow, and scampered over to your place. Not soon after you met a very panicked trash raccoon cookie thinking he lost the child he was entrusted with watching.

~| Your relationship with Licorice mostly came through your meetings with Poison Mushroom. Every once in a while Poison Mushroom would come and visit you, and they'd drag Licorice along with them.

~| Poison Mushroom has no shame, they will spill Licorice's secrets out to you with no hesitation. Licorice will probably scramble to keep them quiet so they don't tell you about how he freaked out when Bat-Cat put a spider and him while he was asleep.

~| Don't think you're safe either- if Poison Mushroom knows anything slightly embarrassing about you, they will remind you of it in front of licorice. Remember that time you fell off a chair and nearly broke your arm? Yeah, Poison Mushroom will absolutely talk about that.

~| You still get to see Licorice when Mushroom drags him to your place, but Licorice started visiting on his own, giving small excuses like he left something last time he was there or he needed a place to rest and was in the area.

~| Friendship bracelets are a must. Poison Mushroom literally sat the two of you down and forced you to learn how to make friendship bracelets. You had no choice in the matter. Poison Mushroom wears theirs everywhere they go, and proudly displays them. Licorice usually wears his under his sleeves, most commonly on his ankles. Every once in a when you'll receive a new one from one of them.

~| Poison Mushroom is very proud of themself for getting you two together, and now they get to spend even more time with you, since you're around Licorice more! In all, it was a win-win for everyone, especially the little mushroom cookie.

#cookie run #cookie run x reader #cookie run kingdom x reader #cookie run kingdom #crk #crk x reader #cookie run oven break x reader #cookie run oven break #crob #crob x reader #licorice #licorice x reader #posion mushroom is in here too #requests open

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couldntbedamned · 4 months

Text

Back to Where You've Never Been - Chapter 14

Summary: In an alternate reality, Peter Parker is living out his dream of being Spider-Man and working as an intern for Stark Industries (and the Avengers!) under his hero, Tony Stark, before heading off to college. For the most part, it's incredible. Okay, the Avengers treat him like he's still a child, and Mr. Stark's not exactly the friendliest mentor. But still, it's good.

Except that recently, Mr. Stark's been in the worst mood and Peter finds himself the unwitting focus of the man's ire. He tries to keep his spirits up and tell himself that it's not personal, that anyone in the lab would be a target, but when Mr. Stark kicks him out, Peter knows he's done.

Then he finds himself falling for what feels like an eternity before returning to New York. Only it's not his New York City and the Iron Man he ends up fighting alongside is definitely not his Iron Man. Anthony Stark is kind of perfect. The Other Avengers are kind of perfect. Everyone here seems to love him. And when he and Anthony are tapped by Dr. Strange to help seal the rift between realities, Peter finds himself wondering if he was supposed to be in the reality with Anthony all along.

Warnings (or AO3 tags): Peter Parker needs a Hug, Tony Stark has Issues, Peter Parker Whump, Tony Stark is a Dick, Alternate Tony Stark is Perfect, Alternate Avengers are Perfect, Peter Parker is of Legal Age, Pain. Lots of Pain.

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Chapter 14 - 6:02 AM EST

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New York City rejoices when they realize that their hero - Spider-Man - has returned.

A few news sources question the change in his suit - apparently the red and blue is missed. But the silver, blue - Anthony's blue - and black aren't going anywhere. This suit is his last tie to the life - and man - he'd loved.

He doesn't patrol nearly as often as he used to before that fateful day in Mr. Stark's lab. It's an ordeal again, getting to a secure place, suiting up, and then slinging up and away. It's a pain in the ass to make his web-fluid in the kitchen he shares with May. And most of all, he resents the need for secrecy.

He remembers how wonderful it had been to just be Peter Starr, aka Spider-Man and not have to worry about the people he loved being in danger. He remembers what Steve said with such conviction.

"We don't hide behind masks."

He'd been free, in a way.

He thinks about actually doing it, about revealing his identity to the world and taking his chances. Then guilt roils in him until he's sick in the stomach. He can't risk his Aunt May like that, or MJ or Ned. It's so selfish to even think about it!

It was simpler, Over There, he thinks.

Life was better Over There.

He finds that he's resenting being stuck Over Here. Everything he's once loved now feels tainted somehow. He doesn't like it at all and he especially doesn't like how he's starting to feel apathetic.

"We need a plan."

If it was like before, when Peter was still with them - with him - where he belongs, Anthony would tease Steve for how serious he's being.

But this is no time to tease. The stakes are far too high.

"Agreed," he says. He looks at America. "How does this magical girl star power thing of yours work?"

America considers. "I concentrate really heard about where I want to go. Then I just sort of, you know, punch a hole in reality and step through. Once I'm through it closes."

"And you haven't noticed any deterioration of the realities?" Strange asks.

"No," she says emphatically. "No, and I spent a lot of time studying up on it during all of my travels."

"How do we make sure we're hitting the right reality?" Hope asks. "I don't want to risk inter-dimensional war."

"I think if I had something of Peter's, from before, it would help me focus." America looks at Anthony. "Did he have anything on him when he fell through?"

"Just his suit and web shooters."

"Do you still have them? The web shooters?"

Anthony nods in answer to Sam's question. "Yeah. I couldn't bring myself to throw them out." The web shooters and suit are in a little box in the back of his closet. They were his last tie to the man he'd loved.

"Okay. We make it Over There. What then?" Steve asks.

"We need to make sure we're not risking civilians," Sharon says. "And we need to be careful. They're still Avengers and from everything Peter said, they're considered heroes there like we are here. The public probably won't take a group attacking them too well."

Anthony scowls. He doesn't like the idea of those people being considered heroes. Not when they were so terrible to Peter.

They talk through the plan, poking holes in it where they can and refining until they have something solid.

Then Bucky speaks for the first time.

"We can't just steal him back."

"I'm sorry, what?" Anthony bites out. "You've been in on this planning session with the rest of us and you're just now offering your thoughts?"

"Look, we know he didn't want to go back, but if we just show up and forcibly take him, are we any better than they are?"

"He's happy here," Wanda argues.

"I know that!" Bucky exclaims. "And I want him back just as much as you all do. I'm just saying that he deserves to be able to choose to come back." He looks at them all. "You know I'm right."

Anthony runs a hand over his face. "Yeah, we know." Then he sighs. "He'll probably say no."

"You don't know that," Bruce says.

"It's who he is," Anthony argues. "His whole thing is ignoring anything he wants if he thinks it will make others happy, because... because..."

"Because he doesn't think he deserves to be happy," Nat finishes.

"We can least offer him the choice," Pietro says. "We can give him that, which is more than they ever have."

"And we can kick their asses," Ava adds fiercely. "They have it coming."

"They certainly do," Steve agrees, shocking them all. "What?" He adds defensively at the incredulous looks. "I never said they don't suck!"

"I need you to know that I'm so proud of you, Spangles. So proud," Anthony tells him. "One day you'll learn to swear properly."

Bucky snorts. "Remind me to share some stories from the Commando days."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Steve says with a sheepish look.

"We should all get some rest," Strange advises. "This trip is going to take a lot out of us."

"Do you know how this turns out?" Anthony asks him after the others have filtered out and it's just the two of them.

Strange's face is blank. "I can't answer that," he says. "I know it's not what you want to hear but it's all I can say."

"Your job sucks," Anthony says after a few moments.

"It's not without its difficulties and frustrations," Strange admits.

"Any sightings?" Tony asks.

There have been no sightings of Spider-Man since last week, Sir.

Tony sighs and rubs his face. It used to be that the kid couldn't get enough of his patrolling. He was always chomping at the bit to be free of his classes so he could suit up and sling around the city helping anyone he could. Peter isn't even coming to the Tower so he can make his web fluid. For all that Tony had wanted Peter out of the line of heavy fire, he almost wishes the kid was fighting bad guys on the regular like he'd been so determined to do.

"Keep your eyes open, J."

Of course, Sir.

"Tony?"

He turns to see Pepper leaning against the doorway to his lab. He searches his mind and frowns when it comes up blank. "Did I forget a board meeting or otherwise important shindig?"

"No," she says softly. "But you have been forgetting to sleep."

"I'm not sure I know how," he says. "Pep, I messed up, so much worse than I could have imagined and I don't know how to fix it. He won't talk to any of us and he's hardly going out as Spider-Man, either."

"He's not the boy you knew," she says, moving over to him and cupping his face while he looks up at her with saddened eyes. "He did an awful lot of growing up while he was gone and he's never going to be the Peter he was before."

"I was just trying to keep him safe and away from all of this, you know, before. I know I'm an unbearable ass when you go on vacation and I'm left in charge of everything but knowing that I hurt him the way I did kills me. And realizing just how unfair we've been to him? We were terrible and I was the worst of us. And it doesn't even matter how much I apologize, because he's not going to accept. I can't even blame him for that, either."

"All you can do is give him time. And maybe give him that data stick that he had on him when you all pulled him back."

He rolls his chair back and stands up. "I never have been the patient type," he admits. "But since I can't just build him a new suit, I suppose I should make sure he gets this data stick. I'm not sure I see the point; if he's homesick for that place, it might just make it worse."

"Tony."

He sighs. "Yeah, you're right as usual, Ms. Potts."

He calls for one of the Iron Legion and sends the Mark 47 to the kid's apartment, data stick in hand with a message: You had this on you when you came over, must have fallen out of your pocket during all of the hustle and bustle.

Pepper leaves after securing his promise that he'll catch a few hours on the lab futon. He actually means it, too.

He looks around, wishing he'd been in a state to properly appreciate the last time Peter came bouncing through the doors to the lab, cheerful and ready to work.

He'll probably never get that again.

'You really are the worst, Tony," he mutters to himself.

Peter looks at the data stick the Mark 47 had given him.

He's so glad to have it back; he'd promised Anthony he'd take care of it and he'd lost it! Hell, he'd forgotten all about it!

"Hey Gwen, can you interface with this?"

The nanites in one of Peter's web shooters reform to accept the data stick and plugging it in, he pulls on his mask and lays down on his bed.

“Hey, Pete. If you’re viewing this, then I guess you made your choice, and it was to go back.”

"I didn't!" he wants to scream at Holo-Anthony. "I didn't chose to come back here! I wasn't going to leave!"

But Holo-Anthony can't hear him, of course.

His heart breaks over and over again as he watches the message Anthony had prepared for him, just in case.

“Maybe this whole recording thing is a no-starter - miracles happen - and you’ve chosen to stay. But either way, Peter, there’s two things I need you to know. One is that I love you, more than I thought I’d ever be able to love anyone. And the second is that you, Peter Starr, are the very best of any of us. Okay.” Holo-Anthony nods with tears brimming in his eyes. “I’m done.”

Before he can scream or cry, video starts playing.

“J, give Peter here the same access and rights as me, outside of the Core files."

Very well. Mr. Parker, I am at your disposal.

“Say something to him,” Anthony prompts. “Ask him anything.”

“What do you like to do for fun, JARVIS?” Peter asks.

There are several hackers within SHIELD that I enjoy shutting down on an almost-daily basis. I also spend time interfacing with my brothers.

“The bots Anthony built?”

Yes.

“That’s really nice,” Peter tells JARVIS. He looks at Anthony, delighted.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you Peter Parker?” Anthony grins. “I don’t think anyone living here has ever asked J that before, have they, J?”

They have not, Sir. Including yourself.

Anthony rolls his eyes. “Oh please, J, you know I love you.”

Peter tells Gwen to pause the video and clenches his eyes shut. That had been his first night Over There and officially one of the best nights of his entire life. He'd been warm and safe and without the consistent pangs of hunger that had plagued him for years. He'd met Anthony. Seeing it again just makes the pain of being trapped Over Here worse.

He lays in bed, miserable. He half wishes that Mr. Stark had just kept the damned data stick.

Hopefully Mr. Stark hadn't seen anything on it; that would be too humiliating. What would Mr. Stark even think of him, falling in love with Anthony the way he did? And the dietary needs? Mr. Stark and the others would probably just think he's some helpless little charity case.

Maybe he should look for a real job. He can make money that way and since he's not patrolling and has no interest in attending NYU, he'll have plenty of free time. He hasn't really had so much free time since he started working on the...

He sits up suddenly.

“...First and foremost is your whole healing the reality barriers deal, since one, it’s brilliant and two, I can’t imagine you not carrying on back Over There."

The barriers! How could he have forgotten?

"Way to get self-absorbed, Peter," he mutters to himself. "You really are the worst." He suits up and climbs out the window. He has a sorcerer to see.

They're quiet as they congregate in the lab where Peter had been taken. Hank and Janet are present, both eager to observe America's powers at work.

"We shouldn't be too long," Anthony assures them.

He's waved off. "We were in the superhero game before you were even in school," Janet tells him. "We still have some tricks up our sleeve if anyone decides to cause trouble while you're gone."

Hank nods. "Don't underestimate the ants."

Well, that is a terrifying thought, Anthony thinks, looking around. There's a restlessness in the air despite the early hour.

Sharon checks her powered garrotes and Natasha fiddles with her Widow's Bites. Clint is rearranging the arrows in his quiver while Bucky flips one of his knives. The others are similarly nervous.

Anthony is regretting the third cup of coffee he drank after waking up; he has visions of vibrating out of the suit mid-reality jump and somehow dying. He shakes his head. America has assured them it's safe and she's the expert.

"Is this everyone?" Strange asks as he portals in.

"We're just waiting on our friendly ghost," Anthony says. "JARVIS said she's on a slight delay.. She'll be here in a few minutes."

"Is she up for this?" Steve asks Sam. "I know she's been struggling."

"Oh, she's more than ready," Sam insists. "She's probably just drinking that stabilizing tonic Janet created for her to make sure there are no mishaps."

Ava enters the lab suited up and ready to go.

"We good?" Anthony asks.

She nods, a hard glint in her eyes. "We're good."

"Remember the plan," Steve says as they gather in a circle. "We've probably only got one shot at this, so let's stay focused and show them just how hard we're willing to fight for Peter." He looks at America. "Whenever you're ready."

America pulls the web shooter out of her pocket. She holds it tightly, closes her eyes, and takes several deep breaths. When her eyes open, they're glowing white. She steps out of the circle, turns, and with the hand holding the web shooter punches forward into the empty air.

The air splits into the shape of a giant star and through it they can see the different reality's Central Park. She steps through the star and pauses. She looks at the web shooter and then out at the park, searching for something only she can see. Then she turns around to face them.

"This is it. Come on through."

They jump through in two's and three's until the last one through is Strange, who does one of his sparkling circle things and makes the star disappear.

"It's in the mirror dimension. That way no one can accidentally wander through."

"Smart," Nat says.

"Alright. Let's do this," Anthony says.

Tony startles awake when the alarms go off in the Tower. He glances over at the clock.

6:02 AM EST.

"J, give me the scoop," he mumbles.

There appears to be a temporal distortion near Central Park. I've attempted to surveil the area but all camera feeds are currently non-functional.

Tony groans. "Well, better go see what AIM is up to this time. I assume the others are on their way to the location?"

They are indeed.

"I'll be there in a few," he said, calling his suit up and flying through one of the access hatches.

There's nothing there, when they all arrive. Sure, it feels weird, the place, but it's as empty as Central Park can be just after six in the morning.

"There's nothing here," Nat says. "Something is off, but nothing's here."

"Let's fan out," Steve suggests. "Stay on the comms, though."

The energy signatures have them moving around through the park, not nearly as spread out as Steve was hoping for. But the way they moved here, then there, then forward, to the side...

They were being herded.

Doctor Strange isn't at the Sanctum.

At least, that's what Wong tells him.

"When will he be back?" Peter asks.

Wong looks torn.

"Oh, just let him in!" come the good doctor's voice.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," Wong scolds, turning back to where Strange is coming down the stairs in a robe that's far shorter than Peter ever wanted to see the man wear.

"Please. I'm used to thirty hour days," Strange says. "I'm good for another ten hours at least." He motions for Peter to come inside. "How can the Sorcerer Supreme be of assistance?"

"When I was Over There, I was helping Anth- I was helping Mr. Stark and the others with stabilizing the barriers between reality so that that Dr. Strange and other Dr. Stranges could work on fixing them. And I know I've been selfish and having the world's biggest pity party since this Mr. Stark and these Avengers pulled me back here, but I was hoping I might be able to help you with it, too. I'm just sorry it's taken so long to reach out."

"Taking time to grieve isn't selfish, Mr. Parker," Strange says. "And if you want to share your strategy for stabilizing the barriers, I'd be happy to hear it." He pauses. "But it's not your job, just so you know."

Peter frowns. "But it was, Over There. Why would Over Here be any different?"

"I can't answer that," Strange says cryptically. "Just know that the situation will be handled."

He doesn't understand, not at all. Why was the other Doctor Strange so insistent while this one is so unconcerned?

"Can I offer you some tea?" Strange asks.

It's early in the morning, just after six.

"Actually, that would be nice. Over There spoiled me for coffee so hot tea is about all I can stand, caffeine-wise."

"You speak of that reality fondly," Strange says once they're seated, each with a cup of tea and saucer.

"I was going to stay," Peter admits. "I didn't choose to come back."

"I'm sorry for how things worked out," Strange tells him. "And for my part in assisting them in their endeavor."

Peter shrugs. "I could have been stuck in a hell dimension for all you guys knew."

"I was fairly certain that wasn't the case," Strange says. "They were very insistent that they needed to save you and make things right."

That has Peter rolling his eyes. "They can't make it right," he says. "I didn't deserve to be treated the way they treated me and I don't think I can forgive them for any of it."

"I was so happy," Peter says after a few minutes. "I was in love. For the first time in my life I felt like I belonged and coming back here has been a nightmare. One they caused."

"You don't have to justify your feelings to me." Strange refills Peter's cup with more of the steaming tea. "And you're well within your rights to forgive or not forgive any of us."

Peter thinks about that. "I'll probably forgive everyone eventually," he admits. "I'm not built for grudges. I always feel bad for keeping them, even if letting them go feels like losing."

Strange chuckles. "You have such a kind heart, Mr. Parker. That's something to cherish."

The area they all end up in is deserted at the early hour, even though New York City almost never slept.

"I don't like this," Sam says. "Something ain't right."

"Agreed, but this is where the energy signatures stopped and we ne-"

There's the sound of a repulsor and Tony goes flying back into the side of one of the brick buildings.

A blue suit appears - an Iron Man! - and the face plate lifts to show another Tony Stark - Peter's Anthony. The Other Avengers plus a teenage girl and another Doctor Strange surround them, crackling into the reality from that damned mirror dimension that apparently all Doctor Stranges love so much.

"What the hell was that for?" Tony asks, pulling himself up to face his hovering counterpart.

"You took something that doesn't belong to you," Anthony says with narrowed eyes. "We've come to bring him back."

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#couldntbedamned fic #starker #starker au #anthony stark x peter parker #peter parker x anthony stark #au tony stark #au avengers #pain. lots of pain.#tony stark x peter parker #peter parker x tony stark

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